"Good lord, it’s about dang time you guys showed up! I was starting to get worried that the rest of the squad would be ditching me and poor Piniki to deal with things alone!" As usual, the ever-excitable and never-cursing Sonas attached himself to Brenden’s hip, chattering away like a child.
"Speak for yourself, Sonas; I never once doubted that the Valiant Nexus would show; he would never abandon us or the people." Standing proudly and looking at me with metaphorical hearts in her eyes, Piniki countered as she glanced in the direction she knew I was.
’Gag me with a fucking spoon, is she always this… clingy…gross…flirtatious, whichever it is, take your pick, but this shit’s gonna get on my nerves if she’s like this the entire time.’ Seeing as it was her first time being alongside the entire group, of course, Xilia had some words to say about how the pink hero acted around me.
’I wish I could say it wasn’t going to be like this the entire time, but…you may wanna prepare yourself.’ Brenden, standing side by side with his wife and trying his best to pry Sonas off his arm, stated in an annoyed tone.
’I don’t know, I find it kind of adorable, Bren, shouldn’t we be supporting such things? I mean, Taylor has been single for as long as I’ve known him…apart from a fling or two here and there.’ Emilia, who was giggling at the antics of Sonas and her husband, added, causing me to scoff aloud, drawing confused looks from the General and several other high-ranking officials.
It had been an hour since I finished the briefing back in Gnarnia. After dousing the fire I set by admitting my giving of information to the Government, we teleported across the country to Colorado and were presently standing either inside (Me) or right outside (everyone else) a large carnival-style tent, aptly nicknamed Base Camp Carni.
Located approximately 50 miles from the Undead Tower, this was where all the officials were meeting along with the Evolver Squad Leaders; however, since I had yet to deploy my group, they were standing outside of the tent while I conversed with the higher-ups about our current situation.
"Is there something wrong, oh fearless leader Nexus," a sarcastic voice to my left caused me to roll my eyes and glare at its owner out of the corner of my eye.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
"Someone’s still butt hurt about getting sidelined after a lackluster performance on the last few missions; you know, Hydro, one of these days, I should go ahead and repay you for all the hostility you send my way." Since my helmet was tucked away in my collar at the moment, all my facial expressions were on display. Although I was covered slightly, there was only so much that could be hidden by my mask.
"You! Do you think I won’t throw down right here, right now? Instance Break be damned, there is always time for me to kick that golden boy ass of yours…" My words had the desired effect of demeaning and painting an even poorer image of HydroLift, and a moment after he responded and punched his palm as an intimidation tactic, someone cleared their throat loudly.
"Major Nexus, First Lieutenant, do keep in mind this is an official meeting, and as such, your ranks actually mean something more than a glorified title in this situation." The speaker was a young lady wearing bright purple spandex.
"Well said, Captain Gjallarhorn, Major, Lieutenant. Please keep the chatter to a minimum. I understand there is bad blood between you, but don’t forget your present company and our current situation." An older man in military garb, sporting four silver stars on his shoulders, said.
"I apologize, Commandant Calaway," giving a sharp salute, I fell back to parade rest and didn’t engage further with HydroLift.
General Jamison Calaway, the highest ranking official in the Marine Corps, was a battle-hardened man who had seen his fair share in multiple wars, the Gulf War, Iraq; he was even part of the Infamous Battle of Falluja, and given he was the one at the helm for this operation, there was a certain level of respect even I would need to afford him…even if I could crush him like a bug.
Luckily, since he had been dealing with Goofy Ass Crayon Eating Marines all his life, wrangling a few returners wasn’t too much effort for him.
"As I was saying, given the fact that there are multiple entry points where potential hostiles will be arriving from, I feel the best course of action is to bolster our defenses on two gates in particular, the far side ones."
’With there being four gates, all in a row with several dozen miles in between them, Commandant Calaway’s plan isn’t entirely stupid, considering he wants us on the flanks, and that way, we could control the threat and contain it kind of like the 300 spartans did; however, it presents one problem.’ I thought while looking down at the sand table mock-up of the battlefield.
"Sir, what about the straight away? Your plan banks on the enemy forces breaking off from the two central gates and heading toward us on the flanks, but what if they rush forward and completely ignore us." As if they could hear my thoughts, another one of the Evolver Leaders spoke up, a young man wearing shiny silver plate armor named HailSwarm.
As you could guess, he had an ice-based talent, but his armor was a dead giveaway. He was a rare battle mage, someone who had metaphysical talent yet preferred to be in the thick of battle instead of in the backlines.
"That’s where Major Nexus and his power come in…" Looking up from the table, the Commandant gave me a hard look before continuing.
"That is to say that the information you’ve given us about your power was truthful, of course; if not, then this entire plan will need to be scrapped."
’Ah….so that’s why…well shit…’ breaking my posture, I crossed my arms over my chest and examined the table carefully. Since everything on it was scaled perfectly, thanks to some nerdy logistics person, I didn’t have to worry about improper distances. I could take things at face value….not that I would rely on such things because I was already calculating things based on my own mental map of the terrain.