Chapter 9: More Questions than Answers

Alice let out another wince as she, finally, finished wrapping her chest. The many blows Matilda had driven into her side had bruised more than one of her ribs and moving was going to be... bothersome for the foresable future. Thankfully, none of them were broken and the rest of the injuries she had taken were minor. The same could not be said for the people in the farm, however...

It had taken Amber and Gabby nearly half a hour to clear the area around Alice of people. Once free to move without endangering people, Alice had helped search for survivors, but had to stop when all the big rubble was moved away. What was left was too small for her to really help with or required too much finesse for her massive body. With nothing else left to do, she had hauled Matilda's dead body back into the house and dumped her into one of the rooms before heading back to the first-aid kit... and her regrets.

Alice tried to sigh, but a fresh stab of pain stopped her. So many dead because of her failure... including Holland himself. Some part of her knew she was being unfair to herself, that no one could have known how inhumanly resilient Matilda would be. But its voice was near silent compared to her screaming guilt. Alice had to fight herself not to sigh again.

Despite her creeping despair, Alice refused to just sit and wallow in despair. Gabby, Amber, and so many others were still out in the farm, struggling to find even just one more survivor. She couldn't help with that effort, not at her size, but there were other tasks she could do that they couldn't. There was still a source of information just waiting to be tapped.

Doing her best to ignore the protest from her chest, Alice stood up and turned away from the smashed window. She moved around the couch and spotted her target off in a corner. Matilda's wrist unit sat where it had landed after the Sword had tossed it away. Alice moved to it and squatted down to pick it up. She moved back to the couch and lowered herself down before turning her attention to the device, wincing a bit as she moved.

The wrist unit had been built rather sturdy and was still working despite the violent toss. A quick restart fixed her "sabotage" and Alice waited for the device to power back up.  The device turned back on, this time with its explorer working, and Alice smirked at its lack of a password lock. Alice had had a hunch Matilda was too arrogant to think she would ever need one, doubly so when only resized people could work the device. Her arrogance was going to give Alice access to everything the dead Sword had and, hopefully, some answers to her many questions.

Alice flipped through the device's functions and stopped when she found its message log. She brought the log up and began to look through it. Most of the messages were the standard fare of reports, supply requests, and conversations with friends, but a rather recent one caught Alice's eye. It mentioned a Resistance attack in the title and Alice wondered if it was an unofficial report sent to Matilda. As she looked closer, however, a wave of shock and surprise slammed into Alice. It had been sent on December 5th... the day BEFORE the attack.

With her world beginning to reel, Alice opened the message to read it.

All Sword Personnel

Tomorrow, a Resistance force will be attacking our base. Due to standard operation procedures, you will be called to report back immediately. You may disregard that order as enough combat forces have be moved on site to deal with the attack.

Also, all Resistance operatives are to be instructed to go to ground till instructed otherwise. This attack will force us to push against the Resistance much harder than before and we need to avoid unnecessary deaths in our pool of operatives.

Command

Alice could hardly believe her eyes. It had been staged...The Swords had staged an attack on the base! But...how?! How had they gotten a force of Resistance to do that? And why? What could they, possibly, gain from faking an attack? If it was the opening gambit to a coup the “Command” would have called everyone back, but she had told them to stay put. And that last part... Resistance operatives... what did tha-

Slight dread washed over Alice as the implications clicked together. Resistance operatives...as in people who worked inside the Resistance. Of course… how else would they have gotten a Resistance force to attack the base? But if they Swords had spies in the Resistance groups then… Alice’s dread increased as she looked out the window.  The people outside..!

Wait...no, no, Alice needed to think before she rushed to action. Running out to spread the message of a spy would simply cause paranoia and distrust. No, she needed to think this through, first. Try to find out who the spy was… or if there even was a spy.

If there was a spy among them, they would have been a fool not to act during their fight with Matilda. A simple warning about the shard or revealing their attack before it even started would have doomed them. Yet neither had happened... And this was an Elven squad. If there was one thing the Elves were experts at it was intelligence gathering and Alice was sure that meant they were equally as good at COUNTER-intelligence. Her dread faded away as she realized the chance of a spy being here was more than remote. It was something to keep in mind, but not to act on.

With that worry put to rest, Alice focused back on the message. Specifically, the implications that the Swords were not bringing their full might to bear on the Resistance groups. Alice frowned as she wonder why they would hold back. Was it to make sure they stayed in power? No Resistance would mean they would no longer be needed... But it would, also, free up their full might if they wanted to force a coup. And just because Atlanta was secure didn't mean other cities were not. Sadly, with this limited information, all she could do was guess as to the reasons. Perhaps there were older messages that would provide more insight.

Alice started to thumb her way back through the messages Matilda had sent and received. She made sure to check all the messages sent by Command, both the obviously official one and the not quite so, and began to piece together a horrible puzzle. It was now more than obvious that someone high up in the Sword's command was working toward some ultimate goal. However, this "Command" was careful never to mention her name or fully explain her objective. Alice could think of a few possible suspects, Angela herself chief among them, but the goal was harder to pin down, doubly so if it was Angela. If it was a takeover of the Atlanta-based Society then Angela had already had plenty of chances to do just that and one could argue she had already succeeded. Doubly so with Command mentioning Shield agents under her control. So what WAS she after?

Sadly, none of the messages provided any answers to that question. It did confirm that Matilda had been heavily involved in this conspiracy, but if she had had any critical information it was now gone forever. Alice tapped the device as she thought back to their fight and tried to remember anything useful. Just before Alice had attacked her, Matilda had thought Alice was a spy. She had mentioned both the Society’s highest powers and Cathrine as her potential benefactors, which implied they were both against whatever Command was after. That narrowed down some of the possibilities, bu-

Alice's thoughts were interrupted as the device suddenly gave a low beep. She glanced down at the screen and saw that a new message had been received. She glanced at the sender and saw Atlanta Society. That name was only used when official reports were sent out to all Society personal. Why-  Ahh, of course... the Resistance attack. This had to be the official after action report. Alice opened the report and began to read.

Most of it was rather uninteresting padding that Alice ignored. She skipped the propaganda and praise and moved to the details. Much of it was padded as well, but she gleaned a few details out of it. The attack had been unsuccessful, but had taken the base off-guard. Or at least the Shield defenders off guard… A few giantesses had been killed in the fighting along with Society personal, but the Swords had reacted quickly enough to keep them minimal. Knowing an attack is coming tends to do that…

Moving down the report, Alice came to the casualties list. She started to run down the list, but stopped dead at the C's. A name jumped out at Alice and a sudden pit of despair and worry appeared in her stomach..

Cutter, Sanders: Ranger Patrol 5 KIA

Alice ignored the pain as she let out a sad sigh. She hadn't known Sanders that well, but his loss was still a blow. Isabella was goi- Oh God... A sudden wave of fear smashed into Alice like a train. The attempt on her and Gabriella's life, she had almost forgotten about it because of this fight. The attack would have been the perfect cover and, now, she knew it had been planned by the Swords. No... no no no!

The device couldn't scroll fast enough as Alice moved it down to the R's. She brought it to a stop as the R's appeared and she moved down till....

Reim, Isabella: Ranger Patrol 5 KIA

Alice had to fight not to let the device fall to the floor. She ignored her protesting ribs as she leaned down and buried her face in her free hand. No... Isabella was gone. Her best friend was...was dead. She had chosen to go after Gabriella rather than her...and now she was lost. If she had only warned her or gone there first, or-

A sudden beep pulled Alice away from her despair. She glanced back at the device and saw another new message. It didn't matter, with Isa- Her thoughts stopped as she notice the sender, Command. The leader of this conspiracy and...and the one behind the attempted murder of her and Gabriella...and the actual murder of Isabella. Alice despair turned to hate as she opened the message.

All Swords

A catgirl has escaped the Atlanta base and is transporting a shrunken target with Alpha-level classified Intel. The target and the catgirl are to be killed on sight, no exceptions. No torture, playing, or slow deaths are to be employed, only lethal force. We cannot allow this target to reach the Resistance with the information it has.

The catgirl was last spotted heading East out of the Atlanta base. All catgirls not accompanied by a trainer in this area are to be killed on sight. Sightings are to be transmitted to Command ASAP.

Command

Alice's hate had turned to confusion as she read through the message. A tiny on a catgirl? And with Alpha-level information? It would have been a good joke if the message didn't make it so obviously not. Who would have been crazy enough to steal that kind of information then try to ride out on a ca- A sudden shaft of hope seemed to shine down as Alice realized exactly who was crazy enough to do just that. Isabella.

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Gabby gave one last grunt of effort as she, finally, got the large piece of rubble to shift. She looked down and swore at the remains of another person she had been too late to save. Sadly, that was becoming the norm now and Gabby wasn't surprised. They had been at this for hours and the chances of someone surviving being buried alive this long were nearing nil. The only silver lining was the look of surprise locked on the poor man's face. Gabby doubted he had even realized what was happening before he was killed…

Leaving the body, Gabby headed back down the giant pile to take a short rest. She passed the boy who had pulled her off Matilda, Roan, as she walked down and waved for him to follow. He had been working right alongside her without rest and she knew he would have keep working if she didn't stop him. Kid had heart, but his scrawny body was reaching its limit and he wouldn't help anyone if he keeled over.

"Come on, let's take a rest. I don't think there is anyone left in this pile... Alive, anyway," Gabby said to Roan. He nodded and tossed a bit of rubble he had picked up away before falling in behind her, the barest hint of relief passing through his features. Gabby found a bit of stable rubble near the bottom to sit down on and took out her newly acquired canteen for a drink. Roan did the same, but almost collapsed when he sat down. Poor boy had run himself ragged...

"Look, Roan, you really should go take a rest. I'm tired from all this work and I haven't spent months in a prison camp slowly losing strength," Gabby said with an understanding smile. Roan looked up at Gabby and put on a defiant face.

"I'm fine. Just...just need a break," the boy said trying to hide just how tired he was. He didn't do a very good job of it, though. Gabby shook her head and got a more stern look.

"You are not fine, you're nearly dead on your feet. Go take a rest, you have done more than enough," Gabby said, hoping to try and persuade the young man to rest. The boy just shook his head, though.

"No... no I can keep going. I can be strong too," the boy said as he pushed himself back to his feet. He wobbled a bit before he got his legs fully under him and started off back up the pile. Gabby groaned inwardly as she stood up to give chase. Kid was going to pass out before he even reached the top.

"Roan, stop. Working yourself to utter exhaustion isn't going to help you get strong," Gabby said as gently as she could. She caught up to the boy and brought him to a stop with a soft, but firm, grip on his shoulder. He shook his head and looked to debate something before turning to face her.

"Then how am I supposed to get strong?! How am I supposed to make it up to these people for-" he came to a sudden halt as the beginnings of tears started to appear. He jerked away and buried his face into his hand. Gabby let him turn away as she tried to hide her surprise. Make it up to them? Was he blaming himself for this massacre?

"Roan... Hey, don't cry. Look, I know it hurts that we couldn't save everyone, bu-" Gabby started but was stopped as Roan turned back.

"That's not it! I'm not stupid, I KNOW we couldn't have saved everyone! But we- no I should have been able to save more! I was feed better, had a weapon, was allowed to hear their plans, I should have..." Roan stopped again as he shook his head and wiped more tears away. Gabby was, now, completely lost. Better feed and had a weapon? What the hell was he talking about?

Her confusion must have been evident on her face as Roan sighed when he looked up at her.

"The guards made me a guard, Gabby. They threatened to beat my dad if I didn't help them keep watch. Freed more of them up for... other things," Roan explained before wiping some snot away. Gabby mouthed an oh as she made the connections. Holland had mentioned some of the guards were just prisoners pressed into service. Roan had been one of those and the guilt of not helping before now was eating away at him. Gabby understood why he would feel guilty over it, but also knew it was wrong.

"I know it seems like you should have done something, but anything you would or could have done wouldn't have changed how this turned out. You couldn't have stopped all the guards by yourself," Gabby explained in a soft tone. Roan, though, just shook his head more.

"But I could have stopped some! I could have stopped them from beating Judith to death or made sure Henry got the food he needed or... or saved my dad from..." Roan trailed off as he looked back at the pile of rubble they were on. Gabby's heart felt like it had dropped down a trap door as she looked at the pile too. His dad had... Gabby turned back to Roan as he started to cry again. She had no idea what to say to the poor kid so she just pulled him closer and into a hug. The boy accepted the hug and buried his head into Gabby's chest. She let him stay like that as she tried to think of what to say or do.

"Those...those people are gone, Roan. And nothing you or anyone else does will change that," Gabby started as she patted his head, "but...but we can honor their memory by making sure we don't make the same mistakes. I might not have known your dad, but I know he would want you to move on and grow despite his death." Roan sniffed a few times and looked to get himself somewhat under control as he looked up to Gabby.

"You said you wanted to get strong, right? Well, I'll show you how to get strong. Least I can do since you would have saved my life if Alice had been a bit slower," Gabby said with a smile. Roan seemed a bit confused at first, but the look faded to be replaced with a hopeful one.

"R...really?"

"Really. From now on, you're my student and I'm going to beat everything I know about being the baddest, toughest, Marine into you until you can out wrestle a bear," Gabby said letting her smile turn into a smirk. Roan couldn't help but get his own smile as he hugged Gabby even tighter. She chuckled to herself as she ruffled his hair a bit. But hug time was over and now it was training time. Gabby pulled Roan off her and got a dead serious look.

"And training starts right now. Wipe those tears up and get to attention," Gabby demanded. Roan was taken off-guard by the sudden shift, but did as he was told once he snapped out of it. He wiped his eyes clear and came to a sort of attention. Ehh, they would work on that later.

"First lesson. You can't train or learn if you are exhausted. Muscles grow stronger not from working, but from rest AFTER working. You have done the working part, now it's time for the rest part. Get your butt back to the tempHQ, get some food, and then get some sleep. Understood?" Gabby said in her best imitation of a drill sergeant. Roan looked a bit annoyed by those orders and might have been thinking of voicing said annoyance. If he had, he reconsidered when Gabby's stern look turned to a glare. Instead, he gave a sloppy salute and took off for the HQ. Well...at least he learned quick.

Gabby made sure Roan entered the HQ tent before turning back to the pile. She was about to start up it when a large noise drew her attention to the unshrunken house. Alice's massive form stepped out  and started toward what was left of the farm's fencing. This rubble was going to have to wait as Alice wouldn't have come back out unless something important had happened. Gabby leap down from the pile and jogged her way to where Alice had knelt down beside the fence. She arrived just about the same time as Amber, the new Resistance leader. Gabby gave her a short nod, which she returned, before she looked up at Alice.

"Need to talk, privite," Alice said before she put her hand down in front of them. Gabby raised an eyebrow at this odd development, but trusted Alice to know what did and didn't need to be said in earshot of others. Gabby climbed up onto the massive hand and turned back to see Amber looked a bit suspicious.

"Oh come on. If we wanted to kill you we could do it right here and no one could stop us...well stop Alice anyway," Gabby admitted with some annoyance in her voice. She was still a bit miffed that Alice was now the strongest one and Gabby wasn't going to get over that till she was back to her old height. A few of the other Resistance people glared at Gabby for her comment, but Amber just sighed.

"True enough," she said in a resigned voice before climbing up herself. Alice partly closed her hand  before, slowly, rising back to her full height. Gabby gave a small thanks that Alice had remember her and Holland's less than fun ride from before and had made proper adjustments. Sadly, her footsteps were still just as jarring and both Gabby and Amber had to brace themselves well to keep from being tossed around.

Alice carried them back into the house and headed for the couch. She, again slowly, sat down on the couch before placing them on the coffee table in front of it. Gabby let out a relieved sigh as she felt solid, unmoving ground under her again and took a second to recollect herself. Having shaken off the ride, Gabby looked up and saw Alice fiddling with a wrist unit. Amber looked up as well and a worried frown appeared on her face.

"Why are you using that?" Amber asked in a tone that hinted of fear. Gabby glanced back at Alice as she wondered the same. Calling in some Shields to look at the mess might not be a bad idea, but she doubted they could talk them out of attacking the Resistance. And, considering what these Resistance soldiers had done to save the prisoners, they deserved better than that. But Alice had to be aware of that so what WAS she doing with it?

"Information gathering. Swords use different codes, different channels, to talk. Matilda's unit has codes and channels. Found...disturbing information. Sensitive, disturbing information," Alice said before moving the unit close enough for them to read. Amber and Gabby glanced at each other before starting to read through the messages.

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Gabby's blood was boiling...no, it was BEYOND boiling! It had taken a bit of explaining for Gabby to catch on to everything Alice had discovered, but once she got the hang of it her rage was past being controlled.

"That...that FUCKER! She's using us...using the whole Atlanta Society!! And when we didn't dance her tune she fucking tried to murder us! AND set up a Resistance attack just to cover it up!! We've got to tell the Shields, warn them the whole damn Swords ar-" Alice cut off her rant mid sentence.

"We can't. Command said she has Shield agents. Tell any Shield and risk tipping off. Too risky," Alice said in a calming tone. Gabby didn't feel any calmer, though. In fact, she was almost even  more angry knowing there were Shields we were going along with this...this butchery of everything they were supposed to stand for! The Society was supposed to help Mankind recover from the Shrink Disaster, not herd it into pens like cattle! If they couldn't warn the Shields then they had to do SOMETHING!

"So what do we do?! We can't just sit here and do nothing with this!" Gabby demanded as she started to pace a bit in anger.

"Unfortunately, I think that is exactly what we have to do," Amber said, finally speaking up. Gabby whirled to shoot a glare at Amber, but the Resistance woman continued despite it.

"We can't reveal that we know this to anyone in the Society or this, "Command", might start using a new way to communicate that we don't have access to. And the same applies to any other Resistance groups thanks to their spies. I doubt we have any in the Elves, but the others... the others are not so secure..." Amber trailed off as if remembering something. Gabby wanted to refute her point... but she knew Amber was right. Dammit, they find this treasure trove of evidence and couldn't do a damn thing with it...

"There is something," Alice said as she moved the unit back up to her. She pushed a few buttons before turning it back to them. Gabby read through it and quickly realized it was a report given of the attack. Most of it was boring official crap, but it soon scrolled down to the casualty list. And a name jumped right out at Gabby... Isabella… Oh, God...

"Wait, there is more," Alice, quickly said as Gabby felt her legs start to give out. Gabby fought to keep standing as Alice pushed a button to change to message to a new one, one from Command. Gabby read through the message and blinked a few times at its insanity. A tiny on a catgirl?! What the fuck kind of jo-... wait... Alpha level knowledge...using a damn catgirl while shrunk... BEING shrunk... It couldn’t… but who else COULD it be?

"That crazy fucking bitch…” Gabby mouthed before a loud laugh burst out from her along with a wave of joy and relief.

“HAHAHA! Sneaking out from under their noses on a damn catgirl, fucking hell Isabella, " Gabby laughed, feeling better than she had in days. Alice even got the closest thing to a smile she ever got as the two celebrated their friend's survival. Amber, though, was totally lost and looked between them in confusion.

"Oh... sorry. We have trustworthy friend that was back at the base. Apparently, these fuckers managed to shrink her too, but not before she got some serious intel. An-"

"And she managed to sneak out on a catgirl... One hell of a friend," Amber finished looked a bit awestruck.

"You don't know the half of it. Well, what are we waiting for! Alice, we have to go find her! With her help we are sure to find someway to fuck this ‘Command’." Gabby said punching her fists together in excitement. Alice, though, seemed to get a bit less happy as Gabby brought up leaving. Gabby was confused why till she glanced over at Amber. Oh...right...

"Oh...well may-"

"No, no you need to go and find this friend of yours. If she has information that important, than we need to reach her ASAP. We can make do without you," Amber said in a confident tone, though her face looked far less sure. Gabby bite her lower lip at that and turned away. She needed to save Isabella...but Amber and the prisoners really did need all the help they could get. And there was Roan...

"Maybe...maybe you should go find Isabella alone, Alice," Gabby said, feeling torn even as she said it. Alice raised an eyebrow at her as Amber looked at her in surprise.

"I'm not going to be much use in covering ground and I sure as hell am no good at tracking. But helping haul food and stuff to keep some ill-feed prisoners alive, that I can do,” Gabby said as she turned a smile to Amber. Amber looked about to argue, but Alice’s louder voice cut her off.

“Very well. Will bring Isabella back,” Alice said as she lowered her hand again.

“You better or I’ll kick your ass all the way back to Atlanta, shrunken or not,” Gabby said as the two old friends shared a smirk.

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Alice frowned as she studied her map once again. A full week had passed since she had left Gabriella and the others. She had spent much of that time attempting to track Isabella's movements and avoid Society patrols. Matilda's wrist unit proved invaluable in the later, but near useless in the former. As was her own skills in hunting and tracking... Despite Alice's best efforts, she seemed no closer to finding Isabella than she had been the moment she had left the farm.

After leaving the base area, Isabella and her catgirl seemed to vanish completely and none of the many Society patrols had found a hint of either. Alice was fairly sure that was thanks to Isabella heading down into the old sewers and drainage channels, but knowing that and actually tracking her THROUGH said channels were very different things. Alice didn't have any information on their layout and Isabella could have come out in hundreds of places. However, Alice did have one advantage that the rest of the Society didn't have. She had a good idea of Isabella's destination.

Whatever Isabella had found, it had likely involved something in Lindale. She had made multiple trips there and had only taken an interest in it after the Manchent incident. And if anyone knew something that this "Command" didn't want getting out, it would have been Gregor Manchent.

That knowledge had lead her here, to the old ruins of Marietta. Marietta had been a large suburb to the north-west of Atlanta. It was, or rather had been, almost city unto itself and even had its own air force base. Now it was just empty ruins that had yet to be recolonized. Feral catgirls, packs of wild dogs, and worse were said to lurk in its ruined buildings. About the only people who came here were scavengers or desperate refugees, both Society and Resistance. Which made it the perfect place for Isabella to slip out of the city.

However, tracking Isabella in these decaying ruins would be like trying to track a fly through a shopping mall. Nonetheless, Alice would not give up. Isabella was out there somewhere and Alice would not stop till she had rescued her friend. Even if she had to search every square inch of this suburb.

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Another long day of marching and biting cold had, finally, come to an end. The refugees, exhausted from yet another hard march, were all resting while the Elves set to work securing and setting up the camp. Of course, they were just as tired from the march as the prisoners, but someone had to secure the area. Amber hated having to push them so hard, but there was no telling when the Society would discover what had happened at the farm. They needed to put as much distance between themselves and the farm before that happened. The other Elves understood that as well, but it didn't make it any easier ordering them to work themselves to near exhaustion... nor did the ordering feel any less strange.

Even after two weeks, Amber still didn't fully feel like the leader. She still caught herself thinking of asking Holland for orders or Devin for his thoughts. But both of them were gone, now, along with so many others. They had entered the farm with thirty people...and left with fourteen. Well...fourteen plus the eighty refugees who had survived. Ninety- four people... all putting their trust in her to lead them to safety. She was used to having lives depend on her decisions, it came with being a team leader, but not the entire group. One bad call could get ALL of them killed... and Amber couldn't help but question every one of her calls.

"Yo, Amber," a voice said, jarring Amber out of her thoughts. Amber turned to see Gabby, with Roan in tow, heading toward her. Despite the march and the huge pack of food she was carrying, Gabby didn't look tired in the least as she walked up with a smile. Roan, on the other hand, looked worn ragged and fighting not to collapse under his heavy pack. The poor boy was being put through a grueling gauntlet by Gabby, yet was perfectly happy to take it all. Amber felt bad for him, but there was no sense in trying to stop him when he WANTED to suffer.

"The pri-" Gabby winced as she caught herself, "refugees, have got their rations. Want me to get started on setting up the camp?" The prisoners hadn't liked being called such after they had been freed, doubly so since all of them felt they had been unjustly imprisoned, so refugees had become their new catch-all term. Most everyone had gotten used to the new term, but a few still slipped up from time to time.

Gabby had been a Godsend since this march had started. Having enough food for the march had never been a problem, the farm had plenty, but transporting enough had. Even after waiting an extra day to feed the refugee's properly, most were still in no condition to haul large loads of cargo and the remaining Elves could only haul so much. So Gabby had volunteered to make up the difference till more of the refugees recovered. Despite carrying more weight than any three people combined, she had managed to keep up with the march and help set up the camp every night. Even better, she and Roan had taken it upon themselves to make sure everyone got their rations at each stop, relieving Amber of another task she had to do. Amber was grateful for all that help, but she was starting to worry Gabby was pushing herself too hard. Even she had limits.

"Why don't you rest for a few hours? We can handle the camp, for now, and I know a few of the refugees have mentioned wanting to help. They can make up the difference," Amber said, going back to the matter at hand. Gabby's smile faded a bit at the suggestion and Amber felt a bit of worry drift through. She had learned in these last two weeks that the only thing Gabby had more of than toughness was stubbornness. However, she had also learned of a small chink in that armor.

Amber gave a short nod toward Roan and made sure her concern showed through. Gabby glanced back at the young man and turned back with a less sure look. For his part, Roan seemed too tired to be angry at being used to get Gabby to rest, or he was smart enough to know it was the only way TO get her to rest. Either way, he didn't say anything and just tried to catch his breath.

"Alright, I suppose I need to rest every so often too. Come on, Roan, let's take five," Gabby said as she patted Roan's shoulder and regained her smile. The boy nodded and they both put down their packs before sitting down to rest. Amber nodded to them both before heading out to the perimeter of the camp. Her nerves started to return as she moved out to give orders, but she fought them down as she glanced back at Gabby. If she could haul so much food and still have enough energy to help set up the camp, the least Amber could do was trust herself enough to lead properly. The other Elves hadn’t made her the new leader without good reason...right?

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Night had settled over the camp and Gabby let out a long yawn. Amber had picked a nice spot for them to set up tonight, underneath an old, slowly rotting, back porch. Even better, she had let everyone make a fire to keep warm and to cook some game the Elves had managed to bring in. Seemed a bit odd she would let them have so many fires after not letting them have so much as a spark, but Gabby wasn't about to complain.

Gabby stifled another yawn as she glanced over to where Roan was. He was supposed to be keeping a lookout for any threats that might be heading their way, but most of his energy was being used to try not to fall asleep. Gabby might have been annoyed by that if she wasn't feeling exactly the same.

These last few weeks had been hell and, while Gabby would never admit it, she was nearing the end of her rope. It was a good thing most of the refugees were up to carrying some weight now, cause she doubted she could have gone another day carrying all that stuff. In fact, all she wanted to do was pass out and stay out for a few days. But that just wasn't possible. Someone had to keep watch at night and the refugees just didn't have to training or experience to do that, no matter their condition. And with only fourteen Resistance soldiers left, Gabby had to pick up some of the slack.

But knowing all that and still managing to stay awake were two different things. Sleep was not going to back down easily and Gabby could feel its call getting harder and harder to ignore. She needed to get her mind off how tired she was, but there wasn't much else to think about. Thankfully, her old Marine sergeants had drilled in a good way to deal with that problem when you were stuck on watch duty with someone else.

"Hey, Roan, how did you wind up at that prison?" Gabby asked, getting Roan to jerk a bit as he snapped back to sorta awake.

"Huh? I'm up I'm.... what?" Roan said as his mind stumbled around. He glanced toward her and blinked a few times to try and dispel his tiredness. He didn't succeed, but he was awake enough to understand her when she repeated the question. Roan glanced away after hearing the question and his shoulders slumped a bit. Uh oh, she might have picked a bad topic...

"If you don't wan-" Gabby started to say, but Roan shook his head to stop her.

"No...no it's fine. I wanted to ask you something about it, anyway," Roan said before turning to look out into the darkness.

"It was... well, honestly, I'm not sure how long ago. Months at least, but probably more like a year. My dad and I had gone out to do some hunting before winter had set in fully. We were tracking a bunch of deer and had gone pretty far out chasing them. That's when were heard some people talking... giant people," Roan said before glancing toward Gabby. Gabby frowned, not liking where this story seemed to be heading.

"I don't remember what they were talking about, but I do remember they were talking to someone we couldn't hear. We started to try and leave, but before we could a huge fairy swooped down on us. It snatched us up and took us to two giantesses that were nearby," Roan continued. He started to keep going, but Gabby interrupted him before he could.

"Did they have a sword or a shield on their uniforms?" Gabby asked, already having a good idea of the answer. Roan closed his mouth and took a moment to think.

"I never got a good look at either of them, the fairy keep rocking us around, but I think one had a sword and the other had a shield on their shoulder badges," Roan said before nodding in sureness.

"Yeah, that's right cause I remember my dad being weirded out about that." His dad wasn't the only one as Gabby found her assumption dumped on its head. A Sword AND a Shield?! What the hell... Roan must not have noticed Gabby's confusion as he keep right on with his story.

"Though, that was more because of what they did... One of the giantesses accused us of being spies and my dad tried to tell them we were just hunters. They didn't believe us and the other said we had heard too much. They told whoever was on the ground to leave and go silent for awhile before telling the fairy to store us away. It...well..." Roan looked away and got a disguisted and horrified expression. Gabby knew how fairies usually "stored" shrunk people and she could guess it wasn't exactly a fond memory for anyone.

"Next thing we knew, we were in that hell hole. The guards refused to even listen to us plead innocence. They just demanded we work or beat us till we did. They wouldn't even let dad send a message to mom or anything... they just beat him worse when he asked...but he never stopped asking..." Roan trailed off before he closed his eyes to try and hold back some tears. Gabby turned away from him as her fist clenched together in fury. A damn SHIELD had been part of throwing the poor boy into that...that...sweat shop! It was bad enough the Swords were ignoring everything they were supposed to stand for, but Shields TOO?!

Gabby's boiling blood suddenly cooled as Roan let out a sniff. Gabby looked back at the boy and saw him bury his head in his hands to hide his tears. Shit, Gabby could be mad later. Right now, Roan needed her more than her rage. She stood up and moved over to him before pulling him into a hug. He accepted it without hesitation and let himself be comforted.

"It's alright, Roan. Just let it out, nothing wrong with crying," Gabby soothed as she patted his head. The young man took a few rattling breaths before looking up at Gabby again, his eyes swollen.

"Gabby...why? Why did they do this to us? We didn't do anything, so why?!" Roan demanded as his hands tightened their grip. Gabby sighed as she wiped some tears off his face.

"Because there are peo- no, monsters, out there that don't care. They don't care who or what gets in their way, they'll kill them or ruin them all the same. And they will keep doing it till someone stops them," Gabby said as she pulled Roan back to her. He let himself be drawn back into her arms, but didn't look at all satisfied or happy with that answer.

"But don't be afraid of them. Because me, Alice, and Isabella will make sure they all pay for this. We'll send every Goddamn one of them straight back to hell and we won't stop till no one ever has to go what you went through again," Gabby said with iron in her voice. She had to fight to keep for tightening her hug on Roan, but she managed to keep herself calm.

Roan was silent for a few seconds and then took in a deep breath. He looked up at Gabby and, despite his still swollen eyes, gave her a look of complete determination.

"I want to help. I want to make them pay, too!" he said with the same iron resolve. Gabby smiled down at him and patted his shoulder.

"You will, I'll make sure of it."

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Two weeks and five days... That was how long they had been on this march for. It had seemed longer than that, much longer, but it had been worth it. All ninety-four of Amber's people were still alive and there had been no sign of the Society tracking them. And best of all, the outermost Elven supply base was in sight. Within a few minutes they would all be safe, secure, and able to fully rest. Everyone was all smiles and good humor as they walked the last few kilometers to salvation. Amber had done it, she had made sure Holland and all the other's sacrifices were not in vain.

"Zack, Kensey, come with me. Let's go explain what is going on to the Supply Master. Rest of you stay here till we get back," Amber ordered as she brought the march to a halt. There was a bit of grumbling at stopping, but there was no getting around it. If they just marched right in with the refugees, the Elves of the base were more likely to shoot than ask questions. But she knew the Master of this base and he would let them in once she explained what was going on.

Zack and Kensey fell in behind Amber as they made their way to the base. Like all supply bases, this base was hidden away and disguised to avoid detection. A bit further to the north was the old remains of someone's bootleg moonshine distillery. It would have made of a great base, but also stuck out like a sore thumb. Any Ranger with half a brain would check it thoroughly. Which was why it WASN'T where the base was. Instead, the base was hidden away further south, up where a pipe used to run fresh water into the distiller. Of course that pipe was long gone as its metal had been used to build the underground supply base, meaning there was nothing to point out that area as anything but more untamed wilderness. More than a few Society patrols had found the old moonshine maker. Not one had ever come close to finding the base.

Amber turned her eyes away from the old ruin and back to the hidden entrance. She started to reach out to move the leaves and other debris, but stopped when she noticed movement to her side. She turned, ready to greet whoever it was, but was stunned into silence as she came face to barrel with a gun. Zack and Kensey looked equally shocked as more Elves, all with guns or bows drawn, appeared from around them.

"What ar-" was as far as Amber got before the hidden door shifted open. Amber turned back and felt her heart fall into her stomach.

"By order of Harris Clim, leader of the Elves, you are all under arrest," said Alberto Roscoe, Commander of the Elves equivalent of Military Police.

Trader rumors on Elves:

Let me give you some advice if you try to trade with the Elves. First, don't go into their territory. You get on their land and they'll show up in the dead of night, strip you of everything than can as a "tax" then boot you out with nothing but the clothes on your back and, maybe, a weapon. No, you let them to come to you. If you got something they want, they'll find you, trust me. Second, don't ask question. They won't answer them, anyway, and all you will do is piss them off. And you REALLY don't want them mad at you.

But the most important thing, is never, EVER tell anyone that you meet with them, what you sold them, or where they went. The Elves love their privacy and if you put that at risk, nothing is going to save you. They will find out that you talked about them and the moment that happens, you're dead. Doesn't matter who it was or how careful you think you were, they'll know. Fuck I bet they're listening to me tell you this shit right now.

-Transcript made by Operative Geo. Requested permission to silence trader was approved.