Overnight, all four girls had found themselves blessed with a very good night of sleep. Morning came with all four of them in a very good mood.
They settled on a slow morning today, having had a busy day the day before. They would be doing some practicing, going over a few reports, some of the basic easy stuff for a simple day. Over breakfast, it was especially quiet, mostly because none of the guys had shown up. Actually, it was rather unusual that they would be having no guests even at this time of the day. While they were having breakfast, it was actually fairly late in the morning, lunch wasn't that far away.
Lwyn was practically making lunch as breakfast ended. Thanrie and Qheria were doing weapon practice again. Mhyl was going over some of her reports, especially since Lwyn couldn't actually read it. However, she noticed that there were no new reports, usually new reports showed up overnight. This silence was starting to feel unnerving. Mhyl went to go check on Lwyn, who was just finishing up with lunch. "Oh, Mhyl, can you go find the others? Lunch is ready. Yes, I know, it's a light lunch because we just had a breakfast, but I still made extra stuff so that we could maybe go up to the surface and practice with our new stuff." Lwyn only got a silent nod from Mhyl, Mhyl was already wondering what had happened to the others.
They gathered for lunch, providing a perfect opportunity to talk over some soup and sandwiches. Lwyn was all excited about spending a lazy day, she was already packing the remaining soup in water containers. "So, has no one seen Zyuixqs yet? I know he might just be doing a lot of paperwork, but.. something feels wrong." Thanrie was starting to get worried, it wasn't just Mhyl. Qheria appeared to almost speak of a plan, but she decided against it. She remained conflicted between being reactive to a potential problem and between being rational about a quiet day being a quiet day. Raising a fuss over nothing would just stress people out, silence was supposed to be golden. No news being good news, and the like.
They finished lunch and cleaned everything up. Lwyn got a little sad that everyone had lost their momentum due to worry, even when everything was ready for them to just go and do whatever. That then gave her an idea. "Well, we could always just visit the Marauders? Nothing special of a visit, just dropping in on a quiet day to relax. If everything is quiet because they are off doing something, we could easily just go back. Oh, maybe we can even go to that smith and show off some of the stuff we found?" Lwyn's ability to put a positive spin on things paid off once again, as this was a plan that would just work.
While getting everything together, Zyuixqs and Chyurae showed up, completely out of breath and in a state of panic. Chyurae was obviously more exhausted, being an elf, but there was the impression that most of the exhaustion was due to panic itself. Zyuixqs started explaining first, though Chyurae eventually started telling Mhyl a more collected version of the same. "We've got a big problem. Pack up EVERYTHING you feel is important, we're leaving. Anything we leave behind will probably never be seen again. We have to go as soon as possible, they will be.." "Zyuixqs, stop, you aren't making sense, stop panicking!" During Zyuixqs' confusing statement, Lwyn had been following both conversations, so pitched into the Izhaethyx one. "We're being kicked out. Something big happened." "Yes, exactly. The Marauders have turned against you guys, after the whole incident from yesterday. It was going around while we were out, that the familiarity with Fortress-style is because you guys are being said to be secretly working for the Fortress." After Lwyn's help, Zyuixqs finally got a clear statement completed.
The Marauders, maybe even the entire rebellion, might actually be completely hopeless in this way, that they are so absolutely terrified of their enemy's machines that even the knowledge terrifies them. All four girls were considering around this same point, that with such an ingrained fear, the whole Rebellion would have no chance standing against the Fortress, when they refused to better themselves enough to actually be at their enemy's own combat capacity. While that had some dramatic and concerning long term problems to it, there was now another short term problem. They were losing their home, and would have to find somewhere else.
All of them rushed to start packing right away. They made sure to pack anything they felt was personal, as well as a few useful survival resources for managing on their own. They would need a plan on where to go, but first they needed to ensure they had everything they needed to not only get there, but to also survive there on their own. Mhyl was extra depressed about this, her own Terran memories were denied having a place to call home, and now here herself she kept having to move. It would be the same thing all over again, then?
They got everything together and took the closest exit to the surface. Lwyn was feeling thankful that she had prepared a lunch of the type she had, at this point. It would be food for the road, and.. it might be the best meal they would have for a while now. On that note, they needed more of a plan. "So, where are we going to go for now?" Lwyn had decided to open in Izhaethyx, and was about to switch to Elaethyx when Zyuixqs gave a simple answer. "We need to wait around here, Rhyde should be here soon." Rhyde? Why would Rhyde be showing up?
Rhyde showed up with Yuxzn, and even the smith and a handful of stray others. All of them were being followed at sword-point by another group, an esteemed human woman of some apparent regards taking command. "This is it then Rhyde, for having conspired and correlated with the enemy, you and those who have fallen with you are now exiled. Do not show your face in our tunnels again, or you will be treated as a dangerous trespasser." "I'm guessing you're going to be promoted from second-in-command, then? At least then the Marauders will have someone good to keep seeing them forwards. Best of luck with any of your future missions, then." The new leader of the Marauders sighed before she turned away. Rhyde took everything as a matter of closure and turned to the others, while the Marauders all went back underground. However, he had no idea what to say at this point.
"Rhyde, sorry for getting you involved in this mess. If we had just left you and Yuxzn behind, you wouldn't have been exiled too." Qheria found the words before Rhyde did. "Ah, well, unrest had been rising for a while, it just went where it could. Considering how much we've been supporting you guys for a while now, I'm pretty sure missing out on that outing wouldn't have spared us anything. That's why we have a few additions to our crew." Rhyde indicated some of the others, such as some Mhyl was familiar with while she was helping Thanrie recover. Even slight associations with the four of them were causing irrational blame then.
"Then we should be sorry for the whole idea of pursuing Fortress stuff in the first place." Thanrie was the next to apologies, being the one who had personally driven hard on this idea as a smart move, which had now costed everyone here their home. The way she had said it, it left the impression that she was personally sorry even to the other three girls. "Ah, well, some of us had been long interested in the like way before you guys showed up. It's rational, can't blame you for it." The smith was next to counter, having had smith projects for Fortress-styled stuff way before the four showed up.
"Okay, okay, so stuff went wrong, that's bad, yes, yes. Still, standing around all day probably isn't the best way to deal with it. So, okay, I'm thinking awesome idea, lets go find somewhere safer than standing beside bandit-infested hills. Sound good?" "Lwyn, I know you're trying to help, but it's not like we know of any other place to go, right?" "We don't? I mean, they were just talking about it. We could always go back to the storage place and make something of it there. Tons of Fortress research to be had out there." Lwyn was not only trying to lighten the mood, she actually had a few ideas it seems. Qheria didn't expect this idea Lwyn had came up with.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Thanrie however was a bit more critical. "Except that place is already infested with things that want to kill us." "Actually no, the Yheirqae would have just been scared and defensive. They should probably be scared, a pack of people, elves and humans, are going to be taking over the place. Even worse, all those Yheirqae.. amber-leaf.. food supplies. We even have easy access to water. Sure, it might not work as a long-term home, we might need to be ready to move again, but it has a surprising amount of promise after you consider everything." Thanrie also stopped at Lwyn's details. Her argument was getting very convincing.
"Ah, it might actually be fitting that we're going to be supplied with everyone who wouldn't shy away from Fortress stuff, and thrown into a place rich with Fortress stuff. We can do quite a lot of work, with a crew like this." Qheria was seeing an additional advantage in having been supplied the Smith. Everyone had even been given time to pack before leaving, so they had a lot of stuff. The smith didn't have a workshop, but that's kinda where they were going.
"I know everyone is getting excited, but keep in mind that there is a lot of ground to cover to reach that place again, and this time we do not have the protection of the tunnels. Additionally, there are a large number of non-combat in this crew, so we have a huge danger if we are attacked by bandits. Yuxzn, what is tactically the best way to get back to that location?" Rhyde jumped in to make sure people were aware of the dangers. Yuxzn was having issues envisioning a decent solution, so silence hung even after Lwyn did translations.
Mhyl pulled out her atlas, as a point of reference. "There are a lot of hills between here and there, wouldn't that be great cover?" "Unfortunately, no, because there are bandit camps in those hills, we can't make a direct route." Mhyl's Elaethyx was shot down by Yuxzn, as her atlas did not have bandit information, but Yuxzn did. Mhyl however had been reading reports that morning. "What about in the direction of the great mountain? The wall of silence was shut down, most of the bandits there are scattered. Can't we loop that way and come back down?" "But how would we safely make it there without the hills?" Mhyl felt she was being quizzed by Yuxzn. She even had an answer, she just didn't like it.
"Mhyl, how about if you and I are tied by a rope, would being in the water be okay then? I'll make sure nothing happens to you." Lwyn caught on rather quickly to where Mhyl was going, and why she was getting nervous. Yuxzn was caught off guard by the random remark, so Lwyn explained further. "Drifting down the river would work fairly well, wouldn't it? Too bad there aren't the trees to make a boat or anything. Mhyl has this idea because she had been forced to use it before, just before we all met." Lwyn's direct answer provided the insight Yuxzn needed.
Yuxzn then switched to Izhaethyx. "So it seems some elven insight has given us a possibility. A path along the river would allow us to use the river for shelter. It's our best bet for getting there safely, without going through bandit camps in the process." Yuxzn presented the plan to the others, and then started upon the details. Without knowing the words that occurred, Thanrie and Qheria were getting a pretty good idea how that idea came up.
With the plan ready, they all set off in their indirect path towards the river, further upstream. Along the way, the elves of the group were able to spot a bandit camp off in the distance, but it was actively burning. Their path would avoid it by far, without a problem, but it was surprising to find bandit camps suffering like that. Maybe they weren't the only ones losing their homes.
Without incident, they reached the projected location of the river. It was quite a distance upstream, more than Mhyl had expected. "So, we're going to camp here. We need to have an early meal and to get some rest. With less cover of hills, we're going to resort to cover of darkness as we go along the river. It's going to be a long night, so get your rest. The plan is to reach our destination at almost exactly dawn, which would provide us the light needed to deal with the next phase of our problem." Yuxzn even had a plan for making sure the Yheirqae were dealt with on arrival.
They settled to relax and work on dinner. Having access to the river also provided some small fresh-water fish in addition to amber-leaf plants. It had been quite a long time since they had last had fish at all. They were told to make sure to cook the fish only in the heat of the day, as the fire would stand out easier as the sun started setting. It was being a little more rugged then they were while with the Marauders, but things looked like they might work out after all.
Taking a late afternoon sleep into the early evening was difficult, the sun wasn't the most agreeable for this plan. They had sleeping shifts to worry about too, being this deep in the wild. None of them actually slept very well, but they at least got a degree of needed rest in the process. With everything still calm, it was finally time for them to take into the river.
Mhyl checked the tightness of the rope around her, the other side tied to Lwyn. Lwyn had been serious about her comment, even though Mhyl didn't know how much it would help. Lwyn was a lot smaller, and they were about as thin as each other, so in theory that would mean Lwyn was much lighter too. They also really weren't going in the water itself, just along the bank. Getting drenched could affect their supplies, getting into the water was only a last resort. Still, even without it providing any physical safety for her, she appreciated the confidence and calm having the rope provided for her.
For more calm, she had her headgear. She had turned it on during her own shift while the other slept, and it had helped her confidence. She could watch anything that moved anywhere around her, even behind her. She had gotten used to it for a while now, and it's battery life seemed really good. She had even gotten used to the barely audible hum it gave off while it was on. She used it to watch the others as they traveled, to make sure everyone was alright. She also looked for anything moving anywhere near them, and saw nothing important. Some random bugs, nothing bigger.
The trip was hardest on all of the elves, because they had a tight time constraint. It was a several hours walk in harsh footing, and they had to get there by dawn. Stopping for breaks would slow things down. They were additionally not perfectly rested, so that made it even harder. Every elf was suffering, Lwyn herself wasn't even doing that well, and even the humans of the group were running out of steam. Pushing hard, the group of them finally arrived in a safer area near their destination right around sunrise. Yuxzn estimated they had pushed enough, being both the one who came up with this plan and one of the suffering elves. They setup camp once again, to get a bit more rest. The plan was slightly amended, they would be fine this far away from the bandits for a bit more rest, and this would give the sun time to rise more so that their next process would be even more efficient.
Relaxing turned to sleep shifts, round two. The sun was well up by the time everyone was ready for the next phase. They made sure to recharge on some breakfast as well before considering how they would move forward from this. Yuxzn's plan was a repeat of the one that had worked last time, but Lwyn had some modifications. "We are actually even more prepared than last time. The incense burners we got are really good at distributing and directing smoke, especially the scent of smoke. The small fans we got also help with directing everything. We might be putting a bit more incense than normal, but we can really flood the place with it, while keeping it away from ourselves. But that's not all.." Lwyn was getting really excited for her sales pitch.
"Technically, the four of us are more key for this than anyone. When we went through things originally, we had to go the long way around. Qheria however can just jump up now. Mhyl can see better than they can, with her thing. Thanrie can scatter smoke quickly with her special boots covering ground faster than any of us. Meanwhile, I can climb the wall and even move across the roof. This should be really easy." Lwyn presented their new capabilities, which would then make this move way faster. Since they needed some protection for most of the crew, it meant the four guys would this time be staying behind to guard. This was extra important in case they were attacked by fleeing Yheirqae.
Thanrie turned on the lights again while Mhyl took watch. She could see plenty of small movements through the walls, they had indeed returned. Lwyn then turned on one of the lamps she had found, to cause even more light. Smoke billowed in waves across the floor while they worked, Thanrie keeping the place dusted in the stuff. This terrified the Yheirqae, they keep a firm distance from this horror. With little trouble at all, Qheria reached the control room again and opened the main doors. The Yheirqae again fled, with even more desperation and fear. The smoke took even less time than before to clear, because much less of it was used.
Their large group then started the process of settling in. This would be their new home for now, so they would need to figure out how to make the most of it.