Chapter 22: Preparing for War - Part 2
POV: Alec Morgan
The scout reports came at dawn, delivered by Miller and Monroe with faces that told the story before they spoke a word. I felt my stomach drop as they approached our morning command meeting, knowing what they'd discovered because I'd watched this scenario play out on screen dozens of times.
"Three hundred," Miller said without preamble. "Maybe more. Organized into war bands, coordinated movement, professional equipment. They're not coming to negotiate."
Clarke spread the rough map across our makeshift table, marking positions based on scout intelligence that painted a picture of overwhelming tactical disadvantage. "Three-to-one odds," she said, her voice carrying the controlled calm that meant she was calculating survival probabilities and finding them wanting.
"Against warriors who've been training for this their entire lives," Bellamy added grimly. "While most of our people learned to hold weapons three days ago."
Panic rippled through the gathered leadership—Finn's face pale with understanding, Octavia's jaw clenched with determination, Monty and Jasper exchanging looks that said they were already writing their own obituaries.
"We need to thin their numbers before they reach us," I said quietly, drawing attention to strategic possibilities that didn't require meeting superior forces in direct combat. "Force multipliers—traps, barriers, anything that doesn't require man-to-man fighting."
The calm in my voice seemed to steady everyone, channeling their panic into tactical problem-solving rather than defeatist despair. This was why they kept me in command meetings despite my mysterious background—not just because my predictions saved lives, but because I could function under pressure that paralyzed others.
"Explain," Clarke said, her medical mind engaging with strategic possibilities.
"We can't match their numbers, but we can control the battlefield," I continued, thinking of the ring of fire that would save them if they could reach that point. "Channel them into positions where our advantages matter more than theirs. Make them fight our kind of battle rather than the other way around."
POV: Clarke
Clarke listened to Alec's strategic assessment with growing fascination and unease. His tactical thinking was too sophisticated, too comprehensive for someone whose background should have been limited to agricultural equipment and survival basics. He spoke about battlefield control and force multiplication like someone who'd studied military strategy for years rather than weeks.
"What about allies?" she asked, testing his knowledge. "The mountain facility—if there are survivors, they might be willing to coordinate defense against common threats."
Alec's expression shifted immediately, a flash of something that looked like genuine alarm before his usual controlled composure reasserted itself.
"What about that mountain facility?" he said carefully. "The one with the old military markings? If people survived there, they'd have resources, technology... but also reasons to stay isolated. Maybe even reasons to want us as... assets rather than allies."
The specificity of his concern struck her as oddly prescient. Assets. Not the word someone would use casually about potential alliance partners, but the terminology someone might choose if they understood the strategic value of ground-based survivors to people trapped underground.
"What are you basing that assessment on?" she demanded.
"Strategic paranoia," he replied, but his eyes wouldn't quite meet hers. "Anyone who's survived this long in isolation has done so for specific reasons. Those reasons might not align with our interests."
It was a reasonable concern delivered with suspicious certainty. Like he knew something specific about the mountain facility that he couldn't or wouldn't explain.
POV: Alec Morgan
I could see Clarke processing my warnings about Mount Weather, her analytical mind cataloguing another impossibility to add to her growing file of Alec Morgan contradictions. But I couldn't explain my certainty about their true nature without revealing foreknowledge that would destroy everything I'd built here.
"She's getting suspicious again. Too many specific warnings about threats we haven't encountered yet. But I can't let them walk into that trap believing they're finding allies."
"To break tension," I said with forced lightness, "I bet they have amazing air filtration in that mountain. Like, medical-grade, keep-people-alive-underground-for-generations level. Probably really interested in anyone who can survive outside radiation levels."
The group laughed nervously, recognizing the humor as stress relief rather than genuine comedy. But Raven caught my eye across the table, and I could see her reading the subtext beneath my joke. She knew me well enough now to recognize when I was warning them about something I couldn't directly explain.
"Why would that be funny?" Octavia asked, not getting the dark humor.
"Because if they've been underground for decades, they'd need our blood to survive outside," I said, then realized I'd been too specific again. "Hypothetically. If radiation exposure was an issue for them."
"Shut up. Stop revealing knowledge you shouldn't have. Let them figure it out naturally when the time comes."
But the damage was done. Clarke was staring at me with sharp intelligence that had latched onto implications I'd accidentally revealed. Blood. Radiation resistance. Medical-grade facilities. The pieces were connecting in her mind faster than I could deflect them.
"Alec," she said slowly, "how do you know so much about theoretical survival scenarios for underground populations?"
"Lucky guess?" I tried, but the deflection felt weaker than ever.
"No," she said firmly. "Not lucky guess. Not pattern recognition. Not anything you've claimed before. You know specific things about specific threats we haven't encountered yet. How?"
The question hung in the air like a blade, demanding answers I couldn't give without destroying everything I'd built here. Around the table, others were watching our exchange with growing awareness that this conversation had moved beyond tactical planning into something more fundamental about who I was and what I knew.
"This is it. The moment where my secrets finally catch up with my usefulness. Where I have to choose between maintaining cover and maintaining trust."
"I notice things," I said carefully. "Patterns that suggest possibilities. Strategic thinking applied to observable evidence."
"What observable evidence suggests that underground survivors would be interested in our blood specifically?" Clarke pressed, her voice carrying the implacable logic that had gotten her father executed for asking inconvenient questions.
Before I could answer, Bellamy intervened with the protective instincts that had made him accept me despite his suspicions. "Does it matter?" he asked bluntly. "Right now, we're facing three hundred Grounder warriors in twelve hours. Whatever Alec knows about potential allies or threats, we'll deal with it after we survive the immediate problem."
Clarke's eyes narrowed, but she recognized tactical priority when it stared her in the face. "Fine," she agreed. "But when this war is over, you and I are having a very long conversation about what you know and how you know it."
The promise carried the weight of absolute certainty. Clarke Griffin would not be deflected indefinitely, would not accept mysterious knowledge without demanding explanations that could destroy me if revealed.
But as the meeting dispersed and final battle preparations began, I realized I might not survive long enough for that conversation to matter. Three hundred warriors were coming to kill us, and all my foreknowledge would be useless if I couldn't keep my family alive through the next twenty-four hours.
Some questions would have to wait until after we'd proven we deserved to survive long enough to answer them.
The distant sound of war drums echoed through the forest, growing closer with each passing hour, and I knew our time for preparation was almost over.
+1 CHAPTER AFTER EVERY 3 REVIEWS
MORE POWER STONES == MORE CHAPTERS
To supporting Me in Pateron .
Love [ The Vampire Diaries: The Clone Sovereign ]? Unlock More Chapters and Support the Story!
with exclusive access to 27+ chapters on my Patreon, you get more chapters if you ask for more (in few days), plus new fanfic every week! Your support starting at just $6/month helps me keep crafting the stories you love across epic universes like [ In The Witcher With Avatar Powers,In The Vikings With Deja Vu System,Stranger Things Demogorgon Tamer ...].
By joining, you're not just getting more chapters—you're helping me bring new worlds, twists, and adventures to life. Every pledge makes a huge difference!
👉 Join now at patreon.com/TheFinex5 and start reading today!