ROTWOTA: Book 3 - Resistance, Rebellion, and Revenge

Prevalence of Stirring Chaos

April 21

As Nico pulled into the yard, it felt oddly like a good thing that it was quite at first, with the exception of how Benson and the soldiers moved through steadily to see who or what was there. It was eerie, sure, but it offered the benefit of being able to focus and think through the possibilities running through his mind regarding what Jerome had said about planes flying at Biltmore. Meanwhile, Dean and Reginald tried to be light hearted to keep up the mood.

"Hey, don't focus on the bad, chap. I bet at least most of your friends are alive," said Reginald. Nico struck up a friendly look over at the big engine's reassurance.

"Yeah, and don't worry. Once we find them, you'll have more faces to occupy Benson and his orders," chuckled Dean. Benson looked up at him and slowed to a stop, his face only getting more irritated.

"I get you're trying to be funny, the only issue is that too much will distract us from the fact that we have a full on war escalating, and things could go wrong any second if the past few days were any indication," he barked.

But all of a sudden, the B12 was rammed by another B12, this one red with a two painted on his tender. All the engines had been caught off guard as Benson was smashed into the siding, with such force almost being enough to smash them off the rails. Several soldiers came out from behind some trucks, and everyone was ready to engage until Nico blew his whistle.

"Jason! Stop!" he yelled, the spinning of red B12's wheels slowing down as he did so. He then looked over and was so speechless he couldn't speak.

"It's me...It's Nico! This is Dean, Reginald, and Benson, and these guys are all from the UK!" he shouted. "They're not here to harm us, right?"

Benson's eyes darted back and forth between Jason and Nico, his panicked gaze showing he understood and supported his statement.

"What are they doing here?" asked Jason, a tense gaze staring back at the J94.

"We're looking for you guys! We heard a rough conflict was going on down here so we were brought in to try to help," said Reginald, his voice shaky.

"Things haven't gone well, sure, but as of now, the mission is to try and find as many N&SCR engines as possible," said Dean.

Jason was still tensed and fairly skeptical, but the UK soldiers aimed their guns at him, so he figured he had no choice and so reluctantly reversed off of Benson, who took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.

"Now...answer why you are here," he barked in a more stern voice.

Jason paused to unintentionally match the eerie silence of the yard before speaking. "Biltmore was attacked a few days ago...and now it feels like there are barely any of us left. We've been trying to find those who went missing for a while...Nico, Aiden, Jerome...1478, and also try to make our next move before something bad happens."

Not long afterwards, Dean's voice spoke up. "Well...if you want you could stay with us. I mean, there's plenty of help we could use and if I remember correctly, finding you guys was one of our main priorities, so win win!"

Jason's gaze went over to him, skeptically analyzing his look for any signs of deceit. Nico looked at him, his own eyes practically saying, "You can trust them." Eventually, he gave a sigh.

"Ok, we'll give a call back to the others so we can meet up," said Jason.

Nico and Dean smiled at one another, and they would've given a fist bump if it were possible.

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"Well, Maximus, I'm impressed with how your practice is going along," nodded Logan as he spoke into his earpiece and watched from the balcony.