Chapter 75

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth.

City of Rebirth, Administration Building.

"Milady?"

Allya lifted her head up, and looked as Valker came through the door. Her bodyguard still looked the worse for wear, and he definitely still favored his left leg, as the right one had barely been re-attached, but he had insisted to be reintegrated into her guard detail, and on the rotation.

"Yes sergeant?"

"The Sakura sent a message milady. We have an airship approaching."

"Ah. Which flag are they flying? And from which direction are they approaching?"

"That's the thing milady They...aren't flying any colors. And they're coming in from the North."

Allya's eyebrows rose. Due North was the death zones of the Lost Sands...or well, its edge at any rate, and the part of the Asarian Kingdom that bordered this particular death zones was underdeveloped, to say the least. Besides, any trade ship from the Kingdom worth their salt would pass through Dartha. It was, after all, a trade city.

"I see. Well, better get moving then. Send a messenger to Anders, Philia and Pyn. I don't expect a single airship to attack, but...we can't be too careful."

"Right away milady!" Valker immediately bowed, and closed the door.

Allya just stayed on her seat for a few seconds, before shrugging. There was only one ship she could think of that wouldn't fly any colors and show up at an angle that would avoid the nearby trade routes...and their accompanying law enforcement.

*****

"So?" Asked the baroness as her girlfriend peered into the rangefinder.

"Its her ship alright!" Pyn giggled. "It even still has that stupid green stripe on the bow! I painted that when..." The elf hesitated. "I, ah, was onboard the ship."

Allya nodded without commenting. She hadn't asked Pyn what she had done before joining their doomed party, and the elf hadn't asked her what she had been up to as well. They both knew they were criminals after all, and they would leave it at that.

Besides, piracy was nothing compared to being a professional assassin. At least pirates left their victims alive when there was no benefit to killing them.

"Excellent." She turned towards Anders. "Message the Sakura. Ask the captain to escort that ship in. Then assemble an honor guard. It looks like we have some...business partners to impress."

"Yes milady!"

It only took a few minutes to assemble a proper honor guard, augmented with some of Philias' knights for proper awe.

The ship -fairly small, as far as such things went, but very heavily armed for its size, Allya noted- settled down in it's designated landing spot, and Allya looked at it a bit more closely, before frowning.

That...those guns...she knew those guns. Those were Erisian cannons! Military cannons at that!

However her thoughts were cut short as a boarding ramp was extended and touched the ground, and immediately a woman started walking down it.

Allya had to do a double take. The magnificent hat the woman sported marked her as the captain, at least in the tradition of most navies, but her clothing...she would say it was borderline scandalous, but she wasn't even sure if it should qualify as clothing at all. In fact she was amazed the woman's micro shorts and top were even able to contain her curves.

Then the scantily clad woman, closely followed by a far more conservatively dressed woman with a slightly less impressive hat, probably her executive officer, made it to the delegation.

Allya stepped forward to greet her...and froze in stupefaction as the woman ignored her, grabbed Pyn, and unceremoniously kissed her girlfriend.

For a full second, sheer surprise and incredulity just froze Allya in place. Then she stepped forward and yanked the woman off of her flustered girlfriend.

"What the FUCK are you doing?!?"

The woman stumbled back...and her XO put her hand on her sword's pommel.

And instantly froze as the entire honor guard unsheathed their own weapons in response, and Sarah's own bodyguards took a combat stance.

The pirates were very, very still, as they stared at the dozen naked blades, with as many crossbows pointed at them, plus Éclair's gunblade.

The captain waited a second, then spoke.

"I...My apologies, I did not mean to offend. Will you return your weapon to their sheaths if my executive officer lets go of hers? I assure you, we come with no hostile intention whatshowever. I was merely, ah, very happy to see an old lover again."

Allya frowned. Lover? She looked at Pyn who simply blushed, and sighed.

"Of course." The executive officer slowly let go of her sword's pommel, and Allya's men stood down. "Apologies for the...odd welcome captain. I assume you are captain Sylvia, correct?"

"Yes. And this is my executive officer and lieutenant, Maria." She gestured at the serious, well dressed your woman. "You must be the baroness, Allya Aubétoile, correct?"

"Yes. And this is Pyn Windwrath, my knight and girlfriend. Anders, my guard captain, as well as Philia, knight-commander of the realm."

Sylvia looked at Pyn, then Allya.

"Oh. OH. I now see the issue. I, ah, my apologies, I did not know-"

"I believe this is not the right place to talk about this captain." Interrupted Allya. "Let us get to a more private setting first."

"Ah, yes, of course."

*****

The walk to the administration building was a long, awkward silence, which only came to an end after Allya made it to the council room, and dismissed everyone except her bodyguards.

"So. Captain Sylvia. I was given to understand that you would acquire the necessary parts for an airship docking tower for me, in exchange for a...generous compensation, correct?"

Sylvia nodded.

"Yes. We intercepted them from some gentlemen that should not have had them in their possession. Unfortunately while doing so we attracted some unwanted attention and were forced to engage an Erisian protectorate patrol vessel."

Allya frowned.

"That is...a lot more attention that we agreed on, captain."

"Indeed. Although I am quite sure we were not identified, and regardless said patrol ship suffered only minimal casualties. Besides, the Eris Empire cares little for its Protectorate, and once they realize that the ship was owned and operated by a criminal syndicate there won't be much pressure to pursue the matter."

Allya bit back an automatic retort that the Empire cared a lot about its Protectorates, and simply nodded. After all, the pirate captain was right...even if it went against everything she had been taught. But then again there was a reason that her family had never been very involved in the Protectorates, as they had a tendency to get too involved, which the corporations ruthlessly exploiting them wouldn't approve of.

"Fair enough captain. I assume you expended ammunition, and took damage during that battle. Are you wishing to up your fee?"

"Well..." The captain blush. "Actually, I was planning on extracting payment in another manner from my, ah, from Pyn." The captain lifted her hands in the air as she saw the baroness' murderous look. "But I am perfectly open to having you as well!"

Allya just stared at the captain as the lieutenant face palmed. The sheer audacity of what she had just said was staggering. Did she even realize she was talking to the lady of the area, a noble of the realm and a Gods damned Imperial Knight-Valiant?!?

"I'm sure a more normal payment will be fine!" Blurted out Pyn, preventing Allya from letting out her own scathing response. "We can discuss more...personal matters separately."

The baroness closed her mouth with a snap, and look to the side at the elf. She was...flustered, blushing, but not angry at the idea.

"You can't be serious, right?"

The elf positively squirmed, and Allya pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Never mind. As my girlfriend said. Business first. And separate from anything else."

"We cou-" The captain coughed, and unless Allya was seriously mistaken, had just been kicked by her lieutenant under the table. "Yes, of course. I believe a thirty percent increase in our payment would be enough to cover the expenses."

Allya almost choked. They were paying a lot of money for those materials already.

"Thirty? That would be enough to buy a merchant ship! No way, 10 percent."

"Twenty! Do you have any idea how much ammo costs for these guns? And the battle damage wasn't cheap either!"

"Oh I have a much better idea than you think. Fifteen." She saw the pirate captain open her mouth to haggle further, and added. "And I'll guarantee this port as a safe haven for you, your ship and your crew, if you accept to help us in return."

That instantly made the captain close her mouth.

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. But only if you are willing to work for us. I don't know if you've seen, but there is something of a besieging army out there."

The captain nodded.

"I saw indeed." She looked at her lieutenant, who nodded. "Alright then, deal!"

"Excellent! Then, I'll need you to meet with my council. As you're part of the fight now."

"I..." The captain chuckled. "You just roped us in before we could assess how much our help would be worth, didn't you? Sneaky." Sylvia shook her head in admiration. "Well played. May we get back to our ship to warn our crew?"

"Of course!"

"Thank you. I suppose we will meet later then. Pyn, baroness." The captain nodded towards both of them, and left, her lieutenant in tow.

Allya waited for the door to close, and the soundproofing enchantment to come online, before rounding on her girlfriend.

"Look, let me explain, it might not be such a bad idea-" Quickly started Pyn as she started slowly backing away.

*****

Maria closed the door to the cabin, and Sylvia sprawled onto her desk.

"Well, that went well!" Said the captain.

"Your antics almost endangered our mission." Said Maria as she double checked that the sound proofing and anti-divination enchantments were on, before turning towards her friend and captain. "This could have ended disastrously! What were you thinking?"

The buxom pirate shrugged, making her barely contained chest bounce.

"I...wasn't, not truly. But hey, if she accepts we'll have direct access to the ruler of this place."

"She didn't look like she was interested in the slightest."

"Oh she was. She was just too shocked to realize it. Besides, Pyn sure seems interested, and she can be very persuasive. I mean, you know that as well as I do!"

Maria winced, but nodded. Although the elf had used different tactics on her than on her captain, she was indeed oddly capable of turning people around to her viewpoint. In fact she'd been a perfectly serviceable negotiator during her stay onboard, even with people who really wanted them dead.

"Fair enough. In any case, its time."

"Of course." Sylvia's face instantly went serious, and she got up from her desk. Then she put her hand on a specific spot, before reciting a complex code.

The desk glowed, briefly, then a compartment slid aside, revealing a small black box. Sylvia laid her hand upon it, feeling a small prick as the box extended a tiny needle, taking the tiniest bit of her blood. Then the box happily chirped, and opened, revealing a device with a white hand reaching for a star emblazoned upon it. A sigil few would recognize outside of the Order itself.

She pressed a button, and spoke.

"This is agent Iknor, accompanied by agent Salter. We are in position. We are ready for the next phase."

For a second, nothing happened, then the communicator crackled to life, relaying the voice of commander Joachim.

"Well done agent Iknor, glad you could make it in time. Serabor managed to provide you enough time. A local communication network will be set up so you can coordinate for the next phase if necessary. Did you confirm the heading of Gift's fleet?"

"Yes sir. They are still on the same vector, and should be arriving in a few days."

"Then there isn't much time left. Prepare carefully agent Iknor, and good luck."

"Thank you sir. Hopefully, we won't need it."