[indent][color=lightgray][url=http://orig07.deviantart.net/7646/f/2013/094/e/6/airship_by_terrylh-d60ffmw.jpg][i]IAF Envoy-class Cruiser Palatine[/i]
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[i]Vangar Airspace
Several Hours Earlier[/i]
[hr]

The fluttering flag of the Imperial Air Force danced among the heavens. A shock of black and red emblazoned with the roaring gryphons - the symbol of House Skymning rulers of Vangar. The flag was worn and the colors were beginning to fade, a few centuries old at this point. Squatting atop of the upper rigging of the Palatine marking it as the flagship of the Vangar Diplomatic Fleet. Monstrous in its side nearly twenty feet in length made of the highest quality of threads by the finest seamstresses in all of the Imperial Provinces. The pole keeping it rooted in place was tugged and buffeted in a groaning protest with every small gust of wind. The winds themselves were thicker than they should of been at these altitudes, loaded with thick smoke and ash rising from the battlefields that seemed to be not but misshapen clumps of green and brown far below them. 

Colette Van Skymning of House Skymning stood on the observation deck in deep thought. Behind her was the vast expanse that the was the Vangar Empire, an empire which was forged by the blood and sacrifices of her ancestors before her. The empire which her father had ruled since he was but a young man. It was a land of peace and order where crime was punished with a clenched fist and everyone from the lowest of peasants to the highest members of the nobility had enough to eat upon there tables. Ahead of her was the unknown, the small Kingdom of Rassvet. A land of great industry, ingenuity but also one of isolation and seclusion. If the books of history she had read in the palace library were to be believed as well it was a land of corruption and greed. Where the nobility dominated their politics to keep the lower classes repressed and below them in rank. A land where the military and nobility ran unchecked by any form of strong leader. There king only a figurehead to sign documents and officiate holidays. A strange land where children as young as ten were taken away from their lives and families to be turned into killing machines. 

So why did the notion of the place excite her so much? It was a simple thing really... boredom. The sweeping vistas of the Vangar empire was too familiar to be of interest to her. Even the [i]Palatine[/i] which was compared more often to a floating mansion or castle rather than a airship had come to become the familiar. When she was younger it's many decks and interlocking hallways were filled with mystery and wonder but over time all the nooks and crannies had been explored and there was no secretes, only the dull and unremarkable sense of familiarity. Ever still there was a lingering sense of doubt in her mind, maybe the nobles were right, maybe she was only pushing for peace as much as she was because of boredom. Risking the so called 'honor and prestige' of the Empire by reaching out a hand of friendship to the small kingdom that had spit on their offers of peace and unification before.

Maybe they were right.

One thing her critics claimed was undeniably true. She was young and inexperience. The only conformation she needed for that was to look at her reflection cast in the glass panes of the observation deck. Having turned eighteen years of age just a few months prior, a young women looked back at her. Hair black as the night sky falling down to her waist, blue eyes bright and filled with a sense of young naiveté and optimism. There was certainly a sense of beauty about her but it was the cold and distance type that came from the upper edges of nobility. The cutting image of her mother or so she was told to believe. She never knew her mother, having died soon after she was born due to complications from the birth. She knew not the rigors and troubles of rule and politics like her father or her siblings knew. She was always the youngest, the coddled one, her father's favorite. She may of had the best education and training by some of the brightest minds in the Empire but she didn't have the experience, the foresight to do something with it. 

The sound of swishing fabric brought her out of her reverie and back into the present. She turned her head to watch as a lone figure made his way towards her. He was dressed in a crisp and wrinkles uniform of the Vangar Military. Hair grey in color and pulled back into a short ponytail, a thick mustache present upon the upper lip expertly trimmed so that no follicle of hair stood remotely out of line. He walked a decided level of purpose about him soft footfalls echoing across the empty chamber. His name was Ardin Kazmyr, some time ago he was the leading tactician and general of the whole of the Empire. He retired some twenty years back serving in a less prominent role as a tutor to the Emperor's children as a favor to his childhood friend. Uncle Ardin was a permanent fixture of Colette's life and he had always been her favorite tutor. It was upon her request, not her father's for him to accompany her to Rassvet.

	"Ah there you are milady. The servants have been looking for you everywhere." Ardin explained as he closed the distance standing next to her gaze focused intently on the horizon. "I should of figured that you would be here. You always did love the views from up here, even as a small child."  

	"Yes. My apologies Uncle, I just needed to find somewhere quiet to think. I wasn't really feeling up to being followed around by the whole retinue." She explained, voice tired.

	"Something troubling you then?" 

	"I just wonder if I'm doing the right thing." Colette responded producing a slow nod of agreement from the older man.

	"The terrible affliction that comes with being in a position of authority. As it where. I thought the young miss was certain of her position regarding our current matters in Rassvet. The speech that you give to your father was enough to convince him." Ardin reminded her. She had worked for a month on that speech doing research and studying the theoretical techniques of some of the greatest writers in Vangar and the world at home. It was one of her more prouder moments in the spotlight, a moment made even better when her father relented and sent another diplomatic envoy to Rassvet to try and begin peace talks once more.


	"I thought I was certain as well... but maybe the critics are right. Wasn't it you that always told me that war was a necessity needed to fuel the Empire?" She asked looking towards the older man. In return Ardin gave a small smile as he stroked his chin seemingly in deep thought.

	"Very true, but I propose to you something else once said." He responded. "I will do all within my power to ensure the continued prosperity and well being of every man and women beneath me."

	"Who said that?"

	"Your father, on the day of his coronation." Ardin explained as he placed a hand upon Colette's  "From the first day of his rule, he has been focused upon the well being of the citizenry. This war has produced nothing but bloodshed and the death of many young individuals for no gains to speak of. While some may not like the idea of peace, it may truly be the best course we have available." 

	"Even so, all we have done to the people of Rassvet is destroy their towns and set there fields ablaze with fire. Every single offer of peace we have put forward they have rejected for they feel that our terms have never been generous enough."   

	"And so it is your job young princess to due what the others can not. An easy task? No. But one that can we be accomplished? I certainly believe so" 

	"You make it sound so easy Uncle."

	"Like most things. Anyway, we've spent enough time conversing. Captain Rekks desires to go over the security detail one last time. I understand why your father trusts him so much, but can the man ever be persistent." 
[hr]

The would-be warriors gathered about the campfire that Gideon had made for them. Setzer appreciated the fact that he actually did the damn act by hand instead of using some showing magic like some would of done. Maybe that's why he also liked Gideon, the two of them despite their differences in upbringings thought on the same wavelength. As the group began to gather about the campfire, Setzer made quick work of braining out the rest of the gear from the truck. He didn't seem to mind the work hefting the heavy creates over towards them with ease. He sat atop one of the crates in a spot close enough to fire but in such a position that he could watch the road for any incoming movement. The ever constant paranoia of preparedness that came from WARDEN training finding its ways to manifest in the queerest forms. 

He caught the flask of whiskey that Galahad had tossed his way without even looking in his general direction, heavy hand reaching and snatching it out of the air in one quick motion. Galahad and Setzer argued about many things over the course of their tenuous friendship over the year from the proper way to approach a battle, to the best way to pick up girls but they could at least agree on something and that was the merit of a good whiskey. He preferred the backwater country designed to knock you down and not let you wake up until the next morning smelling of somebody else piss and regret but as of late Galahad had been pushing his father's new brew on him. It was an... acquired taste, he could taste the blue blood on his tongue with every swig but it found its way wearing him down slowly and steadily. He took a swig as he heard Lee spoke up.

	"Kristoph's party Lee?" Setzer called over to him. "The one where you passed up dancing with hottest girl in our class, Lilith from Barracks Number 3 because you had a stomach ache? God I was sure you lost your head." Setzer explained with a small smirk upon his face. Not that Setzer was complaining of course because when Lee turned her down it was good old Setzer to come in and sweep her off her feet. 

He watched as the magic users did there thing, Zimmy doing her standard teleporting gig vanishing and appearing from tree branch to tree branch before falling flat on her ass with a considerable amount of grace. It was easy to see why people liked Zimmy even admired her with her natural tenacity and fun loving appearance. Galahad went about his duties setting up the perimeter security system with the level of precision and care that he placed in all of his work. Setzer could at least approve of that, even if Galahad was a so called prodigy he still put in more work into everything he did then most people. The security system would hopefully go unused they were too far away for any real conflict from the border to come there way, but there was still the occasional bandit and wild animal that haunted the wilderness of Rassvet. And then there was Trent who... danced about touching people. Setzer never really understood Trent all that much despite Trent's best efforts to try and understand Setzer. Though that was the main problem, Trent had a habit of trying to poke his way into things that he really shouldn't. Though of course Setzer didn't even try to argue with Zimmy when she said that she had invited him along.

He reflexively brought his hand up to the heavy bracers that seemed to be ever presently attached to his arms as he watched them. Then something made him stand up maybe it was the alcohol or his own natural tendency to be a big old show off but he called over to Zimmy playfully. 

	"Ooooh big deal I can teleport. Too bad it's nothing that can't be accomplished with something that may be a vague concept to you! Upper body strength!" Setzer explained as he sauntered over to the biggest and tallest tree in the adjacent area. And like some large gorilla he leaped up grabbing the lower branch and with seemingly not a lot of effort at all he pulled himself up. He repeated the process again and again, and soon even his large frame vanished into the tree top, the only sign of his existence being the rustle of branches higher up. Eventually he found himself near the very top of the tree his head peaking out and serving the surrounding forest around him. 

The view itself was breathtaking, a sea of green stretching seemingly endlessly towards the horizon. It was framed by the clear night sky above, thousands pockets of magical energy painting the sky alight with their beauty and energy. The skies in Yerin were never the same every night, patches fading and coming into existence as magical energy was used and then dispelled. They say in some places in the Vangar Empire where their factories consumed the lands that there were no skies above, all the energy being consumed to produce more weapons and more armor. He wondered how they were expected to win against a force as big as Vangar. He figured the real answer was that they weren't. Despite the efforts by Prince Fenris which swung the weight back in their direction it was only a matter of time before the costs of war hit home. It was the cold math of it all but Rassvet just did not have the resources needed to win a war of attrition such a large force. But that's what soldiers did, they fought and then they died. 

He could of swore he saw something in the sky, blinking he peered back up and indeed there it was.

A large bright object was barreling overhead. At first he just thought that it was a large comet or some other form of debris that was caught in the planet's gravitational pull. But as it got closer it became clear what it was, it was a large airship certainly bigger than any Rassvet produced machine. The ship itself was consumed with flames as it came soaring overhead. Staying at a steady pace behind it were assault craft constantly bombarding the ship with a hail of explosive fire. The blast echoing through the silence of the forest. The crippled ship fired back definitely but it was loosing altitude quickly. Setzer watched as the ship continued its arc across the sky before it smashed into the ground several miles away from them. Setzer could still see the blaze over the treetops and moments later there was a large explosion and a destructive column of magical energy the as the ship's Mist reactor went critical.

Setzer leaped from the top of the tree reinforcing his body as he did with a small amount of magical energy so that when he landed on the ground be his fellows he was perfectly okay even though he just fell some fifty feet. From the looks on there face they must of seen much of the same. He automatically took his phone out of his pocket intent on dialing in the authorities or something but where he had a cell signal a moment ago he had no such luck. It appeared that something was jamming all transmissions in the area.

	"What... the [b]fuck [/b]is going on?" Setzer asked aloud to nobody in particular.[/color][/indent]