John let the murmur around the room die before he fast forwards the image later. Where Marry was talking to someone in uniform with captain bars on their shoulder. John recognized the individual and so did the other senior Wardens.

“ So to elaborate, you spread a similar message throughout the day to random people did you not?”

Marry instantly became weary.

“ Maybe, my offer might have grown once we got the kitchen set up.”

John nods and gestured to the scene of the Captain approaching Marry.

“ Hey, that is that nice officer promising to help out.”

Marry then paused remembering something.

“ Are you mad that I talked to him about us helping them out? I knew David was too tight pursed to help them out for free, but it worked out in the end, right?”

David slowly put his hands on the table and started pushing himself upright with all the strength he could muster. He knew it was a mistake as he felt the dampness on his arm, but at this moment he did not care.

“ Marry, people died!”

“ A lot of people died, David. You are not telling me anything new.”

“ Marry, it could be argued, it is your fault.”

Marry paused as her brain started to catch up to her ears.

“ Impossible, I was help...”

She did not get the chance to continue as a gunshot whizzed by her head. It took a moment to register that there was pain on her left ear. As she touched where it hurt she soon found her hand bloody. Then she noticed David had his Legendary revolver in his left hand. With the levels from his last stand, he was now able to wield it without the suit.

“ Shut the fuck up, Marry. I am trying very VERY hard to find an excuse to not have you executed or exiled to the wilds. Ultimately, you were the first domino Marry, but in the end, a lot of people share the blame for that trial.

No, we are not talking about, woulda, coulda, shoulda’s, Marry. What we are talking about is the certainty that you fucked over my plans by letting the National Guard know exactly how much food and water I was going to use for goodwill. Let them know exactly how much money I had. Let them know exactly what I was after. And worst of all, let them know exactly how many {grunt starter kits} I had.

Because I never intended the higher-ups to know about them till after I managed to get each and every one of the kits to the soldiers that needed them most.”

“ But I was just trying to help.”

“ God damn it Marry, I told you to not do one fucking thing and...”

David could not take it anymore and fell to his side then the floor as several healers came to him. Marry fell to her knees in disbelief and started muttering.

“ I was just trying to help...”

-----

The three guest races watched in silence as the trial occurred. All of them could read the tragedy befalling them here. She was given an order that she ignored in hopes it would prove to be a path for the greater good. As one of the human sayings goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The dwarf felt for her. But she also saw her as a colossal fool. A saying he and the humans share is, that no good deed goes unpunished. They have long learned the importance of the exchange. In this case, Silve would vote for exile. But a single father of high standing raising a newborn will not be easy. Whatever decision is made would affect them both as well.

The Lycan closed his eyes in memory. A young pup who was caught playing, beaten, and tortured to reveal the location of her home to the elves. The night attack and slaughter of his family. Only he in hiding and his sister, who was spared out of mockery by the elves survived the raid. Only he survived the night. Did he blame his sister? No, but the death of their family needed to be punished. So he knows the importance of information, unlike the other races. This raised his opinion of the young human in his eyes. But in Gark’s eyes, there is only one punishment for betraying the pack like that.

The dragonkin looked at the woman with disdain. As the only one with experience with this kind of betrayal, she knows that there would be no true winning scenario for her. She has shamed her clan. Just as one of the warriors had done by bragging about their deployment route to his partner the night before they left. Two weeks into the patrol, they were ambushed by a warband. It was a bloody battle in which many died. She could not help but feel the scar on her hip from when she was pierced by a bolt that day.

-----

Rick closed his eyes and had to accept the reality of the situation. If not for the ants, David might have just brushed this incident under the rug... for a time... but he would never have trusted her again. But that would have been better than this. Rick understood David was doing this for more than just himself or for Rick, but for the Order as a whole.

This was like making the power armor, but the scale was much larger, and thousands of lives counted on it. One day, it could be a matter of millions of lives that might be affected by the choices of this room today. But that mattered little to Rick. All he could see was what kind of world his son would be raised in.