"I am so sorry about this Demigod James," the Principaility in charge of the man who'd attempted to arrest me for being myself said again. "So, so sorry. I will make sure that Paladin- er Knight Yarrick is punished suitably."

"No worry," I told her waving my hand as I dragged the unconcious man behind me on my way to Ichika's office. "I've already taken care of it."

"I must insist sir," she said. "Refusing to at least confirm your identity using readily available methods like his Cyber is something he should have been warned about avoiding."

"It's fine," I assured her with a smile. "I've already made the appropriate marks in his personnel file. All I need officers like you to do with him is make sure he uses his own toothbrush."

"And that he's not afraid of using elbow grease when he's working," Carrie chimed in as she continued to play with my helmet.

"That's true," I agreed as we stepped into the building that Ichika's office was in.

"You two," I called out to a pair of Nephilim standing guard. "Come here and take this man to the infirmary. Make sure to tell the doctors that he's likely got a concussion."

With nods, the two of them moved over to pick the unconcious man up before nodding to me and moving toward the medical area of the base.

"I see you're still not above cracking the skulls of the enlisted," a woman called out. "I just hope he actually deserved it this time."

"Good to see you too, Haruna," I smiled at the severe woman who's face was one twitch away from scowling at all times while on duty. Off duty, she was the kindest person you'd ever meet, but most only saw her when she was on duty and that had given her the unfortunate reputation of being a raging bitch.

"Haru," Carrie waved at her with a smile. "I told you to send me messages and updates about you and Julio while you were so far away! Why do I have to vist you before you send anything back?"

"I've been busy," the half-Japanese woman defended herself as she gracefully approached us. "Julio has been even busier since reaching Horseman. If it wasn't for all the work that needs to be done, I'd have made him take a break a decade ago."

"Well, we just stopped in for a quick 'hi' and to drop off two Galaxy-Jumpers full of ships and fresh troops," I said. "Cai should be sending the data to your Cyber now."

"Thank you," she said with a small smile. "That will be very helpful while we expand further into this galaxy. What's this about sending Warden races back to the galaxies they belong in?"

"Oh you got to that already?" I asked. "I went back to the Milky Way because I decided to do things differently for myself going forward. Andromeda was well in hand and I had spent most of it directing from the backline watching over a special item and the team in charge of it. I was going to need more troops for what I had in mind, but when I got back home the Solar Empire, Alliance of Galaxies, and Wardens of Life had decided to stop playing nicely with one another. I had to end that fight by force, and then I decided that we'd accelerate our projected timeline that they'd all be sent back home. We'll still clear the galaxies of Scourge, but now we're bringing the native races back to where they belong as soon as we can rather than waiting for the galaxies to be cleared."

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"I also see a Founder's Order in here," she said. "What's that about?"

"Likely something we'll never have to implement," I told her. "We're expecting the Scourge extermination to take at least ten thousand years and that's when the whole thing will be needed."

"Very well," she nodded. "Will you be staying long?"

"Only for tea at the most," I told her. "I promised Carrie that I'd let her have a minute to catch up with you."

"Wonderful," Haruna gave a full smile and turned her natural beauty on me before linking arms with Carrie and all but dragging the other woman away as they began to chat and catch up.

"She still has your helmet," Bunny said to me.

"She does," I nodded.

"Are you going to do anything about that?" she asked.

"I'll have Cai ask Touka to remind her," I said. "How're you and Rex settling into your new duties as Wing?"

"Great," she assured me. "Having three years to train with Sarah and Carrie was really helpful in getting it all under control."

"That's good," I said. "Let's find some food. Maybe a sparring ring. Carrie and Haruna tend to talk a lot, makes sense when I remember that they're the same age."

"They are?" Bunny asked, confusion coloring her voice. "I thought Principality Ichika was younger."

"That's just her heritage," I told her. "I thought she was fourteen when I first met her. That was a conversation I still laugh about sometimes. She got so pissed at me."

"We're back," Bunny said as we stepped onto the bridge of the Phoenix's Wings. "Did you miss us?"

"Always," Micheal told her. "How was it?"

"Pretty funny," she said. "Rickshaw beat the hell out of a Paladin so hard he was demoted, and then he told me funny stories about when he was first meeting Principality Ichika."

"In my defense," I spoke up, "that guy had it coming. I identified myself and he still tried to arrest me."

"Oh good," Benjamin laughed nervously. "I was worried that you were going to start making a habit of that and Mike and I were in danger."

"No you're fine," I assured him as I took my seat from Sarah. "We're done here though, so let's get to it and head where Cai marked for us."

"Where's Carrie?" Sarah asked.

"Shower," I answered. "She didn't wear armor while planetside, so she got soaked by all the rain."

"Was it as bad as it seemed?" Benjamin asked.

"Nah," I told him.

"Much worse," Bunny said at the same time.

"It wasn't that bad," I insisted.

"It rained over half of the dome," Bunny said. "The other half had to use shades and solar panels to cut down on the heat, and it still didn't work great. Most of the civilians were napping."

"I'd nap too if it was that hot then," I said. "I'd probably work through the night to make up for the time spent."

"Workaholic," Bunny scoffed before turning to Micheal and Benjamin. "We ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am," Micheal said.

"All systems show expected operation parameters," Benjamin said.

"Then let's go," Sarah said. "If we're quick enough we might knock Carrie down while she's in the shower."

"I'd rather not have my second in command in the infirmary for a head injury," I said. "Be sure and make the proper announcements."

"Will do sir," Benjamin told me before beginning the final checks and making that announcement, patching in the starships coming with us as well.

"Let's see if we can't find the trail of these Children of Hyn'bel," I said. Our pseudo-creator, I added silently.