Hiro Kuat
The inner courtyard guards hurriedly begin clearing an empty space for the incoming bulwarks, shooing away the beast people milling about. Almost everyone is looking at the Coalition bulwarks with naked curiosity, but the frown on Mari's face deepens and she wipes her brow with a handkerchief, losing her grip on the monocle. I quickly snatch the device up before it hits the ground and damages the lens.
"They might not be here for us." I whisper to Mari, trying to reassure her.
"Just a squadron of Stormers anyway." Nomi adds, "We could handle them in our sleep."
"Then we lose the chance to bring these beast folk back to base." Mari replies tersely, "No local driver is going to take the risk of doing work for fugitives."
By now, the Coalition Stormers have landed in the yard and shut down their engines, the joints of the machines hissing and clanking as they assume a relaxed walk.
"Crap. I think the Coalition bulwarks are heading in our direction." I hiss in warning.
"About time." Nomi smirks, "I'm ready for a little action."
"Settle down, both of you." Mari orders in a tone that brooks no objections, "Come with me."
The three of us retreat deeper into the inner courtyard, where Madam and her bodyguards are standing in a corner. The woman begins fidgeting nervously, playing with the lapel of her coat. Madam's face morphs into an ugly expression the moment she notices the three of us approaching and her bodyguards move to protectively shield her person. To my surprise, Mari does not say anything and instead leads us to stand neatly behind Madam who almost squawks in outrage.
"What is the meaning of this?" Madam demands with barely restrained annoyance.
"We're part of your entourage, are we not?" Mari explains with mock innocence.
"Since when?" Madam snaps, succeeding at keeping her voice down, "I agreed to help you that's all. Don't drag me down with your problems!"
"What problems?" Mari shrugs, "As far as I know, there're no problems."
"Then stop hiding behind me." Madam demands, "I'll scream and call the Coalition here. I mean it. You lot can still escape if you hurry."
Instead of replying, Mari takes out the stack of blank entry passes for the Citadel and discreetly presents them to Madam. The woman stops mid tirade as her eyes lock on to the travel documents Mari has in her hand.
"I heard that the price for smuggling a beast person into the Citadel is twenty five thousand credits. Each." Mari states calmly, "Guess how much money is in my hand right now."
Madam licks her lips in agitation as she weighs Mari's unspoken offer, her eyes constantly flitting between the entry passes and the slowly approaching Coalition bulwarks. The bulwarks may be taking their time, but its clear that they're heading in our direction, not bothering to pay any attention to the rest of the crowd. I begin to finger my deployment ring in readiness to fight while Nomi's face settles into a look of deadly seriousness.
"For me?" Madam hesitantly asks, her heart torn by caution and greed. Mari merely nods in response, awaiting the woman's decision. Madam's hand snaps outward with surprising speed and the stack of entry passes disappears like a magician's trick. I barely had time to observe Madam tucking the documents into one of her pockets.
"Both of you," Madam directly addresses Nomi and I, "stop looking like you want to murder everyone here. I'll handle this."
"Hiro. Nomi. Stay on guard." Mari cuts in smoothly, "If anything goes wrong, you both know what to do."
Well, actually we don't and Nomi rolls her eyes at this ham handed deception. But Mari's words nevertheless have the desired effect. Madam's back shoots up lightning rod straight and she swallows hard. She spends the last few moments available adjusting her clothes to look more presentable, right in time for the Coalition squadron to come to a stop in front of us.
"YOU ARE RECRUITING BEAST WOMEN." the squadron leader states behind the bulwark's helmet, the amplified voice booming across the inner courtyard. The voice is male, meaning that this is a squadron of Coalition Auxila. I sense Nomi relaxing her posture by my side. We may still be in trouble, but three A ranked pilots would beat D rankers any day of the week. At least that's the commonly accepted wisdom.
"Yes, sir." Madam says respectfully to the Auxila leader.
"WHERE DO YOU INTEND ON TAKING THESE BEAST WOMEN?" the Auxila demands.
"The Citadel." Madam answers, keeping her voice level, "I've done business here before. Just ask the guards."
The Auxila leader nods and begins to inspect the beast girls that Madam had singled out for us. After completing a slow circuit down the line of beast folk, he turns and continues speaking.
"BEAST FOLK ARE A TREASURE." the leader rasps through his bulwark's speakers, "SO HAS THE RAIS DECREED."
"Uh, yes?" Madam agrees dumbly.
"SO YOU AGREE." the Auxila presses on, "YET YOU INTEND TO BRING THEM TO THE CITADEL TO BE EXPLOITED."
"Its nothing like that!" Madam disagrees vehemently.
"What a load of sanctimonious bullshit." Nomi whispers to me, "I could break that wimp over my knee. See how much he dares to peddle nonsense to other people after that."
"Nomi, something's wrong." I shoot back urgently, "That guy isn't a normal Auxila."
"What do you mean?" Nomi asks, "That's a bog standard Stormer through and through."
"Mari dropped her monocle just now and I picked it up." I explain, "I was suspicious of why a group of Auxila would dare to challenge Valkyries. So I scanned the leader while the squadron was walking here."
"And?" Nomi turns around, urging me to continue.
"His affinity level isn't normal." I say, "It constantly shifts between rank D and rank A."
"A freak of nature like you then?" Nomi hums, looking at the situation with new eyes.
"I don't know. My affinity doesn't shift." I answer worriedly, "There might be other surprises we don't know about."
"I got it." Nomi gives me a quick squeeze on the hand, "Thanks for the heads up."
"I'm right here as well you know." Mari grumbles, "And thanks for picking up the monocle by the way. Its a pretty expensive bit of kit."
"Oh, sorry." I murmur while handing Mari back the monocle.
"An A ranker on the enemy's side changes the equation." Mari muses with concern, "We would still be able to fight and win if it came down to it, but getting injured is almost certain. There might be other A rankers around as well."
"Let Madam try her way first." I respond, "If we have to fight, then we fight."
"AND WHO ARE THOSE THREE?" the Auxila leader questions Madam sternly, interrupting my quiet conversation with my colleagues.
"Bodyguards from the Citadel." Madam replies in an even voice, but I notice sweat begin to run down the nape of her neck.
"SINCE WHEN CAN PIMPS AFFORD TO HIRE TWO VALKYRIES AND AN AUXILA AS BODYGUARDS?" the leader jabs nastily, observing Madam's reaction.
"Business has been good, and if there were better opportunities in Rais Land maybe -" Madam growls angrily, clearly offended, but is interrupted by the Auxila leader again.
"COME WITH US. WE NEED TO QUESTION ALL OF YOU."
"No." Madam stares the armored figure down, refusing to budge an inch.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" the Auxila leader snaps back in surprise at this sudden defiance.
"I said no." Madam repeats, "This isn't the Coalition. Its Rais Land. And the Rais allows us to be here."
"THE COALITION IS A FRIEND OF ALL BEAST FOLK." the Auxila leader, "WE ARE ALLIES OF RAIS LAND."
"You don't own this place!" Madam shouts, making sure everyone in the inner courtyard can hear. A low undercurrent of unhappy grumbling begins to build around us, directed at the Coalition squadron. The squadron leader observes the crowd for a bit before coming to a decision.
"VERY WELL. YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE THREE THEN?"
"Yes. I do." Madam confirms with a steely voice.
"GOOD. WE SHALL BE COLLECTING THESE BEAST WOMEN THEN."
"What gives you the right?" Madam blares like a trumpet, "They've already agreed to go with me." Another rising crescendo of protest begins to build throughout the inner courtyard, but the Auxila leader cuts through it with a vigorous slash of his hand.
"IT IS THE DUTY OF THE COALITION TO RESCUE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE." the amplified voice answers, "OR IS ANYONE HERE DISPUTING THE WORDS OF THE RAIS?"
The crowd is immediately silenced and the Auxila leader looks around in satisfaction. Without another word, the squadron begins shepherding the beast girls Madam had selected away.
"Rescue?" I ask no one in particular, dumbfounded at this claim by the Coalition squadron.
"Most likely how the Coalition describes the tributes." Mari says after some thought, "No one seems particularly enthusiastic about going with them though."
"What Madam said about no one coming back after the Coalition grabs them is probably true." Nomi observes, "Look, everyone is afraid of those bulwarks."
Mari nods in agreement as the crowd begins to disperse, casting regretful side glances at the beast girls being led off. Madam turns around and walks back to us, fatigue showing in her eyes. But before she can address us, that loud booming voice rasps again.
"RAIS LAND MAY NOT BELONG TO THE COALITION. BUT THE SKIES BEYOND ITS BORDER DO. REMEMBER THAT."
And with that the Coalition squadron disappears through the gates of the inner courtyard.
"Big talk." Nomi scoffs, "That guy should try throwing down if he thinks he's hard enough."
"I hate you." Madam glares hard at Mari.
"Hey, let's not fight." I quickly intervene before a quarrel breaks out, "The problem is solved right? Other than losing the beast girls, everybody is safe and sound."
"No, Hiro." Mari sighs, "I'm afraid our problems have just begun."
