Anarchy is the mother of order.

[Nika]

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13th of August, 826 A.S.
North York Moors, Leeds rural area.

The rurals have remained silent throughout the past couple days - resistance and royalists likely lost interest to the place; one, having the locals evacuated elsewhere, did not plan to put any efforts into reestablishing this outpost, and the Gauls seemed to have no interest in places where the resistance have not entrenched themselves. In that regard, their lack of interest have played in favor of Emilie-Sophie, that allowed her to make herself comfortable in that house on the outskirts with the partially collapsed roof. Prior to that - she took her time to dump all the bodies in one of the IFVs and started it's engines, leading in the direction of the moors - the dead will forever be buried in the shallow waters.

Various emergency broadcasts on specific frequencies have indicated certain concerning signs - Leeds is now surrounded by a ring of ships outfitted specifically for orbital bombardments. The Gauls were desperate, if anything, and prepared the ground for a massive withdrawal of assets - that's what one would assume should he be familiar with the recent news to even a smallest extent. All Royal Navy battlegroups concentrated in New London have moved to the planet and breached it's seemingly impenetrable defense; the final act of the play that lasted for almost a decade have now ensued in the high orbit of New London.
What happens to Leeds will not matter in the long run, Belmond will be long gone before one of the tyrant fleets is set ablaze and it's debris will burn in the atmosphere of the capital world of Bretonia.

Belmond have been spending few hours per day upstairs, observing the surroundings - her promised gift should be arriving any moment today, and her usually calm attitude changed to nervous. Nothing should've gone wrong, and De Belmond have supposedly been prepared for the odds... but she was used to always expect the worst.

* * * * *

She woke up to a roaring, rising sound of what seemed to be the rumbling of a shuttle CNOS engine. She could easily distinguish it from the military-grade engine. The dusk have steadily fell onto the rurals, and the descending shuttle was well seen against the darkening sky; Belmond have the house that served her as a shelter through the few past days, her jet black suit disguised her well enough for her to stay unnoticed, and only the blinking dim lights have revealed someone else's presence in the dark. Emilie unholstered her gun, and pressed herself against the shuttle at the cargo compartment door - this was the most common and convenient way to leave the ship.
The door have opened, a brighter light lit up the surrounding, and a single silhouette left the compartment. For a few moments, Emilie-Sophie have listened carefully - in hope that there is no one inside - except the pilot, but dealing with him should not be a trouble.

"Now stop in your toes. Put your hands up, slowly. You're on my sight." Emilie approached the silhouette, the barrel of her oldschool firearm pistol buried in his back. Her voice was quiet, she did not want to attract attention of anyone from the inside. The cargo compartment was empty, however, so all her nervousness was meaningless. "Turn around and walk. Keep your hands up. Stop in the cockpit." The engineer have silently obeyed all the commands, with her footsteps echoing inside the ship - the cargo compartment doors have automatically closed as the people walked inside up the ramp. "Back so soon, Marcel? Are we ready to--"
The pilot never got to finish the sentence - as he turned around, his face met the barrel of the firearm pistol, a gunshot echoed through the cockpit, pilot's blood have sprinkled the control panel. De Belmond have pushed the engineer into the seat in the cargo compartment - apparently, it was refitted for personnel transportation instead of regular shipments, and that played at the hand of De Belmond. "Sit tight, do not misbehave - and i might consider letting you go - after you do what i have invited you for." Emilie took a few spare moments to open the rear door and dispose of the pilot's corpse, leaving it in on the ground, locking down the bay and heading over to his seat - it was time to get the bird flying, it's transponder signal and Belmond's knowledge of Marine Royale friend or foe identification system was enough to cause little to no trouble with departing the planet surface. The engines have started, the shuttle took off, it shook - and Belmond have set course for the extraction point.

* * * * *

The shuttle bursted out from the atmosphere, it took him a few moments to stop shaking and stabilise. All the emergency indicators that lit red a moment ago, now went dark, and all the systems were nominal as Emilie-Sophie ran her gaze over the indicator panel. What mattered the most - the communications, previously jammed, have now been indicated as working. Not hesitating a single moment, De Belmond have sent a short message over a secure frequency.
"Dreamer, this is Loire. The gift have been picked up. Stray sheep is heading back to the flock. Expect them soon."
De Belmond have cut the comms and set course to Charost, not trusting the autopilot to handle the flight and controlling it's every moment manually.

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Peace, being the distant dream it is, comes inevitably, and goes hand in hand with justice.
Cursed be the war.

Heroes never die! @Vitoniz30