That dream only ca twice, then never again. Lately, Magnus had been thinking - he’d dug through those teors in the last life, even pulled out a black crystal the size of a football. No one else could see it, just him.
Other than that one black crystal, the rest looked exactly the sa as what he saw this ti around. No difference.
So if the crystals were the sa, and the teors were the sa, even that red glow they talked about - eight, nine tis out of ten, whatever ca out of it should be the sa too.
Most likely still those massive centipedes and spiders, maybe a few rogue rat beasts scattered about. That’d make sense.
And another thing - these teors clearly helped humans fight those creatures. They didn’t harm people. They just made people stronger.
So, if the teors didn’t change, neither should the monsters. Doesn’t matter if this apocalypse was God playing gas or so immortal’s passing whim...
Magnus kept feeling like there had to be balance. If there were monsters, there had to be teors, and human awakenings had to follow.
If the teors stayed the sa, then the monsters probably hadn’t changed either.
He believed that, but couldn’t be too sure. That’s why he called this eting - to get everyone’s thoughts and start preparing early.
"Maybe they’ll show up, maybe they won’t. I really don’t know," Magnus said, shaking his head. Just being honest.
"Then what’re you getting at? We just talk strategy on grabbing the teor shower?" Emily asked.
Liana suddenly rembered sothing. "Magnus, those spiked vehicles you had modify... was it for this teor rain?"
"More or less. That’s the idea."
Lana looked baffled. The trucks were changed based on so vague news that sounded like fortune-telling? Whatever source Magnus had, he just trusted it that easily?
Wasn’t that reckless?
Charlotte chid in, "Then shouldn’t we first talk about how we’re gonna snatch those teors?"
And just like that, the won got into it - going over how to act if large numbers of teors landed in the cities. All talking over one another, throwing questions at Magnus left and right.
Everyone here had dug teors before. It wasn’t a quick job, definitely not sothing you could ambush for. So if they wanted those things, they’d have to go head-to-head with whatever military was in town.
The Ridgebreak Battalion had been quiet lately - not because they wanted peace, but because the Ice Regint kept ambushing them.
After they’d ambushed Magnus back in Hanford City, he’d been sending won out every few days to raid just outside their gates - launching mortars, rockets, and chucking grenades.
From prisoners they’d caught from Ridgehaven City, it turned out Ridgebreak’s forces were down to less than thirty thousand. Not even two thousand rifles left. They didn’t have the strength to go up against the Ice Regint anymore.
So yeah, they stayed quiet.
About half a month ago, Ridgebreak had even sent a convoy to Ashbrook Town to trade food - basically waving a white flag. Cliff’s crew in Springvale had also made two small food trade attempts.
You could say the underground food stores - they were one hundred percent under Ice Regint control now. And everyone else had started accepting their presence. If those teors really fall onto the cities, the balance will be broken again.
Magnus figured that if Ridgebreak Battalion or Springvale troops managed to get a hold of a pile of crystals, they’d start eyeing the underground food stores again.
"We should wipe out the Ridgebreak Battalion!" Sophia stood up and said firmly, "Our Squad One has 2,500 people. Give us 2,500 tal Crystals, and we can wipe them out in an hour!"
"We’re ready!"
Her words lit a fire. Alia, gan, Amber, and Mia all got to their feet. The five captains of Squad One followed suit, shouting together, "Leave it to Squad One! We can do it!"
An hour. 2,500 fully ard female warriors against 30,000 troops with less than 2,000 guns. If each one killed ten, it looked doable on paper.
But if those bastards didn’t fight head-on and scattered instead, a city the size of Ridgehaven wouldn’t be cleaned up in just an hour. That was just the truth.
Magnus weighed the pros and cons. If they were going to strike Ridgebreak Battalion, it had to be now.
"I agree with Sophia," said Emily.
Liana chid in, "If it’s really like Magnus said and a second teor shower is coming to the cities, I’m in too. 2,500 tal Crystals just to grab a city’s worth of teors? Sounds like a decent trade."
"Then... can we take a few more cities around us too?" Chloe’s eyes lit up. "Squad Two wants a city of its own!"
"We do too!" Luxe raised her hand. "Squad Three wants in!"
"You’re all getting ahead of yourselves." Liana gave them a look. "You wanna conquer cities, fine by , but don’t co crying to for more tal Crystals. I don’t have that kind of stash!"
Lana, Dakota, and Mia - the three new Second-Awakening mbers who just joined Ice Regint - shared a look, half-laughing, half-confused. Were these people for real?
But what caught them off guard was still ahead...
The next issue was what to do if another wave of apocalypse beasts showed up.
With winter dragging on, most of the palm-sized giant mosquitoes in the sky had frozen stiff or outright died.
They were big, sure, but not cut out for the cold.
The spiders and centipedes held on a bit better, though their movents had slowed to a crawl and they no longer moved with the deadly speed they once did.
So, if another red light ca and brought more giant mosquitoes, spiders, or centipedes, it wouldn’t be much of a threat.
The discussions went on deep into the night. Eventually, the team packed into their trucks to rest.
Next morning after breakfast, Magnus gathered them again to continue the talks. So far, no one ca up with anything groundbreaking.
It was already February 1st - just twelve days left until the 13th. There was no ti to waste. Magnus had been pushing the squad hard, holding eting after eting.
After thinking it over all night, he finally made the call early that morning and started giving orders.
"Sophia and all Squad One mbers."
Still standing in that sa spot, Magnus’s voice was low, serious. Everyone looked at him as he gave his command.
"Today during daylight, pick your best 1,500 Awakened from Squad One. Rest well. At exactly 11 tonight, we move - target: surprise attack on Ridgehaven City."
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