“A fair wind blows upon us,” Marie said. A few hours had passed since their departure from the Worldshaper’s Divine Kingdom, but for some reason, the borders of the Republic were already in sight. The unit stationed at World’s End Chasm was already pinging Marie, and it wouldn’t be long before a welcome party showed up.

“Maybe the Breath-Maker decided to look favourably on our return,” Aziz mused out loud. It wasn’t just flying at higher speeds; the air resistance they had to face while flying had been reduced considerably. The Shell wasn’t even affected, despite Aziz’s speed being boosted by Marie — such a thing could only be attributed to advantageous weather conditions.

“Border Control’s been busy recently,” Marie said. “Remember those refugees we escorted? The bunch we called the Ars Tribe? Some of them came to approach us recently. Turns out that there’s the possibility for another bunch of them to show up, a bunch called the, uhh, Ark Tribe.”

“The Ark Tribe?” Aziz laughed. “Seems like a popular word nowadays. Ark City, the Ark…now we have the Ark Tribe.”

“The Ark?” Marie slowed down slightly. “Right, the teleportation formation that sent a whole bunch of civilians off first. Was it ever related to that grand teleportation the city had?”

“I think so,” Aziz replied. Rumour back then had it that Ark City’s only otherworlder, someone whose title wasn’t even made known, had designed a formation so mighty that it could physically bring the whole city to another continent. Most people had disregarded it, thinking of it as some disinformation designed to lure fleeing beastfolk to reinforce the prime target of the Second Extermination.

Some people in the Republic definitely believed that too. But when Ark City vanished, any such sceptics also vanished overnight. Aziz rubbed his chin and said, “I know the kids of the major players left first, right before the Second Extermination ended, heading towards the Wildlands, where they set up a temporary base camp.”

“That’s all you know?” Marie asked.

“I was just a piddling NCO back then,” Aziz replied. “Besides, it’s not like you knew any better either, did you?”

“Is that how you speak to your Chief of Air?”

“Well, if you can demote me and free me from some paperwork…”

“You and that damned paperwork.” Marie laughed. “I too want to be free of paperwork. This so-called holiday took longer than we expected. Mountains of documents are probably sitting on our tables and gathering dust. The captains probably issued at least fifty or so extra duties too.”

“For Stardust, maybe.” Aziz shook his head. “But that’s not going to be the case of Thunderbolt. You underestimate your charisma, the collective will of Thunderbolt in not making me angry, as well as in not disappointing you.”

“Here we go again.”

Before Aziz could embark on his usual explanation about the soldiers of Thunderbolt looking up to her, their welcome party had finally arrived.

“Republic Border Control. Welcome back to the Republic, Marshal Marie, Colonel Aziz.” A woman, wearing the chevrons that were unique to NCOs, saluted the two of them. “I’m Second Sergeant Livia, acting sergeant major of Republic Border Control. Welcome back.”

“A new face, eh?” Marie nodded. Together with Aziz, she returned the salute. “Has Thunderbolt and Stardust caused any trouble for you guys?”

“No, ma’am. They’ve been training at their assigned areas peaceably,” Sergeant Livia replied. “We do hear a lot about you, and the colonel too.”

“I don’t eat people for lunch,” Aziz said with a smile. “Nor do I make them crawl on wet ground while shooting training bolts at them every Monday.”

The sergeant blinked twice, and Marie laughed. “You’re confusing the poor sergeant. Don’t mind Colonel Aziz, he loves his jokes.”

“Right,” said Aziz, “what’s this about an acting sergeant major? Is there no warrant officer here right now?”

“Warrant Officers Titania and Oberon were recalled to train Stardust,” Sergeant Livia replied.

“Those old coots are training Stardust?” Aziz blinked, and after a few moments, burst out into laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Marie asked.

“Oh, Stardust is in for it,” Aziz replied. “They got the frontliners of the Second Extermination to ideate and train Stardust? The State Council really is a monstrous bunch. They don’t want soldiers, apparently. They want elite warriors.”

“You know them?” Sergeant Livia asked.

“Warrant Officers Titania and Oberon trained my batch when I was still a scout,” Aziz replied. “When Lyseria fell, back in the Second Extermination, they mustered up the stragglers and tied down the Assembly’s supply line with guerrilla warfare for a few years on end.”

“And then they showed up at Camp Napolean and trained the ground troops, right?” Marie continued. “Now that you mention them, I do remember looking at their dossiers. I wanted to pick them as trainers, but at that time both husband and wife were already taken.”

“Well, you can rest happy now, then.” Aziz grinned widely. “Now, we just need to pay attention to Stardust’s training. These two guys might overdo it, so you have to be ready to step in.”

Marie gazed at Aziz. “The Colonel Aziz warning me about overdoing training? That’s a first.”

“I’m not that harsh!”

Aziz rolled his eyes and surveyed the World’s End Chasm. Hundreds of apparently upgraded Limitless Shots — or whatever new name the brains at Interregnum had come up with — were sitting under equally many tents, each of them pointed in the direction of Liamar’s Divine Kingdom. In the air, patrols of seven each took off and landed every fifteen minutes, replaced by another, similarly-sized group.

It was another day at the Republic’s borders, apparently.

“Let’s get checked in quickly,” Marie said. “Aziz, check up on Thunderbolt. I’ll take a look at Stardust myself.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She turned to Sergeant Livia. “Sergeant, let’s get cracking.”

“Yes. Please follow me.”