October 6, 2152
The light of dawn snuck under the door to the barracks just as Emory began stirring in her bed. She had become used to waking up early in the day, so she could accomplish everything that she wanted. After getting ready for the day, she went to the Command Center to retrieve the crates. Since everything had been portioned the night before, there were a lot more boxes than there were originally, not that it mattered for how Emory intended to carry them. With a wave of her hand, magik spread out around the chests and lifted them all up a couple of feet off the ground. Like a long train, she pulled the crates along behind her as she left the Command Center and headed to the outdoor mess hall. Clarine, Innes, and Nephenee were already there, setting up the additional booths they would need.
Emory waved sleepily, "Good morning, friends. How's it going?"
"We have one more stand to put up after we finish this one, and then we should be ready," Innes replied as he helped get the canopy up, "Maybe twenty minutes. You should have asked for help with the supplies; I would have helped carry them."
"It's no problem; they were light," Emory grinned.
"Do you want to start rounding up the troops?" Nephenee asked nicely, "Actually, we'll need two more people to help hand these out. Could you go get Ray and Lou from around the RRS? Once you return, we should be ready here." Emory nodded before leaving the boxes with the others to go find the two men in question.
Ray and Lou were twins that helped Innes and Nephenee with more important tasks, such as designing the RRS building and helping plan the layout of the new barracks. Emory hadn't spent much time with them, but she knew their faces well enough to pick them out in a crowd. She found them fairly quickly and told them about the situation before walking back to the others. As they approached, Innes and Nephenee were setting up the last table while Clarine was distributing the boxes to the different stations. Once that was done, Nephenee had Jask send a message to everyone telling them to start lining up.
Since plenty of soldiers were already up and about, it only took a few minutes for the lines to begin forming. All the people with the Healing sphere also received a second message to pick up a healer kit at any one of the tables when they picked up the field kits. Emory placed several kits at each of the stations and would use her magik to move more over when they started to run out. Even though they had six stations, they were still moving through the army too slowly to accomplish the task. So, Emory used her magik like extra sets of hands and began making kits while the line continued moving. She started making kits on her own five times faster than people going through the line. Once the others caught on to the same problem, they started doing the same thing albeit at varying paces. With everyone pitching in, the group was making an average of ten bags a second, finally the pace they needed to finish these before tomorrow.
Still, the lines of people continued for hours and made the day drag on. Instead of breaking for lunch, a few of the people brought them a food pill, a pitcher of water, and an empty glass. Unsurprisingly, since Emory was doing the lion's share of the work, she ran out of supplies midafternoon and had to take supplies from the others to keep going. She had reached such a speed that people were no longer filling their own bags at her station; they were just picking on up from the front and moving on. In fact, once she filled her table with bags, she began sending them to the other stations, so they could do the same.
The last few people finally came through just before dusk. By the time they did, the group handing out packs was exhausted. After thanking Ray and Lou for their help, the four remaining people returned to the Command Center. Emory, Innes, and Nephenee were surprised to find a bottle of wine in a pitcher of ice and four glasses on the conference table.
Clarine cleared her throat, "I thought we could have a little refreshment after the long day we had. Especially since we still have work to do."
"Thank you, Clarine. That was very thoughtful," Emory smiled as she clicked a few buttons on her wrist, "As you all get that ready, I'll pull up Jask's latest readings of our incoming invaders." As the other three sat down and poured the glasses, Emory typed away on her wrist which brought up several still shots on the screens.
"Fifteen hours until the inbound ships arrive. At this moment, all ships have the same general trajectory, indicating none of these ships are bound for surface contact at this time," Jask chimed.
"From what we learned from the Elandrian reports, the carriers might not land, choosing to send out hordes of cruisers," Emory pointed to one of the screens, "But these dreadnoughts are meant to land and stay planet side until they no longer need them. What's the most likely approach they will take?"
Innes stood up and walked over to the board, "More than likely, they'll deploy these in tandem. They'll use the cruisers to offload troops while they organize the dreadnoughts further away. We should be prepared for multiple waves instead of a big wave right away."
"I agree," Clarine added, "This way, they'll work on two objectives simultaneously. Even if their first wave fails, they'll have established a safe spot for them to recover."
"If that's the case, we should reserve Meta Form until we need it. Having our troops use it right away would put us at a severe disadvantage," Emory ordered which the three others agreed with.
"How should we deploy everyone tomorrow?" Nephenee asked, "I just mean should we start with the army split to begin with or should we have a singular force?"
Emory answered calmly, "Let's start with the original plan. Jask, evenly distribute the army into three sections, removing all the primary blasters from the mix."
"Lists created," Jask beeped, "Would you like me to alert all army personnel to their intended destinations?"
"Yes please. Have the people we removed from the list meet at the front of the outpost. In the morning, we should have a clear picture of whether they intend to surround us or just run us over. If they're not surrounding us, we can regroup in the morning," Emory explained.
"For those at the front, remember that the new weapons are only effective once you get past their armor," Innes reminded them, "We shouldn't have a problem with the Mantoan, but it will become a bigger deal when we encounter the Uthid."
Nephenee agreed, "No one besides the four of us should try to take on a Uthid one-on-one. Even the poorly armored one we fought before could have easily fought us off one at a time."
"These are all good points. Are there any more questions before tomorrow?" Emory questioned to which the others shook their heads, "Good. Then everyone should finish their drinks and turn in for the night. We don't how long of a day tomorrow will be, but I can guarantee that it will be one of the longest. Sleep well; be ready just after dawn."
The four of them clinked their glasses together and downed their drinks in a hurry. A sour feeling of anticipation filled the room and reminded them of the stakes tomorrow. After finishing their drinks, Innes and Nephenee excused themselves while Clarine poured another glass for Emory and herself. Emory giggled as Innes and Nephenee rushed off, and Clarine shook her head and smiled. The room sat in silence as they finished their second glasses and poured a third.
"Lady Supreme, what do you think our chances are tomorrow?" Clarine finally broke the silence.
"It's hard to say," Emory sipped her drink, "I don't think the Mantoan will be a problem between the increased power of the army and the new weapons. But the Uthid worry me; Innes and Nephenee had problems with one. Now, we will be facing tens of thousands. But you can count on one thing."
Clarine looked over at Emory's glowing golden eyes and asked cautiously, "What's that?"
"We will win. Even if I have to take them out myself," Emory firmly replied before downing her drink, "Get some rest, Lady Clarine." Without waiting for a reply, Emory set down her glass and headed to the barracks. The moment she walked in, she could feel the tension dripping from the walls and with every breath anyone took. Once she found an open bed, she decided to channel her magik a little bit to raise everyone's spirits. Like a broken faucet, Emory's magik spurted out over everyone and everything. Within a couple minutes, every surface in and out of that building was covered with a layer of her magik. Then the tension eased as a collective sigh of relief was let out by the army. They might not have known what was coming, but they were relieved enough to know they weren't alone.