Chapter 225: strategy planning for the escape

“Clark, I still can’t believe that you actually went inside the alpha’s palace. That was too daring of you”. Diana spoke out with a deep sigh as she idly caressed her sword.

“I know it seemed reckless, but the information that I brought back is priceless. Without knowing that there is the 2nd alpha, our chances of escaping would be practically zero if we made and followed conventional plans”.

Clark calmly replied, as he casually swiped at the open air with the dagger that was on his hand.

“Clark is right, this information is priceless. Even with knowing it now, there is no guarantee that our escape will be full-proof and successful”. Benny also commented at this point with a serious expression on his face.

“You’re right but…, it just doesn’t feel right”. Diana added again.

“You guys keep on talking about how Clark placed himself in danger while forgetting how you all heartlessly left me in danger”. Dickson finally spoke out at this point in a bitter tone.

“You, yes you Diana, I never knew you were that ruthless. I guess everybody who follows Clark is like that, I should have known. How can you guys just leave me at the back? That’s heartless”. He lamented.

“The soldier that you selected with us from your squad also left you. No hard feelings, we left because we had faith in your strength to protect yourself”. Diana calmly replied.

“…” Dickson was left speechless again.

Yesterday night, after Clark fled past him with the help of his multi-purpose boots during their moment of desperation, panic took over him but he still escaped successfully though.

This was why they choose only 5 soldiers for the reconnaissance mission; their retreat was completely smooth and without burden. In just 5 minutes, the animals lost them.

After they arrived back at their temporary camp, they all turned to lash out at their leader angrily for placing them in such a dangerous situation.

They were extremely angry, but when Clark revealed the information of there being a 2nd alpha exobeast in the animal’s kingdom for them to pass through, they all kept quiet in shock.

As Benny said, this was priceless information.

Trying to escape without this information and trying to escape when knowing it was a completely different thing, they all suddenly felt cold sweat cover their backs on thinking of its far-reaching consequence.

Thinking deeply into it, Dickson finally realized that his saying that he almost crossed the cliff with his squad was just spouting nonsense.

There was no way that the alpha Wily Yak would look at them foolishly, and leave them to cross its territory without retaliation. If they had to face 2 alphas then, he was sad to realize that he would probably be a dead man already.

Thinking of that, he suddenly felt that Clark was the best companion in the world. Without his daring move, they would have still been ignorant of this truth.

They originally planned to make their move this week, but this new variable affected their plans as they were still brainstorming on ways to suppress the 2 alphas, or even avoiding them.

Even though 2 days already passed since they returned, they were still bashing their heads against a rock. They could not think of any viable plan that could increase their escape chances.

Their small gathering was inside a big tent that the camp made temporarily for them to act as their strategy discussion hall.

“Ok, it seems that we are still clueless. I’m tired, I’ll see you guys later, I want to rest. If you find a viable plan though, you can wake me”. Clark said with a tired yawn.

He did not wait for them to answer before he picked his bag, stood up from his mechanical chair, and walked out of the tent lazily.

After he found out about 2 alphas being their opponent, he lost most of his optimism since then. To him, if they could not come up with a revolutionary magical plan, their chances of escaping were close to nil.

He was the only one who saw the 2 alphas up close, he was the only one who experienced the pressure exuded by them, and he was the only one who felt how strong they were up close.

Thinking of the experience, he felt hopeless and exhausted. Never in his life had he ever been so afraid, it was a traumatic experience for him.

Seeing Clark walk out of the tent dispiritedly, the others had various expressions on their faces but no one tried to stop him.

Though they were still discussing vibrantly at the moment, inwardly, they already knew that their escape chances were becoming less and less likely to be successful.

“If no one can come up with a better plan, we will face the animals like that. It’s better for us to die trying than to die miserably in a forest like this where we have no other choice of escape”.

Dickson spoke out at this moment also. He looked at the others in the room, nodded at them before standing and leaving.

Seeing this, the others said nothing as they also stood up to start going. They had no objections to what Dickson just said, they had no plans of spending the rest of their days trapped in a forest.

…

The golden rays of the sun shone down, illuminating the allied squad’s temporary camp and encapsulating it in a very rainbow-like colorful glow.

It was another beautiful morning with bright prospects and opportunities for those who cared to explore.

It was already 2 days since the last gathering that Clark held with the others to think up a useful strategy, they didn’t come up with any mind-blowing plan yet but they were ready to advance and leave the forest.

In the end, there was really no use in them cowering in the forest due to fear. This would make them miss the timing to complete their mission, thereby rendering their cause meaningless.

Clark sat at the head of the round table that was erected in the strategy discussion tent, as Dickson and the other soldiers looked at him intensely.

Seeing that everyone was focused on him with serious expressions on their faces, he nodded before opening his mouth to speak. His voice was laced in a solemn tone to show the importance of this last meeting before engaging.

“You all already heard my plans through our online network planning session, so I will not go into details. I will just lay them down again and emphasize on a point if needed”.

“Today, we are leaving this forest and there is nothing that can stop us except death. I hope you are all ready and already informed the soldiers”.

“Yes, my soldiers already know”. Dickson answered while clearing his throat.

“Good, for our specific strategy plan, let me illustrate it again”. Saying this, Clark stood up and swiped his hand at the air as a holographic screen quickly materialized.

The holographic screen flickered a bit before stabilizing as an enlarged picture quickly emerged into view, the angle of sight being displayed was from the air. This was the aerial view of the animal territory.

Though the information that they discovered about the alpha lion exobeast was their most important discovery when they went out for surveillance, they still gathered other useful findings.

For example, the current aerial view of the animal’s territory was what Clark captured when he went deeper into the enemy ranks to get better-capturing angles.

“This is the entire territory of the animals. I edited it and did some modifications, so the image is divided into 4 parts and are distinguished using different colors”.

“The part painted in yellow color in the image is the periphery zone of their territory, this is where the lesser animals lower in their hierarchy reside. The red zone next to it is the middle zone, where slightly higher-ranked animals stay”.

“The last 2 zones are the ones that we should be most wary of. The purple zone is where the strongest animals reside, what stands out most glaringly there is that it’s filled with Wild Yaks”.

“The last zone, I call it the black zone as it’s depicted by the same color. As you can see, it’s the smallest zone, but it’s the most dangerous huddle that we have to pass before even smelling escape”.

“If I remember correctly, your squad was busted at the red zone, right?” Clark directed a look at Dickson.

“…Yes”. The latter answered reluctantly.

“This just shows how dangerous an endeavor we are trying to accomplish, but I believe that we can do it as far as we remain cohesive and follow my battle plans to the book”.

“For the past few days, I have been engaged in rigorous calculations to compare and make out the best escape plan”.

“I already sent the elaborate details to you all, but I still want to expound on the more common and important basic ones. I already told you, for us to get a chance at escaping, we need to divide ourselves into groups”.

“For my squad, the Spartan squad, I already relinquished command of the soldiers to Diana”.

Hearing this, the soldiers did not make a fuss as they already knew beforehand. Still, this did not fail in making them shift uncomfortably on their seats, this was a daring plan.

“Diana, complete control of the Spartan squad will be in your hand, I hope that you will not disappoint me. We have a lot of things at stake in this battle, and there is no place for mistakes”.

“Are you up for this task? Are you prepared?”

“Yes, sir”. The female soldier answered quickly, as a determined light seemed to twinkle deep inside her eyes.

“For your squad, Dickson, I already spoke with you, you are relinquishing authority and handing everything to your second in command. This is not a conventional battle, and we will not take conventional means either”.

“Sergeant Anna, you shall take over command of the Daland squad. I hope you are up to this task?”

“Yes, sir”. The beautiful blonde-haired female answered calmly.

“Good. As for you Benny, you shall take command of the newly created flanking squad that was formed from a combination of soldiers from both squads. You have an indispensable role in our escape”.

“Half of the high-grade soldiers in our allied force are under your command, I expect you to step up when needed. If we fail to escape silently and we get discovered, make the battle chaotic to give us more opportunities of escape”.

As Clark said this, he did not ask his friend any question, he just looked steadily straight in his eye.

“Clark, I will not let you down”. Benny pledged solemnly.

“Ok. For you Dickson…, you know your role, 2 of us are the ones who will decide whether our soldiers perish or successfully escape”.

“We are not staying with our soldiers. We will act alone to silence and prevent any unexpected circumstances that may arise, and we also need to provide them with optimum help to enable their escape”.

“We will be their sharp swords in the dark”. Clark paused a little after saying this, as he gave his companion a pointed look.

“Dickson…”

“Speak, Clark”. The latter answered calmly.

“If the situation goes contrary to our expectations and things go bad, I hope you are ready to give your…”

“No need Clark, I love and respect my soldiers more than you think. I will gladly give my life for them if that is what they need to escape”. Dickson answered even before Clark could finish.

“Ok, that’s all. Our survival is in our hands, I hope to see smiles on our faces a few hours from now. You can all leave to flesh out your preparations more, no amount of preparation is too much.

“Ok”.

As the soldiers quickly left the tent, Diana stood up also but she lagged behind the others. After they all left, she finally stopped at the side of the tent’s opening and looked back at Clark.

“We’ll make it Clark, I want to remind you that luck is by our side, I believe it. Remember once you once asked me? What do you say to the god of death?”

Clark was startled by this question, but his confusion quickly cleared the next moment and was replaced by a melancholic smile.

“Not…, today”.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. Please, leave your power stones behind to support the book. Purchase privilege for The Conspiracy Of The Elites and read a varying amount of chapters ahead of regular readers.]