183 183 Pulling Rank
The next target that Wolfe intended to rescue was near the Den. Since they had a lot of new arrivals, he had a feeling someone was going to try to pull rank as soon as they felt safe again. That meant it would be best if he were there to mediate, as the witches respected power above most other things, and the Den was his home.
Priya was only a Lieutenant, so in the military hierarchy, she didn’t have much pull, and he might have to step in to keep some fool from trying to take over their home and make the same idiotic decisions that led to them getting captured in the first place.
Wolfe poured mana into the new physical enhancements he had been using to strengthen his body and then his armour, allowing him to run much faster than the big trucks could move over the rough ground.
This target was in motion, but the details were sparse since it was all passed between scouts with basic whistle codes.
As he approached, Wolfe noticed that this group of refugee witches appeared to have been more competent than the others. Some of them had aura strong enough for him to sense at a distance, and they had proper winter gear.
Wolfe gave a whistle and raised a hand to let them know where he was before he startled them. They still trained rifles on him, but they didn’t shoot as he approached.
“Snowman?” The leader of the group asked.
“That’s me. There are a lot of you in the Wastes today. The mundane army is also retreating and bringing prisoners with them.” Wolfe explained.
“Yeah, they invaded a number of the recovery camps this morning while we were out on scout duty. We’ve been looking for you at the suggestion of the radio operators. They hate you for the random nonsense codes, but they said you’re the only safe location north of the lines.”
“Our code book was lost during the first attack, destroyed to avoid having it fall into enemy hands. I’ve just been having fun with it. The locals know what I mean.” Wolfe chuckled.
“Locals?” The witch asked.
“The mutants. There is a curse here that prevents them from understanding or being understood by witches, but they understand me just fine, so I can work with them. They’re the descendants of the unlucky ones who lived here, but they’ve been working on letting old grudges rest.”
“Interesting choice of friends. But, if you’ve got shelter, we could use a place to rest and regroup.” The scout leader suggested.
“Of course, follow me.”
Wolfe led the group back toward the den, which turned out to be much easier to find than expected. The locals had brought them a dozen small groups of witches, plus the ones he had sent back with Mio and the Servants, so there were trucks everywhere and hundreds of witches milling about and eating while the ones from his unit brought them food and medical attention.
As they got closer, Wolfe could feel the magic beneath him as Cassie and Ella worked to make enough room for hundreds of new arrivals,
“You call this a safe spot?” The scout accompanying Wolfe asked.
“Give it a few hours. We weren’t expecting our twenty-person group to suddenly get hundreds of visitors per day. They’re working underground to expand the den into a village. It should only take a few more hours, and then we can move all of this out of sight and deep enough that the aerial scans won’t detect it.” Wolfe explained.
By Wolfe’s rough estimate, there were nearly five hundred people here already but not much organization. That was good, as it meant nobody had gotten heavy-handed with ideas of authority yet. At least not here on the surface.
“If you want to come below and rest, I’ll find a spot for you. Your group isn’t large, so if it comes down to it, you can have my room for the afternoon.” Wolfe offered.
“We will take it. We were on scout duty all night, and then everything went crazy, so I could really use a nap.” The leader of the scout team agreed, then followed Wolfe down the tunnels.
Downstairs turned out to be the opposite of outside. It was loud, angry, and full of officers from the three major Covens arguing about who would take charge of this facility, just as Wolfe had feared.
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“This is my room. Sleep here for now, and we will get accommodations sorted out as soon as we can.” He explained.
They looked curious about the single large bed arrangement but didn’t say anything and simply collapsed into it now that they could finally feel safe and relaxed.
Wolfe rejoined the main room and listened for a second to see what they were so worked up about.
“The majority of the forces here are now from Morgana Coven. It’s only logical that we take over this facility.” One of the Witches was arguing.
“Numbers aren’t everything, Major. I am the ranking officer here.” The woman with all the medals on her jacket that Wolfe rescued earlier reminded her.
Wolfe stepped to the table and addressed the crowd in a firm voice but resisted the urge to call in a [Favour] that nearly everyone who was at the meeting owed him for the rescue.
“And why, might I ask, is everyone arguing about who is in control of my home? Did we take in too many at once, and everyone forgot their manners as house guests? Taking charge of your own military forces is perfectly fine, but this is not a military facility. It’s not in any Coven’s territory, and it’s certainly not a recruitment station.
Most of those witches outside are villagers who got hit with nerve gas and fled or were captured from the recovery camps today. I’m certain I had Priya explain the ground rules when everyone arrived, and you’re welcome to leave if you can’t be civil.”
The witches seemed shocked that he would dare to speak back to them, but Wolfe wasn’t going to budge on this matter. He didn’t need or want troublemakers around, and he would gladly load them all in a truck to return to their Covens.