"They did WHAT to the humans?!" shouted Adam.

The force that he jumped to his feet caused his heavy, ornate chair to slide across the floor. The temperature in the room was rising and the air shimmered around Adam's red skin. Several of the weaker people in the meeting looked at the door, hoping for an escape.

"They will pay!" Adam growled while his breath heaved. The air around his hand shimmered and the latest war hammer that had been crafted for him appeared in it.

"This is why youth can't lead," grumbled General Carmichael. "They can't even control their emotions."

Adam turned on him, the hammer unintentionally held in a naturally threatening position.

"Are you saying we should let this stand?!" demanded Adam.

Carmichael narrowed his eyes as he returned Adam's glare. The heat forced him to blink several times and look down at the table, but he would defiantly return his gaze to meet Adam's eyes.

"Of course I'm not!" spat Carmichael back. "I would never allow our people to stay imprisoned. But think about it without emotions. They're essentially hostages. If we storm the Juungii, then the humans will be used as shields or outright killed off. We need a more measured approach."

"Plus, those two said that they have three powerful leaders at Tier 4," interjected Colonel Davian. "Are we sure we can face that without additional casualties?"

Adam took a few breaths to calm down. The red in his skin faded…some. He set down the war hammer with a thud and then crossed his arms.

"Our troops have been increasing their stats quickly with all the levels and bases, so even in Tier 3 we should be close to the strength of a Tier 4," mused Adam audibly. "Plus, I can take out anyone they have trouble with."

"Can you?" asked Carmichael with disdain.

"What do you mean by that?" demanded Tom, leaning over the table with his arms pushing him up. "Are you doubting the boss?"

Carmichael hmphed and crossed his own arms, but didn't bother standing or raising his voice.

"We've all heard the reports. I might not have seen him before, but those who did said that Adam's strength is less than before. He takes longer to activate his abilities and struggles with pain while fighting. Are you sure you're strong enough to take whatever the rest of us can't anymore?"

Adam winced at the words. His skin turned its normal color, and he looked at his feet, almost ashamed.

"I'll do what needs to be done," muttered Adam petulantly. "I'll go until I can't anymore."

"While I don't doubt that," retorted Carmichael, "that doesn't mean you'll always succeed. The consequences of failure are too dire. In the military, precision is as important as power. Rushing off half cocked will hurt everyone, including those you want to help."

Adam growled and then walked to his chair, which he kicked to slide it back to the table. Then he roughly sat down and stared at the ceiling.

"What should we do then?"

"This is a hostage situation," answered Carmichael. "We need a firm and steady hand to try and negotiate their release. From Jeff's account, the Juungii think they're doing a noble thing by taking in and teaching the humans their religious propaganda."

"Then I'll…" started Adam.

Quickly, Carmichael shouted, "Not a chance!"

"Then me," said Tom.

"An even worse choice," snapped Carmichael.

"Brittney, Lucas, Brandon, and Abbey can escort a few of our trained negotiators," suggested Davian. "They seem most able to keep their cool while they protect and retreat if necessary."

Carmichael gave Davian a side glance, dismayed that any of Adam's people were included, but eventually gave a nod.

"Meanwhile, I'll have the General's Guards ready to storm their base should they…" said Tom.

"No!" Shouted Carmichael again. "No one else! Listen, kids. I don't like this situation anymore than you, but it also isn't my first time overseeing negotiations with an enemy force."

"As far as we were told," jumped in one of Carmichael's officers to support him, "the Juungii haven't harmed the humans. It might be an unpleasant situation, but they are being fed, protected, and trained."

"Not harmed?!" shouted Alissa. "The Juungii are sucking out their levels and XP!"

The officer sighed. "Jeff said it was done to the Juungii's own people too. They aren't discriminating against the humans, which is good. It means they stick to their beliefs and are fair. Which could change if we do something to violate their beliefs. We don't understand their religion yet so we'll need to step softly."

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"Besides," cut in Carmichael, "The two said they wanted to get to our base, not that they needed too. The fear and uncertainty that they showed on the Rift video seemed like regular post [System] concern. They sound safe enough in the Juungii base."

"Fine then," grumbled Adam. "I'll wait to wipe them out until we know more."

"Thank you," Carmichael said almost sarcastically. "We'll do our job and will bring you in when we need some youthful emotions and violence."

Adam wasn't the only one to glare at the general after that.

Forcing a new topic into the tense room, Davian spoke.

"Adam, any leads on repairing your soul damage? It would help a lot if we could get you back into fighting shape."

Adam frowned.

"The damage isn't healing on its own, and I think I'm at the limit of what I can learn from the ones I've captured. None of them have medical or theoretical knowledge. Just what they needed to do their jobs. If only I could…"

"Safely!" interrupted Davian with force. "Only do things safely. We don't want to make your mother upset."

Bringing up his mother made Adam slouch back into his chair.

"Fine. Safely. Any leads on where the Red Clan base is located? I could always…"

"That doesn't sound safe," interrupted Carmichael. "Attacking a bunch of invaders who can rip our troops from the inside without the defenses you have."

Slouching further, Adam muttered, "There's a lot of interrupting happening in this meeting."

A few people nervously laughed, but Carmichael outright smiled seeing Adam conceding.

"Alright then. Let's go over the raids we have scheduled for the next week," announced one of the analysts after a signal from Davian.

Adam just sulked as he listened to the groups and the assigned bases. Printouts of intel about the base conditions and the known information on the different races were included. The information was often lacking, but what they had came from Lashtam and the chatter on the Rift communication channels. It was obvious the invaders didn't realize the humans had learned to read their primary language.

As Adam listened, he felt the heat growing inside. The words being spoken blurred into background noise as the hot pulses surged through both his soul and body. Adam sank into the sensation as the power washed over him in waves.

Each wave brought with it strength and weakness, confidence and pain. The soul damage caused by Cruxannith was like a drainage line put into a river that kept the pressure down. Outwardly, Adam kept his expression even, but he was unable to fight his own dismay as the feeling of the power that had carried him this far splashing out from the wounds.

Just as Adam was about to activate [Body and Soul Shaping] to try and stop the power leakage, a message appeared before Adam.

ALERT: A hostile army has entered your territory. Existing structures have been reinforced by 20%. Some Rift Menu features have been disabled until the base has been protected.

"WHAT?!" yelled Adam, once more knocking his chair backwards as he stood up.

All the speaking stopped, and everyone looked at him with concern. One of the analysts looked at Adam a little scared and confused.

"Y-you don't think unit 18 should attack the Grichon base?" the man stuttered.

Adam didn't bother listening or responding as he was already opening the Rift Menu map to find where the incursion was happening from. He found a surprisingly large area of red on the map moving in from the East. Usually, the map showed dots for each enemy entering, so it was odd that Adam saw a chunk changing color. It was moving slowly but steadily, encroaching into their territory.

"Adam," came Jordan Lane's voice, "there is a weird situation at…"

This time Adam was the one to interrupt, as he activated the intercom option to announce to all adults within their territory.

"This is Adam Clemens, leader of the Sentinel Army. We're under attack from the east. Everyone gear up. Activate evacuation procedures from non-combatants. Watch all directions in case there's more to this attack. Portals have been shut down as a defensive measure so bring out the vehicles. More information and orders will be provided shortly."

"We're under attack?" asked Carmichael suspiciously.

Adam opened a display and showed what was happening. At first the image was only focused on the ground at the edge of their land. No enemies were in view, but approaching the border was a shadow.

Everyone at the table looked confused, trying to figure out what the shadow meant when Lashtam also jumped to his feet with a gasp.

"The sky!" the Leputi burst out. "Your excellency, face the sky!"

Adam altered the angle of the display, turning it to look almost straight up. High in the sky, blocking the sun where it traveled, was a large chunk of ground. Unsure of the exact size, Adam estimated that it was four times the size of the average invader base.

A few specks, barely visible from the distance, came off of the floating ground.

"Don't let them land!" squeaked Lashtam.

"What are we dealing with?" demanded Adam.

"T-those are the Drathan! They are on the level of the Scyrric. One of the four great races," Lashtam explained breathily. "They are dangerous! They attack from the skies riding winged lizards."

"Lashtam, give the colonel all the information you know about them," ordered Adam. "Lucas, everyone, grab your gear and get to the trucks. Bring as much of the army as you can but leave enough to defend other sides in case more invaders attack. I'll head there right away. Davian, brief me first when you get the info from Lashtam."

Then Adam brought up two more displays connected to the people in the three closest watchtowers. He began giving them orders.

"All troops, shoot down anything you see coming down from that thing. We're assuming dangerous enemies. Radio all nearby patrols and reinforcements to intercept anything that comes down. I'll be getting there as soon as possible."

The room became a rush of activity. Lashtam, Davian, and Carmichael spoke while the intelligence agents gathering around to listen. Sirens went off throughout Jackson and their territory. Adam's friends and other unit commanders rushed out of the room to organize.

Feeling pressed for time, and for the first time cursing the size of their territory knowing how long it would take him to travel that far, Adam didn't bother getting his armor. He took only the war hammer that he had already summoned and raced to where his motorcycle was housed. The motorcycle was kept next to a refrigerator of blood packs and food for him, so he threw those into the travel compartments on the bike and headed out.

As the quality of their materials had improved, and their understanding of runes and enchanting, they had continued to enhance Adam's ride. Even the fuel had been redesigned thanks to engineers working with Leputi alchemists. What normally would have been a multi-hour drive should only take Adam 40 minutes, as long as people got out of his way quickly enough. One of the rules for when the alarms sounded was to clear the roads.

As Adam took off at full speed towards the highway that would lead him to the invaders, he brought up a Rift navigation window that would put a GPS app to shame while also listening to the intel Lashtam had provided to Davian.

Several invader races had tried attacking their base when it was smaller, but they had all been easily repelled thanks to the guns and other ranged weapons that combined Earth technology and [System] known materials and magic. Hearing about the Drathan from Davian while thinking about a base able to float safely above them, Adam shivered.

Hopefully his forces would last until he arrived.

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