Mason wasn’t a happy man these days. His real life had fallen apart; he was forced to retire, his marriage broke apart days later, and his children took their mother’s side in the whole mess. He felt in control when it came to the headquarters he ran for the Dust Haven Free States rebellion, but even that was starting to crash around him. Locking the scout group into the caves had been the most profitable and power boosting source he had for his entire quadrant, allowing his forces to start assaulting all of the outposts and driving the militia back to the city.

The other leaders thought he went too far, holding other players against their wills, but he knew that he was only doing what needed to be done. Trying to take control of Dust Haven was the goal, and they couldn’t do it with the weak equipment that they were able to collect and craft from the random enemies on the planet. The special gear set from the devourers was able to push them to an advantage against the militia, which is what his plan was; gain an edge over the enemy, but people knowing what was happening ruined things.

A mutiny had happened, and a large group of his soldiers, while well equipped, had turned traitor and allowed not only the free agent Logan to escape, but the squad he was assigned to had taken command. There were now rebels to the rebels, and Mason couldn’t believe that things had gone this badly. The new rebel group, which made sure to distance themselves from his group, had immediately left, summoning their ships and flying to the outer city. He wasn’t sure what they hoped to accomplish going into the direct line of fire for both the militia and the new hive of devourers that had taken residence in the outer city, but he knew that his time was done; no one would follow his lead anymore if they could help it.

Mason did know of someone who would be interested in the information he had access to, though, and while it pained him to think of doing it, he made the choice which would help him out in the long run. No longer being part of the rebellion in an official capacity put him in a horrible spot for when things were resolved, so he sent a message to Jackson, one of the squad leaders for the recruitment branch of the militia.

—

Meghan, Pat, Jones, and the rest of the rebels that ran away from Mason and his horrible ways were flying in a wide circle around the outer city perimeter, trying to figure out where Logan might be. They didn’t want to distract him by sending him a message, but they were starting to doubt whether they could find him this way before too long.

“Do we really think this is the best way to help, Megs? I want to get things done and over with soon, but I’m thinking maybe we should land and try to call him. Sieging a city isn’t something I’ve ever done, and while I’m all for chaos, flying in circles isn’t helping anything.” Pat said over the comms, talking into the private channel for their party.

“While I’m at a loss that the chaos gremlin wants to play things safe, I agree.” Jones said. “We shouldn’t be advertising this hard, just waiting for the militia force to fly in and destroy us. Should we set down on the clifftop near the South of the city, give him a call and rendezvous afterward?”

Meghan saw the clifftop he was referring to, and it would only take a few minutes for them to fly there. It would be almost impossible for them to hide the amount of ships they had, though, so they would have to leave soon after, or get out and head into the city rather quickly. She was thinking over the options when a new voice popped into their channel.

“Logan here. You guys forget I was still in the party or something?” They could hear the smile in his voice. “You must be close by to be in range for us to talk, which would explain the roaring we’ve been complaining about.”

“Logan!” Meghan almost shouted, “Yeah, we’re near the city on the South side. We’ve brought some people to help out with attacking the city, but we didn’t know where you were.”

“That’s good news, I was getting ready to begin in a few hours. Go ahead and land on that cliff that Jones pointed out; I’ll head out and meet you there.”

“Was it me, or did he sound different? A little more forceful, maybe?” Pat asked, almost rhetorically.

—

Twenty ships, most of them B-Safe brand, sat on top of the cliff that overlooked the dust filled valley that the city of Dust Haven sat in. Logan wasn’t sure what waited for him, so he was happy when it was his friends, surrounded by a group of people who were all equipped with the devourer armor. He didn’t say anything as he moved toward the group, flanked by his two personal warriors. They had been changed with the rest of his brood, and he had put an SMG into their hands, making them look strange.

The group turned to face him when they heard the devourer claws clicking on the rocks, causing many of them to draw their weapons. Shouts of alarm went up before Logan had his helmet pulled back and he held his arms out, showing that he wasn’t looking for trouble. Meghan and Pat moved toward their friend.

“Good of you to rejoin the efforts.” Logan said. “It’s been a little lonely with only the queen to talk to.” His friends looked at each other at that. “Oh, yeah, I’ll have to explain that one. Things have become interesting while you were gone.” Pat was the first to respond, more than a bit of respect in her voice.

“I’ll say. How’d you get the devourers to work with you? We all thought they were mindless killing machines.” She gestured to the two that followed Logan. “These ones are even holding guns, which isn’t something I thought I’d have to be terrified of, but there it is.”

“The guns are a new thing that I added. That’s one of the things to tell; what I’ve been up to and what’s going on with the insectoids is all related, and… I’m not sure where things will end, but I know that I’m stuck on this path until we finish it.” Logan looked a little pensive, but he quickly looked back and smiled at his friends. “There’s time for that later. Let’s head back into the city and we can discuss what we’re going to do to bring the fight directly to their doorstep.”

Without checking to make sure they were following him, Logan turned and started to walk back the way he came. His armed warriors turned a second later and followed him down the hillside, scratching and scraping against the bare rock. The large group looked to one another, confused as to what exactly was going on, while Meghan, Pat, and shortly after, Jones, followed their friend. The rest of the new rebels tentatively followed their new leaders, hoping to have things make more sense.

—

The entire group sat in a room that Logan had the workers clean off the organic film that covered the majority of the surfaces. Everyone had taken their helmets off, placing them around the room, except Logan, since his helmet didn’t come off the same way. His peeled away from his skin and folded into the armor on his torso. It was a new feature he wasn’t so sure he liked, since the armor was basically a new skin for him. It was a surreal scene, the room being inhabited by twenty or so people with the same number of heads spread around staring at the group as they waited for the conversation to eventually begin.

Logan looked around the room, his mis-matched eyes taking in as much as they could. His friends were grouped together, Meghan sitting on one side of the couch with Jones on the other, his Dust Pin on display on his chest. Pat sat on the arm of the same couch, sitting alongside Meghan. Tony stood behind them, arms crossed. He was still upset at their treatment, and held some resentment against the others who joined them. Wendy was the outlier, off in the corner of the room, trying to avoid the rest of the large group.

The rebels had spread mostly through the dining area and kitchen, standing or sitting at and on the table and counters. Logan was happy that they had more bodies, but didn’t appreciate that more than a few of them were the same people that held them captive in the caverns. They would address that later, because he wanted to start the assault on the city soon. Hearing that more than a few of the flying squads were called back to fight them from the air worried him.

“So,” Logan started, wanting to get things rolling, “you’re all here to help me out. I was helping you, but things got out of hand, and now we’re here, closer to your objective than you have ever been.” He knew his tone and words were a challenge, and while he didn’t want to be this kind of person, he had very little choice if he wanted to make sure they understood that he was in charge. “We’ll be leaving in an hour, using old tunnels under the city to get in and start working our way towards their main building.”

The rebel group looked to one another. One of them took a step forward and spoke, her voice raspy, as if she spent a lot of time smoking. “You have a plan for all of us? There’s only twenty or so of us by my count, and I don’t trust that you’ll be able to lead all of us well enough to compensate.” She gestured to Logan’s friends. “They seem to believe that you’re some kind of super soldier, able to talk to and work alongside the devourers, but we all have the armor set and while the set bonus is cool, we still can’t access any of the hidden abilities.”

Logan smiled when she mentioned the devourers. “You’re right, I’m not a super soldier. I do have access to the hidden abilities of the armor, but they’re not why I can do what I can.” Logan looked to the ceiling and shouted. “Queen, please come down here.” He stared at the rebel who spoke while they all waited, hearing the gentle ticking of the insect legs around them. The queen eventually squeezed herself into the room, standing just inside the doorway.

“You called for me, my Hivelord?” She asked while she bowed, rising after a moment. Everyone but Logan looked surprised and their eyes moved back and forth between him and the queen. “Your… other subjects look perplexed. Shall I explain to them what you are?”

“No need, I can take care of that. I found and used a special consumable that gave me that power to not only speak with them, but command them. Those warriors you saw with me, carrying the guns? I changed them to fit my needs, and I needed foot soldiers who could shoot their enemies.” He took a deep breath. “It hasn’t been without its challenges, but we’re well on our way. If we succeed at this I’ll be able to make sure that the Free States can’t hold anyone back again.”

“Okay, but how are you doing any of this? What consumable? How do we find it, and how are you so sure that you can make sure the militia leaves us all alone?” The rebel asked. “We came here to help, but we don’t know what’s going on, and while that’s not the worst thing we’d prefer to be kept in the loop.”

“Your job is simple; help me fight the militia. I will be moving to their headquarters with the intent of capturing it and making it mine. Keep me alive and we’ll be fine, which might be easy enough since they won’t know which one of us is leading since we’re all wearing the same armor.” Logan replied. Pat cut into the conversation.

“Uh, sorry to burst that bubble, but your helmet has yellow eyes and you walk around with a mandible blade in your hand. We all use guns and have red eyes, and our abilities don’t look like flying insects flanking our shoulders. You’re a bit more recognizable than you think.” The other nodded in agreement. “There’s also the fun fact, and you probably don’t even know that this happens, but the cloak on your back? The one that looks like wings? For us it just floats around until we use them for the flight ability. Yours actively move around to help your balance and movement.”

Logan thought about that and it made sense. His ability to move around had gotten better, he just figured it was something to do with his stats increasing. That wasn’t something to worry about at the moment, though, since they were trying to get a plan together for the assault. They might just have to work it out bit by bit, since the rebels seemed to be resistant to the idea of working with him now that they knew he was in control of the insectoids instead of working alongside them.

The hour went by quickly as they tried to come to an agreement that worked for everyone. The rebels would group up together, and Logan would have his friends with him. Three groups of rebels would keep their back and sides clear while he and his group pushed forward, staying behind the group of warriors he would be pushing along. The other sides would be supplemented with workers, which wouldn’t have guns but they could take a bunch of small arms fire if they were able to keep their joints safe.

The plan in place, they moved into the tunnels that Logan had found nearby, the darkness overtaking the large group as it made its way to the city.