Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 220: King Island Reunion

Indy, Loveday and Arrie ran up the gangplank as soon as it was lowered and threw themselves on top of Delphi.

She laughed with joy as the girls smothered her with hugs.

"Alright, alright girls, you’re squishing me to death! Hop off me!" she laughed.

"Not until you promise never to do a dumbass thing like that again," said Loveday firmly.

"Not you too! Alton’s already torn strips off me," Delphi joked.

"Well good! You deserve it for leaving us," Indy pouted. "You made us all cry!"

"We thought we’d never see you again," cried Arrie, tears springing to her eyes again.

"You don’t get off that lightly, girl," laughed Delphi, ruffling the smaller girl’s short waves. "I’m back to make sure we beat that insane despot and his thugs once and for all. And I would have come back and haunted you all until you crushed him like a gnat if he’d killed me."

"Don’t say those words, Delphi," Arrie knocked superstitiously on the timber deck of the boat.

"I’m back aren’t I? There’s nothing to worry about now. Just a trifling thing like getting ready for all-out war."

"You wait until you see how many recruits we’ve attracted," said Indy mysteriously. "Prepare to be amazed!"

"Really? When did you guys arrive? Have you been here long? I’m guessing the assault on Squeaking Point was successful?"

"We only beat you in by about eight hours," said Loveday. "And yes, the assault was a resounding success. The place is teaming though Delph. We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us training up all of the newbies."

"Good problem to have," Delphi grunted, pushing herself to her feet with renewed energy. "Let’s not waste any time then. Let’s get to work," she strode off down the gangplank.

"Hold on!" called Indy. "We need to hear every detail of what happened and how you escaped. And we have to tell you about Squeaking Point!"

"Good luck getting anything out of her," Alton said, coming up out of the hold with their gear.

"Was it bad?" Indy whispered to him, with Arrie and Loveday listening in.

He nodded. "Yep. Don’t push her too hard to talk about it. She needs time to recover. Focus on her escape, she can talk about that more easily."

The three girls nodded seriously, looking shell-shocked at the news.

Though really, what had they expected? thought Indy. They all knew the man. There was only some sort of dire fate that awaited any of them he got his hands on again...

As the afternoon wore on into dinnertime, the four young women were inseparable, as they introduced Delphi to the recruits and toured the work that had already been done on King Island to make it ready as a staging post for troops.

Alton squeezed himself in beside Delphi at dinner, playfully sliding the tiny Arrie further down the bench seat.

"May I please sit next to my woman at dinner?" he asked her. "You three have spirited her away from me all afternoon. That’s long enough."

"You’ve had her all to yourself since you rescued her," Arrie complained, mock scowling at the General.

"It wasn’t nearly enough, private," he emphasised her rank, looking down at her and returning the scowl, while using his bulk to loom over her.

"Alton," Delphi laughed, "don’t tease poor Arrie. You are her General after all. You shouldn’t be pulling rank to steal her seat off her at the dinner table."

"What else is being a General good for, if not that?" he asked her.

"I can think of a few things," said Niko, arriving and squeezing himself in beside Indy who sat on Delphi’s other side.

"Oh, so the men are pulling rank now are they?" asked Indy. "Everyone wants to sit next to Delphi now that she’s back."

"I want to sit next to you," replied Niko shamelessly. "No offence, Delphi."

"None taken," she couldn’t help smiling at the pair.

"I hear your assault on Squeaking Point was textbook perfect, Niko," she complimented the man.

"I wouldn’t say it was textbook..." he replied, "but it was definitely perfect!"

"Oh, you’re a big show-off," Indy punched him playfully on the bicep.

From their body language it seemed like India’s icy attitude towards Niko was finally melting, she thought... About time!

"Not without reason," said Delphi. "Let him bask in his glory for at least twenty-four hours, Indy."

"Geez, don’t I even get a week to be a hero, General Chastain? You’re a hard woman to please," Niko complained.

"That’s because she sets such high standards for herself," said Casey, sliding in opposite them. "When you set standards like that that are sky-high, girl, no one else can hope to live up to them," he said seriously. "We owe you our thanks, General Chastain," he bowed his head towards her. "What you did for my people. It will never be forgotten."

Delphi had received plenty of adulation all afternoon from the Clan folk. Her sacrifice to save a handful more of the townsfolk’s lives before they were rescued, was not just widely admired, it was worshipped, it seemed.

"Your people were seemingly dying because of me. There was no other choice, Casey," she said simply.

"It had nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the Emperor," he replied. "And he was as much after Bill as he was after you."

Alton thought that was a kind thing to say to Delphi, but patently untrue. The Emperor wanted Delphi back infinitely more than he wanted his revenge on Rutherglen... His Uncle would have swapped Rutherglen for Delphi in a heartbeat.

"It’s sweet of you to say that, Casey, thank you."

"Nothing but the truth. And anytime you want to get rid of that big bugger," he flicked his head at Alton, "I’d be happy to say more sweet things to you, General".

"Pull your head in, Casey!" Alton shot to his feet and leant across the table, eyeballing the man.

Niko leant across behind Delphi and grabbed Alton by the elbow, dragging him back to his seat. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"He’s just ribbing you, General, leave it be," Niko laughed.

"Let him flirt with your girl instead then, Lieutenant," growled Alton, reluctantly sitting back down and taking a big draw from his tankard of beer.

He was feeling insecure since he’d recovered her, and she’d tried all that talk of letting him go to find someone else. Though he understood her good intentions, he knew that he himself could never suggest that to her in a million years. Applying that logic, he was concerned she could still change her mind about marrying him.

Casey looked at Indy briefly. "Blondes aren’t my type, General," he said dryly. "Most of us Clan men prefer brunettes," he looked appreciatively back at Delphi.