[b]The Lady of War, Philippines' Ally, Part Two[/b]

[b][i]June 1960[/i][/b]

She had survived, but Vinh had not. Vinh, her father's hometown, and her's too. Vinh, where she had her earliest memories. Vinh, once a bustling port town, now smoldering ashes. As Lady Trung organized the evacuation of the civilians of the city, while bringing in reinforcements and supplies, her heart felt weighted down with lead. Was there no end to this war? 

The female commander looked towards the coast, where a flotilla of Sulu pirate ships had docked, bringing medical supplies, food, and tents instead of just death. Her mother-in-spirit was risking much, but said risk was mitigiated by the fact that the 'Sultan of Sulu' had been 'exiled' from the Philippines itself and now made his headquarters in Sarawak. From there, he was organizing a 'Sabahan People's Congress' to raise an army against his brother; she hoped the Sultan had learned from his mistake at Lahad Datu. 

Not that she was any stranger to military blunders herself, considering how she didn't anticipate the 'Denver tactic'. Sighing, Lady Trung turned towards a messenger in the traditional shirt, vest, pants and turban of a Sulu Pirate. Said messenger, when he was in range, would then say, "Lady Trung, news has arrived from Huế; the 'Republic of Vietnam's' army has staged a coup against Ngo Dinh Diem and killed him and his entire family. It seems that bombarding their own troops at Vinh was the last straw. How did we know this? Because their navy, in response, has split; a few are returning to the French while even more, including the two destroyers [i]Theirs[/i] and [i]Gamelin[/i], are defecting to your side."

The Sulu pirate smiled. "I've already sent a few of my ships to escort them; they may be just fishing boats and merchant craft with guns attached, but some of those guns can punch a hole in a larger vessel before they get brought down." Lady Trung smiled for the first time in eight days; things were looking up - 

Then a raindrop fell on her nose, and a rumble of thunder followed. It seemed that the current gap between moonsoon rains had passed, and so was the opportunity to press the offensive.

"Back to the air-raid shelter; if it doesn't get flooded, of course," there might have been a mild quip in that sentence, but it went unnoticed as it would not have been funny anyway. And with that, she walked off to the converted cellar where she had her makeshift headquarters...

------

The Sulu pirate who had acted as messenger was with them in the converted cellar, which was still cramped, but less so as some of her troops chose to take shelter in what buildings remained intact after the bombing. Lady Trung, in order to distract her mind from the tedium, asked him a question, "How is Sultana Sabiha doing? And what is this I hear about the mid-term elections in the Philippines?"

"The Sultana is doing all right; she's currently managing the Sulu pearling fleet and discreetly arming said fleet with the proceeds from pearls, which is a good thing, as Mubarak Kiram of Sabah, our Sultan's misbegotten brother, has been staging further raids from Lahad Datu. All of those failed, don't worry; the Sultan is better at setting defensive works than fighting." The Sulu pirate then frowned at the mention of the Islands' mid-term elections.

"Well, let's just say that the last remaining rich...nonbelievers in the Philippines pooled together their money and promised electricity to the poor in exchange for votes. And it worked; even Muslims like the prospect of having electric lights," the Sulu pirate frowned at that.

Lady Trung sighed, "Priscilla might be my mother-in-spirit, but I think that she is being naive to believe that she can end her country's tutelage and just allow opposition forces to do what they want. Well, when that Aurelia bitch takes over and drives her out, my mother-in-spirit will have a unified Vietnam to take refuge in."

The Sulu Pirate chuckled. "You think that highly of your chances of victory? Not mocking, mind you, just that confidence is rare in a woman."

"I lead women [i]into battle[/i]," Lady Trung pointed out. "And it's less my military skills - which are not infallible, as Vinh demonstrates - and more my enemies' tendency to self-destruct. Nevertheless, I will be the Lutalo to Priscilla's Sahle, only the both of us are bound together by more than self-interest..."