Shadow Slave

The news Sunny's people brought from the Dream Realm were both disturbing and ominous. There was a wealth of updates on the state of affairs in Antarctica, but all of it was overshadowed by one simple fact.

Army Command was seemingly unaware that Erebus Field had been wiped off the map. They knew that something had happened, but it was the members of his cohort who brought the first-hand account of the devastation to the Dream Realm, prompting an intense reaction.

That did not bode well for Sunny. Either the siege capital had been destroyed very recently, or the First Army was in much worse shape than he had thought. In any case, the situation meant that the validity of all information received from Army Command had to be taken with a grain of salt from now on. Things were changing too fast for their compromised communication network to keep up.

It was just as well. He had already decided to proceed to Falcon Scott, bypassing the less impregnable siege capitals. It was going to be their eventual destination, regardless - that much was clear.

It seemed that the situation in East Antarctica was not as dire as the utter disaster of the Antarctic Center, which had much fewer soldiers and less resources allocated to it due to the smaller territory and population, but was being hit by the Chain of Nightmares much harder, for some reason!

As a result, the previous plan was scrapped, and hastily replaced with a new one. The incoming naval convoys were going to be redirected to start ferrying the civilian population and the army contingent over the strait, to the larger and better protected eastern landmass. Falcon Scott would become the staging ground for the relocation, as well as humanity's last stronghold in the region.

The First Army was abandoning the Antarctic Center entirely.

So, there was no point in seeking shelter in any other siege capital, even if some of them could still be holding out. All divisions were going to retreat to Falcon Scott eventually, anyway, taking the civilians with them.

Sunny sighed.

'Sounds like a plan.'

A plan that could very well end in disaster, but a solid one, nevertheless. Army Command was not entirely clueless... Master Jet had to have known about Erebus Field to send her crow after him, after all, so it was not like the entire leadership was compromised. It was just that there were gaps in the flow of information between the headquarters and the people on the frontlines, which was detrimental, but inevitable for as long as the Winter Beast still lived.

As much as it pained Sunny to admit it, everyone was doing their best in a terrible situation. There was no one to blame. It was just that he personally had the misfortune of finding himself on the more dreadful end of the terribleness spectrum, as far as circumstances were concerned.

'...Damn it.'

Shaking his head, he climbed on the roof of the Rhino and silently observed the flurry of activity inside the resupply station. Everyone was busy. Even the refugees were helping load cargo into the vehicles Sergeant Gere had chosen to commandeer.

crow flew off its perch under the ceiling and landed near him, snuggling close to stare at the humans together. Sunny glanced at

you think? Will

monster glanced at him in confusion and cawed a couple

Sunny scoffed.

an Echo. Oh... what do I

tilted its

Crro! Crro!

Sunny smiled.

Crow? Huh... well, I'll just call you Crow, if

for a few

the outside. One of his shadows remained there to watch the approach

it into a dirty grey sludge. The silhouettes of the nearby mountains were outlined by the red glow that emanated from the sea of lava, making the whole landscape seem eerie

weird. It's like I never

river of them showed itself from behind the cold slopes. The stream of light flowed down the mountain road, heading straight for the entrance

His face fell.

'Ah, not again...'

vehicles was rolling down the road, escorted by scores of disheveled soldiers. Some were on foot, some moved with the help of powered exoskeleton armor suits, aiming into the darkness with their high-caliber rifles. The haunted expressions, the lightless eyes, the faces of frightened refugees behind the cracked windows of makeshift

his eyes for

be the survivors of

head, and then jumped off the roof of

were running to assume defensive positions, and their leaders were barking orders to get

their faces. One of them, an Awakened woman in a tattered robe, was cursing

mechanical voice was not

lieu... lieutenant Carin. Verified. Insufficient clearance.

Goddammit!