[center][b][color=#ED2939][h3][i]HADNAGY[/i] KOUYIALIS, MARKOS[/h3][/color][color=#DAA520]Panayiotou Field, Elvesland, Kingdom of Mitteland[/color][/b][/center]
[quote][color=8493ca]“May I confirm your orders, then I will let you take command. On certain conditions.”

“Simple terms allow those aboard to take what is their own. Respect their property and the captain of this vessel. There is also an excellent Favis brandy and others aboard that I would like to repatriate. I would also ask you to take care of her, she is a good ship.”[/color][/quote]
Kouyialis swallowed, his mouth just a little taut. Well, there was something to be said of the whole issue that such a man would be more worried about their brandy than the grand issues of a man running about, assaulting and thieving, not to mention the worse issue of a whole nation going to hell by a foreign army. That was after all how the whole problem had come to pass. Of course, the man also immediately dismissed the whole suggestion, ‘[i]take care of her[/i]’ - of course one would add that, it was merely natural to transfer an item from one owner to another. But the gesture was nevertheless a gesture, and the [i]Hadnagy[/i] nodded slightly. He let the man continue to talk as well, as such was merely natural.

Behind him, though, Nicou adjusted his feet and took a few steps to the side, almost getting closer to the airship but simply getting a better look to the side of her. His hands were planted at his hips, looking up and down the craft with his own mouth wry. The man was considering the condition of the airship, that was clear enough, considering it and what it had been through and what it might one day do. ‘[i]Take care of her[/i]’.

[quote][color=8493ca]“I shall talk to my representatives here in the city, I'm sure issues can be worked out.”[/color][/quote]
‘[i]My representatives[/i]’, that could really only mean a few things that Kouyialis knew. He knew that the whole issue had likely been, or at the least would be, given up to the Favisian Embassy - Favisian? Favisi? Favisian sounded better in the man’s mind. Such a talk would need to be necessary for the Post Captain to remain on, though by his prior comments the Mittelander had some inkling that he did not actually desire that outcome. No, he wanted to leave with his ‘excellent Favis brandy’.

Some itch was that the Favian brandy wasn’t actually the man’s, that it had just been some other’s, yet Kouyialis banished the issue from his mind immediately. So long as it didn’t belong to the Inburian state or was a piece of the airship, it was beyond the purview of his orders. In any case, whoever actually [i]owned[/i] the brandy would need to be alive to care about it at all, which was likely not the case. If it got the man off the airship faster, then it would help the Mittelander’s cause, simple as could be.

[quote][color=8493ca]“Yes. He escaped via the back ramp, since closed, wounded in the arm i think. He tried to take some of this damn gold, he is armed with a pistol and I will be honest, he is a former airship captain. He knows these ships so he might try again and find other ways. You would be wise to expect the unexpected. We confronted him and he made us run after trying to assault the private of Favis army on guard who acted to prevent his theft."

“Damn fool tried to take bars too, they are less easy to break down easily. It takes a lot to melt a whole gold bar.”[/color][/quote]
An assault as well? That was by no means good. As Giorgiou produced a notebook, sketching out notes while puffing away on his cigarette like some imitation of a river scow, the other Mittelanders listened. Nicou turned away from his off-hand inspection of the outer hull and gondolas, eyebrow raised. A slight frown came against Kouyialis’s face, the man adjusting his footing just a tad before speaking. [color=#ED2939]”Well…as to the brandy, and other personal effects, I think there will not be such a great issue, Post Captain. So long as these things do not belong to the Inburian government, I see no issue. While it would be foolish for others to try to melt down that gold, I think you understand that every man who disembarks the airship will be searched - my own included. Mr Carter has proved it is a day for foolish actions, and I will not put it to assumptions.”

“As to the vessel, I'm sure she will be taken well care of. And thank you, Post Captain, for the information regarding Mr Carter.”

“Now, would you kindly have your persons aboard begin packing, for the transfer?”[/color]

[hr][center][b][color=#DAA520]Ardell Commonwealth Embassy, Elvesland, Kingdom of Mitteland[/color][/b][/center]
While the man who ran to the nearest station was not very fast, the phone line to the proper station was.

The streets of Elvesland were never particularly full of automobiles. As forms of transport, they were expensive to maintain, required mechanics and often hand-fitted parts unless you purchased from one of the few manufacturers who did standardize, and even then those manufacturers were seldom local and one had given themselves up as a repeat customer to that manufacturer. They drank gasoline, of which the pumps for were uncommon and at times unscrupulous, selling diluted products which fouled engines. Their beds were never as large as that of a cart's, sometimes smaller.

All in all, in Elvesland the automobile shared the road with a great many other things. It shared with the bicycle, the horse, and the pedestrian. So when the Mittelander police came, they came on bicycles.

A dozen weaved in and out of sight, relatively bulky with their heavier coats and shakos; a few had carbines slung cavalry-style, most had their batons clamoring against the steel frames of the bikes. They moved up, as other, smaller groups took positions around the embassy to prevent some sort of sprint for it. Behind the embassy, just before that narrow alley leading to the Ardellians, a larger flat-bed truck’s engine suspiciously failed. Thick black smoke poured from the hood, the driver climbing out to puzzle over it with a great amount of drama. The man’s pockets were, after all, suspiciously heavy with recent cash.

As the men took up their positions about the embassy, the largest moving to search all cars bound for the embassy, something else was happening in the city. The Langford was far less discrete than any might hope, and behind that car drew another. The men inside were young, young and laughing and loud as a young rich man might be, though they didn’t seem to get any farther from the Langford that stalked about Elvesland’s streets.