After a full night’s rest, Magnus sent a squad of female soldiers back to the underground grain depot to fetch a convoy of troop carriers. All willing students from Hanford Advanced Finance College were picked up and brought into the Ice Regint.
Before they left, Magnus rembered the six girls hiding out in the Adidas clothing store. He made sure to send soone to bring them back too.
Those girls were stunned. They hadn’t expected the man who gave them food to be the leader of such a large force.
Back at the underground depot, Magnus laid low for three days. He didn’t see anyone, didn’t talk to anyone, just stayed in his camper van, unwinding in his bedroom.
During those days, Sarah and Ashton patched things up. No one knew exactly what Ashton had told her that night, but now the two were eating and sleeping together like close companions.
As for Molly and Lucy, Ashton personally went to apologize to Molly, but Molly didn’t seem ready to let it go. Her face was tight, her expression cold as ever.
Emma and Abigail were still trying to prove themselves. The sisters had learned to drive infantry carriers and were quite skilled. After the influx of over 3,000 students from Hanford, both were promoted to squad leaders, but their attitude toward Magnus remained indifferent.
These days had been calm. Apart from so groups coming to trade food, the depot stayed quiet. Charlotte suggested that the new students be given a week to adjust. After that, units should be reassigned, and organization updated accordingly.
One quiet week later, after breakfast, Magnus, Emily, Sophia, Charlotte, and Liana gathered all the mbers.
It was ti to reorganize the Ice Regint.
Originally, the regint had 1,422 personnel. The first batch of recruits ca in at 140. They picked up another 192 at the canning factory. Then ca the 3,462 students from Hanford, and the 6 from the clothing store.
After the ambush by Ridgebreak Battalion, Emily and Sophia had led out 200 soldiers, but only 35 made it back. A reduction of 165.
In the past week, new recruits added 372 more, including girls found by Chloe’s scouting.
Now, the Ice Regint had 5,429 mbers: 3,544 Awakened, 1,885 non-Awakened, 2,667 trained in vehicle operation, 24 able to handle infantry vehicles. Among them, 4,851 were won between 18 and 35 years of age.
This far exceeded Magnus’s expected cap of 3,000. Just the Awakened alone had nearly hit that mark.
Food supply? Covered. Water? Covered. Enough vehicles, weapons. The more people, the better. Magnus wouldn’t even blink if 10,000 more showed up.
Last night, he and the core team t in the camper van’s lounge. They finalized the restructure plan: mixing old and new mbers into fresh squads, reorganizing the logistics force, and promoting those who had earned it.
Ten per squad, each with squad leader and deputy. Fifty per platoon, with a platoon leader and vice. Five hundred made up a battalion, led by one main commander and two deputies - one focused solely on logistics. Two main regints were set: each covering five battalions with 2,500 people. Sophia led Regint One, Emily led Regint Two. There were six vice-commanders: Chloe, Isabel, gan, Amber, Alia, and Kristina.
Kristina Jarvis and Alia Rossi were picked by the Hanford Advanced Finance College girls. Alia used to be the student council president, sharp and fast with decisions, and had clashed hard with their old principal, Nicholas - even tried to report him a few tis.
Kristina was more easy-going. After months of chaos, she was the one keeping the female students grounded and motivated. She earned their respect with her calm and solid leadership.
Magnus stayed as the main commander. No argunts there - everyone followed his lead. Charlotte still handled political coordination, and Liana took care of logistics as always.
By midday, all positions were set - battalion commanders, squad leaders, all picked. Most of the battalion heads were discussed the night before: Luxe, Molly, Lucy, Ashton, and Caroline.
A special ntion went to Vanessa, a forr police officer who escaped with the won from the slave camp. She’d done great work and Sophia had pushed her up straight to squad leader.
Then there was Cynthia, the one Magnus had rescued - not a flashy na, but the local villagers and female workers picked her; she’d earned it fairly.
Magnus had no objections to any of this. But at last night’s eting, when it ca to naming vice-commanders, he’d noticed sothing.
Chloe and Isabel clearly leaned toward the school faction - close with Emily. Kristina joined them, making up Emily’s trio over at Regint Two.
anwhile, Sophia’s Regint One had gan, Amber, and a new addition. That side gave off more of a military, special-forces vibe. Charlotte also stood with Sophia, while Liana leaned toward Emily.
Outwardly, everything seed united - but underneath, alliances were starting to form.
Magnus stayed neutral. He didn’t take sides. He pushed Ashton up as battalion commander on his own say-so, despite the others’ objections. His reason? To make sure Ashton wouldn’t get sidelined or bullied by Lucy or Molly.
By lunchti, the newly ford battalions started organizing. als were handed out unit by unit.
After eating, Magnus and the six vice-commanders, plus the ten battalion heads, gathered in the RV’s lounge for a eting.
Only five had actual seats - Magnus, Emily, Sophia, and two others claid the couch. The rest had to manage with small stools, no backrest.
Lighting a cigarette, Magnus leaned back. It was his first chance in days to really listen and get a feel for things.
Liana wasted no ti. She brought up the thing that had been bugging her the most.
"We’ve got the numbers now," she began, rubbing her temples, "but we only have thirty-three sleeper cars. One car fits about seventy people. That gives us space for around 2,325 if we give everyone their own bed. If we double up - two per bunk - we’re up to 4,650, but that’s still not enough."
She paused, looking straight at Magnus. "We’ve been discussing this for days. Either people share beds, or we rotate sleep schedules. Your call, Magnus."
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