Lilas
Deep within the Trials of Winter, Lilas' plan was fully underway. Two uniformed men sat across from eachother in an enclosed room, surrounded by audio and recording machines of high caliber. They wore heavy-looking headphones, holding two identical slips of paper in hand. The scripts for the subterfuge they were to perform.
"Force One, requesting assistance from Homebase. The raid has failed - we have sustained heavy damage." The first man spoke, his voice sounded akin to crushed rocks, and had a distinctive twang to it. All an act, of course - but hopefully a convincing one. It was much easier for a skilled Transcendent agent to mimic the voices and mannerisms of an inferior human than it was for them to mimic a Transcendent.
"You are not secured, Force One. Run your communications through the required scrubbing before further contact." The second man spoke, playing the part of an operator within Albion. His rank was lower - and he was still new to his role in disinformation, so he maintained a steadier tone of voice more typical of Transcendent beings. After all, Albion was a heaven for traitors of both races.
"We can't do that, Homebase, most of our equipment was damaged. Listen - we're using the code and everything. We're limping over here, and we're being chased by a Transcendent ship. Requesting immediate assistance." The first man retorted, a well-performed bluster creeping into his voice.
To their sides, a stern-looking woman held up a finger, her shoulder adorned with the significant rank of Lieutenant - and was the one in charge of the disinformation department.
"We get all that?" She called, addressing a trio of lower-ranked technicians in the room.
"Every word, Lieutenant."
"Perfect. Broadcast it quickly. We're short on time, here - we need to have the boarding script done before the marines arrive." She ordered, and the two actors slipped their headphones back on as the technicians in the side of the room hurriedly worked on their consoles.
By now, the transmissions should have started. The marines would arrive in less than an hour. They'd 'liberate' the ship in another hour. Three to four hours total for the sabotage and information teams to concoct a story about an ill-fated vessel. Three to four hours for those pilots to somehow incite conflict between Albion and the Organum.
Three to four hours he would be spending in this horrible, dreadful tribunal, not knowing the outcome of his fleet's labors. 'Ahead' of him sat six prominent military figures - three were human, and the other three were his superiors. For almost three minutes, the tribunal had consisted of rough coughing and hushed discourse amongst the two groups - as if this were supposed to be a real courtroom without a jury, or even audience to see the proceedings.
One of the human generals cleared his throat.
"Transcendent Captain Lilas Shelby Setoen. You are held in contempt of Article five..."
The man had hardly said a sentence, and Lilas was already missing a direct battlefield as the man began to rattle off numbers and names of legal documentation.
"The crimes are as follows; breach of a wartime ceasefire treaty, invasion of human domestic territory, sabotage of civilian infrastructure, sabotage of military infrastructure. Do you accept or deny these allegations?"
Lilas met the hard general's gaze when he spoke his reply, "I deny these accusations. Neither I nor anyone under my command are responsible for the unfortunate attack upon Humanity."
"I told you. They always prefer the hard way." The left-most general said, her voice so low as to be indistinguishable.
Amelia
Amelia was growing tired. It wasn't enough that she had to map an entire colony by herself - but, according to the older woman defiantly staring towards her - she was to pay tolls. Ahead of her was a large gate - a gate she was sure she could easily break through. But, then again, such destructive sorts of behaviors would ensure that the Organum's stay would likely be very brief.
Behind her, Bing was on a knee - she had clambered down from the cockpit to haggle with this woman. Of course - she assumed they were haggling. She couldn't understand a word of the woman's language, and every time she added a bill (from her own pocket, mind you!) the woman seemed dissatisfied.
This has to be because I'm military. Amelia thought. You'd think that people would be kinder to a pilot from the one organization saving them from utter ruin.
The one-sided exchange was abruptly halted when the young pilot heard a beeping from the cockpit. Taking the offered cash and leaving the now-infuriated woman, she scrambled up convenient rungs on Bing's leg and chest, slipping into the head with a semi-practiced ease.
One of the sensors had picked up a larger moving object, apparently. Of course, checking it now meant whatever had momentarily appeared was now likely hidden in one of the numerous dark and darker zones within Albion.
Of course, she hadn't seen a whole lot of ships or even trucks running through this urban-looking area. Perhaps it was the size and shape of the buildings - flying would be nearly impossible through this area. And with the streets as they were, most large haulers could not pass either. Amelia could barely manage at times with a much more nimble Harbinger, after all.
Wouldn't hurt to check it out, though. Chances are, it might be related with local syndicate operation - and she doubted any time spent on information for that would be considered wasted time.
The last time it had appeared, the blip was south to her current location. So, spurring Bing back into life, she began the process of attempting to track it down.