"Huh? Oh, yeah, right." Sam replied, as he shoved his heavy boots off the table, hitting the floor with a loud clunk before he sat up straight.

"The IRIO have provided us with a Nautilus Cargo Freighter, the 'Ascendō'. Not particularly glamorous, so it'll help us blend in while we travel." Sam began, with a casual, almost careless wave of a hand. Nautilus freighters were fairly common in the airspace of most countries. Among the smallest types of vessels in the sky, apart from single seater or small transport ships, Nautilus freighters were often used for shipping by budding or mid-sized international businesses, merchants, and even pirates. They were versatile, Upper Luft-capable, and about as non-descript as it came. Naturally, Sam couldn't help but make his own personalized additions to the ship to make it more unique, but even with its own colors, it would still fall into the background of most searching eyes.

"Normally, these ships are cramped and uncomfortable, as crew typically have to share space with cargo, but seeing as we're not traders, we've got it lucky. I've taken the liberty of bringing on a few crates of weapons, medical supplies, and ship parts so we at least look the part of traders if someone decides to check us out. We've got food and water for a few weeks, and I gutted and replaced the engine and turbines, so it should be able to outrun almost any ship we come across- which is good, because it doesn't have much in the way of weapons: a pair of mounted rifles and a harpoon launcher for scaring off pirates. As good as you can expect, being a civilian ship and all."

"That's about it." Sam said with a shrug, looking back at Daniel."I would've preferred a combat capable ship, but chances are if we get into a fight in the sky, we're fucked anyway." There wasn't much else to say about the ship that they couldn't easily find out as soon as they stepped onto it. It was unfortunate, but they couldn't exactly leave port with a military frigate or corvette, not to mention they didn't have enough dedicated crew to operate any larger ship.

"Anyway, dunno about you all, but I've had enough of sitting around. Lets get questions over with and get going."

"Yes. I think that's wise. We'll reconvene tomorrow at 6AM sharp, outside this pub. If anything changes, our agents will inform you. You'll find your rooms in an inn just across the road - 'The Ham Sandwich'. Whoever names these stupid things is beyond help, honestly." Daniel sighed, before taking a seat and looking disconsolately at the luminescent green cocktail in front of him, totally undrunk.

"Say... Sam, you fancy a drink?" He cringed at the thought of it - having tasted them before, and knowing them to be bizarrely and sickly sweet.

But underneath that facade of reluctance to drink the damn cocktail, there was a thought astir, perfectly hidden.

We cannot trust Volkov. I must tell Samuel.

Adrion attention was short lived, his mind fetching a minor nap at the utterance of "saving the world" or whatnot. This was a fool's errand. Everyone here was a brat, small, and youthful. The perfect combination to an early death, if you asked me.

"Sure" He said plainly, it's not like I have a choice . Though the peculiar detail which fetched Adrion's attention is his own personal involvement. How did his Master know of this? What is his part in this little affair? Adrion's mind ticked, connecting dots and plans as his eyes studies his fellow crew. The Red head is simple and dangerous. Her friend seems the quick type. A naive elf. The rest are plain and suspicious. And then we have this dangerous thing.

There was much to do, much to think about, and in that particular order strangely.

"Yessir Mister Lieutenant!" Aura declared with a bright grin and a flourish of a spin before declaring, again with a bright smile and a boisterous voice "I'll see you all bright and early in the morning!" She turned on the spot and skipped from the room, absolutely filled to the brim with excitement! She had a job, and while it didn't pay much, it was what every Dryad must aspire to ("At least I think so, after all we're part of nature!") in her life, the chance to be a guardian of nature in the most literal sense! Then again, that also meant she had to deal with her least favorite part of her job, which was plying the trade she'd been taught by her family in the village. Even now, she could hear the words of Roberto, the hunter who had first taught her to read, as she left "I'm sorry, little one, for I have failed you. As you leave now, I have left you ill equipped, for I have taught you but one trade, the trade of the hunter. So, I must charge you with this, when you leave you shall need to pay for food,
and to get the money for this food...you will need to become a huntress of men."

"A huntress of men...an apex predator. It's all part of nature I suppose, creatures live and then die, and when they die their spirit returns to the nature around them. Viewed like that, there should be no problem, they get to become part of nature even more than I am. Even so...being the arbiter of that process hurts. Hurting and killing men and women, it...hurts. To think of the future of theirs that I pruned, that I cut off prematurely, it hurts. Yet..so long as I remember them, it'll be fine! They'll live on, dancing with the tree, so long as I remember!" And so, her brief moral crisis brought to an end by a touch of childlike naivete, Aura continued on her merry way across the street and, from there, into the room she'd be sleeping in that night, again enduring the pointed stares of the inn's denizens

And so, she set her rifle down, and reached into the bag slung about her shoulder, withdrawing her night clothes. This was something of a new habit, well at least comparatively, given her upbringing she was a late bloomer to most things the average citizen of any nation would consider normal. Climbing into bed, she carefully lay her rifle next to her and engaged its safety catch before covering up and smiling at the ceiling as she shut her eyes. It had been another fun day, and it capped off with something so dramatic it was like one of the novels she'd read back in the village. She could only hope the coming days of her adventure with her new friends would be filled with the same stuff of the novels, adventure, camraderie ("And if I'm lucky, romance!! Oooohhh, I so hope so!") It didn't take long for Aura to drift off to sleep, propelled on to her slumber by happy thoughs such as these.

"I can't say I'm very comfortable with the idea of flying... So we'll be in your hands Sam. Take good care of us." Ekaterine said with a playful wink to the man after he finished talking.

Although she appeared only a bit annoyed by the idea, she was in fact, very, very worried about it. In case something wrong happened, she didn't have where to run. If it was a terrestrial or even maritime vehicle, she could get away easily, but in the case of an airship, the only way out is down... Sure, he said that they would be able to outrun almost any other ship, but the danger was still there.

"Hey, Ariah, aren't you a bit worried about all the flying thing? Its has only two mounted rifles and an harpoon shooter!" she whispered to him as the others started to get up, heading either to the bar or to the "Ham Sandwich" to get a good night of sleep before going to their missions tomorrow.

"You know... I'm not very confident about it... if something goes wrong, the only way out is down, and I'm not a big fan of falling to our death..." she said with a grimace, expressing her discomfort with the situation.

"I'll see you all bright and early in the morning!" Ekaterine heard the petite girl with a rifle saying, getting out of the room with an extremely excited and happy expression.

"Is she your type of girl Ariah? Innocent, petite and delicate?" she asked with a chuckle, nudging him with her elbow.
The little thing appeared to be so innocent, adorable and naïve. Many men would certainly fall for her on the spot. Ekaterine felt almost drawn to protect the little thing. She seemed so fragile and small to her eyes... But again, she was there for a reason. Kat had the feeling that she was dangerous. She didn't knew exactly if she was dangerous on combat or with her tongue, but she would certainly keep one eye on her.

"Well, I'm not sure about you, but I'm going to bed." she said to Ariah, stretching herself.
"Looking forward to know a bit more about my workmates. Don't be afraid to talk to me, I don't bite. Not much." she said to everyone in the room with a laugh.
"Lets see where this small adventure will led us to. See you all tomorrow." she said to the mercenaries still in the room, before walking out the bar, heading to her room.

"I'm not drinking that, if that's what you're asking." Sam said bluntly, giving the neon colored drink a bit of a sneer. "But if you're buying, I'm not one to turn down a drink." Sam said, as he pushed himself out of his chair with a huff.

"I always found Lucy to be a more entertaining drinking partner, but I suppose you'll do." Sam commented off-handedly to Daniel as the two made their way back to the bar. His attraction towards the outgoing, friendly blonde was fairly clear, though they never got much further than light flirtation- professionalism in the workplace and all. Of the few IRIO agents Sam regularly interacted with: Daniel, the General and a few others typically, Lucy was his favorite- and by far the most talkative and easy on the eyes. Daniel wasn't a bad guy- quite the opposite, he was about as stand-up as one could expect a spy to be. But, like many government types, he was kind of stiff, businesslike, and always seemed like he had a pole stuck up his ramrod-straight backside. Not exactly the best partner for casual conversation, at least conversation that wasn't work related.

"Whiskey for me- on his tab." Sam called to the bartender, jerking his thumb towards Daniel despite not getting any verbal confirmation of the man paying his drinks for him. The bartender rolled his eyes at the sight of the two of them returning, but produced a short tumbler with a single large ball of an ice cube and placed it on bar in front of them before filling it with the rich, amber liquor.

"So boss, on a scale of pretty fucked to only slightly fucked, how do you think this job is gonna play out?"

the question was only half-serious. On the few missions he had been on with Daniel and Lucy, he had always managed to slip some iteration of this line into conversation at least once. By this point, it was just another pre-mission ritual, but it was still good to know how well Daniel gauged their success rate at- the man usually wasn't wrong and had a fairly good sense of how things would go, surprisingly enough.

Cole glanced over the maps, fixing every detail in his mind. He'd have to remember them.
'So the Ham Sandwich is to be our lodging? A strange irony.' The half-elf remembered the place. When he first arrived in Solace, that was where he slept that first night. He'd been alone, confused, and out of his element back then. And now, it may well be the place he slept on the last night as well.
...But he might have preferred being told he wouldn't be returning home before he came here. He had a few books that he wanted to keep out of the Eyes hands.
'Ah well.' The Eyes had checked his home a few times before, despite finding a severe lack of proof. If Cole were found to be in possession of sensitive knowledge, as he knew he did, then at least he'd be out of the city.
"I bid you all a good evening. Rest well."

Daniel sighed as the former Dominion mechanic ordered himself a whiskey, on Daniel's pennies. The drinks were cheap for agents of the IRIO here, but whiskey isn't cheap even when it's cheap.

"And a pint of the pale for me, Joseph." He ordered as Sam sidled up to the bar and took his drink in hand.

"Chances of success? You know, I have to say that on a scale of slightly fucked to well and thoroughly fucked, we might be superbly and supremely fucked. Stabilising the Dominion? Doable, I suppose. Difficult, but I'm aware that the situation there is fluid enough to facilitate the changes we're looking to make. Protecting the King of the Oakheart Sovereignty? Harder. We don't have the resources to defend him directly and assign him bodyguards - not that he or any of his court would let us if we could - so we'll need to look for the source of his troubles directly. And as for the Red League? I haven't a smiling fuck of an idea what's wrong with them. Something is, I can feel it, but we have no intelligence to go on so we'll need to gather our own on the fly."

He sighed, and took a sip of the frothy pale ale, the cool liquid draining comfortably from the glass for a solid six seconds before he put the glass down.

"I hate flying into things when I don't know what's going on. Especially with the Red League."

Daniel looked up from his glass for a moment, and glanced around the bar. The others had all left by now, and the bar was mostly empty.

"And I don't trust the Volkov girl. Talking about the Eyes like that, like she'd just as soon consider employment with them. I think we might need to keep our eyes on her. What do you think?"

"You don't trust her boss? Well slap me silly and buy me another pint, because I could've told you that from the moment she walked in the door." Sam said with a chuckle as he threw his head back and downed half of the whiskey in his glass. For a spy, Daniel wasn't particularly worldly- at least not with people of the working class. Sam laughed internally at that thought, but it was true, for all intents and purposes, Mercenaries were of the working class: they did the brunt of the labor with the smallest amount of pay.

"She's a merc, boss. They work for whoever pays them the most, whether its the IRIO or the Heavens Eyes. Its loyalty for hire." Sam explained, not condescendingly, but with an amused tone in his voice.

"Same could be said o' me. Guess I'm a bit different 'cause I don't particularly like the Heaven's Eyes either, but in case you forgot: I'm a freelance, a grease monkey for hire. You guys hire me regularly, and pay well, so for the forseeable future, you have my loyalty."

Of course it was a bit more than that, Sam had been working for the IRIO long enough to have formed some bonds with its members. Daniel was a well-meaning if somewhat stiff guy, Lucy was fun and friendly, even the General had qualities Sam could appreciate. He liked them, and enjoyed working with them, but he always had to remember, he wasn't one of them. Despite all the displays of camaraderie and back slapping, he was the hired factory worker, and they were the employers. In the IRIO's eyes, he was likely as expendable an asset as the next merc.

"Anyway, you should probably stop worrying about one of the mercs. If you have to worry about one, you might as well worry about all of them." Sam said with a shrug as he tilted the rest of the whisky glass back and finished it.

"Now I have some last minute checks to do before we leave. Engine calibrations and all. You should probably call it soon too, we've got an early day tomorrow."

"No, no. It's not as simple as that. They're mercenaries, yes, but that's mostly a technicality. We chose them out of all our past contractors and current resources because they were the ones who had previously exhibited the right combination of skills and principles. I can't lie, we went for Volkov because she came with the other one, Ariah, more than anything else."

He sighed, draining the rest of his pint.

"We always knew this was going to be a hard one on the budget. We were looking for people who were likely to work for a reduced fee, and who were likely to be averse to the ideology of the Heavens' Eyes. We must have miscalculated."

Pushing the glass towards the waiting barman, Daniel turned towards the exit, and then looked back at Sam.

"How long have you been with us now, Sam? Are you really still just freelance after all that?" Daniel gave a small grin. "Something gives me the impression that Lucy would disagree with you, you know."

"Anywho, you're almost certainly right. Tomorrow is going to be... stressful. I'm off. See you in the morning."

Cole looked around his room and sighed. His last night in Solace, spent in a slightly cheap bed and creaky floorboards just outside. At least there was a desk. Sitting down, he felt the chair wobble unevenly. Biting the inside of his cheek, he proceeded to take out his journal again, and turn to a empty, if slightly coffee-stained, page. Then, removing his pen from the spine, he began to write.
'It is the 12th of the First Month of Tempus Solis. Or perhaps the 13th, given that I have no access to the time. I have met with the IRIO agents, General Andius Ponta and Lieutenant Daniel Hunt. I have also met with the others on the mission. And frankly... I cannot quite understand any of them. The General and Lt. alone I can make sense of. The IRIO is the only reason I feel I am still alive, really. If I had never become one of their assets...' Cole shuddered. 'It is best not to think of it. As for the others... this Samuel Thomas is the only one formally introduced. He seems to be between two worlds. The world of the 'greasers' who work for their love of the machine, and that of espionage. If he is either one, then the other has a solid grasp on him as well. I did not appreciate his smoking, however.
'Then there was that archer... I recognise his accent. The Sovereignty has one of the smallest hands in this mission... and yet, when it comes to our homeland, we have no clue why the king wishes us to be there. But the boy...he looks young. Well, much younger than any of the rest of us... I think only one of us has reached the age of thirty, and she looks far from it.
'A Dryad. Were it not for her manner of dress, her weapon and her voice, I'd have thought her my kinswoman, but she is from the Red League. A sunny disposition not many mercenaries possess just pours out from her... and I am not sure I wish to approach her. Painful memories alone rest with Dryads for me.
'And then the other two. A pair, clearly, from the way they interact. The woman, who said her name is Ekatereene Vulkoth - I admit to not knowing the correct spelling, so I write what I heard - I find it difficult to imagine myself working with her except in the most extreme situations... unfortunately, this situation is incredibly so. And thus I'll have to put up with her. But her companion... he decided to join for peace. I admire that in him. I cannot truly agree with the methods I have little doubt he will employ, but at least his aim is true.
'Our mission appears simple. Restore peace. But I cannot help but wonder if Mistress Fate will decide that she will cast the dice in, or against, our favour.'

The Ham sandwich. Actually that sounded really good right now, loaded and served with a nice drink. However, this sandwich wasn't for eating but for spending the night and with the negotiations done retiring for the day seemed to be a rather good idea. Though Kat beat him to the punch and started to make conversation, "I'm not worried. Sure I'd like more guns but think about it. It's a fast ship and by the sounds of things it's not meant to fight but sneak and speed through the clouds. And you know what my take on speed is. This sound right up my alley for what it's worth!" He retorted.

About then was when the cheery Dryad spoke up and that drew Ariah's eye. It was brief and before long the excited and perky gal was gone, but that was enough for Kat to speak her mind. Tossing a curled lip to Kat, expressing his thoughts of, 'really' with a single face. Though to give a better response he reached out and palmed Kat's face, a bit roughly nudging her away saying, "Oh come on! Don't go judging and making things awkward before I even know everybody's name!" It was almost like siblings playfully arguing over a simple point.

Regardless, everyone was leaving and that meant it was there time as well, "Come on Kat, I'm tired." He complained almost childlike before standing up and leaving the bar with her, making his way across the street and up to his room at the inn. Already set to rack out and get some sleep before the big day and the start of another adventure.

There came a sharp, urgent knock, at each of your doors. Three knocks, to be precise, in rapid succession, almost like the firing of a gun.

"Wake up! Wake up, idiot! You need to go! Now!"

More knocking. Frantic, terrified knocking.

"They've arrested the General! You have to fucking go!"

There came a noise that sounded like frustration, a sort of mix between a groan and a whine.

"The Ascendó is in Dock B, Port 7! It's a few minutes walk from here, and practically deserted, you can't miss it!" They screamed at the door, before taking off running down the hallway, hoping dearly that you'd been awakened - which you had.

Come on. Time to leave, and sharpish.

Adrion was half way out of the window and up the roof by the time he'd heard his destination.

Alcohol is a poison, sadly for Adrion. His body has already built a stiff immunity against it, granting him the displeasure of having to swallow a bottle of piss-flavored whisky in order to to become intoxicated. What's worse is that it wears off even sooner, leaving only a dull headache behind. Thus His senses were fully operational, the rucks awaking him well before the messenger's third anxious step up the rotten stairs.

His clothing were tight to his body, making little sound as he climbed up from the second floor, passing the third floor and lightly treading on the roof on all limbs. His dim gray uniform blended, not perfectly well of course, but well enough in the lack of light.

A hazard of buildings surrounded the The Ham Sandwich, rendering his reconnaissance largely ineffective. The dark did not trouble Adrion's trained eye, and the still of the night was optimal for Adrion's ear. I see nothing, I hear nothing, yet I feel as if the world is going to fall over. With a grimace Adrion slid an arrow out of his quiver, letting his sharp teeth hold it for him. With light and fluent motion, Adrion began sailing through the tightly joined buildings, head low and ears up.

Adrion however did not head directly toward's the port, and instead took guard on a slanted roof a few buildings away from where his party resided.

Gotta Make sure the kittens stay safe. Adrion knew if there was going to be an attack then it would have happened well before the news of the general reached them, but it never hurt to be safe. A good bundle of thirty fine arrows made by his Master's hands would ensure no harm would come to his first party. A peculiar and soon-to-be-dead-party, yet a party all the same. Adrion found a decent footing, dropping the arrow into his fingers as he pulled back the strings.

It was strange. If the general was compromised, then shouldn't they too?

Cole groaned as the knocking continued, too concerned with his blanket to wake up.

"They've arrested the General! You have to fucking go!"

His eyes snapped open.
"Fudge..." he cursed.
He got up from the bed, quickly dressing - he only needed to put on his boots and shirt anyway. Casting his eyes about, he reoriented himself. The curtains were closed. His bag was in the corner where he'd lain it last night, carefully laying out and checking each item before returning it to the bag, aiming to make the best possible use of space.
His journal lay open on the desk where he'd left it the night before, the candle next to it almost down to a stub. Some people preferred to use lamps, but Cole himself appreciated the flickering ambience. Strange for a man who loved books so much, to which fire could do so much harm.
Pulling on his coat, he glanced through the gap in the curtains. Not many people would be up at this hour, but then again, everyone who walked down the street would easily by able to identify him to an Eye... memories work like that. He needed to get out, but first he needed to figure out some way to cover his face, hair and ears.

Aura was awoken by the loud knocks, rousing herself with a yawn. She slid from bed and waved airily at the door for a moment before his words registered. Her eyes now wide, Aura quickly changed from her night clothes to her normal peasant's clothing. Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, Aura hurriedly opened the door to leave. Being a newcomer to espionage, after all diplomacy was far from the same thing, she had little idea as to the eccentricities of spy work, such as tails or set-ups, and so it didn't occur to her to do anything but rush out and head to the lobby to await her fellows. Seated in the main area of the inn, Aura clicked the safety catch for her rifle off and worked the bolt, chambering a round, which no doubt would've scared the bar patrons had the few souls in the room been conscious enough to be aware of it. Looking around, she had to admit this was definitely a dramatic opening that was worthy of the novel-esque story this seemed to be becoming! Oh, Aura was so excited, a last minute escape, and perhaps a near miss would lead one of her comrades to discover their feelings for another! Ooohh, so exciting!

However, Aura had to consider her experience in mercenary work as well, after all it hadn't all been just for the World Court, and whether she liked it or not she'd been on her own for the better part of fourteen years. She knew she'd have to protect her fellow teammates with deadly fire if they were to have any hope of discovering their feelings for one another ("Though I guess first they need to learn each others' names...and mine!!") This in mind, she carefully slid the window open ever so slightly, bracing the rifle on the sill and scanning through her scope, waiting to hear the sounds of her new-found companions being roused from their rooms and coming downstairs.

Ekaterine woke up as soon as she heard the first knock, with her knife on her hand ready to attack.
For good or for bad, Kat had a very light sleep, thanks for her line of work.

"They've arrested the General! You have to fucking go!" She heard the man saying in a frantic voice.

Quickly changing her clothes, she couldn't help but get really excited about the way things were going.
"Its getting even better." she thought to herself with a grin.
"I was right to accept this mission." she thought chuckling.
Without the general, Ekaterine was in fact very curious on how the team would proceed on their mission.

"The Ascendó is in Dock B, Port 7! It's a few minutes walk from here, and practically deserted, you can't miss it!"
Kat was already ready to go when she heard those words. Putting her knife on the sheath and her rifle on her back, she knocked on Ariah's door, calling him.

"Wake up Ariah, things are getting more interesting by the second." she said, gently knocking on his door. He probably had also heard what happened, so she didn't bothered to explain the situation again.
"I will be waiting for you on the main hall. Don't be late."

Differently from some others, Kat was very calm. She wasn't worried about the General being arrested or anything, in fact, she wanted to take her time to give a good look at the other members from IRIO and analyze them. Walking down to the main hall, she calmly waited for Ariah and her companions, when suddenly, the familiar sound of the bolt of a rifle putting a bullet on the chamber interrupted her. It came from the tiny, delicate girl from the day before. Apparently, she wasn't as inoffensive as she seemed.

Standing up and walking near her, Kat watched as she slid the window open just a bit, using the scope on her rifle to scan the area. The way she held the rifle was a clear indication that she wasn't a beginner.
"Well, I must admit that I was fooled by your delicate and inoffensive appearance." she said to her with a brief chuckle.
"Ekaterine Volkov, I believe we haven't been formally introduced." she said sitting on a chair and calmly waiting for the others.

Ariah was fast asleep face down on his bed and damn near smothered in the thralls of his pillow when the frightened knocks came on his door. They woke him from his slumber sure, but it wasn't exactly a graceful awakening. His back arched and the look on his face was one of almost dishevelment, his drooped eyes, messed hair, and one may even say a small bit of drool on the edge of his lip. No matter his current state though he still manged to say, "Wha-I... Where are... ok..." Before flopping back down onto the bed unmoving.

It wasn't until a few moments later when the words that were said sunk into his tired brain and like a bat out of Hell he shot up again, but this time his eyes were wide awake. Leaping from the covers and going for his gear he started to not only dress himself but ensure that he was set and ready should any sort of conflict come. As he was lacing up his boots, gun at his feet and ready to kill, Kat knocked on his door saying her piece, [color=blute]"I'll be there soon! Just stay out of trouble! We don't need things getting worse!"[/color] He shouted back, finishing with his boots and holstering his pistol. With his swords drawn to his hips and his traveler's cloak strapped over his entire frame he started to run down the stairs, finding the state in which the rest of his would be gang were in.

It wasn't exactly what he expected, but he should have knowing Kat and her relative 'fuck it' attitude. The cute girl from before that Kat made a snark comment about to him in a VAIN effort to embarrass him was lock, loaded and ready to kill by the looks of it. "See anything?" Ariah asked to her since she was the one so far to gauge their situation outside.

Meanwhile he walked over to Kat saying, "You don't seem heated. Come on though, at least be a little ready. We've got a place to be and by the sounds of it we should really think about getting there soon." From there he turned more to the crowd of people in the main hall and continued on to say, "If things are going as we've heard it may even be a good idea to split up and leave inconspicuously in small groups or just an individuals. It would attract less attention." From there he made a gesture to Kat to look for some response. Whether it was her standing up to leave with him or suggest something else.

Daniel had reached the docks an hour ago, in preparation for the mission, and was well into cleaning his carbine when he received word of the General's arrest. His initial instinct had, of course, been to embark immediately on a rescue mission - after all, seldom do the captives of the Heavens' Eyes live long under their influence - but he soon recognised the fruitlessness of that sentiment, and abandoned it.

The mission was more important. What good would the General be if the Eversky was plunged into war anyway?

Plus, with the General having been arrested - a radical move on the part of the Eyes - chances were good that the Solace peacekeepers would find themselves presided over, or replaced entirely by the Heavens' Eyes' soldiers, and the Inquisitors.

Which, naturally, meant that Daniel knew to expect the Heavens' Eyes to move on the Ascendó itself.

Quietly, he positioned himself behind the port side barrier, and raised his recently reassembled carbine rifle to it, taking aim at the ramp down to the dockyard, in anticipation of the arrival of the Eyes' forces - or, Clouds help us, the Inquisitors.

Walking out of his room, Cole glanced around. The corridor was empty - and all but two doors were ajar. The others had most likely left before him, then.
Walking downstairs, he saw three of the others readying their weapons... preparing to fight... would it really need to come to that?
"We can't just slip out the back door or anything?" he asked.