I cannot decide.
I've been repeating the same twenty minutes for what feels like years, but I'm still unable to reach a satisfactory solution. Letting them destroy my home is out of the question since the property could always be useful as a forward operating base. I also cannot show weakness to the Order, not after all the efforts they went through to defend that place from the constant mercenary raids. It would also send a wrong message to the other factions that are paying attention to me; the Organization intervention is enough proof that some hidden powerhouses are watching.
I cannot show weakness to those groups, for I need them to fear me enough to not intervene in our plans. We are not holding any significant territory right now, but it will soon change. And when we do reveal our existence to the world, then we'll need to recruit more people since we'll need to patrol our lands and all that jazz.
However, killing the Organization's soldiers is also not a good choice. I experimented with various ways of killing them, from making it appear that I struggled to beat them to overwhelming them with massive firepower as soon as they arrived. But the results were always the same; Adam and his group would invariably show up no matter what I did.
The appearance of the Director brings its own set of problems. For instance, I couldn't confirm once that he died properly. Overwhelming his defense system is possible, but it requires using a large amount of high-power ammunition. Using such a ridiculous amount of firepower means that the eventual remains are going to be vaporized.
In short, I cannot confirm his death, which I need to do if I don't want crucial information about our tactics to be revealed. It wouldn't be funny if the Organization devised a way to counter our teleportation and stranded us into the Shard, or revealed our existence to the other factions before we are ready.
A sigh escapes my mouth as the group of teenagers appears on the screen for the- I lost count at this point. I sink into the ground and appears in front of them. First, they'll be surprised, or at least they'll appear to be. I know that one of the Organization members somehow avoided our detection and that she will try to strike me from the back.
It worked once, but not twice.
I step to the side and fire my gun towards what appears to be empty space. However, a bloody figure briefly materializes before exploding when the fatal bullet reaches its target. I'm not even fazed by the gruesome sight anymore; I went through those events so many times that I've become desensitized to them.
A laser beam then hits my shield. The group of teenagers, angered by the sudden death of their comrade, recklessly charge towards me.
I know how this all plays out, so I'm not even surprised when my lungs explode.
I redirect the pain towards a minuscule part of my soul. I'm performing that feat instinctively; if I had to guess, then I gained this ability by absorbing the Enemy. I have no clues how it works, but it spares me the bursts of agonizing pain caused by my 'die and retry' way of fighting.
The teenagers are not expecting me to not be bothered by the massive internal damage I sustained. To be fair, nobody would really expect that. Even the strongest Enforcers would be helpless against such an attack.
But I am a bit special.
If the voice were still there, then it would shout in glee as I fire a volley towards my opponents. But, instead of the ecstatic joy caused by the slaughter, I only feel weariness. I know that my actions are horrible, but this timeline is doomed to fail, so why bother with ethics?
This resignation towards my actions is another thing that appeared after the destruction of the Enemy. I guess its to be expected after seeing so much carnage and dying so many times.
Each bullet hits their targets, and the poor brainwashed soldiers are erased from the surface of the planet.
I switch to my shotgun and take a step to the side before pulling the trigger. Adam and his crew arrive in front of the beam of wild mana. I teleport away to avoid a lance of superheated plasma and emerge behind the group.
"It's all so tiresome..." I can't help but mutter as I fire another MH Shell into the group.
The bodyguards are dead now. I don't have to wait for the smoke to clear since I know what awaits.
I switch to my laser pointer just as an invisible pressure makes my joints explode. However, the weight doesn't last long since a burst of penetrators smashes against Adam's defenses.
"And now we dodge to the side," I whisper as I roll to the side, just in time to avoid a rock being propelled at incredible speeds.
I refrain from cringing when I remember the first time the projectile has hit me. The rock was moving so fast that it turned into a beam of small particles propelled at near light-speed that almost instantly killed me.
It was not a fun time by any stretch of the imagination.
However, my numerous Rewinds taught me that Adam could not spam this attack since it takes a toll on his brain. I teleport near the Director and Shield Punch him in the ribs. A pile of bodies appears nearby as Adam consumes his soldiers to protect himself.
I fire a couple of penetrators until the well-dressed man disappears from my vision.
"This was a waste of time," I mutter before Rewinding before the brief but intense battle.
There's also a third option that I considered, but it is simply impossible to accomplish. Turning the teenagers against the Organization didn't work no matter what I did, and Adam kept showing up as soon as they told me information about the Organization. I also tried to capture the teenagers and speak to them, but it was like talking to a wall.
The fourth and simplest option is to teleport the attackers to a random place in the universe. But I know that Adam is watching, so he might be able to deploy countermeasures to defend against my teleportation.
But I also doubt that he could defend against my portals. If he had a way to disable my teleportation, then he would have done it during our numerous battles.
I am tired of all this nonsense. I need to take a decision, or I will be stuck in this loop forever. My patience is already wearing thin, so waiting is bound to make me even more annoyed.
The timeline is frozen for a brief moment as I review the options available to me. None of them are leading to what I would deem as an acceptable outcome, but I don't have any other choice.
In the end, my laziness won and I chose the fourth option. I press a button on my Portal Gun, and the group of teenagers is gone as quickly as they appeared.
I just hope that this choice isn't going to bite me in the ass later.
...Who am I kidding, they always do.
At least the Organization shouldn't bother me for the time being, so I can focus back on the Empire.
"Terrence, any news on the Empire's movements?" I ask the loyal Commander, who nods with a barely hidden grin.
"There seem to be movements, especially around the borders of the Freedom Movement. From what we can tell, they are bringing the heavy hitters this time around. We are even unable to see certain soldiers due to the aura they emit; it somehow affects our detection system." He replies.
I gulp, people who are so powerful that their mere presence disturbs our detection system are going to be a challenge, to say the least.
"So, how should we proceed?" I say.
"I'm sure that you already have a plan, Prometheus," Terrence replies while he looks at me.
I clear my throat, "I do have a plan, but I'd like to hear what my most trusted subordinate has to say."
Of course, I don't have any plans, and I hope that Terrence's ideas will be good enough or we're going to be in trouble.
"You honor me too much!" Terrence almost shouts before focusing back on a screen near him. "The mysterious auras are making our initial scouting difficult, but we believe that there are about a thousand people in each base. The smaller fortresses have been all but deserted, so I think we can expect a focused push."
Holy shit.
Thousands of high-power Enforcers is not something to take lightly. Their toughness and numbers alone will put a significant dent in our reserves of ammunition, not to mention that they must be able to deploy some apocalyptic Strategic Spells on us.
Something tells me that a simple tank charge like before isn't going to work, not to mention that the Empire has the added protection of their well-defended bases. I bet they even reinforced their defenses after the crushing defeat they suffered at our hands.
I rack my brain to find a solution, we could do a full frontal assault and see what happens, but our chances of success are going to be very low.
"The tank charge tactic worked well last time, but I think we don't have the manpower to pull off something like that again unless we commit all our forces to this assault. The sheer cost, both in lives and resources, makes that approach far from ideal." Terrence says as if echoing my thoughts.
"But," he says as he raises his index finger and points to a particular area of the map, "I do have a plan."
I really don't like the glint of madness I see in his eyes. My guts tell me that I will not like what I'll hear, but Terrence has shown that he has a good grasp on magical warfare.
And his plan cannot be that bad anyway...
Right?