Chapter Five

It was still dark when Zoë Sinclair corralled the other members of Yellow Blithe into the car. Dove insisted on driving, of course, in spite of the fact that he was quite haggard looking, like he hadn’t slept. Al sat in front and the three girls piled, rather uncomfortably, into the back, with Zoë in the middle, so she could correctly direct Dove.

“The next time you meet with Enigma, you should request a bigger car. Do they know you have to haul around five full-grown adults in this undersized piece of crap?” Valora suggested.

Enigma was the organization that oversaw the resistance movement for the entire country. Once a month, each faction leader met with a representative of Enigma to receive their orders, money for executing their operations, the paychecks of the members of their faction, and anything else needed for their job (such as an automobile). Enigma was essentially Zoë’s boss; she met with them once a month to collect the paychecks and make requests. For the most part, they were very frugal, especially when it came to the requests of small factions.

“Hmm… I’ll ask about it, but I’d say the chances are slim to none.” Zoë replied. “Seeing as it looks like the revolution will break out soon, I think they’re saving the money.”

“Zoë, where am I going?” Dove asked, readying to get on the interstate.

“Oh! Right, yes! South, towards Fii.”

“We’re going to Fii? As in the capital city, Fii?” Kira asked.

“Yep! There’s a big mess there.” Zoë explained. “Enigma caught wind that Head Chairman Hyst is holding a conference at Etheyria Hall with the top-five generals of the Aspasian army and sent several factions to spy, basically. But Hyst found out and tightened security… so now Enigma’s sending more small factions… like us.” She said. “This should be an easy job; we’ll probably just be sitting around most of the time.”

“… Why doesn’t Enigma call in one of the big factions instead of a bunch of us little guys?” Dove asked.

“Yeah, that would make more sense.” Al agreed. “The big factions are dozens of people who all take orders from one person. We’re gonna be like twenty groups of five, all lead by different people. This will be madness!”

“I think al the big factions are busy causing chaos around Lake Althea.” Said Zoë.

“This is gonna be a bloodbath; I hate going to Fii.” Dove grumbled.

“’Hate going to Fii’?!” Kira exclaimed. “How could you hate Fii?! It’s the most famous and romanticized city in the whole country!”

“Ever been to Fii?” Valora asked.

“No.”

“It’s not so great.”

Kira hadn’t been in Yellow Blithe for more than six months at this point; whereas, the other members had been a part of the resistance for several years and been to all the nation’s major cities on more than one occasion, and had become somewhat jaded with them.

Kira had grown up in a poor, farming community in the north, not far from the town where Dove was born and where much of his family still lived. Her parents were factory workers: good, honest, hard-working people, but completely destitute. The resistance paid well in exchange for the risking of one’s life, so she joined. From there on, the greater portion of her paycheck went back to her family.

Lee Sebring stepped out of her apartment at around 4:20 in the morning for an early morning jog around town, with which she hoped to clear her head of the nostalgia that clouded it from seeing Dove Wallace and not speaking with him. However, this hope was shattered as soon as she stepped out of the door of her building and saw him drive past, towards the interstate, talking to some blonde woman in the backseat.

“You’ve all been summoned here today to discuss the rebellion that is consuming our fair nation.” Head Chairman Hyst explained to his generals. “General Albany?”

“Yes sir?”

“You’ve had the most luck in quelling the upheaval, and in the most volatile part of the country. Please, if you would, share with us your tactics.”

“Well sir, to be completely honest, there is no one set of tactics that always works well.” Mae explained. “Each faction has a different leader, thus each faction is run differently and operates differently. And, quite frankly, the large, violent factions are far easier to handle than all of the small, five-person factions, whose only job is to eavesdrop and look inconspicuous.”

Hyst smiled at her. “You’re a genius, General Albany.”

She blushed and averted her eyes. “Thank you, sir.”

“Now, tell me, all of you, could General Albany successfully dismantle all of the major factions of the resistance in Aspasia?”

“Ha! No!” General Guitane replied, to Mae’s disdaine.

“Exactly! Which brings me to my real reason for bringing you all here.” Said Hyst. “I plan to have the four of you—well, five, actually, providing General Renatus ever shows up—join forces to put an end to the chaos that plagues the country, using your combined, unique intellects.

The four generals glanced awkwardly at each other, wondering how four such unlike minded people could ever save a country from all-out-war, without so much as a strategy.

“General Croix.”

“Yes sir?”

“You will lead this operation.” Hyst explained. “Your first mission is to rid this city of the smaller resistance groups that have flooded in here as of lately; following tabloid rumors of the four of you being here.”

“… Yes sir.”

“Alright, you’re all dismissed.”

“What about Renatus?” General Argentine hissed.

“He’ll receive a memo.” The head chairman replied. “And if he values his job, he’ll make the decision to partake in this operation.”

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