"You two are coming with me, if we get separated, do what you must to halt the enemy's advances. Dalmer...do not make me regret giving you free reign on this. We need to hit hard, preferably taking them out if we can..." He said as his eyes hardened again. "Move out. We'll take the Dropship."

"Aye, sir," Leo replied with a lazy salute before shooting a sideways glance at Arn, interested to see how he would respond.

Leo had not expected Tyrhallan to seriously try recruiting the mage from another battlegroup, at least not without going through its commanding officer first, but then again he [i]was[/i] acting on the king's direct order and time was apparently short. Still, for a Knight Captain to give orders to a mage as though he were one of his own men was nothing short of audacious. What if they were of equal rank? Or even worse, what if the mage held seniority?

Arn however shrugged his acknowledgement of the request/order from the silver haired knight.  “Very well, if I can be of assistance I will follow you."

Now that was a surprise. Afterwards when Arn had finished speaking to a younger battlemage and turned to address both knights again, Leo chuckled as he said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're alright."

Turning to follow Tyrhallan towards the dropship, the Silver Spider said over his shoulder, "So tell us, Arbiter. What's your final verdict on our match?"

Seeing the trio approach, the soldier from the dropship hopped back on board and clapped the pilot on the shoulder as he said, "Good to go."

The pilot simply nodded his head and spoke a single sentence into his mouthpiece, "Reinforcements en route."

Meanwhile...

[hr]
Somewhere along the border, a beleaguered captain sighed with relief upon hearing the message as his officers bickered among themselves aboard the bridge of the Incorruptible, a frigate of Belisio.

"That's why we should just shoot through them!" shouted a particularly scarred and bearded man as he stabbed a finger towards the refugee ships in the distance. "They could have spies on board anyway, it's for the safety of the kingdom!"

"We would be no better than the Empire then!" another retaliated, a bespectacled woman with eyes as fierce as an eagle's.

"The alternative is to wait until the enemy is upon us and then we'll have lost without firing a single shot," the third and most elderly of the group replied. "I'd rather we go down fighting at least."

"It need not come to that," the captain interjected as he approached his officers. "Reinforcements will be with us soon, so all we have to do is hold the line until they get here."

"But what if the enemy arrives first?"

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5182214]Nena Hwun[/url] had her back to the officers as she stood at the window, keeping the skies clear with her magic. The three enemy frigates hiding behind the refugee ships evidently had casters of their own as storm clouds approached from the west, but Nena effortlessly held them back as she maintained a pocket of calm around the Incorruptible. Her mana cast in a wide net around the airship.

Even as she focused on her magic however, she could not help overhearing the conversation behind her and spoke up as though there was not a serious crisis at hand, "Hey, I could try slowing them down if you guys want."

"Quiet freelancer," the bearded officer growled, offended by her lack of formality. "You have one job and that's to-"

"Do it," the captain interrupted as he held up a halting hand towards his subordinate. "If you can, please do. Every second counts."

Slowly lowering her hands to her sides, Nena let go of the magic holding the storm clouds at bay and lightning immediately flashed behind her as she turned around to face the captain with a smile.

"Sure thing, boss," she said, tipping the brim of her pointed hat before walking past the officers.

"Where are you going?" the captain asked.

"I need eyes on target, but don't worry. I brought a friend who can help."

And with that, Nena was gone. Moving from the bridge to the top deck of the airship, she emerged from the cabin and whistled in wonder as the wind and rain howled all around her, threatening to blow her hat off.

"These Empire folks sure don't mess around," she said to no one in particular while approaching the rail on the portside of the deck. "Well let's show them what we can do. Come on, Petra!"

Putting her fingers to her mouth, Nena whistled as loudly as she could and a distant eagle cry sounded in response. Only this was no mere eagle, but a great white roc with a wingspan almost covering the entire width of the Incorruptible as it descended from above, answering her master's call.

With a spirited [i]hyup![/i] Nena vaulted over the rail and landed on the back of her formidable companion as it swooped down to collect her.

"Good girl!" the mage cooed, patting Petra on the neck as they flew towards the refugee ships. "Now let's go save the day."