The Plan Proceeds, Part 5

          Oran crept around the corner of the new house the Alliance had found for the overflow of new Strays to stay. He hoped no one would notice his absence. He squatted down behind the back of the house.
          He quickly opened his bag and pulled out a black rectangular shaped object. He twisted a knob on it, and it made a faint squawking noise. He glanced around, and put in an ear piece that he connected to the object.
         He listened.
         "Where have you been?! Why haven't you told us anything?" a voice came from his ear piece.
         He replied in a whispered tone, "I don't have much time to talk. Just know that they're falling for everything I've been saying. So far, it's all going to the plan. There may be a few complications, but we'll have them worked out shortly."
         "Fine. But, I expect more frequent communication, and more information very soon!"
         "I'm doing my best. Do you know how hard it is to.... Gotta go. Over and out."
         "Wait...!"
         Oran quickly threw the communication device in his bag, and unhooked the ear piece. Someone must have noticed him back there.

--

         "We finally made contact with out Bot, sir."

         "Excellent. What did you hear from them today?"

         "Well, sir, all we know is that the plan is going well, but there were a few complications."

         "Complications?"

         "He didn't elaborate on what they were, exactly. He had to leave mid conversation." 

        "Very well, then. Did he explain why it's been so long since we've had contact? And why we're not aware of his location? I thought we were supposed to have eyes on him!"

          "As did I, sir. But, he seems to have disabled the tracking device, and we were not able to track where his call came from. I believe, if he wanted nothing to do with us anymore, he never would have contacted us again. It seems he's even more intelligent than we first thought."

           "Sigh... I suppose you're right. I'm sure he's aware if we wanted to, we'd have the whole surrounding area searched out even greater than it already is. We'd leave no pile of rubble un-turned. Remind him of that the next time we make contact. In fact, let me tell him personally."

          "It will be done, sir."

          "Good..."

                                                                             --

          "What are you doing back here, Oran?" Aleck asked.

          "Oh, hey. Just... looking to see if there are any damages or holes on the house that Villains would be able to peer through and see us Strays and Heroes in here, you know what I mean?"

            "Sure. Anyway, why don't you join us in securing the house in case there are any emergencies?"

           "Alright. Sounds good to me. That's partly what I was doing out there, but sure. Why not?"
            Oran shrugged.

           Aleck questioned the validity of Oran's response to his reasoning for being behind the house, but put that thought aside and they both went inside the house to make it a more hospitable place to live. 

                                                                               

                                                                              --

          "Why are we still sending out Searchers to look for this stupid experiment?" exclaimed the Black Phantom. "If it was still out there, we'd most definitely have located it by now!"

             "But, sir!" Darkon argued, "I need to make sure-"

             "I've had quite enough. I want my Searchers back to where they are supposed to be, on their regular patrols!"

              "But-"

              "Shut up! . . . Anak, take this one out of here!"

               Darkon knew to shut his mouth when Anak got involved.

               Anak stepped from the shadows, came towards Darkon, grabbed his shoulder, turned him around and shoved him out the throne room door, face flat on the floor, only to stand up to see Mordeki staring him down. 

               "Get up, fool. Return to your laboratory." Moredki commanded Darkon, pointing towards the Villian Lab.

                                                                              --

                                                                    Some Time Later...

           "Here, let me talk to him... What information do you have for us now?"

           "We've got two main groups right now. It'll be a good bunch once we move forward with this plan." Oran replied.

           "Why is it we can't track you?"

           "Oh, don't worry about that. This will all be worth it in the end, trust me"

           "You know, we could have a group of Searchers on your tail in no time. We'll leave no area un-searched, no pile of rubble left alone--!" 

          "Yes, I'm well aware of it. I have no intention of leaving, if that's what you're concerned about. What would I hope to gain from leaving you guys anyway? I'd be no better off then these losers I'm currently with." 

           "Alright. Well, at least you know."

           "I have to go now. I lied about where I was going, and someone will probably need me shortly. Over and out." 

            Static

           "It sounds like he's taken heed to my warning. By the way, were you able to track the call?"

           "No, sir."

           "Drat! Oh well. He said this would all be worth it in the end. Let's hope so."

                                                                               --

           Oran stepped in front of the gathered Strays and Heroes, like a commander before his troops. The whole Alliance, in the new "House", as it was called now. The place they had found to shelter more Alliance members.

           Oran couldn't help but think to himself about the fact that they were all together like a flock of animals, completely unaware of what would happen to them one day.

             He began his presentation.

            "Hello my friends!" Oran began, with a smile. "I have something here I've been developing for a while now. I call them 'Squares'!" He held up a small square black device with a back-lit  screen on it. "These Squares will help us to keep track of each other at all times via the small screen with a radar display. Villains will appear as red dots, and any other Square devices will appear as green dots on the display. Plus, it is able to jam the radars of Villains, whether they be Searchers, City Guard, or what have you. Point is, it'll keep them from finding you. In case any of you are wondering, no, the Villain radar jammer is not able to to be turned off.  I've tested them all individually on different days, and they all work. They are even solar powered!"

          The Alliance members were astonished.

          Oran continued his speech, "Now that we have these, we will be able to track all of our groups, wherever they may be. As with any radar, there is a range limit. But, ranges can be improved if we are able to set up secret transmitters in different areas. I have also been working on ways for us to make contact between the Hatch and this new place, the House. It can't be a land line, since Villains will most likely be able to spot something like that. So, we will have to develop a way of communication that is wireless."

       Oran was able to keep their attention, and gain their trust further.

        Aleck kept having the feeling something wasn't right, but ignored it.

       When the presentation was through, the Strays and Heroes disbanded, and got to work on fixing up the new House.

         Aleck spotted Zakor and pulled him aside and said, "Something seems a little off about Oran to me. I can't quite put my finger on it, though."

        "How do you mean?" Zakor responded.

        "I don't know. Just . . . Something."

         "Oh?"

         "Well, earlier, I saw him back behind the House, acting a little strangely. He was fumbling around his words, and all."

         "He may not have been expecting you to come around, and was surprised."

         "That's what I'm afraid of."

         "Hmmm. I suppose I see your point. Well, I don't think it's anything, really. All he's done for us is help bring the Plan further into fruition. Now, he's presented those new Squares for us to use. He's only done good for the Alliance. Can you name one thing he's done to set us back on our planning? Or anything he's done to stall The Plan, even? "

          Aleck had to think. "I see what you're saying. I just sincerely hope that nothing is going wrong we don't know about."

           "Well, there's not time to worry about something so implausible, my friend. We need to get to work. our next step is to start freeing family and friends.
           "But, for your sake, I'll keep a watchful eye on him as well," Zakor said, in a caring way.
          "I appreciate it," Aleck said.
          A voice came from behind Zakor.
          "Hey, Zakor! We're gonna need your strength for this over here!"
           "I'll be right over!" He responded.
           "I'll talk to you later, alright?" Zakor said to Aleck.
           "Thanks!" Aleck replied.
           The two parted and went off to help fix their new House.

To Be Continued! 

       

The Plan Proceeds, Part 4

The search for the loose experiment was in force for a while now. So far, the select team of Searchers was unsuccessful in their attempts to find the mutated being. The Villain Leaders were starting to think that the search, requested by Darkon himself, was becoming a waste of time and resources. But Darkon insisted they make sure that the experiment was dead.

 His real reasoning behind the continual search, though, is to make sure the experiment did not cause harm to any Villains, or damage anything that belongs to the Villain Leaders. That would end in his demise, most likely. He had the nagging feeling his experiment was still alive, somewhere, somehow.

And he was right.

--

As time went by, the 3 Strays had finally gotten down all of the Searcher and City Guard’s patrol patterns. They knew exactly where and when there would be a platoon of Villains. The Hunters had been oddly quiet lately, for reasons unknown. Either the City Guard had driven them out, or they have gone into hiding. Either way, they hadn't been much of a problem for The Alliance, the official term decided upon by the original team of 3 Strays and two former Villains.

Also, The Plan was slowly, but surely. progressing and that meant the team had grown. They had now found a new female Stray, named Kate, and a Hero named Caliber. The Hatch was starting to feel a little crowded, but not so much so that it wasn't comfortable. So, with more individuals meant more supplies were needed to just survive.  But, with the Alliance’s knowledge of when and where Villains would be, they could sneak around patrols, get as many supplies as they could, and get to the Hatch safely.  

An advantage of having a larger team is that they could have eyes and ears in multiple places at once. This would be a great advantage over the Viliains, and made their Plan more doable.  

Oran was getting exited! He made every effort to help this Plan come into fruition. It was just better for him that way. The funny part was, he thought, was that none of them knew what would come from all this. As he usually did while he thought about this fact, he chuckled on the inside.

--

Drack sat across the cold metal table from the Fire Lord, in the Fire Lord’s Chamber. Their discussion went very well, and not once did the Fire Lord seem to get angry, or sound like he was being betrayed, which was slightly surprising to Drack. This conference went a little better than it did with the Witch Doctor. The Doctor took more convincing to become an ally of his than the Fore Lord did. And, Drack was serious about these alliances. No foul play was present in these agreements. The only Searcher or City Guard who knew about these alliances was Cain, who was sworn to secrecy. Drack was actually starting to like Cain better than before. It wouldn’t be worth betraying him, since Drack and Cain now had each other’s back. But, Sheer still did pop into Drack’s mind every now and then, but his feeling of depression was pushed from his mind, and he carried on. Maybe with this alliance of the two major Hunter leaders, the Witch Doctor and the Fire Lord, maybe he’d have a chance to find Sheer again.

This type of alliance wasn’t forbidden by the Villain Leaders, but it was frowned upon. Drack had agreed that if a group from one of the Hunter Leader’s gangs (Witch Doctor and Fire Lords's) was attacked by a platoon of Villains under the Villain Leader’s control, he would not reveal his alliance with the Hunters, and that Cain would not either.

The Hunter Leader, Fire Lord, and the Searcher arose, shook hands, and Drack went on his way, satisfied. 

Now he had brought together some of the most powerful Villains, other than the Villian Leaders, together. He knew if there was division among the Villains, it could mean a civil war, whether it be between two different Hunter gangs, or Searchers plus the City Guard against Hunters. It could only mean war at some point in time. So, at least this faction would not be at war. It was important they remain loyal to each other too.

--

In the Hatch, The Alliance was gathered to further discuss The Plan.

Oran suggested that, if they were going to continue to bring in more bots, they were going to have to find a new place to stay, one that was larger, that could house many more , and had more space to store supplies to survive on, and that it should be their first priority to do so.

“Maybe,” Oran thought to himself, “I can get everyone in the same place. Hah!” He smirked. “That would make my job a whole lot easier.”

Jerin objected. “I think it would be better to have more than one place to stay. With our knowledge of the Villain’s rounds, we might be able to set up a second hideout. And, if it’s large enough, we could store away larger amounts of supplies, and not have to go back to that storage place for a while, saving time, and possible lives.”

“Yes!” Sheer said, “Also, that way, not everyone will be in the same place, if something was to happen to one of our hideouts.”

Everyone agreed, except for Oran.

That would make Oran’s secret plan a little harder.

Oran finally said that he agreed, and stated he’d help in the search for a new place.

That worked for everyone else.

So, Sheer, Zakor, Kate and Alek would remain at the Hatch, while Jerin, Oran, and Caliber would go out to search for a new place for more allies to stay.

Oran had another suggestion, just before they were about to leave. “Why not look around for more Strays and Heroes on the way there?”

Everyone thought it was a good idea, and they set out to look for others to join The Alliance, and a new place for them to stay.

--

As time passed, The Alliance found more Strays and yet another Hero. The next phase of The Plan was becoming more of a reality every day. It was going great! The Strays just hoped their family and friends were still fine inside the Cities. It was only a matter of time before they'd be able to effectively create an underground escape route to free some of them. They had even found an abandoned house not too far from where the Hatch was concealed, where more of the other Strays could stay. The new Hero volunteered to be the guard of that place. 

It seemed the Searchers and City Guards were becoming less attentive in their patrols and had even started doubting the presence of more Heroes and/or Strays. So, the Alliance took full advantage of that. 

But, there was only one group of Villains who had been doing random searches lately, for some reason. Zakor figured they were looking for him, so he was extra cautious. 

To Be Continued