May 9th, 1951, a beautiful day. At least for Youden it was, noticing the carr driver was shivering a bit.
"It's too cold for you, isn't it?" Youden asked with awareness.
"No sir. I'm fine." The man reassured him, before Youden handed him a light jacket. "Oh, thank you, sir."
"Your welcome. Anyway, you can stop now, we've reached the top." Youden grinned, as the vehicle lurched to a stop.
As Youden was right, they had reached the top of the mountain climb, as he could see tens of tanks up ahead, a few soldiers already entering the town as well. Termia, or so the Keepers Of Darkness told him. Excited, he quickly dashed ahead with enthusiasm, passing multiple people and vehicles. For some, such a run would take a least fifteen minutes, but for him, a simple jog would take him two minutes to arrive at the outskirts of what was more of a village to him.
Just looking around, he could hear a few shots ringing throughout the area, no doubt a small force of resistance to stronghold the town and his men holding up, but several booms from his tarrs reassured him that the town would be under his control shortly.
"Sir, do we clear out the town once we occupied it all?" A soldier rushed up to him, getting his word to spread to the nearby divisions.
"Start it now, it looks like we had no sort of challenge." Youden looked at the onslaught moving past him, making their way through the town, before beginning their major push towards the capital, with minor conflict from there to come.
"Yes, sir!" the soldier replied, heading off to notify the news.
With that, Youden waited for his set of advisors to come beside him, to which they arrived two hours later, displeasing him, but nevertheless, he could wait. Beginning to walk through the mostly-intact town, he watched as his soldiers forced the citizens of the town out of their homes, or whatever scum-like shelters they lived in, and into carrs, taking them down the mountain and to be reevaluated into Youdenia workforce or any other tasks they could serve.
As Youden helped search through many houses, there wasn't much to do except forcing people out of living in these slums. But as the hours went by, it was getting boring, and he was hoping for a response, as he and the team with him reached the steps of a nicer-looking place. Someone of value was definitely here, he could tell, as the people in front of him opened the door, in case of anything else inside could be used to kill him.
...
"Everyone's okay?" Alice whispered to them, as they all just about nodded.
She counted everyone within the group Hops had told him about: Fonda, Brat, Ula, Leon, Heskins, and well, except for Jamal. Looking around anxiously, she could see Ula comforting Laken, who was huddled next to his mother, probably scared to be back here again. Eying towards Hops, she watched as he reapplying a gel around his throat, the burn marks still visible after this few days, before adding a new set of bandages covering his throat.
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" she turned around to see Leon noting the obvious truth.
"What? Who?" She blushed out in surprise, not thinking anyone noticed.
"Never mind about that, it seems everyone is fine for now." he just grumbled out, before sitting next to her, "Honestly, considering the "events" that've happened within the last few days, I'm surprised we've reached this situation."
"Well, we can't really go anywhere right now, especially with the kid." Alice tilted her head towards Laken, who was still hugging Ula tightly.
"She okay?"
"When I returned, I just saw her on the floor with the others around her, so I haven't said anything to her since that." Alice figured out, getting up, "Welp, might as well fix that today."
Leon could only nod for support, as he watched her move next to Ula. Well, it'll be the thought that counts, as he stared at the clock someone brought down here, keeping them informed.
"Hey Laken, you're a brave man, did you know that?" Alice began to cheer Laken, who cracked a small smile at him.
"I'm braver than Pa?" Laken noted, which cause Alice to look at Ula, who just looked back at the floor, remembering the day.
"Um, you know what, why don't we just play a little game? It'll be fun for both of us!" Alice smiled back at him, to which Laken got up in excitement.
"Thank you." Ula was able to whisper to her, to which Alice just nodded with, before leading Laken to another corner.
.....
"This really was the house." Youden couldn't believe what he was seeing, as he stared at an old photograph of Jamal, and who he assumed was Ula holding a small baby.
"The Keepers were correct, sir." One of the men with him came out, bringing out another photo of Jamal.
"Make sure we get as much information as possible. That'll help us capture him even quicker." Youden noted, causing them to spread out.
It didn't take long, before one of the men above shouted from one of the rooms in the back. Everyone inside rushed to him, to which the man was through a stack of boxes, and there was a small part of uneven wood with a latch. This could only mean that Jamal could technically be hiding here still, Youden grinned with excitement.
"Everyone move back! We're coming for Jamal!" Youden replied to them all, as they all moved back for him to come in front. Once he had enough space, without any sense of hesitation, he opened the basement door for what was inside.
.....
Leon was watching Alice play with Laken before he heard a creak from above. He thought it was just some old boards, until he heard multiple creaks, causing him to get up.
"Something's up." Leon noted, causing Heskins to get up as well, grabbing his rifle.
"Laken, come here." Ula opened her arms, as Laken rushed back into them.
"You think, that it could be Youden?" Fonda asked with curiosity, with Brat next to her, still a bit uneasy since getting hit.
"Possibly. Let's not take a risk." Leon closed his eyes while saying, a dark aura began to surround him. "Everyone stay back. Times one-hundred."
Everyone watched, as Leon's shirt instantly got shredded apart from the intense energy, with him forcing it extremely concentrated in order for the place to not collapse and their location to be revealed.
"Everyone move back! We're coming for Jamal!" They could hear several voices from above, as Leon got onto the stairwell.
For a few moments, it was silent, as everyone held their breath, Leon straining to maintain the form in this state. Then, he watched as the latch was instantly lifted above him, and he was greeted with the sight of Youden, before sending a punch his way.