Cornelia wasn’t particularly happy as she saw off the Governor. Additional security she requested was nowhere to be found. She pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, the Wilmingtonian and Charlestonian families were feuding before they had entered the building. And one of the relatives of the Columbian family thought he could waltz into the party with a ruined ID. With the last of the guests on their way to the private residence, the Dame headed to the control room.

Static filled her commlink. Unintelligible voices mixed with static made Cornelia uneasy. “What’s going on? Has something happened to the Governor?” She demanded.

All she got was static. The Dame whipped around, her cape cut through the air, but before she contacted her squad, the familiar sound of her second in command, Major Knox, crackled through the comm. “Everything is fine Dame, a kid just passed out. His butler said his mask had malfunctioned. They are being escorted to the medical bay.”

Cornelia breathed a sigh of relief, “This is going to be a long night Knox.” The Major made a noise of agreement. She remembered letting the masked kid in earlier on in the evening. She felt bad for him truthfully; the Dame had seen good soldiers be reduced to nothing more than mobile life support machines. Cornelia wondered what happened to the kid, and why there was an air of familiarity around him. “Make sure the kid is taken care of, and let me know if you have any more trouble,” She added.

“Yes, Dame,” Knox responded.

Before she entered the North Passage, someone’s boots smacked against the marble floor. “Dame Gaston! Dame Gaston!” The person cried out. Cornelia whipped around to see Lieutenant Smith running up. His uniform was a mess, hair mirrored that, and his side cap was also dirty. She would have reprimanded him for all of it if he wasn’t carrying a folder. Said folder had the text ‘CLASSIFIED’ plastered over it in bold text.

“What is it, soldier?” She barked out.

Smith got within a couple of feet, and saluted her, “Dame Gaston, the report from the bombing in the Capital District.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” She took the folder and started to look over it. Her grip tightened on the papers as she read the death count, twelve, twelve lives savagely stolen. Whoever did it better had left the country, Cornelia would track them down til Kingdom Come. She landed on the page detailing the bomb. “The receiver was recovered?”

“Yes, Dame. The receiver by some miracle survived the explosion.” He directed her to page 42 for further information. “It was traced back to an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse was promptly stormed by police and a bomb squad. A cache of weapons was found, ranging from pistols to assault rifles.” The Lieutenant said word for word from the report.

She put her hand over her mouth in thought. What were they doing with so many weapons? Selling them on the black market crossed her mind, yet she couldn’t help thinking of a much more sinister use. “And the origins of the weapons?”

Smith scratched the back of his head, “Well, there are many, most of which have yet to be processed. At first, the thinking was they originated with several of the crime syndicates and gangs, however…”

Cornelia looked up from the folder, “However?”

He sighed, “However, initial reports suggest that the weapons are not listed.”

“And what does that mean?” She knew what he meant, it just didn’t make any sense to her. All weapons produced are cataloged, branding that is invisible to the naked eye is applied.

The soldier gulped, “It means that the weapons didn’t exist to us until we found them.”

Cornelia pursed her lips, this wasn’t good, “Has the Imperial Intelligence Bureau been of any use?” It was a long shot, the IIB had a less than stellar track record. Notably with the Greenland affair, and the ‘there will be no Union volunteers’ information.

“The IIB has a few running theories on the matter-” He paused and adjusted his cap. “The one they view as the most likely is a major attack is going to happen.”

Cornelia shook her head, she couldn’t accept that theory, “Impossible there has never been a successful attack on Carolina or any state within the Empire.”

“But, Dame-”

Cornelia waved her hand in dismissal, “Thank you for the report Lieutenant, but I don’t have time to listen to fantasy. I need to check in with the control room.” She brushed past the lieutenant. She knew in her heart that nothing was guaranteed. The timing of the bombing and the finds at the warehouse were concerning. In all honesty, the Floridians probably did the bombing, they would like to hurt the prestige of Carolina. It would also explain why the guns found were unmarked. A more unlikely but possible group would be some resentful South Carolinians. “You had better get your uniform cleaned, Lieutenant. You get a pass from me,” she waived the report in the air, signalling it was the reason for the pass. “The next officer might not be as kind. Have a good rest of your evening Smith.”

She heard the click of boots, “Thank you, Lady Cornelia; and you as well.”

The Dame walked down the corridor, noise deep into the folder. What was with the IIB and their guess? The IIB has certainly been wrong before, but this was absurd to Cornelia. The warehouse was Federally owned, how could the Feds overlook an entire cache of weapons, let alone it being used by a civilian.

The guards at the door saluted her as she walked through the door. The main wall, on her left, had one large screen with desks lined in front of it, along with an extensive control panel. The auxiliary walls had computers, bulletin boards, and desks. The wall to her right had an indoor balcony with steps leading to it. The door upon the balcony led to the Head of Mansion security’s office, accompanied by a one-way window. The room was filled with soldiers and intelligence officers, they all milled about in some sort of messy order. Once her presence was recognized the entire room stilled and stood at attention.

“Ah, Lady Gaston. What brings you to Overseer 1?” A mild voice said. The crowd of subordinates started to part, the tall, slender Captain stepped into the foreground.

Cornelia gestured to the crowd, “At ease.”

In unison, the crowd uttered, “Yes Lady Gaston!” Immediately they dispersed back into the chaotic order.

Captain Apexton joined her side, she started to make her way to the central control panel. “I just wanted to check-in and see how things were progressing with security and the investigation into the Police Station Bombing.” Her words were more hush in the latter half. “So far IIB has been useless in it, I think you would have pulled some of your strings by now.”

The Captain gave her a mischievous smile, “Well in regards to security everything looks good, just waiting for Private Residence Security to check-in. Which is…” He dramatically looks at his watch, “Ten minutes.”

“That’s good. And?” Cornelia asked impatiently.

Apexton looked around, “Why don’t we go into my office.” For the most part, the staff respected their conversation and maintained their distance the best they could. Apexton must have something further, not for the ears of the average officer.

Cornelia obliged and walked beside him, the chaos of the room parted for them. The pair went up the metal staircase, her hand slid along the cold metal. Apexton punched in a code and held his face against an iris scanner. The door unlocked with a grinding noise, he let her go first. The first thing she noticed was the left side of the room was spotless, on the other hand, the right side held his desk, which was filled with papers and Great War Memorabilia. The three monitors on his desk were covered with sticky notes. The trash can beside his desk was overflowing with crumpled paper. Cornelia moved over to the one-way window, her eyes observing the crowd. Apexton didn’t join her side, instead, he had opted to stand by his desk, his hand shuffling a few papers. She turned and looked on at the control room.

“How bad are the rumors, that you needed to drag me up here?” The way Apexton was acting, it didn’t make her feel good about brushing off the report.

The Captain didn’t say anything for a moment, the man looked like he struggled to find the correct words. “The rumors in the upper circle have talked about a resurgence in organized crime.”

“That’s no surprise, crime syndicates and gangs have always been active. I dislike that we let them live, but the Governor says, ‘As long as they don’t interfere with Imperial interest they are of no concern. I don’t want the military fighting in the streets with gangsters’.” If Cornelia had it her way, she would proactively go after them, street by street until there was none left. To some extent she did see the reasoning for the Governor’s choice, if some unforeseen disaster happened and it turned into a protracted incursion, then they would have the attention of Washington. No state wanted that.

“Not when a group is forming against Carolina itself.” Apexton countered.

Cornelia turned around, “Impossible. There hasn’t been a rebellion since the Mexico City uprising in the 80s.” The Dame wasn’t alive for the revolt. It occurred days after the newest state of Sierra was born. The integration of the state was the final tipping point for the discontent people of the Territory of Mexico. They rejected Grandeur of the Imperial States and they paid the price for it. The Knights of West and East Texas, Arizona, and California were sent in to quash the revolt. Quashing the revolt took longer than expected, but it was won, yet the victory came at a price. The Knight of California along with hundreds of soldiers died. Afterward, the territory of Mexico was locked down, and 100,000 soldiers were sent in for vengeance. Mexico has not risen up ever since.

Cornelia had read over the event, the tactics used in pacification, and how the rebels had acted. She saw they were disorganized, and sometimes even fought amongst themselves. Nothing more than a rowdy mob that could never stack up to the well-disciplined Imperial Army.

Apexton sighed, “Well, that’s what I have heard.” He shrugged, “What has IIB found?”

Cornelia frowned, he should know better, “They didn’t find much. Only where the source of the detonation. All they said was that a larger attack was possible.”

He snorted, “Well that isn’t great?” The Captain joined her side. “Where was the source anyway?”

“At an old warehouse in the Industrial Sector. It was Federal owned, which better for us, they can’t pin negligence on us. However, there is something worrying...” She trailed off. The Dame was hesitant to accept the fact that all of the weapons were unlisted, she held out hope that at least one would lead to the source.

The Captain gave her a sideways glance, “Oh?”

Cornelia pushed her hair out of her face, “Within the warehouse was a large cache of firearms, so far there aren’t any listed.”

His face darkened, “Do you think the Feds have anything to do with it?”

She looked at him, her eyes warned him, “Why would you say that? Asking that at the wrong time could get an Inquisitor on your back.” Cornelia stared at him, and he stared right back. “In any case, we will find out who did it, we just have to get through tonight.” The Dame didn’t wait for him to respond, she walked past him and onto the balcony. The first thing she noticed was there were fewer people within the room than before. Cornelia turned to Apexton as he exited the office, he looked confused as she was.

“Lieutenant Kenton, where is Nova Squad?” Apexton called out. Cornelia followed his eyes, Kenton was a man of average height, olive skin, and dark hair. He was standing over an intelligence officer, staring at a monitor.

At the sound of his name, he stood at attention. “Sir they were dispatched to the Industrial Sector.”

“On whose orders?” The Captain questioned. The Industrial Sector? That is where the bombing was, but the police were already handling that.

The Lieutenant’s face gave a confused look, he looked around at the equally confused soldiers. “Your order’s, Sir.”

“What? I never-.” Apexton began, he was bewildered at the news.

“Has PRS checked in yet?” Cornelia forcefully interrupted.

“No, Lady Cornelia,” Kenton informed.

Cornelia was nervous if someone had ordered soldiers away and PRS had not checked in yet, the stockpile of weapons. Divide and conquer tactics reminiscent of the Mexico City uprising. There was going to be an attack. But where? She was comforted that the Private Residence was one of the best-kept secrets of Carolina. The Mansion was the most likely target. The attackers were clever, cutting off reinforcements from PRS. “Is the all-clear signal from Private Residence still broadcasting?” Cornelia inquired.

The Lieutenant ran over to the main screen. “Yes, my Lady.”

“Recall Nova Squad.” That gave her more confidence in the Governor’s security. “Put Mansion on high alert, send Maverick squad to the north side perimeter, and check-in with the guard.” Cornelia flicked on her commlink, “Major Knox, do you read?” Static was all she got in response. She paced back and forth, as Apexton organized guards for a defense of the Mansion.

“Dame, Maverick has entered the courtyard.” An officer notified.

“Switch on their body cameras,” The main screen lit up to twelve different perspectives of the outside, the camera’s were shaking, she could just make out the central fountain. Trees started to lose their leaves, the night vision cast an eerie green glow on everything. Each second ticked by, the room was filled by the sound of Maverick squad’s labored breath and frantic running. They were passing the maintenance shaft as the wall came into view.

“Coming up on the guard post.” The squad leader alerted.

Cornelia was getting more and more concerned about the lack of guards. The squad approached the guard post, there was no one. She glanced at Apexton, he had the same distressed look. There was, at a minimum, supposed to be two guards. The entire squad camped outside of the small building, calling out to anyone who might be inside. When it was clear no one was going to respond, they busted down the door. Her heart rate went through the roof. Their weapons lights illuminated the room. Four bodies, blood everywhere, commlinks gone, and their guns missing. Not only were they feeding information to the enemy, but the attack was already happening.

She involuntarily took a few steps back, not believing what she was seeing. Cornelia forced herself out of the initial shock and shouted orders, “Alert all commands. This is a Code Black! Raise the alarm.”

“Yes, Dame!” The room roared.

As she exited the room, the alarm blared through the speakers. “I am linking up with Havoc squad and taking control of this situation.” She explained to the room. Cornelia was tempted to comm her squad. It wasn’t the smart thing to do, the enemy would know about the counter-attack if they didn’t already from the alarms that blared down each and every hall. Her paced quickened to the main lobby, in those moments she wished the Mansion wasn’t as large as it was. Cornelia skidded to a halt in the center of the lobby and listened. Unified running echoed down the east passage. Thank goodness Havoc was already on their way, a few seconds later they exited the east passage. They were kitted out in full battle armor, ceramic plates, kevlar, helmets with digital visors; they also made use of sub machines, save for Lance Corporal Raze who had to lug around the light machine gun. Cornelia felt naked in her ceremonial attire, there was no time to get her things, she would have to make do with her sword and pistol.

“What's happened to Governor, Dame?” Havoc asked with urgency. Without a word, she sprinted down into the depths of the tunnel. Her squad followed suit, it came to no surprise when the train hadn’t returned, they would have to run the length of the tunnel.

“There has been a breach in the North Perimeter, Guards are dead, comms stolen,” Cornelia informed.

“How did someone get past our defenses?” Lance Corporal Courier asked. The rest of the squad grumbled similar things.

“Unknown. I am going, to be honest, we have no idea where or how many there are.” She stated gravely. “However, all I can tell you is that our communications have been compromised and the Governor is in trouble.”

“Just like Greenland, huh Dame.” Havoc commented. “I expect no reinforcements either.” The man laughed dryly at his own comment.

That brought up terrible memories, the icy wind tearing against her skin, encircled by enemies, with no hope of help. All she had was her squad and a company of soldiers. Cornelia opened her mouth to respond, but the sound of gunshots rang down the tunnel. They picked up pace as they ran through the winding tunnel, the tunnel was meant to confuse guests, at that moment it was working against them. They got closer and closer and the gunfire got louder and louder.

“Sounds like a war is on there.” Ironside breathed.

The marble staircase was in sight, five unknowns were at the base of it with an additional two at the top. They were mere shadows, the bright lights overtook their features. Cornelia drew her rifle and switched off the safety. The shadows drew something, a telling glint came off the objects. Abruptly she stopped, the squad followed suit. The squad raised their SMGs and her, her pistol, gazed through the iron sights, held their breath, and fired. Each shot hit their mark with stunning accuracy. The enemies crumpled to the ground before the sound made it to them. Without hesitation, they pushed on. They made it to the base of the staircase when four more came through the door, they didn’t allow the enemies to raise their weapons. The four figures fell to the ground as they passed by them. Like a freight train going full speed, they powered up the stairs.

“Raze! Aden! Provide covering fire in the main hall! Echo, Vice, Axel, and Courier! With me, we are going to take the right passages. The rest are with Havoc on the left passages.” Cornelia shouted the orders above the ever-increasing gunfire.

“Yes, Dame!” The squad responded.

“Smoke out!” Havoc called out. He tore a smoke grenade off her belt and threw it through the entrance. Plums of smoke spilled out of the room, all of them ran headlong into the artificial cloud, bullets whizzed by them. Cornelia signaled to Axel to hold the flank, then to Vice and Courier to push for the control room. Immediately footsteps barreled down on them. Vice and Courier pushed up to meet them, while Cornelia and Echo ascended the staircase to get to the upper level. “Echo I need you to locate the Governor and Major Knox.”

“On it.” Echo had a smooth white box attached to the small of his back, he began to unclip it when Cornelia heard footsteps. The Dame held a hand out for Echo to stop and stopped before they got to the top. She drew her sword and listened. The enemy would be upon them in eight seconds. Her eyes closed, knees bent, and concentrated on the incoming threat. Echo dropped down a step. They got closer, shouting incoherent things. There were three of them. They were right on top of them. Cornelia breathed in and opened her eyes.

In an instant, she rounded the corner and cut down all three of them. Blood spurted from the wounds. She sheathed her sword and gave the all-clear to Echo. The Sergeant ran up, “Show off.” He joked. Echo crouched down and placed the box on the ground, he opened it up like a suitcase revealing a screen and a set of joysticks.

While Echo was setting it up Cornelia commed Havoc, despite knowing that they were compromised, there was no way these opponents could react quickly enough. Her squad had quite easily pierced their outer defense, “What’s your status?”

Gunshots ringed through his mic, “We are pinned down in the West hallway, it seems that they knew our every move.”

She couldn’t help but agree, those four who came to help the five at the entrance, came far too quickly, they weren’t even using comms, “I agree. I sent Vince a Courier to the control room. Have you any idea of where the Governor and the Major is?”

“No Dame, but I did see that the guests were pinned at the north side of the ballroom.” That wasn’t good, Raze and Aden would have a harder time providing covering fire with civilians in the mix.

“Thanks for the info, I’ll make contact once I have found the Governor.” She looked up and saw a camera. Cameras. Of course, they had taken control of the control room, they saw and heard their every move as they entered the Private residence side. Cornelia dispatched a few rounds into it. She looked back down at Echo, the drone came to life. The recon specialist maneuvered it around with his set of joysticks. The drone had four propellers and angled themselves to propel the little thing in any direction. The screen in the case provided live feed through the eyes of the drone.

Cornelia stood guard as his drone flew down the hallway. Eventually, it found a balcony that overlooked the entire facility. She peered down at the screen. Havoc was right, the guests were corralled on the north side, they were guarded by about ten enemies. A firefight between eight enemies and four guards was being fought at the northeast side of the room. Notably, two enemies were standing a few feet away simply observing the fight. She recognized one of them, it was the Butler with the masked kid. She almost punched the wall, she let that kid in. He probably didn’t even have an illness. The Dame couldn’t think about that now, she had to save the Governor. Her thoughts refocused on the pair, one was probably the leader. She got in close to the screen, Echo pointed it back at the firefight, a 5th Carolinian soldier popped out from one of the columns and fired off a few shots. A breath of relief escaped, it was the Major. “Take it in closer, if the Major is over there then the Governor is most likely to be there too.”

Before the drone could move in, the screen turned to gray static. Echo tried his best to get the signal back, but it was of no use. “They shot it out of the.” Echo said gravely.

Things refused to go their way, Cornelia thought. “They destroyed Echo’s drone, can anyone get a visual on the Governor.” She asked the rest of the squad. A chorus of ‘no comes through. “Son of a-” The Dame started.

“Wait,” Aden said, giving her hope. “I heard one of the thugs say, “You are taking too long, kill the Governor’. He was talking in the direction of the bar in the northeast side.” Cornelia would’ve hugged A’den right then and there if she could.

“Well, that is better than nothing. Vice, Courier what is your status?” As she asked, footsteps were closing in on them. Two people, a man, and a woman were in the middle of raising their weapons. She was too slow, by the time she could grab her pistol it'd be too late. As her hand touched the cold metal of her gunshots rang out behind. The two crumpled to the ground, she turned and saw Echo standing, barrel hot. Cornelia gave him a curt nod. “Repeat Vice.”

“I don’t think we can make it, the control room is giving us trouble. They activated the auto turret defense system as well there are a few guards,” Vice said in a controlled manner. How did they manage to get into the turrets?

Even so, she could work with that. “Forget about the control room, I need Vice and Courier to reinforce the Major. Axel. Push up to Vice’s current position and hold the control room there. Havoc I need you to push towards the Governor's position, even if it means endangering the guests. They have ten guarding them. The enemy's possible leader close. I will distract the leader while you guys move in.” The words barely caught up with her mind.

“How will you distract them?” Havoc asked worryingly.

Cornelia smirked, “If I told you you’d argue with me, and there is no time for arguing.

Havoc sighed, “Yes Dame. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

“Commence the plan.” She said in reply.

Immediately she bolted down the corridor at lightning speed with Echo following. More enemies were waiting, her and Echo cut them down like the last. Soon she was over the fight, “Echo, I need you to help Axel.”

He saluted her, “Yes, Ma’am.”

She looked at the chandelier and then back at Echo, “But first, give me your grappling hook.”

“You are doing something stupid,” he stated as he tossed her it.

“If it wins us this battle its not stupid,” she countered. With one eye closed, she fired at the large chandelier.

“I don’t condone this!” Echo yelled as she flew away.

Her hair and cape whipped wildly as she soared. Gunfire sounded just below her, she twisted and turned, only just evading the bullets. The bullets did hit something, the chandelier. The crystal shattered off of it, creating deadly rain to those below. It shook from the sudden addition of Cornelia’s weight. The Dame released the hook, she dropped down amidst a hail of glass, landing right beside the supposed leaders. Her sword cut through the air and pointed it at the unknown leaders. Her gaze met his. His eyes terrified her on a different level, they were the eyes of death.