Unknown

"Commander Ericson! Commander Ericson!"

The commander closed the reports he was reading and looked at the woman frantically running into his office. She had a knack for making loud rackets. He could already guess what she wanted to speak to him about, but it wasn't a conversation he wished to have. He sighed.

"What is it now Lieutenant?"

"Femi's been captured!"

"I've been made aware."

The woman was stunned for a moment, but she rebounded quickly. "I've seen no reports of a rescue squad being sent out. Femi would die before he spilled our secrets. If he's left there too long, they'll dispose of him."

The commander stood up. Taking in a deep breath, he walked towards her. It was a slow walk, a heavy walk. The kind of walk nothing good accompanied. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Commander..?"

He shook his head, "We're signing an armistice soon. They'll be making an announcement in the coming days. We've been instructed to refrain from any actions that may negatively affect that."

The woman, who was previously looking at the commander face to face, slowly lowered her head. She could read between the lines. She knew what he was implying. Her brain didn't want to believe it true, but her experience didn't allow her to foolishly give herself false impressions. She stood, commander's hand still on her shoulder, and silently stared at the floor.

"So. You're...we're abandoning him. We're abandoning him," she looked back up at her commander. There were no tears, but the sorrow he saw forced him to step back. She had a special relationship with him. He knew how important he was to her. How closely she stuck to him. He was the catalyst that made her what she was today. He didn't have to guess what she thought of a life without him, her face showed all.

"So...after all this. After all these years. We're just going to throw him out?"

"We are no—-”

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She exploded, "That's exactly what you're doing!"

Commander Ericson had never seen her yell so angrily before. He had never seen her so visibly shaken. He knew her reaction would be anything but happy, that it was always going to be this way, but seeing it live was almost painful.

A moment of silence passed. It inched by, agonizingly. The commander maintained eye contact with her throughout. She broke it. Moving to leave she stopped by the door, "Don't you dare sugarcoat it."

Exiting, the commander was left standing in the middle of his office. He sighed and returned to his desk.

I told him not to take the mission.

—————

Twinhead Draakon Headquarters, Unknown

Jeffrey stormed through the hall. His heavy steps reverberated throughout it. The many guards and guild members he passed moved away from him, all intimidated by the aura he was giving off. Reaching the end of the hallway, the guards at the door saluted him. Nodding he asked, “Is Arthur in?”

The guard on the left replied, “He’s with Mr. Clive. The Johnson Group have made a request.”

Jeffery’s eyes betrayed his excitement at the news, “Oh? When did it come in?”

Looking to his left, he saw his fellow guard shrug. “We don’t know the details, just that they made a request”

“Alright nevermind, I’m heading in.”

The guards saluted Jeffery again as they opened the door for him. Beyond the first set of doors there was another. This one had no handle or doorknob. To the right of barren door there was a glowing blue orb with a sign that read ‘Grip Firmly’. Lazily grasping the orb, Jeffery could feel the shair begin the cover his person. It searched up and down his body, gathering at any and all places a form of metal was present. After a few seconds he no longer felt the rush of sahir, he instead was left with the sight of his trusted twin blades, as well as various other bits of metal scattered across is uniform, glowing in rhythm with the door knob. Staring absentmindedly at the phenomenon, still bewildered at how it all worked, another guard came from the inside doors.

“Oh, Jeff” She greeted. “Still only carrying those two blades of yours I see”

“Yet I still haven’t lost a battle,” a smile crept onto his face for the first time today.

The guard rolled her eyes “How long will that last I wonder?”

“Whenever I do lose, however many years that may take, a hidden blade or two probably wouldn't make a difference.” Jeffery shrugged, exaggerating his shoulders a bit.

“Right, right” The guard gestured for him to walk through.

Walking past the long conference table, Jeffery could see his leader, Arthur, and the third seat, William, discussing something. Assuming it was regarding the request they just received, he quickened his pace. Arthur, seeing him coming, coughed loudly in an attempt to alert William of Jeffery’s arrival.

“Boss! I heard The Johnson Group has made a request. Why haven’t I been sent out yet?” Jeffery questioned.

Cutting in before Arthur could respond “You know very well why. The banditry going on in the east right now is far too widespread to send out just one team. You, Ice, and I are the only seats at homebase, do you intend to leave our headquarters undefended? Unless of course you wish to send your team to their deaths.” William turned to look Jeffery in the eyes.

Taken aback, Jeffery struggled for a retort. Seeing this, Arthur quickly jumped in “Look, theres no need for hostilities. Will and I were just discussing what to do about the problems cropping up in the east. I know that's where you call home. For that reason, despite what Wills outburst would have you believe, we are trying to figure out a way to handle it in the safest and most effective manner possible. Come, grab a chair”

Hearing his leaders words, Jeffery calmed down somewhat and pulled a chair over to take a seat.

“Now. Jeff. I understand you want to run over there right now and kick those bandits out. Personally, so do I. The problem is, it's not just one or two or three or even four bandit groups. There are seven.” Seeing Jeffery readying to speak up, Arthur quickly added “Yes, I’m sure you believe that wouldn't be too much of a problem for you. It may very well not be, but overconfidence is deadly. Plus, you have a whole team to look after. They wouldn’t fare as well. As much as I would like to rush there right now we need to gather the appropriate forces first. Will.”

William, taking the que, explained further “the Johnson Group didn’t only contact us.” After passing Jeffery the request notice they received he continued, “they’ve made us aware of the fact that they would like us to cooperate with the Drexon Mercenaries of the south and Goldenheart from the capital. All three groups will be meeting in the capital in a weeks time to discuss how to proceed.”

Giving the document a quick scan, Jeffery muttered “You could have just said that from the start”

Somewhat angered, William replied “and you could have waited until hearing the details before demanding to send your team to their deaths.”

“Drop it you guys” Arthur sighed.

“Oh ho ho. You guys having fun without me?”

Arthur lifted his head towards the door, smiling upon seeing the face of the new arrival. “Welcome back! How was the trip?”

“More interesting than I expected. The actual mission took little more than a day. The ‘monsters’ they were so afraid of were just overgrown pigs. That part was a bit boring”

William rolled his eyes, “Only you would call a trip through Dread Valley to fight Dreadnons boring”.

Shrugging, he continued “Eh. Whatever. Anyway, after I finished that I decided to head east. While I was at the taverns I heard a lot of noise about bandits running amok.”

Arthur jumped in, “Wait. You went east?”

“Yeah. You won’t believe what I saw.”