Chapter Twenty Six - Undertone

A young messenger hurriedly ran through the camp, weaving his way through horses and marching infantry along the way to his destination. When he finally arrived he took a moment to clear his throat and tried to announce himself to the occupants of the tent. After a long moment of nothing happening he was confident that he could not be heard over the all the noise around him. Finally, with great trepidation he placed his hand on the cover of the tent's entrance and pulled it back just enough for him to be able to speak through.

But as the man began speaking, suddenly the cover was ripped away from him and opened to reveal Duke Valliere himself staring the young man down with irritation. The duke was covered in nothing but a housecoat.

"What is it?" asked the Duke in a hard tone of voice while staring down and through the young messenger.

The Messenger locked eyes on the Duke. He dared not look anywhere else for fear that his last sight might be something which even death would not allow him to unsee. "Your Grace. I bring a summons for Her Grace to appear before Her Majesty the Queen for a most urgent matter."

"Karin? Do you hear that?" the Duke asked into the darkness behind him.

"I hear it. Twenty minutes of sleep was still more than I hoped for."


Karin rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she walked towards the Queen's tent. As she approached the Musketeer guards stood at attention with their rifles shouldered to permit her entry. Once inside she was greeted by the sight of the young Queen seated in front of a table. In her company was General Fernand de Gramont, standing with his usual confidence to her right. On the Queen's left was her daughter Eleanor who was still sporting the black eye she'd given her. And beside her was someone who made Karin narrow her eyes, Calista. At the General's side was the Romalian Jedi Knight, Julio Chesare, and beside him was the Musketeer Captain Agnes.

Karin's eyes drifted across everyone, noting the serious looks on their faces. The table in front of the Queen had maps of the city with notes and numbers scrawled all over it in what she knew was Eleonore's handwriting.

"Karin, there are some urgent matters we need to discuss," said Fernand in a calm and collected voice.

But his tone left karin with little doubt that Fernad was referring to his promise to have 'words' with her. She was expecting it, and indeed she was prepared for it. But she never imagined he would choose such a venue for it. Especially in front of the Queen!

Henrietta was the next to speak, taking Karin by complete surprise. "For your service to this nation and this country, it is my honor to grant you command over all the air forces at our disposal, now, and those that will follow. I have no doubt that you will lead them with the same strength, courage, and honor which made the Manticore Knights a force to be reckoned with."

"My Queen, it's hardly the time…"

"It is the time. That honor was long overdue for you. There isn't anyone else who can perform this duty. The annoyance of our capital being in enemy hands should not stop us from recognising our own true champions."

"Thank you, Henrietta, My Queen… I will not let you down, our next strike will be…"

"With this new honor, naturally comes new duties. I think it would be unfair for you to plan the entire campaign by yourself."

"Your Majesty, I can assure you that I am fully capable of-"

"To aid you in your task, which is to provide us air superiority. I have decided that you will have the full support of the Vallerie army, which from now on will be lead by your daughter Eleonore Vallerie."

"Henrietta! Is this a joke?!"

"She will naturally do this with the help of Fernand de Gramont, whom I have appointed to command all our ground forces. I am certain you will all coordinate our assaults with the utmost professionalism and take back our capital city very soon."

"What is the meaning of this?! I demand an explanation!"

"It's quite simple really. I have given you a great honor in recognition of your achievements. Because of your new appointment, I thought it prudent to reorganize our command structure. There's nothing more to it than that."

Karin looked around the room, into everyone's eyes. Reading them all carefully. Then she settled on Fernand who looked her straight in the eyes and gave her a small nod of acknowledgement. She narrowed her eyes at him and the two silently vowed to have this argument at the appropriate time. But until then, she reminded herself that her duty came first. Regardless of any other circumstances.

"Very well. Your Majesty," said Karin after turning her attention back to the young Queen. "What next?"


Louise sat on a tree stump across the camp from the Queen's tent. It was just one treestump among many that had recently been cut down to build the trebuchets which even now were hurling whatever they could throw at the city's wall to force the defenders to stay busy.

Louise tightly balled her fists and clenched her teeth while inhaling sharply. "Damn it! Damn it all! This is so pathetic. What does she expect me to do?! Now she's making me wait around for her like a dog! What am I supposed to do here Derf?"

Guiche was standing not far behind Louise and watching the Trebuchets he helped construct do their work when he heard Louise speaking to her sword. He quickly turned towards her in order to get a word in before the sword could respond, "Grow up and stop acting like a spoiled puppy! You just stabbed your own mother in the back. What right do you think you have to complain about anything?"

"If there were still any trees standing around here I'd chain you to one and leave you to starve!"

"You know something Louise. I might be a dog to you, but there's an actual word for girls like you. But we don't use it in polite society. Outside of a kennel that is."

"I might be a bitch. But don't act so high and mighty. You don't exactly have a well developed concept of loyalty yourself!"

"Pardon me. Which one of us just betrayed their own mother again?"

"You clearly don't understand the situation. I don't think there's anyway to explain it to someone who's in heat for every girl he comes across!"

"At least I know what I did was wrong. You seem to have yet to learn."

Louise stood up and glared daggers at the blonde boy. "You think that was easy for me?! You think I wanted it to come to this? It had to be done! There was no choice!"

"Are you trying to convince me? Or yourself? It's hard to tell which."

"You don't agree that it had to be done? Would you rather there be another battle like yesterday?"

"What I think doesn't matter. Family should always come first. But it's to be expected considering the person you're striving to emulate."

"Leave her out of this or I'll neuter you!"

"You're even more protective of her than your own mother. I rest my case."

"Sheesh! Would you two just get a room already?!" yelled Derf from inside his scabbard.

Louise quickly looked over her shoulder at the sword, "Stay out of this Derf!"

"Can't do that Louise. I know I said I'd let ya fight your own battles. But listening to this is giving me a bad case of the stupids. So would ya both just cool it already?!" Derflinger retorted.

"He's right Louise. We've been waiting together for Brimir know how long. So, for my part, I won't bring your bi… Your "Master" up. For that you will have to walk me three times a day, and feed me two meals per day."

"Grrr... Fine! I won't treat you like a dog for the time being. Now sit and let's try to talk civil. How do you think things are playing out right now?"

"Depends on how the Queen is responding to what my Father is saying. But you know her better than anyone, do you think she will listen?"

"Henrietta is smart, but stubborn. She loves my mother as much as I do. Calls her 'Aunt Karen' even."

"So do I. Pity we never met before going to school together."

"Would anything have been different if we had?" asked Louise with a curious look in her eye at his shift in tone. He seemed calmer all of a sudden.

"I don't know. Possibly. Maybe things could have been better between us. I can't see them being any worse," said Guiche with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "But it's not like you're trying to make them any better," he added.

"And you are?" asked Louise with a raised brow.

Guiche folded his arms across his chest and looked down at Louise with a lecturing posture, "Maybe that's your whole problem. You always make things difficult. Not just with people. I mean with everything."

"Yes I do. It's what I'm best at," Louise answered sharply.

Guiche sighed at her and then shook his head, "We're both good at that it seems. The only difference is I'm trying my hardest to stop being that way."

"Good luck with that," she answered dismissively.

"Fine. Be that way. I'm sick of fighting you. So what do you think our first move will be after they're done talking?"

"I know as much as you do. Your father doesn't trust Calista. She doesn't trust your father. So I don't really get how they plan to work together."

"It's called professionalism Louise. They don't have to like each other to work together. Remember you hated me, but we still fought together to rescue your friend. This isn't any different."

Louise turned her head away from him entirely. "I still hate you," she said without the sharpness of tone to reinforce it.

"That is your right. But I'll still fight by your side," he answered with the confident tone he was known for.


The Echani Sith Lord stood atop one of the hills near the main camp and watched as the soldiers were put in formation and marched to their objectives. Vividly she remembered the many similar battles she had seen across many worlds, some not too dissimilar from this one in appearance.

"Calista…"

She turned her head to the white cloaked Jedi Knight who stood not far behind her and to the right. Her white eyes meeting his blue and red. "Calista?" she started with a slightly raised but curious and casual tone. "No snide titles?"

"Your little scheme," he started speaking in galactic basic with a level and contemplative tone of voice, "Off the top of my head I can think of at least eight different ways you could have achieved the same ends with a lot less effort and lot more bloodshed. Yet you chose the most diplomatic way of going about it all. Why?"

"Why do Jedi always ask questions to which you already know the answers?" she asked him back while turning to fully face him.

"Not this time. I want some answers. What are you trying to accomplish here?"

Calista shook her head and turned her back to the Jedi once more to stand facing the city before her. "We all have our preconceptions. I have neither the desire nor the years required to explain myself to you. So believe whatever you want to believe."

"We are well past that. You're in a position to influence the course of this entire nation. A long time ago I made the decision to call this planet home. A home that I'm willing to protect with everything I have."

Callista raised an eyebrow but didn't turn around, "Everything?"

"That was the word I used. Yes."

"I seem to recall a conversation in which claimed to posses a 'greater understanding' of the Force. Aside from your healing abilities I have yet to see something to back that statement.. Remember that I passionately fought you and took you to limits. I know you have something which you are holding back. Something you hesitate to use. Am I right?"

"That's very perceptive of you Calista."

Her lips curled into a small grin, "So, you turn out to be no less manipulative than you accuse me of being."

"The thing is my lady, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it. Physics teaches us that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Though I wouldn't expect you to fully appreciate the virtues of showing restraint with one's knowledge of the Force.

"I once gave my apprentice the same lecture about the use of her abilities. But we are not students. We are the ones who have been put here to resolve the situation in which we find ourselves. Restraint would be counterproductive at this point. It will take all our power to change the outcome of this mess. A mess which, by the way, you contributed to."

"If I didn't exercise restraint, the battle you refer to would have had a drastically different outcome. None of you would have survived. And there would have been nothing even you could have done about it. Such is the power of the Force and why restraint is so important. If you have the ability to move the hearts of an army and drive them well above and beyond their capabilities… You need to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt of the worthiness of their cause. Which, at that time, I was not."

Calista turned her head towards the Jedi and looked at him over her shoulder, "You're talking about Battle Meditation. I knew you were holding back. So why didn't you use it? You could have made all the difference."

"If I had, I think we both know they would have simply continued to fight in vain until they all died. It would have had the opposite effect from what I'd intended."

Calista turned to fully face the Jedi once again with a scowl, "You truly are an idiot. Do you know that? To be blessed with such a potent gift… One in a billion Force sensitives. One in every few generations with the power of Battle Meditation… What a waste. If I had known about your particular gift. We could have acted sooner. Done things differently."

"I do beg your pardon my lady. My deepest and sincerest apologies," said Julio with a bow. "It seems that someone forgot to inform me that I was suppose to present you with a detailed resume of my Force powers for your review and exploitation. But in all seriousness, you're not exactly the best listener I've ever met. I have, if you'll recall, made several attempts to open a proper dialogue with you. You've rebuffed me everytime. Even now, you still haven't answered my question about your methods."

"I still do not believe that I owe you any explanation," she answered coldly.

"I'm not asking for an explanation Calista. I'm trying to understand you. All conflict is a result of people's inability to understand each other. Just a moment ago you were talking about us working together to bring an end to this conflict. But you won't even try to trust me enough to have a civilized conversation for once."

"I will work with you to bring an end to this conflict. But there are only two people to whom I will ever explain myself. One of them is me. The other is not you."

"Must be lonely for you being trapped inside yourself all the time."

"I would thank you to keep your pity to yourself."

"It's not pity. It's an observation. It seems to be the only way I'll ever get to understand you."

"Understand this. For the time being we are walking a common path towards a common goal. I suggest you keep your thoughts on the objective."

"I prefer to keep my mind on the here and now. I see something in you. I want to know what it is."

"Probably just me making a rude gesture back at you. I have a battle to prepare for now. So do excuse me."

"No. I won't excuse you. I'm going to hold you to an answer," he said while stepping into her path.

"Get out of my way."

"Not this time."

"Why is it so important to you? I am doing what you wanted. Fewer people will die and peace will be restored. Or is that not what you wanted?."

"In my time, I've learned that the motivation is at least as important as the outcome. So tell me why."

Calista stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"I'm asking one simple question. Why can't you just answer me?"

Calista instinctively put her hand on her lightsaber while she calculated the situation. She opened her eyes and replied as calmly as she could manage through her annoyance, "Because I wanted to. Now stop pushing, or I will push back."

The Jedi smiled and stepped aside "That was truly one of those answers which brings hope to the hopeless."

"Comments like that are why I do not explain myself. And it makes me wish for a rancor to come along. I would gladly feed you to it so you can give it heartburn instead of me."

"You have a pretty face Calista. Don't wrinkle it before your time with all that misdirected anger."

"Flattery will get you nowhere," she said while walking away.


General Gramont stared at the map on the table with an inked quill in one hand, and a glass ball in the other hand. His eyes stared into the glass, there was a kind of beauty to the way the chemicals inside it moved about, the way the gas was pressing against the shell ready to explode at the first opportunity. Much like how he himself was feeling earlier...


The previous night

Fernand folded his arms and stared Calista down. Her white alien eyes stared back at him with impatience as she waited for him to speak his mind.

Fernand put his arms behind his back and stared into Calista's eyes with his own hardened expression, "There's just one thing I need to know before I say yes or no to anything. Did you, or did you not, try to murder my son?"

"Your son tried to murder Louise. And myself by extension," she answered with icy indifference.

"So you did put those scars on him?" asked Fernand in his usual polite tone of voice.

"Is there a purpose to this? I won't be making any apologies for defending myself and my student."

"Uncle Fernand… Guiche and I have moved on from this…" Louise looked over at Guiche, "Haven't we?" asked Louise.

Guiche didn't even look at nor acknowledge her existence which made her face sour with anger at the blonde boy.

Calista looked at Louise and shook her head at the pinkette before she turned her attention back to the elder Gramont and tilted her head at him with a curious expression. "I'm still waiting for your answer General."

"Let me give you some free advice young lady. There are many ways of dealing with conflict. Sometimes you need to exercise foresight when deciding how best to deal with a problem because sometimes the solution to a problem can cause you new problems down the line."

Calista kept her head tilted at him as she waited for him to get to the point.

"For example. You made an enemy of my son. And now you need to make an ally of me. As an Earth mage, I know a few things about the unforeseen consequences associated with human conflict. Sometimes…" he trailed off and looked straight into her eyes, "...chains spring up and wrap themselves around my enemy."

As he spoke the last line Calista noticed a faint glow against the canvas of the tent behind him and before she could respond the earth under her feet shook while metal chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around her body from the feet up and the shoulders down, placing extra emphasis to keep her hands away from her saberstaff hilt.

"You know my Lady, the interesting thing about metal is that it conducts electricity quite well. But I'm confident that you are already familiar with the concept. Perhaps more than I am given your talent for wielding it."

Calista's lips curled up into a smirk, "I'm honestly impressed you know anything about electricity and conductivity given that your society has yet to produce anything which uses it."

The General shook his head with amusement "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. As I've been trying to make you understand, every action has consequences. Intended or otherwise. Like now. You can use your magic and try to harm me, just as you did to my son. But this time you would be the first one to feel the consequence of your actions. Rather crude and blunt I know. But you don't seem the sort of woman who learns her lessons the easy way."

"Perhaps. But I'm a fast learner."

"The question is, are you a woman of honor?"

"Simply asking me that question is insulting," she replied spitefully.

"The thing is My Lady. You owe my family a debt of blood. The question is will you honor that debt when the time comes?"

"You don't know anything about the Sith. I advise you to think very carefully before you make any demands of me General," she said in an icy tone.

The General contemplated her words moment with a stone face. "You are in no position to make any threats. Even vague ones like that. And I agree that I do not know anything about your brethren. But we are not talking about them right now. We are talking about you. So are you, or are you not, a woman of your word?"

"However I choose to answer that question is irrelevant. My word only carries the value you assign to it."

"That is true. But only for a person which aspires to be nothing more than a tool, and treat others as such. Nobles take responsibility for their actions. Their word carries weight because their reputation is all they really have. It's more than a statement. It is an obligation. You said, you want to make this place your home. If you want to be more than a Familiar, you need to play by our rules. Which means your reputation, and your word, need to be solidified. So start here with me."

"What is it that you want?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Only for you to acknowledge your debt and obligation to House Gramont. Not to me, but to the Gramont Family. Nothing more."

"I owe you nothing. The only debt owed is by you to the girl who saved your son's life. I was well within my right to take his life for his attempt on Louise's life. To deny that, I'd question your honor. General."

"The debts my son has are his own to pay. Yet you have raised your hand against a Noble as a, pardon me 'lowly familiar.' And it was only due to the long friendship between the Gramont and Valliere family that you were not executed on the spot. The only reason you are still among the living is because I would hate to see my niece face even more disgrace and shame. Also, were I to take matters into my own hands, I would rob my son of an opportunity to come into his own, or, since we are using this word a lot in this conversation... Honour. In any way he will see fit."

"I do so dearly wish you could hear yourself through my ears General. Knowing what I know, you'd feel very foolish indeed. But if this is what it will take to get you to co-operate then very well. If your son wants to try and kill me in retribution, he is welcome to try. I have no objections to that. It's his life to throw away," she said with a smirk.

"You still are not seeing the entire picture My Lady. I never said anything of that sort. There are many ways to reclaim one's honor. We are all tied by the chains of friendship here, are we not?"

"Very poor choice of words General… However..."

Callista considered breaking the chains with the Force, just as she had back in Brinvilliers camp not so long ago. It wouldn't be difficult, certainly draining though. But she wasn't drugged to an inch of her life this time. But there was more to this mage then she originally assumed. She had no real understanding of the limits of his power. Though she guessed he wasn't the equal of Matilda.

But this wasn't a man who reached his station on raw power alone. He was smart and creative, she had to grant him that. She was still confident that she could beat him. But was that confidence justified? She'd already made the mistake of underestimating Louise's mother. Her ego was still dizzy from that encounter...

She tightly clenched her teeth. She was now being made painfully aware of how little she understood the magics employed by these people. Around here she couldn't simply demand the respect she believed she deserved as a Lord of the Sith. As Callista the Night Flier. Whatever accomplishments and accolades she had under her belt were meaningless here.

"So. If I grant your pitiful son this chance when he asks. You will in turn agree to help us put our plan into motion and actually take charge and be the man everyone assumes you to be? The man who cares about the lives under his command instead of-"

The General raised his hand to Calista to politely cut her off with a smile, "My Lady. I never doubted the merits of your plan. Assuming the information is correct."

"So what was the point of this little display?"

"Simply injecting a little bit of levity and irony into our present situation. I'm sure you'll come to appreciate it in time."

Callista stared him down with an angry look and sarcastically mimicked his tone, "I am certain I will..."

"Now, to release the tension My Lady…"

With the word "release" the chains retracted, Calista noticed that after that Generals finger stopped touching the the wand he had in his belt behind his back. In the next moment he nodded and pointed at the table where they could resume their planning.


General's command tent
The next morning

General Gramont studied the map and mulled over his plans for what seemed like the umpteeth time that morning. "Clearing the approach to the city will be not difficult. Certainly not easy, but fairly straightforward. The problems begin with the Anti-air defence. Even without them, we're hardly in a position to establish air superiority. But still, with the system in place, we aren't going to achieve anything."

"You are certainly confident in these Manticore Knights, even though not one of them has come to offer any suggestions," said Calista while looking at the map with him.

"They don't need to. I know how best to utilize them in combat. That isn't the problem. The real problem is that they're unable to fly past the wall, and that severely limits their usefulness."

"Which is where I come in…" started Calista. "According to what Louise explained, there's a system of underground tunnels all over the city. It should be a simple matter for a lone combatant to infiltrate the tunnels and use them to conduct effective sabotage."

The General shook his head, "Those tunnels were sealed off by the previous King. Even though, as you suggest, large sections have been reopened. It's a veritable maze down there. Pitch black. You'll never find your way around."

"Extwo can guide me through those tunnels. He's guided me through much worse places than this," Calista turned to her Droid with a small smile, "Am I right old friend?"

"X2 = Ready to serve" he beeped happily.

Julio meanwhile listened carefully and decided that now was the moment to interject himself, "With all due respect to you, your droid, and you skills My Lady. But how do you intend to accomplish your task once you're actually inside? You'll be severely outnumbered and, I mean no offense, you still don't have much combat experience against the magics wielded by these people. Add to that, they have the advantage of being on their own home ground where as you do not know anything about this city, or this land."

Calista was about to snap at him but instead took a deep breath to maintain her composure. This wasn't the moment to be unprofessional. That would later. "My entire life until now has been one impossible task after another. I'm used to being thrown blindly into a situation with no hope of success or survival and emerging victorious. This is no different. The Force will guide me."

Julio slowly shook his head at her words, "Again, respectfully, it's good to be confident, but don't overestimate yourself, or underestimate your enemies. Believing that the Force will provide the solution to every problem has been the cause of the destructions of beings greater than ourselves. If I may I make a suggestion?"

The General scoffed at the Jedi, "If you think she'll listen to it, then by all means."

"Take someone with you who knows both the city and the capabilities of the enemy, someone like-"

"Like me!" said Louise, cutting him off.

"Me," added Kiche while stepping up to the table.

"Kirche? What are you even doing here! Shouldn't you still be resting?!" asked Louise with anger masking her concern.

"I was bored, and I'm not going to miss out on the fun. Besides, I feel fine now," the redhead replied with a smug confident expression. But there was something else hiding in her eye which Louise noticed, but said nothing about.

Calista shook her head, "You're both staying here. I can't have you both slowing me down. Extwo and I have been through a lot of bad situations and we know how to work together. I can't risk bringing anyone else along. Especially not either of the two of you."

"That's too bad. Because I'm going. You can come with me if you want, but I hope you won't slow me down," Kirche matter of factly stated.

"The same goes for me. I'm your apprentice. You're suppose to be teaching me how to do things like this. So why not bring me along with you?" added Louise in a similar tone to Kirche.

"You know damn well why Louise. You're staying here. So are you Kirche."

Julio sighed and looked over the volunteers, "I agree with her in that you should remain behind Miss Valliere. I'm quite confident that Lady Zerbst's prowess in battle and her familiarity with the environment can, and mostly likely will be an asset to our esteemed Dark Lady. After seeing first hand her magic on the air ship, I believe she can back her confidence with action."

Kirche's visible eyebrow perked up skeptically at the blonde Knight, "Oh? Is there now?"

"Indeed. I've observed you training with Miss Tabitha, I believe you are up to this task. Like the good Lady Zarkot, you don't find failure to be an acceptable option. You two would work well together."

"Well…" Kirche started with a hint of a blush as her posture started to humble, "I'm glad someone out there is paying attention to more than my stunning good looks."

"Out of the question. She's a student. Not a soldier. My decision stands. Extwo and I will be going into the tunnels alone."

"Callista. I'm not from Tristain. I'm not asking, I'm telling you that I'm going. I'm not your Apprentice to boss around, so you can either come with me, or go die in a fire, I can even make you one if it's convenient. That goes for all of you, except for the guy in white, with the huge lizard, him I kinda like."

Callista smirked to herself while re-evaluating the redheaded, and apparently red-tempered mage.

"Very well. But I warn you Kirche. If you slow our progress, or fall behind, we will leave you behind. If you get lost, you will find yourself alone. If you succumb to fear, there will be no one there to soothe it. You will be left alone in the cold, dark, nothingness."

"Alone in the cold and dark emptiness… Add some chains, a whip, and an amusing safe word it could be a lot of fun!"

Calista's face furrowed at her words, and the memories of what felt like a previous life threatened to shatter her carefully maintained visage. "If you can't take this seriously, I will break your legs and leave you here."

"Oh, I wasn't joking," she grinned at the petite Sith Lord, matching Callista's stare with her own .

"Lady Zarkot lecturing others on their attitude, how dearly I wish for a holo recording of this moment to preserve for posterity," remarked the amused Jedi.

"No one was asking for your opinion, Jedi!"

"If Kirche's going. I'm going too!" exclaimed Louise.

Calista shook her head, "Very well. Kirche may come. But Louise. You're staying here. And if you so much as try to argue with me, I will break both of your legs."

"But Cal… Master! This isn't-"

Calista stepped up into Louise's personal space and glared deeply into her pink eyes, "Do you truly wish to test me Apprentice? When I tell you something, it is final. When it comes to you and your wellbeing I am as inflexible as stone. Now I gave you a duty to perform. Get back to it and be mindful of it."

"...Yes Calista," said Louise in a resigned voice as she turned to walk away.

The pinkette didn't even make it through a single step before Calista grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to within an inch of her own face. "What did you call me Apprentice?"

Louise narrowed her eyes and glared into Calista's, "Forgive me. My tongue slipped. Master," she said with trace amount of venom in her voice.

Calista released Louise from her grip and allowed her to leave. "There's hope for you yet…"

General Gramont cleared his throat, "If we're all finished putting each other in our places? We still need to talk about how we're going to go about getting you into those tunnels."

Meanwhile, Guiche, who was standing behind his father turned and briskly walked to catch up with Louise, he waited until they were out of earshot from the others before speaking to her in a serious tone. "You shouldn't let her treat you like that! She's your familiar!"

"You should know better by now! She's my Master. I agreed to be her Apprentice. Her status as my Familiar is irrelevant."

"It IS relevant. You should be making yourself useful! With your new powers, you could do so much more than babysitting duty!"

"It is an important task!"

"Sure it is. Because all of the Musketeers need Louise Valliere to help them do their duty. What about all of the other troops? Have you tried talking to my father about what you can do? Or do you only take orders from your 'master' now?"

"You are just saying that because you don't like her and you want to undermine her to me! You don't actually understand anything."

"I hate her. That's no secret. But that's beside the point."

"Could you just stop for a second? What do you think that little display really was Guiche? Would you talk back to General Gramont? No. You would just put your tail between your legs and do whatever he tells you. I trust her to know my place for me and what I'm ready for or not, same as you trust your father. Pardon the dog quip. I didn't actually mean that one."

"If you keep trusting her like you do, she will put you in your place... six feet under the ground."

"She would never do that to me. If she actually killed me, she'd be killing herself too. She's just trying to push me to become stronger and more experienced. Just like your father does with you."

"That's completely different!"

"It's really not, think about it. Doesn't he push you to your limits to teach you the things you need to know?" asked Louise.

Guiche put a finger to his chin and took a moment to gather his thoughts on the matter, "This is true. He doesn't just tell me things, he makes me experience things. I've learned more from him since this war started than in all my time at the academy. We're not the same people we were when left the Academy for Count Mott's place, that much is certain."

Louise took a moment to regard Guiche. "In some ways. I suppose I'm not. Now if you'll excuse me. I have to get back to my 'duty' with the Queen," she said before quickening her pace toward the royal tent.

"Louise… Just one more thing," he said which got her to stop and turn her head over her shoulder at him. "If it's worth anything to you coming from me. You are strong. At least, I believe you are."

Louise turned away and resumed her quickened pace without saying anything in response.

Before Guiche could take another step he heard his father call for him at the top of his lungs.

"Guiche! Come here! We have work for you to do!"


The air was filled with magic and gunpowder explosions, dragons and manticore roars cut through the air along with the blades of their riders and the soldiers beneath them. Even Kirche, who was proficient with fire magic, and accustomed to its effects found it hard to breathe in the thick smoke.

Callista looked at the entrance to the tunnel system, "Abandon all dignity all you who enter here..." she grumbled to herself while trying to cover her face to block the smell.

But it was the only way in, and now thanks to combined efforts of everyone finally working together with purpose under competent leadership, it was now nothing more than a shoddy brick wall without even any magic protecting it. Certainly nothing which could withstand her lightsaber.

Blocks of rock fell into the shallow water around them as the Sith Lord cut her way through until the passage way was open. The smell wafting out from the gap in the wall was already horrid. But what followed after she broke through the actual last section of brick wall was a gust of the most rancid air to ever offend her olfactory receptors.

"By the moon goddess… How can this place smell worse than a Huttese sewer when your people haven't even heard of the concept of plumbing?"

"I've always said Tristain was full of shit. This is just where it ends up after the rain washes it off the streets..."

Calista turned around to give instructions to X2-C3 but before she could speak her eyes caught sight of a small statured figured emerged from the shadows behind them. "Tabitha?" she asked upon catching sight of the silhouette of her distinctly bent staff.

Tabitha simply continued walking until she was beside the three of them who by now were all staring dumbly at her.

"Shouldn't you be up there, Tabitha? Doing… you know… Knighty things with Sylphid?" asked Kirche after a moment to regain her wits.

The bluenette shook her head, "My place is here," she matter of factly stated to the busty readhead.

"Tabitha. I do thank you for the thought. But I only agreed to take Kirche along after she annoyed me into it. This was suppose to be just myself and Extwo."

Tabitha simply shrugged.

"This a stealth operation. We need to be focused and direct. I can't have you join since you don't know any of the details and I really don't have time to walk you through it..."

"I already know. Everything."

Kirche looked at Tabitha and said nothing, she just moved to the silent girl and gave her a close hug. Calista was sure she heard something that resembled "Thank you" but was not sure, nor did she wanted to know.

Kirche leaned on Tabitha's shoulder and pointed to the just-made entrance,twirling her wand in her fingers before grabbing it firmly and pointing to to the entrance, a cocky smile on her lips and a wrathful gleam in her eye. "Now my friends! Shall we wade through the shit and then wash ourselves in blood and glory?"

X2 beeped in protest, "Red Haired Organic = Mistaken / Quote = Treasure + Glory"

Callista just rolled her eyes. She decided that yes indeed, she had become the personal plaything for the Echani Moon Goddess, the Force and indeed the universe itself!

"I have a bad feeling about this..." she grumbled before stepping into the tunnel.


Author's Note:

After an unfortunately long hiatus, Etri and Miriya are back with renewed determination to complete this story! Miriya has taken up a new job and started a new life in a new country, and Etri has been promoted at work which meant that we didn't have as much time as we needed to devote to this.

But fear not! Just like your least favorite STI, just when you thought we were gone, we come back with a vengeance!