Wendy glared at Aaron. "Perhaps if you could learn to shut your bloody mouth once in a while, you'd learn something! Danlash and diplomacy mix together about as well as Ferange and stable government. Regardless of who's delivering said diplomacy!" 

Chariya sighed. "Miss Archer, we are hanging from our last thread. We must seek as much foreign aid as we can, as quickly as possible, for surely, Jasmidian will be doing the same, and we cannot afford to be beaten. This is not an order, but a request. I should like you to journey to your homeland, and attempt to persuade your people to come to our aide." 

Wendy grumbled and rose to her feet. "Haven't seen those blessed shores recently enough, anyway." 

Aaron smirked. "Would you mind some company?" 

"I need the bloody Sand Dollar, but you don't need to come with it." 

"I'm sorry, precious, but we're inseparable." 

Wendy gagged. "Don't call me that! And fine! If you're gonna insist on coming, you might as well. Just don't be a nutter." 

Aaron nodded and slowly peeled his eyes from the blonde to look at Chariya. "Okay, so I'll take Wendy to Danlash, and I'll be taking Sila along, of course. Anybody else?" 

Keira stood up. "I'll go with you." 

"Somebody's got separation anxiety." Wendy muttered. When Keira's glare rested on her, she closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Keira, that was quite rude of me to say. My apologies." 

Keira squinted at the blonde. "It's okay." she said unconvincingly. 

Aaron glanced between the two women somewhat worriedly. Then he cast his gaze on Chariya. "And what about you, your highness? What will you do?" 

"I suppose I shall take a small squad with me to Antapeño. I believe negotiating with them will go smoothly, given their culture of levelheaded reasoning." 

Aaron nodded. "Sounds good. I'll get the Butterfly primed for you, then." 

"Thank you very much." Chariya turned to the mass of men. "Thank you for listening, men. You are dismissed."

********************

Hannah threaded through the bustling hallways with a full tray of food in her hands. She was supposed to be preparing to accompany the princess on her journey to Antapeño, but nobody else had taken up the task of feeding Falcon. Dodging another dashing soldier, she found herself at the door to the medical center. After taking a breath, she opened it. 

Sure enough, Falcon turned his head at the sound of the door creaking. He studied Hannah curiously as she approached his bed. She smiled reassuringly and sat on the bedside, placing the tray on her legs as she did so. 

"Hey," she said softly, "I brought ya somethin' to eat." 

Falcon nodded slowly. "An explanation as to why I can't move my arms would be nice, too." 

Hannah wrinkled her forehead. "They gave ya some shots to deaden the nerves. Dont'cha worry, though, they'll be fine in a few hours." 

"You're Odegoan." he remarked in a matter-of-fact tone. 

"I am." Hannah replied proudly, "I reckon mah voice gave me 'way?" 

"Of course." 

"Whelp, I'ma have to spoon feed ya, if ya don't mind. Do ya like honey or syrup in your porridge?" 

Falcon shook his head vigorously. "I hate sweet stuff." 

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "Alright, then. Ya just want it plain?" 

Falcon glanced at the items on the tray. "Drop some pecans in, and that's fine for me." 

"Alrighty!" 

With that, she dropped a few of the nuts in, and stirred it into the steaming porridge. Then she scooped up a careful spoonful and moved it to the man's lips. He looks so humiliated, she mused. 

After Hannah had fed Falcon about half the bowl, the door creaked open again, and Princess Chariya stepped into the room. She cleared her throat as her eyes landed on the subdued giant. 

"So...you are Falcon?" 

He swallowed. "That I am. And you're Chariya, daughter of Nimol, king of Kemaria." 

"You are correct." Chariya answered cautiously, "I assume you are aware that you are responsible for the death of 352 of my men?" 

"I thought it was more. But yes, I'm aware." 

"And that causes you no remorse?" 

Falcon frowned. "Why would it? You and your rebellion are a disgrace, both to Kemaria, and the Alcontean Empire at large!" 

"How dare you say that? We merely desire self-governance!" 

"Is that so? Then why do you rebels cause violence in your own streets? Why do you steal men from their homes, and from their families, merely to fight for your cause? And I'm assuming by self-governance, you mean to say you're currently revolting against your own father, Princess?" 

Chariya glared. "My father is many good things, but he is not strong-minded. He's no king, he's merely an Alcontean puppet! He does the Emperor's bidding, and nothing else!" 

Falcon shook his head. "You're a lost cause. As soon as I regain movement in my arms, I'm gonna get outta here, and I'm gonna resume my mission. There'll be nothing you can do to stop me." he said with conviction. 

Chariya's eyes flashed with fury. "On the contrary, I will ensure that those arms of yours never move again!" 

The princess spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, leaving Falcon unfazed and Hannah's mouth agape. The brunette leapt to her feet and ran after Chariya, her brow wrinkled in worry. 

"Excuse me, ma'am, your highness, or whatever," Hannah stuttered as she hurried to the livid princess' side, "But do ya really mean dat? You're really fixin' to—"

"I am!" Chariya barked. "Innocent blood is on his hands, so I intend to paralyze them!" 

"I don't have time or want to be subtle, so I'ma just tell ya plainly. That's a stupid idea." 

"How dare you? What is stupid about that?" 

"We're low on supplies, men, and morale too, for that matter! Why should we waste all our tranquilizers on one man, when we could be usin' them for the healin' we bought 'em for?" 

"Fine, we will surgically remove the nerves, then." 

"Princess, listen to me! Our surgeons are spread real thin as it is, healin' all the wounded, and you would have them to waste their time on appeasin' your anger? That's pretty darn selfish of ya!" 

Chariya narrowed her eyes at Hannah and took a few sharp breaths. "You had better watch your sharp tongue. On this occasion, I must concede, but I assure you, he shall suffer for his heartless murders." 

Hannah nodded grimly. "Sure thang." 

"Now, when will you be ready for departure?" 

"Umm...I reckon I'll finish feedin' him his meal, and then I'll snatch up mah things and be ready." 

Chariya nodded. "I will see you shortly, then." 

Hannah pivoted on her heel to return to the medical center. 

******************** 

Several minutes later, Hannah strolled into the hangar with her laser gun in her hands, trusty shotgun strapped to her back, and a youthful smile on her face. Behind her marched a squad of ten heavily armed soldiers, four of whom carried a bound-up Falcon on their shoulders. Chariya had ordered for them to bring him along so she could personally keep an eye on him. 

Aaron and Keira stood on either side of the ramp leading into the Butterfly, a luxurious aircraft Aaron had built for Chariya's travel and protection. The brawny engineer pulled Hannah into a bear hug and kissed her forehead. She grinned up at him before also embracing Keira. No words were exchanged between the three, but their eyes communicated all the love and friendship adequately. 

Hannah ascended the ramp and found herself in the main cabin. She stowed her weapons away in a storage container and pushed it into the wall. Then she headed to the cockpit. 

Both the pilot and copilot's seats were occupied by men who functioned primarily as land troops, but possessed enough piloting skills to cover the insurgent air force's dwindling numbers. Chariya sat in one of the seats behind them, her arms crossed and her foot constantly tapping on the floor. Hannah shrugged and took her spot in the remaining chair. 

Hannah's mind raced as she sat silently and waited for takeoff. Her heartbeat increased and an emptiness grew in her chest as she realized this would be her first time going out on a mission without any of her friends. She did know Chariya a bit, but the Kemarian princess hadn't yet earned her trust. Chariya seemed...fanatical, at times. 

Soon, the ramp slid closed, a series of clicks ensuring the passengers that the entrance was now locked down. After the pilot and copilot mumbled back and forth for a minute, switches were flipped, and the Butterfly lifted off the ground. With a jolt, it sped out of the hangar doors and swooped into the overcast skies of Jasmidian. Hannah wanted to feel excitement, but only felt anxiety instead. 

******************** 

Aaron, Keira, Wendy, and the lanky black robot nicknamed Sila soared through the sky in Aaron's largest creation, a pancake-shaped vessel named the Sand Dollar. Through the ship's impressive speed and Aaron's skillful avoidance of Alcontean air patrol, they had flown all the way from the interior of Jasmidian to the sea between that nation and Danlash, in a mere five hours. Already, half of their flight was over. 

Groovy music pumped in the Sand Dollar's cockpit, the throbbing music causing Aaron, Keira, and even Sila to bob their heads. Wendy, however, sat in her seat quietly, her arms crossed and her face stony. Keira glanced over at her multiple times, wondering if she enjoyed the music, just in her own silent way, but the blonde's face was often impossible to read. 

Keira frowned as an acrid odor wafted into her nostrils. Is that...a cigarette? she wondered silently, Nobody's smoking! Then she glanced over at the door and gasped. A dark-skinned man in a high-collared black jacket leaned casually against the wall beside the doorway and puffed smoke from his mouth. A cigarette hung between his fingers. 

Keira's eyes widened. "What the—" 

Aaron and Wendy both stood up and looked back, their brows furrowing in sync at the sight of the man. 

"Who're you?" Aaron asked as he clenched his fists and stepped forward. 

"How'd you get in here?" Wendy demanded seconds later. 

The man chuckled and drew in a mouthful of the smoke. A couple seconds later, he blew a cloud of the vapor out, taking his sweet time to answer. "Been here the whole time, y'know." 

Aaron took another step closer. "What in the world is that supposed to mean?" 

"Means what I said, big guy." the man tapped the ashes off the end of his cigarette and calmly maintained eye contact. 

"You'd better start answering some questions this instant!" Aaron roared, "Who are you? How long—" 

"Ace Parker's the name. Been here since before you got here." 

"You're lying. There's no way—" 

"There is. I did it." Ace replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"You know, I'm about ready to take you, wring your sorry neck, and toss your corpse out the air lock. You know that?" 

"Sounds violent enough for a brute such as yourself, yes." 

Aaron growled and threw a punch at Ace. The dark-skinned man ducked and stepped out of reach. He watched calmly as Aaron lunged again, only to miss just as miserably. 

Ace shrugged. "Thought you wanted to talk. So, I know you all have questions. Throw 'em at me." 

Keira spoke first. "How in the world did you get inside the Sand Dollar without being seen?" 

"I have my ways. Next." 

Wendy narrowed her eyes at the man. "What bloody hole did you crawl out of?" 

"If that means, 'where were you born', answer's Commercia. And news flash, not all Commercians are scoundrels and fiends." 

"You haven't given me a single bloody reason to suspect you're any different." 

"Listen, I'm here to help you, okay? The men of the Commercian Resistance are cowards and fools. When I saw they were gonna just give up and surrender, I snuck out of their camp and followed your leader back to your base. Ultimately, here I am." 

Aaron's brow wrinkled. "That sounds like a convenient story to disarm our suspicions." 

"Bruh. If I were trying to come up with a story, I'd choose one that's both more believable, and less incriminating. Your rebellion needs all the help it can get, but it seems you guys aren't accepting applications." 

Wendy huffed. "Well, when you enter an offy through the back door like a dodgy nutter, and then claim you're only looking for a job, people're gonna get bloody suspicious!" 

"But I would never be seen going through said back door." 

"Okay, listen!" Aaron shouted. "You have my acceptance, but not yet my trust. But what can you do?" 

"Bombs, guns, and lots of gadgets nobody should ever have their hands on." Ace inhaled another puff of his cigarette. "Overall, though, my best card to play is stealth. You'll never see me coming, and you'll definitely never see me leavin'. 'Cause by that point, you'd be dead." 

Keira shrugged. "As he said, we can use more men." 

Aaron grunted as he plopped back into the pilot's chair. "If I regret this, you certainly will, Ace." 

"Figured as much, big guy. Well, I'm gonna head back to the lounge and take another piece of that brownie." 

Keira's eyes widened. "Another piece? That's mine!" 

"Not anymore. There's only one left." 

Keira growled at Ace, but he only chuckled and sauntered out of the room. We're making a huge mistake bringing someone like him along, aren't we? she thought to herself.

******************** 

A/N: Well, groups have been formed, and assignments have been passed out! If you enjoyed this chapter, please remember to vote and comment. 😁 

Now, how did you like Falcon and Chariya's mini-debate near the beginning? (There, and throughout this book, it's been fascinating to write about the vastly different views people take on things, and with good reason, even if they're wrong.) 

And any thoughts on this Ace character? 

And now for our random question of the day... 

What's your favorite instrument? 

(Okay, I'm obviously biased, but I'd have to say saxophone. Both playing and listening to it is so incredibly enjoyable for me.) 

Well, that's it for me this week. Have a great next six days, and hopefully I'll see you in Friday's update! God bless!