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[Takosher]

Running through the night might not have been ideal, but she wasn't about to complain. The freedom felt good after being cooped up so long, and it wasn't like she, of all people, was one to fear the dark. She had a lot to get done and not a lot of time. Once news of her escape spread, she'd have to go back or there would be questions. She had questions too, but she knew better than to try asking them. The only answers she got were the ones she already had and wished she didn't.

A warms breeze blows across the top of the grass, comforting her.

Layla sprinted faster, she could see the city just ahead. A few more minutes and she would be there, she could only hope they would be as well. Industry, outskirts, suburbs. Two more streets, take a left, red house with a rabbit mailbox and an oak tree. Back door, up the steps, no need to knock. And there she was, in the kitchen. It looked the same as it did every time, a nightmare she could never escape no matter how many lives she lived.

"Lily dearest, I'm glad to see you're alright." an elderly woman in a wheelchair was waiting to greet her.

"Thanks for getting me out of there." Lylah answered with a smile, "Are the others here?"

"You're the third, our friend from the forge will be a bit late." the elder answered.

"Can we start without? I don't exactly have a lot of time." Despite the pleasant greeting, this was far from a meeting of friends. And that meant it was best to get to business right away, small talk only made more openings.

"She said to go ahead, it's her fault she's late, after all." the elder nodded towards the living room, "Go have a seat, I'll be out in a minute."

Lily complied gratefully, pleased to be fleeing the kitchen. The cozy room in which they would be meeting already had its first occupant. "Hello Mia." Lily greeted as she entered.

"Hello Layla." Mia answered halfheartedly. She sounded different again, Lily was still getting used to that. She had never seen Mia's face beneath the heavy cloak that concealed it, and with her voice ever-changing, it was hard to accept she was the same person at all. "What do you think?" Mia abruptly held up the sweater she was knitting for Lily to see. It was far from complete, but seemed to be coming along nicely.

"The fiery colors look really good." Layla answered truthfully. As much as she preferred to avoid small talk, there was no reason to upset Mia.

The elder entered the room with a mug of tea which she set on the coffee table.

"Hey, Star." Mia mumbled.

"Hello Mia, are you ready to begin?" Star answered.

"I know where it is." Mia said bluntly.

Lily practically shot out of her seat. "Where?" she demanded. Star had already brought Luna halfway to victory, if Mia knew where the other half was then things were in the final stretch.

"A dead girl has her." she said.

"Her? It's a person?" Star asked.

"Person? It's a piece." Mia answered.

It wouldn't be the first time, but it was certainly unlikely. For Mia to make a claim like that was certainly bold, but she also had no reason to lie. They all wanted some version of the same thing, after all. Layla started to say something, but the sound of the back door creaking stopped her. All three glanced up to see the intruder and a brutal chill ran down Lilith's spine. The woman standing there was an unending anxiety for her, something she always feared she might be forced to confront again. The sick smile on her face grew wider as she turned to Lilith.

"Sorry I'm late." Constance said, snapping Lily free of her terror.

With a blink the image of fear was gone, replaced by a new expectation. It was all just an unfortunate consequence of Constance's weapon. Lily forced herself to be calm, for once grateful to her weapon for screwing up her body language, although she was sure the others had noticed anyways.

"Shit's been going down in Tyran. You might be out of a job, Lily." Constance continued, "Solamon made a mess of things and it looks like it earned her a promotion."

"It doesn't matter." Lily lied. She hadn't wanted to be Dame Supreme, but the role was of the utmost importance now. She had direct power over Katrina, and losing that power was going to hurt her chances a lot if she couldn't get ahold of the piece that Mia had mentioned. As it turned out, this whole meeting was bad news. "Let her have it." she said, "I can use my new free time from being unemployed to capture Fate. Mia already knows where it is."

"Are you sure?" Star asked cautiously, "Impatience could turn things for the worse."

Lilith nodded, "I don't have much of a choice. I can't risk any of the others winning this time."

Eilyth

Preliminary reports showed Eilyth's first battle to be a rousing success. The enemy had been routed and lost a meister in the process. Of particular note was the dominance of Katria's tank forces over the
enemy, which Eilyth had no small part in. It was indisputable that this was her victory before anyone else's.

Her forces were regrouping and prepping to march after the general as soon as all the wounded were safe for transport. Eilyth was just walking through to ensure everything was in order and use her presence to boost morale, a suggestion from Patricia of all people.

Before Eilyth had any time to react, her casual stroll was interrupted and she found herself suspended against the side of a truck by the neck. The arm holding her was dark-skinned with well-toned muscle, and as many people as that description could fit, there was only one Eilyth knew of with the balls to grab her like this.

Vulgara let Eilyth struggle and choke for a moment while she carefully planted two small pieces of felt on her stuffed companion, allowing Captain Fluffy to join her in glaring angrily at Eilyth.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded. She made no attempt to release Eilyth, so any answer would have to be choked out from under her iron grip.

Monika and Kirari

The dormitory building was much busier than the rest of the base, although that still left it fairly quiet. There was a single guard stationed at the door, and he seemed to be there entirely for show, as he made no attempt to stop anyone from going in or out to check if they belonged.

Jessie

Fairy was sufficiently admonished by Jessie's tone, hanging her head slightly in shame. Despite her previous attitude, she was still a child. "Okay." she mumbled, "Can I at least keep the candy?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
"Bitch I will tear your fucking arm off!" Searing rage and envenomed thoughts immediately drowned out whatever rational response she may have initially made, resulting in a clicking, reptillian hiss as she struggled to break free. She met the glare of Vulgara and Captain Fluffy with a draconic one, black slits surrounded by wicked crimson flames that danced in contempt at this current indignity. She instinctively bared teeth at her aggressors, revealing a mouth filled with pointed fangs that had no right in a human jaw. As she had in some many other times of danger and insult before, she attempted to draw upon the beast lurking within, to make her frail human body better reflect the nature of her soul. But much to her surprise, her call was answered not by armored scales, but an even tighter constriction around her neck. One so intimate it could not have been the iron grip currently suspending her.

Caution. Prudence. Wit before might. Things she did not care about at the moment, but things she was forced to consider regardless. Her initial outrage at someone daring to lay their hands on her ebbed just enough to realize that starting a fight really wasn't desirable right now. She was on the back foot, and it would cause too many questions later besides. It seemed this flow of returning reason was enough to appease the little metal bastard around her neck, because the pressure in her neck receded back to where it was before. Which wasn't much more comfortable, given she was still in a god damn chokehold.

"Fine you little shit... I'll try talking first." She stopped hissing and baring fangs and instead started thinking as to why Vulgara would suddenly attack her. She could only come to one logical conclusion. She still seethed at the fact she was having to choke out an answer under someone else's mercy. But she refrained from making anymore of a struggle, even went so far as to revert her irises to normal. She figured there was a better chance of Vulgara complying if she at least tried to not look like a cornered animal ready to strike

"If this is... about... that duel... let me down... and I'll explain best... I can..."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

Resisting the urge to give the posted guard her signature "wink and smile" form of greeting, Monika let her eyes wander around, taking in the people wandering around, "Hrm... This is probably going to take a while, but the sooner we get looking, the better" she stated, not taking much care for her volume as she began moving down the rightmost halls of the building, keeping an eye out for any room that seemed a bit more important than the rest. Finding a bloody set of keys was going to be a pain, and as easy as it would've been, Monika didn't feel like just blowing down. Most of the people here didn't seem like the type to have seen a battlefield before, despite the uniforms and weaponry

... She simply didn't have the heart to bring one to them.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

The Spirit meister nodded. "Of course." She considered herself to have a certain eye for detail, but this place was unfamiliar enough that she was unsure how much it would help. It was possible for them to locate some gullible, helpful woman and obtain her keys instead of hoping to find them somewhere, but that was a much riskier prospect. "Do we have a plan for the rest of our inspection?"

[Takosher]

Monika and Kirari

Just inside the entrance there was a map of the dorm building. For the most part it just showed numbered dorms, although a couple of common areas were also noted. Of particular note was a blacked out area on the top floor, labeled as being for authorized personnel only. Presumably that was where the most important people on the complex stayed.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

Kirari pulled a small notepad from a pocket and scribbled down a rough sketch of the map. She picked a random dorm, wrote its number in the corresponding location, and circled it; it was unlikely someone would actually question her notes (let alone investigate them in the first place) but the appearance of a simple reminder for a newcomer to the base made for a good excuse. "We should find uniforms." Kirari nodded at a room nearby. "It will cut down on questions."

[Takosher]

Astarte

Relief did not come swiftly for Astarte. Were she a weaker individual, passing out might have spared her some pain. But she was not. Despite losing large amounts of blood and drowning in white agony, her mind refused to quit. She suffered through her retrieval, triage, and grueling transfer to a hospital with her wits fully intact. And all of it was directed at the Katrian who spared her, for that was perhaps the most painful thing of all.

A spectacular failure, her entire force decimated in a single clash. The county of Hell had felt an unspeakable loss at the hands of the Dragon. Those that had survived were being folded into other forces. Astarte wasn't. Her time at war was over, a hospital bed was her future.

A nurse poked his head in to her room. "You have a visitor."

A shitty visitor, the one who entered was Nyna. Nyna had just won the election for Dame after Solamon was promoted to Dame Supreme, so she was likely there to brag. She was silent at first, just staring at the stump that had once been Astarte's arm. She didn't seem to have much in the way of sympathy or curiosity, but there was definitely something somber to her gaze that would never have been there before. "You do all that and they don't even heal you." she said finally, genuinely disgusted, "You better not be planning to let that slide."

Eilyth

Vulgara glared a moment longer before finally letting Eilyth fall unceremoniously into the mud. "No, no excuses." she said, "You're going to own up to your mistake, or I'm going to kick the shit out of you. Do you even have any idea how stupid what you did there was? Not only did you put yourself at risk for no benefit, you undermined your relationship with your subordinates in the process. Plus you freed the enemy soldiers I had pinned against you, just for good measure. Normally I'd say mistakes happen, but symbols don't have that luxury. Not every mistake will be noticed, but if even one slips out, you'll be devoured in an instant."

Silvia

Mirala sighed gently. "It's alright." she said, "You wasted some of our goodwill, but we don't plan to need it anyways. Let's just hurry to the paper pushers so we can get to work on our inspection. What sort of files do you think we should look through first?" A quiz, a chance for Silvia to redeem herself. Whether right or wrong in her answer, Mirala would approve so long as she showed dedication. And if she did happen to get it wrong, it would open a much less intense teaching moment than Silvia's earlier gaff.

Yava

"It seems our Lady Erina gave me quite the review, I've been summoned to the capital for congratulations." Sola said, putting down the letter, "What did you say to her, Yava? The way this is worded, I suspect Dame Valedictor may have sponsored me as a replacement for our missing Dame Supreme. Surely you can't have defended me that well?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
"Oh I'd like to see you fucking try it-" A sensation of strangulation prevented her from voicing those initial thoughts. One she recognized from a different time, a far different place. The cheeky little fucker was doing it again. First with what to do about Brigitte, now here. The sentiment of 'shut up and listen for once in your miserable life' was far too blatant to not pick up on. Eilyth, quite reluctantly, complied. Her blood continued boiling all the while, growing hotter with every point Vulgara laid out, preparing a counter for each in turn.
   "Put myself at risk? No benefit? I count preserving my meisters as benefit enough. And at risk from what? there was nothing left on that field that could kill me, I might as well have been invincibl-" the feeling around her neck became even worse at that one. She had struck the wrong nerve, and she knew it. Invincibility had never been part of the agreement.  The deal had been increased survival potential through a combination of prodigious power and resilience, nothing more and nothing less. She should've known that damn well by now, had more than enough scars to remind her of that simple fact. Yet she had still allowed herself to forget it. Such pride, bordering on outright arrogance, well suited a dragon. But it was going to be her undoing if she allowed it to continue unchecked. The moment she stopped seething long enough to understand that was the moment the feeling of being drowned all over again finally stopped. Just in time for Eilyth to hear the final portions of the lecture.

Symbols don't have that luxury...

The point of the conversation finally started to click. That's right... this was what she was now. There was no going back to way things were before.

If even one slips out, you'll be devoured in an instant.

And she should've been smart enough to figure that out herself. This was a deadly game she was playing, a devil's bargain. The only way she'd win is by playing smart, playing the long game. She had learned to talk the talk, but when it came to walking the walk? She was as green as Gentry was. Like it or not, she had no choice but to accept that failure. Wearing a mirthless expression, she rose from the mud, dusted herself off for as little good as it would do, and looked Vulgara directly in the eye.
    "...alright," she said, "you're right. I fucked up, let my pride get in the way, and lost sight of the bigger picture."

Yava
"Oh, you know..." Yava sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "I simply told her truth of situation. Your dedication led to unraveling of sinister criminal web afterall... and you singlehandedly beat down esteemed freak while unarmed and bleeding out. And on Fire. Perhaps not all at once for last one but... eh, still, was quite powerful display of duty and skill, more than worthy of recognition. It seems Lady Erina agreed."

She wanted so badly to tell Sola the truth. But the truth still sounded utterly insane even to her, and she had been shown some evidence to back it up. How could she expect someone completely out of the loop to believe it when she lacked any such evidence and still harbored misgivings herself? No... for now she'd have to just play along, to keep watching and waiting in the wings. An opportunity would present itself in time. and if it didn't?

She'd just have to create one herself.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"Hm, I had the same idea. The dorms should have some left over" Monika agreed, continuing to move down the hallways. Once she was sure that there wasn't anyone who could outright listen in on them however, she tilted her head slightly towards her partner, whispering as to not draw attention to something that would be hard to explain, "What are your thoughts here Kirari? Going to the top floor might be difficult, but a tad bit more rewarding if we can find a high ranking uniform. But, at the same time, starting off small could also work. Just getting a common uniform for the place will do wonders."

Astarte

Some would call it a blessing to still be alive, being able to continue living and breathing with their selves intact. For Astarte, however, it was a curse. She had been fully prepared to die on that battlefield, as payment for the crippling failure she had brought to her country, but she hadn't. Instead, she was spared, left in agony as her mind refused to give up, forcing her to live through her forces finding her on her knees and retrieving her for medical attention.

And now, as if to taunt her with her presence, Nyna had appeared as a visitor. Astarte, for all that she was worth, did receive news of what was going on, and knew that despite her own failure, Nyna was now not just a Lady, but a full on Dame, following Solamon's promotion to Dame Supreme. Astarte would've been happy, being freed of having to personally work under such a detestable woman, but as of now, she wasn't... Not with her here to brag about her success, twisting the knife of shame further into Astarte's gut. Or at least, that's what Astarte thought, before Nyna chose to comment on her missing arm, electing a momentary surprised look from the hospitalized woman before she let out a sigh,

"If I had a choice in the matter, I wouldn't. I suppose they intend for this to be a mark of shame... One that I have to accept" Astarte admitted, locking eyes with the newly elected Dame as she did so, "So, should I be congratulating you on your recent promotion? I doubt you actually came around just to see how I was doing. We never did 'get along', as they say."

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

The shorter woman tilted her head in that exaggerated thoughtful way she often did. She was genuinely pondering the question, of course, but her default indicator would have been no expression whatsoever. "We'll need to get into restricted areas eventually. This one is less likely to raise an alarm if we fail." Kirari nodded. "We should go."

[Takosher]

Eilyth

"Good, you know how to listen." Vulgara smiled, "I get it, you're used to risking your life while the brass sit on their asses and treat you as more of a number than a person. But you're a commander now, and you need to realize that you don't get to risk your life anymore. The risk you have to take is a whole lot greater, because you're responsible for the lives of everyone under your command. You have to risk their lives. And if they're anything like you used to be, they're going to resent you for it. But if you do your job right, they're also going to be alive. Next time you're worried about holy weapon combat going south, remember that you have other meisters at your disposal who can be backup. Trust them. Only a coward tries to do everything alone."

Abruptly, she held out her fist towards Eilyth. Not a punch, but a greeting, "Vulgara Metro, but you can call me Vee-Vee. Welcome to the hero club, if you ever need any help, the Oh-Three has your back."

Astarte

"Last I checked we hate each other, yeah." Nyna said ruefully, "Which is why I'm never going to forgive you if you let this keep you down." She set an envelope down on the table by Astarte's bed, "The countess is a sucker for sob stories, I should know, if you sell yourself well, she'll back you. With my recommendation on top of that, the aristocracy will have no choice but to vote for you."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

"True, true. Let's hurry and get a uniform at least, I'm going to go crazy if I have to wear this thing any longer" Monika stated, taking a moment to plot their path along the map before heading off, making her way to the dorm areas to find something more to her tastes.

Astarte

For a brief moment, Astarte looked at the envelope that was placed next to her bed, a confused look on her face before she realized what Nyna was doing, "... Ah, right. Now that you're a Dame, Hell is in need of a new Lady" she commented, looking at her heavily bandaged shoulder, contemplating Nyna's words, ultimately nodding in agreement, "Yes, knowing her, it would be easy to sway her to my side with my current condition" she added, not commenting on the fact that Nyna was recommending her for the position. She was fairly surprised at the gesture, considering their shared hatred for one another. Yet at the same time, she was rather satisfied with it. Her place was stolen by Nyna's sob story, but now she had a chance to finally take it, and Nyna even put in her own word for her.

For all her faults, she at least had the ability to find good replacements.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
"I see... is this what you really meant, Leah?"

The reality of the situation dawned on her as she listened to Vulgara. Despite her mandatory presence on the front lines, when it came to the most dangerous parts of battle she would be expected to play the woman in the high tower. There would be no fighting Dames. No testing her might against some of the most elite enemies this side of the continent. Such physical contests would most likely have to be delegated to others. Her test would instead be of the mind, of how well she could assess their foes and coordinate effective counters using whatever was on hand. It was a test she had already failed once, given the campaign had just begun and already one of her meisters was feeding the worms.
    "If so... I guess the truthful answer is gonna have to be no. But it's too late for that now, isn't it? I've only my own arrogance to blame, thinking any of this would be so simple. What a god damned fool I am." But she was a damned stubborn fool as well. The mountain she was to climb was steeper and taller than she originally assumed, yes, but it would take more than that to deter a dragon. If she had to now take up the mantle of a tactician as well as a warrior, then so be it. She had come too far to flounder here.

"Vulgara Metro, but you can call me Vee-Vee. Welcome to the hero club, if you ever need any help, the Oh-Three has your back."

The sudden welcome broke her out of her musings. She stared blankly at the proffered fist bump, taken aback by the sheer comradery with which it was delivered. A gentle flex of motion around her neck beckoned her to accept that comradery. But still she hesitated. Another gentle flex reminded her that she had only defeated the Dame Supreme by accepting the aid of others. Even Vulgara's earlier mention of how only cowards try to do everything themselves sprang to mind.

"We both know deep down... that she's not wrong about that."

A final, more forceful flex answered. It was time to stop being a coward. With a sigh of defeat, Eilyth relented. Finally lifting her own fist, she met Vulgara's with a smirk on her face.

"Alright then, Vee-vee. I'll be sure to hold ya guys to it. And uh... thanks by the way."

[Glass]

Silvia

"Right, right." Silvia took a breath.
"Obviously, military records are the first place to look - but it's not like they'd give us anything too sensitive, or at least, nothing obviously sensitive. We can't just get a list of maesters. I'd say... after action reports are likely to have the best balance of potentially allowing us to look at them and having the potential for useful information, though there's still a good chance we don't get to see those, and there's a good chance they're censored. They might not have the time to do that thoroughly, though, especially since they're still getting into the whole deal of this.
Yeah, AARs are probably one of our best bets. I think."

Jessie

Jessie's expression softened, and she smiled a bit. "You earned the candy. Come on, let's get out of here before someone notices."

[Takosher]

Silvia

"Normally that would be an excellent assessment." Mirala responded, "But there's one major flaw in your analysis." Mirala pushed through the door into the filing room. The room was fairly large, but it didn't feel like it. Narrow spaces served as walkways between filing cabinets, messy tables, and even messier desks. A few dozen women were alternating between rapid scribbles and trying to squeeze through the room to put things in their proper place. "You assume that Lanican rebels are organized enough to keep such reports."

One of the women was seated at a desk near the entrance and looked up at her Katrian visitors. "Uh... Can I help you?" she asked, looking more than a little confused.

Monika and Kirari

Kirari and Monika snuck into the first unlocked room they could find. It was a bit of the mess, but it wasn't hard to find some spare clothes. Unfortunately for Monika, it seemed the uniform that the researchers in the facility wore also utilized skirts, these a brush shorter than the one she was already wearing.

Jessie

The girl smiled happily as she munched on a piece of chocolate and followed Jessie out the door.

"Fairy." Lali radioed, "I see you both moving. Is she on the run again or did you get her?"

Eilyth

Vulgara continued smiling as she turned to leave. "Least I could do after you cleared those tanks out for me." she said, "Hopefully we'll find some solid ground soon, then I'll show you what the Oh-Three can really do."

~~~

Continued successes brought Eilyth and the rest of General Cara's forces deeper into Tyranian territory, where they were able to occupy a fort. Although the campaign was far from over, the general decided it would serve as a good base camp to rest and recuperate.

And that's where the mail caught up. The Dame Supreme escaping should have been the biggest news, but it paled in comparison to the second letter Eilyth received: Brienne was dead. She'd been caught up in a car accident and had her life cut short abruptly.