Chapter 35: The Package
"Too much noise as usual..." He muttered.
Marcus walked at the head of his troop through the base corridors, the usual noise of boots and distant drills filling the air.
His men kept formation without needing reminders, without needing the usual yelling. That was how he liked it. Clean and efficient. But in his field of vision, something even more disturbing appeared.
Rick...
He appeared from a side hallway, his pace faster than his rank usually allowed, and walking straight at him for some reason.
He looked away, but the higher officer’s face was set hard, jaw tight, eyes locked on Marcus like he had found the source of every problem in the sector.
Marcus tried to avoid any eye contact, but Rick stopped short of the formation and spoke loud enough for nearby ears.
"Marcus. My office. Now!"
The tone left no room for argument. Marcus couldn’t help but give a short nod and signaled his troop to continue without him.
"...and Dylan." He called to the defensive mage.
"Y... yes sir?"
Marcus saw it, the fear rubbed deep in those eyes.
"You’re good now." He muttered as he stepped out of line, but then Amanda was already there, standing just close enough to have heard everything. She tilted her head, curiosity sharp in her expression.
"What did you do this time to make Sir Rick that angry?"
Marcus kept his voice even and respectful. His eyes still glaring at her. "It’s none of your business, Amanda."
She opened her mouth as if to press further, then closed it when she saw his expression. He turned and followed Rick without another word.
Thud!
The office door sealed behind them with a soft click. Rick’s posture changed the moment the lock engaged. The anger gradually drained out of his shoulders as he rubbed a hand over his face and let out a short breath.
"Haaaa... Sorry about the show outside. Had to do it that way. Secrets stay secrets only if we sell the act. Don’t you think?"
Marcus nodded once. "I understand obviously, but what’s the real reason you called me? Amanda seeing us from time to time could be a problem."
Rick leaned against the edge of his desk. "She is of no harm. I can guarantee you that.
I listened to you and Ethan during the last meeting."
"Huh?" Marcus turned, surprised. "Oh really? Why bother, sir Rick."
"Haaaa... I actually listened. Ethan’s plan has legs. So the original schedule is off the table. We’re adjusting now."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. The surprise was real and visible.
Rick noticed and gave a thin smile. "You thought I was just some hardheaded arrogant type who would sink the whole mission because I didn’t like the two of you.
I’m not that stupid. This is bigger than personal feelings."
Marcus’s mouth twitched at the corner. "Well, well... I was wrong about you as well. So we’re on the same boat here."
They stood in that brief stretch of mutual recognition when both their private terminals chimed at the same time.
Ding!
The messages were identical. A package from the revolutionary side was inbound.
Rick’s face tightened again. "This is too soon. The chief commander is still in the base and still watching everything. If that package shows up here under our names, his suspicion might turn into actual proof."
Marcus kept his tone level. "How is the chief already suspicious of us?"
"Not us, me," Rick said. "And it’s his job to be suspicious. I don’t think the rank tag he’s wearing is his real position either. He’s higher than he pretends. He might be higher than chief actually..."
Marcus didn’t ask for more details. He already knew enough to stay careful. "Then how do we take the package without lighting the head up?"
Another chime cut him off. Both men checked their terminals again.
The new message was short and clear. The package had already been taken and was in safe hands. Ethan’s name was attached.
Marcus exhaled through his nose, the tension in his shoulders easing a fraction, but Rick’s reaction was the opposite.
His fingers tapped once against the desk, a small sign of nerves that rarely showed.
"I was supposed to handle the pickup," Rick muttered. "That was the arrangement. A group of our people on the outside were meant to receive it and walk it into the base like routine supply traffic. Now Ethan has it. How did that happen in the first place?"
Marcus remembered Ethan taking his troops to that location.
Did he know? Or just a coincidence? He thought.
Marcus spoke calmly. "It will be all right, sir Rick. Ethan manages things. That’s what he does. He always finds a way that works."
Rick didn’t look fully convinced. How could he? He didn’t know Ethan at all, just that his mind was sharp and built for making plans, but he didn’t argue, as he already had the package.
The conversation shifted into practical next steps: how to keep Amanda and the chief occupied, how to prepare a clean handoff once the package reached the base, and what signals to watch for if the original revolutionary team still tried to make contact.
They kept the discussion short. Both men had roles to play outside the sealed office, and the longer they stayed, the more attention it would draw.
"Okay, I will be on my way. I will notify you, sir, when Ethan arrives."
Marcus left first, expression returned to the neutral mask of a junior officer who had just been dressed down. Rick waited a full minute before following, already shaping the next piece of the act.
Step! Step!
Far from the base, the ground under Ethan’s boots was uneven and dry. The bag hung from his left hand, weight balanced so it wouldn’t slow his stride.
Seris walked on his right, close enough that her shoulder nearly brushed his. Lira and the two other soldiers from the unit filled out the small group behind them. The walk back toward their temporary position should have been quiet. It wasn’t.
Seris’s eyes stayed fixed on the bag. The glare she gave it was open and continuous.
"What is that?" she asked again.
Ethan didn’t answer the first time. He had already told them once that the package was not for discussion. Apparently the warning had not stuck.
Lira spoke up from behind. "She’s right. If our own unit isn’t allowed to know what’s in it, that means something. What could be that restricted?"
Ethan kept walking. He would leave Lira alone for now. She was useful and usually followed orders when it mattered.
The problem was Seris.
Arrogant, loud when she wanted to be, and still carrying whatever private loyalty she had held for Olivia. He needed her managed, not free to dig.
He activated his terminal and raised it to his ear, faking a connection with practiced ease. His voice stayed calm and clipped with the tone of an officer receiving bad news.
"Oh, understood... Emergency at the unit position? Yes, yes. I’m sending them now."
He lowered the terminal and looked back at the three following him.
"There’s a situation at our unit. Lira, take the other two and move. They need bodies on the ground."
Lira nodded immediately. The two soldiers fell in beside her without complaint while Seris started to turn with them.
"I’m a mage," she said. "I can fly there faster than any of you can run. Let me go."
Ethan stopped her with a flat look. "No. The package and my safety are your priority right now. So you... stay."
She hesitated, clearly unhappy, but the order was clean. Lira and the soldiers broke into a steady run toward the unit.
Within a minute the path was empty except for Ethan and Seris. The only sounds left were their boots on the dirt and the low wind moving through the sparse cover around them.
They walked in silence for a short stretch. Ethan kept the bag close and his senses open. He remembered the old advice about mages: they responded best to clear force when their pride got in the way. Arrogance was part of the package with most of them. Seris was no different.
She broke the quiet first.
"What did you do?"
Ethan glanced sideways. "What?"
"Lady Olivia. Where is she? I know you did something. One moment she was there, fighting you. I saw it, and the next day she was gone.
Completely gone. No report at all, no body. Nothing... we got nothing, like she never existed at all."
The pieces clicked into place. That was the source of the constant pressure she had been applying. Not the bag in his hand. Not the restricted orders, but her... Olivia.
They really are loyal to her...
Ethan stopped walking and turned to face her fully. His voice stayed plain.
"She... will never return."
Seris’s eyes narrowed.
[Storm Sense activated.]
He could hear it clearly. Her heartbeat spiked hard and fast. Her rage, clean and open.
Good. Very good...
Anger like that usually meant she was not recording. He flipped his own terminal to capture mode without looking down at it, recording his own video.
He continued in the same level tone.
"Olivia was an animal wearing a centurion’s rank. She was unworthy of the position and a liability to everyone around her.
You should be glad I pulled you into my unit instead of leaving you under that crazed fool."
That was it. He saw it in her eyes, something had snapped.
The color rose in Seris’s face so fast it was almost impressive. Her hands clenched. The air around her shifted with the first edge of gathering ember.
"You dare!" She bellowed.