"Yes, Major, he said: 'Wait in the warmth of your fortress, it'll soon be your turn'."
Tension imdiately mounted in the command room.
A heavy silence had settled in, broken only by the hum of machines and the frightened murmurs of a few soldiers.
Maxi, standing back near the entrance, observed the scene.
He could almost feel the collective fear crawling under the apparent discipline of the soldiers present.
But the silence didn't last long, being broken by the Major, who remained calm throughout.
"Lieutenant Brenson, any estimate of reinforcents? Can the 8ᵉ regint reach their position before the Dravaks break through our lines?"
Brenson, a man with a face scarred by years of war, quickly replied: Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire
"If all goes to plan, they should arrive in less than fifteen minutes, but..."
He hesitated for a mont, as his news was negative and they really didn't want to go wrong by talking.
"...The Dravaks already seem to have a head start. With their physical capabilities, they are likely to surround the rest of the 2ᵉ regint before the 8ᵉ regint can intervene."
A wave of concern swept through the room.
The major pounded his fist on the table.
"And we can't send anything from here?"
A logistics operations officer replied in a strained voice:
"No, Major. The ninth regint has already moved west to support the first regint, while we can't move the sixth and seventh regints east at the risk of being flanked."
"And what about the third, fourth and fifth regints that ca to support the second regint?"
"They're being held back by three Dravak regints, in the knowledge that the second regint has begun to be surrounded by a Dravak regint as well as the rest of the Dravaks who fought the Shibuya and Sabertooth Tigers."
The major gritted his teeth, clearly torn between frustration and the need to keep a cool head. It was then that Maxi decided to intervene.
"Excuse , Major, but I think you might have another option."
All eyes turned to him.
"Who are you?" asked the Major, frowning.
"Maxi Valdreuve, captain of the Saber-Toothed Tigers."
All eyes in the command room, occupied by a dozen high-ranking officers and so thirty military personnel, were imdiately drawn to Maxi.
So seed surprised to see him there, others intrigued, waiting to see what he had to say.
"Isn't he in intensive care?"
"I heard he was probably going to die, although I wouldn't wish him ill, but how co he's standing in front of us looking so good?"
"If he didn't have a burn mark on his face, I wouldn't even believe it was him."
The Major, still standing, crossed his arms.
But in his eyes, everyone could discern the respect he had for this young man.
"And what would that option be, Captain Valdreuve? As far as I know, you're in no condition to fight."
Maxi ignored the reference to his condition and took a few steps forward.
"Since the Dravaks who surrounded my n are still on the battlefield, I intend to settle my affairs with them."
"A few of my n and I are still in fighting condition."
"Give us fast transportation, and we could rejoin the 2ᵉ regint before it's too late."
A murmur ran through the room. Several officers exchanged skeptical glances. A lieutenant stepped forward.
"With all due respect, Captain Valdreuve, your n are convalescing. You risk sending them to certain death."
Maxi looked him straight in the eye.
"Certain death? We're already there, Lieutenant. If the 2ᵉ regint falls, the Dravaks will gain an imnse advantage on the battlefield and all our regints outside will imdiately be in danger."
"This will create a snowball effect until they arrive at the gates of our fortresses in overwhelming numbers."
"For my part, I'd rather die trying to stop them than wait here for them to co and slaughter us."
Silence fell again, but this ti it was charged with a different energy. The Major stared at him for a long mont, gauging the determination in his eyes.
Everyone looked at Maxi with renewed respect.
If before they'd thought the rumors might be exaggerated - that he'd killed an awakened Dravak on his own, for example, or that his n had slaughtered thousands of Dravaks when there were only a hundred of them - they all believed them now.
"Very well, Captain. I'll authorize your deploynt. But know that if you fail, we'll have no way of holding back the Dravaks. Mobilize your n imdiately."
"By the way, I'm going to charter two helicopters with two pilots for you. Take good care of them, especially our pilots. They're rare and valuable talents in the army."
Maxi nodded, a determined smile on his lips.
"Thank you, Major. You won't be disappointed."
He turned and strode out of the room.
He passed through the now almost deserted central field again, then arrived in the dical wing.
Asking for directions, he quickly found the room where his n were resting.
It was in fact a huge barracks-like rest room where everyone slept in the sa room.
Maxi arrived inside, and had no ti to worry about the wounded.
He shouted directly:
"Saber-toothed Tigers, those who can return to the battlefield, gather round!"
In the huge room where over a hundred people were resting, so twenty figures reacted imdiately and gathered in front of Maxi.
The wounded soldiers of the first regint and a few Shibuya watched the scene with surprise and attention.
Murmurs rose quickly in the huge room.
Yet none of them expressed anger or annoyance at Maxi's sudden cries, waking up many people.
At first, so of the soldiers were irritated, but when they heard the urgency in the speaker's voice, they all guessed that sothing very important was going on.
Of course, Maxi's identity and reputation played an important part in this, as there were many soldiers with bad tempers in the room.
One of the soldiers, lying with one arm in a sling, whispered to his neighbor:
"That's him, isn't it? The one the whole fortress is talking about?"
His comrade nodded, his eyes fixed on Maxi.
"Yeah. The captain of the Sabertooth Tigers. The one who managed to kill an awakened Dravak."
Another, sitting on the edge of his bed, interjected:
"That's not the scariest part, it's said that his n, who are all from Eternity, held out against thousands of Dravaks to save the Shibuya. A hundred rcenaries against an entire regint."
"And what's worse, they actually slaughtered most of the Dravaks and only about 20 rcenaries survived that legendary battle."
"Those 20 rcenaries are the ones standing in front of him."
Others responded imdiately.
"I had a chat with the red-haired kid, he's quite nice but I thought he was just a recruit from the first regint. I didn't expect him to co from Eternity and have the strength to survive such a legendary battle."
"Sa, I chatted with the blue-haired one, super nice that too! Looking at them like that, you'd never know they could be so fierce!"
...
Despite their wounds, the soldiers showed nothing but respect and curiosity. They knew how to recognize a hero on the battlefield, soone capable of changing the tide of victory or defeat.
And Maxi had the makings.
He nodded to his n, now standing before him in patient white tunics.
"How are you guys doing?"
"Much better than you, Chief," Rodrigo replied, looking at the burn on Maxi's face.
But Maxi was surprised when he saw Rodrigo say this.
"You're missing an arm, at what point do you feel you're in better shape than ?"
The other rcenaries looked at Rodrigo strangely, as if they were looking at an idiot.
"Anyway, we've got to get to the second regint urgently. Put on the military outfits provided imdiately, then we'll go to the armor."
"Yes, sir!" replied the Sabertooth Tigers in unison.
Seeing how spirited these n were, many soldiers were shocked.
"Wait...did I hear that right? They're going back to the battlefield in this state?"
"I heard the sa thing..."
"It's crazy to go back to fight when most of them are still wounded."
...
But no matter what the nearby soldiers said, Maxi ignored them.
Monts later, Maxi led his n to the armory.
There, they found Karad, the chief engineer, busy checking the condition of weapons and equipnt.
Seeing Maxi and his soldiers enter, Karad raised an eyebrow.
"Maxi? I thought you were still in the treatnt room..."
Maxi, in a firm but friendly tone, replied:
"No ti for formalities, Karad. Could you arm my n as quickly as possible?"
Karad, though a little surprised, nodded. He knew that with Maxi's current reputation, refusing was not an option.
Or rather, his reputation proved his strength and deserved that his all-powerful n be well equipped.
"Very well, then. Take what you need, but be careful. These weapons are our last reserves of quality."
Within minutes, the Saber-Toothed Tigers were equipped. So took assault rifles, others heavier weapons. A few even checked for extra grenades and ammunition.
They had heard about them from the other soldiers in the dical wing, and so of them, such as Kaite, Andrew and Charles, who were not seriously wounded, even had a chance to practice a little.
Maxi, anwhile, took up a laser sword.
He had left his last sword on the battlefield.
Above all, he realized that he didn't need anything else - an assault rifle couldn't properly exert its force in his hands, and resources being scarce, it was better not to take one.
When they were ready, they left the armory and headed for the central field.
There, two helicopters were waiting for them, engines on and blades turning slowly. The pilots, already seated, signaled to them to hurry up.
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