Raihne's Point Of View
*Knock... Knock... Knock...*
"Come in..." I sighed in response.
"Hey Raihne... Rohlander is here with some people who want to meet you..." Jasper said, as he opened the door.
Among Rohlander and Tysse, there were also 7 new faces that I hadn't seen before, standing behind him. They all slowly walked into the room and I could feel Sable tense up immediately.
"And who might you be?" I asked.
"We are a part of Sylvester's faction. I'm Jehstine this is my mate Ahtlan. Then there's Trayce, Brahnsen, Cohrey, Syhlow, and Brahnnon. We'll be handling the security detail from here. We can leave as soon as the rest are ready. Do you know how the surgeries are going?" Jehstine asked.
"Oh, uhm nice to meet you. I'm Raihne, this is Sable and Delcain. That's Nahana and Tahlia. Over there is Reah and Kaihsie. And last I heard they were on their last surgery. I'm not sure how long it will take..." I replied.
They seemed eager to do something, anything and unfortunately I had nothing for them to do. If I was being honest, I was nearing my limit for everything. I was glad to have the extra help, but too defeated to properly utilize it.
"I forgive you brother, so stop beating yourself up and protect everyone else. Your leg is hurt but your brain is not."
'Haaah... if only it were that simple Payhne...'
"Sir...?"
"Raihne... She's talking to you... are you listening?" I heard Sable ask, snapping me from my thoughts.
"Hm? What is it? I apologize, I was deep in thought..." I replied.
"It's fine. Honestly you're in better shape than I gave you credit for. Sylvester's men all have terrible tempers and are extremely hot-headed. Santiago might have made it sound grand but, he hates losing more than any of us. That infectious behavior has already spread to his men. He would have no doubt lost his mind if he stayed here any longer." Jehstine said, chuckling.
"Yeah... I can understand the feeling. You guys can just fall in line wherever. Ask Jasper or Rohlander where they need you. We'll leave early tomorrow morning at best. I want everyone to rest in shifts." I said.
"Understood... and it may be rude of me to say this but, please get some rest as well... an army is useless without its commander." She replied, smiling softly.
They then all turned around and headed back for the door. I relaxed back onto the sofa with a sigh. Nahana handed Tahlia to Delcain, before amassing a large pile of pillows and blankets onto the floor.
"You three need to rest. I'll be fine for a bit, I'll keep in touch with Meahlene and Odehssa as well. The babies are sleeping now as well, this will probably be the best chance you get at having a peaceful sleep..." Nahana said once she was finished.
I nodded and lumbered to my feet. I had no fight left in me to argue her decision, I was just too tired. Sable also seemed to be dozing off every now and then as well.
Once I laid down and got comfortable on my back, Delcain and Sable crawled up to my arms and laid their heads on them. I was momentarily stunned. I had expected it from Sable, but I didn't have a clue as to why Delcain was trying to cuddle as well.
Sable was acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world and was passed out in no time at all. A few moments after Sable fell asleep, and her breathing evened, I heard soft quiet sobs coming from Delcain. I immediately understood what was going on. I never really gave it much thought, because he was always so damn reliable, but Delcain was around the same age as me and Payhne.
The day I almost lost Payhne was still heavily engraved in my mind, my busted leg was a constant reminder of how close I had been. These kids had been fighting to protect each other all their lives, and now he was feeling a similar sense of loss that I had.
I gently extracted Sable from my right arm and placed it on top of Delcain's head. He tensed up for a moment, before sobbing again.
"It's okay Delcain. I understand all too well. Just let it all out and get some rest. We'll put on brave faces tomorrow, okay?" I said.
He nodded, then held on tighter as he cried. It was painful to see him like this and I understood why he didn't want to let Sable see him this way. I too had been desperately trying to not worry Sable with my uneasy emotions and heartache.
'Haaah.... a big brother's job is never easy, huh Del?'
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Meyhymn's Point Of View
I felt like a tea kettle nearing it's boiling point. I had many regrets about the actions I took that led me to this point, but my biggest regret was not installing a camera feature into Ezekihel's tracker. It would become useless if it was broken or removed. The one saving grace I had was that it would need a specific fingerprint to even reveal the key hole.
I understood that I couldn't barrel my way into Lore'rahlye's facility like we had done in Delgaide, but I didn't understand why it was so difficult for us to formulate a plan. Knowing that there were secret exits made the attack difficult, but not impossible.
"Excuse me, Jahcobe was it? Can I see that computer for a bit?" I asked.
Now that we had credentials, I should be able to access things without it flagging any of their Spyware. So I wanted to see everything I could to make a concrete decision on the plan of attack.
"Sure thing. But I'm going to hook it up to the TV here so you'll have a larger screen to work with. Is that alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, that'll be perfect. Do what you need to do." I replied.
*Knock... Knock...*
"That's probably Santiago and the others..." Sylvester sighed.
I couldn't say I completely understood why he was exasperated with his men. I thought more men to invade with was a good thing, so I welcomed anyone who wanted to fight on our side.
Jaymehsyn opened the door and 7 large men came inside along with Bellamy's mother and Aunt. Having these men with us would be an absolute bonus.
"Master, I'm glad to see that you are safe and whole. Meyhymn old friend, I bring gifts from Rohlander." Santiago said as he came to stand behind me.
He held out a large oversized bookbag to me, and I looked at it a bit puzzled. Once I had the bag, I unzipped it and glanced inside. My eyes slowly widened in realization. Then I looked back up at Santiago a bit confused. He said it was from Rohlander, but these were the black boxes I had received from him previously.
"Santiago... Do you really not understand what these are?" I asked, quizzically.
He merely shrugged and walked back over to Sylvester's side. This guy was unbelievable. It made me curious to know just how much shit he had stolen without having the slightest idea what it did or what he could do with it.
Jahcobe got to work hooking up the TV to the computer, while I laid out all the black boxes around it. Once the TV was projecting the computer screen, I linked the boxes together and then connected them to the computer as well.
The familiar chimes rang out and I immediately got to work logging into the Lore'rahlye facility's systems. I pulled up the schematics for the facility, and was thoroughly shocked by their ignorance.
"Am I crazy or does that schematic show the hidden exits with noticeable labels?" Gaibe asked.
"Nope you're not crazy. That's exactly what I see as well. Moreover, even though it has three levels, it's just one big spiral down and then back up again with no stairs... only ramps...?" Lyukhe replied.
"It seems we were worried over nothing... Delgaide's facility was a maze of hallways and dead ends. While Lore'rahlye's facility looks like a 5 year old designed it." Sylvester said.
"I'm beginning to suspect that Charles built those facilities that way to protect the occupants inside, and not to trap them in it. My facility is also a giant maze." Zachariah said.
Once I got the lay of the land, I pulled up the camera feeds. To my disgusted surprise, they had more cameras than they had security. There was at least one camera in each room, including the bathrooms.
There were only living quarters on the first floor. I counted roughly 45 rooms with at least 4 beds inside them. Some rooms looked like massive sex dungeons, and they were currently being occupied.
I picked up the beer Jaymehsyn had placed down for me, and began to chug it down. I wanted to desperately calm my raging emotions that were threatening to overtake me. Once I had reached the 2nd floor, I found all the offices were located on this floor. I looked at the camera for Hastings' office and gasped in shock along with everyone else.
The beer bottle in my hand was crushed to pieces and my vision turned red in an instant.
'These fucking men will die a death, the likes of which will be transcribed into the history books!'