They remained in hiding for five days before Nestor declared their seclusion over.

"Any longer without food and I won't be able to fight."

Hector had raised his reserves to about forty percent, so he didn't object. His enhanced body could handle much longer without food, but the downside was that his flesh would draw heavily on his cosmic energy in the absence of calories. "I don't think we should go looking for trouble."

"Don't worry, buddy, I want to sneak upstream to check on Ajax."

Sneaking sounded good to Hector. There was only one thing that worried him. "Should one of us go downstream to search for Cleo and Leroy?" The 'one of us' would be Hector, of course. There was no way Nestor wouldn't be going to his brother.

"Splitting up sound like a good idea to you?"

Hector considered his obligations briefly. There were two teammates in each group. But he had to take into account that one of those groups would be much easier to locate than the other. Wandering the countryside searching for their lost Arahants wouldn't be safe. And, in the end, they needed to close that rift to save many more lives. Fred and Ajax were critical to that endeavor while Cleo and Leroy had less to offer in combat.

They went to the far bank of the river to put some extra distance between themselves and any monsters in the area. Then they walked upstream. It took a while, given the lack of a man-made path on this side of the water, but they hiked at the fastest sustainable pace they could manage. That pace was dictated by their depleted bodies as much as by the rougher terrain. Their last meal was only a fond memory by that point.

Both of them watched the far bank for sight of monsters or allies. Neither appeared.

Finally, the source of the river came into view. Nestor sighed. "Cross over before the lake?"

Hector agreed and they swam across. Just a few minutes later they arrived at the gate to Breadfruit Village. Waiting there was a welcome figure. Rover Fred sat guarding the road, sword arms and guns alike ready for action.

They ran forward to meet their squad leader.

"Fred! Where's my brother?"

"Probably shoving food down his gullet. Though he also likes to plan unnecessary rescue parties. Because here you are! Alive and well… or shall we say svelte? Good job on the diet, guys. The ladies are going to love the hollow cheek look."

A tension suddenly drained out of Nestor. "He's alive."

"Of course he is. You two were the ones in trouble. All alone out there without the wisdom of your squad leader. The rest of us are chilling with the extremely average looking leader of the village. Give a quick report, then head inside to find food."

"We led the giant bird downstream for a while, then hid in a cave for five days," Nestor said.

"Did you encounter any monsters on the trip back?"

"None."

"All right, boys, go fill your bellies."

"Wait," Hector said, "Cleo and Leroy are inside?"

"I will have you know, mister Xian, that all members of Misfit Squad are highly competent survivalists. Those two were waiting for me and Ajax when we got here after the battle. They actually went out to fetch my missing tire and rolled it all the way back by themselves. Yesterday Ajax reattached the rim. I'm like a brand new Rover now. Minus one sword arm."

Fred looked anything but new. His chassis was covered with scratches, dents, and occasional tears. His top was entirely bare of gear. Hector frowned. "What happened to our equipment?"

"Casualty of the bees, I'm afraid. I hope the two of you overcame your need for water in the past few days. Whoa, less panic faces, boys. We're building a filter that uses gravel and charcoal. The container is made from wood, but it doesn't leak too bad. There will need to be a minor degree of water rationing on our return trip. Nothing we can't handle."

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Hector and Nestor entered the village after that news. The Titan found his brother quickly and the two giants embraced each other with thunderous claps on the back. Cleo graced Hector with a somber nod. Then Leroy appeared before Hector, goofy smile on his face.

Cognizant of the man's inner motivation, Hector gave Leroy a brief hug. "Good to see you safe, Leroy. You did real good in the fight when you saved Cleo."

"Glad you are safe, Hector! I thought you was dead! Me and Cleo got away from those bees real fast. I don't like stings, Hector. They hurt something awful. Cleo says Xian don't get hurt. Guess she was right about that."

Heavenly smells distracted Hector and he felt like a cartoon character levitating in the direction of the scent of food. It was no great feast, but there was food laid out by the villagers for the demons. Hector grabbed as much as he could before Nestor joined him. Then he promptly lost the race for calories as the Titan devoured everything currently prepared.

"Better than the rocks?"

Nestor laughed. "Better even than a rock from Aes." During their time in the cave, the Titan often waxed poetic about absorbing substantial energy from Aes matter.

Soon villagers arrived offering gifts of clothing. Hector accepted the rough fiber trousers and tunic, then went to the lake to clean himself off before covering himself. The gown offered to Nestor looked like a repurposed tarp. Ajax wore something very similar.

Mila appeared eventually to greet them and express her relief at learning of their return. Another meal was prepared and served. Hector ate until full and then sat down to cultivate. The mental band had very little chaos this far from the rift, so he returned to his normal methods.

That night, Fred called them to join him at the gate where he remained as a permanent sentry.

"Going forward, we need to refine our tactics based on things that came to light in the previous battle. We don't have the overwhelming power advantage we initially assumed. The numbers and strength of the monsters are problematic, so we have to fight smarter.

"Firstly, the terrain is a major problem that needs to be accounted for. I am unable to effectively navigate off the trail. Inviting our enemies out of the forest to engage us creates a serious risk that they follow the obvious path back to this village. For that reason, I am going to split our forces. Hector and the Titan brothers will engage the enemy inside their territory. The rest of us will set up a choke point along the trail.

"Secondly, should we all fight another battle together, everyone must be aware of my line of fire. Guns weren't an option against a swarm of insects, but I never had a clear shot against the subsequent monsters. I can't shoot when allies are next to my targets. And despite the very real cool factor of my sword arms, my most powerful weapons by far are the automatic plasma rifles.

"At this time, I would like to hear any feedback on my proposed tactics. While I am in charge of this squad, I respect your opinions and don't want to dictate terms."

Ajax scratched his head. "Honestly, I think we just had a bad match-up for that first fight. The bees blinded me and I didn't see the snake before it latched on. I had to push out all the infected blood just to survive. None of that would happen if I could see."

"You almost died, brother. We need better tactics than calling every monster in the area to join us for a fight." Nestor sighed. "Hunting in the woods isn't ideal, but at least we only face a few enemies at a time."

"Do any of you even understand what I meant by line of fire?"

"I understand what you mean, Fred," Hector said. "But I also think it's going to be hard to avoid blocking your shots when we have so many close fighters."

"Just a little awareness is all I'm looking for. If there are tough monsters, maneuver them away from everyone else and get out of the way so I can light them up. Jinn rifles are no joke." Fred proceeded to poll each of their opinions individually before solidifying the plan. Next, he determined their timeline by asking how long they needed to be in fighting shape.

Their meeting ended with the understanding that they would return to battle in another two days, exactly one week after the initial disaster. They were instructed to eat and rest and restore until then. Everyone except Fred returned to the village. Their squad leader remained behind at the gate.

Hector sat to cultivate inside the village, facing the same direction as the dutiful rover.

"I told you that he seeks to prove himself," Mila whispered. "He is terrified that he will make a mistake that costs the life of someone under his command."

He glanced at the beautiful woman. "That's a reasonable concern to have."

"Trust me, I'm very sympathetic. There is an Ogre in my backyard, remember?"

"How do you intend to handle that? It sounded like you had a plan before."

Mila smiled. "Cataclysm is quite dangerous. She can kill anyone else from my village from ten feet away. I'm a bit more resistant due to a number of factors. The last time the Ogre came through this area, I got close enough to steal some of her life energy. Just the human aspected bits. Cataclysm did not care for that. Ogres only ever have one motivation, Hector. They are hungry. And a protracted battle with another creature who can steal power from them is not a good way to feed.

"I drove her off when she was level nine. She's stronger now. I have to hope she remembers how annoying I was and leaves us alone. No one else around here can fight an Ogre." The pensive expression on her face awoke a protective impulse in Hector.

"I've been thinking that we might be able to take care of the Ogre after we close that rift."

A radiant smile appeared on Mila's face. She planted a firm kiss on his face, then dragged him back to her house to more thoroughly express her gratitude.

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