Disclaimer: I do now own anyone or anything from Twilight!

I had decided to wait until Alice was a bit stronger before I talked to everyone who had followed us when we abandoned ship as it were. I wanted to have Alice by my side because she made me feel stronger. Also everyone who had followed us had a deeper connection with the tiny seer and if anyone could convince them to stay and fight then it would be her. I had wanted to wait one more day to be sure she was strong enough to come downstairs, but my little fairy was persistent. Her burns were almost completely healed and the only signs of her having ever been injured in the first place were a few barely noticeable scars from pieces of flesh which had been so burned it could not repair itself properly.

"Are you sure you are strong enough for this?" I asked for what must have been the hundredth time in ten minutes as I helped her up off of the bed. I made sure to take all of her weight on to myself even though she could walk perfectly fine. I was being overprotective and I knew it, but I also had good reason to be this way.

Alice shot me a smile and instantly I felt some of my anxiety disappear. Alice was my calm during the storm. "I am fine Jasper and you can't baby me forever even if I do like the attention. I told you we have a lot of work to do if we want to even stand a chance in this war. I think it is about time that we go round us up some soldiers."

I nodded and helped her down the stairs. I had told Peter to gather up everyone and he had done it. All of the vampires were waiting in the living room anxiously. I saw a few of them wave at Alice. Peter had been right when he said most of them saw her as family. I watched her wave back happily before everyone grew quiet and turned their attention to me. I was nervous about this part because I had to make a speech and I never had been good with speeches. It was my natural charisma that had saved me during my school boy days and being a Major I never really had to give long winded speeches. Usually I would relay and order and my men would follow and yet here I knew that I had to say something and it needed to be enough to make them want to stay and fight.

"I have never been good at making speeches and I know that nothing I say is going to sway anyone's minds if they are made up. What I am going to do is tell you a few facts and then you can choose whether you wish to stay and fight or try to make it on your own. Whatever you choose to do I am not going to force anyone do something they do not fully support." I paused and took the time to let my gaze lock with each and every person in the room. I would hold their gaze a few seconds before moving on to the next.

Alice reached out to grab my hand giving me the courage I needed to do this. "I have not known many of you for very long, but I do know that nobody in this room chose to live the life we have been forced in to since being turned. Since becoming a vampire I have done some terrible things as I am sure many of you have as well. I was forced by Maria to kill our brothers and sisters when she felt they were weak. I had to feel everything all of you were feeling on a daily basis. I felt the fear, the self-loathing, but never once did I feel happiness."

There was a rumble among the crowd and I felt more confident in my words. I released Alice's hand and started to walk through the crowd of vampires. "We have all lived in terror of what Maria would do to us if we ever rebelled. We fear change because it is the only thing we have known. She fills our head with lies to manipulate us in to getting what she wants. We all think that she is strong when in reality Maria is nothing without her army. We were her strength and that is why she tried so hard to keep us under her thumb. I am telling you all right now that I will not go back to that life. Someone I care about was threatened and to go back and beg for her us to spare our lives would be giving her power she has no right to claim in the first place.

I am not ordering you all to fight with me. I would never become the next Maria because I know what it feels like to have your freedom taken from you. I am asking you all to fight with me by my side as a family. We were thrown together and now is the time to band together and fight for something we believe in and not something we are forced to fight for." I raised my chin defiantly as I felt an awe sweep over the crowd. People were riveted by what I had to say. "We are stronger if we fight for something we want. Now if you are all interested in staying to fight for something worth fighting for then stay, but if you feel this is not something you want to do you can walk out this door right without the worry of retaliation from anyone in this room. Be warned though that if you walk out I may not come after, but we all know that Maria will. I'm not trying to scare you all in to staying I am simply stating a true fact. This would be the time to think carefully and make your choice."

Nobody said a word as they all looked around for a few minutes. It was Peter who stepped forward with Charlotte next to him. "I will stand by your side and fight with you until the end brother."

"As will I." Another male whose name I could not recall stepped forward with his hand raised.

A young redhead with sharp angular features stepped out of the crowd next. "You can count on me as well. Alice saved my life and I owe her for this. She is family and you protected her when we could not. I will fight with you all no matter the odds."

TBC…

AN: I broke this chapter in half because I am not feeling well. I thought that it turned out pretty good and I hope that you all agree. The next chapter will be continued from this part and it has a few vampires asking questions and stuff like that. It should be very interesting or well I hope so anyways.

Please R&R like always!