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I shrugged. "I never intended to allow any harm to come to her. Now, will you help me get in there and find out what's happening, or do I have to do it myself?"
He sighed deeply but didn't hesitate. "What do you want us to do?"
I grinned. That was more like it. My plan was to sneak into the FOB and find Chrissy. Aware that I would stand out among the humans, I would need to be stealthy and ensure nobody saw me. I also needed a distraction.
"Cause a distraction at the main gate, and I will sneak over the wall from the side. The distraction needs to be large enough to lure most of the soldiers out so I can poke around in there," I voiced my half-assed plan.
Thorodoth turned thoughtful, his eyes moving around the brush, forest, and open land between here and the FOB, which stretched about two miles.
"A fire should do the trick," he said after a moment of deliberation.
A fire had been on my mind too, but it was also dangerous. "It could spread," I warned.
He shook his head. "It's too cold and wet for that, but they don't seem to know that."
"You've done it before," I observed.
"We had to find out how many warriors they have and how they operate," Thorodoth confirmed.
"They won't be suspicious about a second fire?"
He shrugged. "They may, but it doesn't matter. We can conceal ourselves in the forest while they fight the flames. We might even take a shot at one or two."
Remembering why Chrissy was inside—to save as many innocent soldiers as she could—I shook my head at the last part of his plan. "Leave them be for now. The few you shoot down won't make much of a difference, it'll only add to their loathing as well as proving us the barbarians they think we are."
Thorodoth didn't seem to like that very much but relented to the wisdom of it. "We will leave them alone unless provoked or cornered," he agreed.
"Good." I reached out my arm to clasp his shoulder, and he did the same to mine.
"May the gods be with you," he said.
"And with you," I replied, meaning it. As much as I hated the Vandalls, I couldn't bring myself to extend that emotion to Thorodoth and his males.Fighting on a battlefield is much easier than this allying dryck, I mused. At least on the battlefield, I knew who the foe was and didn't have to start liking him.
"When do you want us to start?"
"I'll make my way over the wall there, by the four trees," I pointed to a group of macay trees, "start the fire when you see me. I'll wait until the first soldiers pour out, then I'll climb the wall."
Thorodoth gave the wall a dubious look. It was at least as tall as three males standing on each other's shoulders and made from slick metal without any discernable footholds, but to his credit, he didn't voice his misgivings.
I retreated into the brush to sprint toward the four trees I had pointed out. The exercise was enough to keep me warm even without the furs, but my breath came out in white plumes, thicker with each mile I put behind me as my breathing deepened, and I knew I needed to be careful not to take in too much cold air, because I had seen males get sick from that.
Soon, I reached my destination and poked out to give a wave to Thorodoth who, keeping to his promise, had kept an eye out for me. A quick wave back let me know that he was set.
I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and dug through it until I found what I was looking for: a long rope with a three-pronged hook, reminiscent of a smaller version of an anchor. This would get me over the wall.
When I looked up, a low fire was burning by the tree line, making its way over the dryer part of the cleared-out steppe leading to the FOB. I waited until the gates opened before I made my way over to the wall, ducking low to the ground, relying on my camouflage and the outlooks to be directing their attention to the fire.
I had practiced my swing many times on the walls of my stronghold but found out I needed more strength to pull myself up on this slick metal wall than on the rough rock I was used to. The rock provided much more of a natural foothold, and I made a mental note to give my walls at home a thorough makeover as well as suggesting it to the other warlords. Not that many enemies would make it over our moats to even reach the walls, but it was never a bad idea to polish up our defenses.
Bathed in sweat, I made it over the wall and, as I had expected, found a patrol path on the other side, connecting the towers. Down below, I made out several buildings varying in sizes and one large main structure.
I was reasonably sure that Chrissy would be inside the largest building. It would make sense that it would be their headquarters, housing the highest-ranking members of their group.
Ifinishedaheartfeltspeech to the soldiers. In short, telling them what had happened to me and what I discovered about the Terran Confederation's treachery. Now it would be up to them to make up their minds if they were going to believe and side with me or if they would stand by their CO and the Terran Confederation.
When I came here, I had hoped to have a chance to speak to other colonels like me, men and women who commanded many, and convince them of how the Terran Confederation had betrayed us, but that hadn't happened. Now, instead of twenty officers, I needed to convince five thousand soldiers in a one-sided announcement. Not great odds.
As much as I didn't want to, it was time to put my other plan in motion, which would damn anybody here to a life on Thyre with no way of returning home to Earth. Some would hate me for it, but if I wanted to save our species from a war that would kill many, it had to be done.
