The meeting room was crowded. There were a lot more people than I had anticipated. But Kat knew who needed to be there more than I did. She’d probably had them all on the post-System equivalent of speed dial, just waiting on me to give the go ahead. Or more accurately, just waiting on debriefing me, and then bringing in the rest.

  This was why Kat was the best. She was the one truly in charge of the Clan. We only functioned because of her. I was the protector but without her, the whole thing would fall apart.

  Beer was brought in, along with food. Pizza and burgers. A whole lot of them. Sunie was fascinated by the pizza. He’d never seen anything like it. I was kind of surprised his world didn’t have something similar. How hard was it to roll out dough, throw some sauce on it and cover it in cheese and toppings?

  Pizza was one of the first things returned to the world after things had somewhat settled down. First people had to relearn how to make cheese, dough and tomato sauce. But that really wasn’t all that difficult. Cheese first, then veggies were added. I’d never liked veggies on my pizza, so I was just cheese until we had sausage and burger.

  None of it was truly the same as pre-Integration. Even the highlander cow beef was a little different. Arcanum added its own flavoring. But it was still pretty good.

  As people arrived, in ones and twos, there was a lot of awkward introductions to Sunie. Some of them had met Newton, or at least heard of him. We had informed Ben, the spymaster, and Donovan about the alien’s presence in Solacetown. He’d taken his oaths but that didn’t mean we 100% trusted him yet.

  But most were still surprised by seeing a real life elf in their midst. The women in the room were instantly smitten by Sunie. What was it with human women and elves? Sunie, for his part, basked in their attention.

  Most of the folk were the leaders of Donovan’s guard forces and the more powerful Adventuring teams, like Nathan. Everyone sat around the table with their drinks and food. Kat was still at the head, I was to her right. Sunie had moved so he was next to me.

  Kat had just finished telling everyone what we knew. Which wasn’t much. The new Clan was dealing with three Dungeon Surges, an arcanetribe and an incursion. All of which was technically outside the borders of our territory but absolutely close enough that we had to deal with it. When all this was done, I’d probably just claim the territory.

  The Northerlands were pretty wild, might be time to tame some of them.

  We already had scouts on the way to the area of interest, a couple airships of guards were following them to set up a perimeter. The rest was just getting everything prepared for the majority of the forces to move out. Supply lines would need to be set up. More of the advance team, of which I was volunteered to be part of, would head out in a day or two. Our job would be to interface with the local leaders, the Gray Wolf Clan, and prepare for the scout’s return with the report. We’d then evaluate and plan on where to send the rest of the forces. Word would be sent back here to Solacetown and the rest of the army and Adventurers would move out.

  There were a lot more military terms thrown around. Donovan was a former Marine Colonel and was really in his element.

  In situations like this, a lot of leaders wanted to be the ones giving commands, making plans. They’d listen to the experts, take the advice, and make the decision. I trusted my people. They knew best. Donovan had commanded armies before. He knew what was needed, when it was needed and how it was needed. I didn’t. I had no problem putting him in charge and so I did.

  “Alright,” I said in a lull in the planning, making sure everyone was looking at me. “Let’s get this bit out of the way and just make sure it’s understood. I’m sure this will be no surprise, but Donovan is in charge. Everyone listens to him for everything.”

  There were some nods and smiles. It had been expected but I just had to make it formal.

  “Does that include you?” Donovan asked.

  He had what I called a drill sergeant voice. I’d never served, so all I had to go by was all the old movies and tv shows I’d watched. It was deep, commanding, every word sure of itself. When he said jump, the smart people were already in the air before he’d finished speaking. The ones that weren’t? No one wanted to be them especially not them once Donovan was done with them.

  I’d seen it, when I’d stopped by and watched him training some of the guard forces.

  Not a pretty sight.

  “Absolutely,” I said. “Tell me where to go and who to punch.”

  Donovan was a tall man. Not huge, but he had that towering presence to him. Made even more so by the Essences he had chosen. He’d been old when the System had hit, but hadn’t aged a day since. Gray hair, still kept military short. No beard, but lines around his eyes from all that he’d seen in life. He’d been physically fit for his age before and was more so now.

  He’d thought about entering the Challenge Tutorial, but he’d been put in charge of people for decades and wasn’t a solo player. Adventurer’s worked in small teams, Donovan was an army guy. Army as in numbers, not the branch, he was a Marine and reminded people of that all the time. He’d wanted to take the Challenge, push himself, but knew that wasn’t the best way to serve the rest of humanity. So, like he’d done for his entire life, he’d sacrificed his wants for the good of the many.

  And I was glad he had. Thousands of people were.

  Donovan was a good man.

  His eyes turned to Sunie.

  “What about Mister Teralei,” Donovan asked. “Since you’re here, I’m assuming that means you’re going to help out but I don’t know what your capabilities are or the best way to deploy you as an asset in the field.” He paused, realizing he was speaking to an alien to Earth. “No offense intended.”

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  “None taken,” Sunie said, nodding his head. “Yes, I am here to help. As for how to…deploy me..,” he paused, working out whatever the wording had been translated as. “Ah, I understand. I believe the best way I can contribute in the coming fights will be alongside Lord Howell.” He paused again, shaking his head. “That is odd to say.”

  “Then don’t,” I said with a shrug. “Does anyone here call me Lord Howell?”

  The room answered with a resounding no.

  “You Terrans and this Faction are so strange,” Sunie said, shaking his head.

  “You’ll get used to it,” I said.

  “No one does,” Kat muttered.

  ***

  Planning sucks.

  It’s important. Vitally important. Planning saves lives, keeps the damage to a minimum. It saves Resources, time and everything else. But sitting there in a planning session is boring. There wasn’t much I could contribute. Not directly.

  Donovan and Kat ran it all. The rest of us just sat there, eating food and drinking beer, listening as they coordinated who, what, when, where and how. We already knew the why.

  The Advance Team was going to be me, Donovan’s second in command who was in the room, Sunie, Nathan and his Adventuring team, a couple of squads of guards and a ton of support Paths. Tammy would have been sent but she was in the Nexus, so Kat assigned one of her other admin staff. Couldn’t call them secretaries anymore. She wasn’t sure which one yet, as she would have to review the schedules, Essences, capabilities and all that. It would require shuffling around some duties.

  Donovan’s second was a woman named Maria Fernandez. She was basically like him. Not a drill sergeant but someone that people naturally listened to. She had that command confidence. She’d also been in the military, Army, but not as long as Donovan and he didn’t hold it against her that she’d only been Army, his words, not mine. The two bickered like an old married couple, but there was a lot of respect there and if Donovan hadn’t been Donovan, they probably would be an old married couple. But he was definitely keep business separate guy.

  I liked Maria, the little I’d rarely interacted with her. I’d had to accept her into the position, after getting a long report from both Donovan and Kat. And I had read it. Most parts of the job I didn’t take seriously, but when it came to the security of the people that trusted me to protect them, that I took very seriously.

  I’d made mistakes with the people we’d hired, appointed and whatever other words applied. I was going to be extra careful to not do that again. But Maria was good people. She was very good at her job.

  With her going to the Incursion site, that meant Donovan wouldn’t be, which had to be annoying him big time. But he was a professional. He knew what his role was. When he’d first been appointed to his position, basically the General of all of Solace’s military might, he’d made the rule that he could never be on the frontlines. It stalled his Advancement but he still managed to get some Dungeon Delves in.

  The reason was pretty simple. Taking him out would cripple the military. Which is why he was sending Maria. She could hold things down here in Solace and he could go. But both of them couldn’t. One had to stay behind in Solacetown, just in case. I was kind of surprised Donovan wasn’t going. Maria could handle things here just fine.

  But it wasn’t my call.

  I could make it my call, but why would I do that?

  The planning went on for a couple more hours. Logistics. Who would go up and when. Who would be on standby. Where they would be on standby. Stuff like that.

  We’d known this day would come, we’d all just been hoping it would be years away.

  That didn’t mean we hadn’t laid down some groundwork. We were as prepared as we could get.

  More food and drinks came. More was eaten. A couple people left and were replaced by others. Mostly the Adventurer team leaders once they got their assignments and others could be brought up to speed. And of course I had to stay for the whole thing.

  I paid attention to it all. I added my two cents when appropriate.

  As much as I liked to joke that all I was good at was punching things, I was capable of a lot more.

  But eventually it finally ended, leaving just me, Kat, Nathan and Sunie in the room with another six pack to finish off.

  “That was interesting,” Sunie said. “I’ve never been involved in a planning session for anything like that. Mostly just meeting with the delving team, coordinating Abilities and such.”

  Sunie had added what he knew, which he thought wasn’t much, but it was far more than anything we knew. Everytime someone new came in, there was that moment of shock at seeing him. Donovan had gotten tired of it and basically put it down into a single statement that got the folks over their shock quickly.

  “Yes, he’s an elf. He’s here to help. Sit down and eyes front.”

  That had pretty much ended it and the focus was attained.

  Now it was just the four of us, hanging out, with the weight of the incursion hanging over us. Doesn’t exactly make for a fun time.

  “I need to head back to Crossroads,” I said, sitting up. “Download what we can from Stylo, see if there’s a way to find out more about what we’re up against.” I looked at Sunie. “You said that Jeriyan should be able to find out more?”

  “Yes. The Sunrise Formation has a lot of contacts in the wider Multiverse. Incursions are recorded events. He might know why Earth is being targeted sooner than expected.”

  “Great,” I said standing up. “You want to come back to Crossroads and then return or just stay here?”

  “He’ll stay here,” Nathan said, smiling and clapping Sunie on the shoulder, making him wince a little bit. Nathan was that strong. “The crew will love to meet him, especially if we’re all going to be working together.”

  Nathan and his team, who I was already used to working with, had been assigned to work with me. We were the strongest people in the Solace Fellowship.

  “I’ll stay,” Sunie said. “I’d like to see more of your city before we head out to fight. It’s nice to take a break from fighting all the time.”

  I laughed.

  “Yeah, breaks are good.”