Chapter 41 – Argus – The Round Table

Chapter Beta: ZoroEpsilon

Cover Art: Mi Chumi

It was late evening when Blackfeather and Selene returned to the Vacuo coast, to find her father waiting there for her. He breathed a sigh of relief when she landed.

"I'd been worried that I'd have to spend at least one night here, worrying about you, little Grimmling."

Selene smiled. "I am not so little anymore, father," she said, and embraced him. Recovering both her father and Visha in the course of a few months was taking away the sting of their years of absence, whether voluntary or not.

"Still smaller than me," he grinned, stroking her black-streaked hair, before he grew more serious. "What'd you learn, Selene?"

She pulled back, eyes searching his face. Finally, she came to a decision. "More than I imagined possible. Would it be unreasonable to return to Vacuo tonight and obtain immediate transport back to Argus by air?"

He blinked. "That serious, or that bad?"

"That good. I am anxious to inform the others what I have learned, in person. I am happy to share it with you on the flight."

"You want me to come too?"

"At least as far as Vale?" Selene chewed her lip. "I admit, I have ulterior motives. I am not yet comfortable staying in a strange city, especially Vale, alone. I could manage from Vale to Argus, but…"

He gave her a squeeze. "Ah, I finally get the chance do my fatherly duties," he rumbled, "and it's only a decade later than I'd have liked. Of course I'll go with you to Vale, and see you off to Argus from there.

"Thank you, father. And I do wish to share my thoughts with you on the way. I believe your counsel will be critical."

"Alright, then. Get your gear in the Bullhead and we'll head back to Vacuo and see if we can catch a redeye to Vale tonight."

"I will need to inform the others as well. Garek may not be able to make it back immediately, and we will wish to have him there as well."

"Give 'em a call." Forrest said, handing her his secure scroll. "Still have signal out here."

Quickly she contacted Garek, and after he finished expressing happiness that she was safely back in Vacuo with her father, he tried to ply her with questions. Questions which she deferred answering, with the promise that she would explain everything once they were all back in Argus.

"How quickly can you three return?" Selene asked. "Was your second trip to Menagerie a success?"

"We're already back in Haven, and since you're making me wait to hear about your exploits, you can do the same as far as ours are concerned," he grinned. "Sophia says she's about done with her work at Haven, too. So, we'll actually beat you back to Argus."

"Excellent. I will notify you of our flight and ask that you pick us up at the terminal. We should meet as soon as possible afterward."

"Alright, I'll wait to hear from you in Vale." He smiled softly. "It's going to be good to be home with you and Cinder again. I've missed you both."

"And I, as well. I will see you as soon as I am able."

After she ended the call, she returned to Blackfeather, gave him instructions to carefully return to his resting place in the wilds outside Argus, and sent him on his way.

She turned to find Forrest watching Blackfeather wing his way east across the ocean.

"You should think about sending him back to the Grimmlands, Selene. You don't need him for transportation in Mistral."

Selene turned her eyes back to the dark sky where Blackfeather had already blended into the night. Her expression torn. "You are correct, but he is more than transportation, he is my friend."

Forrest moved up next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder in sympathy. "I know that, but how often do you get to actually visit him? And you run a risk every time. It's a risk to you, too."

Selene sighed. "I will consider this. You are not incorrect, father. But it is… difficult to let go."

"Well, you've got time to decide. Let's get you back to Vacuo. Check the flight availability on my Scroll on the way."

I n the end, they had to wait until morning to catch the earliest airbus from Vacuo to Vale, which forced them to stay overnight there as well.

The thought that she was in the same city as her mother's sworn enemy and former husband made her tense, but she knew that Ozma, or Ozpin as he named himself now, did not have any direct way of sensing her presence.

But still…

It was after they were safely in a hotel in Vale that Selene contacted Garek again, learning that he had gotten approval for Forrest to be included in the The Lone Huntsmen's counsels. And she was able to update Garek regarding their expected arrival the following day.

"Cinder's giddy," Garek said. "She nearly knocked me down when I arrived at the Tourmalines to pick her up. So, consider yourself warned." He laughed.

The next morning, Forrest saw Selene onto a direct airbus flight from Vale to Argus, but he took the time to have a frank discussion regarding her future moves.

"Selene…"

"Yes father?"

"You're the best daughter a man could ask for. But frankly, you're too trusting. Too hopeful. This game you're playing with Salem… it's very dangerous."

Selene stilled, then sighed. "You are not wrong, father. I am not… blind regarding the risks. But it is working in some manner. You have seen it yourself."

"That's what I don't understand. Salem loves you, that I know for a fact. But I just don't see how she'd let all her plans fall apart like this. She's literally handicapping herself here."

"Perhaps… perhaps she cares more about… handicapping Ozpin through other means? Than she does about winning at the moment?"

"Maybe… but I doubt it. Watch your back, daughter. Don't take this at face value."

Selene nodded, and received a final hug. It was hard to argue with a man who'd been the recipient of Salem's torture and lived.

Selene's flight to Argus arrived late afternoon. True to his word, Garek met her at the terminal, with Cinder in tow. And also true to his predictions, Cinder nearly knocked Selene off her feet with the force of her welcome.

"I missed you guys, so much!" the teenager gasped, hugging Selene and golden-yellow eyes full of happy tears.

"And I you. But you enjoyed your time with Sarah and her family?" Selene asked, hugging her back.

"Yeah, but it wasn't the same at all."

"That is reassuring," Selene smiled. "But now we must meet with Pete and the others. Are you ready to spend several hours at the Emporium before we return home?"

"Yeah! Sarah and Laurel should be there already. Argent said she had chores to do, but I think her mom's being dumb again," Cinder huffed, then grinned, "But we got to do a sleepover last weekend, so I'm not toooo mad."

"That sounds wonderful. You will have to fill me in tonight, after the Emporium."

"I will! There's so much to tell you! You were gone like a whole week!"

"I am sorry. I will try to plan my trips more effectively next time," Selene said.

Soon enough, they were in familiar surroundings at Pete's Gaming Emporium. Cinder was already chatting excitedly with her two friends and getting ready to play a few of their favorite games. Saphron Arc was manning the front desk, and Selene was surprised to see Terra leaning against the counter, holding hands with the other teenager.

She gave Garek a questioning look.

"Don't ask me," he said. "They were like that yesterday when I got back. Must have happened while we were all gone."

Saphron gave them a wave and a smile as they went past, through the 'Private' door and down the stairs to the secure basement. There the two found the rest of the crew already seated around the round conference table, surrounded by the familiar walls of filing cabinets, maps, and screens, both solid state and holographic.

Pete laughed when he saw them. "Welcome back to the asylum and pull up a chair." He waited until they were all seated, and pushed a carafe to the center of the table and nodded toward glasses nearby. "So now that we are all here, I think we need to resolve one item before all of you bastards who left me here while you ran around Remnant begin to report in."

"Oh? What's that?" Garek said.

"Well, frankly, we're starting to add more people to our little crew, and we need some sort of code or something to make it clear who knows what, otherwise someone's gonna screw up and say something they shouldn't in front of someone who they forgot didn't know it."

Reggie nodded at that. "Pete's right. It's pretty typical in military and government intelligence operations to set up classification levels. Makes sense to me."

"Good. Anyone object? If not, I've got a proposal," Pete said, and seeing none, he continued. "So, I'm thinking Level 0 is the normies. Your 'everyone on the street'. They know about Grimm, and that's it. That's the default." He held up a finger. "Level 1 is the first level of the conspiracy. That's the fact that Watts exists and is preparing for some massive world-disrupting strike as part of an international terrorist organization. And the fact that we're not going to the authorities with it because they're likely compromised. Right now, Dr. Polendina, Menagerie Chieftain Ursulus, Rhodes, and Crys are read in at that level." There were nods around the table, and he held up a second finger. "So, Level 2 adds in the fact that this terrorist group are using Grimm and have some control over them. We haven't had to use this one yet, but I want it out there just in case. Which leads us to," another finger, "Level 3, which is where it gets weirder because now, we're talking about the fact that there's a Queen of the Freaking Grimm, and that her end game is the destruction of the world, and that the Huntsmen Academy heads are aware of her and are opposing her."

Pete continued, "Which leads us to Level 4, which includes the fact that the Queen and Ozpin are immortals, and the existence of four Relics, four Maidens, the Brother Gods, and the actual role of the Huntsmen Academies. We're pretty sure that all the Headmasters of the Huntsmen Academies, including Lionheart, are here."

Pete stuck out his thumb. "Level 5 includes the fact that we have a mole in that so-called Queen's court. That's close-to-the-chest info. So Level 5 is where the folks in this room are sitting at. Any objections or corrections? No? Good, everyone report in, then. Selene, you want to start since you called us here?"

"I would prefer to save mine for last."

"Huh. Alright…. We'll do easiest to most complicated then. I'll start. I sat on my fat ass here at the Emporium and worried myself sick over you guys, and you didn't even trust me to babysit Cinder." Pete crossed his arms and glared at each of them in turn. "So, fuck you all. Your turn Reggie."

The former Atlas Specialist rolled his eyes. "I got to fly Garek and Sophia's sorry asses all over creation, Pete. Not exactly earth-shattering. I can tell you that Crys has turned into a reliable asset for us. She's got a steady hand and she's willing to deal with stressful situations. I watched her take down multiple Grimm in support of Garek and his Huntsmen friends down in Menagerie, and she didn't balk at doing Overwatch in Haven." Garek nodded in agreement. "I did get my first taste of mixed team Huntsman/Specialist action and based on that I'm going to be passing along some recommendations to my old colleagues in Atlas." He put an elbow on the table, "On the business front, I've hired three military veterans through our two companies in Atlas and Argus, and I'm now contracting them out to various businesses and notables in Mantle and Atlas as hired security. This not only builds us into a legitimate income-generating business and provides cover for our other activities, but it also gives us assets we can use in the future. I've also got the firing range in Springhill up and running, and the urban warfare training center is under construction. You're all welcome to use either one at your convenience." He looked at Garek and Selene. "I actually recommend you all become proficient in firearms. Sometimes a situation calls for a gun instead of a blade." He nodded back to Pete.

"Sophia?"

The gazelle faunus smiled at the group in general, and adjusted her glasses as she consulted her notes. "Yes. During our trips to Haven and Menagerie, I examined the network and general electronic security of Lionheart's offices and living quarters in Haven, as well as Chieftain Ursuline's offices and the Kuo CCT network. We found some minor devices in Lionheart's offices that do not look like anything Watts developed and neutralized those. The Menagerie CCT relays were off-the-shelf and didn't have any particularly novel concerns, which leads me to our next bit of bad news."

Sophia continued on, putting some holographic images of various computer components up in the middle of the table. "I've also completed the analysis of hardware, software and data that we've gotten from Polendina, as well as any data or hardware we've gathered ourselves over the last few months."

Finally, Garek thought, we're going to get the scoop on she's been hinting about this week.

"What we've found is that Watts is being very specific with his activities. Yes, he's introduced some viral scripts to hide and scrub his existence from being common knowledge, but that's just a means to an end. His other activities have been targeted at communications and military hardware."

"We knew that, though, right?" Garek asked. "Once we clued Polendina in, he found that himself."

Sophia nodded. "Correct, but what I have determined is that the problem goes all the way down to the firmware level, and possibly to the physical hardware level."

Reggie shook his head. "Sorry, I use this stuff, and I understand the moving parts, but when it comes to computers, I just swap out components until it works again. So you've lost me."

Her brows furrowed as she tried to mentally downshift. "Yeah… well, firmware is like… it's like programming, but its semi-permanent. Usually, it's software installed at the factory, though you can update it later if you have physical access to the hardware. What we've found is that firmware from the factory in key systems has vulnerabilities built directly into it. And the chips that have these vulnerabilities are directly related to communications and either automated or remotely controlled military systems.

"Fuck," Reggie breathed.

"Wait," Garek said, "you mean like what Dr. P. was talking about with the Atlas automation?"

"Exactly. And the point is… these vulnerabilities aren't obvious, and they don't allow control by themselves. That's why no one noticed them and isn't likely to notice them unless they already know Watts is out there messing with the systems. But what these vulnerabilities do allow is, if someone knew what they were doing… say because they designed the damn backdoor themselves… they could write the perfect virus that would basically hand them the keys to practically anything that used that hardware."

Pete was scowling at her. "You say it's in the freaking firmware!?"

"Yes."

"Why is this significant?" Selene asked.

"Because," Pete added, "That means Watt's has either infected the damn factories, or he's got agents there who are doing his dirty work for him."

Sophia nodded. "And that means that unless we can find or engineer a source of 'clean chips' anything we do could eventually be compromised too. I've taken some steps to make custom boards with our own firmware for us to use in Menagerie, but that's not something we can scale up."

"That sounds bad," Garek said, glancing at Selene.

"Oh, it's much worse. Right now, it looks like all three factories that supply chips to the Atlas military and the CCT network are owned by the same company, Atlas Technotronics, and they all three have the same potential backdoors. I mentioned before that Terra'd gotten me some older decommissioned boards, along with their firmware files. So far it looks like at least the last three generations of CCT mainboards are impacted." She paused for effect. "So, we should assume that Watts has the ability to take down a CCT tower catastrophically if he gets physical access to it, regardless of what other firewalls the system has in place. And if he takes one down, the whole system goes down."

"Wait…" Garek's eyes goggled. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I said. From what I can see from the way the system is set up, it has to have four operating CCT Towers, or it doesn't work at all. I dunno whose freaking idea that was." Sophia griped. "Damn stupid if you ask me." She paused and poured herself a glass of ice water, and took a sip. "Now local communications through relays would still work for the other three towers, but they wouldn't be able to talk between Kingdoms." Then she grinned, "Or they would be handicapped that way, if we weren't building what I've dubbed Chimera Tower in Menagerie."

Pete whistled. "That's my girl! Sounds like that's exactly what Watts is counting on, to take advantage of that network flaw to take down, disrupt, or take over long range communications at some point."

"And to disrupt or take over Atlesian military system at the same time," added Reggie, sourly.

Garek considered what else he'd learned. "They were trying to infiltrate Haven Academy, too. I think to interfere with Huntsmen availability."

Pete looked at Garek and Selene. "Which leads us to the next question, and I think we already know the answer to that. You're the ones who have a mole in this so-called Queen's court. How does all that fit into her plans exactly? You mentioned she wants to cause an apocalypse, and I figure cutting global communications and hamstringing Atlas military at the same time would sure cause some serious panic, and that'll attract Grimm. Is that what she wants?"

Selene nodded. "Yes. At least in part."

Garek continued. "Agreed. We're starting to get a bigger picture on that, thanks to what Lionheart has told us. We know the Relics are a somehow a part of Her plan, and from what Lionheart's told us, we can assume that the Academies are hiding them. Four Relics, four Academies, all with Headmasters aligned with Ozpin."

"Makes sense," Pete nodded.

"Right. If you throw everything into chaos, disrupt global communications, and compromise one or more Academies, that allows Her to use her Agents to get the Relics. We're pretty sure that's why she's using Watts."

"Alright," Pete said, shivering slightly. "Damn… that's pretty big. He turned back to Sophia. "You got anything else before we move on?"

She nodded. "I'm putting together my report for Dr. Polendina, with everything cleared for Level 1. Rhodes will be taking it to him when he heads back to Atlas. I suspect he will be horrified and pleased with our work."

"Woo! More funding!" Pete crowed.

"Which we'll need," Sophia put a hand on his arm. "Because we have to start researching computer hardware manufacturers, with an eye toward finding one that doesn't have Watts' fingers stuck in its orifices, and we need to figure out how to set up our own very quiet production of chips. That's going to be expensive and difficult to hide." She shook her head. "I doubt we'll find anyone in Atlas, and Mistral and Vale aren't known for their tech industries. That leaves Vacuo."

"Well shit, there goes that extra funding," Pete groused. "Garek, your turn."

"Sorry to say that we didn't accomplish much." Garek deadpanned. "Just got Menagerie and Lionheart completely on board with our secret plans," He got a smattering of laughing praise before he launched into a summary of how the process had gone and its results in Haven.

"That sounds… pretty hairy there, Garek," Pete whistled when they'd learned about the tense meeting in Lionheart's office.

Selene frowned. "I am also displeased with the risks you took. You did not tell me this when we spoke."

"Didn't want to worry you, and it wasn't that much of a risk, right Reggie?" Garek lied. He'd been terrified at the time.

"Eh... Crys would have splattered Lionheart's brains all over his office if he'd tried to do anything permanent," the Specialist said, "and Garek wasn't about to actually drink anything that man handed him."

Pete snorted. "Killing Lionheart would have been a nightmare all by itself. Can you imagine the shit storm if a Headmaster got assassinated in his own office?"

Reggie's expression was cold. "It was a calculated risk. We were counting on the idea that if he did want to off Garek, he'd have not wanted anyone to know we'd even been there. So… it was the best we could do on short notice."

"But still…"

"I'd rather not do it again, that's for damn sure." Garek said. "But this was the key to all our other plans. And it's working out like a dream, so if we could not spend the next hour revisiting how stupid it was? It worked. And because of that, we were able to take Lionheart to Menagerie for a long weekend. You have no idea how incredible that played out."

"Oh?" Pete said.

"Seriously. Lionheart and Ursulus got along like old friends. And when word spread that the famous faunus Leonardo Lionheart, Headmaster of Haven Academy, was visiting Kuo, you'd have thought he was visiting royalty the way people flocked to him, asking for autographs and photos." Garek laughed. "Ursulus got to do a public event from the balcony of the Chieftain's manor to a huge crowd. You should have seen Lionheart's face. I don't remember ever seeing him so happy. It did him good, just that."

"Was he able to visit the site of the future Academy?" Selene asked.

Garek nodded. "And he's excited as hell about that, too."

"Sounds like you hit it out of the park," Pete grinned. "Anything else?"

Garek folded his hands and leaned forward. "Actually yeah. On the ride back, we had some more time to talk. Sophia heard most of it. But the gist is that the Relic of Knowledge is in a vault under Haven Academy. It's some sort of pocket dimension, according to him all the Academies are set up like that, and it requires multiple steps to access the vault. Lionheart holds the only key to the basements where Haven's vault is, but the door to the vault itself can only be opened by the Spring Maiden."

"Is that something we care about? It's not like we want to get the Relic."

"We don't want to take it, no. But we might want to use it. Lionheart says that you can ask a question, any question about what's going on right now, or as far back into the past as you want, and the Relic has to answer in full."

There was a long moment of silence before Pete exclaimed, "Holy shit, Garek, way to drop a bomb on us!"

"Yeah, well, it's not something we want to use right now. I don't even know what we'd ask yet. And you have to be careful how you phrase it, cause the Relic only answers three questions every 100 years, and one has already been burned." He looked around the able, "Of course, without the Spring Maiden, you can't even get to it. Lionheart gave me a lead on her, too." He explained about the question that had driven Lionheart and the Maiden to despair. "Lionheart thinks she's hiding out in Southern Mistral with some Bandit Tribe led by a rogue Huntsman named Raven Branwen."

Selene gasped, and all eyes turned toward her. "What?" Pete asked.

She blushed. "I… I recognize that name. Is your tale complete, Garek?"

"Yeah. Those're the important bits."

"Very well," Selene squared her shoulders. "I have also discovered something that may be… very important." She looked at Garek. They had discussed some of this on the drive over. "But to do so, I must first divulge that the reason for my abrupt departure is because I was summoned to the Grimmlands by the Queen herself, to answer for our recent activities."

Pete gave a low whistle, and Sophia and Reggie shared a quick glance before Reggie spoke up. "I'd wondered how Garek was making all those promises to Lionheart and expecting to make it stick." He looked at Selene. "So, are you playing double agent with the Queen?"

Selene hunched slightly under the scrutiny. "Not… exactly. I have been given freedom to pursue this path we have forged, with the understanding that it will not in any way aid The Queen's enemies. I have been granted this only due because of the one person in the world that The Queen cares about."

"And who would that be?" Pete asked, squeezing Sophia's hand under the table.

"My mother," Selene said quietly. The others at the table didn't react, and Selene blinked. "You are not surprised."

"Pete swore that your mole in the Queen's court had to be a family member, the way you were acting," Sophia said, smoothly. While it was not a lie, it wasn't the full truth either. They'd been able to review enough of her text communications with Salem to figure out who her contact there was.

"I see." She swallowed. "I should also tell you that my father also, independently, already knew much of what we have been discussing here. I would place him at what Pete called Level 5 already, without any knowledge from us.

"Again, not surprised, considering he's your dad and where you grew up," Pete said dismissively. "But keep him out of the loop on what we're discussing here unless we agree to give him more info. Alright?"

Well, this went better than expected, she thought. Of course, Garek and Selene still hadn't divulged the big secret, the fact that Queen and Mother were the same person, and that Selene was half Grimm. "Understood. But all of this leads to my explanation. I have been able to reassure the Queen that our aims remain opposed to those of Ozpin, and rather serve our own goals. She has agreed to honor our agreement with Lionheart. He is off-limits to her and her agents."

Garek felt himself relax. "Good."

"Hell, better than good. That's great," Pete said.

"Yes, because the next proposal would require the same consideration. I have found that one of Ozpin's most trusted agents, a Huntress named Summer Rose, has been a prisoner of The Queen for three years, and I wish to obtain her release to our service." And she launched into a detailed explanation of who Summer Rose was, a highly edited version of how they had originally met, and the fact that the Queen feared and apparently coveted Summer's silver eyes.

"Wait," Pete said, "explain again about the Silver Eyes thing?"

"Yes. It appears that, when activated by an experienced wielder, they work almost like a Semblance, and can be used to utterly disintegrate minor Grimm. Likely anything smaller than an Alpha."

"Damn," Garek muttered. "And anything larger than that?" Garek asked, watching Selene intently.

"They do not destroy it, but they permanently petrify it."

Selene felt Garek's grip on her hand tighten, and she squeezed it back in return. "What do you think her chances are?" Garek asked.

"Right, what's your supposed leverage to convince Queen Grimm-maker to let her go free?" Pete clarified.

Selene nodded. "Summer has agreed that should we win her freedom, she will remove both herself and her family from Ozpin's influence, ideologically if not physically. She is willing to remain in contact with him, and others who serve him, in order to keep us informed of any plans that might affect us. It pains her, and she will demand proof that we are not attempting to harm her former allies. For example, if we were to use that knowledge to physically harm them, she would likely turn against us."

"Understandable."

"Yes. In addition, I believe that having Summer with us would serve two purposes. First, it would remove a grave threat to the Queen and would make the Queen feel less pressured to act in the near term. And Summer would agree to this now that she understands more about her eyes and is wary of one of her children being available to Ozpin as a weapon as well. The second is that not having a silver-eyed warrior at his disposal may cause Ozpin to act less aggressively in the future and gain us additional time in which to determine our own course of action, rather than being forced to react to the moves of the two opposing forces."

"Which leads me to the reason why I was surprised by the name Garek mentioned earlier." She turned to her fiancé. "Summer's former teammate, and her older daughter's birth mother… Summer stated that the woman's name was Raven Branwen."

"Small gods-be-damned world," Pete muttered.

"Indeed, it is," Selene agreed. "And not only does she have a powerful semblance, able to create portals to those she is bonded with, Summer informs me that Raven mistrusts Ozpin as much as we do, though Summer does not know the reason for this."

Garek started laughing. "She may not, but we do. Got it straight from drunk Lionheart's mouth. Raven had just lost her best friend to Salem, and was with Lionheart when he asked the Relic about Salem. So Raven had just been through a huge trauma, and then found out that Ozpin had been withholding critical information from her and others." He shook his head. "She didn't take it well."

Selene's eyes widened. "In which case, by recovering Summer and turning her from Ozpin, we may be able to win Raven to our cause."

"Wait, if she can make a portal to people, she's bonded with," Pete asked, "Why didn't she just grab Summer from wherever they're holding her?"

"Summer and I spent some time speculating on this. We surmised then that either Raven was no longer alive, or that she could not sense Summer and thus would not attempt a rescue. We believe that there is a device, likely one of Watts' diabolical inventions, that is blocking the ability to sense Aura around where she is held. From Raven's perspective, this would likely make it appear as if Summer's Aura was… destroyed."

"Gods… we're learning all this because of your mother making an offhand comment?" Sophia breathed.

"It was not offhand. All of this is because of my mother's aid, though Summer believes us insane."

"And because your mom clued you in," Pete said carefully, "you want to ask her advice."

"Yes. I feel she may have insight on whether The Queen can be convinced to release her to our… supervision."

Pete looked around the table. "Based on that, any objections to Selene contacting her mom and asking about this?"

The group argued risks and rewards for a while before a positive agreement was reached.

"Alright Selene, we're trusting your judgment on this, since you're confident that she knew what you would find there, and what you'd do with that information." He nodded to her Scroll on the table in front of her. "Any reason to wait?"

Selene had already spent significant time on the flight considering how she would word her question, so she was able to quickly draft her message, and allowed the others to review it before sending.

Mother,

I thank you for your kindness in telling me of the whereabouts of Visha, my childhood servant. I have had the chance to speak with her, and she was well enough, and overjoyed to see me. In the process, I had the good fortune to learn of a unique prisoner being kept there as well. After some discussion with my friends, we are of a mind to secure her release, and are considering one of two methods.

The first preference would be to approach The Queen with a proposal to obtain the prisoner's freedom in service to our cause. There is also the matter of how to explain to her my knowledge of the prisoner in the first place.

We believe that such a proposal might include her allegiance to us rather than the Old Man, as well as also removing certain members of her family from his sphere of influence without harm to them. If that would not suffice, please know that she has voluntarily offered to sacrifice her sight, though I find that an abhorrent choice.

A second option would be to determine what has been used to mask her survival from her former team-mate, who we now understand would have the ability to rescue her if she knew of her survival. However, that would leave her forced to hide, and might require hiding anyone she cared for who might be used to lure her out in the future. This would likely destroy her usefulness to our cause. We would prefer this be our course only if there were no hope of securing her release.

Another matter is that of timing. While from our perspective there is little hurry, and waiting might even be beneficial to our efforts, it troubles me that her family does not know she yet lives, and suffers as a result, and I feel that her health is in decline.

We seek your wisdom and counsel, mother. I fear to misstep. I will be sharing your response with my allies.

P.S. We would wish to include Visha as my personal servant in any agreement.

They waited anxiously, spending the time discussing any other details about the last two weeks.

They were interrupted by Selene exclaiming that her mother had replied.

Daughter,

I am very pleased to hear you have reunited with Visha. I am sure she is as well.

Regarding your proposal, I am wary. As a mother, I can understand her despair, but she represents a particularly dire threat to our Queen… and to others. Have you fully considered the dangers she and her daughter both pose?

Regardless, I do not feel that an appeal to your Queen would be fruitful. I believe she would see actively choosing to release this person as a bridge too far, regardless of whether I or you begged her favour.

Therefore, if you fully understand the risk, I would suggest that you determine in what manner her former team member has been prevented from becoming aware of her location, and disable it. In that manner, suspicion for her escape will not fall upon you. Once her freedom has been obtained, you might claim reasonable deniability for being the mechanism, and you can then recruit her and notify your Queen as a fait accompli, as I understand you have already accomplished with another. This may, and I emphasize may, serve to forestall a negative response from your Queen, and protect the prisoner, as long as you are able to convince the Queen that this serves your purposes and not those of her enemies.

I await your response, and I agree with including Visha. I will, frankly, be jealous of her should this occur.

They discussed it further, and Selene sent a brief response.

Mother,

I thank you for your judgment in this matter, with you knowing both your own mind, and having insight into that of the Queen, better than I. Regarding the dangers the prisoner poses, we are fully aware of the risks involved.

We will proceed with your recommendation and will notify you upon its successful conclusion.

Love,
Selene.

There was a long moment of silence in the room before Pete spoke. "Well… looks like we've got our answer. Garek, why don't you see what you can get out of Lionheart regarding where this Branwen Tribe might be prowling around?" Garek nodded. "Alright, let's take a week and reacquaint ourselves with our own homes and beds," he gave Sophia a pointed look, and got a smirk in return. Reggie rolled his eyes.

"Come, Garek." Selene said, "we promised to hear all of Cinder's tales about her visit with Sarah Tourmaline's family as well."

[A/N] And another chapter in the bag. This one was mostly the "debrief" by the various characters.

And it looks like we've got buy-in for some sort of jailbreak! Whoohoo!

Next Chapter will be all about Raven Branwen. All they need to do is find her and they're on their way. Oh, and convince her not to kill them when they first meet her. And convince her that they aren't full of shit. Err.. and convince her that they aren't insane. And... then convince her that this isn't some elaborate trap.

Then convince her that they can actually pull it off.

Easy peasy.

Hannibal Smith would be proud.