When they arrived at Major Dureal’s tent there was a little trouble getting in but soon enough they got past the guards. Upon entering the first thing they saw was the Major sitting at his desk reviewing some documents. One would hardly think the man was under arrest for treason just minutes ago. The first words that came out of his mouth after greeting them were.
“So how’d it go?”
Sam simply nodded and said.
“He went for it now we just need to come through on our end”
Jonathan voiced what Mark was thinking.
“Wait, what's going on, was that a setup? All of it? How did you…”
A sly look flashed between the daughter and father pair.
“Well…it was nothing so complex, before we left, my dad warned me that this might happen, so we had an outline of a plan just in case. With my dad out of the way, Major Liam would be the sole responsible party for the success or failure of the evacuation. I’m sure he realized this which made him marginally more receptive to our next move. See he’s not a fundamentally bad person just really opportunistic.”
Major Dureal continued where she left off.
“So if he could gain some advantage with no risk to himself, he’ll usually take it. Our plan is to operate separately from them and follow up after them in a separate convoy. We’ll gather whatever forces are willing to stay and use the path carved by the main force. Kind of like hitching a trailer. If we fail to get there then he still succeeded in his main mission but if we manage to pull it off all the credit goes to him for coming up with this plan.”
Mark looked at Sam, astonished.
“So that was all acting?”
Sam blushed heavily now.
“Well… no. Um, having a faint idea of what could happen and actually living through it are two different things, I didn’t expect it to feel so real”
He couldn’t fault her on that. They weren't machines that could just ignore their emotions.
“So he agreed to this? What about SAGE” Jonathan asked.
Sam nodded as the major laid out their plans.
“Right now he probably won’t care what I do as long as I don’t actively sabotage his plans. SAGE will be more effort than it's worth at this stage so we are clear on that end until we hit HQ, Whatever problems come up from this, we’ll deal with it later. Right now, all that matters is getting everyone to safety, we need to see how many fighters we’ll have because the number could either determine our success or failure. We have around eight hundred people to cover, ideally, I’d like the combatants to match or exceed those numbers. We are going to use the time we have left to gather the forces and we’ll make the trip on the fourth day soon after they’ve left ”
Sam interjected.
“Which reminds me we should go meet up with Chloe and Henry. They are probably already making their way inside but we should at least meet them and start explaining things.
The major decided there was too much to do in such a short time so he dived their workloads. He would handle the logistics and see if there are any soldiers that are willing to join them. Jonathan would take care of SAGE’s deployment, while Sam was to deal with the prophet's people
Then he looked at Mark and said.
“Mark, do you think you could talk to the Knights for us? If we can get them on board it will go a long way towards our goal”
Mark had actually been going to ask if they were going to include them, so he didn’t mind the job of delivering the request.
This was the most concrete plan they’d had since the news that this place was a goner but Mark wouldn’t be lured into thinking this would be easy or that everything was now sorted. A journey like this one was bound to have losses.
Letting them know he’d talk to the Knights seemed to be the last thing they were waiting on. They began to move in separate directions even the Major headed out of the tent to begin gathering forces. Though if Mark was honest the Major had the hardest job. Getting people who had no connection to the people here to follow him, all while arranging the execution of a mass civilian evacuation didn’t sound like fun.
Mark just hoped his job wouldn’t be as difficult. There was the possibility that the Knights would make their own desperate dash. Their numbers meant protecting their people was much easier. Asking them to join this mission meant their risk factor shot up exponentially. Regardless he was hopeful, he could convince them.
As he walked down the street he tried to think of what he would say. Sam had already separated from him flying towards the wall to deliver the good news. Though Chloe probably already knew. Mark wanted to go find Donny to make sure the guy was settling in, but he would just have to hang on for a while.
Movement out of the corner of his eye drew Mark's attention. Someone was walking next to him and had been for a while. He’d been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed them.
When he turned his head he saw Andy walking next to him, that casual grin resting on his face.
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“Yo, man, took you long enough”
Mark simply greeted the guy as a grin spread over his face. A look of mock anger took over Andy's brow.
“Dude, what was with the NB info-hold? A warning that we were blowing this popsicle stand woulda been nice.”
Mark really wished he could understand what Andy was saying half the time. The meaning was clear enough though.
“You had a date, I thought it was better to let you enjoy that before the bad news, you found out in the end”
“I guess… Where’d you go by the way? I came looking for you but no one knew where you were”
Mark explained what they’d been up to.
“Wait so all the people outside?”
Mark simply nodded, but now it was his turn to fish.
“What are the Knights doing right now? Do you know anything?”
Andy glanced at him and said.
“Well, you should ask the commander she has a plan I’m sure.”
“And I intend to but I want to know what you’ve heard, after everything that's happened lately you must have an idea”
Andy seemed to give it some actual thought.
“Right... As a whole most people are content, a little scared, but happy. They seem ready to follow her wherever she leads. From what’ve seen the commander really cares about people, I’m not worried because she’s in charge”
As hard as he tried Mark couldn’t help the warm feeling settling into his chest. They continued to chat all the way to Knight's tents.
Andy took him to a communal area, before joining this crowd. Daphne was out in the open talking to everyone. It sounded like she was updating them on the situation and answering any questions they may have. Ethel stood behind her with Boe at her side.
Mark stopped to listen she noticed him at the back but continued answering questions, such as the current tent shortage they were suffering. According to the woman who asked the question, the new intakes were still having to camp under the stars and she wanted to know when this would be solved.
Daphne's answer was direct and short, stating that tents and new clothing would be arriving this afternoon.
People kept firing questions at her and she dealt with them each in turn before moving on. After everyone was out of questions, Mark expected her to leave but instead, she hung around and spoke to people on a more personal level, simply being with them. She had this charismatic nature about her that calmed everyone around her.
The meeting ended an hour ago but she only managed to pull herself away now. Mark had happily sat chatting to Ethel and giving Boe the appropriate offerings of belly scratches. To an extent, Ethel already seemed to guess what was going on, as Mark only needed to fill in the smallest of gaps and she understood most of the situation.
When Daphne was finally done she had the three of them join her in one of the nearby tents.
After a tight embrace, she broke away from Mark, much to his disappointment.
“Well, go on. I can already tell from Ethel's face it’s good news and bad”
Mark launched into an explanation of how the previous day went and of the mission they were now considering risking it all on.
At the mention of Grace, Daphne's face froze.
“She got away, but I got Donny. I couldn’t keep our original promise”
Mark was referring to the fact that they had promised to keep an eye out for her and go after Grace together, but the circumstances had not allowed for this. Nor would he have given up the chance at taking Grace down.
Daphne just shook her head.
“I’m just glad you’re safe and that Donny’s back. I’m very happy for you Mark. How is he?”
Explaining Donny’s situation caused both Ethel and Daphne to curse under their breaths.
“I’ll figure it out. I’m going to heal him” Mark promised as the room went quiet.
Ethel was the one who broke the silence.
“So the plan is the follow behind the army and hope we can handle what comes up?”
Mark just nodded.
“Yes, this will be significantly more dangerous as we will be more of an open target, so take the time to decide what is best for the Knights”
Ethel and Daphne exchanged a look.
“Well, I’m on board if you are, the whole reason we continued to grow this group was because you wanted to help as many ‘deserving’ people as possible. This is pretty much the definition of that” Ethel said waiting for Daphne to answer.
“I want to join, the Knights are sworn to help those that can’t protect themselves. But I won’t make this decision on my own. Ethel help me gather up all the heads. I’d like to hear all opinions on this before I make a final decision. Mark, I’ll give you a real answer later.”
He could understand where she was coming from and honestly, as far as he was concerned she could take her time to decide.
Ethel was grinning proudly as she got up, for the first time Mark saw her place her hand over her heart, making the Knights salute with genuine grace.
“Then excuse me for a bit”
She walked out of the tent with Boe, leaving the two of them alone. They both just stared at one another for a moment.
“You should bring Donny here when you have the chance. I’ll have someone look out for him”
Mark nodded his thanks.
Getting up and walking towards her, he pulled her into a proper embrace this time, Daphne leaning against him. They both just remained there in silence for a while until the noise outside started to ramp up. People were gathering in the area to speak with her. It was time to go.
“... I’ll be back later” he said.
Daphne straightened her spine and winked at Mark before heading out to talk to her people.
Mark would let her sort things out in peace. In the meantime, there were far too many things to do.
Heading toward the front gate once more, he tried to see what was going on there.
By the looks of things, intake had given up taking the names of Chloe’s group down, as there were far too many of them and far too few officers to input the data right now.
They’d been given a section of the destroyed civilian residence and they were making the most of it.
The area had been cleaned, but no tents went up, instead, casters went around building small shelters out of the surrounding earth and strangely enough plants. Quiet a few of their casters could manipulate nature magic, and seeing as though they were in a Park surrounded by foliage and even trees, they used what was available to them. Promoting the growth of strangely shaped wooden shelters.
Mark saw all this as he searched for Donny. True to his word Franklin had kept an eye on Donny for him. The moment Mark got there, Franklin looked antsy to leave. Mark realized he’d stayed here to watch over Donny when he should have been reporting to SAGE, thanking the guy he waved him off as he left.
Donny was currently sitting on a raised stone seat, near one of the campfires. He looked up at Mark when he approached, but no recognition shone from those eyes.
Sitting down next to him he just wanted to draw a little more Corruption off but suddenly he noticed something interesting as he did so.