480 Over the Hill and through the Trees

[You know you're the Commander, right?] Nico laughed as Max saw the group chat open to make the request.

[She's still your mother, and she's got a particular knack for getting past my defenses.]

Somehow, Mary Tarith always found a way to turn the conversation around on him, and Max had no sure counter to her verbal skills, so it was better to let Nico do it. She had a lifetime of experience in dealing with the woman and her doublespeak.

The signs of the enemy disappeared overnight, hunted to extinction or hiding so well that nothing they had could find them. It was possible that a few Omwat had hidden in caves and deactivated their cloaking technology, then powered down their weapons so that they wouldn't give their position away, but that small force shouldn't be a threat to a city defense force.