- Adjutor Insula -

The [i]Valiant Dawn[/i] had successfully arrived at the Adjutor Insula, the only boat of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. Designed as a fast-moving transport ship for carrying large numbers of people around swiftly, it was the perfect vessel to carry the peacekeepers to the soon-to-be violent realm of the Adjutor Insula. Outwardly, there was few things threatening about it - there were few cannons, armour had been traded in favour of speed and there were no violent or gory drawings or carvings that usually adorned Torin warships. The same could not be said for the people on board - everyone was carrying some kind of sword or axe and wore armour, either the leather armour of the army, but without any of the telltale insignias, or the tribal armour of the Rockshatter clan.

"Alright, lads and lasses, listen up!" The captain of the boat cried out. The crew stopped what they were doing and listened. "We are here for one reason and one reason only - to prevent whoever is in charge here from going to war. We need to be as persuasive as possible. No-one listens to criminals. Everyone here must respect the Insula's laws - if even one of us breaks them, any opposition we encounter will bring that up. Y'all are representing the Empire now. Anything you do is done in the name of the Empress herself."
The Gryph amongst the crew were rapt, contemplating the captain's words deeply. Few of them had ever been on jobs of national importance before and responsibility was weighing heavily on all of them. Being new to it all, they were going to be sure to keep themselves in check.
The Rockshatter Kasai, on the other hand, paid little heed to the captain's ramblings. They had done things their way for centuries and it had usually worked. A few of them told themselves simply to treat the citizens of this strange country like kinsmen, but most planned to stay on the boat throughout the whole trip anyway.
"This is an important job and we cannot afford to screw it up. If we fail, hundreds - no, thousands of people may die. Thousands of fathers, brothers, uncles and sons will lay down their lives for this conquest, and one side will ultimately fall, making their sacrifices pointless. If we can prevent all those meaningless deaths, we will be praised as heroes once we get home. If we cannot, we may as well take our own lives."

The mood was dulled somewhat after that last sentence as the true realisation of what their task was finally settled on the crew. Some saw it as a low-importance issue, one that didn't really matter. Others saw it as a paid holiday. Now they were disillusioned, any happy feel that had surrounded the journey was killed. The crew was in a somewhat dour mood as they moved crates, tied the boat and lowered the sails. One poor sod left to pay for docking and came back in tears.

The Captain who was in charge of the [i]Valiant Dawn[/i] bore the name Orion Daemus, though he was simply referred to as Daemus (by his superiors) or Cap'n (by his crew). Orion was your average Gryph - tall, gold skinned, muscular. Unlike many officers, he got to his position the old-fashioned way - by earning it. Though he was considered to be rough and insensitive, he was one of the best negotiators Torin had, especially since Gaius was out testing the [i]Divine Wind[/i], and he had made it his personal quest to prevent a war or die trying.

-----

"Captain, we got a situation"

It was about mid-afternoon. Most of the crew were off exploring local culture and preaching peace, so the first thing Orion thought was that one of the crewmen had broken a law. He turned to face the soldier who had addressed him.

"What's the matter, Private?"

"There's a bunch-a soldier boys asking about you" the Private told him "sayin' they need you to go with 'em."

"Asking about me? What do you mean?"

"Well, I was walking on the docks to stretch me legs and this big soldier boy comes up to me and says 'Excuse me, do you know that ship?' and points to the [i]iDawn[/i]. I says 'Yessir, that's the boat I came in on.'. He says 'Do you know who owns it?' and I says 'Yessir, that would be the Captain.' and he says - "

"Private" Captain Daemus asks patiently "Did he say why I needed to go with him?"

"Yes he did, sir. He says you need to go with 'im and his lads to go to their army camp or sumthin like that. Seemed quite insistent."

"That'll be all, Private. Return to your duties."

"Aye, aye, sir" the Private saluted clumsily. He took a few steps in the other direction before turning to ask his captain "What duties, sir?"

But the captain had other things to think about. He wasn't expecting such a response so soon. He needed to gather his thoughts - and a troupe of guards - before going to meet the soldiers.

"Private" he called the grunt over "Find Commander Ripley. He should be just downstairs, in his quarters. Tell him to hold the fort while I'm away"

"Yes, sir"

And you there, Tribesman" the Rockshatter in question looked stunned for a moment, but swiftly regained composure "you come with me. And you, Corporal." In the end, Captain Daemus gathered eight soldiers to accompany him, three tribesmen, five soldiers. He disembarked the [i]Dawn[/i] and went to meet the soldiers.

"We are ready. However, we refuse to disarm. If I'm walking into a trap, I want my weapons and guards with me at all times."