GATE - War of Two Worlds Part 2

V14 - Chapter 168

"That is not how it works, sir," he says. "From what I understand, it is like a hologram. There are limitations. Lashin has dedicated his life to killing Selina, and he is a powerful magic user, he will know the difference."

"I read the report," Castillo says.

Listening to Castillo is giving him a headache. He had worked with the CIA before and never enjoyed the experience. While on the same team, he rarely approved of their ways of getting the job done.

What is worse is that he is listening to a debate about his adopted daughter. Selina has had her other family murdered. She has been enslaved, raped, sold, kidnapped to be sacrificed, experienced racism, and more. The last thing she needs is this.

"She was a second away before being burnt to death, agent man," he says, in a furious tone. "If you think it is so casual in handing over a kid to a group of psychopaths, then you must not do it for fuck's sake!"

"Sharpe," Stanford says. "Control your emotions! I already stated handing Selina over is out of the question. The reason I wanted you in this meeting is that you had direct experience with these elves. If you keep this hostility, then I will remove you from this meeting."

He takes a deep relaxing breath. He knows Stanford is doing his job and is right. Sarah has been telling him that he needs to keep a level head when topics get personal.

"What has the prisoner said?" he asks.

"So far nothing of value," Castillo replies. "All we know is his mission was to lure Vanguard-5 to the boy's location to deliver the message. It seems after your encounter, his tribe had split up and kept on the move."

That explains why NATO has not been able to track them. They move around and leave no trail.

"Any trade with them won't be a good idea," he says. "We have nothing of value that we are willing to trade. And anyone we send will probably get an arrow in the head."

Yang looks at him. "Maybe. With all due respect Sharpe, but I was there. When they kidnapped Selina, they didn't kill anyone(2). They were trying to minimize their impact, hoping we cut our losses."

"What is your point?" he asks.

"My point is that we cannot view them as barbarians," Yang says. "They are clear on their mission and have been very tactical on how they operate. They are elves so they can play the long game."

"Is there any way we can use this?" Stanford asks. "I want to end this group once and for all. We cannot have them going around, killing everyone in the countryside. Still, we also cannot abandon our captive people, if it is true that the Wood Elves know something about the Haryo."

"We need to get more information about these people," Yang replies. "Permission to talk to our elven allies? Maybe they can sneak someone inside their ranks."

"Granted," Stanford says. "Sharpe, talk with your Elf friends and see if they can provide any other options. We will continue this conversation in three days."

He nods and sees the screens go dark.

Yang looks at him. "I understand this is a hard subject for you, but you need to keep a level head."

"I know, sir," he says. "It is just Lashin got awfully close last time, and now he is starting to undo all the work I have done. I can't find a way to not make this personal."

"I understand," Yang says. "I don't think Lashin will go on a murder spree anytime soon. He seems to wait after each action. We will figure it out. Just focus on your current assignments and the upcoming mission."