Well, Nora, you've sure done it to yourself this time...
"Listen lady..." The guard growled, continuing his steady pace he had created for some time now. "I've tried to be fair, the boss will be here soon and it'd be lot worse for you if he did the talking...."
Nora scoffed. "You've hardly been 'fair'. This is kidnapping; I've done nothing wrong. I was merely looking for information, and now you Imperials capture me like this??" She still wasn't sure what was going on, exactly---she had been sent by MSSA to find out where that old ninja, Aybabtu, was being held. But instead, she had been captured by these unofficial-looking Imperial soldiers outside of their camp. They didn't even have uniforms!
Not liking her same reply again, he held his hand as if to smack her. Catching himself before he did, he turned and retrieved a leather glove covered with thin metal platings. As he fitted it on his hand, he turned to her and narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to wait much longer... otherwise I'll use force."
Nora's eyes widened. It'd been a while since she was last in the Empire, but the soldiers certainly hadn't seemed so brutish then. Well, she wasn't going to stand for this treatment. And she certainly wasn't going to seduce her way out of it. Nothing to do but stand and take it... "Try it, spanky." she snapped, spitting on his boot.
"Spanky?" The guard repeated angrily as he prepared to inflict some pain. "I'll show you Spanky...!"
Nora cringed, anticipating the blow. But after a few seconds, she looked up again. The guard was turned around, standing at attention at three strangers who had just entered. One in complete armor, the second in strange orange garments, and the last a rather ordinary man wearing very ordinary glasses.
"Kreiser, Kreiser... Tsk tsk," The man with glasses scolded, "Treating our guests like this? You should be ashamed."
Kreiser lowered his eyes, mentally cursing everything that came to mind. "Understood, Glasses. Won't happen again..."
"Make sure it doesn't. Lord Horn, I suppose he has failed to find anything of use from her. I shall investigate her personally." Glasses said. The man in armor simply nodded and dismissed Kreiser. "Now, who are you?"
The man known as Horn stepped forward and nodded to Glasses, "I am Lord Horn. We have taken you in because you were deemed to be a possible intelligence leak in a upcoming mission of utmost importance. Once it is accomplished and if you are deemed to be no threat, you will be released. But if we discover otherwise..."
Nora paled. If they found out she was a spy, it was over. She had to feed them a lie of some sort. "Well, I assure you---" she began, but was interrupted by a commotion from outside the tent.
Several Tents Away...
Kreiser hated Glasses. Always had, especially when he fired him the first time. But even when he was hired again, he still hated him. Being ridiculed by him also made him hate him more. He also hated Sydonia for being more important, but at the moment it was irrelevant in his fit of hatred. As he walked by a tent, a sudden flash and appearance of two strange men went unnoticed by him. The two men also did not notice Kreiser, but they did notice one thing. They had appeared in the worst place possible.
"What the---?" a scrawny man dressed in green and yellow, with untidy black hair held in place by a red handband said confusedly, Where are we?"
The other stranger, a man in an orange jumpsuit so gaudy it's a wonder the entire camp didn't notice him, along with a pointed cap adorned with bangles, replied. "Uhh...well, it's not Antei. The coordinates are right, I think...but...this appears to be some kinda Imperial camp or something. Oopsy."
The man with the red headband appeared to be extremely distressed by this news. "If it is, we'd better hurry out of here, now..."
"Wait, Fitcher..." the man with the pointed hat cautioned. "Maybe we should look around a little first. After all, we're here looking for Nora and Aybabtu."
Fitcher nodded. "All right, Clinker."
They crept behind a few tents, avoiding being seen by any of the men milling around. Strangely enough, none of the men appeared to be wearing Imperial uniforms---odd, for a camp full of Imperial soldiers.
The two intruders made their way to a tent where two soldiers were talking outside, and began eavesdropping.
"I sorta liked working as a bouncer before," One of the guards said, "I'm in this whole thing and all, but you know... the old stuff was not as uhh... dangerous."
The other guard laughed, "Dangerous? That woman is as dangerous as a Bon Bon! She probably wanted to talk to some guy in prison and was lost."
A light went off in Fitcher's brain. These guys had to have Nora! And if they didn't, well, they certainly had someone female who he could rescue. What were secret agents for, after all?
"That's not what I meant!" The first guard retorted, "Besides, I think she's a spy or something... A Kanakan Spy most likely!"
"Kanakan!? You've lost it no-" The guard paused, "Hey... you hear something?"
"Hey, you...jerks! You'd better let...er....that woman....go! Or else..." Fitcher said, jumping out of the bushes.
Clinker followed suit, pointing his staff in the face of one of the guards. "Yeah! What he said."
It belatededly occurred to Fitcher that this might not have been the best course of action, seeing how the rest of the camp not only heard them, but probably outnumbered them too.
The second guard raised an eyebrow, "Uh.... Yeah. Jeez, I'd expect this in a casino, but I even get freaks here!"
"I think they're serious," The second one said as he reached for his sword. "Or really stupid."
Clinker responded to this by clubbing the guard who was reaching for his sword in the shins.
The second guard gritted his teeth as his friend fell to the ground in pain, "Alert! We're being attacked!"
Fitcher pulled out his gun, Bill. "Nobody move!" Hah. He had always wanted to say that. ...Not that it helped matters.
The first one was on the ground still, "Argh... I think the imperials finally got us.... we're finished for... oh the pain...."
Clinker was about to give the moaning soldier a severe nosebleed with his stick, but paused. "Wait...what do you mean, imperials? You're the Imperials!"
The second soldier widened his eyes, but grinned as best as possible, "Yes... of course we are! And you may have a gun... but we can still take you out...! Maybe..."
At this point, Fitcher and Clinker were both thoroughly confused as to just who these people were, and didn't move. Fitcher, however, kept his gun pointed at the soldiers.
Before the crisis could develop anymore though, everything was interrupted as two men exited the tent the guards had been standing at. The man wearing orange regarded the situation, "Heh, I hope we didn't miss any exciting theatricals."
Glasses ignored him, "What's going on here? Who are these two intruders? Why is that guard moaning and whining on the ground!?"
"He...has a leg cramp?" Fitcher offered guiltily. Clinker hid his staff behind his back.
"He has a gun!" The second guard said accusingly to Fitcher.
Fitcher seemed to remember this once again. "...That's right! I do! So stand back, or face its wrath!!!" He pointed it menacingly at the man in glasses, simply because he seemed like the most likely person to girlishly scream and run away, though Fitcher was beginning to doubt this somehow. It did scare the first guard though.
"Enough Sydonia," Horn said as he exited the tent as well, startling Fitcher out of using his gun once more. "Who are you two and why are you here?"
"...We teleported into your camp by accident." Clinker explained truthfully. "We would have left well enough alone, but then we overheard your guards talking about holding someone captive who we're looking for! ...I think."
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Sydonia said. It was not actually true, but there was no reason to point that out.
"Well...is there or is there not a woman inside that tent, there? ....or somewhere in this camp?" Clinker reasoned.
"Yeah, because...we're looking for a woman! In this area! Indeed." Fitcher said. Boy, their argument was certainly falling apart at the seams.
Horn looked at the two incredulously, "A woman, huh? .... what is the name of this 'woman captive' then?"
Fitcher was about to reply when he heard the voice of the very person they were seeking from within the tent. "Fitcher?!! Is that you, out there?"
"Nora!" he called back.
Sydonia frowned, "That was climactic enough, I guess. So, do we tie them up too?"
Tied up? Fitcher thought. They couldn't have that! He'd never save Nora that way, and end up looking like a big doofus again. "I don't think so." he said, pointing his gun threateningly at the man called Sydonia.
"Why doesn't anyone ever back down willingly?" Sydonia thought out loud, not at all hiding his annoyance. To Fitcher's horror, the man rushed at him. With no thought at all, the trigger was pulled and the bullet fired dead on. But it missed the target as Sydonia suddenly vanished before contact, suddenly reappearing beside Fitcher. He grabbed the gun, trying to wrestle it away as another bullet was accidentally fired into the sky. Clinker was detained by two soldiers before he could help Fitcher.
"Stand down!" Horn suddenly shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I have... a better idea for these two instead. Guards, have them brought to my personal tent. Glasses, bring Sydonia and Kreiser along... and our other captive."
******
"Nora, are you okay?" Fitcher said to her, once they were all gathered in Lord Horn's tent.
"I'm fine..." Nora said. "But I'm a bit worried about what's going to happen to us." She whispered, leaning closer to him.
"So, I suppose we're as good as dead then, in the hands of you Imperial dogs." Clinker said sourly.
"In Imperials hands, yes," Horn replied. Sydonia raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. "But we're not the empire."
Nora looked at him with interest. "Come again? Do you mean to say you aren't the Imperial Army?"
"Not at all," Glasses answered, "But for now that is not your concern. From what your captors indicated, you were asking questions about Soniere Prison. And before you answer, we don't think you're just curious tourists."
"Before we answer, I also want clarification. Are you working against the Empire?" Nora pressed.
"My loyalty will always be with the Empire," Horn answered, "... if not with the Emperor..."
Fitcher blinked. What kind of riddle...? But then he suddenly understood. This guy obviously did not think Barbarossa was the greatest leader to ever sit on the throne, and meant to do something about it. "I see, then. Well, we have no love for him either. We're from Jowston, and more specifically, we're looking for a ninja who was unjustly imprisoned by Imperial forces recently."
Horn was silent at that, so Glasses spoke. "Of course you know that we have never liked the City-States. But..."
Clinker quirked an eyebrow. "'But'?"
"But we have someone in there too," Sydonia finished as he reclined, "And I'm guessing this means a temporary alliance, right Kreutz?"
Nora gave Horn an odd look. "Kreutz...? That name sounds familiar..."
"Leave it be, Nora." Fitcher urged. "They're talking alliance, so we won't sweat the details. If they can help us get Aybabtu out..."
Horn glanced at Sydonia with a twinge of anger, but addressed the three others instead, "Alliances indeed. You're ninja friend has been of some importance in recent events. A few of my loyal men have been put in the same prison for some... illegal acts."
"You have a Blinking Rune, correct?" Glasses asked, fixing his attention on Clinker.
"That's right." Clinker replied.
"You saw Sydonia here teleport before," Glasses explained, "He was the original person to be used to sneak us in. But his methods... are different than yours."
"I do it alone," Sydonia said simply.
Clinker glanced at Sydonia with fan-like interest. "Without...runes? Wow, that's gotta be different."
"Sometimes," Sydonia said with a shrug, "Runes make it less tiresome. It's a gift, I guess." Or a curse?
"Boy, that'd be awesome." Clinker said admiringly. He turned his attention back to Glasses. "Er, so, what do we do?"
"Combined with that gun," Glasses continued, "This mission will be easier to pull off then how we originally anticipated. You get your person out, we get ours out. We let you go and this deal doesn't get mentioned again, got it?"
The three agents nodded. "Sounds good to me." Fitcher said.
"Good," Kreiser said, speaking for the first time. "But one of you will have to stay here for security reasons. The teleporter goes and one of you has to go as a gunner."
"I'm the only one who uses this gun." Fitcher made clear. As long as it's bound to my soul, hell if you're getting your hands on it! he added mentally.
"Fine, perhaps we can arrange some more...suitable arrangements for you, this time." Horn said to Nora. He turned to the rest of them. "Glasses will be leading this, so there is no need to give details here. You leave in one hour."
Fitcher was a little reluctant to leave Nora with Horn and his men again, but nodded. "All right, one hour."
"I have one more condition," Nora said with a smirk.
Glasses raised an eyebrow, "And just what is that?"
"I don't want that Kreiser guy guarding me. Will that work?" she said with a wink. "I don't appreciate his 'style'."
Kreiser glared at her sourly, "Consider yourself lucky, babe. I'm going with your pals anyhow."
"Fair enough." Nora said. "And don't call me 'babe'."
"Let's quit while we're still ahead..." Clinker said, leaving the tent.
******
Soniere Prison
After the hour of preparing, getting the needed supplies and slacking off, the group was prepared to leave. Not wanting to risk detection, the five of them walked the distance to the prison. On the way there, Kreiser felt it was important to mention that he hated walking.
"You two weren't given information on this," Glasses said as they gathered around the east wall. "We originally were going to have Sydonia teleport in, steal uniforms and escort us in. Instead Sydonia will simply scout the area so Clinker can teleport us in."
"Sounds good to me. Just give me the word when you're ready." Clinker said.
"How well-guarded is this place?" Fitcher said, slightly daunted by the forbidding structure.
"Let's just say no succesful jail break has ever been pulled off here," Kreiser said smirking, "I've always wanted to break a record like that."
"Bah, let's just hope we don't get stuck in there ourselves," Sydonia retorted as he sized up the wall to teleport.
"Can't be as bad as the one Cats pulled---" Clinker began, but trailed off as Sydonia teleported. "Wow, just like that. What a gift...!"
"More like a pain in the neck," Kreiser said with his arms crossed.
It took no more than a minute before Sydonia returned, "Aha. Not much going over there, the two guards on patrol are out cold. Just teleport us about twenty yards that way."
Clinker nodded, raising his staff. "Gotcha!" There was a blinding flash, and they were in.
Fitcher looked around nervously. "I can't say I've been inside a prison before." Well...that wasn't quite true. "Not a big one like this, anyway..." he amended. Actually, where they were, it didn't look too bad. They appeared to be in an outdoor courtyard of some kind. A few bushes and trees were planted on the edges. He figured the actual prison must be further within.
"The bigger they make something, the more likely someone will come along and mess it up." Kreiser said. "Or something like that, I guess."
"Perhaps," Glasses said as he looked over the two unconscious guards, "Let's see... I guess Kreiser and Fitcher would fit in those uniforms best. Then we'll get some more uniforms."
Fitcher nodded, and grabbed one of the uniforms. He quickly donned it, stuffing his red bandana into his pocket, and hoping his hair didn't look at crappy as it felt. "I feel...naughty."
Clinker winked. "Aww, c'mon. At least this time it's men's clothing."
Kreiser stretched in his new uniform, "A crossdresser...?"
"An isolated incident." Fitcher insisted irritably. "I'm not like that." Clinker snickered.
Glasses adjusted his glasses, "Very amusing. But to business. We need to get some more uniforms to wear. Did you see any other guards nearby, Sydonia?"
"A few were going around the corner as I came in," Sydonia answered as he edged his way over and looked again. "Over there, alone for the most part. There's four of them, if Fitcher or Kreiser could lure them over..."
"Fine, Kreiser is a lousy actor. What about you Fitcher?"
Fitcher looked reluctant. "I'm no actor. But I guess I'm a well-practiced fugitive..." He shrugged. "If I'm gonna do it, you guys get ready to take 'em out when they get here."
"No problem," Kreiser said grinning, "I guess that means no blood, eh?"
"Bah, we'll get rid of them," Sydonia assured, "With or without the bozo's help here."
Fitcher shot Sydonia a glare. "The BOZO? Remember who has the gun here." He stuck his tongue out and crept over to the corner of the corridor. He peeked around it.
Fitcher swaggered casually around the corner, waving to the four guards. They blinked in confusion, obviously not recognizing him.
"Hi, guys!" he said congenially. They stared at him. "Who are...YOU?" asked the guard closest to him. Fitcher searched vainly for a fitting response. "Uh...the new recruit."
"The new recruit? From where?" they asked suspiciously. Fitcher was not that well-versed in the geography of the Empire, and blurted the first place that popped into his head. "S-Sarady."
"Sarady? I don't remember---"
"Uh, gee, I think I left my official paperwork over around the corner. Come...uh...verify it." Fitcher said, scurrying back around the corner, where there was---no one. "Guys??" he said worriedly.
One of the guards looked at him skeptically, "There's nothing here, man."
Before Fitcher could say anything, the guard suddenly went down as Sydonia appeared from above, knocking him out.
"Ack!" Fitcher cried. He wasted no time in clubbing the guard closest to him with the butt of his pistol. Two down.
Kreiser appeared from the bushes, closely followed by Clinker. He made short work of the third guard with some hard hitting punches. Following the same strategy as before, Clinker used his staff to send the last one into a daze. Glasses soon joined them.
"Not bad," Sydonia said as he looked over the guards, "And I was talking about Kreiser earlier, you twit."
"I knew that." snapped Fitcher, attempting to spin his gun back into its holster in a semi-cool fashion, but dropping it on his foot instead.
"Whatever, then Sydonia and Clinker can go ahead and get into uniform now," Glasses said, ignoring Fitcher's accident.
"Ooh, I've been wanting to try this trick for a while now, actually." Clinker cackled. He raised his staff, and in a split-second flash, teleported the guard out of the uniform and onto the floor, while simultaneously teleporting from his own clothing into the uniform. His outfit held its form for a second, then fell limply to the floor. "Cooool." he chuckled.
"Sure, you avoid looking like a total idiot." Fitcher said enviously, rubbing his foot.
"Yes, yes. Very clever," Sydonia said as he finished putting his uniform on, "A waste of magic energy though."
Clinker, pleased with his trick, ignored Sydonia. "So...where to now?"
"Inside. The main entrance is around the corner a bit further." Glasses said, "But first... Sydonia needs to do something about his hair. You wouldn't get past the cadets with that hair."
It was true, Sydonia had neglected to cut his hair since he had came back the Empire. It was long and past his shoulders now. There was not much sentimental value in his hair, it just had not occured to him do it. Taking out his sharpest knife, he did a little trimmings off his hair. "There, how's that?"
"Better, you look good that way," Glasses answered, "We won't need the other two uniforms, so we better be sure to gag them and put them
out of sight. The longer no one knows we're here, the better."
"Wait. You don't have a uniform, though..." Fitcher noted.
"I'm the commanding officer," Glasses replied matter-of-factly, "Most ranking officers are not required to be in uniform."
"But they usually are anyway. I think you're just modest." Clinker accused with a smirk. "Someone's shyyyy..."
Glasses glared at him, but said nothing. Kreiser had finished dealing with the dazed soldiers, "I'll do the talking once we get to the soldiers, the rest of you stay quiet."
Sydonia leaned over to Kreiser, "How good can he act anyhow? We all ready know that you and Fitcher can't act worth anything."
"I heard that." Fitcher said, but wasn't really bothered by it. After all, it was true.
The group of false guards, led by Glasses, walked through the courtyard, and around another bend to the entrance to the interior of the prison---where all the prisoners were actually held. Sitting lazily in a chair in front of the door was a woman. At least, it resembled one that had been in a severe accident. An overweight, bulbous woman, marred with warts and wrinkles and scraggly hair, she sat in a slumped position in the chair. She glanced up at them, and raised a bushy unibrow.
Glasses looked at her hesitantly, "Ah ah... Good day, Ma'am."
The woman licked her puffy lips. "Why, hello. What might your business be?"
"Detachment of guards returning from Antei," Glasses explained, "I'm here to return them to their superior officer and file a report with the Commander."
She raised her unibrow again, and smirked, looking them over perhaps a little too thoroughly. "Returning from Antei?"
"Y... yes, that is right." Glasses replied, "Our papers are in order, you can look them over and we'll go in."
"Your papers aren't all that's in order." she said with a naughty grin. "But...let's see those papers anyway."
Fitcher kept himself from gagging rather loudly, fortunately for the others.
Glasses handed the forged papers over and smiled nervously. Behind him Sydonia shook his head irritably.
She briefly looked over the papers with her beady eyes. "Well, you were right about the papers...but that doesn't excuse the fact that you're lying." She said smugly, leaning back in her chair. It creaked terribly.
Glasses raised an eyebrow, "L-lying? I think I misunderstood. I do not believe I have lied to you..."
The big woman gave them a sad smile. "Come on, now. The men who work here don't even give me the time of day, and wouldn't bother with paperwork. Plus, I've never seen any of your faces before."
"Ha, now why on earth wouldn't they like to be around her?" Kreiser asked sarcastically, leaning over to Clinker as he said it.
Fitcher let out an appalled gasp, and Clinker elbowed Kreiser in the side. The woman, however, had already heard him. She sniffled for a moment, before huge tears ran down her face.
"No, he's right..." she sobbed. "Men don't like me because I'm ugly! My sister gets all the men...Helga always was the pretty one. And plus, she's a nurse and she gets to consort with all the romantic, wounded soldiers and all that! Nobody wants to talk to a vice-warden...especially one like me..."
Fitcher blinked. Helga's SISTER...?
"L-listen, uh, you, we're sorry this guy's such an ass..." Clinker apologized, stepping down on Kreiser's foot, hard.
"It's Olga." the vice-warden sobbed. "And it doesn't matter, because I'm calling Warden MacDuff right now..." She suddenly got up out of her chair.
"W-wait, don't do that!" Fitcher cried.
Glasses had failed to say anything at all during this exchange, so Sydonia stepped forward. "Wait a second. How about we... compromise?"
Olga glared at him suspiciously, wiping at her cheeks with a hankie. "What do you mean? You'll just take advantage of me like all the other jerks."
"Unlike my brick-headed companion here," Sydonia explained, "These other three here are perfect gentlemen. No ruffian jerk soldiers. Despite our uhh... illegal situation here, you'll find our cause is more noble than some others I could mention." Noble? Ha. If you can call lining your wallet that. Sydonia added silently to himself in his thoughts.
Olga couldn't hide the sudden look of interest on her face. "...really? Or is this another lie just so you can get past?"
"You've seen through us already," Sydonia offered with a faked genuine smile, "You think we are foolish enough to do that again?"
"Hmph." Olga said skeptically. "That doesn't mean I should just let you through. But..." She looked over the group again. "Maybe if one of you could stay with me, I'd let the others through. This job gets so lonely..."
Fitcher exchanged a glance with Clinker. Kreiser was out of the question. He didn't know about Sydonia, but Fitcher was certainly feeling his superficial tendencies being eaten away by severe guilt. She seemed like a nice person. SOMEONE had to volunteer...
Kreiser smiled devishly. If ever a time was ripe for revenge, it was now. "Eh.. as apology for that comment, ma'am... I'd like to suggest my pal here." Kreiser tossed a arm around Glasses, "He's more than willing, right?"
Glasses glanced at him, containing his "I will have revenge" look and escaped Kreiser's arms. "Of course. I have no objections about that, I'm sure everyone else knows enough to do fine without me. Besides... I'm out of uniform anyhow."
Olga smiled. "That will do. Although...I think this nice man here will have to tell me just what this noble cause is that you're so worked up about. It sounds...intriguing." She attempted to bat her eyelashes romantically, and motioned for Glasses to take a seat.
Glasses smiled weakly but gathered his composure and turned to Kreiser, "You know the most about what we want done. You know where I'll be." He turned to Olga and sat beside her, "This ah... cause. Where should I start...?"
"Start from the beginning, handsome..." Olga said in a husky voice.
Fitcher, on the other hand, was more than a little worried about being left in the dubiously capable hands of Kreiser, but didn't voice his concerns. "Er...let's go inside, then..."
******
Once inside, the four gathered for an update on what to do. Kreiser addressed them, obviously pleased at his taking over the team. "We're primarily here to bust out our man---Sly---and the ninja man. Both are likely to be on the lowest level of the prison, reserved for the enemies of the empire. There's some other people we expect to see on the way as well, so we'll be getting them out too."
"There's also the fact the guards will be a bit curious when we start randomly releasing the first few people," Sydonia cautioned.
Clinker glanced around. "Y'know, I don't think this place is that heavily staffed. I doubt guards will be too much of a problem..."
"They're here," Kreiser grumbled, "The prison keeps barracks for the guards, this is a place they really don't want people getting into..."
"Uh huh, anyhow. Let's go," Sydonia interrupted, "Unless Clinker here is any good, it seems I'm the only one good at lying."
Clinker shrugged and made his way down the corridor, balancing his staff on his finger as he walked.
The guards paid them no mind as they took the hallway leading to the stairs. It took a moment for Kreiser to figure out the contraption that opened the main entrance door to the dungeon. Having no choice but to leave it open, they continued down the first stairs. A few more rooms and they came to the guard's room.
One guard sat reclining with his feet on the table, two other sat in chairs by each door. Olga seemed to be the subject of their conversation before the group came in.
"Man, dogs look better than that ugly---" one guard was saying animatedly, before stopping as the group entered the room.
"Prisoner Interrogation," Sydonia said simply, aiming to make his point clear and precise. "Once we have the keys, we'll get this over with... and maybe forget those comments when I file my report."
"Who the hell are you, anyway? You don't scare me with your big talk." the soldier spat back at Sydonia.
Sydonia stared at him, then looked away and replied, "I could ask the same of you. But we don't have time for this. Let's not turn this into a brawl, got it?"
"Hah, yeah right. You just can't take me on, wimp." the soldier laughed.
Sydonia quickly grabbed Clinker's staff and proceeded to thwack the soldier in the head before he could react. "I'm going to have to get me one of these. So, do either of you two have the keys then?"
Clinker grabbed his staff back. "Next time, ask." The guards looked daunted. "It's on his belt, there..." They gestured to the unconscious braggart.
Sydonia confiscated the keys and nodded, "Might want to get something for that, by the way. I think I dented the stick."
Clinker frowned at the con artist. "Probably. Maybe I should whack YOU with it to bend it back into shape, eh?"
The guards said no more as the two left. Once out of range, Kreiser swiped the keys from Sydonia and glared, "Nice performance. But let's keep on the mission at hand, ok?"
The group descended one level in the prison, passing cells that were empty and cells that were filled with desperate enemies of the Empire. But nowhere did they see either Sly or Aybabtu.
Then, something caught Fitcher's eye as they walked down the corridor. Inside a cell to his left, sitting in the corner, was an older man, hunched over with his face obscured by his cellmate, who appeared to be a very short fellow in a pointed cap.
"That's Aybabtu...!" Fitcher said, drawing his pistol. "Stand back!" He fired at the lock, breaking it. The sound echoed throughout the prison. In retrospect, he realized that perhaps a bit more discretion might have been in order. That, and the fact that they already had the keys.
Clinker swung open the cell door.
The short man suddenly ran out and laughed, "Ha ha! Freedom! Love may have caused my imprisonment, but it has set me free once more!"
Kreiser and Sydonia turned at the voice and looked at him with eyes widened. "You!"
"Who?" Clinker said in confusion.
The gnome was also shocked to see them. "Who? I am none other than Puttirust Thedorune the Third! These two villains are the cause of my imprisonment! Alas!" Jumping on Kreiser, he knocked the man down on his back. The gnome fled from Kreiser, keys in tow.
"He's got the keys! I'll get 'im!" Clinker said, teleporting away in pursuit of the rogue gnome.
"Gah! The keys! Get back here you runt!" Kreiser growled as he pursued the gnome with Clinker. Sydonia saw no point in it though, there was nowhere else to go but down after all.
Fitcher, however, noticed that the man in the cell was not in fact Aybabtu. He was an older man, but he looked frail and haggard beyond his years, most likely due to his imprisonment. He had matted down gray hair, and blue eyes that had nearly lost their twinkle. He gazed up at Fitcher. "Ohhh...! Did you come to let me out? Is it the Revolution??"
"Close enough," Sydonia answered for him.
"Sorry, I...thought you were someone else..." Fitcher said. The man frowned.
"Well, won't you let me go free, anyway? I can help as long as there's life in these bones." he pleaded.
"Uh...of course. Sure, come along. What's your name?" Fitcher asked.
"Cole. Cole Steele. I've been in there far too long..." he said, standing up slowly.
"Sydonia, Fitcher, Now you know us," Sydonia said as he started after the others, "But we have a gnome to catch."
"Of course." said Cole with a frown. "That annoying gnome hasn't shut up since he got stuck in that cell. I'm about ready to kill him myself."
Fitcher ran down the hall after Sydonia, and Cole followed at his own pace, speeding up as he went.
Several floors down, at the lowest level of the prison, they were met with a battle. Putt, the gnome, had evidently taken the liberty of releasing his 'dear companion'---who happened to be an eight-foot-tall yeti. The yeti had Kreiser pinned up against the wall, ready to brutalize him. Clinker was doing all that he could do to prevent being stabbed. The gnome seemed furious at the teleporter, the large dent in his hat probably had something to do with it.
Fitcher slowed down considerably upon spotting the yeti. "W-what is that thing? His psychotic pet??"
The yeti and gnome turned to him furiously. Putt was not at all happy, "How dare you insult Orcos, my dear companion and survivor of the yetis of Lorimar! Have you no shame?"
"Er...sorry..." Fitcher apologized uncertainly.
"Ignore them," Sydonia mumbled to Fitcher, "They're not as noble as they want to think they are. They completley took over Rikon for their own harem or whatever."
Clinker wasted no time in teleporting behind Putt, and swinging his staff as one would a golf club. "Gotcha, you annoying little dwarf."
Putt was sent tumbling away, colliding into the bars of a prison cell, before he could get up though, a hand suddenly wrapped around him and grabbed the keys away.
"Hmph. Even a non-ninja wouldn't let himself slip like that, gnome. Better luck next time." came Aybabtu's voice as he jingled the keys in his hand, which he quickly withdrew into the cell.
"Aybabtu!" Fitcher exclaimed.
"Don't you forget it." the middle-aged ninja said from within.
The reunion was cut off however, as Kreiser was suddenly thrown by the yeti, colliding into Fitcher and Clinker in a painful chain reaction. Sydonia tried to take advantage of that, but the yeti once more proved his edge with a unexpected backhand that sent Sydonia reeling.
"Ah...well. Tables turn, I suppose." Aybabtu said, observing the smackdown from his cell.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Clinker spoke up from the bottom of the pile. "Aybabtu...get out here...you have the keys!" Aybabtu chuckled. "Oh, so I do." He inserted them in the lock and there was a neat little click. He opened the door, emerged, and shut it behind him.
Hell broke loose once again as the yeti charged at the ninja, but he was prepared this time.
Aybabtu slid to the floor, gliding between the yeti's legs---avoiding the rampaging attack, as well as attempting to trip the beast.
Cole Steele, meanwhile, kept his distance, leaning up against a wall near the stairwell leading back up. It appeared he still hadn't completely regained his strength.
Orcos stumbled, colliding on top of Putt. The yeti quickly recovered, as did the gnome after some prodding from his companion. Puttirust bellowed a war cry about something concerning love, and launched himself at Aybabtu. The yeti walked over to the pileup of warriors, grabbing Kreiser and Fitcher both by their shirt collars and hoisting them in the air.
Fitcher flailed wildly, kicking Orcos in the jaw. Aybabtu, meanwhile, was prying the maddened gnome off of his person, or at least trying to.
Though it seemed to not be having much effect, Puttirust was in much better health than Aybabtu was, who had not received as much nourishment since his imprisonment. After several more kicks from both Kreiser and Fitcher, the yeti bellowed a roar and smashed the two into each other. Dropping them, he rubbed his now aching jaw.
Clinker picked himself up off the floor, and tossed Aybabtu his staff, who proceeded to use it as a lever to get Puttirust off.
Growling furiously, Orcos produced the leg from the bed in one of the empty cells. All of them still in pain, they were barely able to duck and dodge the yeti's flailing attacks. Because of his show-off ways, Kreiser failed to avoid some of the blows.
"All right, you big...hairy...thinger..." Fitcher grumbled, pulling out his gun. He aimed the gun, but the yeti evidently anticipated that the instrument meant no good. He lunged for the pistol and Fitcher fired, nailing him in the shoulder. Enraged, Orcos howled in pain and ripped the gun out of Fitcher's hands, nearly taking his whole arm with it!
Dammit, that's MY soul. Fitcher thought, annoyed. Why did everyone insist on taking it away from him??
Putt and Aybabtu were distracted momentarily by the shot. The yeti was all ready turned around and going for Aybabtu. The ninja and gnome were quick to recover, but the ninja was now cornered between the two. There was little choice in who to pay attention to, but the sudden appearance of Sydonia on the yeti's back made the choice easier. A quick whack in the head to the gnome left him out of the fight.
The con artist attempted to choke the yeti, but was thrown off. Clinker's staff hit him hard in the back of the head, which was ripped out of the ninja's hands and was used to toss an attacking Kreiser across the hallway. A few more blows hit the yeti (and many more hit his human attackers), before the yeti's knees hit the stone. In exhaustion, Orcos finally tumbled over unconscious.
By that time, Putt had recovered slightly and ran over to his much, much larger companion. He growled at them and held up an Escape Talisman (stolen from Kreiser presumably), "This is not the end! All of you will suffer for this, so says I, Puttirust Thedorune!" A moment later they were gone.
Fitcher rubbed his painfully throbbing cranium, and retrieved his pistol from the floor where Orcos had dropped it.
He cast Sydonia a look. "Who WERE those two??"
"Not anyone you want to meet again," Sydonia answered.
Kreiser shot a glare at Fitcher, "Real good thinking letting him out! Ach... I'm hurting in places I didn't know I had..."
"Oh, like this is MY fault! I only let out the little one! It was an innocent mistake! I..." Fitcher raged, before stopping himself. His excuses were starting to sound like Fallout Frank's.
"Well, at least we got Aybabtu out..." Clinker said. Aybabtu nodded, a look of pride on his face. "Of course!" he said. "Ninjas fix everything."
Sydonai cast a look at the ninja, "So that old man's him? Heh, I figured he would have retired ten years ago."
Aybabtu leveled a look of extreme contempt at Sydonia. "WHO are you calling OLD?!! I ought to..."
The ninja paused. "Wait...haven't I seen you somewhere...?" His eyes flashed with rage. "Ryu!!! You're that guy who conned the entire hamlet of Rokkaku!! You shamed the whole village!"
Sydonia shrugged nonchalantly, "I think I remember that. Wasn't a big deal though, I barely made a thousand bits on the whole thing."
Aybabtu lunged towards Sydonia. "I swore on the Code of the Ninja that I'd strangle you, you little money-grubbing weasel!!" Clinker restrained the livid old man. "Wait...Code of the Ninja??"
"Indeed." Aybabtu said haughtily. "Code of the Ninja, Part One, states: 'If ever the entire village is shamed by an individual, that individual must be strangled.'"
"That sounds...kinda hokey..." Fitcher said uncertainly. Aybabtu reconsidered.
"Although...Part Two states: 'If ever an individual helps any ninja defeat an eight-foot yeti in prison, he shall be welcomed with open arms.'" Aybabtu recalled. It all sounded very made up to Fitcher, but as long as he wasn't bent on killing Sydonia anymore, it seemed okay.
"I think Hanzo was right," Sydonia grinned wickedly, "Only I think you lost it before you ever got it."
"Don't make me break my oath, you long-haired galoot. I am still a ninja, the Greatest in All Rokkaku, and I shall beat you into submission if need be." Aybabtu vowed dangerously.
Clinker motioned to Kreiser. "Uhh..can't this wait? You guys still have to bust out this Sly dude, anyway..."
"Ah... yes. Of course," Kreiser answered, "Aybart... err... ninja man, you have the keys still, right?"
Aybabtu glared at Sydonia, and then smiled cheerfully at Kreiser. "Indeed I do. Who wants them? If it's Ryu there, it'll cost ya."
"Aybabtu..." Fitcher said.
"Fine." the ninja pouted, chucking the keys to Kreiser.
"Are you all going further on?" Cole inquired.
Sydonia still kept his grin as Kreiser caught the keys and went on ahead. The con-artist considered some gloating, but followed instead.
"I'll wait here for you to come back. And I'll watch for guards." Cole remarked as Fitcher, Clinker, and
Aybabtu followed the con artist. "Although with all the racket that yeti made, I'm surprised the whole complex isn't breathing down our necks already..."
As they neared the cell at the very end of the hallway, they heard a melodious harmony on some small wind instrument. Sitting apparently oblivious to his rescuers and the prior brawl, sat a peculiar man reclined on a bed. His eyes obscured by some dark tinted glasses, his head adorned with a odd black top hat covering his long, stringy dark hair. He was dressed in a long, dull grey trenchcoat that was worn and dirty by his stay in prison.
Not until the key entered the door did his music stop and he looked up. "Ah, about time. I was getting bored in here."
"Is...this the guy you're looking for?" Clinker asked Sydonia.
"That's right," Kreiser said, answering instead of Sydonia. "Screw-Loose Yancy, though everyone calls him Sly."
"He sure is an odd fellow." Aybabtu remarked, oblivious to the stares he got moments later from Fitcher and Kreiser.
Sly ignored Aybabtu and bowed, "That's right. So you were the ones making that noise out there I suppose? Ah well. I have to say I'm surprised to be picked up by an ex-employee of Horn and all of these new faces... Ah well. Then it's best we get to the task at hand, no?"
"Right, Glasses should be ready." Kreiser agreed.
"Good, this prison atmosphere is depressing." Sydonia commented sourly.
"Nonsense, you fit right in." Aybabtu remarked sarcastically.
"Excuse me! Uh, you people down there, er, we have some---hey, get your hands off me!" Cole's voice floated down the corridor.
"Soldiers, crap!" Fitcher cursed, running back down the hall. Clinker and Aybabtu followed.
Sly glared at Kreiser, "I can see everything went to plan."
******
Olga escorted Glasses into the warden's office. He had been able to convince her, for the most part, that they were a very worthy cause. Or at least, better than any other ones that could be found anywhere in the region of most of the empire either. Glasses' mannerly personality probably had something to do with it as well.
That, and the fact that Olga seemed somewhat smitten with Glasses.
The warden was a man of average height, a bit stocky, and seemed to be closing in on going completley gray. Though at the time only his mustache, beard and the sides of his hair were gray. He was dressed in a typical Imperial uniform reserved for officers ranking above lieutenant. His expression was stern, but he appeared to be discontent underneath his strict Imperial appearance.
Olga approached him. "Warden MacDuff...this nice man would like to speak with you."
"That's lieu.... ach, nevermind..." He grumbled, "Very well then. I am Paldor MacDuff, the warden here as you probably gathered. So what have you to say?"
Olga gave Glasses an encouraging smile and a not-very-discreet wink and gave him the floor.
"It is quite obvious that you are not at all satisfied with your place here," Glasses stated bluntly, "After long years of dedicated service with no payback in return, not even reaching so much as the rank of Commander. You need not deny it though, it's true isn't it?"
MacDuff sat down in the chair behind his desk and regarded Glasses evenly, "Straight to the point, hm? Yes, you're right about that. What are you getting at?"
"Of course, your promising career ended after the Succession War, right?" Glasses continued, not waiting for his reply. "Even though you were loyal, whether Geil Rugner was in power or when Barbarossa took over. But not Drantar, your brother was loyal to Geil Rugner. His traitorous deeds, even after death, are carried by you."
MacDuff looked to Olga angrily, "What is this nonsense? Why are you bringing people like him in? It's stuff like this that got Cats executed, remember?"
Olga cringed. "I only want you to be happy, sir...we both know neither of us are satisfied here, and you've always treated me well, even if the rest of the men haven't..." She then continued with the magic words she knew he wanted to hear. "You deserve much better."
MacDuff sighed and reclined in his seat, "You're right.... As always. It's true, most of the soldiers take after everyone else in the empire. I should be guarding the borders! Bah, I should be leading soldiers into the battles with South Window! If my brother hadn't..."
Glasses narrowed his eyes, "He would have... should have won. You would be of high ranking... and the States would not be such a thorn in our side. I only knew your brother through my father, Assam - the strategist for Geil Rugner. I know... the last general, Kreutz knows your as talented as he was. Perhaps more so in your age now."
MacDuff raised an eyebrow, "You're talking rebellion? Are you mad! That's what put me in this position to begin with!"
"Of course they wouldn't go about it like Cats Delacorte, sir..." Olga said with a frown. "He was mad, after all. But he was hailed as a hero in the end, remember? That may have seemed like a trick of the press, but...you too could be like that. A hero of the people!"
"Rebellions are popping up all over the empire. None are worth much mention yet, except for one that is beginning now. For the last two decades it has been in planning and now the time is right."
MacDuff frowned, "So you say, how do I know you aren't just a bunch of people who just got mad and decided to wage war?"
"Because Glasses is TRUE BLUE!!!" Olga gushed dreamily.
Glasses's jaw dropped, but before he could continue a guard suddenly entered the room, "Warden! We have just caught four intruders - accompanied by three escaped criminals."
"Yours, I suspect?" MacDuff said as he narrowed his eyes at Glasses.
Before either Olga or Glasses could say anything another guard rushed in. "Warden...! We have soldiers surrounding the front gates! I can't tell who they are, but they aren't friendlies!"
Olga raised her unibrow, and smirked. "Oho, you're a better planner than I thought. You're even more attractive now." She batted her eyelashes at Glasses, jiggling with mirth.
MacDuff was silent as he stood and turned, looking out the window that overlooked the front gates. He promptly burst out laughing, "This is the most excitement I've had since the war! Is Kreutz down there?"
Glasses nodded silently.
Olga shivered with excitement. "Oooooh, a famous general, too! How marvelous! How romantic! Besieged! Ohhh, Helga would be soooo jealous~!" She swung Glasses around, ecstatic.
"I'm willing to talk then," MacDuff replied grinning, hardly noticing Olga in her excitement. He looked to the two soldiers, "Send for their leader and have him brought here. Olga, see to it our new 'prisoners' are properly looked after."
Olga went back to business, but still could not contain her excitement. "Yes, sir!"
******
The group of intruders sat together in the guardroom, under the watchful eyes of several soldiers. Taking no chances, the guards had not only disarmed them all, but had tied them up as well. Cole, Aybabtu, and Sly were roped together, and Kreiser, Clinker, Fitcher and Sydonia were roped together in another corner of the room.
"If only I hadn't shot the wall. We could've escaped." Fitcher sighed.
"The whole thing's bungled now," Kreiser grumbled, "Going back under Lord Horn was a bad career move..."
"Happens to the best of us, sometimes." Aybabtu lamented. "We were so close, too."
Sydonia shrugged, "Oh well, I guess this means I won't get paid when I escape. Guess that means it's back on the road again for me."
"ExCUSE me? What makes you think you're escaping, you---" Aybabtu raged, but was interrupted as Olga and Nora entered the room.
"Nora! Is Horn here?" Fitcher asked eagerly.
"What's going on??" the guards demanded.
"Untie them, now. Warden MacDuff's orders." Olga said smugly.
Confused, the guards did what they were told.
Kreiser looked around, "Where's Glasses?"
"He's with the Warden, and ...Lord Kreutz." Olga bragged, as if the gods themselves had arrived.
"Well well..." Sly mused, "Things worked out after all. Great. Please do fill us in on what happened."
"I'm not sure what all is going on here, but it appears that this Lord Horn of yours has had some kind of negotiations with the warden here." Nora said. Olga nodded. "That's right." She proceeded to explain in detail the agreement.
"Wonderful. At this rate I'll be sipping Kanakan Wine at sunset," Sly said happily.
"So, Fitcher...what happened to all of you? I see you're all dressed up." Nora asked.
"Heh, yeah, don't I look great in uniform?" Fitcher chuckled with a wink. "So yeah, we..."
Fitcher proceeded to tell of getting in, Glasses going with Olga, getting past the guards and so forth. He tried to make his blowing the jail door open sound less foolish, but Kreiser was quick to amend that fact. He mentioned Orcos and Putt, the fight, getting Sly and Aybabtu out. Then finally getting overwhelmed by soldiers and how they ended up there. "... and that's what happened."
"Somehow it sounds less exciting hearing it that way," Kreiser noted unhappily.
"You made me sound old." Aybabtu grumped.
"I'm not a bard," Sly corrected.
"Actually Putt was a gn... ah forget it." Sydonia added, "They have to be done by now, don't you think?"
"Tell it yourself, next time, then." Fitcher said. He turned to Nora. "There wasn't enough time to mention quite a few of my manly feats, but you get the idea."
"Right." she said with a smile. She turned to Sydonia. "We may as well check."
"Not neccessary," Glasses said as he entered among them, "Everything has gone over well. Fitcher, Clinker, Nora.... the three of you are free to go as you wish at anytime."
"Ahem." Aybabtu grumbled. "I can see when I'm not appreciated."
"You can come with us, of course." Clinker said.
"And you Master Ninja," Glasses replied, "You must forgive me since we have not yet met."
"Er...may I ask you a favor, my boy?" Cole asked, seemingly appearing from nowhere. Fitcher nearly jumped across the room---that quiet man startled him! "You are a Blinking Mage, correct?"
"Yeah, I am. Why?" Clinker asked.
"I'll explain outside..." Cole requested. Clinker nodded, and he, the old man, and Nora left the room.
Paldor and Kreutz soon entered after the three left. The warden looked to Olga with a grin, "Well that's that. Say hello to Soniere Castle, Vice Commander."
Olga clapped her meaty hands joyously. "Ohhh, that's wonderful! I can't believe it!" She glanced over at Glasses. "And yet...as happy as this makes me, I can't just stay around here forever."
For an intriguing moment, Fitcher thought she was about to say that she was going to remain with Glasses. "I'm going to strike out on my own again, I think..." Olga said dreamily. "I'll visit my sister in Radat, and then go wherever destiny takes me!" Okay, so Fitcher was wrong---partially.
Before he could object, Olga leaned over and planted a kiss on Glasses' face. "Goodbye, my pumpkin pie~!" she said. She walked out the door with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. "Mmm, pumpkin pie..." Fitcher heard her say as she walked down the corridor to freedom.
MacDuff was at a loss for words. But there was something Glasses had to say. Privately to Kreiser at least. "If this didn't work out so well, I would KILL you..."
"You're just heartbroken," Kreiser taunted wickedly.
"Ah, young love..." Aybabtu said, oblivious of the circumstances.
Paldor sighed, "A shame, she was a hard worker. She will be missed though."
"She's a good person. It must run in the family." Fitcher agreed.
Sly raised an eyebrow, "This is all nice and such. But I have some hard work to do, I'm still waiting on my subject to design. I would suggest everyone else do the same." Not waiting for a reply, Sly wandered off to get to work, not sparing any gratitude on the way.
"Well, I'm sure the others are waiting, and your business is done here, is it not?" Aybabtu prompted. Fitcher nodded. "Well, I'm glad it worked out for you, Glasses. You too, Sydonia, Kreiser."
Sydonia grinned, "Heh, it was fun. Except for the getting shot at. And having those two freaks released."
"Freak?!" Aybabtu misinterpreted. "You are testing my patience, you big-mouthed---"
"He meant someone else." Fitcher said nervously. "Let's go."
He and the ninja exited the prison.
"Sydonia, Kreiser." Kreutz said once the two had left, "It will be a while before the prison will be able to house our own soldiers in addition to theirs. Return to the casino with Sly, he'll be in charge until further notice. Glasses, MacDuff and I have things to do here.
"Heh, yeah sure." Sydonia agreed.
******
Outside of Soniere, it was getting late. Fitcher and Aybabtu joined Cole, Nora and Clinker outside the front gates. Kreutz's troops were patrolling, but they ignored the spies and their companions.
"Fitcher..." Clinker said, approaching him. "This guy wants us to find his wife. He says he hasn't seen her in years. What should I do? We have no idea where this woman is." Fitcher considered.
"Does he have any idea where she might be?" Clinker shrugged. They walked over to the old man.
"Excuse me...Cole..." Fitcher said. "Uh, I know you've been in prison and all, but would you have any idea where we might find this wife of yours?" Cole nodded.
"When I last saw Magnolia, we were living in Gregminster. Then I went on a trip to Rikon, and got caught up in that stupid 'Cats' scandal. I was framed by the Imperials! They accused me of treason, locked me up, and threw away the key! Injustice!" Cole raged.
"...Magnolia, you say??" Fitcher said. "You know, I think I might have met her recently. Yes, I'm almost sure of it. If I'm right, she's still in that area. Clinker, I think we can manage to take him back to his wife, don't you?"
"I don't mind helping him." Nora noted. "Aybabtu, you're not bound to stay with us, however. Are you coming along, or heading off on your own?" The middle-aged ninja considered.
"I may as well stick around for a spell." he replied finally.
"Okay, then." Clinker said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I hate to admit it, but I think that Sydonia was probably right. I've been using my rune quite a bit in a short amount of time, and I'm honestly a little exhausted. But...I can manage taking all of you to Arlus, at least. With a little rest there, I'll be back to tip-top shape again!"
"Shall we be off?" Nora suggested. "We've no more business here."
"Of course." Cole said. "Ah, to see Magnolia again...."
"Get together everyone...okay, here we go!" Clinker said, and the group vanished from the field.
******
"I must say, what brought you to bring a force to attack the prison?" Glasses inquired later when he met alone with Kreutz. "It was only considered a last resort, after all."
"Ah... that.." Kreutz said slowly, "We found a gnome and wounded yeti escaping the prison. We held them for awhile where the gnome retold the battle. From what we gathered, it would be a miracle if you somehow you weren't all captured. but on to more important things. I want a report on those two, no more information was gained from the woman."
"I took the liberty of doing some information gathering on that Aybabtu," Glasses answered warily, "The Imperial Records report him as being an accomplice of State spies. There was not much else to add, but the source is not the best."
"Oh?"
"A sub-report, filed by Kraze Miles," Glasses finished. "The main report was filed by a 'Pearl Lione' of the Imperial Guard, but it was under review by Lady Windy, and her information could not be obtained."
"Likely exaggerated. But the ninja's rescuers weren't your normal band of heroes," Kreutz noted, "What about that gun?"
"Howling Voice Design, Sly was able to confirm it as well. But Fitcher's accent is not remotely Harmonian," Glasses answered, "It could have been masked, though I find that unlikely. He also seems to match up with the 'spy' that was being executed at the same time of the ninja's imprisonment at Gregminster. At least so far as being equipped with a gun and being from the States. Unreliable or not, Commander Miles probably had it right this time."
"This is not good," Kreutz warned, "The Empire still knows little so far, but the States getting involved is almost as bad."
"Moravia will keep them out, like always," Glasses replied coolly, "Even so, the mercenary bands you hired will remedy that problem, it's only a few days until the scheduled attack."
