Have fun reading and be careful of the coronavirus. :)
The location where the upstarts would attack was along an Omaticaya trail to Hometree, where a few herbs were growing that were easiest to gather there. The trail was surrounded by trees on both sides. I could see a few places where the bark was lighter than other areas, which meant that the attackers had already been here to plan their attack. I used that knowledge to place ourselves away from their sight, but close enough to respond as soon as the attack began. We were in pairs, waiting for the attack. The plan was, half of us would charge while the other half provided cover fire. I was paired with Trudy and I would be the one to charge. She had a pistol with her, which she had kept from before we left to get the survivors off Atlantis.
The upstarts arrived a few minutes after we were set up, and they didn't see us. The Omaticaya passed through a few minutes later. It was a group of about twenty, all of them armed with bows and knives. I drew my knife, knowing the attack would be soon. Once the head of the group was just about to pass through the trap, they attacked.
"Go!" I yelled. We burst out of the foliage and charged the attackers. The Omaticaya, caught in the middle, were taken completely by surprise. They fired on both sides. I had told the others to be careful of this, and they easily deflected any arrows sent their way. I led the charge and we met with the humans on the other side of the trail. The Atlantians were in the trees, throwing ice projectiles at the Omaticaya and the others.
The humans were armed with pistols and spears, and were just starting to fire on us when we reached them. I slashed one in the chest, spun, and stabbed another. Two others came at me from either side. I froze the blood in their veins, killing them. The humans were killed quickly. While I was fighting them on the ground, the others on the other side of the trail kept firing on the Atlantians. Three of them had fallen out of the trees after being killed while I was busy on the ground.
Now the humans were dead, so I flew up behind one and slit his throat before he could notice I was there. He tried to stop his bleeding but it was too late. He fell out of the tree, grasping at air. The others followed my lead and we soon had the upstarts killed or captured. The Omaticaya had left as soon as they had the opportunity, but three of them lay dead on the trail. I did a quick head count of my allies and saw we had none dead, but several wounds that could easily be fatal. We had two prisoners, a human and an Atlantian. I approached the Atlantian.
"Where are your medical supplies kept?" I asked, drawing my knife.
He was definitely scared. He had probably been just a mechanic on Resilience. "Up north! I can send you the coordinates, but don't kill me, okay?"
"Okay. Send the coordinates, and I'll even let you go, " I responded, lowering my knife.
He pushed some buttons on his watch and a new point appeared on my holomap. "There. Um, I'll be off if you don't mind. "
"Good. I don't want to see you again, so you best disappear. " He ran off into the woods. I knew he wouldn't head north, he wouldn't want to run into us again when we raided their medical camp. I turned to the others. They had armed themselves from the fallen troops and had found some medipads. It was enough for now, but we would need more to defeat the uprisers. "Good work. Tomorrow we'll raid their medical supplies. For now, let's get back to base. We'll take the prisoner with us, " I said, referring to the human we still had with us.
When we got back to base, I locked up the human in the detention cells. We debriefed in the control room and then got ready to sleep. Then the upstarts launched their own counterattack.
An alarm went off in the control room. Everyone else was scattered around the base. I looked at the holomap and saw a squad of helicopters approaching, several of them had already launched missiles. The missiles had been launched early and would fall short of the wall, but the helicopters still had more. I turned on the PA. "Enemy fighter inbound! Defensive positions immediately, possible ground force as well. Trudy, you're our best pilot, you know what to do. " I ran out into the hangar, passing the helicopter. I ran out the hangar door and stood there for a few seconds and concentrated. I focused on the water all around me and started to form it together. It took a minute, which allowed the helicopters to get close enough for the missiles to hit the outside wall. Finally, I was finished.
I looked up and saw I had created five jets out of water and ice. They were already racing to meet the helicopters, and I could see one of them try to retreat. The jetsReached firing range easily and took out half of the helicopters easily. The jets could outmaneuver the helicopter easily, and the door gunners were having trouble leading them. Trudy flew out the hangar towards the remaining helicopters. They were quickly destroyed and I dispelled the jets back to the ponds and rivers they had come from. Trudy landed in the hangar and the others came into the control room as they left their defensive positions.
"How did you do that?" Sargent Brand asked when he entered.
"I just willed it to be, and it did. It doesn't maintain itself like a Program though, but I think I can figure out a way to fix that. "
"Okay. I'll have the others start working on that. We've used Programs before, but not very often. It's unnerving to tell yourself what to do. "
"I know, but I think It's how we'll win this war. For now, get some sleep. I'll see you all in the morning. " They all left for their bunks. I set up some alarms if the perimeter was breached and if more helicopters arrived, and went to bed.