Chapter 04: Andromeda
Rebel Cruiser Salvation, Somewhere in the Outer Rim
Sally woke up the next morning, at least according to the time, and she got out of bed and got dressed.
"Good Morning, Sally. The time is 0445 hours," said NICOLE.
"I know, NICOLE…wait, NICOLE?"
Sally saw a small hand-held computer on the desk, and she knew it had to be NICOLE inside.
"NICOLE! NICOLE, it is so nice to hear your voice again, I thought we'd lost you back at Yavin IV," said Sally.
NICOLE then appeared in her Holo-Lynx form.
"Yes, Sally. It's good that I am still functional," said NICOLE.
Sally and NICOLE hugged, Sally felt her heart flutter a bit to see her friend's holographic platform once again.
"What did they do?" said Sally.
"Rotor and Tails, with the aid of Rebel Alliance technicians, were able to salvage my primary data core from my previous unit. That unit, unfortunately, was beyond any repair, so they found a similar unit to house my core. They cobbled this one together, to make it compatible with my processing requirements."
"That's great," said Sally.
"Yes," said NICOLE.
Sally placed NICOLE's handheld unit on her boot, and the two of them walked out of Sally's room, walking down the hallway, seeing the other Freedom Fighters getting out of bed, except for Sonic. Sally and NICOLE looked in Sonic's room as Tails walked out.
"Is he still sleeping?" said Sally.
"Yep, you know he's a heavy sleeper, and he talks in his sleep sometimes. It's something you get used to, but man, does he say weird stuff," said Tails.
"What do you mean, 'weird stuff'?" said Sally.
"Just listen," said Tails.
Sally and NICOLE walked over to the sleeping Sonic, and sure enough, he was.
"No….no…. stop…. you're pure evil…. why are you coloring my arms?" Sonic said.
Sally and NICOLE looked at each other, bewildered, but Sally then grinned, and then, she leaned towards him, and kissed him on the cheek.
"GAAH!"
Sonic woke up with a start, and he saw Sally and NICOLE giggling.
"Not funny, Sal! You're the one who's supposed to wake up after being kissed!" said Sonic.
"Good thing I don't follow stereotypes then," said Sally.
"Ugh…. oh, NICOLE? Good to see you're still with us!" said Sonic.
"Thank you, Sonic, my main hedgehog," said NICOLE.
"Come on, Sonic. Jericho told us to be ready by now," said Sally.
"I haven't even got a chance to eat breakfast yet," said Sonic.
The Freedom Fighters made their way to the briefing room, where Jericho and Dayton were waiting for them.
"Take a seat everyone, we've been working on our first target, just for you," said Jericho.
"Whoopee," said Sonic.
"We've located a small space installation located on the edge of the Mobia sector, it appears to be a refueling point for prison transports," said Dayton.
"And guess who we've determined are going to be passing through that sector?" said Jericho.
"Who? Some bigwig Rebel person that we don't even know?" said Sonic.
"Sonic," said Sally.
"A group of prisoners that were rounded up at Knothole," said Jericho.
"Wait a Sonic second, did you say, 'Prisoners from Knothole'?" said Sonic.
"Yep. We were able to track down your friends taken when the Imperials attacked Knothole, it appears they've stopped here while awaiting final transport to Kessel," said Jericho.
"And we're gonna intercept them before the Imperials have a chance to do so," said Sally.
"Exactly, that's where you all come in," said Jericho.
"What do you need us to do?" said Tails.
"Your job is to destroy the TIE Fighter defenses and take out any static defenses in the area. Dayton here will guide the Salvation to dock with the station and Geoffrey here will retrieve all the prisoners," said Jericho.
"Great, we do all the hard work, and St. Jerk here gets the easy part," said Sonic.
"It ain't that easy, boy. Besides, I got my eyes on another prize," said Geoffrey.
"What kind of prize?" said Sonic.
"This base has taken delivery of a brand-new Assassin-class CR92a Corvette, and we're going to take it," said Geoffrey.
"An Imperial Corvette could be useful," said Sally.
"Indeed, it may have intel on the Imperials' operations in that sector; that's why we're going to capture it once we free the prisoners," said Geoffrey.
"Great work, gentlemen, you didn't waste any time planning this attack, couldn't have done better myself," said Sally.
"Well, we figured you'd want to get to it right away, and there's no time to waste to save your friends from Knothole," said Jericho.
"Speaking of wasting time, we gotta juice it loose if we're gonna save our friends!" said Sonic.
"Indeed, let's get to the hangar," said Sally.
"You guys take the X-Wings, I'll take some of my guys, we'll fly the Y-Wings," said Jericho.
"Sure thing!" said Sonic.
The Freedom Fighters and Rebels walked down to the hangar, where the fighters were being prepared for battle. Jericho was addressing Kirk, Natalia, Terry, and Ross, as well as a male Mobian Elephant, a male Mobian turtle, and a male Mobian Caribou.
"All right, gentlemen…and lady. This is our first operation with the Freedom Fighters, so let's not disappoint," said Jericho.
"We never do, sir."
"Noted, Lt. McElephonsky," said Jericho.
"As long as we get to do some serious damage in the process of rescuing those folks, I got no problems, sir,"
"Noted, Declan."
Terry raised his hand.
"Just one thing, sir. Are you sure Mydaus here is ready for starfighter ops? She's still…"
"She handled herself just fine on Scarif, Ryback," said Ross.
"I know that! I'm just saying…"
"It's your first time up in space with us, Mydaus. You sure you're ready?" said Jericho.
"Sir, yes, sir. I won't let you down, sir," said Natalia.
"Just remember your training. Stay close to me and Lt. McElephonsky and follow my instructions, you'll do fine."
"Yes, sir," said Natalia.
"Mount up," said Jericho.
Everyone in Jericho's squad walked towards the Y-Wings, but Jericho stopped Lt. McElephonsky.
"Keep a close eye on her, Emil. Scarif was all ground, but this is different."
"She'll be fine, Skipper. Don't forget, she took a blaster for you. I have no doubts."
"Agreed," said Jericho.
Seraphine then arrived as Jericho prepared to board his Y-Wing.
"Got something you need, mercy-giver?"
"Nope. Just came to wish you luck out there. Let's go save some lives."
"Just stay out of the way…and you can help," said Jericho.
"Don't worry. I'm an extra gun for your friend, St. John, I'll make sure to do my job," said Seraphine.
Jericho said nothing as he climbed aboard his Y-Wing. Meanwhile, Sonic was having his R3 unit loaded onto his X-Wing as Sally approached him.
"Sonic?"
"Yes, Sal?"
"Remember, no stunts out there. We gotta show these people we're reliable. It's a whole new game out here."
"I know, Sal. 'Play it safe'; no showboating, no recklessness, & nothing that got our franchise into trouble in the first place."
Sally raised her eyebrow.
"What?"
"I'll never understand what you mean by that last part."
"Whatever. Let's go!"
The Freedom Fighters flew their X-Wings out of the Salvation's hangar, with the Rebels following close behind with their Y-Wings. They wasted no time going to hyperspace, with the Salvation following close behind. The Freedom Fighters and Rebels soon exited hyperspace near the space station.
"Visual on target," Jericho said.
"Alright. Sonic, you, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles start with those gun platforms, the rest of us will take care of the fighters," said Sally.
"We'll be on it!" said Sonic.
"We're with you, Sonic!" said Tails.
"Just no showing off like last time! Let's just get our friends and get out!" said Knuckles.
You do realize this is Sonic we're talking about, Knuckles?" said Amy.
"Right, forget I asked," said Knuckles.
The TIEs moved to intercept the Rebels, Sally's X-Wing group moved to engage them, as Sonic's X-Wing group moved to attack the gun platforms.
"Amy, let's see if we can draw that gun platform's fire! Sonic and Knuckles, you can get a shot at it!" said Tails
"I'll cover you, Tails!" Amy said.
"Hey, Knuckles, who's gonna make a bigger 'boom'?" Sonic said.
"Bigger than yours, ya blue buffoon!" said Knuckles.
"Focus, you two!" Amy said.
"Oh, Ames, relax! We're just having a little fun!" said Sonic.
Tails and Amy took evasive action as the gun platform opened fire on them, giving Sonic and Knuckles an opening.
"You got a shot! Take it!" said Amy
Sonic and Knuckles lined up a shot with their cannons and opened fire, bringing down the gun platform's shield before they were able to destroy it easily.
"One down! Five left!" said Tails.
"Five left? Heh, more for me!" said Knuckles.
"Not if I get 'em first, Knucklehead!"
As Sonic's group was busy tangling with the gun platforms, Sally's group was engaging the platform's TIE Fighter defenses, with only Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor for support.
"Rotor! Take the one off the far side!"
"I copy, Sally! I just need an opening for a shot!"
"We got ya covered, Rotor!'
Against a full squadron of TIE Fighters, Sally then felt a rush & strangely calm, not feeling much sweat in her hands associated with pressure. She lined up her shot, but before the lock could be finalized, she fired off some shots, destroying not only the TIE in front of her, but two others alongside it. Sonic was in awe.
"Whoa, Sal! That was awesome! Now watch how a REAL ace does it!"
"Watch that crossfire, Sonic!"
Sonic suddenly did a spin to dodge the blaster fire. And then, without even looking, Sonic fired several more Proton Torpedoes at the gun platforms... & it was a direct hit.
"Whoa! Did you see that?! AWESOME!" said Sonic.
"Yeah, how'd you do it?!" said Knuckles.
"I don't know... & frankly, who cares? Scratch two gun platforms!" Sonic said.
Meanwhile, Jericho's group of Y-Wings moved in for an attack run to disable the platform.
"Ryback, Caribous, Vogel, Mydaus, on my left, Lt., Chief, and Gunny Chief, on my right. We need to knock down that platform's shields!"
"Shield Generator's in sight," said Terry.
"Locked on target, Skipper!" said Declan.
"Proton Torpedoes away!" said Ross.
The Y-Wings fired a few Proton Torpedoes to destroy the generator, which caused the platform's shields to fail.
"It's a direct hit!" Emil said.
"Shields are down! Let's get to disabling it!" Mitchell said.
"Right, switch to Ion Cannons," said Jericho.
"Hey, Ryback, lemme show you how to properly use old-school Ion Cannons!" said Ross.
"Anyone can use Ion Cannons, Gunny!" said Terry.
"Natalia, stick close to me and the Skipper. Stay frosty," said Kirk.
"Sir, yes, sir!" said Natalia.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were taking care of the last set of guns on their end. They unloaded their blasters on the last gun platform, until it exploded in a fireball.
"And that's the last of them!" said Sonic.
"All too easy!" said Knuckles.
"Fantastic, help us wrap up these fighters!" Sally said.
Antoine, meanwhile, was chasing one of the TIE Fighters around the station.
"Zis one iz mine!" he said.
"SUGAH! YA GOT ONE BEHIND YA!" Bunnie said.
Antoine turned and saw another TIE Fighter turning to chase him down.
"Oh no!"
He began firing wildly, hitting the TIE in front of him, sending it careening down until it exploded, and at the same time, felt hits on his shields from the one behind him.
"GET HIM AWAY!"
Rotor came up behind the TIE Fighter chasing Antoine, and he locked on and fired at the TIE Fighter, destroying it instantly.
"And that's why you should always have wingmen watching your back," he said.
"You okay, Antoine?" said Sally.
"Oui, oui, moi princezz. I am being fine."
Sonic managed to shoot down three TIE Fighters at once, though Knuckles had an unamused look on his face while watching.
"Sonic, what did I say about not showing off?"
"Oh, you're just too slow, Knucklehead!"
"STOP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'!"
Meanwhile, Jericho's Y-Wing group prepared for their next attack run, to barrage the station with their Ion Cannons.
"Ready to fire, Skipper," Emil said.
"Fire at will, disable that station!" Jericho said.
"Firing!" said Natalia.
The Y-Wings fired away, until the station stopped firing back at them.
"Target disabled," said Kirk.
"We're almost done mopping up these TIE's! Let's do it do it!" said Sonic.
"Salvation, you are clear to dock," said Jericho.
"Copy that, moving in for the docking operation," said Dayton.
The Salvation slowly moved to a docking port and slowly moved until it merged its airlocks. Inside, Geoffrey and a team of Rebel Soldiers were arming up for the boarding operation, among them, Seraphine and a male dark blue Mobian hedgehog that was older than her.
"Relax, St. John, these Imperials rarely if ever see combat, it's lucky they still remember how to fire a blaster at a living target," said Seraphine.
"It's not the Imperials I'm concerned about," said Geoffrey.
The male hedgehog saw a light come on near the door controls.
"Airlock pressurized. Let's get in there."
Geoffrey looked at him.
"I'm sorry, didn't quite get your name, mate, you are…?"
"Aaron James Nasler. Everyone calls me A.J."
"My older brother, he arrived here while you guys were sleeping, didn't get a chance to introduce him, not that your boss cares," said Seraphine.
"Well, regardless of who you are, follow my lead & we'll all get out of here. Everyone ready?"
"Ready when you are, man," said A.J.
"Ready, Commander St. John," said one of the soldiers.
"MOVE OUT!" Geoffrey said.
The Rebels ran across the airlock tube to the space station's door.
"It's locked, of course, they aren't gonna welcome us with open arms," said A.J.
Geoffrey placed a charge on the door.
"Breach charge set. CLEAR!" he said.
The breach charge beeped a few times until it blew open the door's locking mechanism, and the Imperials quickly opened fire as the Rebels stormed the station, who returned fire on the Imperials. Seraphine led the charge, firing her shotgun at the Imperials. Geoffrey provided cover fire for the Rebels storming the station, taking down a few Stormtroopers in the process as well. The Rebel soldiers swept the corridors of the station, searching for access to the holding cells. A.J. then checked a nearby console.
"Holding cells are right above us," he said.
"And we got company!" Geoffrey said.
More Stormtroopers came running out of a nearby corridor, he fired several shots at a squad of Stormtroopers but only taking down one of them. A.J., in cover, took a deep breath, and then ran out, firing his pistol at the Stormtroopers, going into a slide across the floor as he shot them.
"What are you doing?! Get in cover!"
A.J. started firing his pistol frantically until it started to overheat & a Stormtrooper was right over him. A.J. quickly kicked the trooper in the legs and knocked him down, quickly grabbing the E-11 rifle the trooper dropped and fired point blank into the trooper, killing him.
"This is not the time for crazy stunts, merc! Now come on! We gotta keep moving! The Freedom Fighters can't buy us time forever!" Geoffrey said.
"I took out those troopers, didn't I?!" A.J. said.
"Not before your blaster overheated! Now come on!"
The Rebels made their way up, until they reached the holding cells, and Geoffrey peered around the corner, seeing force-field cages full of prisoners, and he gasped.
"Bloody hell, I know these people! They were the prisoners that were at Knothole! Wait a minute... "
He approached one cell that contained a familiar face, a black and white female Mobian cat, and whispered.
"You alright?"
"Commander St. John...is it really you?"
"Hershey! Keep your voice down, we're getting you outta here!"
But suddenly, they heard screaming from across the room, and saw a civilian was in a Roboticizer chamber.
"HELP THAT CIVILIAN-!"
"But it was too late, as the Imperial officer had already activated it. The roboticizer began to activate, and they could only watch in horror as the civilian banged on the glass, tears in his eyes, as the machine fired energy into his body. Geoffrey then looked at a nearby wall near the Roboticizer.
"Look! That's Ari the Ram…looks like he's next. Not if I can help it…"
Geoffrey then loaded his wrist crossbow with a single bolt. The Imperials looked up to see Geoffrey St. John & the rest of the Rebels.
"This party's over, boys."
Geoffrey fired, and shot one of Ari's shackles, which was enough to allow Ari to break free, to the shock of the Imperials all around. He then grabbed one Stormtrooper and smashed him against the wall, before smashing him into another one nearby, grabbing their blaster rifles and firing at the Imperials. A.J. & Seraphine worked with the rest of the soldiers to free the others while the Imperials were distracted.
"Don't just stand there! BLAST THEM!" said the officer.
"If any of you can fight, pick up a weapon and start shooting anyone wearing corny white armor!" said Seraphine.
"YOU HEARD THE LADY!" said Ari.
The prisoners filed out of the cells, fighting the Imperials trying to contain them, and those who could fight, grabbed the Imperials' blasters and launched their full-scale prison break. But A.J. soon heard the Roboticizer chamber open.
"Hey...guys?" he said.
"Oh no...he's a Robian now…" Geoffrey said.
"Detain Rebel Terrorists, detain Freedom Fighters, glory to Robotnik and the Empire."
A.J. fired a stun shot at the Robian, which stunned it a bit, but he kept firing, until Geoffrey joined in, firing stun shots from his blaster pistol, until the Robian was subdued.
"That should keep it knocked out for a while, but not forever."
He then barely dodged a stray shot that came from another squad of Stormtroopers entering the holding cells, along with a few enemies he recognized from Scarif: Two Death Troopers & two ShadowBots.
"I thought those were all killed on Scarif?!"
"Evidently not!"
"Jericho to Geoffrey; Report in, what's happening in there?"
"Nothing we can't handle, boy scout. Prisoners are secured, preparing to evacuate."
We'll tell you when we get out, I'm gonna take a squad and some of these prisoners and secure that Corvette." said Geoffrey.
"Alright, Geoffrey, watch yourself, and move fast."
As A.J. was helping prisoners, he saw a BFF-1 Bulk Freighter docked at another airlock through a window.
"Hey guys, there's a freighter docked here too! Looks like a supply ship!"
"Well, looks like we'll take both with us!" said Geoffrey.
"Anyone good with freighters, come with me!" said A.J.
"I'll get some of these people back to the Salvation."
Geoffrey nodded.
"Anyone who knows how to fly a freighter, follow A.J. The rest of you come with me or Seraphine! Ari, can you help me out? We're gonna take that Corvette docked at this station!" said Geoffrey.
"Of course, Commander St. John. I'm right with you," said Ari.
"So am I," said Hershey.
Geoffrey continued shooting at the Death Troopers & the Shadowbots, taking down one Death Trooper but wounding a ShadowBot.
"Terminate: Rebel Scum."
"'Rebel Scum' this!" said Seraphine.
She threw a Thermal Detonator, which landed at the ShadowBot's feet, detonating and destroying its legs.
Meanwhile, outside, Sonic was looking bored, having finished off the last of the TIE Fighter defenders.
"Awww, why does he get to have all the fun? I would've gotten the prisoners out of there yesterday!"
"Stay alert. We're not in the clear yet. Wait. Long range sensors are picking up a flight group at point two. Configuration Imperial. Corvettes."
"Corvettes?" said Sonic.
"Raider-class," said Knuckles.
"And a few Tartan-Class ones too. This is gonna get rough." Kirk said.
"Tartans? Oh great. One wrong move & we're space dust in microseconds!" said Knuckles.
"I'm not afraid of them!" Sonic said.
"Sonic, what did we tell you? No showboating!" said Sally.
"Oh come on! We can take 'em!" said Sonic.
"Focus, please. Get into attack formations. Sally, take the left, we'll take the right," said Jericho.
"Just point us in the direction & we'll send the torpedoes flying! I just hope they got the prisoners out on time!" said Knuckles.
Soon, a Raider-Class Corvette and three Tartan-Class cruisers exited hyperspace.
"... Okay, I take it back; those Raider-Class Corvettes...they look a bit tougher than I thought," said Sonic.
"Raider is preparing to launch Starfighters! Good. Hey, Big LT, how many you plan to blow up?" said Declan.
"More than you, wise guy," said Emil.
"Keep this comm clear, you two," said Jericho.
The Tartans immediately moved to protect the Raider as they also began hunting the Rebel fighters.
"Sal, Jericho, please tell me you got a plan," said Sonic.
"For now, focus on the fighters, let's see if we can keep them away from the Salvation until she detaches," said Sally.
"Sounds good to me!" said Sonic.
The TIE Fighters launched from the Raider began to engage the Rebels as the Tartans fired on them too.
"Yo, St. Jerk! What's going on in there?! What's taking so long?" said Sonic.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Especially with Jericho on the comm."
"Just get to that Corvette, fast!"
"Working on it! How much longer until everyone's on board those two vessels?" said Geoffrey.
"We're just finishing up here, it shouldn't be long! Jericho, see if you can draw those Corvettes near the ship! We got a surprise for them."
"What surprise?" said Knuckles.
"Good. Do what he says!" said Jericho.
"Okay, but I don't like this," said Knuckles.
The Rebels kept shooting down TIE Fighters and dodging the Corvettes' fire, but then, Terry took one hit from a Tartan, though true to a Y-Wing's nature, it only took a scratch.
"Huh, what do you know? They really did build these Y-Wings very well!" he said.
Natalia was dodging hard, a little too hard.
"This is Scrapper! I need help!" she said.
"Stay calm, don't get all panicky," said Jericho.
"I'M ALREADY PANICKY!" said Natalia.
"Scrapper, angle your fighter 45 degrees!" said Terry.
Natalia did as Terry was told & managed to avoid a huge foray of turbolaser fire from the Tartans.
"Remember to breathe slow," said Kirk.
Natalia slowly took a few deep breaths & managed to focus, dodging but no longer doing so too hard.
"This...this isn't so hard, now that you tell me…"
"Where did Jericho pick her up?" said Tails.
"To be honest, bud, I have no idea where he finds these people," said Sonic.
"Everyone's aboard the Salvation, beginning to detach…now," said Dayton.
Soon, the Salvation detached from the station, and trained its guns on the Tartans.
"You might wanna stand back! We're gonna pump some turbolasers into these guys!" said Dayton.
"I'm on board the Corvette & about to launch!" said Geoffrey.
"Engines powered up, Commander!" said Hershey.
"We're outta here!" said Geoffrey.
"So are we," said A.J.
The Corvette and the freighter detached from the station, and Geoffrey began setting the corvette on an attack course to attack the Raider.
"This is Commander St. John aboard the Corvette…. Andromeda. I want an attack course & all our guns on this vessel to aim for that Raider-class & open fire!"
As the Salvation's guns shredded the Tartans, the Raider turned and fired back at it.
"Geoffrey, see if you can cripple him, we'll deliver the kill shot," said Jericho.
"Provide covering fire, Freedom Fighters!"
"We can try it. You heard him, crew! Cripple that Raider-class! Hershey, are we in attack position?"
"Locked on, and ready to fire."
"Then open fire!"
The newly-christened Andromeda opened fire, hitting the Raider class and damaging its engines and it's shield generator.
"Commander, we damaged the engines & the shield generator, but its main weapon systems are still intact,"
"Well circle around & distract them for our bombers!"
"That'll do. Natalia, arm your torpedoes and make your attack run on the bridge. This kill is yours," said Jericho.
"Aye aye, sir!"
She flew in & armed her torpedoes, locking on to the Raider's bridge, waiting for it to fire on the Andromeda, then just as when the Raider was distracted, she flew into range and fired her volley of torpedoes directly at the Raider's bridge.
"Torpedoes away!"
The torpedoes struck the bridge, and the Raider began to go down in fire and explosion.
"Great shot!" said Kirk.
Natalia just bashfully giggled & flew away from the Raider. Sonic and Knuckles were just glad to see it blow up.
"Yo, Knux! You taking a holo-vid of this?" said Sonic.
"Indeed! Gonna post it on the HoloNet to stick it to the Imperials!" Knuckles said.
"You two can finish off that station platform," said Jericho.
"Still got a bunch of Proton Torpedoes left," said Sonic.
"Now it's my turn to showboat!" said Knuckles.
"You only need to hit the bridge, you know," said Jericho.
"Race ya, Knucklehead!" said Sonic.
"FOR THE LAST TIME, STOP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'!" said Knuckles.
He flew in to catch up with Sonic & managed to get a lock onto the station's bridge before Sonic did.
"TORPEDOES AWAY! "
He fired his remaining payload of torpedoes at the station's bridge, causing severe damage. Sonic also fired all his proton torpedoes at the bridge as well, one of them penetrated the hull deeper and struck an area deep within.
"Uh oh, I think I hit their reactor," said Sonic.
"You know what that means!" said Knuckles.
"'Boom,'" said Sonic.
"Everyone get clear!" said Jericho.
"Don't have to tell us twice!" said Knuckles.
"Let's get outta here!" said Sonic.
The station began to explode in fire and explosion as the Freedom Fighters and Rebels flew away from it to safety.
"Beautiful. Beautiful indeed," said Declan.
"Set course for these coordinates. We have a delivery to make," said Jericho.
"Where do they lead?" said Sally.
"Home. Away from home," said Jericho.
Deerwood Forest, Mercia-Avalon, Mobius
Atop a tree on a wooden sentry post, a male Mobian Sparrow was standing watch with his macrobinoculars, when he saw activity near Avalon Castle, which made his hands begin to sweat profusely under his gloves.
"Egad…. they conjure for assault! Must be off telling his majesty!" he said.
