Fragment of Destiny
Chapter - 40 Rally Point

Samuel retrieved his sidearm and slid it back into the holster on his hip. His entire body shook with the effort of maintaining his barrier. With the wraiths defeated waves of fear for one’s life gave way to a new kind of fear as people began to search frantically for their loved ones. Grief and rage accented the fear making for a truly noxious blend. Then Samuel remembered Ju and he was nearly knocked to his feet. Even within his barrier fingers of ice gripped his heart. He wanted to run through the crowd screaming her name at the top of his lungs but resisted. They had won this battle but the malravians would be back, finding her wouldn’t keep her alive if they lost the next one.

“Elroy, are you still there?” Samuel asked attempting a direct link.

“I’m here.”

“Are there any other survivors? And Ju…”

“Yes, we have two other groups. They have both dug in on the rim in sector’s five and three. So far, they have not encountered any wraiths or malravians. And Ju…” There was a slight pause followed by a rustling sound on the other end.

“I’m ok Samuel. I am with Elroy,” Ju said.

Samuel thought his heart would burst with relief at the sound of her voice. “Where?”

There was another pause as the mic changed back, “I have set up a mobile communications center on the rim by sector eight.” Elroy said.

Immediately Samuel scanned the remains of squat structures that dotted this part of the rim. One of them caught his eye and he broke into a run. A plastic mat with a magnetic hook stood in place of a door of the tent-like structure. The single large room was nearly an oven, and the whine of electronics sent involuntary shivers through Samuel’s teeth. None of that bothered him for long however as his eyes quickly found Ju.

He drank in the sight of her as if seeing her for the first time. Her lips quirked with a frown and Samuel remembered his helmet. The moment it was off Ju had both of her arms wrapped around him. Weather from the force of her or the waves of relief she radiated Samuel nearly lost his footing. With his cheek resting atop her head and her body pressed up against him he wished the moment would never end. Abruptly he was stirred back to the present by a squeak as Elroy shifted nervously in his chair.

Samuel straightened and Ju lifted her head from his chest, her beautiful dark eye's meeting his. If only he could manage to never let her out of his sight again. A swath of annoyance and tension radiated from Elroy forcing Samuel to look away.

With a quick kiss and whispered words, “I love you.” Ju moved away.

Samuel took one final look at Ju before he turned his attention to Elroy. “Thank you for finding her, and keeping her safe.”

Elroy waved a dismissive hand, before beckoning Samuel to the terminal. Reports and grids covered the view screen but one stood out among them all. A large grid of Central showing what remained of their city. All of the sectors had been greyed out with only three pockets of color remaining along the rim.

“Was Fin successful in finishing off the malravians?” Samuel asked hoping that just maybe his fool plan had worked.

“No. I have lost contact with all the teams he sent into the tunnels. As for Fin, he is dead. Along with nearly everyone else who was in sector eight. The only good news, if you can call it that, is you are now the highest-ranking enforcer.”

The words hit Samuel like an avalanche. He had known it was bad but this… His eyes darted around the small room as if looking for someone to tell him that Elroy was wrong. He was a Halsinion, whatever his rank they would never follow him, and even if they did, he had no idea where to begin.

Elroy gripped his arm careful not to touch Samuel’s skin, “I know it’s a lot but we have a plan remember.”

Elroy was right, they did have a plan, but could they really pull it off? “How close are we to getting this city flooded?” Samuel asked.

“Farther away than I would like. I had the shaper teams organized but now half of them are dead and more are missing. Even if we could get enough shapers, we don’t have a way to transport them to the cap, let alone defend them once they start working.”

Samuel’s brow furrowed, a plan beginning to coalesce in his mind. “How many skimmers do we have here? And do you know how many at each of the other two holdouts? Are there any dusk blades?

“We have only one skimmer here. They have two in sector five and one in sector three but no dusk blades besides the one you came in.”

It was not enough, not by half. “The militia from Crescent has ten good skimmers so if they are willing to help us that should be enough.”

“If the malravians attack though, a hand full of skimmers won’t be able to hold them off we need dusk blades.”

“There were several undamaged dusk blades in sector eight… The mist it only attacked the people.” Samuel said and felt himself cringe.

“That’s a hell of a risk sending a team to retrieve them but I don’t see any other way. We certainly can’t all go and leave the civilians undefended.” Elroy said.

“Speaking of that, we need to get the other two groups here as soon as they can manage.”

“They will be much easier to pick off on the move. Unlike here they have dug in defenses.”

Samuel shook his head, “The reapers have been harvesting the crystals from the catacombs. If one of them attack it won’t matter what kind of defenses they have. Am I right in assuming the only reason we still have com’s is because of this setup of yours?”

Elroy nodded.

“Then this is our most important asset. We have to keep it defended.”

“Even moving the rest of our forces here if those reapers are as powerful as you’re making them sound-”

“Tess is ten times stronger if not more. As long as she is here, we won’t have anything to worry about. Just get them here. In the meantime, we need to round of what shapers we have and get to work on setting up defenses.”

“Samuel, I think at this point defenses would be counterproductive. The tremors would likely draw the malravians to us. Though If Tess is as powerful as you claim then we won't need the Malitia skimmers for defense. We could use them to ferry people here from sector three and five.”

“Good, I’ll go find Tess and make sure she understands her role in all this,” Samuel said. He stopped on his way out and gave Ju a kiss which only made going that much harder. It was true what he had said, the communications bunker Elroy had erected needed to be defended at all costs, though not just because of the necessity of communication. Ju would be there. Even if everything else was in ruins as long as she was ok when this was all over then it would be worth any price.

Samuel ducked out of the small building, doing his best to put Ju from his mind for the time being. He had been away from Tess for too long now. Even though she had saved them, in truth she was just as dangerous if not more so than the looming malravian threat. Samuel pushed the thought of something setting Tess off to the back of his mind. He had to ensure she was stable or their plan would never work.

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