Somnium Online

New Orders.

Eric laid Elizabeth down on the bed, and then went back to his spot on the floor.

He inserted the earpiece, laid down, and closed his eyes. "Somnium, Ludum."

It was morning in the capital. Birds were singing, the sun was rising, and Alice was passed out on the floor surrounded by a dozen small children of various ages.

"Looks like breakfast for 20 today." Eric joked.

He started up the stove and got to work.

He left the house before the others were awake, leaving breakfast piping hot and already on the table.

It was still early, so he put some wind behind his feet, and sped to the edge of the upper-class district. It was time to make his report.

Anne was already awake and in the makeshift war room of the large house. Tue basement had originally been storage space, but not a large table with a giant map of the capital had been brought in, and various pins, markers, and diagrams were laid out on top of it.

Eric was the last one to arrive, barely on time, but not technically late.

He joined the other unit leaders who were gathered around the table waiting anxiously. Finally, Anne spoke.

"We're doing a raid tonight." All humor left the room, a raid would be a serious undertaking. Anne gestured to six buildings that were parked on the map. They were a large mansion complex in the upper-class district.

"This is Belgrave Heights, a mansion complex owned by a fake merchant company. It's actually the hideout for the Anarchists guild.

Tonight, we destroy it."

Anne began outlining the plan, running them through the exact timing and complex maneuvers they would need to use to approach unnoticed.

Then, she took out a scale model of the compound and ran them through the exact raid strategy.

"If all goes according to plan, the anarchists will be rocked to their foundations, and organized player attacks will be reduced to a minimum."

The gathered officers burst into applause. It was an ingenious plan, really. And as long as there were no major surprises, the players inside wouldn't be hard-pressed to mount any sort of competent defense.

"Alright, return to your units and run them through their parts of the plan. Eric, I need to speak with you in private."

The other officers cleared out of the room. Eric loitered awkwardly, not really sure what to do with his hands.

Anne waited until she was certain that the other officers were out of earshot before breathing the greatest sigh of relief Eric had ever seen.

"Being in charge is exhausting, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." She said despondently.

Eric put a hand on her shoulder. "You're doing better than any of us could. Your strategy is pure genius, your soldiers are totally prepared to carry it out, and you haven't lost a single soldier yet."

Anne laughed. "You sound just like..." she trailed off.

Eric grinned. "Hey, we're going to be fine, got it. And if anything starts to go wrong, pull your troops out and let me handle it."

Anne laughed. "What makes you so sure you can handle something an entire raid team couldn't kill?"

"Instinct," Eric said brightly.

Anne just started laughing and laughing. She looked like she hadn't laughed since this assignment had started. It had been less than a week, but Anne had been running night operations since day one.

"Take a nap," Eric suggested. "You can't think properly if you're exhausted."

Anne started toward the door. "Good idea. Oh, and I'm sending you some extra funds to help take care of those kids. For now, just do what you can. We'll figure out something when we get back from this.

Eric saluted again. "Yes ma'am."

Anne left, muttering something about being too formal. Eric chuckled, Anne would be fine by the time the sun set.

Eric walked briskly until he was outside of the more populous areas before he took to the rooftops, dashing furiously, his feet barely touching the ground as he ran.

He reached the warehouse soon after and dropped to ground level before entering through the front door.

"I'm back!" He called.

Suddenly there was a flurry of activity as a dozen enthusiastic children suddenly stood and saluted in unison. Alex joined in, beaming proudly at his handiwork.

Eric shook with head disapprovingly, but even he was laughing.

"Good news, Our commander has secured funds to help take care of the freed children until other arrangements can be made for them."

"Umm... huh?" Alex was totally lost.

"We've got money to take care of the kids now," Brian explained.

"Oh, okay." Alex shuffled uncomfortably.

"Anyway," Eric continued, "Since you all did so well yesterday, I'm giving you the rest of the morning off, but I need you back here by 3 PM sharp and ready to fight, we've got another mission. I'll handle the patrols, so get some rest."

"What's the mission?" Lin asked.

"I'll explain it tonight," Eric said mysteriously.

With that, he went back out the door and flew off. Alex and Brian exchanged shrugs and went back to their card game.

Alice sighed and went back to cleaning, the warehouse always seemed to have some spot of dirt that needed to be scrubbed.

The kids mostly entertained themselves, the warehouse was large enough for them to run around and make noise while staying within eyesight.

Lin went back to chopping vegetables for lunch. Food didn't cook itself after all.