Five days since Serpentine's arrest, and two days since the kidnap of Hanna Skarlett; Captain Aquila Kawaguchi's master plan is proceeding as intended. Yet he cannot relax; despite setting Serpentine up as the fall guy and compromising the Five Scarves, a direct assault on Shang Tu is still a very risky venture. The intelligence gathered by the Jade Alliance, though patchy, is accurate; the Magister is not well-versed in military strategy, and while there is unity between the three Origin Kingdoms, it is an uneasy alliance, stymied by politicking and bureaucracy.
What worries Aquila most though are Team Lilac and the Red Scarves; these two wildcards could bring the whole scheme crashing down around him. Despite their best efforts, no Jade successfully penetrated the ranks of the Scarves, and every attempt to sneak into their headquarters met with failure. However, there was at least one shred of comfort for the captain; the Red Scarves are just a criminal organisation, and based on the intelligence gathered, the Origin Kingdoms are guaranteed to refuse to work with them.
Team Lilac is another matter entirely however. Serpentine had briefed Aquila on their capabilities; at first, Aquila had dismissed the idea of a water dragon of fifteen leading a wildcat of twelve and a hound of ten to victory over the formidable Lord Brevon and his robot army. But when every piece of intelligence that rolled in corroborated Serpentine's information, Aquila reassessed the threat; he is forced to admit the combination of thief-turned-warrior Sash Lilac, ninja biker Carol Tea, and the psychoergokinetic Milla Basset could be the greatest threat to Aquila's mission to obtain the Elemental Crystals from their Shang Tu stronghold.
And then there's the threat from within; Aquila knows he has fragile control of the Grand Masters. While Hideyoshi Takenaka is proving a highly capable second-in-command and Chika Ueno is a worthy number three, the same cannot be said of the others. Ryoichi Nakano is recalcitrant, Tsubaki Moto is impudent, and Kaede Himura is almost uncontrollable; keeping her out of the dungeon and away from Hanna Skarlett had proven far more difficult than imagined, especially as Aquila had already allowed Kaede her revenge for the cracked rib.
As the sun rises, Aquila paces the throne room of the Kakusareta Kyuden, contemplating all the risks and pitfalls of his plan; suddenly, there's a knock at the door. "Enter!" he barks, frustrated at his concentration being broken.
Slowly, the door opens; a middle-aged macaque peers round the edge. "The collars, sir."
"Excellent!" Aquila purrs darkly; his malevolent grin is concealed by the hood of his cloak. "I trust there are five?"
"All made to your exact specifications, sir," the macaque confirms.
"You have done well," Aquila compliments. "Please place them on my desk," he commands, stepping to one side.
The macaque nods an acknowledgement. With care, he enters the room and approaches the desk; once there, he places the crate on the cleared space, then turns to Aquila. "I have held up my end of the deal; it's your turn to hold up yours," he states.
"I think not," Aquila replies. With one swift movement, he unholsters his pistol and shoots the macaque through the forehead, just off-centre; the macaque collapses, dead before he hits the floor. "Especially as you're now staining my nice clean floor," the dragon adds. "Do you know how hard bloodstains are to remove? Still, at least your work will allow me to tip the odds further in my favour…"