187 The Commander

The four of them looked quite odd. Lucifer and Light both looked like they could pass for soldiers, but Ace and Little White were a different story. Ace looked like a malnourished adult, too skinny and weak to even do a push up. Little White was literally a child wearing adult clothes. Fortunately, everyone was running around and bustling, trying to fix the systems, so no one had the time or capacity to pay attention to this odd group of people.

After taking multiple wrong turns, they finally found what they were looking for. As Ace had predicted, the base had placed a Faraday's cage around certain pieces of critical technology and the backup generator so it was going to be back up and running in no time. Lucifer cut through the locks and then shooed everyone else out.

Lucifer, Light and Little White stood outside to guard the tent and prevent others from entering. It soon became apparent that the ever calm Light was unable to keep himself from fidgeting as he thought about leaving his two little brothers out there for the main fight while he was in here. Little White also had a slightly sullen look on his face as he finally realized he wouldn't get to kill anyone here.

Noticing their discomfort, Lucifer took the initiative. "You and Little White should head back and help Aida. We will continue working here."

"But…"

"No buts. Besides, Little White looks too odd and suspicious with those clothes on. It's only a matter of time before they realize that he's a fake."

Light paused and thought for a bit before nodding gratefully. "Be safe." Pulling Little White along with him, the two of them disappeared into thin air.

After they left, Lucifer stared at the spot they disappeared before sighing lightly, his eyes were unreadable. With a reluctant smile, he pulled himself back from his stupor and continued to guard Ace.

***

Outside the wall, Aida and the others continued to ram against the wall with their powers. They had already successfully sealed all the little gaps in the wall so no major attacks could get out. Everyone's morale was extremely high as they cheered each other on as they continued to keep a close eye on any changes happening at the wall.

Behind the wall, the soldiers were all peering out from tiny cracks to watch what the Variants were doing. They shivered in fear at the thought of what would happen if those Variants got into City M. They would all surely be infected and the government would fall. Many of the loyal soldiers were fearful, but continued to stand their ground as they thought about what would happen to their families if they were to run away.

Before long, a commander finally showed up. He had his head held high and clearly looked down upon everyone around him. He was an unpopular figure among the soldiers and was known for abusing his powers and pushing blame. Despite his unpopularity, everyone was relieved to see an authority figure finally show up. Everyone stood at attention while making space for him to get through.

As he strutted towards the area where Aida's troops were trying to breach, he asked one of the soldiers who were monitoring the situation. "How long till they breach the wall?"

"I-I'm not too sure sir. Based on their progress, possibly another 15 minutes or so." The soldier had been standing at one of the cracks and watching the progress this entire time.

"That quick?! How is that possible?" Shoving the soldier aside, he looked through the crack himself. The soldier who was shoved didn't expect this motion and fell to the floor with a bang. Not daring to protest, he quietly backed away and made himself scarce. He would be in trouble if this commander targeted him.

Ignoring the fallen soldier, the commander tapped his chin as he thought about their options. It was clear these renegades had no intentions of backing down. There were two factions at this base, one wanted peace while the other wanted war. This commander was a part of the war faction and was eager to kill all the people outside of the wall. "Get me a microphone or something."

All the soldiers saluted before scrambling to find him a microphone, forgetting that all the electronics had been blown apart. After some time, they finally found a loudspeaker and meekly handed it to the commander. The commander snatched it out of their hands and grumbled, "Incompetent fools."

Turning towards the small gap in the wall, the commander lifted his loudspeaker and shouted, "Surrender and we promise we won't blow you into pieces."

Aida sneered at his high sounding demand, he clearly didn't see them as a threat. Since Aida didn't react to the threat, neither did any of the troops. Instead, they continued to drill.

Realizing the renegades outside were disregarding his presence, he was angered. "How dare they… Get out there and kill them. I don't believe a bunch of untrained hooligans can defeat us soldiers."

The soldiers on the side were stunned by their commander's hot headed decision but still complied. They armed up and prepared to exit the gates. Unnoticed by them, Light and Little White had quietly passed by while searching for the nearest opening to get back to the rest of the troops. Light had observed how detestable this man was and decided to give this man a little nudge.