[center][b][u]Disney Castle[/u][/b][/center]
"Oh? Well I don't know if..." the Queen's voice trailed off a bit. She wasn't expecting anyone to so readily volunteer, especially over what was admittedly just a bad feeling. It was also pretty apparent that the Queen didn't enjoy asking for such dangerous tasks of anyone, much less someone she'd only just met for the first time. Luckily for Ashe, Leon wasn't afraid to vouch for her.

"That might not be a bad idea." he admitted in a thoughtful tone, "She's still pretty unknown to the Empire, so I doubt they'd be expecting a move like that. Besides, if someone like me or one of the others in Traverse Town went, it'd probably just draw unwanted attention. At least this way our intentions can still stay relatively under the radar."

"Well," said the Queen, a smile reappearing on her face as she gently placed a hand on Ashe's shoulder, "if Leon trusts you, then so can I. If you really are willing, Ashe, then I'd like you go to the Land of Dragons and investigate what happened to Daisy. Oh, but you'll need a transport, won't you?" her face lit up a bit with an idea that came to her, "I think we may have just the vessel for the job. Would you please accompany me back into the Docking Area?" by that point the trio had made their out to the Courtyard so they would go back the way they came to reach the place the Queen mentioned.

"That's right," Leon said, pressing his palm to his forehead as if he'd forgotten something, "Ashe, you should know before you go: Sam was the one assigned to be Daisy's bodyguard." he was referring Samuel Drake, someone who - like Ashe herself - lost his his home to Heartless and found himself in Traverse Town. Not that the two of them were particularly close or anything but Leon did seem to recall them sparring with each other once or twice. Leon did wonder why Sam wasn't around when the Imperator attacked and now he remembered that this was the reason for that.

"I believe you were the one who recommended Sam to me when Daisy's mission came up, didn't you?" asked the Queen, thinking back to a week ago and recalling the details.

"That's right, I did. I believed he could handle it. Now I'm starting to worry something happened to [i]him[/i] as well."

In the Docking Area, the Queen showed Ashe and Leon to a specific bay that was closed off to the general public. In fact only specific individuals were allowed in and the Queen had to vouch for Ashe and even Leon as well before the they were allowed through. Within the closed docking bay the space looked empty, "Here we are, this will be your vessel." the Queen said, even gesturing to what was otherwise an empty space, "Oh dear, I almost forgot. Um, turn off the cloaking field if you please!" with that request, a Gummi Ship appeared to shimmer into existence right before their very eyes, "This is the [i]Talon[/i]. It was the last Gummi Ship design the King personally worked on before his disappearance. It's equipped with a cloaking device to keep it from showing up on radar and scanners, and its outside shell are made of special Gummi panels able to reflect light and render the ship virtually invisible. It's the perfect vessel for a covert mission."

The ship's hatch opened with a hiss and someone emerged from it. They looked male, based on their tall height and broad shoulders. As his form came fully into view, the person was revealed to be actually a humanoid bird - a pelican to be exact. He wore a reddish brown flight jacket, had what looked to be short red hair combed back so he could comfortably wear a pair of pilot goggles on his head. He wasn't alone, a mouse even smaller than the Queen seemed to be perched on the pilot's shoulder. She was tiny compared to the Queen, about the size of a chipmunk to be exact. She had long dirty blonde hair and light blue mechanic's jumpsuit, "Golly, we're sorry about the cloaking device being turned on, Your Majesty. I was just making sure it was fully operational." the mouse girl spoke, her voice high pitched but not quite as much as the Queen.

"It's alright," the Queen said with a nod, "Ashe, this is Launchpad McQuack and Gadget Hackwrench. Gadget has been following the King's plans for the ship and putting it together, and Launchpad has been acting as the test pilot during the development phase. Launchpad? Gadget? We'll be letting Ashe use the Talon to find and bring back Daisy. I'd like the two of you act as her supporting crew."

"Sure thing, Queen M." said the pelican, named Launchpad, "Don't worry Ashe, I can crash anything with an engine that moves. I'll have ya there and back again in a jiffy!" he said, not even seeming to notice that he used the word "crash" in place of the word "fly".

"Uh, Launchpad, you did it again." said Gadget, quick to correct her colleague, "Don't let his poor choice of words scare you. He really is a great pilot. Besides, I can fix anything he breaks no matter how bad the damage is. I promise you're in good hands. I built this ship from the ground up, I know it better than my own backyard!" she certainly sounded enthusiastic enough. Quite the eclectic crew this would make.

"Remember, Ashe: you're going to search for Sam and Daisy. Don't draw too much attention. If the Empire is there just observe them, don't try to take them on alone. Especially if one of the Imperators are there. I'd recommend looking for Sam first, he can help you search for Daisy and protect her on your way back here. Be careful, and good luck." Leon said with a nod, deciding to take his leave so he could return to Traverse Town.

[center][b][u]Land of Dragons ~ Time Unknown[/u][/b][/center]
"Who are these creatures to so brazenly attack my palace?" the words of China's Emperor sounded calm and collected, yet furious at the same time. He was old man, but full of wisdom. Currently the Imperial Palace was under attack by what seemed to be never ending wave of strange grey-colored creatures. The attacked began just as the Emperor had met with the Dignitary from Disney Castle: Daisy Duck.

Now the two of them were searching for a way to escape the palace along with Daisy's bodyguard, Samuel Drake. Sam was able to keep the grey creatures at bay for now, but deep down he knew he couldn't keep this up forever, "An excellent question, Your Excellency. Any ideas, Ms. Daisy?"

"I've never seen them before." Answered the Duck in question, "If they're Heartless then it must be some new type or something. But something tells me it's more complicated than that."

"In any case, we must find my Generals. Shang and Mulan will surely be able to lead us to safety." the Emperor sounded confident in his two protectors, or maybe he was simply worried for their safety? Either way neither of the two were anywhere nearby so unfortunately it would fall entirely to Sam to get everyone out of this danger.

"Another wave? You've got to be kidding me..." said Sam with a groan. All this fighting was becoming exhausting, but he couldn't just throw in the towel. The Queen, Leon, they were counting on him to make sure Daisy stayed safe and could complete her mission. Motioning for his charges to stay put, Sam darted forward with his Lightning Edge already drawn from its sheath. The grey creatures moved around in a very slinky nature. It actually made for more difficult targets to strike at. Still, Sam went into a slide across the palace floors as his blade sank into the head of the grey creature to kill. As the others began to crowd around Sam decided to try out a new tactic he'd been working on. He spun his body around, the blade of his Lightning Edge actually sparking with electricity as it sliced through the creatures around him. Some were destroyed outright, but the others appeared to be stuck in place, held there by electrical energy, "How do ya like that? Time for the clincher!" with a series of quick leaps, Sam jumped from one helpless enemy to other and finished each of them with a rapid succession of jump strikes. With no more enemies in site for the moment, Sam held up his mechanical arm squeezing the upper and forearm around his blade as he pulled it through with a metallic hiss. This action was always to ensure the blade was cleaned off before he returned it to the sheath holstered on his back.

But the sound of clapping and an unfamiliar voice sent a chill down Sam's voice, "Not bad, not bad. Fight fight fight." turning to face the source of the voice, Sam was horrified to find a cloaked individual holding a pair of wicked chakrams against the throats of Daisy and the Emperor. It was one of the Imperators, this one not bothering with his hood. He had bright green eyes, a pair of triangular marks under each of them. His hair was tall, spiky, and red like fire, "But it looks like you went and ignored your superiors here. Too bad for you, I guess."

"We'll see about that..." Sam's hand reached for the hilt of his Lightning Edge, but the Imperator's voice stopped him.

"Hold on now, don't do anything naughty or this job of mine might just get icky. Wouldn't want that, would you?" asked the Imperator as a portal of some kind opened up behind him, "Hate to grab and run like this, but I have to be somewhere. But hey, I'm not all bad. It's not like I'm leaving you without someone to play with. Bye-bye for now." he gave a wink as he pulled Daisy and the Emperor through the portal behind him.

Sam tried to run after them, but was too slow to reach the corridor before it closed, "You won't get away from me that easily! ...Huh?" Sam felt a presence behind him and managed to dive out of the way of someone's blade from behind, "Bring it on, Imperial Bastard!" the Lightning Edge was already drawn but then Sam caught sight of his new opponent. An Imperator, this one keeping their face under a hood. But that wasn't the shocking part. Their weapon... it was a black-colored [i]Keyblade[/i], "But that's-" he couldn't finish the thought because the Keyblade-wielding Imperator already went on the attack and lunged forward before Sam even had time to react to anything.

[@NobodiesHero]