Introductions

Two women approach the gates of General Headquarters in Darchen, the nerve center of the Domerian military. They are followed by a small bodyguard of Domerian soldiers, all wearing the infamous black and red uniforms of the Domerian armed forces. They get in with little trouble. Regional General Hella Brant is one of the highest-ranking members of the military in the country, though she rarely graces the capital with her presence. Hella has a reputation for treating her assigned region, Aronica, as her private fiefdom. But the results from her rebel suppression campaigns are undeniable.
From the gates, the two women walk through the grounds and enter the labyrinthine hallways of general headquarters. Their guards slip off to their assigned duties as they proceed through the building, leaving them alone at the end of their journey.
The room they enter is plain, not distinguishable from the hundreds of other identical meeting rooms within the building. Maps and charts dot the walls, all tracking the evolution and gradual suppression of rebel elements within the country.
Two people were already present in the room. Regional Generals Philip and Meike.
Philip was a tall and spindly man, sitting at the table pouring over reports. His face was pale and his eyes tired. Nothing about his appearance revealed his status as one of the most dangerous men in the country. He was dressed in a standard red and black generals' uniform, though he wore a cuirass as is traditional for Crux wielders. A plain scabbard containing an equally plain officer's sword was neatly strapped to his belt.
Meike contrasted rather sharply with her stuffy companion. Her appearance was rather extravagant, she wore a tailored uniform of her own design, featuring geometric patterns that seemed to dance across the cloth. Her uniform was only similar to Philips in terms of color scheme, the one thing she couldn’t change according to her wishes. Her glacial blue eyes seemed unnaturally cold as she sat and inspected her rapier, her eyes gliding across its surface looking for the slightest imperfection.
Both of them stood up when Hella opened the door, dreading what was about to follow. Hella rarely showed up to their little club without an unpleasant surprise tagging along, literally in this case as they saw a woman they didn’t recognize enter shortly after Hella.
Hella did not strike an intimidating presence, indeed she was the shortest person in the room. It would be hard not to mistake her for a newly conscripted country bumpkin, at least if one ignored the bars on her uniform, and the beautifully stylized scabbard on her hip.
“Heyo, Regional General Hella responding to official summons as ordered.” Hella’s tone was rather casual for a woman of her rank, but her superiors had all proven either incapable or unwilling to try to correct this little verbal tic of hers.
A short silence followed, before Meike decided to confront the elephant in the room. “I see you’ve brought along a friend from your bit of the country, care to introduce her.” Her tone was almost as casual as Hella’s, though a deep irritation could be detected within it.
“Oh right, allow me to present my new first officer, Lieutenant colonel Sibylle Luden, make sure to treat her nicely.” Hella motioned with her hands, as if presenting some strange and never before seen curiosity to a group of friends.
Sibylle stood with her arms crossed, clad in a black and red Domerian Armed Forces officer's uniform. Though taller than Hella, she was still rather short compared to the other two occupants of the room. Her face was attractive, but it stood still with no obvious expression save for a slight frown. Her eyes betrayed no emotion, save for disdain at this meeting.
“At your service.” Sibylle gave a quick salute, evidently not being keen on elaborating further.
General Philip regarded the woman with disinterest and looked away, before suddenly looking straight back at her, surprise evident on his face.
Meike interjected, “Lieutenant colonel Sibylle...?” Evidently, she was as surprised as Philip.
Philip, obviously confused by the situation, spoke. “Wait, Sibylle? As far as I know, we don’t have any battalion grade officers by that name, I’ve never heard of her.”
“Of course, you haven't.” Hella responded, refusing to elaborate further.
“What was her previous posting?” Tension began to spread across Philip’s face, as he found himself drawn into another one of Hella’s schemes.
“Oh, she has none, she was a civilian until yesterday.”
“Then how on earth is she a Lieutenant colonel now!” Philip was nearly shouting now, but he already knew that nothing Hella was going to say would calm him down. So why bother putting up appearances.
“You know, the usual.” Hella replied, in her usual less than helpful manner.
“What do you mean by that, Hella?” Phillip spoke slowly, as if he thought Hella was too stupid to understand if he spoke too quickly.
“Forged documents, made up records, bribes. The usual.” Hella responded with a casual tone, as if describing what she had for breakfast.
Phillip stared at Hella for a few seconds, before sighing, he had long since resigned himself to her behavior. His eyes moved from Hella to Sibylle, her new alleged ‘aide’. He walked towards her, while unsheathing his sword. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, ‘Lieutenant colonel’. Why should I tolerate your presence in this military when you have no obvious qualifications.”
Sibylle’s frown turned into a smile, as she suddenly withdrew two daggers concealed within her uniform. “Nothing I can say could justify my presence to you, only actions can do that. But I’ll have you know I'm fully capable of defending myself.”
The two stood staring at each other while gripping their Cruxes for a short while, before Meike’s laughing interrupted them. Her amusement over the whole interaction had grown too great for her to contain her laughter.
When she managed to catch her breath again, Meike spoke up. “Give it a rest Philip, she’ll either prove herself against the rebels or die in a ditch somewhere in Aronica. And Hella’s toys have yet to disappoint us.”
Philip sighed, before sheathing his Crux. A smile appeared on his face as he returned to his seat at the table. “Prove yourself useful and I can overlook this minor bureaucratic mistake concealing your no doubt long and storied prior service to the country.”
The four of them sat at the table in the centre of the room. Hella’s good demeanor unchanged as she elaborated on her efforts at suppressing rebels in Aronica. A few hours passed, and as the meeting grew to a close, Hella made another surprise announcement.
Just as she was standing up to leave, she looked to Meike. “By the way, I’ll be leaving my little assistant in your care for the next few days, give her someplace to stay while she takes care of some business for me out here. She has a little entourage that follows her around so take care of them too.”
Meike responded with an amused look. “I can arrange accommodations, so long as you don’t mind me adding a few people to her assignment list, the royalists have been getting a bit too safe in the past few years I think.”
Hella responded with feigned shock. “You mean to imply that I’ve illegally granted some murderous patsy of mine a military rank in order to carry out a series of assassinations?”
“Yes.” Meike responded simply.
Hella’s expression returned to normal. “Sure, just make sure to check her list first, no need to tell her to kill the same guy twice after all.” With those worlds, Hella walked out of the room.
Phillip followed soon after, wanting no part in whatever scheme Hella was cooking up with Meike. No doubt the assassinations would be amateur work at best, something he had little interest in.
Meike and Sibylle were the last to leave. Meike carried an amused expression, already contemplating what members of the political scene were due for a permanent retirement. Sibylle followed along with little save for a small smile, a few extra targets would make the night more exciting after all.