NationStates Jolt Archive

Losinkov grimaced at the slight metallic "click" of his rifle's selector lever dropping into semiautomatic. He heard no similar noise from Dmitriev's TRG-42, but knew the weapon was ready to fire anyways as the man sat with one leg folded under him, the other bent, bent over sharply with the forestock of the rifle locked into his forward leg's shin by one hand, looking into the optic upside-down. Prone and just behind Dmitriev and to his left, Losinkov shouldered his rifle, admiring the ability of the older man to maintain such a shooting position. Excellent from the camouflage perspective, as any man spotting the silhoutte would have a hard time recognizing it as a man, for it would appear to have no head.

The reconnaissance element crept around the side, and through his optic Dmitriev saw, and quietly told Losinkov of, the KLA fighters. Uncautious and uncaring of whom they disturbed, the KRG had already bumped into the KLA - generally in larger groups, they attempted to intimidate. In smaller groups, they attempted to convert KRG men to their side, or hide from the KRG. None of their actions so far had been understanding of the KRG, considering the partisans to be "ideologically weak," even calling them "cowards" once, which had started a brutal melee that ended in the deaths of three KLA fighters, beaten to death in a forest by an enraged woodsman with the blunt end of a hatchet. Now their standing orders were to bypass, but if that was not possible, to eliminate. Due to the steep ravine, bypassing was not an option - the KRG was totally unwilling to risk becoming trapped in such restrictive terrain as that wooded over ravine.

The TRG-42 barked sharply, a .338 round toppled one KLA man, blowing his upper back into red ruin as his internal organs translated into red mist and gore. The scout element opened fire from a skirmish line on the KLA's left, rifles barking rapidly in a steady cadence of semiautomatic fire, killing more fighters. They died unaware of where the enemy fire came from, unobservant university ideologues that they were, and one died firing in vain at a large birch tree. Shaking his head in disbelief, Losinkov turned to check his - and his partner's - "back one-eighty."

KLA bodies were policed for weapons and ammo. Interestingly, a number of RPD light machineguns were discovered. Unfortunately, no SVD rifles, an item that the KRG were eager to get their hands on without taking the risk of engaging the Kilrany. A badly wounded survivor, before his quietus, was asked as to where these arms came from - apparently, the Kilrany hadn't located all of existing ammunition and weapon caches. Not missing a beat, the Kamysh-clad soldier pressed the rigid fingers of his left hand against the eyes of the wimpering mathemetics student, in a voice as cold as a blade in winter, inquiring as to where any RPGs could be had.

He asked again. The mathemetics student protested, coughing up blood intermittently, that he didn't know; "-didn't know, why, if you're on our side, are you doing this to us?"
"Because," came the cold response, "you decided to be impractical." An AK-74 pattern bayonet quickly slid through the gristle at the base of the brain stem, severing the spine from the brain and ending life instanteously. One small mercy. It was wiped clean on a patch of clean denim, resheathed.

The KRG moved on through the forest towards their new destination, now at a quicker pace to put distance between themselves and the site of the abrupt firefight. In the light of the pale-trunked birch primeval forest, Losinkov and Dmitriev resumed the lead position.

Yves fixed his tie, and repositioned his peak cap as the crew finalized their preparations. Then the game begun.

"I wouldn't say tention. It is expected to rub sholders in these kind of situations where a foreign power comes in to help, when really the soldiers of the Kilrany nation would rather handle the situation on their own. Now this Princess Tamara Golobayev is no different. We as Rangers or peacekeepers as more commonly called, have the duty and responsiblity to ensure the saftey of every citizen. But it is clear that this is impossible when people begin to shoot as us. I am not sure where you get your information, but we have officials from the Kilrany military coming to smooth out this issue with myself."

For the reporter the General’s response was not terribly surprising to him, attempting to put a good spin on the situation, although he figured it was possible his words were true. Although some first hand accounts from witnesses indicated the situation was much more tense then what the General here was implying, they could have been mistaken. He wasn’t here to judge however.

The mention though that the Kilrany were sending more personnel to deal with the situation peaked the reporter’s interest, “Are you aware General that this discovery of Princess Tamara is the first time anyone has even heard word on the condition of a member of our royal family since the surrender order was given by our government? On another note, are you aware who the Kilrany are sending to discuss this situation?”

"Well first I did know that see had not been seen for some time as I read it in a briefing before I accepted this command." He general smiled. It was true, but had not come to his mind abuot this girl. His job was to ensure the safety of the people not look for a missing girl. "As for who they are sending, I don't think I am at the liberty to say." Yves shifted his weight from his left leg to right, then fixed the cuffs on his jacket.

The reporter raised an eyebrow out of curiosity as the General avoided his second question, unlike in Kilrany; the Khurzav knew little of 5th Division. Believing them to be some form of Special Forces, like the British SAS, they didn’t know that 5th Division’s authority was more sweeping within Kilrany then the Russian KGB and GRU combined.

However since he figured he wasn’t likely going to get a better answer from the General, he decided to move on with his interview, “Do you intend to hand Tamara over to the Kilrany, General? If not do you plan to hold her here for an extended period of time?”

-----

Major Byko shuffled impatiently in the passenger seat of the UAZ, he didn’t like having to wait for the arrival of 5th Division, and almost subconsciously he checked his watch. His attention was drawn to the vehicle's radio however when it suddenly blared to life.

“Major Byko, are you there sir?”

He quickly lifted up the receiver and acknowledged his presence to the voice on the other side, one he recognized as belonging to a soldier on duty in the Kilrany communications building.

“I’m here Corporal, what do you have?”

A few moments earlier Byko had contacted the communications building to have them check with the local air defense command center and get a track on the 4th Division aircraft that was supposed to be bringing in his 5th Division guests, and give him a general direction and ETA.

“Southeastern air control indicates they have a 4th Division aircraft on their boards, transponder identifies it as an MI-17 coming in from almost due West. They estimate it will be over head in about two minutes.”

Byko grumbled slightly, they aren’t wasting any time, that’s for damned sure, “Acknowledged, thank you Corporal,” with that he replaced the radio’s receiver and looked over towards his driver.

Gesturing with his left hand he addressed the soldier next to him, “Right then, take us over to the Western side of this damned base and when you see a chopper, keep up with it.”

The soldier gave a quick yes sir reply and kicked the vehicle into gear, the second UAZ quickly following behind.

The General laughed, then came back to his serious face in a snap.

"Well we don't know at this moment. Thats the purpose of these gentlemen flying in, to reach some kind of terms. If nothing is achieved then yes, for her saftey we will be holding on to her I would think. Much of these new developments have still to be looked over back in our nation by my superiors."

Taken off guard by the Genera’s sudden switch the reporter just stood there for a moment looking at the Delesian officer, temporarily at a loss for words. Fortunately for him the General was speaking, so he was able to collect himself by the time the man finished.

“That will be good news then General, the Kilrany have not always been kind to their prisoners as history has shown,” the reporter choose to change the tone a bit so he asked more mainstream question, “What do your men think of Khurzav and their time here so far General?”

As the reporter awaited a response the faint sound of a helicopter approaching could be heard in the distance.

-----

It wasn’t hard for Byko to hear the loud rhythmic thumping of the large MI-17 over the sound of the UAZ’s engine as it approached the base, he pulled himself slightly out of the vehicles open passenger window to try and get a better look.

His first visual on the helicopter was as the large bird flared backwards, drastically lowering its speed as it came in over the base fifty meters off the ground and cycling almost ninety degrees to its right. Dropping back into the passenger seat he gestured with his hand for the driver to follow.

Byko slammed back into the seat as the driver accelerated rapidly to try and catch up with the helicopter, the following vehicle doing the same just to keep up. The vehicle swung wildly to the left as the driver avoided a pair of Kilrany soldiers who had almost walked out in front of them as they rounded a curve.

With obvious skill the large helicopter continued in at a relatively low speed and began to come in for a landing in a currently unoccupied parade ground. Before the aircraft had even fully hit the ground the eight man 4th Division air assault section quite literally assaulted out of the helicopter, quickly taking up positions as if they had landed in a potentially hot landing zone, however their weapons were not raised.

Fully grounded the pilots began the shut down procedure, powering down the aircraft as the four 5th Division operatives exited the aircraft, instinctively keeping their heads down. The only visible difference between them and the actual 4th Division soldiers was the lack of heavy combat gear or a primary weapon.

Byko’s driver didn’t hesitate as he came into view of the parade grounds and took the vehicle straight out towards the aircraft, only stopping a good twenty meters away. Byko was already exiting the vehicle as it came to a complete stop,

He was about to head over but he stopped near the front of the vehicle, the four ‘men’ came jogging over towards him, the lead soldier was the only one to address Byko, clearly identifying himself as male, “Take us to the General.”

Byko gave a quick short nod of his head in acknowledgement and turned on his heel, quickly moving back towards the lead UAZ and climbed back in the passenger seat. The four 5th Division operatives wordlessly split into two, and each pair climbed into the back of each vehicle. Byko quickly gave the command to the driver and they were quickly on there way again.

It was only when the helicopter had fully powered down that the 4th Division section stood up from their kneeling positions and went into more casual stances, not sure how long they would be here, they didn’t go far from their helicopter.

Yves heard the roar of the engine of helicopter as it neared the base and looked up at it as it came into view. Then looked back at the reporter.

"What do my men think? Well some want to go home, but thats to be expected we have been here for a while, I think in the near future we will be switching the regiments unless thee is no more need for us here. Other then that they think its fine. There hasn't been too many problems since we arrived." Then the General spotted the two UAZs turn a corner and approach the General. "I think that will be all for today, I have an important meeting as you all know."

The reporter couldn’t help but sigh a little bit when General Yves choose to abruptly end the interview, but he wasn’t terribly surprised given how things usually went when it came to the Kilrany, let alone the previous government. Despite this though he did make a slight subtle signal with his free hand to the cameraman for him to keep the recording going.

“Very well then General, I thank you for taking the time to do this interview. May I ask though before we leave we have the opportunity to speak with Tamara, to let the people see how she’s doing?”

The driver of the lead UAZ slowed the vehicle down, giving the second plenty of time to do the same and brought the vehicle to stop not fifteen meters from where the General happened to be. Byko was about to get out of the vehicle when the same operative who had addressed him back at the helicopter spoke up in a tone that gave Byko a chill, “Wait here Major.”

Almost simultaneously the four operatives exited the two UAZs rather casually and walked over towards General Yves. As was standard with the Gorka-S style uniform used by the combat units of the Imperial Guard their faces were mostly concealed by fabric, only leaving the area around their eyes visible. In the case of these four soldiers, despite the so-called ‘official’ visit, they still wore insignia that identified them as being from 4th Division.

Reaching Yves the lead operative held out his right hand in offer of a handshake and addressed the general in a pleasant tone, “Good afternoon General, it’s a pleasure to meet you, it’s unfortunate it isn’t under better terms,” behind him the other three operatives took up at ease stances.

The General was not surprised when the reporter asked to she the girl. He nodded his head. "Fine shes being held in the brig at the moment at the other side of the base. My men will take you, you only have five minutes with her, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Yves signaled the men beside him and the ones behind the camera operator, they moved towards the nearest G-Wagon and got in and pulled out behind the news van, waiting for them to follow. "Came back any time." Yves added in quickly before turning towards the four men that approached him. He put on the best 'convincing smile that he was truely happy to see these men' smile he had.

"Pleasure is of course all mine. Welcome to my fine establishment. May we go inside to my office, where we can talk more privately, and for some refreshments for this awful heat?" he head nodding towards the reporter.

The reporter nodded his head in acknowledgement of the General, glad for even five minutes, given that when it came to finding anything out about the other members of the royal family they were lucky to get even a no comment. Turning towards the cameraman he gave another nod of his head, letting him know to pack it up.

It only took a few moments to break down the equipment and put it back into the van, after which they quickly got back in and followed the Delesian G-Wagon.

The lead operative who had addressed the General appeared to think about it a moment then gave a slow nod of his head, as he spoke he maintained the same even, friendly tone he had before, “If you wish General, that is acceptable.”

However before he followed the General to his office, one of the other operatives stepped forward to his right and he gestured with his right hand at her, “If it’s not too much trouble however, my comrade here and her associate would like to make a positive identification of the young girl, and possibly ask her a few question, under the supervision of your men of course.”

Leaving his right hand on the pistol grip of his AK-74M rifle, the KRG Partisan commanding one of the roving picquet hunter-killer groups lifted his left hand and made a silent finger-snapping motion infront of his face, before turning his hand palm-inwards, fingers loose, and then indicating an area to his front right. With the same hand, he then tapped his left ear, held up a closed fist, and went prone.

These gestures, taken from a Russkyan Army documentary, translate into words as Snap ambush: Front right. I hear something, hold here. Go low.

Crawling along the forest undergrowth and coming to a road, the four man group opened out into a line. Equipped with one of the newly acquired RPDs, one man settled his bipod and gently pushed a bush aside slightly to afford him a better view of the killzone.

A civilian car passed by at a steady clip of 80km/h. Holding their fire, the KRG unit waited. They waited, and heard the more distinctive noise of military engines. Behind the RPD, the gunner lowered his head to the stock and flicked off his weapon's safety.

The General begun to turn, then heard the officers request. Then turned back. And looked at the officer beside the talkative one, then back the the man in charge. Then smiled.

"Of course they can. If you want, take one of your trucks over there and follow the G-Wagon and the News crew. I don't think I will need to send anymore men to watch over your men. Or if you would prefer I can get more soldiers to escort you. Totally up to you." Yves locked his hands behind his back.

It was the female operative who responded to the General, her tone was casual, but somewhat indifferent, “That will be unnecessary General, we know the way.”

Unlike the lead operative who was a member of the intelligence branch, her specialty lay in interrogation, it had only been a few weeks since she had taken part in the interrogation of Korney Dal, she had none of the diplomatic sense of her colleague. It was not something required in her position, as the term ‘being good with people’ had an all knew meaning.

Without another word she turned around and walked off towards the second UAZ, one of the other operatives, her partner quickly following her. The lead operative seemed entirely unfazed and addressed the General in the same tone as before, one could almost hear a pleasant smile in his voice.

“Well then General, please, lead the way.”

Yves lead the way to the Headquarters building, then into his office. He took a seat behind his desk. He lifted a file from the desk, and if the Officers looked close enough it had the name Tamara Golobayev in fine print.

"Take a seat, would you care for any drinks, perhaps water? Then we can get to this sticky... mess." He offered a hint of a smile. He loosened his tie and undid the bottom buttons to his uniform jacket. Then proceeded to remove his peak cap.

---

The G-Wagon took off, with the News van not far behind. They turned a couple of times, then preceeded now a street, where at the end was a bleak, plain looking building. Outside the front double door stood two men at rigid attention. A LAV sat off to the side, two members sat on-top smoking and talking, when they spoted the vehical parade approach, they jumped down and rushed inside, the turrent swung into life. The G-Wagon slowed down, but not much. As they neared they parked a good distance away, near a sign that read 'Stop here' in several languages and in huge font. They jumped out and waited for the reporter to get out. Then they proceeded to the front door, where the two guards check IDs and passports. Then admitted them inside with the swipe of two cards produced from their tunics. They opened the doors and the group steped in. Off a hallway to the right hey could see a bared door and beyond that one guard with a TV right up close to a cell. On either side on the inside of the doors, two more military poilce officers followed the group down the hallway, their hands rested on the handles of their SIG pistols, ready to rip away the small clip that hld thim in the holster and put down any threat. The other hand rested on a black night stick, their faces expressionless.

The guard watching TV, on the sight of the coming group stood up, replaced the night stick that rested on the TV in its proper place on his belt and moved the TV and chair away from the cell. He turned to the girl as he grabbed the keys from the desk as spoke softly, "Looks like you have some fans." He stood at attention by the desk, facing the cell.

The bared door was opened by the officer behind the front desk with a push of a button, and the group moved on past, the door closing and locking behind them. A sergeant who was with the group since being beside the General spoke up.

"No one may touch the girl. And see this yellow line," it ran a few meters infront of the cell. He tapped it with his boot. It was nice and thick, not to be missed, "No one may step past it. Reporters first then your out." Since coming close to the building they were being watched by a horde of cameras, monitored by three soldiers at the front desk.

OOC: I’m going to kind of skim through the bit with the camera crew here since I really don’t have a good idea as to how to detail it, and I’d like to get out a response now before my thirteen-hour work shift tomorrow.

Both the lead 5th Division operative and his partner quietly followed General Yves to his office, deciding to wait for the relative privacy there in before speaking. While the lead operative took a seat his partner chose to stand at ease next to the door.

“No thank you General, we’re not thirsty,” the lead operative paused a moment as if considering his words, “That’s in interesting choice of words for our current situation. I’m slightly confused as to why your men chose to intervene, rather then allow the ISM to take custody of the child in the first place, but then again, I must admit I’m not fully informed as to what occurred in Tsyelograd this afternoon.”

It was a blatant lie, but lying was something he was good at, most members of 5th Division were, he was fully aware of what happened in the city, at least from the perspective of the ISM. He was choosing to subtly probe the General in an attempt to get a feel for the man’s character before delving more specifically into the specifics of getting Tamara released into his custody.

-----

The reporter and cameraman took it all in stride, fully understanding the stringent security measures setup for the Delesian brig, they did there best to be as non threatening as possible. Both entered the building with little with them, choosing not to bring anything other then the camera to record Tamara and their brief interview.

Thanks much in part to her upbringings Tamara fell into as calm and regal at demeanor as possible given her current situation. The reporter kept his questions simply and rather trite, not about to risk his exclusive by asking questions the Delesa guards might take offence too.

All too quickly their five minutes were up and they left without any argument, considering the entire affair to be a resounding success given how they usually went when the Kilrany, let alone their own previous government, were involved.

-----

Unlike the Khurzav news crew, the two 5th Division operatives being transported in the back of the second UAZ felt no need to rush to the Delesian brig and arrived outside it a few minutes behind them, while they were already inside. The driver brought the vehicle to a stop near where the G-wagon and news van had and waited.

A few uncomfortable moments passed before the driver looked behind at the two occupants in the back of his vehicles, wondering why they hadn’t gotten out yet. Quite easily sensing the question, the female operative addressed the Driver with an indifferent tone.

“We’ll wait until the news crew is gone Private.”

Choosing not to press his luck any further he simply looked back forward and shut the vehicle’s engine off, letting patience do the rest. Not only did the two 5th Division operatives not wish to go in front of the camera in the first place, they were anticipating some potential difficulties that they also didn’t want to end up on film.

So it wasn’t until the news crew exited the building and returned to their vehicle a few minutes later that the two operatives exited the UAZ. Even still waiting by it a few more moments for the news van to leave.

With them gone the two finally walked towards the entrance to the Delesian brig, the female operative in the lead, as they did so, they pulled out no ID, nor did they remove the fabric that covered over their faces. They merely approached to within a few meters and the female operative spoke, although she found she had this habit of unnerving people just by speaking with them, or being in their presence, she did not expect to do so to these soldiers, at least not given their current surroundings.

“We are here on behalf of the Kilrany military authority, we have orders to make a positive identification of the child inside believed to be Tamara Golobayev.”

‘Not fully informed eh? Either the big talk about the 5th division is crap, or this man is trying to play me. Maybe not… Man I need a drink. Where’s that bottle of Delesian Whiskey.’ Thought the General as he scratched his chin.

“Well I can’t say why my forces did it either, I wasn’t there. But some sort of situation must have been beginning to shape up, or else my men wouldn’t have taken a prisoner of the ISM, but on the other hand they didn’t catch her did they, they chased her and she bumped into my men by the grace of god. Now the Corporal that was there and was in charge of the patrol has been relieved and should be resting, I should have his report by nightfall. I do have a rough draft of another soldiers account somewhere on my desk.” He began to shuffle the papers around.

---

The MP that was in command stepped forward and looked at the soldier that addressed the guards.

“There is no way your getting through these doors here without any kind of written orders, ID and or the removal of your masks, and to smile into the pretty camera.” He turned his head and looked up above the door. There sat a ‘armored’ camera that watched the only ground level door to the building and the people that stood around. The MP looked back at the soldiers awaiting a response.

Off to the right, the LAV trained the guns on the two soldiers, but in reality, unless they killed the MPs it would be a risk to fire, and possible hit one of the MPs. But the NCO in the commander’s chair had seen action during the Kreatvye War and knew his shit. He knew if he couldn’t fire the main gun, he still had the mounted 5.56 mm machine gun manned by one of the privates, which could easily disrupt any situation that these two men could possibly do.

OOC: Oh man, what a long day at work, but I wanted to get this out, so apologies for any little errors, or if anything doesn't make perfect sense, it seems to too me, right now anyway, heh.

In General Yves office the lead operative gave a nod of his head, “Ah yes, I see you are more then familiar my situation then. Reports take time to be properly written up and submitted through the chain of command, I was only given a very brief summary of the events this afternoon before climbing onboard a helicopter, quite literally only telling me that there was an incident involving the ISM and a Delesian patrol, no one was harmed, but that Tamara Golobayev was suspected to have been taken into custody by your men. As you can understand that’s not a great deal of information to work with, but I am to attempt to resolve this situation and attain custody of the child should she in fact be Tamara Golobayev.”

In truth he had no real doubt that the child was who she was reported to be, the ISM were not exactly incompetent, but it never hurt to let potential enemies think you’re less capable then you really were. It didn’t matter that currently the Commonwealth of Delesa was being considered a friend, it was 5th Division’s responsibility to be prepared should that ever change, and misinformation was essential, at least until relations were more definitely established.

“Assuming the child is who we believe she may be, are you willing to turn her over to our custody General?”

-----

Outside the brig neither of the two operatives were intimidated by the numerically superior and more heavily armed Delesian soldiers, they maintained a casual, non-threatening stance, one that was remarkably easy to turn into something far more dangerous. However they were not there to pick a fight, nor were they foolish enough to believe they could win one if they did.

With the same indifferent tone as before, almost as if she was doing nothing more then discussing the weather, she addressed the Delesian who was apparently in charge, “Do you have so little faith in your comrades as to think they are incapable of providing adequate security to this facility? Do you have that little faith in the security measures taken by our forces? We arrived by Fourth Division aircraft, a Fourth Division air assault section escorted us here, and a Kilrany motor rifle infantryman drove us here. This is still insufficient for you to believe that we are representatives of the Kilrany?”

She paused only momentarily, she had no intention of showing foreigners a 5th Division military ID, “My life, and that of my colleague’s rest on our anonymity, you show no apparent trust of us, yet you expect us to show you trust by revealing our faces, and quite possibly our identities which could get us killed, does this sound right to you?”

Despite the mask that hid her face she still held a deadpan expression underneath it, the MP had made his play and she had made her own, it was time to see who was more willing to go all the way to see it to the end. She did however doubt these men would back down from their demands, and quite honestly she didn’t expect them too, as such she mentally prepared to make concessions if it came to it, she did after all have an objective to accomplish.

She never liked dealing with foreigners in this kind of situation; they never had to deal with this kind of impertinence back home, if they had to do something, they did it, if they had to take over an investigation from the ISM, they showed their ID and they were in charge, it was just that simple. But foreigners never made it that simple; they always had to exert their own form of control, at least in her opinion. They never seemed to grasp why it was in their best interest not to challenge them in such matters.

Yves stopped looking for the paper as he found it sitting under his coffee cup. And looked up as the officer finished his story.

"Yes well its a rush job, I guess I should be happy that at least you know what you do." In the back of his mind, far from any facial expression, he thought that the situation that the officer described was possible. But it was a awful mistake, who sent an operative on such high priority, with little more then nothing for information. The General found it unlikely that the Kilrany had done so, with such strict protocol enforced by the Kilrany government. This lack of information was not even acceptable back in the Commonwealth homeland. But this wasn't Delesa. "As for the girl, if she is who we all believe her to be, we have some problems to solve first. When the girl was taken by my men, she claimed that the ISM officers were going to kill her." Yves read the report. "Yes and am I correct when I think that I read a report that the rest of the royal family is dead? Killed by your forces none the less? Before she is handed over to anyone, I want proof that her basic human rights will be provided. This might seem difficult to you as she is the 'old' enemy, but I'm a peace keeper and this is my job. To make the fighting man's life harder by not letting them fight. You must be able to se my point." Yves had expressed a side he rarely showed, but when the time comes, he does what he has to do.

---

The C7 was slung around his shoulder with his hand holding the rifle in such a way that if anything went south, he would be able to whip his rifle around and get off a few shots. The MP behind him, still beside the door held his across hos body diagonally, hands on the pistol grip and vertical grip on the forearm of the weapon.

"With all respect, you are [B]not[B] getting in without any orders or ID. If your mask cant come off, fine. Anyone with the right connections can show up here like you did, and not be in the Kilrany military. No ID, no entrance. If you don't plan on complying, I'm going to have to ask you to remove yourselve from the area." This man was a model MP officer. He had no brain, he gave it to the army when he enlisted. All he does now is follow his orders, and follow them through. Failure is no option in the army, or so his recruiter said on that summer day way back in the day.

The lead operative listened intently to the Genera’s words, I’m sure I know more then you think I do, there was a certain understandable arrogance to this man who sat across from the Delesian, his job required him to study people and mislead them, this wasn’t to say he was stupid though.

“I can see why a young girl screaming about being killed would draw the attention of your men General, especially if she’s being chased by some heavily armed individuals. However I can guarantee you that the ISM do not execute people,” he stressed the lasts words for effect. It was no lie however.

“Despite the seemingly extensive authority the ISM have, they still have protocols to follow, as we all do, and executing unarmed children is not something they are permitted to do. Although … given the incident a few weeks back outside the Khurzav Federal Court building, I can understand if this may have led you or your men to believe otherwise.”

He paused for a moment, unsure why the General believed that they had killed the Khurzav royal family.

“I’m not sure where you got your information from General, but we have not executed any members of the Khurzav’s royal family. While it is true that some members where killed in the firefights between their personal guards and our forces, those we have taken into custody are still quite alive and well. Of this though I only have my word to give you on this, as it was decided to keep the location where we are keeping them secret so as to prevent any violence from idealistic civilians who might try to free them.”

He once again paused for a moment, “As you must know we recently released confidential information that doesn’t portray the former Khurzav government in a very flattering light, it has split some of the Khurzav people. Even that bloody ‘resistance’ group split in two, becoming rivals who continue to spread violence. We do not wish to see any members of the Khurzav royal family executed by angry citizens, or used by loyalist extremists to rally like-minded individuals to raise arms against us. This is why we have an arrest warrant for Tamara. She is but a child, what do you think would happen to her if a group like the KLA, or the Loyalists got their hands on her? She could be killed or used as a puppet to promote more violence.”

There were a few more moments of silence as the Kilrany took a moment to take a breath after playing up to the General, giving what he felt was very convincing speech, “I’m not sure what kind of proof I can give you to verify that her family is being treated well, and that she shall be as well.”

-----

Oh good, you’re not idiots swayed by a few cheap words, you may have potential as an ally after all, the female operative let a small smile come across her lips for a moment as the man spoke, content that they would not let someone bluff their way past them so easily. Rules and regulations existed for a reason, even if they were contrary to the will of 5th Division for the time being.

However under the cover of her mask her expression went deadpan again quickly, not pleased with the apparent knowledge that in Delesa someone with the right connections could get someplace they weren’t meant to be, she made a mental note of it to place that in her report for her superiors.

She waited a few moments longer before she chose to respond to the MP, making it appear as if she was considering her options, finally she spoke up, letting the Delesian believe he had ‘won’, “Very well then, we can provide you with some ID to prove we are members of the Imperial Guard. However I have no written orders for you to allow us in, we only just now came from having briefly met your over all commanding officer, General Yves. If you need to confirm that, please call him, he’s currently meeting with our colleagues as we speak, we will wait.”

Hoping things would move quickly, she prepared to withdraw her ‘false’ ID. False only in that it identified her as being a soldier with 4th Division, her current cover identity while operating in Khurzav, created with the knowledge of 4th Division. As an additional move, she crossed her arms over her chest for the dual purpose to appear as though she was waiting for his move and so she could covertly activate her personal radio.

Because she was wearing a mask over her face, and because her radio picked up on the vibration of her vocal cords she was able to send a message to those on the frequency without appearing to have done anything at all besides stand there. In this case she was transmitting to the lead operative currently meeting with General Yves.

-----

Back in General Yves office the lead operative spoke up again after having listened to his fellow operative’s message out of his right ear, having done nothing overtly besides look at the General, “It would appear there’s some minor problem outside your brig General, your MPs are requesting written authorization from my colleagues to enter, you may be about to receive a call about it. Will they accept a your order over the phone to let them in? Or will they still require a written order?”

Yves kept an open ear to the officer’s words, although his eyes were focused elsewhere. He nodded his head. The looked at the officers covered face.

“Well why would these factions kill their previous ruler? Would they not use her as a means as visual power, convince the people they are the true fighters, and the power that will become the government if you men where ever to leave? I jus don’t understand what these rebels would gain by killing this girl.” And then the General stopped and rested his head in his hands, taking a few deep breaths. He opened a drawer in his desk and produced a small silver flask with the Armed Forces logo engraved on the one side. He took a quick swig and replaced the cap and returned the bottle to the drawer.

“Well I guess you can’t really provide me with any evidence. So who knows you could be lying to my face just to get your hands on this girl. You could be actually telling me the truth. But in the end I also guess I don’t really have a choice in the matter.

---

The MPs were not impressed, but did not let it show on their faces. Did these masked soldiers really think they were going to get in without producing any evidence that they were even allowed? A slight smile began to creep in the corner of the MP’s mouth. The MP officer in charge outside removed his radio from his vest and began to talk to into it. “Could you phone the general’s office and get a confirmation on this storey?”

---

One of the three phones on Yves desk rang. He picked it up and didn’t say anything but just listened. After a while he spook softly into the receiver.

“Hmmm are there just two of them? Yes well it’s them. Yes. No. Be sure to remove all weapons they might have. All right. Phone me when they leave. Good job men.”

“Seems the issue should be solved now.” Yves offered a faint smile.

---

The MP officer heard the response on his earpiece. He then proceeded with his partner to swipe their cards and open the door. The Kilrany officers were shown in. The two guards outside remained outside and closed the doors behind the Kilrany officers. Two new guards standing on either side of the doors in the comfort of the air-conditioned building took up positions beside the Kilrany. The secretary asked for their IDs, and the weapons asked to be removed. An MP standing beside a safe opened the armored door, waiting for the second secretary to receive the arms and place them in the safe.

Of course you have little choice ‘general’, you’re operating under Kilrany authority, you’re fortunate that we’re being as forgiving of your interference as we are. But I have to at least give you the illusion of having a choice or natural stubbornness might kick in if I try and force the issue. Despite the mask that covered his face, the lead operative betrayed none of the thoughts in his mind in front of the Delesian General, Be thankful that the Emperor wishes our two nations to be friends, or the situation would be far different right now.

The operative spoke once more in the same friendly tone, “Well General, you obviously understand the power of symbolism to people. And if a group such as the Loyalists were to get their hands on her, I have no doubt that they would use her as a symbol of their ‘legitimacy’. But the KLA are not so dedicated to their former government, most of them believe in bringing about a form of communism, and what better way to usher it in but to kill a symbol of what they see to be antiquated, corrupt government.”

He paused for a moment before continuing again, “There is little I can do, as I’ve said to prove we have no desire to kill the child. But it is in our best interest not too. If we were to kill her, or any member of her family, that would only give groups like the Loyalists martyrs to rally behind, and we do not simply execute people for no reason General. I can only guess that either the child believed her own nation’s propaganda so much so that she truly believed we would just kill her, or she is using it as a ploy to play on your sympathies.”

“Whatever the case may be, would you feel more comfortable if she were to remain in your custody for the time being? We would only request that you not remove her from the country,” Not that we would let you do that anyway, since your fleet withdrew your only means of smuggling her out of this nation is by airfield of port we control, and measures are being taken to ensure against that.

-----

After finally gaining entrance into the building, there was an uncomfortable pause as the two 5th Division operatives stood inside for a moment, although they revealed ID that identified them as being with 4th Division, they did not immediately hand over their weapons. After a few more moments the female operative, who was decidedly the ranking officer of the two, slowly pulled free her service sidearm and handed it to the secretary, crouching down she pulled a combat knife free from a sheath located on her lower right leg and handed it over as well.

However when she reached behind her back and pulled free her Kilrany long knife from its horizontal sheath located at her lower back, she turned to her partner and handed it to him, “My partner will remain here and he will hold on to this, if this is not acceptable to you, then we will have a serious problem.”

The Kilrany long knife, those true Kilrany long knives, were special weapons carefully crafted for individual members of the Kilrany Imperial Guard and were symbols of their position. For a member of the Imperial Guard to willingly hand over the blade to someone not of the Imperial Guard, it would be tantamount to a general of old surrendering his sword to an enemy, and the Imperial Guard considered it a point of personal and unit honour, never to surrender. This had led to a number of the most fanatical battles of the Kilrany Empire’s history, some of the most spectacular victories, and breathtaking defeats.

Had the Delesian MPs attempted to take the Kilrany long knives from them, the 5th Division operatives would kill them without hesitation, no doubt being killed themselves in the ensuing fight and creating massive international incident, but it would matter little to them, or other members of the Imperial Guard, as they would have succeeded in not giving up the blade while still breathing. Turning back to the MPs the female operative then expected entry to see the prisoner.

'Finally we are getting some where...' thought the General. "I think it would be easier for everyone if she just stayed in the cell she is in." Yves took a moment weighing his options. "If you would like, or your organization, to send and keep a few guards of your own, I believe that can be arranged."

The guard behind the desk looked at the weapon the officer pulled out. He noticed the fine craftsmanship, and had noted he hadn’t seen something that well built since the time he saw the Old Royal Guard do a field exercise some time back. “Yes your officer can stay here, move right on through those doors.” The guard punched a few buttons and the door opened, allowing the officer to step through to the little girls cell. The guard down the hall by the girl’s cell had since sat down at his desk since the departure of the news crew. When he heard the door buzz and open up he turned his head, then when he saw the masked soldier, he stood up, placing his hand on the baton. He carried no pistol while this close and personal to the prisoners just in case they managed to take the gun away during a scramble, but a MP has yet in the time since the formation of the MP to be removed of his weapon from a ‘enemy’ person. His left hand tightened around the handle, watching the officer approach the cell.

The female operative showed no interest in the Delesian MP as he stood up, although his presence was noted in her mind as she made her way over to the cell, stopping at line clearly marked on the floor. She stood there for a few moments, her eyes scanning the small cell, taking in every detail before looking at the child within.

To her credit, Tamara remained calm at the sight of the Kilrany soldier entering through the door, with the time she had to calm down after the long chase, she was able to slip back into the blanket of self-control instilled during her education into royal manners. Despite it all however, one could almost literally see her heart sink as she fought to maintain a calm and emotionless exterior. She knew enough about the Kilrany to recognize the uniform as belonging to their Imperial Guard and that the insignia identified the soldier in question as belonging to its 4th Division.

As Tamara waited for what she believed was the inevitable at this point, that being turned over to Kilrany custody, the female operative lifted her right hand and activated her radio, making no attempt to conceal the move, thought out of instinct, her voice was still below a whisper as she sent her message. With that done she looked at the child for a moment once more and turned around, walking back out towards to door where she indented to reclaim her weapons and leave the building with her partner.

-----

Back in General Yves' office, the lead operative gave a single small nod of his head, “Very well then, she shall remain in your custody for the time being the General. And although I appreciate the offer, we have more important things for our men in-country to be doing just now then watching a small child, I’m sure you’re men are more then adequate to keep an eye on her.”

He paused for a moment as he heard the voice of the other operative in his ear before he spoke again while coming to a stand, “Well it seems my colleagues have made a positive identification, the child is Tamara Golobayev. It’s unfortunate their had to be such difficulties here this afternoon, been something of a interesting day,” which is only going to become more interesting this evening, how I wish I could be here to see the look upon your face, unfortunately I’ll have to hear how things went instead.

“I must go now however, since our business here is concluded there are other things I must attend to now. Perhaps in a short time you may feel more willing to pass her over to our custody,” that being said, the soldier prepared to turn and leave the General’s office, pausing for a moment however to see if the Delesian had anything else to say before departing.

The MP stood still, his eyes watching the officer for any sudden movements, his hand tightening around the grip of this baton. He watched carefully as the Kilrany officer approached the cell, noticed that the officer made no attempt to speak to the girl, not that he would think the officer would be able to get the girl to speak. He watched as the officer then proceeded to use her radio.

The MP did not loosen up until the Kilrany soldier had long walked back through the cell door and back out into the office. He sat back down and pulled out a bag of chips, and turned on his TV, throwing up the occasional glace to see what was happening at the front desk.

---

"Must go so soon, seems like you just got her." Yves chuckled, more to himself then anyone as the Kilrany rarely enjoyed his jokes apart from the Major. "We'll I hope you found everything you were looking for in the girl, be sure to check in on her when you need, you can rest assured that she will remain in our custody and will not leave the grounds." The General then stood up offered a hand across his table. "I'm sure you can find your way out just fine. I have work here to attend to, this base doesn’t run itself." Yves chuckled again, a little laughed lighten the grim job he had to do everyday, if he didn't, and he just might have gone insane some 30 odd years ago.

Anticipating little difficulty in leaving as they had run into coming in given the apparent hostility the Delesa MPs were showing them, at least as far as they saw it, the female operative retrieved her Kilrany Long Knife from her partner and returned it to its sheath before she accepted her other weapons back from the Delesa. Exchanging no words with them the two members of 5th Division quietly left the Delesian brig, walking back towards their vehicle and climbing back in. A quick verbal order was given to the driver and the vehicle turned about and began a return trip to the helicopter they’d come in on, a moment after that she sent another radio message to their lead operative who was still in with General Yves that they were returning to the helicopter.

-----

The lead operative didn’t laugh with the General, both in fact merely looked at the man with rather blank expressions through the coverings on their faces, it wasn’t so much that they completely lacked a sense of humour, they just never showed it while on duty, that and their own tended to be much darker then the average person. Despite this he quite readily accepted the generals hand in a relatively friendly handshake, mentally however he had briefly considered simply walking out the door and showing the General as much respect as he had shown them, as they perceived it in any case.

With an almost knowing tone in his voice and a genuine smile under his mask the lead operative spoke one last time to Yves before he turned to leave, “Oh I’m certain you’ll be hearing from us again very soon General.”

That said he turned and left General Yves’ office; the other operative who had been standing next to the door followed him out. Leaving the building they made straight for the UAZ where Major Byko was still waiting and climbed into the back.

Silence filled the vehicle as the lead operative said nothing at first; Byko also remained silent having no desire to intrude on the 5th Division operative’s train of thought. Finally the uncomfortable silence was broken when the lead operative let out a slight sight, “My apologies to you Major for being … short with you earlier, I am not fond of dealing with foreigners who do not appreciate our authority.”

“I understand sir, no harm done,” still looking forward neither operative could see the nervous smile on the Major’s face.

“Hmmm … perhaps … in any case, it is time for us to leave, please take us back to the helicopter Major.”

“Yes sir,” he didn’t have to, but he gestured with his left hand to move out to the driver who was already starting up the vehicle to move out.

“You’re coping well with being our liaison officer here Major, your reports are most detailed and helpful, please keep up the good work.”

“Thank you, though it’s no trouble, I’ve found them to be most agreeable so far, though I never had to attain a prisoner transfer from them.”

Silence descended upon the vehicle once again as they drove back towards the helicopter, it wasn’t until they came around a corner and within sight of the helicopter that the lead operative spoke again while lifting up the sleeve of his uniform to look at his watch, “Major, it is currently fifteen thirty-six … at nineteen hundred hours I want you to go to General Yves, inform him that you have received a radio message that a 4th Division officer will be arriving shortly by helicopter to speak with him about operations that will be conducted in this area in the next few days. You will tell him this and only this, do not mention that I gave you this order Major. It is of the utmost importance that you follow these orders to the letter, when the time comes you will understand why this was done.”

Byko gave a slight nod of his head, “Yes sir.”

With that the UAZ came to a stop and the two operatives exited, rejoined with their two other comrades and climbed back onboard the Mi-17 with the 4th Division squad. Within minutes the helicopter was powered back up and lifting off and Major Byko was long gone back towards his quarters for quick drink of his quota of vodka for the day.

The General walked out of the building and out to the parking lot out front, from where we watched as the helicopter took off from behind several buildings and flew off.

"Finally. One down, one to go." Yves picked up a rock at his feet, exmaining it for a moment then flug it with all his might. Then walked back to his office to have a nice drink.

***

The soldiers behind the counter handed the filrany weapons over with no issue, and quite quickly, as if in rush to get these people out of their building. A sigh of relief came out of the Sergeant MP on the outside of the brig. He allowed his gun to drop down and hang from the sling. He seached his pockets and produced a small box. Giving a light knock, a cigarette popped out and he put it in his mouth. "Good riddance." and lit it.


ooc: Russkya you still looking for a reply?

Major Viktor Byko sat leaned back in a decently comfortable, if simple chair he had appropriated from the old Khurzav officer’s club. His black boots sat on the floor upright a few feet from him, his collar was loosened slightly and his service sidearm sat on a small table next to him, making it more comfortable to sit down. He was relaxed as best he could be given the recent visit from 5th Division, something wasn’t sitting well with him, had he known the simple truth he wouldn’t have been terribly concerned, but his imagination was running rampant and filled with negative outcomes relating to the message the 5th Division operative had ordered him to give to General Yves in a few hours.

It had already been an hour since he had returned to his quarters and he had already taken his daily quota of vodka, however he had also taken ‘officer’s privilege’ and poured out a second serving into a glass, which he currently held in his right hand, he had been staring at it for the past half hour. At least that’s what it would have looked like to the outside observer, in truth he looked at nothing in particular; lost in his thoughts he was oblivious to his surroundings for the moment.

His quarters were average in size and shape compared to the other accommodations the Kilrany soldiers had taken up, not even the officers much cared for the ‘excessively large’ rooms that the Khurzav officer’s had once been in possession of, at least as they saw them. His was fairly utilitarian, however there were traces of Viktor spread subtly around the room, a personal photo of himself along with his mother and father from the day he was officially promoted to Major on a small bookshelf, a trace of brighter, civilian clothes showing from a partially open closet, small signs that Major Viktor Byko was more then just a Kilrany soldier, or the ‘barbarian monster’ some Khurzav still thought of them.

Coming back to the here and now he looked at the contents of the glass he held in earnest, part of him wanting to drink it down in one go, but his other half holding back on that action for in doing so he would have no more. He was still concerned over the message, but a few minutes later he finally chose to push it to the back of his mind as he raised the glass to his mouth and downed the Vodka in one smooth go of it.

He set the glass down on the small table next to his sidearm and then reached over and took hold of his boots, pulling them on he stood up, fixed his collar then picked up his sidearm and returned it to its holster and pinning the flap down over it. He took a moment to clear his throat and stretch his arms before he walked forward and out of his quarters towards the Kilrany communications building.

-----

As the hours passed on the base shared by the Delesian and Kilrany soldiers, the previous nervousness that had been shown by most of the Kilrany soldiers had dissipated, only Major Byko retained it, however he kept his feelings hidden for the benefit of the men on the base, they all knew 5th Division was critical to the smooth running of the Kilrany Empire, but they never failed to make people nervous.

Now back inside the Kilrany communications building Byko had quietly taken a seat just outside the primary communications room, with little else for him to do, he had someone contact the Southeastern air control again to alert him to any Imperial Guard aircraft that appeared to be heading towards the base. It was fast approaching the time he was due to deliver the message and he hadn’t received word of any aircraft inbound.

Concern growing he stood up and took a walk inside the communications room and addressed the same operator he had initially given the order too, “Still no word of any aircraft coming our way?”

“Nothing yet sir.”

“Hmmm … contact them again, ask them to report on all air contacts in the area.”

The young man responded with a nod of his head and dialed up the appropriate channel and made the ‘call’, Byko patiently waited and half listened to the one sided conversation. A few moments later the young man half turned to face Byko, “Aside from the fixed wing air patrols he says he’s got nothing to report operating in our immediate area.”

This answer caused Byko to raise an eyebrow as he checked the time on his watch, Odd, its almost nineteen hundred hours, where’s the flight?

The operator quickly turned back around to his station and listened intently for a moment before half turning around once again, “Major, I just received a message for you from the Imperial Guard command, they said its to be an amendment to an earlier order and you’d understand,” the operator looked slightly confused for a moment before he just shook his head and continued, “They said, ‘suggest he tell the General to wears his dress uniform, arrival at nineteen twenty, same landing field,’ does that make sense to you sir?”

Byko raised his eyebrow again, more out of curiosity then confusing, “It does, somewhat, thank you,” with that the Major turned and left the communications room, leaving the operator slightly confused, a moment later he just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his station.

-----

A few minutes later and only two minutes before nineteen hundred hours, Major Byko came walking up towards the Delesian command building and stopped a few feet from one of the sentries outside, “I’m looking for General Yves, is he still inside? I have to deliver a message to him quickly … again,” the Major smiled weakly, not sure if this was the same sentry he had spoken to about delivering a message to Yves’ earlier in the day.

The guard looked at the Major, as if judging him. he then smiled, "Of course I remember you. You know where his office is." The guard stepped towards the door and opened it for the Major. "I also believe the General has given you permission to came and go as you like. that way to reduce... 'friction' between the two forces. But then you probably should ask the General."

Byko smiled broadly in spite of himself, “Ah, most excellent. Thank you.”

Adding a nod of his head in the direction of the sentry he walked in through the open door, he chose not to respond to the quip about ‘friction’ between the Kilrany and Delesian forces, as he believed it to be merely a statement in reference to the visit from 5th Division which had apparently riled up most everyone on the base. For the Kilrany it was merely the speculation that always followed in their wake, for the Delesa, Byko figured it was just their unfamiliarity with the enigmatic soldiers of 5th Division.

He quietly made his way through the halls of the Delesian command building with ease, the sheer number of times he’d been to see General Yves in his office had allowed him to practically memorize the route by this point. Despite the words of the sentry outside the building, he didn’t simply walk inside General Yves’ office, instead he addressed the General’s secretary to attain entry, not wishing to simply walk in and intrude on the General incase he was in a meeting of his own.

The secretary looked up at the Kilrany officer standing in the door.

"Here to see the General?" She didn't bother to wait for him to anwser and got up and opened the General's door, knocking once lightly. "Sir, Major Byko here for you." and she opened the door to allow the Major through. She closed the door quietly behind him and sat back down at her desk, reading the headlines of the development back home.

Inside the office the General had already relaxed, coat tossed on the coat rack by the door, peak cap thrown on the desk, his tie hanging from his chair. A glass of whisky in his hand with a few ice cubs. "I'm surprised to have the pleasure of your arrival once again. What is it that you want now? More people to see the girl? I don't believe she is an animal to be looked at through bars." Yves took a sip of his drink. Anyone could tell the General was... troubled. Not necessarily because of the girl, but it addd to his troubles. His light smile and easy going was completely missing from the room's atmosphere. "I'm sorry for that rash out burst Major, it isn't your fault. What is it that you would like? Well first, a drink? Water?"

Byko gave the secretary an acknowledging thank you as he passed into General Yves’ office, entering the office he took in the change in the surroundings and the apparent state of mind of the General. He suddenly looked very apologetic as the General spoke, not yet aware of the developing situation in the Delesian Commonwealth and their difficulties with a new nation calling itself the Delesian Confederacy, he mistook the General’s unease as being a result of the recent minor difficulties relating to the young girl in custody.

“I understand General, it has not been the most pleasant of days, and unfortunately I doubt I’m going to get to make it any better,” before he chose to let the other shoe drop as it were, he decided he was indeed thirsty, “A drink would be most appreciated Sir,” the Major paused a second as if considering asking for some whisky, but quickly pushed the thought out of his mind, “A glass of water would be great sir.”

He waited a moment and took the offered drink, quickly downing half the glass, “Though I suppose I do have some good news, there isn’t anyone else here to see the girl, I believe it’s safe to say she’ll be left alone for the time being.”

He paused again for a moment to take a smaller drink of water before he recited the message he was ordered to pass on, “I have just received word that a Fourth Division officer will be arriving here in about,” he did a quick check of his watch, noting it was almost nineteen hundred hours exactly, “twenty minutes by helicopter, according to the message he will be landing at the same place the, uh … ‘representatives’ from Fifth Division landed at. It was requested that you wear your dress uniform, though it is not required and that we both meet him as he lands. I’m not sure why the last was added, but apparently he wishes to discuss with you some operations their units will be conducting in the area. I hope this isn’t too much of an inconvenience General, the Imperial Guard can be a little demanding I know, but they usually don’t do anything without a damned good reason.”

Yves listened to what the Major had to say. Obviously a puppet who's master was a little weird. The General smiled, Byko possibly thinking tha General has lost his marbles as nothing in what he said was remotely funny.

"Dress my best eh? Well I think I can do that." Picking up his peak cap and giving it a light brush with his hand, then put it on his grey head of hair. "So am I suposed to meet them, or are thry coming here like the last fellows? And who do you think I should bring? My operations officer? My colonels?" Brigadier General Yves Feuilly got up from his seat and walked over to the coat rack and grabed his uniform jacket, with all his Campaign, Distinguished Service ribbons, qualification medals for Parachuting and Infantry, Rifle and Pistol Expert and Unit Citations from his days as a combat officer. "Now where the hell is that blasted tie? Oh there it is."

As far as Byko figured, General’s Yves was obviously under a great deal of stress so he took it in stride when the General asked him a question he had technically already answered a moment earlier.

“It was requested that we meet them at the parade grounds where he is to be landing,” he paused a moment to think about the General’s question about bringing officers with them, as he was still mentally stuck on why dress uniforms were suggested.

“I believe that to be your prerogative sir, if you need any particular officer with you to help discuss whatever is the Guardsmen officer wishes to discuss, then by all means bring them along. Whatever your decision I suggest we hurry, we’ll do well to make it there before he arrives, I’m sure you can have a vehicle out front to take us there in moments,” to try and break the perceived tension he tried to make a joke, smiling as he did, “I’m sure as a General you could tell someone to eat their plate and they’d do it in record time.”

The General took a quick glance at a sheet on his desk. Looked up when the Major tried a joke, and offered a light smile. What he tried to hide from his face was the fear that his family might get killed if the Confederates attacked back home. "Yes, I guess I should get something out of being a General." Yves had most of his uniform on properly, but the Major's promp to hurry up made the General make the decision to struggle with his tie in the G-Wagon. "Alright Major if your ready." taking a final drink of his glass of whiskey he moved towards the door with the Major in tail. They walked out to the parking lot out front, and the General's G-Wagon with his General Stars on a flag attached to the SUV. Two soldiers in combat gear opened the back doors for the General and Major then got into the front and drove off to the landing site.

OOC: To note, I was given permission by Delesa to move the scene up to the parade grounds.

Major Byko hadn’t thought it possible to be more uncomfortable now then in the presence of a 5th Division operative, but here he found himself mistaken as he stood next to General Yves and his vehicle off to the side of a large empty parade grounds, the two Delesian soldiers not far away. His concern stemmed primary from the fact that according to Southern Air Command there weren’t any friendly aircraft impound, thus he wondered if this was some sort of bad joke the 5th Division operative was playing on him, this coupled with just how bad the day was going, made him all the more uncomfortable.

He brought up his left wrist and checked his watch, nineteen-nineteen, if he’s coming he should be here soon, they’re usually quite prompt. As he continued to wait he looked about the grounds, for the most part the base had been fully repaired from the original state it had been in and the grounds were light well, as was the rest of the base.

Two minutes later he finally heard the distant sound of a helicopter, so he is coming … why the hell did they tell me there weren’t any aircraft in the area? Lost in his thoughts for a few moments Byko didn’t notice that the closing noise had grown sharply in size, multiple helicopters could be heard, the Imperial Guard can order operators to keep flights secret from friendly forces, but why would a 4th Division officer need to keep his flight secret?

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts though as the noise of thudding blades grew even louder, so loud in fact that it clearly indicated there was a lot of helicopters inbound.

Byko looked up at the darkening sky towards the sound to finally see the approaching helicopters begin to come in to clear view over a number of the base’s buildings. First was a pair of MI-28 Havoc attack helicopters, followed by a pair of KIAM-24 Hinds and another pair of MI-17s, all of which bore the 4th Division emblem. What the hell are they doing? Why the hell do they need attack helicopters?

By this point the combined engine noise of all the helicopters was positively deafening, but they weren’t all in sight yet. Two pitch black KA-60 Kasatka transport helicopters came trailing in behind the first wave of helicopters, while the Havocs had broken off left and right respectively, entering into a wide orbit around the base, the MI-17s and Hinds were quickly dropping in towards the parade grounds to unload their passengers.

As the two Kasatkas got closer, everything about the situation suddenly made sense to Byko as he saw the crest of the Kilrany Royal Family on the sides of both the black helicopters, their distinct Phoenix with its wings spread wide and serpent coiled in its talons telling him why the Imperial Guard would have ordered Air Command not to report the flight.

Dumbstruck, it occurred to him just how serious this ‘meeting’ was likely to be, and just barely audible over the sounds of the helicopters the Major cursed slightly without thinking, “Oooh … shit …”

But there were still more aircraft to be seen, following behind the two Kasatkas was a mirror image of what had proceeded them, another pair of MI-17s followed by another pair of Hinds and yet another pair of Havocs. The sky seemed to fill with helicopters all piloted by the Empire’s more elite pilots, all from 4th Division.

Now on the ground, the first to pairs of MI-17s and Hinds began to offload and Byko got a first hand look at their occupants. While both MI-17s carried 4th Division infantry sections, the two Hinds each carried eight men of 1st Division, their black, semi-ceremonial uniforms and body armour contrasting starkly with the flora camouflage of their Gorka-S equipped 4th Division comrades.

They all moved out quickly, carefully avoiding the other helicopters that were also coming in to land, save for the four Havocs which continued to orbit around the landing zone. As the touched down they too offloaded the same passengers, the number of Imperial Guardsmen continued to grow. As the two Kasatkas finally made their own landing approach, a pair of Hinds started to lift off again, taking flight to join the Havocs in their orbit, only moments later two of the Havocs came in towards the parade grounds to land as the two Kasatkas set down. The four still airborne helicopters quickly began to spiral farther and farther out in their orbit, until the noise of their engines diminished significantly as they took up a much wider orbit.

The thunderous sounds of the helicopters on the parade grounds finally started to fade as the pilots began to let their helicopters power down, which only caused the Kilrany soldiers to duck a little lower so as not to lose their heads to a low swinging rotor blade. Byko noted that an eight man 4th Division section was jogging away from the helicopters apparently in the direction of the Kilrany barracks, he didn’t know it, but their destination was the warehouse where the eight fuel trucks were stored, the same trucks that had over a week ago under heavy guard.

Byko’s gaze quickly returned to the Kasatkas as the doors to one opened, he didn’t relax though when sixteen more 1st Division soldiers quickly exited the transport. He then turned his gaze to the other Kasatka, so he must be in that one, I can’t believe it, I’m actually about to meet him.

As the small army of 1st and 4th Division soldiers spread out in a defensive perimeter around the helicopters, the doors on the right side of the second Kasatka opened. First to exit was yet another 1st Division soldier, followed by what at first looked to be a second one, though Byko caught a glimpse of the fiery red insignia patch and released it was a 5th Division operative. Third and last to exit the Kasatka was Ivan Semyonovich Sviatov, Emperor of the Kilrany Empire.

Byko quickly straightened fully at the sight of the Emperor, it didn’t occur to him that the General might have thought it odd that the Kilrany Emperor was only twenty-nine, most of the nation took it for granted as they knew that he had been forces to take the throne early after his father, mother and older sister had died in the bombing of the Imperial Palace by Virinov separatists.

Followed by the two Imperial Guardsmen who had been in the helicopter with him, and by another eight trailing behind them, Emperor Sviatov began walking straight towards Byko and Yves.

At Six foot two inches he was tall for a Kilrany, it ran in his family, he wore an all black tailored outfit with a pair of black leather gloves and although he wasn’t a particularly attractive man, he wasn’t ugly either, running horizontally above his right eyebrow was a small scar, something he had gained from an assassination attempt no one outside of the Kilrany Empire, aside from a few Russkyans, new about. Had it not been for the bevy of heavily armed men and women around him who would give their lives to protect him, some might have though he was merely an exocentric young man.

With his guards in tow, Sviatov walked right up to General Yves an with a friendly smile on his face he extended his right hand to the Delesian in offer of a handshake, “Hello General Yves, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.”

At the sight of just the first four helicopters the General who was leaning on the hood of the G-Wagon stood up.

“What the hell is this? I don’t even have this much protection, and I’m a General!” With the continuing arrival of even more helicopters soldiers from nearby foot patrols and men off duty came to see what the big deal was. When the helicopters begun to land and offload men with their… different uniforms, the patrols began to inch there way towards the General, in an attempt to block any lanes of firing. The deafening sound of the helicopters even managed to bring the two Regimental Colonels running from the other side of the base.

“General, what is the meaning of this?”

“I don’t have a clue anymore.” The presence of the specially dressed troops brought a different sense of air with them, one that the General hadn’t felt since the day he saw the Old Guard on parade for the King and the Royal Family. Finally two fairly normal civilian helicopters landed, offloading even more soldiers and a man in a nice jacket. Tall, and young. Yves looked over towards the Major, who was now standing at a more rigged attention then the General had ever seen in his time here. Yves looked down at his uniform and gave the tie a light brush. Then stood straight, not quite at attention. “Colonel Quincy Kirill, send those patrols back to their routes, there isn’t anything to see here. Then get back here. Colonel Maxim Everard come with me.” The General walked over to the Kilrany Major and stood beside him.

After a few moments, and as the man approach the General and Major, Yves finally got the idea to look for any markings on the helicopters. Then he saw the emblem on the black ones. ‘God that looks familiar.’ He thought to himself. Then it hit him, he saw it in the file that he was briefed with before he accepted the job. All he could say is “Oh.” As the man, now recognized as the Emperor walked right up to him and started to talk to Yves.

He shook the open hand and smiled. “Hello you majesty. You heard about me? I hope it was good stuff.” He shook the hand with much eagerness. Now in his life he had managed to meet two monarchs in person, his own and now the Kilrany. “A pleasure to meet you, this is quite unexpected. I hope we can accommodate you here. Is there some particular place you want to go? Maybe to escape the possible threat of a sniper? But I can vouch for my men; there are none in the area that could take a good shot. We have this area well secured. Oh I’m talking too much, I’m sorry. I did this with my king as well.” Yves offered a smile.

Emperor Sviatov took the General’s enthusiasm in stride and smiled in amusement at the rapid succession of questions from the obviously surprised Delesian officer, “Yes, I’m sure this came as quite a surprise to you General, First Division here felt that it would be a better idea to keep my presence in Khurzav a secret for the time being, you understand I’m sure.”

He paused for a moment to slowly take in their current location, “Unless one of your men is going to try and shoot me General, I don’t think I need to be concerned about snipers here, we’re near the center of this base, the nearest high ground that gives a clear shot over these buildings looks to be more then a kilometer outside this base’s perimeter, let alone our current position. Not even an anti material rifle is a threat at this range.”

At that however the 1st Division soldier who had been traveling in the Emperor’s helicopter and now stood to his left carrying a Blackthorn semi-automatic magazine fed combat shotgun with an attached cobra optic cleared his throat. In response Sviatov chuckled lightly, “Of course the Captain here would disagree, they’re a paranoid lot those First Division, wouldn’t you agree General?”

Captain Grigori Hakanov smiled underneath the balaclava that concealed his face, it was an old joke the Emperor would often use around new acquaintances and he would not deny his friend his little joke, to that end he quickly spoke up using an indifferent tone as Sviatov finished speaking, hiding his own amusement, “That’s because you pay us to be paranoid for you sir.”

Sviatov chuckled again and mused to himself, “Indeed I do,” he then addressed the General once again, “But I do believe a more private location would do us well now General, I would like to speak with you in regards to a few things. From what I’ve read, your office will do that nicely, please lead the way, a little walk shouldn’t do us any harm, hmmm?”

Wordlessly the 4th Division soldiers quickly spread out, taking up guard positions around their helicopters while the majority of the 1st Division soldiers moved out ahead of the Emperor, General Yves, his officers and the Major to secure the route they would take back to the Delesian General’s office, with the exception of Hakanov, eight other 1st Division soldiers and the 5th Division operative who remained with Sviatov as his close in escort.

“Then walk we shall.” General Yves turned to his officers and spoke softy so the Emperor could no make out what was said, “Clear the way, block off the road. Tighten security just that little more. Don’t need any mishaps today.” Yves turned back to the Emperor and smiled. “I must say what a pleasure it is to have you here at the base sir. Nice to see the leader of such a nation to join his troops at the front.”

---

The garrison’s brig looked nothing like a prison, it was like any other of the buildings on the base. It did have an LAV III outside at anytime, with a squad of Rangers on guard at all times. Although, it had been upgraded since the Commonwealth took over, new electronic security systems had been built, making it a fortress to break out, or in.

At the moment only one prisoner was held there, a single person, a little girl. She was the only royal family member known to the Commonwealth, and she was locked away under careful eyes.

Members of the Kilrany military had already visited Tamara, dressed in back and very quiet about their job. But now it was time for the Commonwealth military to have a talk with her.

Four men dressed in black suit, white shirts and black ties drove up in a black Land Rover, each one wearing the national flag pin on their coat, the flag flapping from the truck antenna. They walked up to the doors and swiped their cards, the doors unlocking. The MP just looked at them, he knew he shouldn’t ask questions, he knew who they were. The men were from the CIA, ones that had arrived on the base before, and caused quite an issue in town with the Kilrany forces. They handed over their pistols and walked into the interrogation room, where the MPs brought the girl and sat her down. There was a single desk lamp. The room was plain from what could be made out, it was a steel table with heavy steal cars. One of the men was sitting on one side of the table, another hiding in the shadows behind him. The other two watched from one room over through the window and on TVs.

“Alright, Tamara is it?” he spoke a broken Khurzav dialect. “We need to ask you a few questions. Now I’m not a bad guy, and I hate to be the man to say this, but if you fail to comply and be a use to us, all that that you take for granted here, the hospitality, food, warm cell, and I even know of the TV your guard allows you to watch, are gone. Because we’ll send you back to the Kilrany and their 5th division men who, I know, would lave to have you back. I’m sure they would have a field day with you little girl.” He removed his glasses and leaned forward. “Alright where have you been staying since the Kilrany invaded? I want names and organizations. You come through for us, we’ll come through for you.”

As they walked along and General Yves whispered to one of his subordinates; the content of which they could not hear but could take an educated guess at, Hakanov in his 1st Division uniform followed just behind and to the Emperor’s left, which in turn put him behind and to the right of Yves. Taking advantage of the fact that Yves was turned away for a moment, the 5th Division soldier following just behind and to the right of the Emperor chose to whisper a reminded in his ear.

It was not unusual for the Emperor to be accompanied by a 5th Division soldier when he traveled, quite the contrary in fact as 5th Division preferred to have one near him in case of a intelligence development he needed to be aware of. This particular 5th Division soldier however was more important then the anonymity of the uniform let on, though not official yet, those 1st Division soldiers knew this particular 5th was as important to protect as the Emperor himself.

“I must say what a pleasure it is to have you here at the base sir. Nice to see the leader of such a nation to join his troops at the front,” the comment from General Yves immediately brought the Emperor’s attention back to him.

Sviatov responded with a smile, “Kind of your to say General, though to be fair this is hardly the front line and First Division here is hardly going to let me close to them again. By the way, Fifth Division would like me to pass along their ‘appreciation’, for your cooperation in identifying Tamara Golobayev.”

He paused for a moment before bringing up the subject the 5th Division soldier had reminded him of, “On a related note, they expressed some concern to me about the incident in question, specifically from something mentioned in the ISM report. During the confrontation they mention a number of Delesian personnel dressed in civilian clothing and carrying firearm arrived and took custody of a separate as of yet unknown Khurzav civilian and refused to identify themselves to the ISM officers. You wouldn’t happen to have a comment on that would you?”

Sviatov continued with a casual pace and a friendly smile on his face to belay the true seriousness of the matter. 5th Division was not pleased with the incident, mostly due to the fact they pegged this as of yet unknown Delesian team as an intelligence service of some kind, and 5th Division had an intense dislike of foreign intelligence services.

-----

Since the incident that had resulted in her current position in a Delesian prison cell, Tamara had since managed to ‘settle in’ as best one could given she was sitting in a cell. Though she was disappointed in her treatment so far, she figured it had to be better then being in Kilrany custody given what she thought of them.

She wasn’t terribly concerned with the new arrivals in their black suits and ties, they were hardly as intimidating as the 5th Division personnel, this however rapidly changed when she ended up alone in a relatively small interrogation room with two of them. She called upon every piece of self control she had learned over her years as a Khurzav princess, the incessant ‘culturing’ and teaching in manners helping he remain calm, at least in appearance.

However despite this she was still just a child, and when one of the two men spoke, being direct in his threats and intentions, her calm façade showed its cracks. This was however most evident after the mention of turning her over to the Kilrany, of which she feared more then these men, mostly out of ignorance to who they were.

She took a deep breath and carefully considered her options, on the one hand she didn’t know much of anything, she had been quickly hidden away by a couple loyal servants after the surrender had been ordered, the servant no doubt being interrogated for the same information these men wanted after the ISM randomly chose her house to search. On the other hand however she had no desire to be handed over to the Kilrany, and while she didn’t personally know the members of any organizations, she did know of them, having had plenty of time to hear about them on the news.

While she could not keep all the fear out of her expression, she maintained an even tone and her Russian was far more eloquent then the man’s across from her, mostly due to hours upon hours of language drills, “And by come through for me I presume that means the amnesty I requested initially, yes?”

She pause a moment before continuing, trying to take control of the situation, realizing that she could ideally play this to her advantage, assuming of course these men were truthful in what they said, “I know some things that may be of use, but what assurances do I have you wont merely turn me over to the Kilrany when I’ve told you what I know? I will tell you something to begin with though, I was being watched over by a loyal servant, she took me in to hide me when my father ordered the official surrender. I stayed at her home. Her name is Maria Boguslavskaya, though I imagine she’s in ISM custody right now.” She didn’t add the name of the other servant involved who had been helping to hide her, both hoping she would remain anonymous and realizing she was likely also already in ISM custody as well.

The General smiled, he knew that sooner or later the Emperor would bring the topic up.

“Yes, well I’m glad we could help in that respect, although to the incident, I hate to shift blame, as I am the ‘commander’ of the Delesian forces here in the theater of operations, but those men you speak of, the one at the center of this… issue are not of military origin and hence I have no authority over. Actually there are few who do. The most I can do from my end is have a little chat with them and set better guide lines down.” The General shook his head, “I must say I don’t enjoy having these men on my base, pardon me, your base, but as long as we have Commonwealth troops in the theater, the government of the United Commonwealth strongly suggests that these men be stationed here in an attempt to ‘sniff’ out rebels for the greater safety of my and ultimately your men as well.” Yves put his hands together behind his back. “Now I can contact some people I know back home in politics and bring the issue up with some department heads and see if they can put a lease on their men. But I can’t promise anything; it may be a while before we hear anything back from them.” General Feuilly offered a smile, although it didn’t amount too much compared to the frustration the CIA agents had caused the 5th Division and the Kilrany government.

It began to rain as the group made their way onto the final blocks to the HQ, and General Yves looked behind him and waved a man over.

“Colonel Kirill, if you could be so kind as to fetch the good Emperor an umbrella, unless one of your handy 5th division boys happen to have one?” In the distance the sounds of helicopter blades rotating in the rain was becoming more evident as the blades picked up speed. Over the roof tops of the buildings, in a field out of view from the group a Griffon helicopter took off and flew over top of the group, heading out for it’s patrol, filled with eager Rangers to get back and out of the rain to a good beer and hopefully pick a soccer game up on the TV upon return.

---

The agent sitting down shook his head and waved his finger.

“No, never. As of this moment you are the enemy of an ally, making you our enemy. We have direct orders from 5th division not to remove you from the country. The Commonwealth never goes back on their word.” The man in the back smiled, an evil sort of smile as he thought of just beating the information out of the little girl, he was not one to be patient and ease the information out people, but maybe that’s why he wasn’t in command. He shrugged.

“Maybe we can… make her tell us sure.”

“Now, now. This is a little girl, and what does she know, she has been babied all her life, pampered like the royal brat she is.” The sitting agent turned towards the girl, “Now Delesian soldier’s lives are on the line every time they leave the safe zone of this base. Now is it so hard as to tell us the location of any known rebel leaders so for the soldiers that saved you from the 5th division not to get killed. This is my offer little girl, you tell us something useful other then loyal servants harbored you, unless these servants are militarily active against Commonwealth forces. And we will protect you from the 5th Division for as long as possible, as much as not taking you out of the country ourselves. Perhaps handing you over to loyal citizens that you can hide with. All we can do is open the door, not hold your hand all the way. If you do not cooperate, I, I mean we will have no choice but to hand you over because your no use to us. I won’t lie, I have a prisoner that is a suspected terrorist and well he is rather a stupid commoner, you are a royal family and should have higher knowledge and connections with higher command.”

Emperor Ivan Semyonovich Sviatov listened intently to the Delesian General as he spoke, but surveyed the area around him as they walked as if the topic wasn’t of great importance. When General Yves made a comment about contacting some of his ‘friends’, as Ivan interpreted the man’s words, he shook his head slightly.

“Such extremes are not necessary General, I understand the reason for their presence, my concern is merely for their well being, I don’t personally know much on your nation I’m afraid, but generally speaking, the ISM tend to have much less constricting rules of engagement then most police forces. There was some concern noted by the ISM that they could have been fired upon for their failure to identify themselves, potentially mistaken for rebel forces in the split second decision by an ISM officer as to their identity, a situation that would have been most regrettable.”

Continuing to downplay just how serious the ISM and 5th Division were reacting to this situation in his ‘diplomatic mode’, Sviatov continued, “A simple cautioning to them to be slightly more tactful in the presence of our military forces is all that is required here I’m sure. Certainly they’d understand the stress most of the Kilrany forces are under here and would not seek to aggravate it by acting rashly.”

In truth the Emperor was not so sure of the competency of the Delesian intelligence service present in Khurzav, having had little contact with Delesa prior to the call for peacekeepers, the Kilrany knew little about the Delesian Commonwealth in detail. It was perhaps for the best that General Yves had so far not mentioned the proper name of the organization in question as well, as the Kilrany, in particular 5th Division, had a great dislike of the American CIA after much experience dealing with them during the Cold War. Though the Delesian CIA was a different organization, the mention of the name CIA would likely have further biased the 5th Division operatives against them.

Moments later the Kilrany Emperor glanced up at the sky with mild interest in the sudden and unexpected rainfall, he personally never minded the rain much; though it had been many years ago now, he had served his required time in the Kilrany military like all citizens and had plenty of experience being out in field and subject to all that mother nature could send his way. This being said however he had no more desire to stand out in the rain then the next person if shelter was available.

Briefly considering General Yves’ offer, he shook his head slightly, “The offer is appreciated General, but unnecessary, we are almost to the building with your office if I recall correctly and a little rain never hurt anyone.”

Sviatov suppressed a wicked grin as a thought occurred to him and he half turned towards Captain Hakanov following behind him while keeping an eye on General Yves reaction, “Captain, remind me to have the weather man who called for clear skies today shot.”

With the cover of his balaclava, Hakanov smiled, knowing full well that Ivan was joking and replied in a matter of fact tone, “Of course sir, it will be done immediately.”

Sviatov waited a second to see the reaction on General Yves’ face before he quickly added, rather straight faced at that, “I was joking Captain.”

“Of course you were sir.”

Hakanov suppressed a chuckle, forcing himself to remain steady and rigid in his outward appearance, as he knew full well of his Emperor’s love for teasing foreigners with such little jokes in order to gauge their reactions.

-----

Tamara’s heart sank, almost visibly so at the Delesian man’s words, blatantly telling her that under no circumstances would they help her leave Khurzav, which as far as she was concerned was the only way she would be safe from the Kilrany. Adding to her problems was the look the man at the back gave her which in turn caused her to shrink back slightly in fear.

Though when the seated man spoke her eyes flared in anger that quickly replaced what fear she had felt moments before as the Delesian brazenly insulted her. Seething, she remained silent until he finished speaking; whether the spook’s intent was to anger her or a miscalculation on his part intending to inspire more fear, the results were quite evident.

Furious at the insult and the man’s words she however managed to keep her voice low and calm, though it was obvious she was angry, “You threaten me, insult me, then tell me that no matter what I say you will turn me over to the Kilrany regardless and expect me to tell you something of importance? Staying in my country is as good as being in their custody, you apparently greatly underestimate the Kilrany and are fools to think them friends. They wouldn’t even give it a second thought to kill you and everyone in this installation if ordered.”

Still quite angry she glared at the man seated across from her, in her mind she didn’t think these men would really do anything to her, the experience she had with their common soldiers had instilled in her a belief, true or not, that they were not the type who would react positively to these men ‘interrogating’ her. Common sense no doubt clouded by her anger she spoke up once more, “I have nothing more to say to you mudozvon.”

Mudozvon being a somewhat colourful and rather obscure slang curse in the Khurzav dialect of Russian, unknown to even most Russian speaking Kilrany.

The General smiled, then looked at the ground. Interesting idea of humor he thought. "Well that's our HQ up ahead." Yves waved ahead at the guards standing outside, and they opened the doors, then stood at rigid attention, saluting the party of officers, and Kilrany soldiers. Yves turned to his officers. I'm sure you won't be needed anymore, but just in case wait outside of my door. I would like to have a word with you after." He then turned to the Kilrany Emperor. "Your highness, if you would follow me, we'll go to my office and sit down. Maybe have a drink if you so please." He turned and started to walk, removing his rain soaked peak cap, and undoing the buttons on his black overcoat.

The two Colonels ordered some coffee be made by the soldier behind the desk, knowing well enough that they had a coffee machine in the back room. Making sure there was enough for all those soldiers and officers not follow their CO into the General's office, if any.

---

The agent grinned. He wasn't stupid, and understood the girl's anger and knew that she was just trying to lash out. Little did she know it wasn't going to get her anywhere.

"Lose the attitude little missy. You may still be able to get something out of this meeting. I believe that you truly don't know an terrorist cells, and that's exactly what they are, terrorists. Their petty acts against the Kilrany won't make them retreat from here, nor will it affect our mission. The way our soldiers see it, your countries 'freedom fighters' are target practice." He pulled a box of cigarettes out of his inside pocket of his dress jacket. Knocking it on the side of the steel table, a single one popped out halfway, taking it in his mouth. Putting the box back, he then produced a zippo. Lighting the cigarette he inhaled deeply. "Now what's it going to be? Are you going to give us any information to save some of your subjects from a most certain death? Or sign the warrant for their death, which I'm sure the Kilrany will gladly dish out. We may be able to offer some sort of assistance in return. Make your stay more comfortable."

As they continued to walk along, Sviatov was unsure as to whether Yves had found his joke funny or disturbing, regardless he did not give it a second thought. He was not one for diplomatic flair, typically preferring a straightforward approach to dealing with other nations that often gave one a clear understanding of the Kilrany. While perhaps their sense of humour could be dubious at times, they were a loyal people to their friends when they found them.

Approaching the Delesian headquarters, the majority of 1st Division contingent began to spread out into pairs around the entrance and the building itself, seemingly unconcerned for the rain coming down on top of them. Only nine of the 1st Division soldiers and the one 5th Division operative entered the Delesian HQ with Emperor Sviatov and General Yves.

Sviatov gave a nod of his head and acknowledged Yves’ words, “Lead the way General,” and followed Yves into his officer, however only Hakanov and the 5th Division operative entered the General’s office while the rest took up positions outside and into the hallway in their usual pairs. With there faces concealed their spoke not a word openly and maintained a constant vigilance on everything within sight.

Inside the General’s office Emperor Sviatov took a seat in the very same chair Major Byko had only hours before while Hakanov took a moment to close the door before he and the 5th Division operative took up position on each side of it. In their nearly identical black uniforms and covered faces they stood almost at a rigid attention, but kept their eyes on General Yves. Ever paranoid, Hakanov had his left foot forwards slightly so that if someone opened the door suddenly it would stop it from hitting him.

Looking rather comfortable, Ivan Sviatov had a pleasant look upon his face and addressed the General, “Well now we’re too it aren’t we, a private little chat in your office away from prying eyes,” he grunted slightly in amusement, “It was my intent mainly to visit the commanding officers of the various forces helping keep the peace here in Khurzav General, it is unfortunate yours is the only that chose to remain long,” realizing that could have been taken as a slight, he quickly added, “but all the loss for them not to no longer have dealings with you as I now have.”

-----

To the no doubt vigilant Delesian guards at the stockade in which Tamara was being held, two Kilrany soldiers, from the regular infantry detachment, could be seen a ways down the road leading up to the building, well clear of the warning side. They came around a building corner at a casual pace and stopped there, leaning up against the wall they appeared to carry on a conversation, but they kept the stockade’s entrance well within sight.

They had received orders from Major Byko, who had in turn received orders from a 1st Division soldier under the authority of 5th Division, to place the building under observation only and report any movement from within, primarily to ensure Tamara was not slipped out unnoticed. These soldiers weren’t the only ones however, on the opposing sides the building was also watched; having appropriated the base from the Khurzav, they knew all the possible exits from the Delesian reinforced building.

-----

If looks could kill, the gleam of hatred coming from Tamara’s eyes would have made the agent spontaneously combust on the spot. As it was however she merely glared at him for several moments more in silence, the agent’s grin and apparently amusement infuriated her all the more.

Finally after the Delesian agent had taken a few drags on his cigarette she spoke again, the trace of anger was still there but was slowly being replaced with despair, “If you don’t believe that I personally know any ‘terrorist cells’, as you call them, then what do you expect me to tell you then? I spent my time shuffled from house to house being kept out of sight of the Kilrany … and my own people.

The General smiled, “Yes well when the Commonwealth commits to a problem, we tend to stick it out if it’s for the right reasons.” He took a sip from the glass of just water he had gotten himself, then placing the glass on a new file on his desk; it outlined new Commonwealth activity in the region to the north. He hadn’t got the chance to look over it, as it came in while he was meeting the Emperor. “Well I hope even though we are the only ones still here, we haven’t caused too much trouble.” He chuckled. “So what is it we needed to talk about away from sensitive ears?”

---

The guards posted outside the brig, and the crew of the LAV III stood at their posts as before, but took careful notice of the new arrivals down the street. No alarms were raised, but in a few cases some of the soldiers fingers inched closer to the triggers of the C7 rifles and some resting their hands on their pistol holders.

---

The agent’s right eyebrow raised slightly, engrossed at the little girls last sentence. He put the cigarette out, jamming it on the stainless steel table. “Your own people? What do you mean?” As he said that he looked over his left shoulder, nodding his head to the agent behind him. The agent smiled and left the room with a gentle click of the closing door.

Behind the one-way glass several of the other agents watched, some were smoking, drinking, and just plain relaxing waiting for an important break through. There were two that stood right up against the glass, their arms crossed across their chests. “So he’s going to do then…” one said to the other.

“Fuck that, she’s just a girl.”

“Hey news flash idiot, this is the bloody CIA we’ll do what we have to, to get the information, even if it means doing this to a little girl. She knows stuff and we need it. And if she really doesn’t know anything well then fuck, no one will care. Hell I bet the Kilrany are just itching to put a round in her head.”

“You, my friend, are one sick son of a bitch. You know that?” The two of them laughed.

The door in the interrogation room opened, the one agent walked in, a cloth bag in one hand a large bucket in the other. If the girl had a brain she would be able to connect the dots.

Leaning back in the chair, Sviatov crossed his right leg over his left and let his hands rest on his raised knee, with a continued pleasant demeanor and tone in his voice, he replied to the Delesian General with a slight chuckle, “No real trouble at all General Yves. As to what I wish to discuss, first I shall have to begin with a subject I’m sure you’re tired of having to speak about ever since it first came up, however Fifth Division is persistent and they trust that my words will hold more meaning for you then their own have.”

He then shrugged slightly and momentarily he had an almost apologetic look on his face before returning to his somewhat more neutral smile, “Tamara Golobayev,” he paused a moment, expecting perhaps a sigh or grimace from the General but proceeded a again quickly regardless of the soldier’s reaction, “From what I’ve been told you have some concern as to how she would be treated in our care, yes?” his head titled slightly to the side quizzically as he asked the question, though he continued quickly once more, “I don’t suppose that there is anything I can say that would change your mind on this I imagine, I can only tell you that our chief concern is that the Tamara not be used as a figurehead for any Khurzav people still loyal to their former king, I have no desire to see her harmed in any way,” what he said was true for the most part, he, nor 5th Division had any intent on harming the child; killing her or torturing her was seen as an unwise action as it could most likely make her a martyr to center a call to arms around.

Sviatov shrugged again, “Regardless, it is your choice. But perhaps you are not fully aware of just what you have gotten yourself into by taking her in to your care. Thanks to their media, and from what I’m told, a rather substantial crowd at the scene, the Khurzav people know you have her, and they know where this facility is. I didn’t have the opportunity to see how well guarded your perimeter is, but I would highly recommend that you strengthen it if you haven’t already, I believe you may have made yourselves an even greater target for these resistance groups.”

-----

While it was fair to say that she had been rather isolated, Tamara was no fool and recognized the threat quite evident by the newest arrival, at least she believed so. Immediately her eyes widened in fear and a quiet squeak escaped her mouth before she composed herself, but the years of rigid etiquette training only aided her discipline so far and the ‘armour’ of her passive demeanor was quite clearly cracked as she trembled slightly in fear.

Had there been even one 5th Division interrogator in the room at that moment they wouldn’t have hesitated for a moment to shoot both men for what they would have perceived as a severe lapse in professionalism and good judgment. While their progress may have appeared slow, it had been steady, and they were getting as much information out of the fourteen year old girl that she had to offer.

Now absolutely terrified, she made no more sound or movement whatsoever beyond her continued trembling. Had either Delesian attempted to take a step towards her she would have screamed in terror while darting out of her chair with the intent to use it as a weapon, failing that she would bite, scratch and kick at anyone who came near. While not having the strength or the self defense training the Delesian agents not doubt had, she was small and quick, and knew quite well that the eyes of an attacker were an excellent target to gouge at, as well as such an attack would also usually instinctively draw the attackers hands away to defend their eyes, a knee or kick to the groin would also be high on her list of targets.

Her only hope should it have come to that however is that her screaming would have drawn the attention of the Delesian soldiers on guard, having the belief, flawed or not, that they would not have tolerated the actions of these men. She had no idea however if the Delesian contingent had installed soundproofing into the building after their arrival in modification, but such an job would have required more then the standard training and equipment available to most military forces.

The agent smirked, seeing that he was finally getting through to the headstrong girl, that he wasn’t playing games.

“Now all I want are names, places, descriptions. Give me something so I can stop my fellow agent behind me from doing what he really wants to do which is basically drown you in inches of water.” He stopped to think for a moment. “Little miss I’m not sure if you know, but we arrested someone before we got our hands on you, and well we just finished up talking to him. He wasn’t very helpful and now he lies outback behind the building, a single round in his head. If you don’t believe me I can take you to go see him… But he isn’t really talkative at the moment. Now you can avoid the same fate if you help us in the slightest way. These ‘terrorists’ are destroying what’s left of your county. The Commonwealth has come here as peacekeepers, you should know what that means you have a good education. We are here to help make peace, between your people and the Kilrany, to allow your people to return a normal life with out the Kilrany soldiers in the street, as I am sure it is uneasy for some people.” He rubbed his chin, “Outside these walls, the Kilrany are employing mass arrests, no doubt innocent people disappearing into camps, and you know why? That’s because they don’t know who to arrest so they arrest everyone. You give us something and we can stop this madness. It is my firm belief that for millions to live, a couple may have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Help your countrymen princess. You have my word, you help us arrest these terrorists that are continuing the suffering by fighting us, and if they surrender, then they will receive all the proper conditions. We won’t kill them; we just want to help the rest of society move on.” He offered an honest to god sympathetic smile.

---

The General cracked a smile at the name. “Of course.” He chuckled, “Well, personally I don’t give two hoots really anymore. She has caused too much trouble for the likes of me, I’m just a simple fighting man.” He leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms. “Although several of my officers what to keep her under their eyes, heaven knows why but hey if they think it’s a good idea, I have reason to believe them, they are my officers and were would a commanding officer be if he didn’t believe his men? As for defences around this base, well I haven’t cranked up the security yet. I think he have a tight unit already and cranking it up would be pointless, unless you have would of massive armed forces enroute armed with heavy weapons.” Yves laughed.

Sviatov gave a single, slight nod of his head towards Yves when he finished speaking; while the Kilrany Emperor may have felt mildly annoyed by the hesitation on the part of the Delesians to simply hand over Tamara, he took no offense to it. He understood that the Delesians had only known the Kilrany for the few months they had been providing peacekeeping in Khurzav and he hardly expected them to trust his people immediately, for he doubted if their situation was reverse they would have acted very differently.

After another moment he spoke, his voice still even and pleasant as he used his ‘general diplomacy’ tone of voice, “Quite understandable General, you’ve had a limited experience with us, so I will say no more on the subject other then state my own confidence that in due time I’m sure you’re people’s concerns will disappear. Besides, she’s as safe here as anywhere I imagine for the time being, not as though anyone could get in to harm her here under your men’s watchful eyes,” Sviatov laughed lightly in good humour to maintain a lighthearted mood, wholly unaware of the events transpiring not too far away for a very terrified young girl.

Content that he had played his last discreet diplomatic card in regards to Tamara, he chose to move on to other matters that were perhaps of greater concern after a few seconds of silence, “Tell me General, do you believe we’re going about this the right way?” he paused a moment then felt the need to elaborate, “By that I mean, do you believe that my people are going about keeping the peace and re-establishing order here in Khurzav by the best means available, or do you feel their could be improvement? How might you own government handle a situation such as our current one, hmmm?”

-----

If the Delesian CIA agent had expected Tamara to answer he would be in for a no doubt annoying surprise, still terrified at the prospect of water boarding she had locked up and made no more noise then another little squeak as she trembled in fear. Her dignified exterior that she had been trying to maintain was all but gone in her terror, unless they meant to actually do harm to her at this point they would get no further a word from her, and any step towards her would have initiated her self preservation instinct. In this state she barely heard the words spoken by the man across from her said in an attempt to further intimidate her.

The agent looked at the girl, studied her face. “Fuck.” He smiled.

Behind the glass the two agents watching burst out laughing, “Moron got the girl scared shitless! Man she is going to piss and he is going to make us clean it up!”

“No way I’m going to do that. He was the one that ruined it.” The two calmed down, breathing easier from the laughter that they had. “You know I think we should just kill her. I mean she could be a lot of trouble. Like hell she isn’t any good if the Kilrany want to rebuild, the people will look to her. Just you wait, some son of a bitch is going to gather some brain washed children and try and attack the base. Just you wait, all in an attempt to secure this girl. I say just kill her.”

“And that kind of thinking is why you’re just another pair of hands on the mission and not the brains.”

“You know what? Fuck you.” He lightly punched his comrade in the shoulder.

Back in the room the lead agent couldn’t stop smiling. “Alright, grab her. Let’s get it over with. Don’t bother with the bucket crap. Let’s just take her out back. Get some guards.” The agent who brought in the bucket left again, after a minute he opened the door again and entered with two men dressed in black combat clothes, tactical vests and a balaclava pulled down over their faces. They didn’t have any weapons on them for the girl to grab; it was the SOP (standard operating procedure) when transferring prisoners. They walked around opposite sides of the table, coming at the girl from different angles and moved quickly, their arms shooing out like lightning grabbing the girl.

---

Yves smiled at the watchful eyes comment made by the emperor.

“Yes well if she becomes any sort of problem, I am more then willing to hand her over. I’m rather sick of this whole thing if you ask me.” He nodded as he listened as the emperor asked him the questions.

“Well I can’t really offer anything due to government policy and bullcrap like that, all I can say is I think your doing your duty and doing it well. Soon the people will give up, figuring out the fight is over and they have lost. It’s only a matter of time. But how long that will take, who knows. Our operations in the aftermath of our last war took well beyond a year of hard policing. Even now it’s not entirely secure, but that probably goes without saying, you will always have your radicals. Good intelligence is what is going to win it for you. Find the bastards before they do any harm to your men, my men and most important the people of this country. You protect them and show them that these radicals are trying to hurt everyone and you should gain trust.” He offered a faint smile as he picked up a glass of water.

If the Delesian agents had expected to take her easily, they were in for a surprise. She hadn’t been able to escape from three ISM officers and evade them for nothing, and already highly agitated by the direct threat of torture and murder, she had nothing left to lose by giving it her all once more. While she had no true training in self defense, she did have knowledge on the weak points of the human body; perhaps had she the time to clearly think things through she might have acted differently, as it was however she took a series of quick actions out of instinct to survive that were no doubt rather futile in the long run, but what she lacked in size and strength, she more then made up for in agility given her small frame, and rare was the grown man as nimble as a small girl, or even most grown ones, the fact that she wasn’t shackled was also a bonus.

The movement of the Delesian with the bucket in leaving the room almost set her off then and there, but having missed the seated agents words there was a brief moment of relief where she slowly began to calm down. This respite was however quickly destroyed upon seeing the agent return with two men who looked far too similar to 5th Division operatives for her terrified mind to take. With the situation changed now, so too was her reaction to their approach.

Before they could make it past the seated agent towards her on either side of the table, she appeared to fall off the chair to her right, almost as if she had fainted, any such illusion to that fact would have been quickly dispelled as she caught herself with her arms as she landed on the floor. With the chair and table between her and the farther guard, and now suddenly below the initial area the closer guard could easily grab her, using the momentum of her fall she rolled on to her back and lashed out with all her might with both her legs, aiming to slam both her feet into either knee of the closest guard to her, as she did this an ear piercing shriek of terror was loosed from her lips that could have been heard by just about anyone inside the building, and perhaps some nearby outside.

Had either blow been successful in striking the guard’s knees, which could have easily broken either of them with even the limited force she could bring to bear on them, at the very least caused an extreme amount of pain as the joint was smashed back in the wrong direction, kneepads or not, she would have rolled to her right further out of the area where he might fall, and using her arms leap back to her feet with one of the walls of the interrogation room behind her, her eyes wildly searching the room for where another ‘attacker’ would come from. If her blows missed however and the guard was still able to react, her own reaction would once again change upon the conditions of the situation as her will to live pushed her survival instincts to their limits.

-----

Sviatov nodded in apparent understanding, he had suspected that the Delesians were forced to operate under the supervision of more ‘traditional’ political supervisors, so while Yves’ response may have seemed to cover the question, the Kilrany emperor suspected he would have had more to say on the situation. No matter, he thought to himself, as he remained silent for several seconds, still useful to know the level of political control their government asserts on their soldiers. He is right to a degree however, get the bastards before they can attack you, but that only works so far, then you have to show them the futility of their actions.

As it was, at the order of Sviatov the Kilrany military had been holding itself back from its usual counter insurgency tactics and attempting their best to remain respectful of the local population. To that end 5th Division’s presence in Khurzav was lower then it would have been otherwise and those units of the other Divisions of the Imperial Guard were keeping a lower profile, especially after the incident outside the Khurzav courthouse. This would not last long however, as Sviatov was beginning to lose his patience with the Khurzav as his own people grew more weary of the casualties they were taking and the light handed approach ordered by the Emperor.

While he still suspected that Yves would have had more to say, he chose to take the diplomatic route; though it was not the usual approach for the Kilrany, “I appreciate your candor then General, though suffice it to say we are doing just about all one could in the area of intelligence given the locals. While it would seem the average Khurzav doesn’t feel all that inclined to help the partisan forces, they’re not inclined to help us out either, willingly.”

He was silent again for a moment, now then, what the hell else was it I had intended to speak with him about? His train of thought having been temporarily disrupted with the consideration of the demands of his military personnel and the Kilrany population in response to continued partisan activities.

Unable to recall what it was for the moment, he chose to speak out something else, “I must say you’ve peaked my curiosity General, your last war, as you put it, who was this with and how did you end up in it with a foreign population to keep an eye on? I have to admit we’ve not kept up on the affairs of others beyond the SFR as much as we perhaps should.”

The black dressed soldier fell to the ground, the force of the kick causing severe pain, although the kneepad did that a majority of the force. His right hand came down and grabbed the knee as he tried to move it. His partner stepped back from the girl as if defeated, or stunned form what happened. He looked at the lead agent for orders.

“Son of a bitch, girl got me good.” Said the downed soldier. He got back to his feet, holding onto the table for support. The agent that was still sitting down pulled out a stun gun taser from under his jacket. He took a quick well-aimed shot and the prongs shot out, clinching to the girl in two spots, instantly sending electrical volts through the thin wire to the girl.

---

The General Yves scratched his chin while listening. Not all his attention was paying attention to the Emperor, he was thinking about home, when his tour was over what he would do. He had grown to like this posting; the landscape reminded him of back in his hometown.

Although he had applied for the Rangers and was one of the major voices behind the creation of the peacekeeping unit, he did miss the action of the front line combat. And as a loyal citizen of the Commonwealth he kept up with current affairs, and had heard word of the action-taking place north of where he was posted. And by pure coincidence his son was to partake in the action there, serving as a Junior Lieutenant in the 5th Airborne. He smiled at the thought of his son serving the country of their family, upholding the family pride and honour.

He sat there contemplating his choices, he could go home, his tour would be over, but seeing as this was the Rangers’ first tour of duty he thought about staying till the end. Then he came to a conclusion. He would go home on leave, take a break so to say. Catch up with friends and family. Have someone replace him or rather cover for him until he returned. He nodded as if listening to the Emperor, but rather nodding in the acceptance of his plan.

Now it wasn’t as if the General was completely ignoring a nation’s leader, he was multitasking, something that was required by today’s generals more then ever. He kept one ear open so to say and didn’t miss a thing.

“And that is understandable. But every little thing helps, I’m not sure but have the local police been reinstated? That might help smooth things over if you haven’t already. Or even put some of the men from this area that are loyal to your cause in the national uniforms, make the people feel like they have someone on their side.” The moment of silence made the General uneasy. He liked to know what was going on, but he couldn’t yet quite read the Emperor and doubted if he ever would be able. The next question caught him quite off guard.

“Well,” he chuckled, “That war is known as the Commonwealth-Kreatvye War back home. Let’s see… It war started in 1940 after the beginning of the Second World War, a neighboring country had invaded some of our home islands in a previous war in 1809. At the time the Kingdom as it was known at the time and not the Commonwealth, was in the middle of a revolution. Extreme socialists begun to rise up and took over our southern most island. The socialists looked for help in a nearby country of Kreatvye who came to their aid. The Kingdom was taken by surprise, losing the Virgin Isles and that southern island within a year. If you didn’t know our largest naval base is Port Hustlings and it’s located in the southern island, so we lost a large chunk of our navy. Fighting was pretty laid back until the socialist army tried to cross the channel to attack the main land, luckily heavy storms delayed them and Lord Hudson was able to scrap together what was left of the Royal Navy and attacked the confused and storm battered convoy. Many of the Royal Navy ships experienced what is called St. Elmos fire, which frightened off the Kreatvye war ships.” Yves laughed, “Bastards ran off with their tails between their legs. Needless to say the remaining socialist escorts were easily dealt with, the transports surrendered, well most of them anyways, we sank a few. Anyways that was the turning point, with the majority of the socialist army in chains and under lock, we took back the southern island, but not easily, the Kreatvye still had a heavy army presence and fought us for every inch of soil. By the time we captured the southern island our forces were too exhausted and had no chance of taking back the Virgin Isles. War lasted till 1815.” Yves took a moment to gather his thoughts. Took a sip of water and continued. “The Commonwealth-Kreatvye War was to get back our soil and teach the bastards a lesson. The Commonwealth War machine was growing every minute, and with the aid of our most trusted ally, the Kingdom of Azazia, we fought them all the way back to their country. Course it lasted till 1978, and cost way too many lives, justice was served. Kreatvye was an evil and corrupt country lead by loonies. We sure as hell weren’t the only country that Kreatvye bullied; we were just the only ones to fight back. I fought in it for the last bit, got me a few medals, lost me a few buddies.”

He looked at his hands that were now shaking. He rubbed them together, taking a deep breath. “There were a lot of ugly scenes I saw there, things that haunt me today, haunt the Commonwealth.” But then he smiled pushing the sore thought to the back of his mind. “But we got them. Now she’s a colony of the Commonwealth, we renamed her Cesibia, a democracy now. Really resembles the US, kinda scares some of use how fast the economy bounced back and the speed at which the country rebuilt. By far our most powerful colony. I mean god help us the day they decide to fight us again.”

Though she recognized the weapon the seated agent pulled out and tried to dart out of its path; attempting to put herself between him and the injured guard, her attempt was futile and the dart-like electrodes struck her easily. While she may have been quick, she was not superhuman, and as the high voltage surged through her small body she crumpled to the ground, convulsing and shrieking in pain as the electricity overrode her own nervous system. Her cries of pain could no longer be mistaken as they echoed in the room, of little doubt now would they have been heard by all inside that building; had the Kilrany soldiers now watching the building not been so far away, they perhaps might have heard it themselves in the still night air that was only occasionally broken by the thumping blades of helicopters orbiting the base in the distance.

There was a strong metallic taste in her mouth as she was electrocuted, though she hardly noticed it over the pain that seemed to go on for an eternity with every second feeling like a minute. When the weapon had finished releasing the set charge, she lay there unmoving in only slightly less pain as the residual effects of the electrocution wore on, a pain in her chest lost to the rest of it throughout her body. Unknown to her was that her own heart was now contracting in an erratic fashion and was failing to effectively pump blood throughout her body, in less then thirty seconds hypoxia would set in and she would lose consciousness, cardiac arrest would result shortly thereafter. As it was, she lay there barely moving, trembling and whimpering in pain.

-----

In answer to the General’s question about the Khurzav police, prior to him elaborating on the Commonwealth-Kreatvye War, Emperor Sviatov respond with a nod of his head, “The Khurzav National Police Force; I believe that’s what they called it, was never disbanded, they still readily operate, but there’s only so far I’m willing to trust them.”

As the KNPF was not an organization along the lines of the ISM, in that they did not have access to weapons heavier then their service side arms and shotguns, minus a handful of rapid response teams, the Kilrany had seen no need to remove them from the equation. Indeed, Sviatov recalled authorizing a plan to use former Khurzav servicemen who were being held as POWs, to bolster the KNPF by giving those servicemen the choice of undergoing training as police officers. Though he couldn’t remember now whether it had been a few weeks or a month since he signed it, regardless the large number of servicemen who had accepted the offer were still in training.

When General Yves began in on Delesian military history, the Kilrany Emperor listened intently to what he had to say, for he had a fervent passion for such things; as one Russkyan ambassador to Kilrany, by the name of Foraan, could attest to, having been one of the rare few to see the Kilrany Royal Family’s personal museum inside the sprawling Imperial Palace. Said ambassador had earned a great deal of admiration from the Emperor; despite a near catastrophic misunderstanding relating to another incident, when he had helped see to it several new and rather substantial additions were made to the collection that the Kilrany Royal Family had been unable to obtain previously.

While perhaps the true extent of the details was lacking in the General’s explanation; which was quite understandable given it was a brief account of their war, Sviatov was pleased none the less to hear what Yves described. He did however make a mental note about the apparent hostility towards socialists and more importantly, the apparent standing and potential threat created by one of the Commonwealth’s own colonies.

“A most fortuitous turn of events then, to catch them off guard, to have found them at all really, unless of course they were following a rather direct course, but still, must have been a sight for those who participated. What became of those warships that fled though? Did they ever manage to regroup, or were hunted down before they could do so?”

While the Emperor seemed to ignore the General’s comment about being haunted, it was not out of indifference, he simply chose not to pry in on that particular subject, rather, he focused more on one that appeared to be less troubling for Yves, and one that still intrigued him.