When I regain consciousness, I feel gentle slaps on my cheek. Each paddling of the cheek stings a bit from the scar tissue. The sensation of low-intensity pain gradually gives me life. Whoever is doing this must be exceptionally bold, or incredibly stupid.

“Madame…—Madame…..—Madame…!” The sound of someone calling out to me. I open my eyes and see a distorted figure standing over me.

“Nghh…!” I shield my scarred face to prevent any more of these unnecessary slaps, and the figure sighs in relief.

“Oh…!” They gasp in surprise. My hearing has gradually come back, and it seems as though it was rather feminine.

Olga?

Craning my neck up, I could tell that this colossal being is indeed Olga. She looks surprised all right. If I had to guess, she must still be intoxicated.

“Did I hurt you, Madame?” She asks worryingly.

“No… I am fine. The pain jolted me awake. Are we back on the Castelforte?” Looking around, Olga and I are the only ones present in the MAPPA-1. It seems even the pilots are gone.

“Yes, you arrived not too long ago. I stopped by as soon as I was notified. Sergi informed me you had passed out from exhaustion, then went on ahead to the bridge.”

“I… see.”

“…Are you all right, Madame? To pass out right after a coup…

“What exactly happened at the Brunsbüttel?”

I take a few minutes explaining to Olga my discussions with Simon, and how I failed to take into consideration the influence of Kamon Hwang, the legal wife of Dong Zhui. More importantly, how we narrowly avoided a bloodbath had Simon not been the right person at the right time.

“Madame Hwang, huh…” Olga muses as she slides into the seat next to me and shifts into a thinking posture, “I never would have considered the possibility that she is a threat, myself. Leave it to no one but master Simon to showcase brilliant intrigue. I suppose this coup d'etat was doomed from the start…” Olga chuckles lightly. “I am grateful to Simon for releasing you without sparking an incident, I don’t know what I would’ve done, Madame…” Olga leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder.

“Simon remarked there will be unforeseen consequences once this Federation threat is over. I fear this is the beginning of the end for me, Olga.”

Olga places a hand on top of my own and gives it a squeeze. “Whatever happens, I will be with you to the very end, Madame.” Olga remarks sheepishly—is she still intoxicated after all this time?!

“Don’t make me emotional, Olga…”

“I could very well say the same to you.” She replies with a small chuckle.

We sit there, alone, in silent bliss for what seems like forever. But we are soon interrupted by a knock at the ramp door. Turning my head, I can make out the gruff-looking Sergi. “I see you have woken up, Madame. The men on the bridge are inquiring when you want the fleet to set out for Valspon.”

I can’t help but heave a sigh. “They are that eager to be let loose on the Federation, I take it…” Having a bloodthirsty crew can be rather troublesome. I suppose I understand their sentiment; our flesh and blood are being cut down without remorse as we speak, and here I am thinking I can take the easy way out; that is to spare any more bloodshed being spilled. At the end of the day, there is no choice but to give in their warmongering instincts. Fate just has more things in mind for me.

“Inform the fleet I will permit two more hours of rest… perhaps three. After that, prepare all hands for battle stations and proceed to the Valspon hyper lane at cruise speed.”

“Yes, Madame— Oh, before I forget…”

“Hmm?”

“It seems Simon has sent a gift to you… the possession of the Taiga battleship and a few of its escorts.” The name makes me wince. How many years has it been since Sergi and I have stormed that dreaded thing? The source of those everlasting resentful dreams? “Do you wish to transfer your command over to the Taiga? Unless you had someone else in mind.”

“I believe either you or Olga can take command of it. I will stay here on theCastelforte.”

“Actually, I will take command of my ship, the Hugh. So…” Sergi adds quickly.

“Then I suppose it is settled, Olga—I don’t mean to cut our reunion short, but could you make your way to the Taiga as soon as you can?”

Olga grumbles under her breath but does not otherwise protest her assignment. “If that is what you wish, Madame, then I’ll hurry over to it.” If I believed my ears just now, it sounded like Olga was a little bitter. Olga gets up and exits the shuttle—but not before bumping shoulders with Sergi, nearly knocking him over.

“…I never imagined you would upset Olga, you, of all people.”

“What do you mean, Sergi?” He only gives me a blank look and laughs it off. “Think nothing of it, Li, you’re still an innocent maiden at heart.” And before I can even think about asking—the man departs, leaving me alone in the darkly lit passenger cabin.

With a moment to myself I think about everything that has transpired up until now. The coup has backfired, and the only thing left to do now is fight. I suppose it is better than an armed struggle, and Simon was right; even if by chance I did seize the capital and fight off Kamon’s forces, there’s no telling I would be able to even get amnesty from the Federation forces. Simon truly is a force to be reckoned with.

“Well then…” I heave myself up and dust off my poncho in the process, and use one of the chairs as support in light of the sudden lightheartedness.

It wouldn’t hurt to see Olga off and apologize for whatever it is that I did to upset her. Maybe ordering her to go on the Taiga was a bad idea after all?

Olga was standing outside of a nearby shuttle, getting a few of her adjutants to go along with her.

“Olga!” I call out to her, and she turns with a rather serious face—but it softens when she notices me. “Ah, Madame…ah?!”

I throw myself at Olga into a tight embrace. Her arms wrap around me as well. “…I didn’t upset you earlier, did I?” I mumble after a few moments of silence.

“Perish the thought, Madame— I was just slightly upset that I wasn’t sober enough to cherish the moment.”

“You make up the wildest of excuses…” But deep down, I’m relieved it wasn’t directed at me. I can’t stand the thought of Olga being upset with me.

She strokes the back of my hair, “it is no excuse, Madame, I have no reason to hide anything from you.”

Olga beams with a smile as she steps onto the shuttle’s ramp door away from me.

“Don’t give me that look, it’s not like this is the last time we’ll ever see each other—we’ll still have to keep in touch… how else are you going to give orders to the fleet?” She says with a laugh.

Keep in touch… a little bit of relief from those words. I catch one last glimpse of the blonde amazon as the shuttle door seals tight behind her. I take a few steps back as the shuttle fires up its engines and departs the hanger for the Taiga.

“Take care, Olga…”

And with that, I spin around and head for the bridge.

Our deliberations here at Lübeck have finally come to pass. No more hesitations; in a few hours’ our fleet will set sail for the relief of Valspon—and with it, the confrontation with the Federation force.