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With things seemingly worked out here for the moment, Alicia was about to respond to Mac's plea when she was abruptly teleported back to Beacon HQ before she could get the chance. Whoops. 

After a moment Alicia mentally shrugged. Eh, it was just Magical Dream Princess. How bad could it be?

Unfortunately not all was well as Elora came over to warn them that the Queen had made a move. [color=aba000]"I guess it isn't a big surprise,"[/color] Alicia mused, her arms folded over her chest. [color=aba000]"She knows we just committed to destroying the eggs. Even with them removed, she's probably betting that she can take the place over before we all get back, even if we weren't intending to make a run on her castle.[/color] They had taken a gamble and it had paid off, but it seemed there was still a cost in the end. 

Considering the situation, Alicia had to acknowledge that their options were still somewhat limited. [color=aba000]"We'll have to stall for time and try to get to the Queen before her forces can secure the Nexus,"[/color] she said, her gaze falling on Rachel. Not that she needed to explain tactics to the Inquisitor, of course. No doubt she had dealt with worse in the past. 

Rachel's admission of their friendship took her off guard, but after a moment Alicia's face shifted into a warm smile. It had taken a long time for them to get to this point, but she was glad that all the time and effort had paid off. [color=aba000]"We'll do what we have to do to make this work,"[/color] she answered, agreeing to the need to have some people playing defense here rather than handling it herself. 

She then looked back to their other companions. [color=aba000]"Ronin, Miko, it's up to you if you'd rather stay here or keep going."[/color] If there was something precious here they would prefer to protect, she wasn't going to force them to come with.