"Decimal, deny any and all requests from anyone except myself and Lieutenant Colonel Rene Quentain, this gentleman with me. Can you confirm that your self-defense mechanisms are online?" she asked as she slipped an arm under Rene's shoulders and started to guide him to the steps. Though he had been taking the initiative thus far with strategizing their combat, she recognized he was wounded, and his situation had probably worsened in the last few minutes. He had shielded her and dragged her along when she was too stunned and confused to make sense of her surroundings. Just as he had supported her and kept her safe, now she had to do the same, even if it was only from exacerbating the injuries he had sustained.

"Confirmed that only orders from Duchess Solae Falia and Lieutenant Colonel Rene Quentain are being followed. How may I be of further assistance?" the program asked in an almost comically monotone voice. It was such a sharp deviation from the inappropriate undertones of Mia that could stand to have slightly less personality at times that it gave the freshly promoted aristocrat pause. The artificial sentience was asking a simple enough question- but the delivery lacked any pretense of congenial service.

"I'm enacting a password for all approaching vehicles," Solae added as she continued to help Rene down the stairs as rapidly was realistically possible given his state. None of their achievements would matter if he bled out during their escape because the strong cocktail of drugs he had administered to himself made him oblivious to his physical trauma. "The password is Marlene. If any vehicle approaches without the proper password you are to use the self-defense artillery to eliminate the threat with extreme prejudice. Does this facility have containment doors?"

"Yes, Duchess Solae Falia," Decimal replied with absolutely no elaboration. It was the same infuriating lack of detail they had encountered earlier. Despite herself Solae rolled her eyes in frustration at this concise statement.

"After further consideration, fire upon any and all vehicles in the area that do not provide you with the password within thirty seconds," she decided. The embassy, as an official imperial building, was equipped with ballista that could be utilized to defend against invaders. On most planets this protocol was not necessary. There had been enough attempted coups within the last two hundred years, however, that the throne had elected to err on the side of caution. They had implemented requirements that there be sufficient weaponry to take on insurrections, including that of soldiers with military-grade equipment. Solae was only fighting for her own self-preservation, and she taking advantage of the resources at her disposal for exactly the purpose they were intended, but she felt slightly ill at the revelation she'd be the direct cause of the insurgents' deaths.

Taking a deep breath to brace herself for the next ruthless command she forced herself to blot out any consideration for those trying to take them captive and/or kill them as the case may be. The nobility did not tolerate weakness. Summoning the willpower to ensure their mutual survival she cleared her throat. "Decimal, chart a path for us to the exit. Lower all containment doors that do not obstruct our path," she declared with all the authority she held. "Once we cross the threshold of a containment door you will lower it behind us. Do you understand?"

"The containment doors will remain locked for a minimum of two hours after engagement. Is this within acceptable parameters, Duchess Solae Falia?" Decimal responded. "I require verbal confirmation prior to deployment per operating procedure guidelines."

"Yes, Decimal, please proceed immediately," she affirmed with a grimace. Containment doors were meant for exactly what their name implied. The reinforced composite was impervious to both types of fire, whether flame or the handheld variety that was standard issue. It was constructed of a material very similar to what was used for landing pads. The theory behind the design was to provide a suppressive tactic that would isolate troops that had breached imperial offices, provide an air-tight seal to starve conflagrations and keep them from spreading down a hallway with a large supply of oxygen fuel, and even potentially shield citizens from a highly contagious epidemic. The largest drawback to the doors was that they had locking mechanisms that would not let anyone, whether it be Decimal or a Duchess or even the Empress herself, open them until the duration had expired. Understandably they were seldom employed. Solae was reluctant to take these extreme measures but their circumstances were dire.

"Mia, can you hear me?" the diplomat queried as they reached a landing of the stairwell.

"Yes, Lady Solae," Mia purred seductively as if she yearned for nothing more than a kind word from her mistress.

"Contact Ten and tell him I need an armored vehicle for extraction with full medical for Rene. The embassy's AI will ask him for a password for safe passage- inform him the password is Marlene. I've activated the embassy's defenses so his team should have little difficulty landing and retreating with minimal risk." She could tell that some of her fiance's strength was beginning to dwindle. Fortunately they did not have much farther to travel.

As they inched their way along a corridor they heard the thudding of containment doors quickly and firmly sliding shut on the floors above them as well as the ground floor onto which they had descended less than a minute prior. With this merciless symphony came a disconcerting silence. While they were not manufactured for sound absorption, the thick material of which they were constructed passively muffled noise with extreme efficiency, which was eerie when there was yelling and screaming moments before. "Shutter the windows as well, Decimal, unless they are so heavily damaged that the mechanisms are no longer intact."

"Understood, Duchess Solae Falia," Decimal said as there were a clattering noise of metal barricades being lowered accordingly. When Tan and Ralch's men had opened fire on one another none of them had a sufficiently high appointment to lock down the embassy like a fortress. The linguist had not anticipated needing them truthfully- she had been so focused on getting in that she had spent much less time dwelling on her options for getting out. Guilt still gnawed on the back of her conscience but she steeled herself. They had been very nearly killed multiple times over the last half hour without a pause for compassion. It was foolish for her to empathize with murderers and mercenaries.

A few minutes later they had made it to the courtyard. The armaments on the roof pivoted, whirled, and clicked as they shot a large caliber bullet or missile- Solae honestly could not discern the difference, into the sky in the opposite direction. There was a thundering boom as the hurtling projectile struck its target and detonated. There was no flying debris or danger of any kind in proximity, but the newly-crowned duchess crouched instinctively and pulled Rene with her to a bench that had avoided destruction thus far. The Zatis embassy was a veritable war zone.

"I am guiding Sir Ten to your coordinates," Mia interrupted with breathless anticipation.

They did not wait long. Just as Solae's anxiety rose into her throat their heavily armored chariot arrived, hovering a few feet above the ground before landing. There was no landing pad available that was not housing the charred and smoldering remains of their adversaries' transport. Ten's team had to improve and destroy a portion of walkway that melted under the heat but did not combust into flames like the carefully landscaped greenery would have.

"What a relief," Solae sighed as she saw the hatch hiss and slide open. As she moved to stand her legs finally buckled under her weight as her overwhelmed psyche conceded defeat. The elegant woman crumpled, not due to any mortal affliction, but because she had pushed well past her personal limits. Exhausted from being confused, terrified, and subjected to a seemingly endless supply of stress, with no training that would build her endurance for such intense scenarios, it was not all that surprising she collapsed. New recruits to the armed services were prone to being dazed despite their preparation when they met with an actual, authentic attack. It was the sight of their rescuers climbing through the portal that signaled to the flaxen-haired dignitary she could be granted her respite.