The sudden forcefulness of Aidan's words caught the young fox by surprise, causing Edward to fall back on his training and respond with quick 'Yessir!'s to the doctor, whom had just pulled rank to get him to comply. He obeyed with no more talking back, but clearly became much more relieved when Aidan was covering up the reason for Esailia's extraction. When Asked if the rest of his squad needed reinforcement, the fox nodded "There's only Naida, nathanial, and Mike in there now. We captured some infantry too." He informed the soldier, never slowing from Esailia's side. Upon reaching the Claw, Edward made sure to keep up with Aidan, now more comfortable in knowing the Doctor was helping Esailia as he knew she'd want to be helped...

Back in the tunnel, Nathanial had taken full command, bringing Naida with him up to their GEAR escort "Find one?" He asked Mike, seeing the slim bandit before the GEAR. He waited a moment for Mike's answer, then walked up to the Pine Marten "You'll get home if you cooperate to the fullest. You are currently at risk of being charged with firing upon military forces and holding civilian hostages among others. But I may forget your face if you answer every question without fail. Now, how many others are there beyond this point? How many hostages? Any bandits in the room with the hostages?" As Nathanial rattled questions off one by one, Naida started unarming the prisoners one by one, and tossing the weapons into a pile right beside the Prowler.

In the Claw, Esailia slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry and a bright light above her hindering any sort of solid things around her. "...wh...where..." She began, her voice cracking and dry. She attempted another question, but a cough was all that was heard.