--- Alnus Community, Alnus Public School ---
February 8th, 2026
Selina Sharpe is at her desk at Sarah's new school. It is the first day. Upfront she sees Sarah talking about the English language.
Right now, Sarah is explaining how important it is to know how to write the words you speak. Nothing complex as today is the first day. Currently, she is showing how they can write their names. She said it is important to know how to write your name, that it is part of your identity. She explained that they will need to know this because they do not want to be swindled by a crook and have your identity forged.
She also sees Noriko sitting there with her baby Tenchi. She was offered a job to be Sarah's assistant during class. She also has heard of this bat becoming a teacher with Sarah. She was the one who set up the classroom but does not seem to be here today.
She looks over and sees how big Tenchi has gotten. He looks so cute and she wishes she could leave school and play with him.
She looks over and sees the other student. There are eight other kids her age. She only sees two other girls.
She has not met everyone besides the two who picked on her in the past. The bigger boy who is sitting back ignoring what Sarah is saying. The other is this purple humanoid Medusae(1). She also sees this batboy off in the corner of the class. She heard that he is Mentiv's little brother.
When she was starting to learn how to read she was picked on by a few kids in the town. They did that because she is a girl and low-class girls are not normally allowed to read. They destroyed her father's tablet as a joke when she was alone.
Then they picked on her because of her worship of Miritta. Outside strong centers of Miritta worshippers, people see them as whores. They have seen a low-class deviant that deserves to be treated as such.
Karlin, the Kitsune she has been hanging with has explained to her that this has not always been the case. She is a fellow Miritta worshipper but has beliefs the priestess in Edras would consider heresy. But the more she hears Karlin's ideas the more she likes them.
All the other students are wearing more ragged clothes, showing that they are from carpenter and farming families.
Now that everyone knows she is royalty from Edras, all the kids ignore her. Peasants are normally not allowed to associate with noble or royal blood.
She hates how everyone judges her based on her country's blood and faith. That they do not take the time to get to know her and see she is a good person.
She does not consider herself royalty anymore. The nobles and cult leaders gave her away to the Empire when they took over the Edras Kingdom. The only thing she considers herself now is the daughter of a US Army Officer and she does not understand why that cannot be enough with these people.
A princess is a leader and symbols of a country, part of its leadership. She does not see herself as a princess because she has no home outside of her father's side.
She starts to think about what Tyuule said, that she will never be able to escape that. That it is a part of who she is and that she must accept it(1).
"Selina," Sarah said.
She looks up and realizes that Sarah was calling her name. "I am sorry?"
She hears a few of the other students chuckle at her, realizing that she spaced out. Looking at the situation she notices that Sarah has been calling her name.
Sarah takes a frustrated breath and then smiles. "Please pay attention, Selina. We are practicing writing our names. Can you please come up here and write your name on the whiteboard."
She stands up from her desk and heads upfront. As she walks up, she can tell she has the nicest clothes in the classroom, making her stand out. Her pink dress with white ribbons stands out. It was Sarah's idea to dress up this nice, saying it would be cute and Sharpe would like it. While he seemed to like it, now she regrets it because it just tells all the other students that she is different.
Once she gets up in front of the class, she grabs the blue marker. She knows how to spell her name; it was one of the few lessons she got back in her country. Noriko also helped her learn to spell it in English during their past sleepovers. Learning how to spell it in all these different cute and detailed ways.
As she writes her name, she internally writes it sloppy, so the other kids do not make fun of her higher-class writing.
She then gets to her last name. For a moment she hesitated to write it down, it is her father's last name. She then decides that she does not care what the other kids think about her having her father's last name, so she writes down 'Sharpe' after her name, spelling 'Selina Sharpe'. After that, she starts to hear some laughter.
"Hey," Sarah said. "Nassico, knock it off."
She turns around and sees the bigger boy in the class. His name is Nassico and he is a bully. His father is a butcher and his mother died by Goblins when he was young.
"Why?" Nassico said leaning back in his seat. "She intentionally wrote bad, so she is faking it."
"Don't forget her last name," The Medusae named Nassuulo said with a chuckle.
"Oh yeah," Nassico said. "She used her father's last name. Why doesn't she use her mother's last name?"
"Nassico," Sarah said in an angry tone. "That is rude. You cannot say things like that. You should understand the most."
"I just don't understand why I am here being taught by a woman," Nassico asked. "I am a man and I am stronger after all. That is what my dad says."
Hearing that she rolls her eyes and looks away. "In your dreams." She mumbles and then looks to Sarah to see her response. To her surprise, Sarah remains calm.
"That is an easy answer," Sarah said. "Your right. Boys are on average stronger and there is nothing wrong with that. That is just how God designed us." She stops and holds up her figure, showing that she is about to make a point. "But strength isn't everything. You need to be smart."
"That is silly," Nassico said, ignoring her. "The strong always rule over the weak."
"That's only because you are seeing me as a Human," Sarah said calmly. "Imagine if I was a Lion or a Minotaur besides as a Human, like you and me. Who is stronger, you or the beast?"
One of the other students replies from the back of the room. "The monster."
Sarah holds up a black marker. "Correct. Now imagine if you had to fight one. If you use brute strength you will get eaten."
Sarah then turns around and starts drawing stick figures people on the whiteboard. "Unless you want to be killed by a monster, you have to be smart. You will need to understand what your enemy is, otherwise, you will be controlled."
Sarah then turns around and faces the class. "Have any of you hunted before?"
As Sarah talks, she is impressed by how Sarah took control of the conversation without getting angry. She wonders how Sarah did that. If it were her, she knows she would have tried fighting back.
She looks back at the other students and sees them paying attention. Even Nassico is paying attention even though he just made what Americans call sexist speech.
"You see," Sarah said as she finishes her point. "The United States is militarily strong, but we fight smart. There is nothing more threatening than a strong and intelligent opponent. That is why it is important for all of you, regardless if you're a boy or girl it is important to get an education."
"As you all know Selina's dad is a Ranger," Sarah continues. "He has fought many Apostles like Taylin and Jasis. As we know we Humans are weaker than Apostles and yet he still comes back alive and victorious."
Sarah then looks to Selina. "Selina, do you mind explaining why?"
Selina looks at her, now feeling nervous. She can see all the students looking at her, expecting things from her. All of a sudden, she realizes that she does not want the attention, not feeling worthy.
"Ahh... because he fights smart," She explains in a soft voice. "He learns how they fight so he can be ready for the next fight. He brings the right weapons that can hurt them and uses his mind to outwit Taylin’s strength."
Sarah then looks at her and smiles. "Thank you, Selina you may go back to your seat." She looks at Nassico. "Now tough guy, your turn."
As she heads back to her seat, she hears the class laugh at Nassico's arrogance as he gets up. It felt weird having to explain her father to everyone, but she is now glad she did. She is proud of their relationship and knows she should show it more.
As Nassico struggles to write his name, mainly trying to copy Selina's name hoping that would work, she sits down and takes an annoyed breath.
She glances over to the right of her desk and sees this small yellow flower laying there.
She knows it was not there before. She looks around wondering where it came from. Not seeing any evidence of who put it there, she takes the flower and brings it close to her as the class continues.
---
Sarah Rose takes a deep breath as the kids went into the other form for lunch, giving her and Noriko a chance to breathe.
She sits down at her desk and looks over to Noriko. "Today started off with a bang."
"Really?" Noriko replies confused. "That one boy is such a sexist. I wanted to slap him."
She smirks and takes a breath. "I doubt he even knows what that word means. He is just being a prick, I wouldn't think too much if it."
"And I expected something like that," She continues. "You got to remember these people still have barbaric values. It was common women being second class citizens during those times. And besides, I think he is just acting out because he doesn't have a mom."
"Sometimes people act like assholes because they don't know how to vent their real feelings," She said that as she thinks about how she met Sharpe. He was a major asshole in the beginning but later learned he just did not know how to vent and talk about his feelings. Him being broken from what happened on his last Delta mission.
"I guess," Noriko said. "That doesn't make it right." She then holds onto Tenchi as he starts to make a fuss.
She smirks at Tenchi, thinking of the day when she and Sharpe will have a few of them. She grew up in a more traditional family. Not the ultra-conservative type like here in Falmart or other reason on Earth. It was a choice mom and dad made, believing it was important for her and her sister having a mother at home growing up. She liked it because her mom was always there for her and her sister when they needed her.
"No it doesn't," She replies. "But you can't just cast away thousands of years of traditions overnight. But you can challenge them by forcing them to think. The best way to change someone's mind is making them change their mind without being insulting."
That's not what my school said," Noriko said. "They would shame you if you didn't agree with their point of view."
"I see," She replies. "That was a big problem a decade ago. Sorry you had to experience that."
The topic makes her think about her high school history teacher. He said the abolitionists during the 1800s would have ended slavery sooner. They had popular support but one reason why they failed in freeing the slaves was that they turned it into a morality argument. They put down, shamed, and insulted anyone and everyone who was not one hundred percent support their movement. That turned away a lot of people who agreed with the idea but did not want to associate with them.
Many of the slave owners knew what they were doing was wrong, but they couldn't see a path away from it economically. The United States first President George Washington and the other Founding Fathers hated the practice but never found a way around it.
If the Abolishist Movement focused on helping ending slavery by providing alternatives solutions besides using it as a purity contest, the civil war might have not been needed. That is her theory and trying to apply here.
She never thought that lesson would have application in the twenty-first century but now she finds it important to break through the beliefs people like Nassico has.
"Hey Sarah," Noriko said. "Why were they making fun of Selina's last name? Kids can be mean but that seemed like a strange thing to make fun of."
She noticed that too and was baffled by it. She wanted to intervene on that but did not know how to respond. Families traditionally take the name of their father because they are considered the head and leader of the family.
"I noticed that too," She replies. "It is almost if they have a different meaning. I wish I could ask the girls but they're on a mission."
"Maybe because she is a princess, or it is an Edrian thing?" Noriko assumed as she lifted Tenchi, playing with him.
"Let's ask Karlin," She said. Karlin Daolo is the local Baker who came over with some lunch for the kid's first day of school. She can name three students who came for the free lunch.
She gets up and heads out the door, requesting for Karlin. She sees her sitting next to Selina as she eats a biscuit.
Karlin is a beautiful kitsune who has more of a grandmother's personality. Both her and Selina have been getting close. Both are Miritta worshippers, but she has a less extreme version of the religion. Selina did not like her at first, thinking she was some extremist heretic but Karlin just smiled and accepted Selina's views. Now Selina has started to adopt Karlin's version of Miritta.
Once Karlin comes into the classroom, she closes the door so none of the students can hear.
"Hello Sarah and Noriko," Karlin said. She then walks up to Noriko and looks at her baby Tenchi. "And hello to you too sweet thing. You have gotten bigger."
Noriko spins Tenchi around so he can see Karlin. "You see, she likes you." She then bounces him up and down. "And I know. I have to keep getting new clothes. Many of the Rangers have been nice, buying new clothes for him. But he is an eater. I have to breastfeed him many times a day."
"Well, he is a boy, maybe he just likes your cans?" She said jokingly with a chuckle. "Why don't you use formulas?"
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"I considered it, but it does cost to much money to import something like that here," Noriko replies. "The military has been helping out, but I think there is a line. And I want him to be a healthy and good boy. You don't want to be like your father, no you don't."
Noriko then looks down at him and playfully pinches his nose. "Besides, I enjoy the bonding."
"Don't say that around Sharpe," She said. "He will give you a three-hour lecture about how Zorzal is not his father. He is your baby, not Zorzal's."
"While I do agree was there a reason why you requested me?" Karlin asked.
"Yes," She replied. "In class, the students were making fun of Selina's last name. Saying that it is her father's last name?"
"Now that I think about it, if women are considered second class citizens, why were they making fun of Selina taking Sharpe's last name," Noriko said and then thought about what she said. "I need to stop using his last name for everything. It gets confusing."
"You will get used to it," She replies. "But he is getting better on that. I don't think he no longer minds people using his first name." She then looks to Karlin. "We don't understand what was said."
Karlin looks at them. "I see. I take it children do not take the name of their mothers in your world?"
She thinks on that for a moment, confused. "Wait, what? No. Wives and the kids usually take their husband’s sir name. It is a sign of unifying the family under one strong house. The man is usually the head, so the family takes the name. That is not the case here?"
Karlin shakes her head. "Amazing. We have similar family structures and yet it is still different. While the men still head their house, the children get their mother's surname. The reason is that the mother is the one who gave birth to the children."
"Interesting but why is that?" She is confused by that. "If the man is still the head of the house why wouldn't he want to keep passing down his name?"
"It is a tradition that I think was started by the Elves," Karlin said. "Some think it started with an older civilization that predates the Elves reign of Falmart. None of this was ever official so there were different rules in different regions. Long ago there was a debate about this subject but there has always been a bastard problem in Falmart. So many children had no fathers so they would not have a surname. The Empire made this law early on, making the mother’s surname official besides a loose tradition."
She thinks about that and finds it surprising. It is easy to just see everything about the Empire is evil and wrong, but she found what Karlin said was interesting. The Empire was trying to help protect mothers and children from just being taken advantage of at some point.
"That is why Pina and Zorzal had different last names," Noriko said. "And why none of the old Emperor kids had his last name or similar names. When… when I was there, I always wondered why none of them had the same last name." She stops speaking for a moment. "That means they all had a different mother." She finishes and then holds Tenchi tightly.
"Correct," Karlin states. "When it comes to Selina it is strange that she took her father's last name. It means she has no real family ties or been disowned."
She closes her eyes to think. She had no idea when Sharpe adopted her and gave her his last name it met; she would become more of an outcast. She wonders why she never mentioned that. Then she realizes she already knows the answer.
She saw how she was intentionally writing her name worse but held nothing back when writing her new last name. Selina took pride in being by Sharpe's side and she figured that out early on(2). She helped push for him to adopt her(3) and it finally happened. Even though she is young; she is very prideful and determined. It seemed that she accepted the dishonor of taking his last name so she could be adopted.
It probably does not help that she is disowned or banished royalty. While Selina and Sharpe might not care about that, others do.
"We had no idea," She said.
"I just assumed that Selina would take your last name once you and Sharpe got married," Karlin said calmly.
She was about to respond but stopped hearing the word marriage. "Wow, wait. Back it up."
"We all know you want to," Noriko said. "Even Selina started to talk about it now that you’re dating."
She sits up from her desk. "One, we just started dating. Let's back it up. Two, if-."
"When," Noriko corrects as she plays with Tenchi.
"…Two," She continues. "We will take his name. But Karlin, is there a way we can stop the kids from picking on Selina? Kids can be jerks but is she being from Edras that big of a deal?"
"And her religion about becoming a prostitute?" Noriko adds. "Selina told me much about her religion. I think she was trying to convert me at one point but then got distracted by the baby."
"Sadly yes," Karlin replies. "The Edras Kingdom was once a regional power in the west, preventing the Empire expansion. The Empire’s went to great lengths to degrade them to the public. The kids are facing three hundred years of propaganda. And Miritta is no better."
"So, you are saying there's nothing we can do right now?" She replies.
"Well, it doesn't help that she gets defensive about everything," Noriko said. "Everything is war."
"I wonder where she got that from," Shen replies as she thinks about Sharpe. He never stands down unless ordered to. That is probably why he gets through so many obstacles in life and Selina wants to adopt that.
There is a short silence as everything thinks.
"How about this," Karlin said. "Why doesn't she come with me after school sometime this week. I could use some help baking. I enjoy our talks."
"I will bring its up on our way back home," She replies.
---
Selina is sitting at a bench outside, watching all the passing travelers and citizens of Alnus walk by.
Today seems to be a busy day in the town - so far, she has seen traders from Elies, Italica, and Elbe. It looks like trade is growing here.
She takes a biscuit out of the bag Karlin brought over and starts eating it. She has grown to love her baking and cannot wait for their next time doing it. She doesn't mind the cooking part, but she is starting to find how Karlin worships Mirritta interesting and wants to learn more. She had no idea there were other ways to worship her goddess.
She pulls out the small flower that she had in her pocket and looks at it.
She wonders who put the flow on her desk, baffling her than anything else. Maybe not everyone hates her in the class.
"Hello there."
She looks up and sees that batboy standing there. He looks nervous "Hi?"
"You did a good job in class," He said. "I am sorry I laughed."
"It is ok," She replies. "I laugh at my dad all the time, but I think he intentionally acts silly."
She starts to wonder if it was, he who gave her the flower. Then she rolled out he could not have been, he was too far, and she would have seen him do it.
Then she remembers that he is a bat, and his kind is usually not looked at positively among the Common Races. She does not care though, learning you never know where you will make friends.
"How are you doing?" She asks. "People treating you ok?"
"So far yeah," He replies.
She smiles. "You are Jasif, correct?"
"Yes," Jasif said. "I live here now with my sister. We can't go back home so... yeah."
"I understand," She replies. She understands that feeling, having a similar history. "I was taken from my home and betrayed by my people. But that is ok, I am happy here."
"Why?" Jasif asked.
"Because I have my father," She replies. "And I have my friends like Noriko, Rory, Lelei, and Tuka. Plus, the other soldiers."
Jasif blinks, surprised by that. "Wow. I was taken but I think your soldier friends captured me and then released me to my sister. One of them wanted to get me to her but I forgot his name."
"His name is Private First-Class Harvey Frost," She replies. "I can introduce you to him if you like. I am friends with him too."
"Really?" Jasif asked, surprised by that. "You can just do that?"
"Yup," She said with a smile. "You can have a seat if you like."
"Na, I think I will remain standing," Jasif said. "I just think it is funny we’re both not from here. So you were once a princess?"
She takes a deep breath knowing that was coming up. "Yes. But I am not one anymore. I am just her."
"Ok but from Edras?" Jasif asked. "I thought my home was far away. How did you do here?"
She then starts to explain how she was taken and became a slave. She skipped some of the extreme events, thinking it is none of his business. She did tell him how her father saved her and how she joined a new family.
"That is, it in a nutshell," She said.
"Sounds like a crazy story but what does nutshells have to do with it?" Jasif asked.
She opened her mouth as she was going to explain but realizes she has no idea what that means. She just heard the Other Worlders use it. "I don't know... I just heard it before."
"Anyway," She said. "Why did the Empire take you? I don't think that is normal."
Jasif then sits down next to her but leaves some space. "Well, the Empire came into my village before Legrath fell to your people. They said they needed creatures like me so they could use us to see at night and our sound detection abilities."
Jasif looks around as he thinks back on that. "We didn't have a choice. They said the Other Worlders soldiers use these eye plates to see at night and to hear."
Hearing that she giggles. "That's called night vision goggles. It allows them to see at night. Everything turns green when you look through them."
"Right...," Jasif replies.
"Well, I am glad you are with your sister again," She said. "Family is important."
"I am glad to," Jasif said. "I thought I never was going to see her again. Once the Empire takes you, very rarely someone who was taken comes back."
"I had no idea she left the clan to come looking for me," Jasif adds. "She loved her clan. She was popular and deeply integrated into it. It must have been hard for her to cut all those ties."
"None of that matters if the ones you love are missing," She said with a smile, thinking back when then Wood Elves took her and everyone, the Rangers, Italica Knights, and the Rose Knights came for her.
"We better head back to class. Nice to meet you Jasif." She said.
Jasif hesitates to reply, not knowing what to say. "Thank you. If I can, I like to say hi to that Frost man."
"Private First-Class Frost and I can say hi and tell him for you," She replies. "They like to come into Alnus to get beers so I will tell you when."
***
--- Fort Alnus, Headquarters ---
February 8th, 2026
General Charles Stanford has just read the recent report on what happened yesterday evening. Tyuule reported to the Alnus Military Police that she saved a kid from being taken by the Haryo Tribe.
He is looking directly at Tyuule as she is sitting in his office. Once he requested her to come to his office and explain what happened, she explained everything she knows about the Haryo tribe.
He is not alone in the office. The head of the Rangers who dealt with them before Colonel Robert Yang, base defense commander Colonel William, head intelligence Lieutenant Colonel Sanders and the head of the Alnus Military Police French Colonel Séverin Bourque.
What Tyuule said hit an uneasy nerve with everyone in the room. This Haryo Tribe seems to mean business and far cleverer than he expected.
From what she said, they are some kind of mysterious species from the east. They do not work other species and that they consider themselves the 'master race' of Falmart. They work in the shadows, corrupting nations, and people to do their bidding.
She dealt with them before when she was queen of the Warrior Bunnies. From how she described it they were having a mini–Cold War before the fall of her people.
Based on what Tyuule said, the Haryo Tribe seems to be these master spies who use tricks and illusions to trick their enemy and gain influence. They corrupt people to position themselves into the hierarchy and place their agents in key positions without anyone knowing.
These brain-slugs seem to allow them to do this. Tyuule said that she does not know much about how they work but she assumes that the non-Haryo races are brainwashed and being forced to work for them. While she cannot confirm this, she is confident in it because the Haryo Tribe believes they are the master race of Falmart.
Hearing that reminded him of the NAZIs and Hitler. They thought they were the master race of all of Earth and it took sixty million people to die to stop him. Assuming what Tyuule said is true, he concludes they are facing a similar foe.
"This is hard to believe," William states. "Within my base."
"It sounds like one of your horror movies," Severin states. "How are my security forces supposed to counter if they could be one of us?"
"Why didn't you bring this up before?" Sander asked.
"How was she supposed to know? Yang replies, defending her. "She said she didn't know they were here until just now."
"How can we trust her though?" Severin asked, arms crossed. "Maybe she has been working for the Empire the whole time?"
Tyuule turns around with this death look in her eyes, like she is ready to kill someone. "How dare you say such a thing! Do you know what happened to my people?"
Yang looks to Severin. "Colonel, it was my Rangers who rescued her from the Empire. I lost a Ranger in the rescue."
He leans back as he listens to the conversation. He can see Tyuule ears drop a bit hearing that, which confirms to him that she is not a spy. However, he lets the conversation continue to see where the mood is with his officers.
"Don't give me that Yang," Severin said in an annoyed tone. "First it was alien Humans. Then Elves and Orcs. There is a talking fox that bakes cookies. A talking bat flying around and now we’re talking about talking pigs."
"What is your point?" Yang askes, annoyed.
"My point is I don't know what is normal anymore," Severin said. "Christ sake we were all talking to a rabbit. My point is I do not know what is normal anymore. This is worse than Afghanistan and Mali. At least there I was able to figure out what was normal and do my job. How am I supposed to do my job if I am only learning now that there's pig people in the shadows in my town that I am responsible for and brain slugs."
"Calm down Colonel," He says, seeing he needs to calm down the French commander. "No one in here is the enemy."
William takes off his cap and lights up a cigarette. "I hate to say this, but the French man is correct. This is only making this complicated and in war, complication means defeat. If we are struggling with internal security how are we supposed to stop an attack on this base? We are also talking about hallucination powder and magic. I hear stories by our troops at the front about illusion spells."
Severin takes a deep breath. "I apologize. I meant no offense, Tyuule. Magic can be a tricky business. Now you see why the Empire invested so much into it."
"I see what you mean Colonel," Tyuule said as she adjusts herself. "The Haryo Tribe uses your confusion against you. I am just shocked that they are here and assisting the Empire."
"Princess Pina confirmed in our last meeting the Empire had no dealings with this Haryo Tribe(5) while she was there," He adds. "I think it is safe to say the Empire and the Haryo Tribe is a recent development."
"I hate to agree with that woman, but I must agree," Tyuule said. "The three years I was there I never heard or smelled anything related to the Haryo Tribe. And if they are here, that must be here for you."
"I have to agree," Sanders said. "I will get my people to work on this."
"I think I can help," Tyuule. "During my time as Zorzal slave I did as much research as I could on how my kingdom failed. As you people say, 'the world on the street' was that he was this great and honorable general and prince. I thought I could trust him but that turned out to be a mistake. It bothered me how he beat me and how I could just trust him."
Tyuule then takes a breath. "I found out they infiltrated my kingdom the same way they are doing to you. I spent three years trying to figure out how they work. It was not easy but being a slave for royalty does give you some perks at times."
"Please explain your highness," He said.
"As I said, the Haryo Tribe are masterminds at espionage," Tyuule said. "I originally thought they were only in the far east, as one of the Dark Races but it is clear I was wrong. They have a presence in Sadera, Ticaret, all the Swestuals Kingdoms and probably many of the vassals. The Empire is acting like a spider web to help them spread their network."
He knows about the kingdoms Tyuule is speaking of. The CIA learned from a mole in Sadera that Zorzal is forming his own NATO knock off military alliance to fight NATO. He put a pause on further expansion until they learn more about this new Imperial Alliance.
Based on what Tyuule is saying, he is starting to see that the Haryo are the ones working behind the scenes, influencing the warring factions. Thanks to Pina bringing that one Haryo prisoner(6) and they learned the Haryo have been trying to round up American prisoners for some reason. They recently did that at Camp Galileo where a scientist was targeted by the Haryo Tribe and taken. No luck on the search for him.
He is starting to see that while the Empire is the enemy of today, the Haryo Tribe is the enemy of tomorrow if he does not stop them now. Now that he knows about them, he can start creating counter-operations against them.
"This sounds like Mission Impossible type of stuff," William said, referencing the movie franchise. "Why are they after the kids though?"
Tyuule looks at them all, like she knows she is about to piss them all off. "You’re all weak."
"Excuse me?" Sanders asked, annoyed.
"Do not take it as an insult," Tyuule replies. "What I mean is that you would never consider kidnapping a kid and using them for your bidding. The Haryo considers us inferior so they have no morals about right and wrong. As I said before, they consider themselves to be the rules of this world, the so-called master race."
"Great," Severin states. "We are dealing with alien NAZI's."
"I have no idea what that means but sure," Tyuule said. "I was saying they are using your kids to spy on you. Probably with those slugs I mentioned before. There might be other reason they been taking them but your kindness and overprotective of children is a weakness to them."
"Fucking A man," Yang said. "This is too much. Is there anything we have against them? A weakness or flaw?"
Tyuule nods as she looks at Yang. "They get greedy for knowledge and information. Because they see it as their right and they think all are inferior to them they can get sloppy. You people are still knowing this world and I bet the Haryo Tribe is just as confused about your people. They are slow to adjust tactics because they are used to living in the shadows. You can exploit their greed."
"It sounds like you have a plan?" Sanders asked.
"Don't say what I think you are going to say," Yang adds.
"Yes, Colonel Yang," Tyuule said. "I am sad to say the kids who are under their control, there is no hope for them. If the slug is in their heads there is no way to get them out. We should track them by using your tracking devices. Then we can flush them out."
"I am not accepting this," William said. "Using kids. I don't care if they are brainwashed. I haven't spent twenty years of my career starting to start using kids as bait."
"Hold on," Sanders said, calming William down with his hand. "If the brainwash is caused by a slug then why don't we just cut the bastard out?"
"You’re crazy?" Tyuule said, surprised by the comment. "You can't just cut into people’s heads? You will kill them."
He leans forward on his desk. "Actually, we can, your highness. Our medical technology allows us to cut into people’s bodies and cure them. We do it all the time on Earth."
"That is why I was thinking sir," Sanders said. "Anyone who has one of these slugs can put them through surgery and cut them out."
Tyuule sits there in disbelief. Her eyes blink as she tries to picture what they are talking about. "Wait… you can cure them?"
"Correct," He replies.
"Still," Yang said. "Are we really proposing using kids as bait?"
He thinks on Tyuule’s proposal. He hates the idea, but he does not see any way around it. The more he thinks about the Haryo Tribe and what they are capable of the scarier it sounds to him. The longer they are in Alnus, the more their infections will grow. He starts to worry about what happens if they get a spy in the White House.
"No," He says. "We need to end this now. Our number one priority is the defense of the United States and Earth. We cannot allow the Haryo Tribe to expand its network onto Earth. Think about what that could mean."
He can see the other officers in the room fully understand the negative ripple effect that will have. Earth leaders under the control of the Haryo Tribe. It does not matter if NATO can destroy Legions in seconds, if the leadership has been taken over the war is lost. It will probably result in a global war, allowing the Empire and their allies to invade.
The only one who seemed to be confused Tyuule as she does not understand the geopolitical context of Earth.
"Ok Tyuule," He said. "We will hear your plan. Everyone, none of this leaves this room. We need to play this close to the chest."
"Sir," Severin said. "Are you sure about this?"
"Completely," He replies, looking directly at him. The truth is he is not but as the top General in this war, he shows confidence no matter what. "And you know what. I am going to call in some specialist that should help with this problem. I know a nearby town who owes of a favor and have the top assassins and counter spies in the region."
"Countess Myui maids?" Yang asked.
He just nods. "Let us begin."