Awakening: The ALPHA Generation
Chapter 35

Room A2 is dim and smells of dust. Its lit only by a few lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling. A round table sits in the middle, where Carper stands with the two men, and Gray by his side. He addresses us in a clear voice. “This is Commander Warrick –“ He motions to the first man. “-and his second in command, Ivan.” He nods to the other. “Warrick leads the military of the larger Sector 3 group.”

I look at the man introduced as Warrick. He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with dark skin and a muscular build. Other than a few creases at the corners of his eyes, his face is free of wrinkles. His stance is defensive, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“As you know, we’re facing a huge problem,” Carper says. “We leaked the Cleansing footage, but the Remainder hasn’t responded as we’d hoped. We need to find another way to convince them that the Redeemers are their enemy.” He puts his hands behind his back. “Now that our allies have arrived, we need to finalize a new plan. I’ve called this meeting to give everyone present a chance to give their input. If anyone has any ideas, now would be the time to make them known.”

The group is silent for a long moment. People shift uncomfortably, glancing at each other. Finally, Gray clears his throat.

“The Remainder trusts the Redeemers whole-heartedly.” His voice carries over the entire group, crisp and clear. “I think the only way to shatter that trust would be to get a confession about the Cleansings from a high-ranking Redeemer.”

“Like an ambassador?” The voice comes from the corner of the room. I can’t see who it is from where I’m standing.

Next to Carper, Warrick nods slowly. “An ambassador would be perfect.” His voice is deep, practically shaking the air. “Our ambassador would be in the Sector 3 Hub. If we take the Hub, capture the ambassador, and force him to make a statement, we’d have both a confession and a Hub at our disposal.”

Carper nods in agreement. “We take the Hub, find the ambassador, and leak the confession. Sounds straight forward.”

Nearby, a young man leans to his neighbour and whispers excitedly, “Once we take the Hub, we’ll be unstoppable. We’ll be able to advance our forces – maybe even take the Crux!”

They have no idea what true Redeemer force is. A few guns and grenades will never be able to get through the endless lines of Redeemer soldiers and artillery. I don’t know what kind of weaponry Warrick’s colony has, but I have no doubts that the Redeemers’ is drastically deadlier.

I look at the people around me and wonder how much they know about the Redeemer’s tech. Hurricanes and zappers, poison bullets that kill their victims long after they’ve been removed. And medusas. I cringe at the thought of those; launched weapons that use magnetic bonds to crush their targets. No one survives a medusa attack.

But those are just the beginning, the foundations of the Redeemer’s massive weapon arsenal. With our meager resources, we’re finished.

I speak before I can stop myself, interrupting Carper mid-sentence. “There’s no way the plan will work.”

All eyes turn to me. I can feel their gazes and fight the urge to squirm. Darren glances down at me in surprise.

“What was that?” Warrick says, irritation masking his features.

“The plan won’t work,” I say. “We don’t have enough weaponry to take a Hub. We’d be crushed within minutes.”

“With our combined forces-“ he begins.

“It doesn’t matter!” I say a bit too loudly. I lower my voice and continue. “We can’t beat them with brute strength. Plus, they would see an ambush coming, especially with-“ A cautious look from Darren makes me pause, thinking over my next words. Mentioning ALPHA, especially how It could always be watching, could throw the colony into a panic. “Especially with their surveillance tech,” I say instead.

Warrick studies me. “Who is she?” he asks Carper.

The Commander motions at me to introduce myself. I clear my throat, extremely conscious of the crowd staring at me. “Natalie Spearse, sir.”

He raises an eyebrow and speaks to Carper. “The ex-Redeemers you mentioned to me earlier – she’s one of them, correct?”

Carper nods, then says to me, “You say our plan won’t work. What do you suggest we do instead?”

“In our current condition, taking an ambassador from a fortified Hub is impossible. But a confession doesn’t have to come from an ambassador.” I speak slowly, my mind working to create a plan. “There are other political figures that we can reach more easily.” I glance at Gray. “Like a treasurer.”

“Sector 3’s treasurer is Miller,” Gray says, looking to Carper. “Is he accessible?”

Carper answers, “There’s an Enforcer outpost a few miles east, outside of a populated area. He stays there for protection, like most Redeemer politicians.”

In my mind, a plan falls into place. Outposts are lightly guarded; they’re just rest-stops for Redeemers, places for their government members to stay in. If we chose to attack one, we might have a chance to take it.

“Outposts also contain some weapons and tech we could collect to use against the Redeemers,” I say. “If we take Miller’s outpost, we could get both his confession and better resources.”

Next to Warrick, the man Carper introduced as Ivan crosses his arms over his chest. The top of his head only reaches Warrick’s shoulders, and a scrappy brown beard lines his jaw, but he tries to act commanding. “Carper said you were a Redeemer trainee.” He narrows his eyes at me. "Why should we trust the advice of a Redeemer?”

“Ex-Redeemer,” I say before Carper can respond. “I’m not loyal to them.” Not anymore.

“I’m not going to-“

“That’s enough,” Warrick snaps at Ivan. “Ex-Redeemers are common in the Truth, especially our own colony. You should know by now that it’s not a problem.”

Ivan’s face reddens slightly - from anger or embarrassment, I can’t tell.

Carper gives me a questioning look. “You’re suggesting that we take control of an Enforcer outpost?”

I nod.

Darren speaks up. “It’s actually a good idea,” he says. “We need stronger weaponry, which the outposts are usually stocked with. Getting a confession from Miller should be doable. It’s a good plan.”

“Or it could end is disaster,” Warrick points out. “If we fail, we’d lose valuable soldiers and precious time. It would be a better effort to take on a bigger target, like a Hub.”

“If we attack the Hub, the mission will fail.” Darren’s voice is firm and without doubt. “We don’t have the firepower to take it successfully. We should begin with the outpost, then move on to bigger targets later.”

“My men can handle the Hub-“

“Are your men ready to face a fully-armed Redeemer force?” Darren’s voice is void of emotion, but his eyes betray his irritation. “Attacking the Hub will decimate us. Taking the outpost is the wisest decision for now.”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Carper steps in. “We’ll follow your suggestions, Spearse. But it may take some time for us to organize. Both of you can assist in preparing a course of action, since it was your idea.”

Darren nods as I say, “Understood.”

Carper turns to the crowd. “The rest of you, get back to training. You’ll need to be ready for the battle ahead.”

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