I found this meme and its amazing XD
I finished this chapter exactly 7 days ago but I had to fix my timelines and I forgot to upload it when I finished editing🧍♀️🧍♀️
BTW HAPPY NEW YEAR!! NEXT CHAPTER NEXT YEAR 😘😘
Alyssa woke up in terror.
She wanted to scream and shout, and let it all out, but she just couldn't. Was it true? Was Clove truly gone because of a Spy?
She had to check if it was real, there truly was a spy, if the Clove stuck in the pit is just Smugglet illusion, if the Emperor's forces truly are heading straight to their location.
~~
She was sprinting to the pit, but what would she say to Fortis if it was real? I had a dream about it? She could be imprisoned of lying and potentially working for the Emperor, even if she wasn't lying it was still a risk.
How do I tell them who the Spy is? WAIT THE CAMERA'S!! IF CLOVE DID ESCAPE THEY WOULD CHECK THE CAMERA'S ON HOW AND THEY'LL SEE HIM!! Wait.. didn't Fortis say something to me after the meeting last nox? (Night)
~~
"Alyssa." Fortis said to her from behind.
"Yes?" She said as she turned around
"I know Flower has a deep hatred for a Clove, and can you tell her when you see her later that she, and yourself is allowed throw certain things at her, as long as it doesn't cause major injuries or death. I would tell her myself, but she appears to be gone already."
"Thank you, is Dux okay with this?"
"He is perfectly fine with it."
"Alright, I'll notify her when I see her again, that may be around tomorrow afternoon. Vale! (Goodbye)"
"Vale."
~~
That's it!! I'll just say I threw like uhm a small rock at her, the illusion will disappear and that's how they'll know i'm not a spy!!
She finally made it to the pit, she looked down at "Clove" who just sat there, doing nothing. Which was already a massive red flag that it wasn't her, if it was she would've found something to scream about. The brunette picked up a small pebble and threw it down at Clove.
And as her dream told her, Clove was gone, she shrivelled into thin air, as if she was never there.
Time to act as if I had no clue.
"CLOVE HAS ESCAPED!!!"
People ran towards the pit she looked down upon, dropping anything they held whether it was a vase or a flower. Only for their eyes to widen and their mouths to drop speechless or scream. Their bodies began to panic and run away, Flower came running out of the nearby Greenhouse, furious.
"WHAT?!" Flower yelled.
I definitely should've thought this through. Well what else could I have done and its not like I had time?
Security ran by, checking themselves, and noticing the missing Under-Lord, even the Generals Clove left behind were stunned that they were abandoned by their own Under-Lord.
"UNDER-LORD CLOVE HAS ESCAPED!! CHECK THE SECRUITY CAMERAS!!" A security guard yelled into their Two-way radios
"WHAT?!" The one behind the radio yelled.
"JUST CHECK THEM!!"
"I AM!! NOTIFY VIGILLO AND FORTIS!"
"ROGERUS!!" (Roger)
The Security guard that yelled at the Radio took some deep breaths and spoke to the brunette.
"Miss, you will speak with Fortis on how this happened, and how you discovered it."
"I am aware, that is why I am still here."
~~ (They were notified and Dux knows she's gone)
"Commander Dux." Fortis said as he saluted Dux.
"Yes Fortis?" Dux replied as he was looking though files in his Holodesk.
"Vigillo reviewed the footage and has discovered [Redacted] was the spy-"
"WHAT?! HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST MEMBERS HERE, HOW CAN THIS BE?!" Dux slammed his fist on the desk, cracking it slightly. Not like it mattered as they were leaving soon.
"He's been under our skin for a decade as he said in the footage, his parents raised him to betray us. The Emperor has vast knowledge on us and that means he's known our location for a decade-" Fortis said as he tried to stay calm.
"And we need to change all the information as he knows it all. It makes sense now considering the meaning of his name."
"He also mentioned there is another spy here-"
"WHAT?! TWO OF THEM SLIPPED THROUGH THE VERFICATIONS?!"
Fortis could see Dux attempting to contain his anger, but his clenched fists being a shade of yellow gave it away.
"Unfortunately."
"Darren, send small squads to check everyone's tents. There is another spy here and we need to find them."
A male figure came from the room behind them.
"Rogerus!"
Darren left the room as he pulled out his radio assembling squads.
"Notify Ben that since there is another spy here, the information will be changed later, after they are caught."
"Rogerus." Fortis replied saluting.
~~
Screaming reigned Serenity, even Heavens Pillar could hear them. The news of Clove's disappearance spread like the Emperor's reign 20 years ago, rapidly. Everyone was either packing, or calling someone to notify them, because now they knew, they weren't safe.
Alyssa knew Clove attained a Serenity Bush, meaning if the Emperor's forces couldn't enter, she could still slip in. Yet, that meant that they had time on their side but just barely.
Everything she owned was packed now, all her folders, paperwork and photos. She was still saddened by the news that her previous mentor, Eleanor's funeral was cancelled. Eleanor had to be quickly buried by Kalise and some volunteers, as Eleanor requested to be buried in Serenity.
The Generals, and any other prisoners were relocated into pits thanks to some Crystalyds, as well as Alyssa's own Crystalyd, Diamond. The domes were handed back to Alyssa for safekeeping as there was no way this kind of tech would just be allowed to fall into the Emperor's hands.
The holes they dug were just deep enough that anyone in them couldn't hear what people say above them, to prevent anyone notifying The Emperor of their new location. They were lowered, not-so-safely by Arachnet webs so the fall wouldn't kill them, they needed to suffer before getting put of out their misery.
Flower's things were already packed, she was busy transporting all the plants in the greenhouse into some Wheelbarrows to attach to her Mecha Beast, when she finished about 2 were filled. 1 for vegetation and 1 full of picked Serenity Bushes, not the plant itself, because it can't survive the conditions of other caverns. A lot of vegetation was left behind as it was only native to Serenity too.
After 20 years of living in Serenity, everyone had to leave, it was like leaving their old home's all over again, it was just not safe knowing the Emperor could turn up within two hours.
Serenity's rebel base wasn't very populated, because of that, it would be easy to move around without getting caught. But there were still too many people grouped together, just out in the open.
They had to split up.
Dux quickly split everyone there into groups, each group leaves a few minutes after the one before them to create a distance. If one group was caught than the ones before/after them would be okay due to the distance. If someone doesn't have Mecha Beast to ride on, they will share it with someone else if granted their consent.
~~
Everyone was standing near the tents, they couldn't be taken down as it could be used as a small distraction to get further away. Besides, it wasn't worth for them to fill up the little space they had because of the tents, they could just make new ones to replace them anyway.
Most were on their Mecha's or letting someone ride with them on their Mecha.
"I will now read out the list of groups, when I am finished we begin to leave at once. We are heading to The Outlaw Organization of ***** cavern, as Policy #22 states: If a Headquarters is discovered by The Emperor, the residents are to stay in a separate base if they are granted consent..."
"Policy #22? What's next, a whole book about policies?" Eli said jokingly.
"As the Book of Policies is getting a replacement, the words that I read out are not word for word."
"Oh-"
"We are specifically, heading to [coordinates.] As Policy #24 states: If the damage caused by a Spy is so harmful that a relocation is necessary, only then the public being informed of the Spy is mandatory. Which is why I am telling you my deputies have informed me that we had a spy among our ranks for the last decade, he is the reason Clove escaped."
Everyone was deeply shocked, a spy was here for a whole decade and they're only being discovered now out of the whole 10 years they were here?
"Who was it?" A civilian called out
"Yeah! Who was it if our ranks are sooooo secure?!" Another refugee called
"If there was a spy, who's to say there isn't another one?!"
"Is that why some guards did random check-in's today?!"
Most civilians were now chiming in, chanting: "Who was it? Is there another one? Our ranks are not secure enough!!"
"I am getting to that." Dux cut everyone off
"..."
"He was the Spy Sub-Deputy, Mendax, his parents raised him to be a spy."
And... suddenly pretty much everyone was either yelling or just stood there, petrified.
"HIS KINDNESS TO ME WAS A LIE?!"
"HOW DO WE KNOW YOU ARE NOT LYING?!"
"HE SAVED ME SEVERAL TIMES, IT WAS JUST AN ACT?!"
"WHO DOES THAT TO THEIR CHILD?!"
"THEN IT IS NOT HIS FAULT, ITS HIS PARENTS' FAULT!!"
"I THOUGHT HIS PARENTS DIED WHEN HE WAS A KID?! IS THIS FOR THEM OR SOMETHING?!"
"QUIET!!" Dux yelled
The chanting grew quiet, Dux is usually calm around others, unless its a meeting, most members had never seen Dux yell before.
"If we don't leave now, we will never make it to ***** cavern alive. The Emperor is bound to be here at any time now. Allow me to finish so we can all make it, I won't let anymore lives be stolen."
You could practically hear the emotion in the last sentence, the way it was spoken, you could just hear the sadness in his voice.
The former protestors stood there in silence allowing him to speak, they may be different but they all share one ambition. Alright maybe three.
Take down the Emperor, and survive, if not die in the attempt to take him down.
Dux took a few deep breaths and began to read out the groups, no more time to be stolen.
"Group 1: Funerie Sub-Deputy Alyssa, Junjie, his allies, or as they call themselves, The Shane Gang. Group 2: Medical Deputy Kalise, the members of the Medical department, [Redacted Civilian names]." Dux began.
"Group 3: Food Deputy Wèi, Resource Deputy Venari, all members of the Resource and Food department."
Wèi and Venari turned to their departments, telling them to split from the rest of the camp so that it was more visible they were a separate group.
(Wèi and Venari are married in case I forgot to add it)
"Group 4: Security Deputy Fortis, Pollution Sub-Deputy Altiora, all members of the Security and Pollution department [Redacted Civilian names]."
Fortis and Altiora both did the same as Venari and Wèi, split their group off the crowd to make it visible they were not in the same group.
"We are still without enough metal to build a Mecha, thus I still remain without a Mecha." Altiora said awkwardly to her lover.
"You can go on mine sunshine." Fortis teased.
"Thanks, and please don't call me sunshine, I prefer love instead."
"No problem love."
(They're married too in case I forgot to add it)
"Group 5: Floral Deputy Flower, all members of the Funerie, Floral and Technological department, besides Funerie Sub-Deputy Alyssa, [Redacted Civilian names]."
(Alyssa is monitoring the Shane Gang as they aren't fully trusted yet.)
"Group 6: Myself, Hamengku, Technological Sub-Deputy Ben all members that work for me, (Some people work for Dux, like organizing things for him, etc.), the remaining members of the Spy department, [Redacted Civilian names.] The leaders of your group will be the ones highest in the ranks, they have received an individual paper, listing who is in the group so they can tell if you are missing."
"Like a roll call?" Eli whispered to Junjie.
"I do not know what you call them where you are from, but I assume so." He whispered back.
"Group 1, I need to speak with you before we can start to leave. If you forgot the coordinates, they are on the paper, use your Holodesk for directions if you must. The rest of you, prepare, my group, stay on high alert as we are the last to leave, and the most at risk of an ambush by the Emperor." The commander finished.
Chatter emerged as The Shane Gang and Alyssa split off the others while getting off their Mecha Beast's.
"You are aware of the mission you signed up for, I am correct you are not heading to the different Outlaw Headquarters?"
"WHAT?! PRONTO WAS NOT TOLD!!" Pronto screamed.
"That's because we didn't tell ya, sorry bout that." Kord apologized
"WHY WASN'T PRONTO TOLD?!" He bellowed.
"Its better if we explain along the way, less time to waste for the other civilians." Trixie told Pronto.
"We thank you for your hospitality towards myself and my friends." Junjie bowed.
"No problem, just make sure the Emperor falls."
"We will commander." The Sub-Deputy replied.
They returned to the crowd and their Mecha's to mount up, and now everyone was ready.
"Group 1, you know where to go, Group 2, dispatch"
The word dispatch sent some chills up some people's spine, they were leaving the place that substituted as their homeland for the last decades, it was like an emotional attachment being severed again.
Fun fact before I end this chapter: If you type Mendax in Google Translate for Latin to English, it comes up as liar. If you type liar in English to Latin, it comes up as Mendax.
The reason Fortis said that throwing stuff at prisoners is okay is because Chinese prisoners are mostly abused (The East is no exclusion)
I really enjoyed writing this chapter! I hope you liked it.