Rising to Fall

Chapter 2-1

Part 2

Take heart

Chapter 2-1

Andy dashes down the corridors of the Sky Army caverns, his mind going almost as fast as his heart. The girl's words are ringing in his head, along with the forming plan. He runs through the door, startling the two guards who stand there. One recruit, a man with a thick brown beard, walks past him and Andy grabs his arm, sliding to a stop.

"Jordan, gather the Commanders, meet in the office in 5 minutes," Andy says rapidly before sprinting off again, not hearing Jordan call out after him, asking what was going on. He feels jumpy, full of energy. It reminded him of the old days. Almost painfully so.

He sprints into the room that serves as an office, throwing open the door in his excitement. The office is the same room that he had threatened General Mitchell in. The rope and blindfold are still in the draw, but Andy doesn't bother to open it. Instead, he paces around the room, working through his plan, defining every detail, every possible problem, just like he used to. The Commanders start filing in and Andy stops pacing, instead standing near the corner, unconsciously rubbing his thumb nail on his bottom lip slightly, like he normally does when he is thinking. He glances up and sees Jordan come in, closing the door behind him. Only seven people are in the room, not including Andy. The Commanders form a loose circle around the crude table and Andy joins the circle, putting his hands on the wood.

"Remember General Mitchell of the Benjas?" he asks, instantly getting to the point. "Came here just over a week ago."

The Commanders nod. Normally, the Sky Army would have just over a dozen Commanders, but now they only had seven. And only one of these men has been a Commander since before the last battle, 12 years ago.

"We're going to contact him," Andy says. "I need one of you to sneak out of the city at sunrise and to tell him to meet us at Kay's Anchor. You'd have to cross the Nicene River, I think his army base is near the bottom of the Great Dividing Range. But it would have to be completely secret."

"Why do we need to contact him?" Jordan asks. "We don't ask for help from neighbouring armies."

"I know, but we've never been in a situation like this before," Andy explains. "General Mitchell was looking for us. He knows that something's up with the squids. If we help him, he'll help us."

"I can go," Cassandra says. Her shoulder-length hair hangs in front of her face and she pushes it back. "The squids are much less likely to suspect a woman."

"But would the Benjas listen to you?" Joseph asks.

"I see no reason why not. They had female warriors on their troupe."

"I'll give you a note or something as well," Andy says. "If they don't listen to you, a note from me will get you through."

"Alright, so what will we do while Cassandra's getting the Benjas?" Jordan asks.

Andy takes his hands off of the table. "We sneak what recruits we have out of the Capital. They will go to Kay's Anchor to meet up with the Benjas."

"But what will we do?"

"There are still recruits in the Capital who don't know that we're here," Andy says. "We need to contact them, let them know that we're here and that we're getting out."

"How do you know that?"

Andy takes out the Sky Army badge that the young woman gave him from his pocket and puts it on the table for everyone to see. "A homeless girl gave this to me, right before she died. Her grandmother and both of her parents were part of the Army. A group of them escaped to here, and I bet that there's more."

"But how are we going to contact them?" Joseph asks.

Andy grins. "Daniel. How many yellow spray cans can you smuggle out?"

"You mean, apart from the 60 or so that I already have smuggled over the years?" Daniel asks. "Depends on who I'm partnered with."

"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you Andy?" Jordan questions suspiciously.

"Do you think that I'm suggesting that we put graffiti everywhere in the Capital, saying that the Sky Army is alive and active?" Andy asks, a grin spreading on his face. "Cause if that's what you're thinking, then you're totally right."

Jordan looks at Andy. Andy has a slight grin on his face and his hands and opening and closing ever so slightly. His eyes flick from face to face. He's vastly different from the person who Jordan's been seeing for the past 12 years, and it's a positive improvement.

"When will we start getting recruits out?" he asks.

"Tomorrow," Andy replies instantly. "We'll disappear in groups of 3 to 5 over the next week or two, so that the squids don't get suspicious. Tell them to quit their job, get someone to cover for them, whatever, just make it look natural. We'll need a group of people to stay here and help put graffiti everywhere."

"How many are you thinking?" Daniel asks.

"Ten should do it," Andy says. "I'll stay here as well, but we'll be using a lot of paint, so grab as many cans as you can Daniel."

Daniel lets go of a large sigh and ruffles his short hair slightly with his hand. "Alright then," he mutters

"You do realise that this plan of yours is highly dangerous, right?" Joseph asks.

Andy grins. "I think it's about time that we do something dangerous. It's been far too quiet for far too long."

"Well, you heard Andy," Jordan says. "Let-"

"Actually, I think I'll go by Adam."

The eye of every Commander flicks to Andy and he shrugs self-consciously. "If the Sky Army's coming back alive, then I can't really stick to Andy, now can I?"

The Commander on Adam's right slaps his arm lightly. "Good to have you back, General Adam," he says.

"Let's get this plan rolling now," Jordan says. "We'll make a roster so that everyone knows when they're leaving and where they need to meet up."

"I'll leave straight away, otherwise I won't get to the Benjas in time," Cassandra says. "I'll take a horse from work, it'll get me across the Nicene River faster than walking, and then I can meet the recruits at Kay's Anchor. I'll sneak out of the Capital the back way."

"Grab some supplies from our stash," Adam advises. "I'll write up a quick note for you just in case."

"Let's go!"

And that's why I need the spray cans everyone.

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