Everyone only had a few hours of sleep before the sun started to rise again. Isuzu slowly got up on her bed as she woke up around her usual time. 

She looked at the wall clock on the side to look at the time. "6 o'clock," Isuzu whispered as she yawned while stretching her arms. 

She noticed something beside her, a large bag and a suitcase with a name-tag. She stepped out of her bed and approached the luggage. 

The name tag said, "To Ms Isuzu Harukawa." 

This regained her senses immediately. She opened the bag to see a new fresh set of clothes, some for everyday life and others for parties or balls. 

"Wait, these are all mine?" she asked herself and then looked back at the clock. 

"Oh no, Iowa!" she exclaimed. 

She rushed over to the window, and as she put aside the curtains, she shouted. "Iowa, wake up!" the bright light of the sun fell upon Iowa's closed eyes, instantly bolting her out of her bed.

"W-what?!" Yelled Iowa, half-asleep. 

"The general might be calling us anytime soon, we should get ready", said Isuzu as Iowa looked at the time. 

"Oh, right, Mel", Iowa said.

"Who?" Isuzu asked.

"The general, her name is Matilda, but we just call her 'Mel.'" Iowa said. 

 Isuzu's eyes then suddenly widened upon hearing the general's name.

"Wait you mean Matilda Foster? THE author?" 

"Mhm," Iowa nodded, "Have you read her works?"

"I've read all of her works on our library in the orphanage," answered Isuzu. "Her descriptions are so vague, it's like she's hiding one big secret about the continent!" 

 Iowa chuckled, "She's a great leader for us all. The entire military trusts her, that's why she got to borrow this government building in the first place." 

"Well, are you looking forward to meeting her? We should get ready now." Iowa then added as she fixed her bed.

"Yeah, about that", Isuzu said as she looked at the luggage. 

"What's that?" asked Iowa. 

"It was addressed to us," answered Isuzu. Iowa then took a closer look to see the assortment of clothes. 

"Oh for you?" Iowa chuckled, "Well, after all, you're still are a target." 

"Oh," said Isuzu, I mean I understand, but isn't it weird that I would just leave without saying goodbye. Can I at least send my goodbyes?" she then asked.

"We'll see about that," Iowa answered, "But for now-" 

Someone suddenly knocked on the door, "Your breakfast is here." A woman said through the door. 

"Come in", said Iowa as she rushed to the door to open it. Then came the servants of the house, dressed in red uniforms with their breakfast on trays. 

They placed it on a small table for two and opened the lids, but before they left the room Isuzu asked one of the servants, "Excuse me, but are all the components for in the luggage for me?" 

The servant nodded, "Yes ma'am, it was delivered to you from madam Celeste herself, as well as the pancakes. Now then, I would like to inform you as well that the general would like to see both of you in her office the hour later, now then." He bowed and left the room and closed the door.

 "A man of her word, that woman", said Iowa as she looked at the stacks of pancakes with blueberries on top. Oozing porcelain cup of coffee beside the silver plate accompanied by utensils made with silver. 

Iowa giggled, "Right, let's dig in before we get to work."

Meanwhile, in the main office, the general and Celeste looked through written reports about their findings on the serviteur. 

"So those Iyalan crystals, they possessed angelic capabilities, and then they implanted them on him?" Matilda, the general asked. Celeste nodded. 

The general sighed and looked at her grand map of the continent on the wall behind her. "They have finally made breakthroughs." the general sighed, "Synthetic angels, the highest form of humanity's abuse against the continent." 

"It's not like the feel bad about it, they had to do it", she added. 

"Is it because they lost their trigger, angel?" asked Celeste.

 The general chuckled, "They're going to throw everything at us! So we best be prepared!" 

"You seem quite excited", Celeste told the general. 

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"Well, it's not like we've won against them before", she answered. 

Her smile slowly turned into an uncomfortable one as she looked at the Iyala region at the very top of the mainland, where Sonia went missing in action. 

"They might've done things like those to Sonia if she was ever caught alive", said Celeste. 

"No, they couldn't have," answered Matilda, "Most likely a fate worse than death.

"What do you mean?" Celeste asked, but instead of Matilda answering, she looked at Celeste and nodded, "Get Ms Harukawa and Capt. Campbell." Celeste nodded and left the room. 

Iowa wore her one of her many uniforms. At the same time, she took the extra time to polish her boots since and Isuzu wore a short dress inside the bag that looked like the one Celeste wore.

"Wow, it feels so comfortable!" said Isuzu as she walked around with it. 

"I thought so." smiled Iowa as she wore her boots and laced it up. 

The two heard a knock on the door and then opened, "It's time you two." Celeste told them as she peeked through the door. 

"Oh, good morning, Ms Celeste." greeted Isuzu. 

"Good morning and 'Celeste' is just fine." answered the angel as she gave her a smile which, once again, flustered Isuzu a little. 

"Is it time?" asked Iowa. 

Celeste nodded, "Follow me." 

The marble floor was covered in a thick red carpet, and the walls displayed large paintings and murals. The ceiling was illuminated by large chandeliers with dozens of candles on every row with chains made of gold.

Several flags were also present, displayed in shiny small poles with a bonze heading as they passed by the 'foreign relations' room. Where most of the colony's foreign affairs are sorted. 

Beside the door were the flags of the different colonies throughout Terra Australis, French Arctica, Dutch Korji, Spanish Plus España, and the new mysterious settlement of the Japanese New Hokkaido.

All of them sharing borders with each other except for New Hokkaido. The grandness and pride of the palace made Isuzu wonder about why her small town of Glenn Vista decided to become neutral. 

Then they entered a room that was part of the hallway. As the two entered inside, they were presented with marble pilasters that held large doors that showed the palace's grand garden, right behind the large pond outside. 

The ceilings were decorated with a painting of the eight large stars that connects the continent with a string of bright light called Star Pillars and Cosmic Lines respectively. 

The grand garden consisted of an assortment of trees, plants, and flowerbeds both from Terra Australis and the old continents the likes Isuzu has not even seen before. With gardeners who wore white clothing and large hats maintaining and taking care of them.

As they exited the hall, they took a flight of stairs and met a large door where Celeste stopped in front of. 

"This is the place," said Celeste as she knocked on the door and opened it. 

They entered a large room with a big round carpet in the middle and a large mahogany desk in front of it. 

Behind the desk sat a woman with fair skin and short blonde hair with curves at the end that gave it gaps. She a more extravagant red uniform that had golden ropes attached to her shoulder pads and fancy designs on the sleeves and black trousers with red stripes finished off with large shiny black boots. 

Iowa stood up straight and saluted her while Isuzu, not knowing what to do, saluted her as well, although unable to replicate Iowa's. 

"At ease, ladies." the general spoke. 

"Ma'am," said Iowa as she dropped her salute with Isuzu following afterwards. The general closed the book in front of the table and set it aside. 

"Captain, Miss Harukawa," The general greeted, "Do take a seat with us." She extended her hand as she presented the chairs at the table. 

The two looked at each other and sat down the chairs as Celeste placed a cup of tea beside them. 

"It's OK, I don't want any." said the general to Celeste. She looked back at the two of them and went straight to business. 

"Ms Harukawa, I don't believe we have met before, I'm General Matilda Foster. Please call me 'Mel'. The general introduced herself as she extended her hand to Isuzu. 

"I apologised for our unpredictable decision making when it came to your 'capture' but, we will not harm you or your friend, Makamisa or as she calls herself, 'Eleya.'" She added. 

"I'm Isuzu Harukawa, nice to meet you, but is she going to be alright?" answered Isuzu as she shook her hand and tried to calm down, then as the two let go. 

The general nodded and assured Isuzu, "We take care of angels which is the very reason what I wanted to talk about today." she added in a gentle yet stern voice. 

She then looked at Iowa and smiled, "Good job on bringing her here in one piece, captain." she applauded. 

"Thank you, ma'am," Iowa answered. 

"And thank you for letting the captain bring you here, Ms Harukawa," Matilda added as she looked at Isuzu. 

"O-oh, you're welcome, and please, call me Isuzu." 

"Alright then, Isuzu..." The general said, pausing for a few moments as an anxious silence filled the area as she just sat there, with nothing to say. Celeste saw what was happening and laughed a little. 

"S-sorry." sighed the general, "I didn't mean to be anxious." 

Celeste giggled at the general in the distance. 

"I seriously cannot be intimidating anymore," she added as she negatively bowed her head. 

"I-it's fine," Isuzu said, "What did you need us for?" 

"Well," the general, affectionately nicknamed, Mel, stood up, "I believe the two of you don't really know why you're here and why we're doing this. So we're here to fill you in." 

"Wait really?" Iowa asked as she looked enthusiastically. 

"Mhm, but for you to know the truth," she leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands as she looked at the two of them. 

"I'll have to make sure that the two of you will stay committed to the cause at all times and follow a rule of secrecy between you and the people who also know about this." 

Her voice was like that of a mother's. Smooth and gentle, yet the way she talked to the girls felt like they were prepping for an espionage mission. 

"Can I trust the two of you with that?" asked Matilda. Isuzu and Iowa looked at each other as they realised the steaks on which the two will deal with. 

But Isuzu was worried, she could not fully commit herself to the cause despite being the most valuable piece, not before one request for the general. 

Isuzu looked at Iowa's eyes while Matilda noticed the eyes of the two. 

She noticed that Isuzu's eyes were shaking nervously as she looked at Iowa's calm and steady eyes. 

Then she suddenly faced Matilda with her fist tightly clenched and her body stiff as a rod, 

"Please let me make a letter to tell my goodbyes!" said Isuzu as she bowed to show genuine interest in her request. 

The general paused, letting the mist from the girls' cups of tea ooze calmly to join the air. 

Celeste watched the request unfold from afar as she took a sip on her own tea as Isuzu bowed like she was asking for mercy.

The general eventually came up with a verdict in her head as she smiled at Isuzu. 

"Sure, I'll make sure to honour that arrangement as soon as I tell you everything." She calmly said. But as soon as Isuzu heard those words, she raised her head up to see Matilda smiling and in a joyful tone. She thanked the general, Celeste and Iowa took a breath of relief as Isuzu had finally released such a weight in her heart. The general asked Isuzu to sit down and cleared her throat, 

"Alright, now let's start your briefing."