[CLOSED]-A Plea for Help

[The Governor]

Rho smiled as the shuttle descended into the atmosphere of Xalion. It looked just as it had during the Conference broadcast. It was dark, dense, polluted cityscape, like a twisted copy of Karsopolis or Jorayyont. Even Malantogue looked better. The only gaps in the toxic fog were the electric lights burning on the planet surface. When the group stepped out, Rho felt the fiery air, and his perception changed slightly. It wasn't mere cityscape.

He wasn't sure what Xalion had been in the past. But now, it was dark, polluted, cramped. Fiery air that pressed on the body, and made sweat simply soak the inhabitants. Everyone present was trapped, or simply on Xalion to conduct illicit business. Every living body here housed a trapped soul, or a temple to moral darkness. Just like a different place, in a different galaxy, in a different time. Triangulum, and EOH Kaarlazen. Unfortunate soldiers sent to fiery, violent deaths, and the monstrous creatures that had killed the servicemen. Kaarlazen or Xalion, Rho wondered about both. Did the beings there know they were in Hell?

When Sigma grabbed the Xalion native, Rho dismissed the question and moved to intervene. Before he needed to, Sigma dropped the native. He asked in an even tone, "Was that really necessary? If we're going to spend the trip intimidating people, we're going to attract attention. We dont need the natives figuring out what we are."

The former Commando officer didn't wear his full armour. Most of it was equipped, but his helmet was noticeably absent, and his Lieutenant's crosses were removed. Instead, Rho wore a hood, as well as a veil that hung close over his face. Only his eyes were really revealed, and while he normally would have preferred the helmet, stealth was more important than fashion during missions. His CI-56 hung at a belt of ammunition and grenades, and his sword and carbine hung at his back. For the most part, he was equipped like he would be for any mission. But while he lacked the helmet, many of the armour's near-intuitive commands and systems were more difficult to use. Rho didn't worry though. In the worst case scenario, the helmet was in a small bag slung over his shoulder.

 

[Thrace]

"Yes, it was necessary.", Sigma answered nonchalantly. "That of course, if you still want us to find our ship here when we return. I don't like attracting attention either, but we have to make them understand that what we will do to them if they try to touch our ship....will overshadow any profit that they might make from making it disappear... no matter how greedy they are, most people around here tend to value their own lives more. And well, this is kinda the criminal center of the galaxy. With so many different races around, no one will realize who we are unless we start shouting it." The pink haired girl then looked at the Drathian. "Pretty much. One of its roles is indeed to protect you from the latent radiation formed by the refinement process and residue. Especially after they blew up all those power plants, radiation has started to become a problem. But the main role of this is accomplished by the nanobots that it contains. They travel into your circulatory and respiratory system, and they take care of the little brute Opilium particles that you breathe." Sigma smirked. "Otherwise, you would die either from suffocation, or from a massive Opilium poisoning. Or both, since you don't have the resistance that native Xalionians have, and you also aren't a half-dead mutated being like we are." The girl sighed. "But well.. we should go." As she was speaking, the others could see her breath. It was so hot on this planet, a hellish temperature.. but the bodies of the Invaders remained cold. If not for their cloaks, and in the case of Rho, if not for his armor, their true forms would have been a little too obvious. But they had to move, and they had to hurry. Spending a lot of time on Xalion.. was never a good idea.



As they descended through the levels of the dying ecumenopolis, it became even hotter. Comparing the planet to hell.. wasn't necessarily wrong. It was hot. The planet was dark and bright at the same time, the darkness brought by the black and golden clouds that were completely covering the sky, and the bright, fake, and artificial golden light that lighted some of the buildings. Even with a natural resistance to it, or with the medicine needed, it was hard to breathe, and the air was rash, hot, dry, and poor. But even so.. the planet was filled. There were people everywhere and anywhere. Humans, Genome users, aliens. Natives, bandits, anarchists, foreigners, criminals. Xalion, abandoned by its once federal status, with the Black-Golden Concordat in shambles, with the districts having lost all control.. it was a lawless planet, a planet of chaos in its most primordial form, governed by only a few basic rules. Only strength mattered. And as long as you ignored what the others were doing.. the others were going to ignore what you were doing too. That's why Xalion was presently one of the largest, if not the largest galactic center of the criminal world and of the black market. If you wanted something.... anything... you could easily find it here.

Eventually, the group arrived on what was once a large boulevard, still lighted from place to place by the golden lights, occupied by a continuously moving mass of people. On their right, tall skyscrapers, the foundantion and course of this planetary city. On their left, the endless space between the many levels and sectors of the city, pitch black, leading down below. Some said that if one were to jump.. he would fall, and fall, and fall, until he would crash on what had once been the surface of the planet. But no one cared about that. Business.. that was far more important. "Ship parts, ship parts! Anything you'd need, anything you'd want! Kinetic batteries, refurbished Wyvern fighters, nuclear warheads! ", a blue, aquatic like alien said, waving his tentacles around. Some aliens and a few humans had already formed a circle around him, and it seemed that there was a auction going on, but the rest of the busy mass of people continued to move. "I hear that they found the wreck of a battlestar up there in the orbit. A rather famous one, apparently. It jumped in, before it was ravaged by HCA ships, and the crew evacuated it. Then the bastards left, and the wreck remained up there, with all the rest that had remained there ever since the planetary order collapsed. And of course, the natives were rather quick to get as many pieces as they could out of that ship.", Sigma explained in a calm voice. They continued to move, the three Invader girls with their cloaks, the Invader man with his armor, and the Drathian. A weird group, but no one cared. By Xalionian standards, it was probably perfectly normal. "Get the latest news! Standoff between the Kriegsflotte and the HCFi n the Kölle System! Vox Populi gaining more and more popularity in the Diet! Rumored mass executions performed by the Axiom Knights in the Gliese System! Official funerals for the former Hegemon proposed by Concordia, blocked by Vox! Get the latest news!", a human boy was shouting, selling small holographic devices, that probably contained some sort of a newspaper. Sigma ignored him as they continued to walk, and eventually, they stopped in front of a particular building. It had large doors, of what had once been glass, now covered in a black, ugly residue like most of the buildings around, and above, it had a neon sign that showed a stylized red rose, with a few words added. Die Glühende Rose. The Glowing Rose. Sigma smiled. "We're here." And with that, the group entered the place.

At the beginning, it was rather difficult to see anything, due to the smoke, the fact that the huge room was poor lit, and that it was filled with people. It looked like a common bar or tavern, well decorated, seemingly for richer people. But one thing was weird.. and that was that most of the people here, employees included, all had that same red rose model somewhere, either as pins, or necklaces. And as they entered.. everyone stopped... and looked at them. A human male, by the looks of it, with his face hidden by a bandana and a hood, stopped in front of them. "What do you want?", he asked with a disgusted tone. "We want to speak with the First Rose.", Sigma answered promptly. The man laughed, soon followed by many others. "We'll just assume that you have no idea where you are, and we'll ignore this insults. Little insignificant rats don't get to speak with her, let alone enter this place.. don't you know who we are?" Sigma tried to control herself.. but this guy had caught her in really, really bad mood... and they had no time for this. In one swift move, the girl caught the man by his arm, raised him in the air, and hit the ground with him, denting the floor, the crack of broken bones clearly audible. Sigma sighed. "I will repeat this one last time. We. Want. To. See. The. First. Rose.", she said slowly and calmly. Too.. calmly.

"Please excuse the impoliteness of our member. He will be severely punished for that.", a young boy said, having just entered the room. His face was hidden by the shadow of the hood he was wearing, but he was human, no doubt about it, as he bowed, politely. "The gentlemen and the ladies are to follow me, if they wish to see the First Rose." Saying that, the boy turned around, and the group followed him in silence, the other people around choosing to back down and to ignore them. They went through a maze of corridors, until they finally reached a wooden door. The boy opened it, inventing them in. And just as they entered, the sound of weapons being armed and of swords being unsheathed was heard.

A couple persons had been waiting for them in the room, with their weapons pointed at them. First, there was a young, and beautiful human woman, a Genome user, judging by her looks. She had a long, light pink hair, and dark pink eyes. She was wearing a a short white, frilly style dress with a layer of red ruffles over the white ruffles of the skirt, and with long, loose white sleeves, and with the top cut just enough to be intriguing, but decent, covering her more then decent cleavage. A white collar of lace parted in the center of her neck, reached over her collar bones, bound by a pink ribbon, and with a small stylized red rose decoration in the middle of it, with a pair of dark red ribbons trailing from it, reaching her hips. Tall, red boots folded below her knees completed her attire, and she was wearing tight, white gloves, and in her hand, she was holding a standard Colonial kinetic shotgun, loaded with high caliber Veranium bullets, by the looks of it, pointed directly at the three Invader girls

Now, next to the Drathian, there was another girl, that also vaguely looked human. A short girl, with a chin-length hair that had a dark blue iris color, arranged in bangs that framed her face, with a white headband, and with a figure similar to that of the other woman. She had dark red eyes, and if this wasn't enough to convince people that she wasn't fully human, her pointed ears and small vampire like fangs certainly could. A black collar was holding a white cape, and she was wearing a pink and white dress with detached dark red sleeves and with white skirts that layered over each other, reaching down to her knees, an attire with a.. rather low cut that revealed her considerably sized cleavage just enough, completed by white stockings that reached just above her knees, and dark red high heels. She was holding a black, Veranium made rapier in her hand, with its tip pointed right at the Drathian's head, as she simply stood there, smiling

One the other side, near Rho, there was another woman, of a fairly average height, with a long, blonde hair, styled in two twin spirals, coming over her shoulders, wearing another white headband. Just like the other weirder girl, she had dark red eyes, pointed ears, and small fangs. Also like the other girl, she was wearing a low cut attire, that was revealing just enough of her cleavage, that was well.. massive, even compared to that of the other girls in the room. She was wearing a white dress, that were heavily adorned with red ruffles past her elbows, reaching midway down her forearm. Red lines went down the bodice, and she was also wearing white, thigh-high stockings,decorated with red ruffles at the top, and dark red high heels. She had.. what looked like a knight's lance, but what was actually a Colonial made hand cannon, designed especially to break through the heavy armors that the Confederates were wearing.. what a coincidence.

The girl that was clearly the leader, the pink haired one, smirked. "You have one minute to tell me exactly why you are here, or we'll send you all to hell."

 

[The Governor]

Rho smiled as he followed Sigma through the building's corridors. He smiled when they reached the office. The former officer was used to guns pointed at him, but never by attractive women. At least not in the old days. When the Genome user asked about their purpose, Rho decided to tell them exactly that. But first, he would make a point.

Rho made eye contact with Sigma for just a moment, and it was the only warning he gave before hurling the bag that contained his helmet at the leader. Nothing lethal was inside the bag, but the helmet was made of durasteel, and Rho knew it would deliver a forceful connexion. He moved towards the side of the office, staying out of range of the short girl's blade, and moving too fast for the other girl's cannon.

Moments later, Rho had reached the blonde. His leg moved in a sweeping arc, knocking the girl off-balance. As she fell, Rho grabbed her, and after a brief struggle, had the girl's back against his chest. Rho drew his CI-56, and with the gun against the girl's temple commanded, "Everyone relax. Weapons away, now!"

It didn't worry him that everyone else was armed. On the contrary, it brought on exhilaration he hadn't felt since his old life. Eventually, the Roses in the room lowered their weapons. Rho smiled, holstered his own sidearm, and loosened his grip on the blonde. As he released her, he said evenly, "You were never in any danger, beautiful. You remind me far too much of someone I used to know. I couldn't have pulled the trigger. I just wanted to demonstrate that we dont appreciate being threatened."

Picking up the bag from where it fell, he removed two small silver crosses, and attached them to the small plate on his collarbone, and removed the veil covering his face. "You asked for our purpose. While I'm not certain of what that is, I'll tell you who we are. I'm the High Invader Rho, formerly the Confederate Lieutenant Michael Embry. I was the commanding officer of Wendigo Company. I shot EOH General Alfred Beddington on Kaarlazen, saved Hegemon Julius Kingsley on Tau Volantis, led the Xenoliths to capture Maarlox, and fought at Terra Nova. Blitzing the darkness, us angels of death. That's what the unit motto was. Funny how we became darkness' greatest vanguards. But anyway, I'm Rho. Since the Xenoliths are gone, I'm not very sure what I am now. But even if they're gone, I've hardly lost my skills. Ladies Sigma, Omega, Lamba, General Krix, and I wont be threatened by Xalion gangsters. And I'm not particularly afraid of Hell. When I get there, I'll be telling Lucifer to get off my throne."

 

[Drakorphobia]

The Drathian looked blankly at the girl with the solid orange eyes of his species, his expression showed that he was clearly unamused. A spear, aimed at his head. He saw the threat, clearly, but as a born and raised fighter who had clashed with Sigma during the days of the Invasion, he didn't concern himself too much with it. Instead, he opened his mouth just slightly, and exposed his rows of sharp, triangular. His tongue rolled across them, coating them with saliva and granting them a reflective glitter of sorts. The girl was strange, and oddly attractive in a foreign and exotic sort of way, but that did not prevent him from taking a calm step backwards, and unhooking the double sided electro-staff he and his sister were so infamous for using. A flick of his wrist, and the weapon, which was designed to collapse into itself as the ends of the metal shaft slid into a tub like structure in the centre, unfolded. The ends of the weapon resembled a sort of flanged mace, with sharp points at the end of each potrusion. Seconds later, the weapon sparked to life, and visible snakes of electricity jolted in and between the flanges of each end. A blow from such a weapon would undoubtedly cause serious burns, and likely unconsciousness as electricity reverberated through the victim's body.

"General Krix of the Drathian military, at your service, my lady." Said he with an experimental spin of his staff, which left a trail of energy in the wake of each head. The fact that the afterimage of energy created a perfect circle meant that he was fast with the weapon, and likely very skilled in its use. He did not, however, make any first blows. "I've come here at the request of Sigma over there, and while I'm not entirely fond of fighting people while I'm off duty, don't believe for a second that I won't defend myself against the likes of you and your thugs." Readying himself, Krix was well aware that there were others besides the girl, armed and ready to take him out if things got violent. He did, however, have confidence in the ability of his power armour to keep him out of harm's way.

 

[Thrace]

The tense situation continued for a couple moments.. before it was suddenly and rather brutally stopped by Rho. The former Confederate Invader threw the bag containing his helmet at the leader of the mercenaries, and to everyone's surprise, the pink haired girl was easily able to avoid it...but that provided the moment of distraction that Rho needed. The Invader suddenly moved, taking full advantage of his speed, reaching the blonde girl, knocking her down, grabbing her, and pressing his gun against her temple. At around the same time, the Drathian took out a rather weird weapon...and Sigma and Albedo also unsheathed their swords...the two sides looked at each other for a few moments...and the pink haired leader of the Roses looked directly at Sigma, as they seemed to reach a quiet agreement... and both sides lowered their weapons.

When that happened, Rho holstered his sidearm, finally letting the blonde girl go. She seemed to be at least a little impressed by Rho's proud declarations, and by the way in which he had taken her by surprise..but she only managed to look at him for a moment, before both she and the dark haired girl took their positions next to the pink eyed leader, while the young boy from earlier left the room, closing the door behind him with a smile.. it seemed that the danger had passed. At least for now...


"A pleasure to meet you, General Krix of the Drathian Military. But I must mention, my people aren't thugs. We might not belong to an official military force like you, but the Glowing Roses are by no means a gang filled with thugs. We are a professional mercenary organization. A pleasure to meet you too Rho...especially since your past seems to be quite impressive..although, I can ensure you that are people out there that have a higher chance of sitting on Lucifer's throne than you..Still, we aren't gangsters. I must apologize for the way in which you were welcomed, but we must have our own precautions.. especially in a place like Xalion.. and especially since we learned that the infamous Sigma was going to visit us.. again.." Sigma smirked. "What? Come on.. my last visit wasn't that bad..", the Invader girl said, while the leader of the Roses simply sighed. "You killed an entire company of my men without blinking.. it was bad..." Sigma simply laughed, seeming to find that incident quite amusing "Not my fault that they couldn't leave me alone.."

The pink haired girl sighed again. "Anyway..I know Sigma, I even know Lady Albedo here, and it seems that you two have presented yourself.. so it would be time for our presentations. I am Alexia Marie Florentia Renate von Heimrad, former Star Admiral of the Fleet of War of the Federated Colonies, currently, the First Rose of the Glowing Roses. Next to me are Dahlia," the girl said, pointing at the blonde haired Rose, "And Delphia", pointing at the blue haired one, "My bodyguards. It is a pleasure to meet you all.."

The First Rose then looked at Sigma again. "So.. could I ask the reasons behind your presence here?" The Hegemon's younger sister smiled again. "Well.. we need to do a certain thing... you know what I'm talking about.. and we need help. A lot of help. So.. we asked the Fylkirate..and it seems that their former leader or whatever.. is still alive, although she is held captive by some sort of pirates or rebels. We want to hire you." The pink haired girl seemed to be hesitating.. "Well, we are going to need a lot more details before we can decide.." Sigma sighed, looking at Krix. "Well, I am going to leave someone with more information about the situation explain it all. Please, almighty General Krix..give us the details. Where is the former Fylkia? How is she held captive? What do you know?"

 

[Drakorphobia]

"No need to exaggerate, your highness." Said Krix with a shake of his head. He didn't mind the company of the Invaders, at least not to a great extent. Despite considering himself a more tolerant person, he still felt the old Drathian resentment against his ancestors. Especially Sigma, who he had personally dueled against during the invasion years ago. He wished his sister was here now, perhaps he'd feel less on edge. Axua was worlds away, though. He'd need to make due by himself for now, and if it meant rescuing the old Fylkja and redeeming himself in Zlasa's eyes, it would be all the more important that he trust his new, er, allies.

Krix looked to Alexia Marie with mild interest. A mercenary leader, just like he had been during the civil war. Perhaps during their mission, he'd be able to talk with her, share their experiences of past battles. But that was for later. "From the way Serratus presented it to us, he's holding Fylkja hostage within the Drathian border territories. Our intelligence has been able to decipher his coordinates by tracing his communication signals. Wherever he is, it's not on a planet, so it's very likely Serratus has some sort of rogue fleet of stolen or former rebel ships. His forces are likely composed of former rebels, now pirates. I wouldn't doubt that with the fall of the Keltaken empire, he's hired some of their lot as mercenaries to aid him. They might be ill equipped, but I don't doubt that Serratus has been providing his men with military training. Which, is why, we'll need a highly advanced strike force to take him out. The other option is to cede an entire world to Serratus, which will not be acceptable under any circumstance." He looked around at the group with a stern expression. This was a mission he could not afford to fail. "Are you all in?"

 

[Thrace]

The leader of the Glowing Roses hesitated for a few good moments, seemingly thinking about that entire situation, before she finally answered. "Look, from what you've said, I believe that our combined forces would be able to face those rebels, or pirates. We're a professional mercenary company, so I doubt that their mercenaries would be able to face us, but even if they were.. well, let's just say that we wouldn't mind a challenge.. especially if there is a chance that we could face and kill some Keltakens." Hearing that, the two women next to Alexia smirked. "The issue here is that this will be a hostage rescuing operation. Unless you have a couple SPEKO hostage rescue teams around here - there will always be a small chance that those pirates will kill the Fylkja rather then having her be rescued by us. However, it seems that you don't have a choice.. we will just have to do our best. The Glowing Roses won't disappoint you. But of course, we have to talk about the price.."

Sigma smirked, looking straight at Alexia, in silence. Of course, the pink haired woman quickly noticed that, and she hesitated.. but Sigma just continued to stare at her. "You know that you owe me one, my dear Gräfin von Heimrad. You want to help us.. right? " Alexia remained quiet for a few moments.. but she clearly seemed to be at least a little afraid of Sigma.. who wouldn't be, after all? "All right, all right. We can discuss a price only after we successfully save your Fylkja. We're in."

"Wonderful!", Sigma exclaimed. "Let us save the Fylkja then!"

 

[Drakorphobia]

The travel did not take eons, but, it was indeed a fair amount of time. The rebels had certainly set up shop in a remote corner of space, unclaimed by the Fylkirate, yet close enough to its borders that raiding outposts and mining stations was still very much possible. As the ship exited FTL, it found itself amidst an asteroid field, surrounding a red sun. There seemed to be no planets in the system, save for a barren, moonlike world at its outer edge. A perfect place for outlaws such as Serratus and his ilk.

"This place looks dead." Krix said with a furrowed brow, looking at the display through the ship's portside view. "Though the coordinates look right. Maybe it could be- Oh! Look!" Just barely within view was a station, nestled snug between the orbits of two rather large asteroids. The station itself took the appearance of a vaguely large upside down pin shape, with a long tower stretching downwards into the endless infinity below, and its top resembling what seemed to be a disk complete with a transparent dome that faced upwards. Landing docks lined the middle of the disklike top of the station, likely large enough to fit the crew's vessel. However, even with their goal in site Krix went pale, and he stepped away from the view. "Do you see that?" He asked, pointing a shaking finger at the dome atop the station.

"That's a habitat dome. By the flower, the rebels are in control of a breeding station."

 

[Thrace]

A few moments of silence passed until Krix spoke, as the others who were with him remained silent, each of them dealing with the idea of the soon to come battle on their own. The accursed corner of space where they had arrived was certainly perfect for those who wished to live away from law and order. Sigma and the Glowing Roses, were of course, no strangers to places like this. But this system was far, far away from all that they knew..

None of the others managed to notice the station before Krix, but as soon as he mentioned it, all of them carefully observed it.. and Sigma was the first to break the silence. "A breeding station? That sounds.. vulgar. I wonder what sort of things are done in places like that..", the pink eyed girl asked with a voice that sounded... strangely innocent for all those who knew her as the little monster that she was. "Also.. by the flower? Don't you tell me that you Drathians are praying to plants.. that would be..rather sad.."

Behind her, Alexia sighed, while her two guards and the other mercenaries all prepared their weapons. Unlike Sigma, who was, still wearing her usual attire, the Roses were prepared to fight, with their battlesuits on. Some of the men behind them were smoking those special vitamin cigarettes provided by the Kriegsflotte, spreading the smell of lemons throughout the cabin.

"Well, General Krix", the leader of the Roses started to speak, "What can you tell us about this? We had no time to scout this place beforehand, and unfortunately, our knowledge on Drathian.. breeding stations is lacking. What is so special about them?"

 

[Drakorphobia]

Krix chuckled at Sigma's comment, looking at the Abyssal with a slight smile. After all, he didn't expect an alien to understand Drathian religion so readily. "The Flower refers to the Mind Flower on Drathia. It's an organism that allows us to connect with the beyond, and find the self within ourselves in a way that other species are simply unable to comprehend. Much like the ancient Tibetans of Earth meditated to find inner harmony, we Drathians pray to the Mind Flower." He shrugged. "It's a bit hard to explain. I apologize."

He looked back to the viewport, and bit his lip just slightly. Of course, it couldn't be too hard, lest he pierce the flesh with his sharp teeth. "Now then, as for the station. It's not as lewd as it sounds. As you know, we in the Fylkirate have an- obsession with bio engineering. If you might recall, we even employed some organic ships in our navy before the civil war. However, the genome required to create such massive creatures was kept under lock and key in special facilities meant specifically to birth them. Breeding Stations, such as this. I very much doubt that the Thrill-Kills will be interested in maintaining it, but Serratus is no fool. He knows its value, and I'm positive he will try to exploit that in anyway he can." He sniffed, then scratched the side of his neck as his eyes wandered back to Sigma. There didn't seem to be any reason behind it. "In anycase, for whatever lies on board, be prepared to fight guerrillas with some outdated military equipment, or stuff off the black market. I don't think there are any Bio-Engineers amoung their number to cook up something on the station. So I wouldn't worry about that."

 

[Thrace]

"The Flower? That's such a weird name...but trust me, Drathian.. if there is anyone who could comprehend that, that would be us here..", Sigma said, in a voice that actually seemed serious.. which was highly unusual for her. "But then again.. I suppose that your Flowers are different from our Xenoliths.. we never prayed to them, and we never had any sort of harmony.. but they were there, controlling us all, dominating us..I doubt that you know how it is like to be controlled like that, Drathian.."

The pink eyed girl remained quiet for a moment.. and then she smirked. "But the station is certainly lewd.. a breeding station? What kind of a name is that? We had an obsession with bio-engineering too, and we never used such names.. and the Colonials, with all their genetic and bio engineering, have a pretty pragmatic and stale name.. Stations for Genetic and Biologic Research and Engineering, or something like. But breeding stations? The Drathians are probably all just perverts..." And the girl giggled.

"I don't care too much about your pirate guerrilla enemies though.. if they do not surrender as soon as we get on that station.. they will all pay for their insolence.. I'll make sure of that." In one swift move, Sigma unsheathed her sword.. and in a way that was just so characteristic for her, she licked the blade.. as if she wanted to taste it and all of the blood that it had shed.

And behind her, the leader of the Roses sighed. "We'll get your Fylkja out safely, General Krix. Don't you worry.. we are ready.."