Warning!
This story may contain substances not suitable to all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
For your information the warning before every chapter is so I don't have to change the rating from T to M. This mainly is for future chapters but is still relevant for now.
*This chapter, up until the story arc's conclusion will all be revised. This was formally chapter two but has now been slated for three. Every chapter from this point on, that had already been written, will be revised like this.
Since I haven't done this since chapter one, Bioware and EA own all.
FOR DUTY, COURAGE AND HONOR
CHAPTER FOUR
Vancouver Megacity
United North American States
Earth, Sol System, Local Cluster
2186
To say Irving Wolfe was aggravated would be the understatement of the century. What was supposed to be a simple trot down a couple blocks turned into one giant escape and evade maneuver that forced the entire group to practically circle around their original route. To cement this he could almost hear Jade snidely saying, I told you so.
There were several reasons for this. The first being the ridiculous amount of husks and cannibals roaming around and patrolling the streets. A few times they had to actually stop and seek refuge, waiting for each group to pass them by as to not repeat their earlier move of getting caught in the open.
For Wolfe, this was the type of situation he thrived in; sneaking behind enemy lines, evading large clusters of enemies and killing the stragglers to reach his objective. It was the first time however that he was forced to do this with more then two people. But most of the time, much to the dismay of his CO, Irving Wolfe would head off alone. It was only irony that made his last name Wolfe. Fate would have been crueler if his first name was Lone.
The second reason was that the giant hulking machines were everywhere. In the distance they covered from the position in the Alley, Irving had counted no less than twenty of the massive machines. Some were far off, others… not so much.
The third and final reason for the group's scenic detour was that every building was damaged in some way or another. Some were even toppled over completely, littering the streets with debris and making them impassable. Others were simply obliterated and only a few nameless walls covered in bullet holes and exposed rebar remained.
Irving, along with Jade, the Carter siblings and Collin, soon found themselves inside some shop waiting for a patrol of cannibals to move on. Irving was situated behind a table that was laying on its side, his rifle pointed towards the storefront in caution. Alec was in a similar state next to him but was occasionally glancing at his omni-tool; the orange glow thankfully not giving away their position. Jade, Alicia, and Collin were more towards the back, taking refuge behind the counter, waiting for the all clear.
After a few minutes the abominations moved on, drawn by the sounds of gunfire that didn't seem too far off.
As one, they all let out a collective breath of relief when the cannibals vacated the area. Jade rose from her cover and made her way towards Alec and Irving. Her demeanor from earlier had changed however. She could feel the exhaustion seeping through her more rapidly than before. She feared that she may have over done herself in the last fight but it was necessary. It was either live and be exhausted or die and be, well, dead. Naturally Jade chose the former rather than the later.
"Sergeant, what's our position?" she asked as she drew nearer.
Alec gave one final look at his omni-tool before shutting it down and rising to meet his superior, "We're close but unfortunately we need to keep heading west for a couple more blocks before we can turn back south. Then we just have to back track and we're golden."
Jade nodded, "Good, how's every one looking on ammo?"
"I'm good," replied Alec.
"Fine," Irving grunted, keeping an ever alert gaze out the front of the store.
"I could use one please," asked Alicia with something akin to a whimper.
"I'm alright," clarified Collin.
Jade quickly handed her a clip and instructed Collin to teach her how to reload, while sending Alec to search for anything useful in the back storeroom. After, she approached Irving by the front, joining him in his vigilant search for anything amiss.
"Are you sure your team is still alive?" Jade asked me away from the ears of the others.
Irving turned to fully address her, "positive ma'am. If you can believe it we've been through worse."
"Really?" Jade asked disbelievingly.
Irving chuckled when the fond memory surfaced, although at the time it wasn't fond in the slightest.
"Yeah, there was a batarian slaver base out in the Traverse that we took out. The nine of us against a couple hundred armed and pissed off slavers. Getting the mission done wasn't hard it was getting out. We got discovered as we began to head back to the evacuation point. We spent the next week evading the slavers through one of the worst monsoons I've ever witnessed."
Jade didn't answer; she merely waited for her fellow N7 to continue.
Irving shrugged, "the point is ma'am, they're tough. These things are easy to kill. So long as they got the supplies a team of N7s can hold out for weeks, maybe months."
Jade nodded and looked over her shoulder at Alec, Alicia and Collin who were all rummaging through the store, looking for anything that could help.
"So," Sarah began, "any theories on what these things are yet?"
Irving shook his head, "no. But this I do know. Shoot them, they die. Stab them, they die. Slap their ass with a warp," he said jokingly, referring to his and Jade's first meeting, "they die. They took us by surprise lieutenant. That won't happen twice."
Jade seemed bolstered by his words and ordered the group to move out, putting both Alec and Irving on point while she took up the rear, keeping Alicia and Collin in the middle.
They moved down the long stretch of damaged infrastructure at a relatively even pace. Their eyes scanned everything and everywhere, looking for any way that the creatures could possibly ambush them.
Looking back, Jade should have noticed that they weren't shot at once as a sign. No civilians fleeing, no hostiles, no machines… nothing. Save for the distant sounds of explosions and gunfire, the street was calm. And as a soldier that worried her.
As they continued, Irving would eventually be loath to admit that his head wasn't completely in the game. He kept on thinking of what Collin had brought up earlier. If earth was truly under attack where was the goddamn military? Where was the navy? Where were the marines or the UNAS army? Where the hell was everyone?
There was no way they all got wiped out. There is just no conceivable way that there was no defense being set up somewhere.
Irving was in a war of attrition in his mind right then. His logical side voiced that there were others and he simply hadn't run into them yet. His paranoid side, the one that had kept him alive all this time, voiced that if they were alive, surely he would have seen something.
In the Vancouver Megacity, there were two Alliance Infantry Regiments, two artillery divisions, and a tank brigade. Not to mention the several bases that housed the various branches of the UNAS military. Overall there were several thousand soldiers in this city alone. Each one was given a section of the city to monitor along with the Vancouver Police Department. Judging from that and the fact that the group had crossed half a district without running into one squad or platoon was worrisome. Maybe those giant machines really did killed most of the military…
Irving was so lost in thought that he almost didn't see Alec as he motioned for the group to stop. He had heard something and his helmet covered dome was craned towards the sky as if somehow that would amplify his hearing. Keeping her head low, Jade made her way towards them.
"What's the skinny?" she asked.
"I… I don't know," Alec mumbled, "I heard something. It was faint but I definitely heard something."
Jade glanced at Irving, "Chief?"
Wolfe Shrugged, "I didn't hear anything," he said, omitting the fact that he wasn't paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been.
Jade sighed, "Alright, stay frosty and keep your ears open."
The two answered in the affirmative and continued on. They barely made it five feet before Alec stopped them again.
"Did you hear that man? Tell me I ain't going crazy."
Whatever Carter was hearing Irving wasn't, "I don't-"
Suddenly Wolfe snapped his gaze to the left. That time he had heard it… whatever it was. It sounded something like metal screeching on metal but it was so faint that Irving was actually surprised Carter had heard it to begin with. But then again, Alec most likely had auditory enhancers inside that helmet of his which made Irving long for his own that much more.
He looked over his shoulder and motioned for Jade to come forwards. When she arrived, she was holding her Crusader at the ready and carrying a slightly annoyed look on her face.
"What's going on chief? We can' keep getting delayed like this."
"I heard something, coming from the east. It doesn't seem to be too far away. I'm going to check it out with Alec. I suggest taking cover until our return."
"And what if you don't?"
Irving smiled, "get Collin and Alicia out of here. Link up with Sabre. They'll get you someplace safe."
After receiving the go ahead from Sarah, Alec and Irving crossed the street quickly and quietly. They then entered into a house that looked like it had been cut right in half.
"Explosives didn't do this," commented Alec.
Irving's confused expression made Carter go into further depth, "if an explosive did this, the damage would be formed in some sort of radius. No, this house was cut by something hot. Like, really hot. Hot enough to melt anything it touched."
Irving shuddered at the prospect of that and what happened to the owners. But then he quickly realized that they probably got killed instantly and frankly that's best, all things considered.
"Forget it, let's move," ordered Wolfe and the two continued on their way.
They passed through, albeit difficultly due to the amount of destruction, and made their way to the backyard. What they saw answered a lot of Irving's questions.
The ten foot tall structures were arranged in seven neat rows with each row containing ten structures each. Looking to his left and right, Irving could see similar groupings all down the street.
Irving walked up to the nearest one and just stared at it. He first encountered them on Eden Prime, when his unit was slated to be one of many that cleaned up the colony of any remaining geth. The marines groundside and the survivors of the attack had only one name for them, which also answered Alec's obvious question before he could even ask it.
"Dragon's Teeth," Irving muttered in both disgust and awe.
Alec turned towards him, "what the hell are dragon's teeth."
Irving let his hand slide down the long metal spike that jettisoned from its tripod base, feeling the smooth and yet subtly sharp texture.
"We found them on Eden Prime after the geth attack. We had thought they were of geth design but…"
"So we're fighting geth?"
"No."
Alec just stared at the monstrosities. His mouth opened and closed rapidly as if he was struggling to find the words to express what he was thinking. Irving had a similar reaction upon seeing them the first time himself.
"Come on, we need to move."
Alec rounded on his fellow marine, barely keeping himself from punching the guy right in his face, "Don't act like this doesn't bother you!" he shouted pointing to a cluster of dragon's teeth that where occupied with people ranging from twelve to eleven.
Irving didn't respond right away, looking at one that all too closely resembled his sister-in-law, "It does kid, but I can't let it dictate how I act. Of course this bothers me and don't assume otherwise. It's just I, well it doesn't matter. We need to get back. We've lost enough time already."
Without sparing the structures another glance, Irving turned and walked away, stopping at the last second.
"Use this kid. Use the anger and disgust as armor so your enemies can't use it against you. Do that and you'll be able to handle just about anything."
Without another word, Irving walked away. Alec took one last look before following, thinking deeply about what Irving had said and whether or not to follow his advice.
XxxxxX
It was the sounds of nearby explosions, screaming, and gunfire that had turned the group's cautious pace into a full out sprint. They rounded a corner and saw a massive surge of civilians, of all types, running towards them.
"Where do we go?! Where do we go?!" yelled an older man carrying an unconscious child in his arms.
"Johnny? Where's my Johnny?" exclaimed a frantic old lady as she searched the crowd for the familiar face of her grandson.
"It's over man! Game over!" cried some raggedy man who was curled up off to the side, his eyes wide in fear.
The panic was clear, everyone running in the opposite direction of the explosions. Each one of them wanted to stay and help but they all knew that they had other priorities. They began moving through the fleeing crowd, doing their best to not get trampled.
At one point, Sarah saw an elderly couple begging a little girl to come with them. The girl however was adamant that her father was just around the corner getting her brother. When Sarah saw the old man, much to his displeasure of stopping, pick the girl up in his arms, she almost broke ranks to help. It was then however that the girl's father arrived and claimed his daughter before the four of them took off with the other civilians.
Once they turned another corner, the five of them found themselves at the rear of a massive defensive line.
A large group of alliance marines and UNAS army troopers were facing off against one of the giant machines. The marines and troopers were being supported by six Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicles and a couple Hammerhead Tanks. They had also erected a make-shift barrier from the concrete of a nearby building to set up a few heavy machine guns.
The opposition was being flanked by Cannibals and husk that numbered in the hundreds. The husks were charging the marine's line with reckless abandon and were being cut down in the dozens by the heavy machineguns.
A few Trident Interceptors streamed overhead and launched their payloads into the advancing enemy. Hundreds of missiles streamed overhead, their explosions dotted the machine leviathan but it barely did anything besides turn its already dark hull and shade darker.
Almost in response the leviathan roared and let loose with its main weapon as it strode forward. A red beam cut through the air and tore right into a Mako causing it to explode instantly.
The group charged forward, passing the dying and wounded, ready to lend a hand where ever possible. As they ran forward, Alec heard a marine give a report to another who was holding a comm.
"No effect on target. I repeat no effect."
"Roger," the marine answered before turning to his comm., "no effect on target, how copy?"
The young marine was cut off when a much older and gruffer marine snatched the comm. out of his hand.
"Son, you get those goddamn tridents to turn back around and launch another salvo. Our mission is to delay the enemy until the civilians can be properly evacuated. Now you tell them to keep firing until they find themselves standing before the almighty. Now get on it!"
"Yes sir!"
Proudly, despite the imminent death that awaited them, Alec saw several more Makos, Hammerheads and even a few Grizzlies approach the battle from behind, their cannons already firing as fast as their rounds can be loaded.
To his left, the blonde N7 saw a marine point to the sky, alerting his comrades to the fleet of Mantis gunships that had arrived. They hovered over the battlefield as they launched everything in their arsenal into the giant machine. A man made fog began to cover the battle field, caused by the smoke form the explosions, the many fires raging around, and all the dirt and dust kicked up into the air from the all the rounds flying around.
"Hoorah! Get some marines!" Carter heard someone yell. The amount of firepower made him both smile and cringe with fear. The barrage that was being sent did nothing but make the machine's shields flare.
Suddenly Alec realized that he was alone and searched for his comrades. He picked them out of the crowd easily and ran to catch up.
Irving marched through the back ranks almost oblivious to the rounds snapping off around him. As his Co so eloquently put it, it's not the ones that miss you that you have to worry about. It's the ones that don't. Ducking when you hear the whip-like crack of a round planting itself dangerously close to your head will make anyone duck, it was just instinctual. Irving would normally find cover, in order to present as little of a target as possible. But right now he was stubbornly glued to the officer holding the comm. before him.
As he approached he called her out, "Ma'am!"
The young scared shitless officer turned to the burly marine, "what the fuck are doing?! Get back on the line soldier!"
"Ma'am, I'm an N7, Sabre Unit. What the situation?"
The young woman looked at him for a moment before answering, "Pretty much FUBAR as of right now. We're throwing everything we have at this fucking thing and all we've succeeded in doing is giving it a new paint job. However, our orders state to hold our ground until the civilians can be evacuated."
"Where is everyone else?" asked Carter.
"Your looking at it. What you see here is the first and last line of defense. We were pretty much fucked before we even knew we were under attack."
"What about the 103rd in the market district?" inquired Jade.
"Wiped out more or less," was the curt reply.
"There's now way! No way 300 soldiers just get wiped out," Jade said in a fit of raging emotions.
"Trust me. I'm a communications officer from the on-oh-third. Two of those big bastards strode through and opened up on us," the officer replied wincing as a gunship exploded over our heads, "then they just left like we a fucking chore to deal with and let their infantry mop up anyone still breathing."
Sarah stepped back almost as she were physically slapped. She had only been with the 103rd for two years but she had made many friends. Even her instructor, Major Lyonhart was with them. If what this officer said was true than in all likelihood he was dead.
Alec felt his sister let go of his hand, which she had previously been holding with a near dead man grip. He looked back to see her conversing with Collin who was strapping himself up with an Avenger an several Thermal Clips.
'Bout time the guy did something, Alec thought before turning back to the conversation before him.
"Are there any more N7s like me around?" Irving asked sternly, grasping the officer's attention.
She stared at him in thought for a moment before nodding, "yes actually. They passed through not ten minutes ago, went to get some civilians trapped in that office building there," she said pointing to an office building that just so happened to be smack dab in the center of no man's land.
"Thank you," he said before walking towards the front line.
"Wolfe!" cried Jade, "Wolfe! What are you doing?"
"Linking up with my team," Irving answered honestly, "you're welcome to join me but if you don't want to then I won't hold it against you."
He looked over his shoulder at jade when he suddenly realized someone was missing.
"Collin? Collin!"
No answer, "has anyone seen Collin?"
Irving looked around at Alec and Sarah's faces but they seemed as surprised as Irving was by Collin's disappearance. However it was Alicia who looked like she knew something. As Irving approached her, she broke eye contact and shuffled towards the protection of her older brother.
"Alicia…"
"He made me promise not to tell."
"Where is he," Wolfe snarled.
"He made me-"
"Where is he!" he shouted at the girl. Irving was in no mood for politeness. Collin was his one and sole responsibility. He was relying on Irving and the N7 wasn't about to let someone relying on him suffer. Not again.
"Dude, maybe you should back off," confronted Alec as he made his way between Irving and Alicia.
"Get out of my way Carter. What if it was Alicia?"
Alec stared at him confrontationally for a moment before turning to his sister.
"Tell him."
Alicia stole a glance at before returning her gaze to the ground, "he said something about his wife and child and that he wasn't going to leave them behind. That's all I know I swear."
Irving uttered a long string of several different curses in that moment. Irving understood why Collin would think of his family before himself. But what Irving didn't understand was why Collin would think that his family was still alive. Had he not been paying attention to anything that has been happening?
Without saying another word, Irving stalked off towards the front line. Everything depended on reaching Sabre. With them he could find his brother and help coordinate a real defense or at least give the regular marines something to fight back with. Jade, Alec and, Alicia were hot on his heels.
As they grew closer, they were forced to begin darting from cover to cover, doing their best to ignore the alarming amount of blood and gore from the various dead littered around. Another obstacle was the tanks. Whenever the machine opened up with its laser cannon, a tank would explode knocking anyone nearby off their feet and raining down debris on anyone caught within the explosion's radius.
"Tell me what you're thinking chief," asked Jade.
Irving took a quick glance at the patch of no man's land that had formed between the front line and his objective. He weighed the risks and options before turning to Sarah.
"I say we make a mad dash for the front door, kill anything in our way, and stop for nothing. I'll take point. Alec, you and your sister take the middle and Jade, you take the rear guard. How's that sound?"
Jade thought it through for a moment, "We'll be sitting ducks."
"Then run fast."
Carter turned to his sister who was growing more fearful by the second and after hearing Irving's plan for herself, was on the verge of cutting tail and running in the opposite direction. But she knew what the options were and judging from the looks on the faces of the marines and troopers assembled, they knew it too.
Staying with this mixed company of marines was a death warrant. It was only a matter of time before that giant decided to stop playing around and actually bulldoze through the line. After all, she heard like everyone else what happened to the 103rd and that was almost 300 marines. Here, there was barely a hundred and fifty.
Finally, after receiving assurances from her brother that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, Alicia agreed. With the small group all in agreement, the moved from cover to cover until they were sitting on the very edge of the line. Beside him, a heavy machinegun was going off, nearly blowing Irving's eardrum. Once again he ached for his helmet.
"Check weapons and shields," ordered Jade as they prepared themselves from the inevitable plunge into the face of death itself.
"We do this my way," Irving informed, "one speed, mine. Trail behind or get hit and you're on your own," he informed his little team. Memories of Torfan and landing planetside flooded his consciousness. There would be no room to slow down or take cover. It would be a straight shot. They'd either make it or die horribly. Those were the options.
Jade, along with the Carter siblings nodded in agreement. However, Jade was beginning to grow annoyed with Wolfe taking the reigns with everything. The only reason she didn't say anything before was due to the fact that the marine made sure to consult her before any decision. She understood that he had a decade of experience on her and that was the only reason she decided to keep quiet about it.
Irving rolled on his side to the guy operating the HMG.
"Hey buddy, we need to get to that building over there," he said pointing to the office building, "think you can give us some covering fire?"
The marine glanced at Irving, then at the office building, then at Irving again, "You're bloody insane, you know that? Alright, you'll get your sodding covering fire, just move your arse!"
Irving nodded and gave his thanks, rolling back to his team.
As they all mentally prepared themselves, Irving slowly counted down from three inside his head. Once he hit zero, he stood and jumped over the cover in one fluid motion. Instantly he was met with several shots glancing off his armor but thankfully his shields held. He didn't bother looking back to see if the others were following.
Lucky enough, Wolfe had the foresight to have his Crusader equipped. When the first husk appeared, he barely even aimed before one of the heavies tore it apart. Thank god for that.
A pair of cannibals suddenly appeared from some store front. Irving didn't know if they could be surprised but the creatures hesitated long enough for the N7 to end them quickly with two shots from his shotgun.
Someone grunted behind him but Irving ignored it. He had to. If he took his eyes off the objective or slowed down for even a fraction of a second, he would be dead. And that was not on Irving Wolfe's to do list.
A grenade suddenly came sailing through the air, unknown to Wolfe as he charged forward. It detonated somewhere to the right of him. He felt the heat from the explosion and was aware of the shards of shrapnel flying in a perfect radius around it. His arm, going by instinct, had gone up to shield his face as to prevent anything happening to his already scarred up mug. The force is what made him barely loose his footing, enough that he saw Alec ushering along Alicia who had erected a barrier around the two of them.
Wolfe quickly regained his footing but almost fell again when a round hit him smack dead in the chest. It felt like he had run straight into a brick wall. Miraculously he was able to stay upright and continue his suicidal charge.
Somehow he made it to the office building but was forced to slide under a husk that came flying out the front door. He stood and locked eyes with Alicia who was lowering her arm and cooling down her biotics.
"Where's the lieutenant?"
Irving looked behind him and sure enough, Sarah Jade was not present. Taking cover in the door frame whilst flinching from a stray round that smacked into the wall above his head, Irving peered out into the street.
He noticed two things instantly.
The first was that the giant machine was done playing around and began to advance more adamantly towards the marine's front line. A few began to try and run for it but were cut off as another giant appeared behind them. With their pincer move completed they wasted no time in slaughtering any marine or civilian caught in their web.
The second thing he noticed was Sarah Jade. She was huddled behind some piece of concrete that was just large enough to fit her body behind. She was exchanging fire with a group of cannibals and husks that were slowly but surely gaining on her position.
Irving looked over at Alec who hung his head slightly, "One speed gunny," he reminded.
Irving knew he was right. Going out there who be as if he put a gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. Once again the two sides of Irving's mind were fighting for control. One side said to let her die. Saving her would only make Irving himself dead and there would have been no point in the end. The other side replied that he should simply remember Torfan and how his savior was in a similar position and still chose to save Irving's ass in the end.
"Damn it," Irving cursed under his breath.
"Give me your pistol," Wolfe commanded Alicia while he took off his own and placed them reverently on the ground before turning to Alec, "You any good with that?"
Alec glanced to the sniper on his back, "Yeah… what are you thinking?"
Irving pumped a fresh clip into the pistol, "I need you to give me covering fire. Anything that so much as looks in my direction you kill it. Alicia will watch your back with her biotics; make sure nothing sneaks up on you."
Alec shook his head as he equipped his sniper, "No offense against the El-Tee, but this is stupid."
"I know," Irving said softly, waiting as Alec took out a husk that was creeping up on Jade's blind side.
"Hoo-fucking-rah!" Irving exclaimed as he charged out the door. As the bullets and rockets and grenades sailed past, nothing was louder than Irving's brain screaming…
You're a dumbass. You're a dumbass. You're a dumbass.
Irving was inclined to agree.
Although he would never say it to his face, fearing what might happened to the lad if his ego ever got any bigger, the other reason that Irving Wolfe did not die that day was because of Carter's amazingly precise sniper shots. Every time Irving's shields would flare, Carter would respond by blowing the offending creature's head clean off.
That's not to say Irving didn't get a few licks in himself. He mostly concentrated on the husks though. All it would take was a lucky shot to the head and the husk would be dead. Cannibals were more resilient, especially those that had previously fed.
Somehow, Wolfe managed to reach Jade and slide into cover next to her. She was bleeding, rather badly at that, with a wound to her leg. Her eyes were half closed but that didn't stop her from pulling the trigger on hr already overheated weapon.
Irving wasted no time in snatching up a medi-gel syringe from his own first aid kit and injecting it into the wound. The color instantly returned to her face and she became more aware with each passing second.
"One speed chief?" she joked weakly.
"Thank me later," Irving replied as he waited for his shields to recharge. He took this little rest period in slapping in a clip into his pistol. He managed to sneak a glance over the cover and saw that the giant machine was moving on. However, that meant that the Cannibals and Husks were now advancing, ready to clean up any one left over.
Irving ignored the screaming from the marines and troopers once their line was overwhelmed and hefted Jade onto his shoulder, brandishing Alicia's pistol and killing the first two overconfident husks that appeared.
Carrying somebody, while running, and while trying to avoid gunfire and explosions is not an easy task. Eventually, a lucky grenade killed his shields and a round passed easily into his side. Irving fell to one knee as another cemented itself into his shoulder pad. It didn't penetrate but he still felt the impact. He defiantly rose, knowing that if he spent any more time here he and Jade were dead.
When he finally reached the safety of the office building, he had to hop over the ring of dead husks that Alec and Alicia had to contend with. With the rest of the horde pushing towards their direction, there was no time for rest.
Irving quickly ordered Alicia and Alec up the nearby stairs although Irving reach them first. When he did, he found himself staring down the barrel of an M55 Argus.
"Well, well, well… Irving Wolfe," the owner chuckled, "it's about time your gringo ass got here."
Author's Note
So once again, this chapter got revised. The biggest thing being the revised depot battle and the exchange between Irving and Alec near the Dragon's Teeth. Let me know you thoughts and if anyone's got any advice for improvements, hit me up.
