77

77
Jackson's POV

It came to me as a very big shock when I was told that I would be leading a group of people to the next potential attack spot of the enemy. It was from the Minister of Defence that I received the information, but I knew that my father was behind it. I could see his footprint all the step of the way in that little idea and knew that he would be the only one possible to even think of something like this. The Minister of Defence himself thought that I was nothing more than a lad and therefore wouldn't be willing to risk something like this for me, but for my dad, I was pretty sure that he would want me to gain some kind of strange abilities through this encounter and maybe be a leader for once.

All those kinds of training motives would be his reason to send me off on a mission like this and even disregard the apparent danger that came with going. I knew how dangerous it would be if I went by myself, so I knew how important it was for me to accomplish this successfully. Number one, I would at least keep my own skin and save my life because it seemed like my father was really determined to test me right now, even though I was the only heir and the only child. This meant that he really didn't want to harm me but wanted to do it for my own good. Number two, I would prove to him that I was a very good leader and that I was strong and becoming somebody already.

It would make him a lot more willing to help me develop, and then with more trust gathered over the next couple of weeks or months, maybe he would even step down for me to take over—and that was something I really wanted. I knew that this would look good to the elders and would make them want me to lead a little more, putting me in a favorable position in their eyes if I won this, so there was enough reason.

What's more, he put a monetary reward in front of me if I was able to actually accomplish this mission. I decided that I wouldn't take any of it despite the fact that it was all mine if I accomplished this mission. "I'll gather my friends and all the people I trust," I told myself internally after getting the clear information that I was to gather my own people and take the group that I was going to lead over there.

It was supposed to be an entire army division, but I had different ideas right now. I didn't want to take too many people because that would probably be a little too noticeable when we started moving, and then the enemy would run away after seeing that danger was coming. No, I was going to take a few people, select just a couple of people and bring victory by their hands. It was going to be epic—the Alpha 2B of the pack suddenly going out and destroying the band of rogues that were radically attacking different alliances of the packs with just a couple of men.

Ten people. Those were all I was taking, but they were going to be elite among the elites. They were going to be the strongest among the strongest people in the entire kingdom. I wished I could take my father along with me, but that would not be allowed. What's more, I also wished I could take the Minister of Defence, but once again I couldn't do that, so I only had to pick from my generation and the people under the army serving there.

I picked my best friend, of course. Damien was to come with me because sometimes he had even defeated me in a fight. He was definitely going to come along with me, and then we would lead together. He would be my assistant leader, and together I was pretty sure we would make some pretty good choices. I picked a couple of other men—strong people, jovial people, and quiet people. Finally, when my group was up to ten, I knew that it was time for me to set off.

It was three days now since I had gotten the anonymous message that some packs had been attacked, and more than that, it was two days since I had gotten the information that we would be the ones stopping the attack and intercepting the rogue pack when the next one was about to begin. I didn't know how they knew that they were actually going to come to that specific location, but I decided to follow the lead.

I had used two whole days to prepare, and now I was here on my way there with a military tank as our war vehicle and my men inside it. We proceeded silently into the wilderness, deciding to take the long route to get to the place so that we wouldn't be seen by anyone. I could see us already getting there, but I decided to keep my cool, knowing that it could be a little more difficult than I anticipated in the end.

After what seemed like forever, I finally saw the location very near us through the GPS on my phone and slowed down a little. "Alright, I think we should calm down now," I said to my friends, speaking specifically to Damien, who was the one person that I would trust in this kind of matter. "What do you think?" I asked him. "Should we stay here, or should we go in with the tank?" I asked him, wanting his sincere opinion on the matter. "Or maybe we should just go by ourselves without the tank?"

He suggested adding a third option, making it even more confusing for me. "Is that what you suggest?" I asked. "We should go inside without our tank and then set an ambush for them?"

He considered it for a moment and then shook his head. "They are going to attack this little village, and we need to defend it and also capture the culprits," he said. "I don't think it would be a good idea for us to go inside because we might need our military vehicle. How about this? We actually put it in a hidden place but still outside so that we could easily enclose everyone when they come to attack."

I was still considering and about to say something when somebody else spoke up. His name from his badge was Robert, and he looked very muscular and strong. I had taken him from the army, and even from the look on his face alone, he was very fearless. I knew that he was a veteran, having gone through a couple of battles and actually survived. For someone to get this old and still be in the army, he was a survivor and knew how to deal with things, so I knew that it would be a very good idea to listen to his wisdom.

"I have an idea," he spoke, and I turned to him, listening intently and indicating with the interested look in my eyes that I was listening.

"How about this?" he questioned. "We should just leave the tank out there in open space so that they would know that we are here. But then, after considering that there is only one tank and getting cocky, they'll come at us with full force to attack the city regardless of everything. Then we can easily be able to attack them and counter."

I considered it for a moment, deciding that there was a flaw because they could actually fight against us with preparation once they saw our tank. I didn't know what should actually happen or why I should take his advice, but then he spoke again, almost convincing me entirely this time around.

"Think about it," he said. "The people inside will panic once the attack begins, and also you don't know how difficult it would be for us to defend the entire city. You know that they can take some of the people hostage, and I don't see you as the kind of person to sacrifice others' lives in order to accomplish your mission. So it's best not to let them enter at all. Once they see the tank and come at us, even though they are prepared, we would easily defeat them or at least put in all our effort to defeat them. Maybe after seeing that we have the upper hand, they would run away or something like that, and then we can capture one or two of them, and that's all we need to complete the mission." He looked at me intently. "I hope I have a solid point and that you think about it carefully before making your decision."

I felt a little pressured when he said that, but decided to take my time to think about it since that was exactly what he suggested I did. Of course, he had a very strong point, but I was going to dissect it and find the flaws in it before deciding, because I was pretty sure that every plan had a flaw. This one definitely had two. I just needed to find it.