"Open communications to shuttle 445," Chaewon said, and Zera nodded, pressing a couple of buttons. As the screen turned on, they were met by the sight of Bella sitting in the pilot seat of the shuttle, Leon, Mina, and Lumina around her, "Hey guys, have you all settled in alright?"
Bella nodded, "We landed a while back and went into the camp. Since it's a smaller one, and they're using the meeting room right now, we decided to come back onto the shuttle."
"Where are Owen and Fenix?" Kaedan asked, immediately noticing the two younger boys were not present.
Leon smiled, "Don't worry, it seemed like they were exhausted. They were asleep almost the entire way here and were still really tired when we got here. They're asleep in the camp."
Kaedan sighed in relief, "That's good, they're getting the rest that they needed. I have to say, you guys got off easy. Our two gremlins are too hyperactive for the fact that they both have serious back injuries," Kaedan spoke a bit louder at the last three words, looking over his shoulder.
"I'm fucking resting, okay!" Nia yelled back.
Bella sighed, "Alright, what new information do we have?" She asked.
Zera, Jaeyun, and Roshan came forward, "Hey, Bella," Zera said, "We've got a vague idea of where things are going to go from now on, but we need to discuss it with you," Bella gestured for them to go on.
"Sector 1 and Sector 2 are forming an alliance, and that alliance will be sealed three days from now with the unveiling of the Wings. The king of Sector 1 knows its location and is giving it to Julian Rowlock as a show of goodwill. Also, Julian Rowlock has proclaimed himself the High Prince of Sector 2."
"Fucking hell," Mina muttered under her breath, "I don't even want to think about how much power he has with that title."
"Too much power," Roshan agreed, "He's been making moves everywhere. He's sending more and more White Lotus members and parts of the royal army to help guard Sector 2 for the alliance. There is going to be a ball to celebrate the alliance, we believe the King has chosen this to try and show the people of Sector 1 that he has things under control. He clearly does not, so much so that the citizens know this and are looking to Kaedan to be the new king."
Mina looked over to Kaedan, her eyes wide, "Really?" The man simply shrugged, not knowing what to say.
Bella hummed, "They will be expecting us," She said, knowingly, "So, that means we have to be really careful about this. More than anything, we need a backup plan in case things go wrong. With how risky this operation is, yes, I suspect something will eventually go wrong."
"We should probably start with a discreet team," Kaedan said, stepping up, "A small team goes into the ball, and blends in. A small group of three or four can separate and try to locate the Wings. Pass them between the members in the ballroom so that no person is at risk of being detected for too long. Have major backup teams stationed around the castle but out of sight, in case anything goes wrong. We should all have a way to signal for debt, like a flare or something."
Everyone was staring at him, and Jaeyun spoke up, "Listen, this is in no way meaning that you should be the King, but I can see why so much of the Sector 1 population believes you could take the throne."
Kaedan gave a small, sheepish smile, "Speaking of which," He turned back to the screen, "I have an idea. My main concern right now with taking the throne is Julian. But like I said before, if Julian is taken out, we can actually gain control of Sector 2 as well."
Mina's eyes widened in realization, "You mean—"
"If you take out Julian and assume the throne, then Sector 2 is under our control. If I take the throne, then we'll also have Sector 1. That gives us a bigger chance of winning."
Leon spoke up then, "Hold on. It won't be as easy as that. Sector 1 is pretty small now, with many people having moved to Sector 3 as half the people lost faith in a monarchy at all. Even within Sector 2, a lot of powerful people are involved in the White Lotus. Even if we take control of Sectors 1 and 2, we still only have about half of each population's support, if even that. The population skyrocketed for Sector 3 and…About ninety-five percent if not all the people here have been indoctrinated by the White Lotus, to the point where they're willing to die for the cause. It won't be as easy as we think."
"But it might give us a bit of an edge. It might rattle them. As long as it has an effect, I think it's fair game," Kaedan reminded him.
Mina jumped in, "I'm willing to do it. If it means I can finally get rid of that little bitch, I'll do anything. And if I can take the throne, then it's better for us. Besides, if we really want to, Kaedan and I can always end the monarchies and set a proper government in place."
"If Mina is willing to do it, then I'll do it as well," Kaedan agreed, "If it will help and give us more support, then it may be worth it."
Bella nodded, "Okay, then that's settled. Although, I want to ask…" She turned to Leon who was standing behind her, "Do we have to do it then? Or do we have time?"
Leon thought about it, "...From my estimation, we don't have much time left in general, so the sooner the better. But I will also add that the ball adds a lot of covers. There will be plenty of people there and it will be easier to fit in. My only worry is…"
"We might have a repeat of the Winter Ball," Risále said softly. She seemed to be slightly off still, but a bit better than she was before, "I think that more than anything, we need to be efficient with speed. Even if they are expecting us, if we're too quick for them to catch, we're safe. The only thing is that after we get the Wings, we can't come back here. We'll have to lose them if they chase us."
Bella smiled at this, "Don't worry about that," she tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair, "I'm going to send you coordinates, it's an old remote base that had already been discovered. We abandoned it back then, but you can land there afterward. The one thing I want to point out is that…Losing them won't be enough. You have to destroy anything they can use to track you all. I'm not going to put all the refugees in danger. This means you're going to have to make sure that they don't track you."
"What you mean," Kaedan said, "Is that we're going to have to kill anyone that follows us."
"...I can't risk putting all these people in danger. I'm not letting them fall into the White Lotus ever again," Bella said, her voice hard, "All of these people were victims. I'm not going to give the White Lotus a chance to hurt them again. Everyone here has lost someone because of the White Lotus or been directly harmed by them."
"Not to mention, the majority of these people have been displaced from Sector 4," Risále muttered.
Bella was quiet for a moment, "So, you found out," She said softly.
"You knew?" Hyunwoo asked in surprise, looking at his girlfriend. Bella shook her head, sighing.
"I didn't know from the beginning. All I knew was that in the beginning, when I pitched the idea of the organization to Auntie Li and Uncle Gong so they could start it up, the only people involved were people who were being used by the White Lotus. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, when I was ten years old, there was a random displacement of people that had no idea where they came from. Apparently, everyone here isn't even the whole group. Some of them have completely melded into the other Sectors. These are just the ones that we found. They knew nothing about where they came from, just that they had lost their home and even people they loved because of the White Lotus. When Apocalypse explained what happened to Sector 4, I always wondered what happened to the people there, seeing as no survivors ever said anything and no one thought Sector 4 was real. And then I connected the dots. A large displacement of people who don't remember where they came from, appeared at the same time as the downfall of a large Sector that is not remembered by anyone. It had to be that the people we recruited into our rebellion were former Sector 4 members."
Everyone was quiet, "Fuck," Hyunwoo said softly, "We can't let the White Lotus find them. If they recognize the people here, it would be the same as them recognizing Apocalypse."
"As in, they would very quickly remember Sector 4 and they would go after the Relic," It was Apocalypse's voice this time.
"Your Highness," Bella nodded.
"I will admit, it's…Jarring to see so many familiar faces that simply don't remember me but it's better this way," Apocalypse said, "It's better that they don't remember anything, and we definitely don't want the White Lotus to remember. So, I agree with Bella. You're going to have to kill anyone who tries to track you."
Xander spoke up, "Wait. What if…Listen, I know this might seem really naive or stupid but what if we can convince them to be double agents? We can hold them at the old base for a while and make sure to take off any tracking equipment from them, and if we succeed in convincing them, we have spies on our side."
Lumina hummed, "That…Could be helpful. But if they're playing double agents for both sides?"
"Then I'll slit their throat. Wouldn't be the first time anyway," Kaedan shrugged.
"Alright. Convince them to change sides, if possible. If that doesn't work, then you're going to have to kill them," Bella said.
Xander shrugged, "At this point, I think we're all used to it."
"What if…" Apocalypse spoke, "Okay, shut up for one second, Risále, and let me handle this," She shot back, "Anyways, what if we induced amnesia? What if we made them forget they were part of the White Lotus? Then, they could live as normal citizens in one of our rebellion towns."
Everyone looked at her, "That…" Leon said slowly, "Would be really good, actually. If we make them forget, then they're completely out of the picture."
Hyunwoo looked at Apocalypse, a bit worried, "Apocalypse—" He whispered
She cut him off, "I know you haven't told them yet. Just trust me," She whispered back, "I remember the White Lotus scientists back in my day talking about a gas that would allow you to forget your memories. They told me that it was going to help highly traumatized people forget the memories that hurt them, though obviously, that wasn't what it was used for. What if I can guide Risále to remake that amnesiac and change it so they'd forget any memories revolving around the White Lotus?"
"That would be exactly what we need," Roshan said, "If you can do that, it would save us a lot of grief."
Apocalypse nodded, "I think I can do it. Just give me some time, I think we can have it ready by the time of the ball. If not, then a few days later. Just hold the captured for a while until we can give them a dose of it."
"...Would it really be okay to do that?" Elliot asked quietly, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad we're finding a way that isn't killing them but unwillingly exposing them to an amnesiac gas…It seems like something the White Lotus would do."
Bella sighed, "I wish I could say we're better than them, Elliot. But we're all just human. We're doing what we need to survive, and that requires sacrifices. And if anything, you have to remember that they declared war on us first by bombing Ryoshigarh. They attacked civilians, we didn't."
"Do we even know what they're planning to do with if they have the Wings and the Relic?" Elliot asked.
Leon saw something out of the corner of his eyes and watched as Risále's face changed, her face flashing something akin to horror for a moment. He was about to speak but she seemed completely normal again. He blinked.
"You don't know what they've done here, Elliot," Bella said, "They've literally indoctrinated the entire fucking Sector. It's terrifying. It's as though these people have lost all free will and just…Listen to the voice on the loudspeaker dictating instructions. Do you really think they'll stop here?"
Elliot was quiet, "In that case…We should probably go all in. We're not fighting to injure anymore," His eyes hardened, "Unless they surrender, fight to kill."
Bella nodded, "Our plan on this side is to avoid any violent altercation. We're going to sneak in and try to fit in. Leon and I still have access codes and those haven't been changed, I checked. We're going to sneak in, grab that tracker, and get out. That's it. As soon as we're out, we'll be joining you all immediately. If we finish as quickly as we hope, we will join you at the ball and Mina can kill Julian."
Mina grinned, "Oh, boy. I think I'm actually excited for this one."