They were well on their way to Arawn's secret base when Tara entered the ship with General Shivin at her heels. Tara's bright eyes flashed brightly and her nostrils flared, a clear indication that she was angry.

"Princess Tara, we are extremely apologetic about the recent incidents," Shyra began, stepping forward and bowing. "I realize that your trust in us might have faltered, and our reckless behavior without letting you come along with us was-"

Shyra was cut off abruptly as she felt arms circle around her in a crushing grip and panicked for a kshana. Was Tara trying to kill her? Suffocate her? Was this Shivin trying to crush her bones to powder?

Then she heard Tara sniffle close to her ear, and huge sobs followed, wetting her tunic. But Shyra was too stunned to care. Was Princess Tara... crying?

"You all almost got killed," Tara wailed, clutching her even tighter, if it was even possible. "How could you do that to me? Do you know how worried I was, cooped up here and unable to help because of your 'stealth' mission? What would I have done if you died? I can't go back to the Baan without enough power to overthrow Angad and-"

Shyra let out a small choke. "Princess," she gasped, "I'm suffocating here."

"Oh heavens, I'm so sorry," Tara exclaimed, releasing her at once. Shyra bent over and wheezed, her lungs struggling to retain enough oxygen. "Goodness I didn't mean for you to choke! I was just so overwhelmed," Tara cried out.

"It's... it's really fine," Shyra managed to say, her bruised lungs still failing her. "You have quite... quite the strength, Princess."

"Well, your concern is very much appreciated, and you have my thanks, but we really must plan our next move," Arina interrupted, hands on her hips, though Shyra could easily make out that the princess was touched by the gesture.

"Ah yes, of course," Tara said, wiping her tears. "My bad. I'd brought Shivin to help in strategy, but seeing you all..." her voice wavered again, and Hira rushed to grab a tissue and handed it to her.

By now, Shyra had recovered enough to gather her wits about herself. "Alright. We need to first enter the coordinates and find out where Arawn is hiding."

Hira nodded and took Naor with her to the pilot's cabin.

"The rest of us need to gather as much information as possible and develop battle strategies to deal with his armies," Shyra completed, looking everyone in the eye. "This is our final battle, crew. It's imperative we don't mess up."

Arina, Tara and Shivin nodded, and Shyra led them to the dining table, where Arina had brought several books on war strategy and their compiled notes on Rahuketu's army. The rest of the room was austere, with soft white interiors and little by way of color and furniture. It was helpful to have a room devoid of distractions to work in.

"Arawn's army must be similar to the soldiers we encountered in RahuKetu," Arina began, taking a seat and spreading their papers on the pastel hued table. "Including their defensive strategies, positions of power, and such. I would only expect more people of power to be around Arawn, to keep him safe."

"We need to watch out for his advisors as well," Shyra mused, pulling up another chair and settling on a drawing of the Adairs' court members. "Arawn couldn't have gotten this idea alone, or at least implemented it without anyone's help. His right hand being will be as deadly as him, if not more."

Everyone sucked in a breath.

"There would be records of his current court members somewhere," Arina muttured, grabbing a screen and flipping through documents. Tara and Shivin got to work as well, while Shyra flipped through the books on current affairs and tried to catch up on court gossip.

While she read it, a curious thought began prickling the back of her mind. All is not as it seems.

Before she had time to pursue her doubts or wonder where it even came from, however, Arina looked up from her device with a triumphant whoop.

"This article lists all the courtiers in a way that's pretty darn glorified," she confessed, waving the device in a way that made its light flash around them, "but it should do the trick."

Shyra printed out a copy for the others, and they read the documents together. As Arina had pointed out, their achievements were vastly exaggerated, with each courtier claiming to have contributed eons worth of development. But it gave them a form of foundation in understanding Arawn's people.

"We have the basics of their positions, and from the amount of exaggeration to each name, we can figure out who holds the most sway at court," Shyra said, pulling out a writing device. "Let's all get to work then."

Naor popped his head through the door. "We have the exact location," he announced, causing everyone to look up from their work. "It's around two divisams from here. Is that sufficient time to plan, or should we stall here for a while until the strategies are finalized?"

"That'll be enough, Naor," Shyra said, her mind whirling with ideas. "It'll be helpful if you could join us as well."

Naor inclined his head and went to inform Hira to set sail immediately and inform the other ships, then joined them at the round dinner table. Shyra briefed him on their breakthroughs, and he set to work with another screen.

"The ministers seem to be pretty greedy people," Naor mused, sweeping his bangs behind his ears. "They have tons of land and titles to their names, which guarantees a steady source of income. And nobody seems to be doing their duties properly. While this is only my guess, these people must have cultivated a corrupt system of administration, with the poor being exploited the most."

"A typical case of the rich getting richer," Shyra muttered, a dark look crossing her eyes. "Is that all the information available on them? I want to see the extent of their involvement in Arawn's decisions in court. Shivin and Tara, look into the Asteroid they occupy in detail. Their Rajmahal too. I want all the relevant details an army would need to launch a quick and precise attack."

"Yes, captain," they all chorused and got back to work. Shyra, meanwhile, followed the niggling feeling in her heart and decided to look up Arawn Adair and his biography. Something about the power dynamics is bothering me, she thought as she got Arina to download a book on his life chronicles.

"It's so thick!" she exclaimed in dismay when Arina handed the device back to her, and Arina smirked in response.

"Well, what can I say, Empress? It seems like Arawn Adair has a shite tonne of achievements to his name."

Shyra groaned and dragged her hands through her hair. While she loved reading up on anything and everything she got her hands on, a ridiculously overexaggerated book on her worst enemy's achievements was not one of them.

The next few ghantas passed in a tense silence that was only broken by one of them discovering something new and making connections to their growing database of the Adairs' life.

"So the courtiers seem to have a pretty big influence on Arawn's decisions," Shyra said, looking up from the papers with bleary eyes. "This won't end with Arawn's defeat alone. We'll have to contend with his court as well."

"Well, that sounds exactly like the mess I signed up for," Arina said with a smirk. "Don't worry, Empress. We've got this."

Shyra exhaled and nodded.

"Empress, we haven't been able to obtain much information about his Rajmahal and its defenses," Tara said. "And the exact details of his military haven't been specified. However, we've managed to get our hands on these numbers."

"My word," Shyra breathed, the paper list crumpling under her trembling fist. "How did he manage to amass such an army? The number of infantry, archers, warriors, go into crores. While ours are in lakhs, right?"

A glimmer of defiance spread through Tara's eyes. "Empress, my army is the strongest one in all of Cosmos. If you think I'm exaggerating, try pitting any of them against ordinary soldiers. You'll never doubt them after that. Arawn's army can be never ending for all I care. That won't strike even an iota of fear in my baans' hearts."

"A huge part of that army is amassed from the defeated kingdoms, Empress," Shivin said. "There is a chance that they won't agree to fight the people trying to rescue their monarchs. And like Princess Tara said, our army is not one to be underestimated."

Shyra felt the knot in her chest loosen slightly, and she managed an affirmation. But the look in Shivin's eyes told her that the worst part of the news was yet to come.

"Empress," he began in a tone that sent her clenching the chair's armrests in anticipation. "There's something you should know about Arawn's people as well..."