“So,” said the Paragon, “how did Thunderbolt make the trip here? The journey from the South to the East takes at least days on end. How did you get past the issue of sleep and food?”

Colonel Aziz felt a light touch on his back, and he answered Paragon Ying Xin’s question. “We had a bunch of inflatable, small boats. Each of them could house a squad. A company has sixteen squads, so our Thunderbolt brought seventy along to act as beds and reserves on the sea.”

The Paragon pushed a door open. “And the food?”

“Pre-packed rations,” Aziz replied. “That reminds me — your canteen is going to be overrun by a horde of hungry soldiers starving for real food. You might want to make some preparations.”

“You heard him,” said Paragon Ying Xin, her eyes on one of the people following their little group. “Go make sure there isn’t a riot during dinner.”

“Yes, ma’am.” One of them scooted off as fast as he could, barrelling around a corner at high speeds. For some reason, the colonel had the feeling that the Paragon in front of them had some violent tendencies, but since he valued his health, it wasn’t something he wanted to voice. Or think, for that matter.

“Were there any other difficulties during the trip?” She asked.

“Morale problems, usually,” said Colonel Aziz. “But once we’re in the middle of the sea, you can’t really say ‘I quit’, so the kids got over it after a while. And it’s a good bonding exercise too. My guys rarely sleep this closely together — even in their bunks, they have a good amount of space to themselves.”

“Must be a rather…fun experience,” said the Paragon.

“Couple of fights here and there, but no one dared to rock the literal boat,” Aziz answered. “Of course, we still had some clumsy guys who fell into the water, which netted him his very own boat…and a nasty night of shivers.”

“He was crying the next day,” Marie supplied. “Took me a few minutes to calm him down.”

“We might need to think of more ways for long distance movements, then,” said the Paragon. “How about monsters?”

“Monsters?” Aziz replied. “No. I posted guards, as customary, but if there were monsters, they didn’t bother us at all. We could have been lucky regarding this aspect, so more research and field-testing is required.”

“Field-testing…” Ying Xin shook her head. “Great. More things to push our attack back.”

“Better safe than sorry, however,” Marie answered. “The last thing you want is to appear on the battlefield with no supplies and only half the men.”

“I think I read a treatise on that,” said the Paragon.

“It’s from one of the many books Lunaris left behind. The Art of War, I think,” replied Marie. “The champion was a genius in military strategy and logistics.”

“I browsed through that a few decades ago,” said the Paragon. “The name’s rather catchy, so it’s rather hard to forget.”

Decades? Aziz wanted to ask the Paragon her age, but the words of the now-Captain Augustus, Commander of Thunderbolt’s Charlie Company, echoed in his head, sound advice about what not to ask a woman…and at the top of the list was their age. His reason took over, and the colonel snapped his mouth shut with such ferocity that everyone turned to look at him in surprise.

“Is something wrong?” Marie asked.

Thoughts flashed through Aziz’s mind, faster than the projectiles from Thunderbolt’s Straight Shots, and the man wildly improvised. “I was awestruck by the scenery here.”

Marie eyed their current location, the inwards of a drab, dull building, and arched an eyebrow. “Awestruck.”

“Yes.” Aziz kept his game face on, and nodded with as much seriousness as he did when addressing Thunderbolt. “Awestruck.”

“I see,” Marie replied. “You have very…eclectic tastes. To each his own, I suppose, but don’t go turning my office into this sad place.”

She paused. “No offence, Paragon Ying Xin.”

“You speak your mind. I like it.” The Paragon looked around the room. “This place seriously is drab though. Your vice-commander is really, really weird. Do we have extra budget to change this place around? This place really gets to me, now that I’m aware of it.”

“I’m sure we can squeeze out something,” said a woman. “If it so pleases you.”

“I’m certain that the others working in this sad place will appreciate a makeover too,” said Ying Xin. “This has got to affect productivity. It’ll affect mine if I had such a dull place to work in to.”

After arranging a makeover, Paragon Ying Xin led them through the building, and into another pagoda, where she stopped at the entrance. “This place is where the Knights dwell. I suspect the two of you are going to pay this place a few visits in the course of your stay here, so do memorise the path well.”

She nodded at the clerk manning the counter as she stepped inside. “The lower floors are reserved for males. The higher ones for the girls. The former, obviously, cannot step into the areas designated for girls, so don’t try it unless you want to get beaten up.”

“Got it,” said Marie. She exchanged glances with Aziz, who saw a hint of confusion in her eyes. “But what are we doing here?”

“The idiots in the Plenum don’t really read things,” said the Paragon, as she led them into a small room of sorts. There was a panel of buttons, and she pressed one in the middle, before pressing another. The doors slid close, and with a jerk, the entire room began to move physically upwards.

“What is this?” Marie asked, clearly unperturbed.

“An elevator,” Ying Xin replied. “Better than stairs, although it is also rarely used, since most people here just fly to their rooms.”

The doors parted to reveal a hallway that reminded Aziz of a barracks. Paragon Ying Xin strode out of the elevator, heading towards a room. No matter how the colonel looked at it, however, the whole venue wasn’t a good place to store a weapon as destructive as what they’d seen earlier, but it wasn’t the colonel’s place to voice such words.

Eventually, after a minute or so, she stopped at a door and knocked. “It’s me.”

“The door isn’t locked,” a youthful voice replied. “Come in!”

Paragon Ying Xin pushed the door open, leading the two into the room, where a familiar face seared itself into Aziz’s vision. His breathing turned erratic as things began to fall neatly into place in his mind. He knew who that was.