"The next Rank, which I call the Grand Marshall rank, definitely exists."
He revealed to everyone.
/gulp/
Everyone present gulped in a mouthful of saliva, including Orville. A bubble of anticipation and ambition arising within them.
Anticipation of an even greater power...
And the ambition to acquire it...
Their blood started boiling at that possibility. All of them are people who have not only survived the apocalypse thus far but have also risen to become it's leaders.
None of them are simple people. Their thirst for power and authority is unmatched by anyone else in this world.
Their eye sockets flickered, hair stood on end and their bodies trembled in exhilarating and excitement.
"Cough, Cough" Ron cleared his throat once more at this point of time.
Their opened wide as all them came out their stupor and lowered their head in embarrassment.
Noticing how they have returned to normal, Ron spoke again. "Well, although I said the next rank exists, it's still up in the air if I will be able to reach it or not."
He explained.
"Especially this time around, I feel the challenge has gotten more profound. It's different from the previous Ranks. The rank seems to exist in a dimension of it's own."
"I said that I have sensed the Rank, but it's more like looking up at the starry sky from below down on ground with admiration."
"Just like how we can see the sky above... But only admire it and never reach it... That's the kind of feeling I got when I first sensed the Rank recently."
Ron explained in a low and emotional tone, which didn't matched his inexpressive face.
He appeared to be fascinated.
And indeed, in fact, Ron was actually captivated by what he felt when he sensed the Grand Marshall tank.....as an intense desire boiled within him.
Everyone frowned a little, confused by his words.
Nataya took the initiative and asked, "Ron, can you be a bit more specific if possible? Like, what exactly feels unreachable? We all feel a huge, mountain like gap whenever we sense the next Rank, but whats so different about it this time, other than the distance increasing even further?"
"What's the borderline difference between the Grand Marshall Rank and the other Ranks?"
Nataya asked.
This was the same question that everyone wanted to ask.
Ron took a moment to collect his thoughts and then spoke, "I am not too sure myself, as I have only barely sensed it. Maybe I will be able to offer more specific advice as I learn more about this new Rank, but for now, that's all I can tell you guys."
Everyone felt a bit dejected at his words, they all wanted to know more about this Rank.
"But... "
Everyone raised their heads up as Ron spoke once more...
"If I had to be more specific, there's one thing I can point out.... In the example of the 'marathon' we use to guide the new Ascendants, imagine.... "
"Imagine adding obstacles."
"Don't confuse my words. I am saying the word 'obstacles' in an imaginative form, not real. We face various obstacles and challenges in trying to advance to the next Rank, but that's not what I am talking about."
"In the example of the 'marathon', we never esspecially added in any descriptions of obstacles. We didn't feel the need to. It could be explained without them."
"But I will like to add the description with the discovery of this new rank."
"During the marathon upto the Grand Marshall Rank, you will face various obstacles in a form of a.... wall."
He took a small pause and said with solemnity.
"Climbing this wall will be a journey of it's own, and beyond this journey lay the destination."
"Or that's what I believe."
He concluded with those last words.
Everyone took a moment to process the implications of his words.
After a brief moment of silent, Orville spoke up, "So in summary, you mean to say that other than the already required procedures, there would be additional requirements that need to be fulfilled before reaching the Grand Marshall Rank?"
Orville asked with curiosity.
"More or less."
"I see. Thanks for sharing your findings with us, Marshall. I am sure it will prove to be invaluable going forward."
Orville replied humbly. Everyone else also nodded their heads in appreciation.
Ron just gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.
Now,
Once gain, silence descended over the place.
Going by people, only Nataya, Connor, Nash and Ron himself were left to give their reports.
General Nataya, as previously explained, wasn't needed to give a report this time and all the Generals were aware of this.
Connor, who was Ron's most trusted aide, was in-charge of coordinating the efforts between all the strongholds from the Central stronghold, be it resource distribution, dispatching back up, sharing information, managing personell or anything that requires coordination between strongholds.
It had to be remembered that any dispatchment requirements, be it resources or people, was done through the Central stronghold.
It was done to avoid the loss of information that may arise due to monsters assaults.
Doing all this was a hefty task, so the General in-charge of the Central stronghold, in this case Connor, wasn't required to take on any other mission.
For the same reason, as long as there wasn't any anomaly in the above process that was required to be discussed, Connor wasn't required to give a report to.
And this time, well.... Things were going so smooth that Connor was actually able to leave the stronghold and assist Ron in his task.
Now, the only two people left to give their reports were Nash.. and Ron.
And the topics both of them were going to discuss were.... rather heavy.
The tension in the room began to rise as the fact they were trying to ignore,the reality they were trying to run from, hoping it would not come to be.... They will have to finally face it.
Connor, calming himself down, looked towards his immediate right and spoke, "General Na-"
"Wait"
But just as he was about to ask Nash to give his report, Ron stopped him.
Everyone frowned a little, confused by Ron's actions.
Ron continued, his eyes were serious and sharp as he spoke.
"I will give my own report first." He said, baffling all others in the room.
Usually, Ron would be the last one to make his report, in case there was any. And this one thing hasn't changed for years now.
But this time, not only was Ron reporting something, it was something extremely serious. It didn't make sense them as to why he was doing so.
Everyone was taken aback by his words but only one individual, who had an idea as to what Ron was getting at, had an intense grin on his face.
'Hehe, so it will finally happen.'
Nash thought with giddy anticipation, the grin on his face widening by the second.
Ron glanced at Nash but then looked ahead once again. "I believe everyone's aware of the emergency report Nataya made to me nearly three weeks back, and that in response to the report, I myself headed out for an investigation of my own and only recently have I returned after two weeks of inspection, right?"
He asked everyone present in the room. And the moment he did, the tension reached it's peak.
Ron paused and took in everyone's tensed figure, who were awaiting his words. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Sigh, I assume everyone already has an idea as to what I am going to report, so I will not beat around the bush."
He said and then spoke with absolute seriousness in his eyes.
"A Stampede is going to descend upon us once again."
And soon as he did, the tension in the air completely diffused like an air from a punctured balloon.
None of them were fools. Be it the problem with the food supply.... Monsters strange behavior.... Nataya's emergency report.... An investigation that even took Ron, a Marshall Rank two weeks to complete.... The signal.... This emergency meeting..... The 4-metre class monster that was chased out.... Ron's strange silence and behavior...
All of it, no matter how they put it, pointed towards a single conclusion.
But it still weighed on their mind no matter how much they tried to accept it and Ron's words finally lifted off that weight as they no more needed to dread over it's possibility.
It was now official.
They were going to face a Stampede.
The same disaster that took away countless lives, completely destroyed two strongholds within a span of a single 'full night', and pushed humanity to the very brink of extinction 6 years back.
The battle that took away the lives of Emma and Frank, Ron's parents.
A Calamity that struck fear in people's hearts when mentioned even after 3 years...
The maddened march of the monstes...
The tragedy that shook humanity to their core will come once again.
And once again....
Crimson will dye the land.