BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM C.968: A shift in priorities

After two days of thinking about the situation, Erik concluded there was only one problem in this whole situation. They needed time to move. This meant the rebels needed to fool the blackguards into thinking they got nothing from Momentum and the other two high-ranking blackguards.

Naturally, they would not have a large amount of time at their disposal. Given the

circumstances. It was almost a certainty that the blackguards would launch an attack on the Red Palace to free their captured agents before Van Dyke and his team could extract any valuable information from them.

This prompted the three to decide how to take care of Zakir. To do that, Erik needed one of his clones who could shapeshift. Aside from June, there were three others who fit the bill.

Hugo, Mark, and Xavier. These were the three clones that Mira, Emily, and Amber used as mounts to get here.

"Mark, you will take Savage Blood's place. As for you two, since Mark won't be able to read the blackguard's mind, you two will go with him and help in case the need arises. In the meantime, you will have to spy on the others. Collect as much information as you can."

"Are you sure, Master? I don't have Ben Fink's same brain crystal power."

"It doesn't matter," Erik said. "Just use a sword, and if someone asks you, just say you do not need to use your brain crystal power. Try not to grab anyone's attention, though. I know you are capable of holding yourselves; you are me after all, but not having all the powers I have, things will be much harder for you."

"All right, Master. Don't worry about anything."

Erik nodded and then left the room. With that settled, he needed to do two things. One was to plan Richard's rescue operation with the others. The second was to kill Zakir.

However, the second task had now been relegated to a secondary position. There was a straightforward reason for this shift in priorities: the likely imminent attack on the Red Palace from the blackguard.

Erik knew he couldn't let things get worse. He needed the rebels to act now to prevent any serious problems arising later.

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With Richard still held prisoner, it would be impossible to kill Volkov. If the man was alive, New Alexandria's troops were still going to be a variable.

If Erik got a hold of New Alexandria, the troops were going to stop fighting., at least in theory, or not so much in theory if he played his cards well.

The blackguards would find themselves with not enough people to fight the rebels, and kicking them out of the nation would become possible.

But Zakir was a problem. Erik couldn't simply forget about him because the guy was going to be a problem the rebels had to take care of, eventually.

Erik reached a room. There, he found Fischer, Van Dyke, Emma, and Captain Lain. They were currently discussing their plans. Erik gave them some time to sort out their priorities.

"Have you decided what to do?" Erik asked. Everyone turned to look at him.

"We are giving the plan the finishing touches," Fischer said.

"Then?"

Erik listened closely as the others explained their plan.

In their opinion, now that they found exactly where Richard had been kept, rescuing him was the key first step to toppling Volkov's power. Of course, that was because, that way, Erik could focus on killing Volkov.

"June told us about the rescue operation in Fasard and said attacking with too weak a force would be risky. It may be better to save Richard first so you can then deal with Volkov without thoughts."

Fischer nodded. "So, we thought that rescuing Richard might be best for you to do. You freed us from that prison, with just June by your side."

"If anyone can rescue Richard Stone from the maximum security Grand Ducal prison, it's

you."

Erik nodded. "Consider it done, then. This actually plays in my favour. I told you this already, but if it wasn't for the fact I had to rescue him, I would have stormed the Koma and killed Volkov already."

The others nodded. "Just one thing: the prison will be heavily guarded."

"We know," Captain Lain chimed in. "But we also know you're resourceful and powerful. With the information we are going to give you, you should be able to rescue him with no particular problems. If you play it well, you won't even have to fight."

"What kind of information can you provide?" Erik asked.

"We will feed you any intelligence we have on the prison and its defences," Van Dyke said. "We will also stage a distraction if needed to draw guards away, but regardless, the most important thing will be the prison's layout."

"All right," Erik said. "Aside from the layout, focus on the number of guards, the most notable people there, and stuff like that. I want no surprise, and the more I know, the better chance we have at success."

The others nodded, looking relieved and hopeful. Fischer clasped Erik's shoulder. "We'll get you everything we can find. We will take care of the rest. You just focus on getting Richard out."

Erik nodded. "Now the second question," Erik said. "What about Zakir Nguyen?"

"That... We need the Chimaeric Demons to take care of him for us. June told us there are around 1000 clones right now, not counting Hugo, June, Xavier, and Mark. They should be able to take care of him. The only problem is that we can't attack his barracks. In theory, we should not know of that place."

It was Erik who told them this. Only Momentum knew where Zakir was. If they attacked the place, it would mean Momentum talked. It wasn't weird for the rebels to target dark tendrils; the man had been their worst nightmare during these months, and it was clear the rebels wanted retribution.

The blackguards knew that. But the situation meant they needed to draw the man out. Zakir had to come where they wanted him.

"For this reason, we decided..."

"We decided?" Erik asked.

"We decided to tell Middleton you are going to join the rebels, and that you are going to do that by attacking the northern gate."