Episode Seven, Part 5:
For Always

Turning my way, you show me your face; 
we've known each other for a long time. 
I can't wait 'till we're afraid of nothing. 

Sol clutched the radio tight in her hands, feeling her heart on the line as they waited for any word from their guards. Dreea and Wynn were leaning over either shoulder, all knowing that they couldn't do anything until they heard from their people, or, if Exile Allegiance suddenly appeared at their gates.

"How much longer do we wait?" Wynn asked, sparing a glance around at all of their people. Everyone was in the position they had been assigned - ready to attack on their Sovereigns' command - except there was no enemy in sight.

Sol sighed. "In normal circumstances, I'd say we'd wait as long as we need to..."

"But Kodiak's out there," Dreea said.

"Exactly. And Bas. And if we don't hear from our guards within the next hour, I think we should send a team."

"Why don't we try radioing them first?" Wynn suggested.

"That's not the plan-"

"I know it isn't," he interrupted Sol. "But something could have happened. Plans change. The whole point of the radios is to stay one step ahead of Exile Allegiance; we need to make sure we're doing that."

"If the radio goes off and one of our guards is in close proximity to them, then they can be discovered and killed, and then this entire operation fails. Not to mention we'd be unprepared when they show up here," Dreea challenged, urging Wynn to see the severity from her point of view.

"All of our people are where they need to be," he said. "If they come now, or in 5 hours, our people will be ready. The radios are just an additional source of warning for us; a potential opportunity to get another attack in before they get here. We need to make sure everything's okay out in the forest, and that Bas and Kodiak are safe."

Dreea chewed on her bottom lip, turning over to Sol for her verdict. Wynn had gotten through to her: she couldn't argue when it was her friends' lives on the line - especially when it was Kodiak.

"Okay," Sol caved. "I'll check in."

Wynn let out a sharp breath, not realising how tense he had been until he felt it all escape from his body.

"This is Noble Sovereign Riverly; can you give me an update?"

She waited a few moments, holding the radio between them so Dreea and Wynn could listen in to the answer, but there wasn't one.

"Hello, this is your Noble Sovereign Riverly speaking. Can anyone hear me? Do you need help?"

Still nothing.

"Is anyone there? Kodiak? Bas? Anyone?"

"I'm going," Dreea declared, already whipping her blade out of her waistband and turning around to face the gates - not even hesitating to leave camp to find her friends.

"Woah, wait a minute, we need you here," Sol stopped her. "You're our strongest fighter, and whatever's happened out there, the one thing I know for sure is that Exile Allegiance are going to come here."

"Sol's right. You two stay here; I'll go find them."

"Not a chance," Dreea shook her head. "There's too much at stake, and Quill and Elara-"

"Are safe in the building," Wynn said, "and you guys will be here. For all we know, it could just be a case of the radios not working that far out of camp, but one of has to go, and it can't be one of you."

Dreea sighed, facing Sol for her final decision. But she was chewing on her lower lip - her nose scrunched up in reluctance - and her arms folded across her chest.

"Elara would never forgive me if I let something happen to Kodiak."

"...I know," Sol caved, sounding full of spite at herself for agreeing with him. "Atlantis would never forgive me if something happened to Bas."

Wynn offered a sore smile, but adjusted his weapon belt, already knowing what her answer was.

"Stay safe out there," she warned him. "And if two hours pass and you haven't found them, come back here so we know you're alive."

"And we'll send a team out to look for them," Dreea said, squeezing onto Wynn's arm reassuringly before he was pulled into Sol - held tightly one final time before she had to let him go.

//////////

Kodiak lingered with Bas behind the group of guardsmen, trying to keep low and stay out of sight.

"What's the plan?" Bas asked. "If the radios don't work, how are we going to tell the others that Exile Allegiance are on their way? Should we go back?"

"No," the Sovereign answered. "We need to see the plan through; the others will do what's best for Basilisk, I need to do the same."

"Okay, so when are we gonna go?" Bas asked, trying to predict their timing. "Exile Allegiance aren't that far away - shouldn't we leave now?"

Kodiak shook his head. "We have to wait until the majority have passed. Our guards aren't going to attack until the last of their fighters pass by."

Bas nodded, understanding the plan, but still feeling impatient to leave. "And when we get to their camp-"

"Shh!" Kodiak cut him off, suddenly freezing in place. Everyone seemed to be held under the same captive as him - all scanning their eyes around careful not to move their heads too much; all holding their breaths as if the very sounding of them breathing in was what would lead to them being found.

Exile Allegiance were there. Not only were they there - right in front of them - but they were heading in the direction of Basilisk, ready to massacre their friends if everything went according to their plan.

Several of the guards managed to turn around, peering over their shoulder to glance at the Sovereign, as if to say 'can you see them? They're here. The war is here'.

But Kodiak simply nodded, trying to stay as still as possible at their enemy continued to pass, until he saw what was the last of Exile Allegiance move by. He waited a few seconds - just to be sure no one else was tagging along behind them - and mouthed one word as his guards: 'go!'.

On his command, Basilisk's guard launched forwards, their weapons at the ready, and sprung an attack on those unfortunate to be within reach. And with their enemy distracted, Kodiak tugged on Bas' sleeve, pulling him far away from danger and further into the forest.

"That was close," Bas muttered, somewhat out of breath as he ran along behind Kodiak. "They were right in front of us and had no clue."

The Sovereign glanced over his shoulder several times to make sure they weren't being followed before eventually slowing his pace down. "They'll have a clue, now," he said. "If we're lucky, it might even slow them down, and we could get back to camp at a similar time to them to help assist our defences."

"Do you think we'll win?"

Kodiak looked over, suddenly aware of Bas' voice lacking his usual arrogant, confidence. He was a skilled fighter and he was bluntly aware of it - always the first to tell others or just how great he was when it came to using a weapon, but for the first time that Kodiak could recall, Bas seemed doubtful of his chances.

"Of course we will," Kodiak said, coming to a standstill and resting his hand on his shoulder. "If anyone's getting out of this alive, it's you and me. We survived all those months together on Neptunum, and every day of that was a war itself. We'll survive this, too."

Bas dropped his head, managing a defeated smile. "I only survived Neptunum because of you. That's why I told Dreea I was coming out here today. Because we'd have each others' backs."

Kodiak felt his heart twinge in his chest and an unspeakable bond with the friend standing before him. "I wasn't the reason you survived," he said.

"Yeah, you were," Bas argued. "When you became a guard and I became a prisoner, you used your power to keep me alive; you put me in a private cell, got me out of the trials as often as you could, came and visited me almost every day - even though it could have landed you in a lot of trouble if they found out. You saved me on Neptunum. I wanted to make sure I had the chance to save you today if anything were to happen."

"You survived the same way I did: hope," Kodiak said. "It saved my life. Just thinking about seeing Dreea, Riv, and Wynn again... Elara... Yeah, that was hope. The same way I imagine you thought about your brother."

Bas let out a breath, struck by Kodiak's words. "I wanted to see Harlow again," he admitted, "I just didn't believe I ever would. Even when you and Elara brought him in to see me, I still didn't think it was real. I didn't have hope in the same way, but I had you. That was enough."

"Well," Kodiak said. "We still have each other, and we've had hope in the face of far-worse things, and came out of that alive. Exile Allegiance don't know what they're up against."

"Or what's coming," Bas added on, seeming encouraged by Kodiak's words and finally feeling his spark return to him. "I can't wait to see the look on Reegan's face when she realises-"

"There you are!"

Both boys whipped their heads around, weapons already positioned in front of them as they turned to face the speaker, half-expecting it to be someone from Exile Allegiance ready to attack them.

"Wynn?" Kodiak frowned, lowering his blade and taking a couple of steps forward, soon meeting his friend. "What are you doing out here? The plan-"

"No one answered the radio," Wynn said. "We kind of thought you'd all been killed. I needed to make sure you were okay."

"We tried to radio you, but they wouldn't work. I guess the signal doesn't reach out here," Kodiak said. "I wanted to make sure we still followed through with our part of the plan."

"Good idea," Wynn nodded. "Sol and Dreea are still at camp; I heard our guards fighting over there, and saw Exile Allegiance walk past. They're on their way."

"How did they look?" Kodiak asked. "Did our guys get a good attack on them? What were their numbers like? How many did we lose?"

"I don't know," Wynn said, hurrying to answer before Kodiak could throw too many questions at him. "But Basilisk will handle it. We need to make sure we secure our vantage and get her back to camp..."

//////////

Sol pulled the monocular down from her eye, holding it tightly in her fist and swallowing down a gulp of fear. She looked at Dreea who was standing beside her, waiting anxiously for her verdict.

"They're here."

Dreea let out a heavy breath, trying to keep her fear as a secret that only Sol could see, before nodding firmly.

"The final fight. It's now or never."

With her unity, Sol turned around, gaining the attention of her immediate guards. "You know the plan," she said. "On my command... And don't ever give up."

The guards nodded, lining up along the protection of the fences, aiming the barrels of their guns between the holes in the fence and waiting until their signal.

When the army of attackers marched closer to their camp, and Sol could begin to make out the furious faces glaring their way, she brought two fingers to her mouth and whistled, loud, standing unnerved as shots began to fire from her people.

Almost immediately, Exile Allegiance fired back with their retaliation - some firing their own guns, others charging towards the fences to intimidate Basilisk or claw their way in - whichever came first.

As all of their people assisted in their defences, Sol paced back and forth, trying to keep an eye on everything and see the battle from every angle. There was still no sign of Reegan outside, but Sol knew she had to be there; after all, what was a fight without a Commander? Without someone to remind you who you were fighting for?

She didn't want to think about the possibility of Reegan not being there. If she wasn't, then surely that meant she was back safe and sound at Exile Allegiance's camp - having sent everyone to do her dirty work for her - and when Kodiak, Bas, and Wynn showed up to follow through on their part of the plan, they would be met with her unexpected presence and whatever lethal consequences were sure to follow.

Sol shook her head, scolding herself for letting her thoughts run wild in such a nerve-racking way.

"We need to figure out if Reegan is here," Sol said, approaching Dreea's side as she finished giving an order to one of the guards. "And if she isn't, we need to send that team out now to look for Kodiak and Bas... Not to mention that Wynn should be back by now."

"Don't worry about the guys, I'm sure they'll be fine. They can handle themselves," Dreea said, though, deep down she was just a terrified as Sol was about their friends. What would she do if they won the war here but Kodiak, Bas and Wynn never returned home? What would she do if they'd gone through everything together, only for it to end when she wasn't ready?

"And Reegan?" Sol asked. "Has anyone seen her?"

"Let me check," Dreea said, turning away and moving close to the fence, trying to peer through one of the holes. But before she could get out an answer, Dreea pulled away, raising her voice in desperation, praying that her people would hear.

"Grenades!" She yelled, immediately grabbing onto Sol's arm without hesitation and pulling her into her, taking cover by pressing up against the fences and allowing the weapons to pass overhead.

On Dreea's alarm, the people of Basilisk deferred to their training - picking up shafts of metal that had been set aside - torn from the building over of Hestia - and used it to create a makeshift cover for themselves. At the same time, a team of people moved in front of the lined-guards shooting, holding up a shaft to protect them and allow Basilisk to continue their defences.

Once the multitude of grenades had exploded and Sol was confident that there wouldn't be any more set off for a while, she pulled her arms down from her head and scanned her eyes around camp, trying to figure out if they had suffered a substantial hit from Exile Allegiance.

"Most of them look okay," Dreea said, perhaps hearing her thoughts.

"Those people over there - on the far side by the fence - they look hurt. One of them's on the ground."

"Most of us are still okay. They'll carry that person to medic, and Aeryn and Fenn will do what they can. We need to focus on figuring out if our defences are working, and trying to shift to an attack."

Sol nodded, spinning around with intent to approach their guards, but something else caught her attention. "They're back!"

She ran across the clearing in the centre of camp, not sparing a thought to wonder what would happen if Exile Allegiance suddenly decided to launch more grenades over when she was exposed, and only cared about getting to her friends.

"What took you so long!?" She exclaimed, punching on Kodiak's shoulder, but not enough to hurt him. "You've guys been gone for ages. And why didn't you answer the radio?"

"The signal didn't work," Kodiak explained, knowing that it wouldn't alleviate the frustration in Sol; she'd have been worried sick about him. "But it's okay; everything went according to plan," he said. "Our guards sprung the attack - only a few of them didn't make it, the rest are coming in the back, now-"

"And what about her? Did you get her?"

Kodiak let out a breath, trying to conceal his smile for a moment, but the victory shone through. "Yeah," he said. "We got her. Bas is holding her over there."

Sol glanced over towards the back of camp, trying to spot Bas amongst the army of her people that were scattered around, but she couldn't focus. The only thing she could do was put her trust in Kodiak, and she knew he wouldn't let her down.

"Riv, the gates," Dreea interrupted, suddenly grabbing onto her arm and tugging her away, urgent to get to the commotion that was unfolding.

Without a second passing, Kodiak and Wynn followed suit, following both girls to the front of camp, all hoping that things weren't about to escalate out of control.

"What's happening?" Sol asked, standing armed at the side of the head guard, trying to figure out what orders she was giving.

"They're riling up their attacks; it looks like they're planning something," she said. "What do you want us to do? Continue our defence, or switch to attack? I was thinking we could send a group outside of amp to sneak behind them and have them surrounded-"

"No, it's alright," Sol cut her off. "I have a secret weapon that's bound to stop Reegan in her attacks... I'll bring her out." 

Seven // Part Five
I didn't have (hope), but I had you. That was enough.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I hope you all had a lovely day celebrating with your family, loved ones, or however you could! It's a strange time for all of us, but I feel blessed to have my family with me this year as I was on my own for 3 weeks last Christmas! If this wasn't your year, I hope next year is better for you!

I had my first vegan Christmas and it was wonderful. ♡

...Two more chapters left (and an epilogue). Don't even want to think about it. BUT I'm gonna get it finished before next year, I promise. ♡

25/12/21.