[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5502357][img]https://i.imgur.com/lUzaCyp.png[/img][/url][/center]
[center][h3]--Near Sapple Springs - Rest Stop--[/h3][/center]
After having her Aegis repaired by their squad leader, Valerie replied in kind by... shirking her nightwatch duties, being the only member of the squad to do so; not by choice obviously, her mistburn-wracked body couldn't wake up prematurely even if she wished to, that and the fact Astral Reducers had a sedative side-effect on her certainly didn't help her case.

Though she woke up as soon as she was able and resumed to being a useful member of the squad, helping with whatever chores and preparations needed to get them going. After everything was said and done, she was amongst the Barghests currently being addressed by one Director Veld, the one in charge of the Internal Investigative Branch, Rassvet's secret police force. The dark-haired man looked quite perplexed and stressed out, and considering everything, Valerie could empathize.

[color=b93bc2][b]"Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction, this is definitely one of those times, sir."[/b][/color] The white-haired WARDEN glanced at the princess, then mentally shrugged, believing the blonde woman was indeed Princess Collette. Then, she listened attentively as Director Veld briefed them on their next assignment, something that she already expected they should do for the sake of everyone involved, including Her Highness. [color=b93bc2][i]Guess we better keep an extra eye on Silje, huh?[/i][/color] What? The princess clearly could be relied on to not comically blunder into trouble, their battlemage on the other hand...

With the briefing done, Gerard's rhetorical quip aside, Morden responded with concerns of his own. The mountain of a soldier believed the diplomatic airship was hosting those warbots as a trap to unleash at the peace conference. The green-eyed vanguard obviously lacked trust in the empire and its people, even without the telekinetic message, and though Valerie wouldn't put it past Vangar's higher-ups to condone something like this... her guts were telling her that Morden was mistaken.

[color=b93bc2][b]"At the risk of playing Devil's Advocate, I believe the Palatine was truly an unarmed vessel designed for diplomatic purposes,"[/b][/color] The shortest WARDEN spoke in response to the tallest among them, [color=b93bc2][b]"The unknown airship that attacked us was capable of launching packed warbots as projectiles before they'd unpack themselves after landing. It's likely that they boarded the Palatine via this method. Related, if they were designed to survive a rough landing, then it shouldn't be too far-fetched to presume that they could withstand an airship crash and still be functional."[/b][/color]

Was she correct? Was Morden? She couldn't say for certain, but as much as she abhorred Vangar, Valerie felt that Collette was being betrayed by her own nation for their nefarious ends and through that belief came sympathy.