It was a normal midday on Planet Jokeenly, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The faction placed there were doing their usual everyday routine, where people would come and go completing quests. They would then hand in the rewards to the faction.
Inside their main base, in the teleporter room, they weren't expecting any visitors today. Because of the high tension that was going on, if one were to use a teleporter to travel to another planet, they would first inform someone beforehand. Even if they were under the same family.
It was also so the Graylash could keep track of numbers and who was where. That's why when a portal rift suddenly opened inside their portal room, all the guards that were there that day were on high alert. Seconds after the portal was opened, they saw a man come flying out and landing on the ground.
Four men immediately went to surround him, while the other six carried on waiting by the teleporter in case there were others to come through as well.
"The man looks injured." One of them said. "There are burn marks all over him."
A few groans were made, but not much else was said from the man, and as he had finally passed out, three more people had come through the teleporter shortly after him. Quinn, seeing the guards, raised his hands immediately. He didn't want to get into a fight now and using his inspect skill, he could see that they were not part of the Graylash family nor the Sunshield family, which was a relief.
'It looks like this place at least hasn't been attacked.' Quinn thought.
They were safe, for now.
The group was taken away for questioning and then told to stay in the base while being looked over. In the meantime, they would try to confirm if what they had said was true or not. They didn't lie about what happened, they had no reason to, and they were sure it would get whoever was in charge's attention.
It was a tense few moments but felt like nothing compared to what they had all gone through. However, their treatment seemed to change as soon as Dennis had gained consciousness. Dennis seemed to recognise the planet they were on and the faction, known as the Underdogs.
This was all because of the old man, who used to be a member of this faction before joining the Eagles. Their relationship was close.
After hearing what Dennis had to say and confirming that they could indeed no longer get in contact or connect with the systems at their faction, he had to believe what they were saying was true. All they needed to do now was wait for confirmation from the Graylash family.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe man in charge of the Underdogs named Corg was the leader and a compassionate man. He said they could stay at this shelter for as long as they wished, or use the teleporters to return to the Crows. Their story was devastating to hear, and he could tell they had been through a lot.
Through it all, before leaving the base, Dennis had made one request.
"Corg, if you could do me a favour, in your report, could you perhaps not tell them we survived? The Graylashes, I want to see what they are going to do about this first before deciding everything."
Corg as a leader himself understood what he was trying to do.
When they left the base, they had entered the shelter, and this one, in particular, was set out and designed differently to ones they had been at before. The shops and houses were appropriately built instead of temporary, having personal designs to each place. Potted plants were seen placed outside homes and stone walkways.
If anything, it didn't feel like a temporary shelter, or a shelter at all but looked more like an old equine city.
This was because this was classified as a tier-one shelter. It was one of the bigger factions under the Graylash family. They could tell immediately due to the amount of Graylashes inside the facility.
In fact, they had even built a base that was placed near the main faction base. A big faction meant they obtained a lot of resources from a place like this, so it needed protection.
The group eventually decided to head to a coffee shop and sat outside on the nice day. They needed to talk before deciding what to do next. As they sipped their drinks, they looked at the peaceful buildings and the people's smiling faces.
Dennis continued to shake his head.
"They're all gone, aren't they? All of them."
"We will pay them back," Linda said. "For now, we have to figure out what we're going to do."
According to Corg, they had directly received a large influx of people from the Graylash family, nothing compared to the small number of men that were sent to the Eagles. It seemed somehow, they knew that the Sunshield family were planning an attack.
But they chose to send the most men to the more important places.
However, it seemed like the only place that had been attacked so far was the Eagles, as Corg could get in contact with every other base apart from theirs.
"I think the Graylashes have given up on the smaller sized factions." Alex finally said. "If you think about it, they can't spread themselves too thin. Otherwise, it leaves their home planet vulnerable to be attacked. You can see how many men were sent here, and how many were at the Eagles.
"You heard what the Graylash squad leader said, he never expected them to come so soon. Maybe they were meant to just scout out the place, and then head back home. If they knew an attack would happen and they were planning to stop it, they would have sent more people.
"Even now, after an attack has happened, they haven't even chosen to inform the other factions to keep their guard up, and it doesn't seem like any Graylash members have been sent to the Crow's place either. It's like they have decided that these planets are already at a loss. For now, they will happily take the benefits but not responsibility and risk their own people's lives. The whole situation is just a load of crap!"
A lot of them actually thought of this possibility, but hearing Alex say it out loud had brought it home for them.
"That's probably why they have been pushing all the medium factions to gather crystals harder. If we get them all before the Sunshields even attack then what does it matter?"
Hearing all of this, Quinn thought it was finally time then.
"The Sunshield family will come and attack the Crow's. If they started with the Eagles, they will continue with the others. The Graylashes won't help so I see no reason why you should ally yourselves with them anymore.
"This offer is to the both of you and all of the Crows," Quinn said, looking at Linda. In a way, Linda had no choice but to agree to what he was about to suggest, but he wanted Blip and the others on his side as well. "On the surface, you appear to still be working with the Crow's, but you will no longer be with them. You'll be with me instead."
"Look, I don't know who you are, and I owe you a lot," Dennis said. "I agree we're on our own, but if the Sunshields come to attack and we can't fend them off, then where do we go? We were only able to go here because we are with the Graylashes under their banner. All of the planets are owned by one of the big three, and the earth is mostly covered by the military. There are some undiscovered places, but if we stay there, we will be in the middle of a war zone constantly."
"Linda, do you remember Paul?" Quinn said. "Paul is under me, and he used to be the head general of military base two. We err..stole one of the large ships that can house around two thousand people. For now, this is enough to accommodate all of the Crow members. It's a temporary solution but good enough while we build our power.
"Dennis, you aren't the only faction that feels distant with the head families, there are a lot like you, and I have more people on my side in more places than you think. What I suggest is we prepare for the Sunshield family coming to the Crow's base. We set up teleporters between the large spaceship and the home planet. When they come, the civilians can move over, and we will have our last stand without worrying about them."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmUsually, Dennis would say someone so young looking was crazy to even suggest such things, but there was something strange about him. The Graylash squad family leader attitude changed after learning of his ability. The Sunshields seemed to have known him as well. Then they learn that he has an ex second general under him. Last, of all his power, Dennis could admit he was strangely strong.
"I already said I owe you," Dennis replied. "Even if your crazy plan doesn't work out, it doesn't matter. I just want you to give me a chance to give payback to the Sunshield family, and I can't really forgive the Graylashes either for not letting us know beforehand."
That was one person on board, and a strong ally to the team, then Quinn looked towards Linda for an answer as well.
"I agree with what you said, but we will have to convince Blip. I don't think it will be a problem. Of late he has been complaining about the Graylashes more and more, and if he learns of everything that happened, it shouldn't be too difficult."
"I trust you," Quinn said.
The near-death experience had brought these people closer together. If the Crow's agreed to join and they could stop the planet from being taken over, they would have a beast planet to hunt on and be able to use the ship as a base of operations.
The faction was slowly coming together.
But more than anything, there was one critical thought on Quinn's mind. It was the Graylash's squad leader's last words.
Was it true that the Blade family were able to stop this, and was it the same Blade that Vorden belonged to? Quinn had questions, and he was hoping he could find answers.
'Have any of you ever heard of the Blade family?" Quinn asked.
They thought about it for a while, but it wasn't ringing any bells to anyone.
"Apart from what those two were saying before, I've never heard of them," Dennis replied.
It seemed like Quinn would soon need to contact Vorden.
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