KINETIC

[Unedited Chapter]

The following morning arrived and as the sun was rising Leo had already put his uniform on and was heading to meet with Commander Anders.

'I need to get this meeting over with quickly so Iwe can send the necessary people to the city. If we take too long to act then both the citizens of the city and the Infernai currently stationed there will be killed if another group of monsters appears.' Leo stopped just in front of a door with the name plate 'Commander Anders' on it.

He pushed the door open and entered the room. At the same time, on the other end of the room, the door opened and Snythe entered the room as well.

"Commander" Leo and Snythe said simultaneously as a greeting before sitting down in their respective seats in front of Commander Anders' desk.

"I'm assuming this is important since you asked for the meeting immediately after returning yesterday. Let's not waste time and get straight to the point." Commander Anders said with a stern voice while looking at Leo.

Leo quickly explained what had happened with Connor and Cains sqauds the previous day, as well as his encounter with the Elite tier monster.

"That's certainly worrying. Did you encounter anything similar to this?" Commander Anders asked as he turned his attention to Snythe.

"No. We met a few monsters and took care of them easily but none were grouped like described." Snythe answered with an almost monotonous tone.

"The reason I asked for this meeting was because I wanted to put forward a potential solution to help prevent the problem from escalating." Leo said with some urgency in his voice.

"What do you suggest?" Anders asked.

"We need to send more support to the Infernai already protecting the city. The majority of those that are there are some of our weakest fighters and won't be ale to hold off against a group of monsters."

"Sending more Infernai of similar strength won't do much in the way of improving the situation. It would be best if we sent some of our Captains and their squads, some from each Platoon." Leo looked at Snythe as he said the last part.

"I do agree that sending some more people, with more combat power, would be a good idea. If more monsters attack they would be I'll equipped to handle it." Anders said, agreeing with Leo's deductions.

"If we send two squads from each Platoon, it should be enough to fortify the defensive power of Drom until we can investigate the strange monster occurrences."

"We will still have two squads from each Platoon to do other missions and tasks, as well as the reserve troop made up of Private ranking Infernai." Leo explained.

It looked like Commander Anders was thinking hard but was nodding his head as he did, seemingly finding Leo's plan to be agreeable.

"Commander, if I may pose an objection." Snythe said.

Breaking away from his deep thoughts, Commander Anders looked at Snythe and gestured for him to continue.

"One of the four squads each Platoon controls is made up of supporters. Healers and other non damage dealing abilities. Sending two squads from each Platoon will prove to be a problem in the long run because of this."

"How so?" Commander Anders asked.

"We would be sending too many supporters or too many fighters no matter how we select the squads that should go to Drom. I suggest that we send three squads in total."

"I will send one of my combat squads, while General Rune sends one combat squad and his support squad. Because all of the best supporters from Platoon one will be away, I will be happy to lend some of our best during missions to join Platoon one's squads when needed to help keep balance."

"We can also add some of the Privates to the reinforcements to help fill the gaps created by only sending three squads. This way, we keep a good amount of support and combat power here while also helping to increase our power in Drom." Snythe finished explaining and sat back in his chair to wait for a response.

" Hmm... I do think this will help to keep some of our power here while helping Drom... "

"If we send the reinforcements in this way then my Platoon will have a third of its combat strength and all its support power elsewhere. We would be forced to rely on Platoon two for all our healing and defense, which will severely weaken my Platoon." Leo said with an indignant tone.

"Platoon two will be losing just as much combat power but will keep its support power, this is the best way to maintain a balance between offense and defense. Relying on Platoon two for support is just something that you'll have to deal with as it comes." Commander Anders replied.

'Is he doing this on purpose to weaken my Platoon? I don't have any solid reasons to decline this plan...'

"I believe it would be best so send the Privates from Platoon two rather than Platoon one, to help balance the power difference between the two Platoons that this will create." Leo said, trying to do anything to prevent himself from losing more people while Snythe keeps most of his.

"That seems reasonable. If that's everything then I suggest you select the squads you'll be sending and which Privates will be joining them. Dismissed." Commander Anders said.

Leo left the meeting concerned about its outcome, the smile on Snythes face as he turned to leave the room didn't improve Leo's suspicions.

'He hasn't done anything directly, but he's gone out of his way to help Trent get out of trouble before. He could be involved with the cult somehow, trying to weaken my Platoon for to assist them with fighting us in the future.' Leo thought about this possibility as he walked to the War Room.

Everyone was already inside waiting for him. He had asked them to gather here so they could speak as soon as his meeting with Commander Anders was over.

"How did it go?" Clay asked as Leo entered the room.

"Good... Bad... Depends how you look at it." Leo said as he sat down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Connor asked with a confused expression.

"We are sending reinforcements to Drom, which is good. The problem is that most of the reinforments will be from our Platoon."

"Snythe convinced Commander Anders to send two squads from our side, one of them being our support squad, while he sends only one of his squads." Leo explained.

"That doesn't sound so bad, the only issue is our supporters will be gone." Connor said, still confused about what the problem is.

"We are supposedly going to be receiving supporters from Platoon two when needed." Leo said.

"So what's the problem?" Connor asked.

"We are suspicious of Snythe and have been for a while." Clay said.

"Why? What has he done to warrant suspicion?" Connor asked.

"His cousin is Trent Zemor, someone who's now a leading figure inside the Cult of Umbra. We have personally seen Snythe defend Trent from the repurcussions of his actions by throwing around his families power."

"If he was willing to help Trent then, who's to say he wouldn't do it again. He might even be a member of the cult himself and is trying to weaken us." Clay explained with an ominous tone.

"I agree that we should be suspicious of him, but this isn't a bad plan overall." Leonard suddenly said "It makes sense to divide our forces this way so I don't see anything particularly nefarious from his current actions."

~Sigh~ "Yeah... You're right. I just can't help but feel like something else is going on here. First there's a strange occurrence with the monsters that only happened where our Platoon was sent."

"Second, now that we're trying to defend the city, Snythe argues so that we have to send more of our people for reinforments. If you add that with his potential involvement with the cult..." Leo explained.

"I understand a bit better now but there's still no proof yet... We will just have to wait and see what happens." Connor said

There was a silence in the room for a few minutes until Cain suddenly asked a question.

"Which squad are you going to send?"

"Obviously Rene and her squad will need to go, since we have to send our supporters. The combat squad we'll be sending..." Leo thought for a moment while looking around the room.

"Connor. We'll be sending your squad." Leo decided.

There were no objections and the meeting ended after Leo made some more detailed arrangements with the others.

While leaving the War Room, Leo was suddenly stopped by Cain. "Would you mind helping me with something?"

"Sure, what do you need?" Leo replied.

"I've been having some trouble involving my ability. Could you help me with some training and see if you can think of any solutions?"

"Alright... We can go to the training field later today." Leo suggested and Cain nodded in agreement.

"Ill explain more when we meet there." With that said Cain walked away, leaving Leo standing alone at the entrance to the War Room.

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