A soft tone rang through the room, bringing the young woman to set her reading glasses down and glance over towards the door. It was still early in the day, and quite a few forms remained incomplete, leading her to answer in a more aggressive tone than she intended. "Enter." She said quickly, her eyes narrowing as the door opened and her second-in-command entered hesitantly. For a moment, he simply stood at attention in the doorway, his face absent of emotion while he awaited permission to speak.

"You are aware that I still have paperwork to complete, are you not, Erik?" She closed the screen on the desk, a soft beep letting her know the work was saved, and she turned her body around to face the uniformed officer. All it took was a single glance of his pressed uniform and polished medallions to let her know that he clearly expected to attend the Grand Duke's meeting between the commanders of the Kingdom's fleet. The barest hint of a smile crossed her lips as she stared him down, her green eyes narrowing slightly as she looked upon him as prey.

"My lady, the bridge received a message from the Grand Duke's staff alerting us of the meeting, I thought I should come with all haste to inform you." He spoke respectfully, but his tone remained soft, telling of his young age and inexperience in the field. Despite being a decorated officer within the Third Division, Erik Argenon had yet to truly taste battle, and a part of her wondered if it was a good idea to have him at her side when it came to the assault on Celestine V. "I know of the meeting." She said dismissively, looking over to where her own dress uniform hung. "In fact, I chose not to attend because I have that power to do so."

Getting up, she smoothed the front of her shirt reflexively even though she was in casual dress and began to walk the floor of the room. "They do not think so, of course, being so wrapped around the Grand Duke's fingers like so many rings. These commanders, I know their kind. Aristocrats, dukes, royalty by any other word." Her fingers ran along the suit of armor hung on the wall, tracing the paint that marked where she had been shot during the Assault of Hinterpommern. "I've nearly died at the hands of people like them once in my life, and I do not intend to do so again. We have our orders, and we will follow them. The contract will not be broken, not by meddling aristocrats pretending to be warriors. We are the true warriors, Erik, those who go and put their lives on the line in the heat of battle while they sit pretty within their starships and lay waste to yet more cowards."

Erik remained silent as Alexandria spoke, his attention focused directly forward as he listened. "Tell me Erik, how do you think they feel about us?" She had come up right in front of him, her face inches from his own and all too close for his own comfort. Taking a breath he started to answer, ignoring the slight scent of perfume he swore hung about her. "From my very brief discussions with our allies, I would hazard a guess they see us as disposable."

"Disposable." She spat the word with clear distaste, though it was clear that was the answer she not only expected but knew to be true. "You're not as useless as I thought. That's exactly right, we are disposable assets to them, just like a weapon only to be fired once. Think otherwise and you will play right into their hands, Erik." Turning away from him, Alexandria walked back over to sit at her desk, opening the screen once more to start from where she left off. "That is why I did not attend their meeting, because we are just an asset to the Grand Duke. We will do our part and then we will leave. Make no mistake, though we may be under contract to the Grand Duke, he does not command me or my troops. Celestine V will be handed over to the Kingdom, and these Arians will be put to the sword, but that is where our contract ends. There will be no extra missions, no bonuses, and zero deviations."

Seeing that she was clearly done with him, Erik snapped a salute and affirmed her orders "Yes my lady, the contract will be followed to the letter. If I may be dismissed, I will return immediately to the training deck to instruct Broken Star to redouble their regimen." Waving her hand towards him, she dismissed him and continued on her paperwork. Only when the door slid shut behind Erik did she look up again from her screen, her eyes settling on her armor and the mark on the shoulder of the carapace. For only the briefest moment her emotions got the better of her as she grasped an empty mug next to her and pitched it at the armor. The mug shattered across the surface of the armor and fell to the floor beneath it even as Alexandria suppressed a slight cry of anger. "Damn you, Sicarius." She muttered, thinking back to the battle.

"I gave you the chance to end it, and you fucking shot me." How ironic it had been that the only wound she had suffered during the assault had been at the hands of Sicarius, and that when she had moved the stars themselves to try and bring reason to him, it was her hand that ended his life. It was her fault of course, she was foolish enough to think that her loyalty meant more to him, and so had gone alone to face him. The scene continued to play out in her mind, of the crack of the pistol firing and the suddenness of the bullet impacting her shoulder. Her hand came up immediately, her fingers tightening around the pistol and pulling the trigger as soon as the barrel lined up with his head. Slowly the bullet left the chamber, spiraling towards him as she swore he looked at peace. His lips parted as he spoke a few short words before the bullet shattered his skull. A slight crack shook her from her memories as she loosened her grip on the pen in her hand, looking down to see it damaged beyond use. "Damn you." She whispered, tossing the pen down and holding her head in her hands.

[i]"Just.... Stay dead will you?"[/i]