-Twelve hours later, Nerastetal-
Valiant looked up at the Oracles, who twitched and floated mindlessly in their dreams. He listened closely to the messages Niro sent earlier that day.
"... It's urgent, Valiant. Don't take this one too lightly," Niro's voice replayed. "Patrols claim to have spotted an anomaly over our shores, closely resembling a Primed."
He paused, almost stunned at what he just heard. "P - play that back! I want to hear it again, there's no chance that -"
"... Patrols claim to have spotted an anomaly over our shores, closely resembling a Primed."
Yazzo froze in place, staggered by the concept of a Variant so enraged at them. She carefully examined Valiant's melting cheeks, hoping to see some sort of plan hatching.
Instead, Valiant was paralyzed. He prepared for everything, except for the paranormal. Sieges? He knew how to handle them, and how to direct them. Ambushes? It was in his blood.
But never a Primed. He turned to look at Yazzo, who kept the same concerned face. The two locked eyes for a brief moment, then looked over their options.
"There's no chance this event and the Olavin-Faa rebels aren't related. They happened so close to each other and that scares me. What can we do?" Yazzo asked.
In response, Valiant placed a hand on his leather belt. Trying his hardest to calculate the amount of time it would take for a Storm Chaser to reach the King and come back with them.
After all, that was their only choice. No Variant in Volatile or Ubitwa could open their gates, it wasn't even manifested for them.
This was their biggest weakness: their simple lives meant worrying less about survival and more about their jobs. Most regions didn't have that. Which meant Third Rule Hosts were among one of the rarest things to encounter in Yarno.
While other regions had them as fairly common troops. Enough to form entire battalions of just them alone in some of the more competitive regions, such as Uvurim or Galaad.
Valiant sighed. "There's hope, but not much of it. We can send a messenger to Coshire and hope that region isn't undergoing some crisis. If it isn't, then maybe the King could come and help us."
Yazzo closed her hands, forming fists. "It's going to take days for that to happen, can we last that long against... them? I fear our time as peace-keepers is coming to an end."
It was true. After Conqueror Fall, the large majority of enforcers had disappeared. Seemingly scattering to build their own Legions or escaping to neighboring regions.
But not many of them stayed back and pledged loyalty to Volatile. Only a dozen warriors did, which were obviously not enough.
However, Valiant did prepare his own army. He glanced at the nearest Zegus, watching her keep records of all ten Oracles.
"My elites will have to be present in order to make an attempt at holding that Primed off," Valiant looked down at his hand. "That's if there are no more threats aside from it and the rebels."
Yazzo turned away from Valiant, walking towards the door. "If that's the case, I'm going to make sure those rebels get stomped out by tomorrow evening."
"What?" Valiant quickly turned to Yazzo. "Don't make such a rash decision, Yazzo. It isn't worth the risk."
She paused right before exiting. "Praying those rebels don't unite with that Primed also isn't worth the risk."
Like that, she departed. Leaving Valiant alone in the war room. He scanned the onlookers, who completely forgot about the Oracles, and chose to watch their leader and his right-hand elite.
Valiant growled, almost enraged at himself for letting something like this happen. He believed he could've prevented this entire ordeal from happening.
"Workers!" his voice sprung to life. "I want you all to make the Oracles relay this message to every elite in my Legion: prepare for a standoff against the Olavin-Faa rebels. We are going to strangle them."
Zegi rushed to their stations, ready to give the message to the half-sleeping Oracles. Their boots stomped on the metal flooring, swinging open doors and turning levers.
In minutes, they began reciting the message to the Oracles. Which they broadcasted as thoughts and dreams to all elites inside Volatile.
Valiant watched them get to work, silently hoping this would be quick enough to rally support for an alternative approach to combat.
He aimed to set the entire forest aflame. Killing everything and everyone inside, while keeping all elites on the outskirts as a backup in case the Ferals attempted to flee.
Yet he was aware of how cruel this was. As a Feral, this meant biting back at nature - the thing that made a Feral who they are. This was a massive gambit, especially if they succeed.
Because the entire population of wild Ferals was at stake if the plan went through. But this was a sacrifice Valiant saw as worth it.
"I will not let these forces kill us. We'll fight back, no matter the odds. Especially me, I'll fight until the day I get to see the cub me and Yazzo made together," Valiant muttered to himself.
The talk motivated him to run out of the war room, and dash straight towards the Sky Beast arena. Variants stepped aside and cluelessly watched their leader rampage through the open road.
He wanted to send a messenger to Coshire as quickly as possible, no hesitation. Maybe, if luck strikes them right, the King of Centinents could arrive and wipe out the Primed threat.
"Nobody will take my Yazzo," Valiant said through heavy breaths. "I'll go fight that Primed myself if I must, just so my Yazzo can live. So when I die, I die knowing my Yazzo is safe."
Valiant's mind began going insane. Trying to keep himself cool under pressure. Yet it was difficult - too difficult. Everything was at risk here, even what remained of the Trilogy.
This was his home, Yarno. He didn't want to lose it, not to a rogue Primed at least. It felt like being threatened with mass extinction, except much worse.
Whoever was coming after Yarno obviously wanted something big - something that they could've obtained if they just traded for it.