(Planet Vorthas, The Skyshard Mansion)
"Activate Ghost Protocol."
The message from Leo plunged the family into chaos, for although he had warned them to be ready for this day, when it finally arrived they were still caught slightly off guard.
As per his instructions, they were to abandon all mortal possessions inside the mansion, grab only the pre-prepared emergency kits, and rush straight toward the hangar bay for evacuation.
Yet despite knowing exactly what to do, the family struggled with leaving everything behind, for within the Skyshard Mansion lay countless things they had grown attached to over the years, and turning their backs on it all in an instant proved harder than expected.
"What are you doing Elena? Leo especially told you to leave everything behind, so then why are you so adamant about carrying a photo album?"
Jacob asked in irritation as Elena glared at him with defiance.
"This is an album I've carried with me since Earth. Inside are the pictures of my boys as babies growing up and I'm not going to leave this behind, even over my dead body."
Elena protested, as listening to her fierce motherly voice, Jacob instantly put his hands up in defiance.
"Come on, Alia, Leo said that time is of the essence once he activates Ghost Protocol, this is not the time for you to grab your toothbrush and make-up kit."
Luke complained, as Alia glared towards him from the bathroom, as she threw her toothbrush straight into his face.
*Smack*
Despite being a Grandmaster, Luke did not dare dodge his girlfriend's angry throw, as Alia emerged from the bathroom a couple seconds later with a bag full of tampons and pregnancy testing kits.
"I told some doofus to pull out yesterday night.... Told him that yesterday was not a good day— But no.... He had to come in me THRICE. So now shut up and help me pack up.... For I have no faith in your brother to have packed pregnancy supplies for me in his emergency kit." Alia instructed, as Luke straightened up and did as he was told.
*Ruffle*
*Pack*
It took the duo only a few minutes to gather their kits before joining Cervantez, Gimli, Ben, Jacob, and Elena downstairs, where together the family stepped out of the Skyshard Mansion and moved toward the military hovercraft waiting just beyond the gates.
"Sir, ma'am, time is of the essence here, so please hurry up." The officer said, as the Skyshard family quickly boarded and were escorted towards the Hangar Bay area at once.
---
En route to the Hangar Bay, Luke saw how quickly unrest was spreading across Vorthas, as thousands flooded the streets, all surging toward the same destination as them.
However, unlike them, the commoners had no military craft to ferry them forward, nor the clearance to pass through the gates.
The Hangar Bay had been sealed to the masses, leaving tens of thousands stranded outside, pressing shoulder to shoulder in desperation, as they clung to the faint hope of escape from the doomed planet.
However, since they were not on the priority crafts heading out, all they could do for now was wait anxiously for their turn.
*FSHHH*
*LAND*
As the hovercraft landed inside the Hangar Bay area, the family saw the sheer scale of this evacuation effort unfold before them.
As far as the eye could see, they only saw soldiers loading cargo ships with other priority passengers and important resources in what seemed to be preparation for armageddon.
Arc ships with colossal hulls yawned open like the mouths of titans, swallowing streams of blacksmiths, engineers, doctors, and scholars, while entire vaults were being hoisted aboard by mechanized cranes, the etched glyphs glowing faintly as if protesting their removal from centuries-old sanctuaries.
The roar of engines and the crackle of comms filled the cavernous bay, soldiers shouting orders while technicians scrambled across scaffolds to secure containers that held knowledge too rare to risk losing, artifacts too dangerous to leave behind and medicines too precious to abandon.
For a moment, the Skyshards simply stood there, their emergency kits clutched to their sides, as their eyes tried to take it all in.
"This isn't just an evacuation," Cervantez muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing. "It's preservation."
Elena's lips parted, her album pressed tight against her chest, as though suddenly she realized how small her stubborn fight to carry it had been compared to the treasures being safeguarded here.
"So this is the legendary foresight of Lord Boss, no wonder Cervantez worships him like a God." Gimli finally exhaled, her voice holding no scorn, only a grudging admiration.
"He's thought of everything. He's not just saving us, he's saving the spirit of the Cult itself."
She said, as the family was ushered forward by a waiting officer, who barked at them to keep moving, yet even as they walked toward the ramp of their assigned carrier, they could not shake the feeling that they were part of something far larger than themselves—part of a plan Leo had set into motion long before Juxta fell.
The ramp before them glowed with faint strip-lights, guiding them toward the steel belly of a ship marked Veil Breaker, its engines already thrumming with restrained power, ready to depart at a moment's notice.
Jacob slowed his pace for just a second, his gaze sweeping across the bay, across the vaults, across the desperate precision that governed every soldier's movement, before he finally spoke, his voice low but firm.
"Listen well. Where we're headed is not a safe place. The Time-Stilled World is harsh, unforgiving, and dangerous beyond imagination."
He turned to meet each of their gazes in turn, his eyes steady.
"Leo has given us the chance to escape early, but survival from here on will not depend on him. It will depend on us. So toughen up. All of you. Because if we don't adapt, if we don't fight to thrive where we land, then all of this—"
He gestured to the endless hangars, the loading ships, the treasures being hauled away as though preparing for the end of days.
"—will have been for nothing!"
The family said nothing in reply, their silence heavy, their heads bowed as they followed Jacob up the ramp, each of them knowing deep down that his words were the truth.
And so, with the roar of engines rising and the bay receding into the distance, the Skyshards left Vorthas behind... their hearts burdened by uncertainty, yet sharpened with a resolve that they would find a way to thrive no matter what.
(More chapters in Buyers club for TMT)