210 Chapter 209 - So It Begins

—Cole POV—

Burning the midnight oil planning the pending battle with Batman, Aultcray, and Avallac'h, we settled on troop placements and contingency plans by 3 am. Relaying these plans to our allies, Batman and Aultcray dealt with any questions people had while Avallac'h and I ferried troops to their defensive positions. Wrapping everything up by 7 am, Avallac'h joined Geralt and company in Europe while I went back to our staging area in Alaska.

"How are preparations going here?", I asked, walking into Scarlett's Office, "All the other positions have checked in, but you guys have not responded. What is going on?"

"Bloody hells, you finally showed up to relieve me!", Constantine said, with a hint of relief, "These two Einsteins picked now to bitch about the plan. They think that our calculations are off, and they are not willing to listen to a damn thing I say. Hopefully you have better luck with them, these two do not understand the meaning of the word faith."

"It is funny hearing an atheist talking about faith.", I chuckled.

"I am an atheist because all the bloody options are shite. I know the Gods exist, but they do not give a damn about anyone.", Constantine refuted, opening a portal to his station in Australia, "While you answer their questions, I am going to get a drink and smoke before the battle. Good luck!"

Flipping him the bird as he left, I looked back at the two scientists as they reviewed the documents we provided them. Sensing that Constantine was gone, Gengo explained to me where they were having issues understanding things.

"When we last spoke, we agreed that there would be hundreds if not thousands of breaches all over the world. When we looked over the defense plans though, there are only twenty-four positions where our forces are deployed.", Gengo said, pulling out a map marked up by us, "The United Nations is concerned that we have not spread the defense forces out enough. While I understand needing to prioritize key areas, none of the points you selected hold any significant value. They are all remote areas far from any cities or towns."

"Your mage friend attempted to explain the reasonings behind it, but all we got out of it was that this was to minimize civilian casualties.", Scarlett remarked, "While we appreciate that, it does not explain how we go from thousands of breaches to twenty-four."

"Ah, I get now why Constantine would have issues explaining things to you. He is a mage, not a scientist, so he probably used terms and phrases you would not understand. That knucklehead is used to explaining things to people with some understanding of the magical arts.", I stated, generating a hologram of their world with my Light Power, "As you said Gengo, we still expect there to be several thousand breaches across the globe. Given how thin we would need to spread our forces to cover each breach, there is no way we can safely do that. The better option for us was to funnel the enemy into isolated regions to avoid civilian casualties and allow our fighters to use more of their strength unhindered."

"I suppose you intend to do that via these ley lines mentioned in the notes?", Gengo asked, looking for the information in the paperwork.

Nodding my head in acknowledgment, I marked where all the ley lines were on my hologram. Giving them a moment to write this down, I continued my explanation.

"Since the breaches are not physical holes in your world, just holes in the fabric between your worlds, we can use the ley lines to affect where enemies appear. My wife Yasaka and several other mages will use their ability to manipulate the energy contained within the ley lines to relocate enemy spawn points to where our soldiers are.", I explained, "They will be stationed here at this base as you have a major intersection under the base. It is important to note that they are the most important part of our plan. If something interferes with their magic, enemies can begin spawning all over the place."

Understanding the situation better now, the two of them thanked me with relieved sighs. Quickly typing up an email, Gengo sent this information over to the United Nations before closing his laptop.

"We are not trying to be pains on purpose, you know how bureaucrats are…", Gengo sighed, "They have been breathing down our necks since we brought up the plan to end the Nova incursions yesterday."

"It is fine, as long as everyone understands their part in all this we will be fine.", I said, looking at my watch, "I have to get going, see both of you after the dust settles."

Promptly leaving the room, as my family and in-laws wanted to see me off, I headed out onto the base to find them. Locating them just outside the Solar Reactor, Eri and Lily ran over to hug me. Even though their faces did not show, I could sense the fear of what was to come in their hearts.

"Cole, is everything ready?", Lilith asked, motioning for her soldiers to leave us, "All preparations have been completed here, we are as ready as we will ever be."

"Yes, all the defense forces are in position and on standby.", I told her, with a smile, "Alright, time to get the children into my Pocket Dimension!"

Herding our children over to me, as most of them were up and walking now, I used magic to put them to sleep for the time being. Tucking them into their beds, their mothers gave them a hug and kiss before stepping back out.

"Listen you three, I need you to take care of your siblings if any of them wake up.", I said to Eri, Lily, and Kota, "Your mothers and I will be tied up dealing with things out here."

"Do we really have to do this?", Kota asked, fidgeting around nervously, "You are strong enough to protect our world, you do not not need to fight them right?"

Taken aback by his statement, I kneeled and asked him if something was wrong.

"I…I do not want to lose any more family!", he choked up, "I lost everything that made me happy once, I do not want to lose it again! Even though I say mean things sometimes to our moms and you, I do not mean it!! I love all of you, I…I am just afraid that if I show it again you will disappear like my parents did!!"

"Kota…", Shino said, walking over to him.

"Eri, Lily, and I finally have a family again…we do not want to lose any of you!!", he cried.

Looking at the two girls, they began to cry as well and reached out for us. Overwhelmed by their crying, I pulled the three of them into a big hug.

"I swear to you that we will make it through this together.", I told them, "We will go out for pizza and ice cream to celebrate our victory together, and tomorrow this will all be a bad dream. You and I can go back down to the pier and fish, or even go to the arcade again to race. Eri and Lily can come with us, and you can show them the ropes. How does that sound?"

"I…I would like that!", he sobbed, "You promise, right?"

Nodding my head in acknowledgment, I motioned for my wives to come over and join us. Happily doing so, we all piled in for a hug squeezing the children between us. Pulling Ciri, Ghislaine, and Hilda into the group as well, I took a moment to enjoy their warmth before breaking up the hug. Gasping for air when we let them go, the three children wiped their tears away and reluctantly entered the Pocket Dimension.

"Cole, we are five minutes out from our start time. Is everything alright at your location?", Batman asked, over the radio.

"My apologies for the delay, everything is fine here. Constantine was tied up explaining things for the UN and scientists.", I replied, "We are still a go for 8 am."

Looking back at my family, I gave each of them a hug and told them to be safe. Swearing to do so one by one, when I stopped in front of Hilda, she gave me a conflicted look. Pulling her into a hug, I told her to stay safe and only do what she could to help.

"Whether you like it or not, you are one of us now.", I told her, "I hope you like it because you are not getting rid of me anytime soon."

"Damn it Serafall, I told you not to tell him!!", Hilda pouted, glaring at the magical girl Devil.

"I did not say anything, I swear!!", Serafall protested, puffing her cheeks out in displeasure.

"Tell me what?", I inquired, "I was referring to making you my wife. Were you planning on making a move on me!?"

"...after all that trouble with Celestial's tailor now my surprise is ruined.", Hilda sighed, "Yes I am, but you spoiled the surprise…asshole."

Knowing how skimpy Celestial's friend made clothing for my wives, I knew I was in for a treat. Excited to see what I was in for now, I told her I would make this battle go by as quickly as possible just to see what she bought. Turning bright red with embarrassment, she politely told me to not bring such matters up in public.

"These things are best discussed behind closed doors.", Hilda scolded me.

Agreeing to her request, I gave my wives one last goodbye before teleporting Ciri, Ghislaine, and me out to our breach point on Little Diomede Island. Taking up our positions in the center of the island, we waited for the clock to strike 8 before activating my spell.