Madeleine hadn’t expected any Pulsians to come running up to them. She readied herself to take action if they decided to attack. Were they part of the invasion? Had their intelligence community received knowledge of this meeting and then sent agents in to disrupt their efforts? She glanced quickly at Kirta, ready to support him if the short-tempered warrior decided to draw first blood.  But the man she had been walking towards intervened immediately, deterring any thoughts of violence by either side.

For now.

Madeleine stood by Lake Bresha listening to the one who had summoned them there. The man named Julian was not what she had expected, although as soon as that thought crossed her mind she felt silly for having had any preconceived notions to begin with; the situation was, after all, unfolding second by second. The Pulsians were not agents sent to destroy them; they were, in fact, to be part of the new team. This was by far the most unconventional group that Madeleine had ever worked with, and they were already being tasked with what was sounding more and more like an insurgency. What did he mean by ‘liberate’? And how did he know anything about her at all, much less that she was a healer?

Madeleine did, however, give Kirta a pouty, smoldering look when Julian emphasized the part about [b]not killing each other[/b].

And where did a former LT pick up such an impeccable sense of fashion? Madeleine studied him a bit as he talked. Julian Cagle was well-spoken and certainly had charm. Whether this was the gift of a natural leader or the weapon of an experienced charlatan remained to be seen.  In any case, the team was presumably all assembled now. There was a Pulse fal’Cie being held in a warehouse and a detachment of PSICOM to be negotiated with. Looking at everyone standing on the shore, Madeleine could not believe she was going through with this.