"Alright, good work, everyone!" A teacher Caeden had never seen before started clapping his hands and calling everyone's attention the moment he arrived. "You've all done well, and we appreciate your efforts. But it's time to let the professionals take over. All of you should go back into that bunker and wait for us to deal with this situation."

"Excuse me?!" Lily shot up from where she had been sorting through some inventory with another Forged. "What are you talking about? You all had a chance to deal with this situation, and you did. Nothing. Why would we even listen to you?"

Caeden sighed, getting up from his makeshift workspace. Lily was going a little too far. Antagonizing the teachers wasn't a good move, and the man had a point. The teachers actually had a good chance of handling this by themselves now that they didn't have to protect a bunch of students, and they weren't contained in a confined space with a hundred different weapons aimed at them.

"Hmpf." The teacher sneered. "You wouldn't know, but you are addressing the head of etiquette and decorum for the Central Academy. You may address me as Brigadier General Fushrosh. Not that I expect any kind of class from the failure of the Meteoris family. Yes, I know who you are, you disrespectful, weak girl. Now, why don't you be quiet while the real leader tal-"

Caeden fist slammed into his stomach at Mach two. To his credit, the 'General' formshifted enough not to die outright. His body softened and adapted to the impact, flying off across the road. Or he would have if Caeden hadn't grabbed his throat in a death grip before he could move more than a foot.

"Shut your mouth before I rip your jaw off and shove it up your ass. Listen closely because I don't think you understand your current situation, so I'll spell it out for you. Everyone in this clearing is currently pissed that the Academy ignored Lily's warnings about the Revolution. No one here is going to listen to a man whose first action was to insult the woman that has been working her ass off to save you and every other teacher and student that almost died because the school decided not to listen to her. More than that, auras don't work right now. Which means no standard shrouded combat will work. You have no expertise and no idea what you're doing."

Caeden smiled. It was an ugly thing without an ounce of kindness. "Also, I'm a True Shroud, the first ranked in the Academy, a duel-shrouded, have a shrouded weapon more powerful than any ever seen, and one of my two domains is Physical Enhancement. So right now, I'm one of the strongest people in the Starry Sea while we're in this field. Oh, and I'm the leader of every single person here and the one who made their weapons and armor. So, you're not stronger than me, not in a position of knowledge or authority, and you just insulted my girlfriend. I'd stay real quiet and real still until we get everyone out of here. Or maybe you'll be a 'casualty' here in this war zone. One of many. And no one here will say otherwise. Isn't that right?"

The man had been staring into Caeden's eyes, all superiority and bravado fading into sheer terror. Once Caeden was finished talking, he glanced around furtively, still held in Caeden's grasp, for anyone to support him. All he got were stony faces and sinister grins. Giving up, he went limp, abject loss coloring his expression.

Caeden snorted, dropping him to the ground. Of course, he wasn't actually going to kill the man just because he was an elitist asshole. But he didn't need to know that. Caeden would have been fine handing off control of this operation to a competent teacher, but General asshat didn't qualify. Any teacher that Caeden could lay out with a single punch wasn't anywhere near strong enough. If he was that weak, he lacked dedication and proficiency in combat.

Plus, he was rude to Lily, so he could get fucked for Caeden cared.

"Thank you," Lily murmured. She had walked up while Caeden was absolutely terrifying a teacher hundreds or thousands of years older than him. "But you're going to get in some deep trouble once this is all over. You didn't have to do that for me."

Caeden smiled. She was thinking of him even after the man was insulting and degrading her. This was what he loved about Lily. Feeling compelled, Caeden leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm not worried about it. If you take a look around, I don't think you will be either."

Lily did look, and Caeden knew what she would see. All the Forged looked either vindicated or angry, with all that anger focused solely on the teacher. Meanwhile, the arrived students and teachers varied. Most seemed ambivalent, while a few teachers were actually smirking or holding back laughter. Only a small few, maybe five students, looked even slightly upset on the Brigadier General's behalf.

"Wow, he must be really unpopular." Lily giggled.

"You heard him. He's an etiquette teacher. No doubt he got his position in the military by being ass-kisser in chief, not actual skill. Any Brigadier General who can get their ass kicked by me didn't get that position for their strength or tactical brilliance. He's probably connected, yes. But you and me are about to save this entire school after warning them this attack was coming. So long as we don't rub their faces in it and play it cool, no one is going to touch us." Caeden sighed. "Honestly, I'm more worried about what happens once the Headmaster finds out what happened with Cat."

Lily laid a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I know. But we'll be here for you. Now, let's get back to work."

More students and teachers rolled in over the next half an hour. At this point, the Forged had campus traversal down pat. It seemed that the revolutionaries were using trap activation to signal where shrouded were moving. Now that they could avoid traps, the revolutionaries couldn't find them as they traveled unless they randomly bumped into one of the roving bands across campus.

Scouting had also given them a solid number of Revolution forces on campus. Already, it was looking like their operation was much larger than anyone would have guessed. There were over ten thousand revolutionaries scattered about. Even knowing what he knew, Caeden wouldn't have guessed they brought that many for this operation. The number of shrouded on campus barely broke a fourth of that before the fighting started.

Of course, now that they had cleared three Seats, a portion of the revolutionaries were either dead or captured. Caeden and his team had completely disrupted their plans. Now, Caeden was turning his attention to the last two locations with a significant Revolution presence. The Mess and the Core Seat.

Both were uniquely different from each other and from the other Seats. The reason why the Revolution was reacting so differently to the Mess was obvious, which only reinforced Caeden and Lily's idea that the Core Seat was being used as a battery for the suppression field.

The Mess was surrounded by the largest ethertech weapons Caeden had ever seen. They dwarfed the ones used at the other Seats, and they were all pointed inward. Caeden could only interpret that as the Mess still being entirely under shrouded control. And the reason why was obvious. The Headmaster was in there. Damon Vestigious, Cat's grandfather, was one of the most powerful shrouded in the Central Authority. It was going to take everything the Revolution had to contain him, let alone kill him.

The Core Seat was the polar opposite. It was equally bristling with weapons, but every single one was facing outward in an obvious threat to any that might approach. Caeden and Lily had gone back and forth over what to do and which to attack first. There were merits to both.

Taking care of the Core Seat would end this whole situation if they were right about the power source. But it was the most well-defended building on campus and completely under Revolution control. Several Forged with them came from the Core Seat, and it seemed the revolutionaries had seized control of the building's internal defenses. No shrouded were left in there. It would be a gauntlet all the way through. One the revolutionaries would be heavily invested in defending.

On the other hand, the Mess was vulnerable to an outside attack, considering all their efforts were focused on securing the building. Freeing up the shrouded inside would add to the forces Caeden could focus on the Core Seat. That included the astronomical benefit of employing the Headmaster on the offensive. But the Mess was currently splitting the Revolution's forces. While they were still trying to subjugate it, their attention wasn't solely on defending the Core Seat. Taking it back could lead to the forces that remained turtling up and completely locking themselves within their final stronghold. That would make busting through almost impossible, no matter what forces Caeden could bring to bear.

"Why not do both?" Dave asked. Caeden and Lily had started having this same back-and-forth after Cat finished reporting the most recent data from her undead, so Dave was right there with them.

"What do you mean?" Caeden didn't want to shut him down immediately because he respected the ancient warrior, but attacking both at once sounded like a terrible idea.

"I know it sounds counterintuitive." Dave prefaced his argument. "But hear me out. Your current issue is that attacking one target deprives you of the benefits from the other. But that's not necessarily true."

"I'm listening." Lily gestured for him to continue.

Dave nodded, "Objectively, the Mess is the easier target. Open to outside attacks and with definite support from the inside. It would be easy to catch the revolutionaries between the Forged and the forces within. A pincer move and an encirclement all in one. But you're also correct that taking the Mess will cause the forces at the Core Seat to shut down. Right now, they need to remain at least partially open to connect with outside forces. Once their last major operation is defeated, they'll almost definitely recall the roving units as best they can and settle inc for a siege. With this field up, they can stall for a very, very long time."

"Right."

"So why not attack both? The Mess is essentially an easy target for a well-planned ambush. You don't need all your forces to handle that assault. At the same time, attack the Core Seat. You don't actually need to take it. You just need to prevent them from shutting you out before the forces from the Mess can finish up and join you."

Caeden and Lily looked at each other.

"That could work."

"It would mean sending the right people to each location."

"But we were already working on that. Maybe a little adjustment is necessary where there's overlap, but not that much. Plus, if we're just stalling at the Core Seat, we can have a more bare-bones team."

"So we can do this."

"We can do this."

They both turned to look at Dave. "Nice work." They said simultaneously.

He shrugged. "Honestly, I've seen similar circumstances before. I would have spoke up sooner, but I'm still learning about your powers and limitations. I didn't want to offer up a plan without learning a bit more. Your shrouds work on an entirely different paradigm than most of the things I've seen. It's an adjustment."

"All good," Caeden laughed. "It's not like we're the ones on a clock. The Mess isn't going to fall any time soon, and as far as the Core Seat is concerned," His face fell, "What's done is done. But they're the ones on the back foot right now. We just need to wrap this up while losing the least number of people. You've got the right plan."

It only took half an hour to organize the joint operations. Lily had been spending time with the arrived students and teachers ever since they started arriving. She had a solid list of everyone's domains and general combat styles. Unsurprisingly, a large portion of them were heavily reliant on their aura in one way or another. Most shrouded used infusion as a backup more often than not. Aura's range was a substantial advantage.

So two-thirds of the people they rescued were more likely to be a liability in a fight. Even a few of the teachers were weak enough under the suppression field that one of the Forged in their full kit could fight them on an even standing. Which was a massive difference. Normally, any teacher could defeat a third of the student body by themselves. Aura was such a critical component in a fight that the loss of it was just that devastating to a shrouded. That difference only amplified the more powerful a shrouded got.

That being said, the few teachers and students left were infusion specialists. Armed and armored with spare Forged armaments, they were a force to be reckoned with. Added to that, their little army had more than enough stolen Revolution ethertech to equip everyone.

Cat was heading the Mess assault. Her unique ability to ignore the aura restrictions of the suppression field and her summoned army made her combat strength equivalent to the sum total of every other student with them. Especially once all her Undead Soldiers were outfitted with ethertech 'rifles' as the captured revolutionaries called them.

Caeden and Lily would be heading the Core Seat operation. With them would be most of the capable teachers and Asherta. They needed a small, elite force to secure and hold access to the building. From there, they would wait for Cat to wrap up her assault and bring all those forces down in the Core Seat.

In under an hour, they moved out.

{}

Hecate was torn. On the one hand, all the people that had died at the Academy horrified her. It was awful, seeing so many dead simply left to rot by the Revolution assault. On the other hand, this was the best day of her life. She was leading a force of her peers and elders to free her gramps from an enemy siege. A force where she was the main attacker and a key element. No more backline support for her; now she was the powerhouse everyone else followed.

She couldn't wait to see the look on Gramps' face when she rolled up at the head of an army and broke the siege.

So it was lucky that she didn't have to wait long. The Mess was at the center of the Academy grounds, its giant mishmash architecture obvious even in the odd half-light under the dome. The armory was even closer to the Mess than it was to the Core Seat. A scouting team had already cleared all the traps along their path and were still at work keeping any roving revolutionaries away from the route.

It took only a matter of minutes to move from one location to the other. Hekate was commanding a force of five hundred undead and another three hundred strong unit of teachers and students, primarily composed of two hundred Forged. This against nearly two thousand revolutionaries with ethertech heavy weapons.

Fortunately, they were all facing away.

The revolutionaries were constantly bombarding the Mess; firing infused javelins twenty feet long to bust through the walls and flinging ether explosives from dedicated launchers to pepper the halls. All that noise meant they never heard, never noticed the army coming up behind them. Any that happened to turn were instantly sniped by Hekate's Undead Archers.

When the line met, it was a slaughter. Hekate couldn't believe how easily they fell. The revolutionaries could have devastated her forces if even one of those massive ethertech weapons had been turned on her force, out in the open as they were. But they never got the chance.

That's not to say they didn't fight back. The rifles they used were deadly and effective. Just not on undead. A score of her forces fell to a suicide firebomb that opened a gap and allowed a small Revolution counterattack. But that was crushed when Dave and a few teachers stepped up, flattening the counter-cell in moments. It was amazing and slightly ironic. The only reason the Revolution's attack had succeeded was their surprise attack. Now that the boot was on the other foot, they folded like paper.

Hekate only hoped her friends were having just as easy a time.

{}

"Fall back; I'll hold it off!" Caeden yelled, charging in; Forged Infinity's shield form held up to deflect the incoming lasers. "I've dealt with one before!"

All the surrounding teachers fell back, letting him through. Before Caeden was a beefed-up, super version of Kevin. Now he just had to figure out how to finish an enemy it took his entire team to beat with only half of them and no auras. He had no idea what he was going to do.