“Darling, Kitra. It is so good to see you alive.”

  Wadaw embraced the brown-skinned woman and placed his forehead on his own. Her light-brown lips curled up into a faint smile while Wadaw stroked her thinly-braided hair. “Somehow,” was all she said before pulling away from him. The men of RED-2 stood behind her with the women of RED-4 working on a large domed machine not too far away.

  Kitra soon became aware of the crowd around all of them again. Her eyes fell onto Prism, then narrowed. She couldn’t understand how she could both see and not see the light-gray haze he’d filled the valley they stood in with. She didn’t like having mysterious forces of questionable safety acting upon her body, but even she was happy with the literal fog of war that sheltered their army.

  “Thanks for the escort.” Ursun said to one of the guerrillas they’d met at the warehouse. Ursun and his allies had been led a kilometer deeper into the suburban area by the guerrillas until they’d met up with the thousands gathered in what was one of Zazi’s many parks.

  “Twins guide you.” The guerrilla said, his fingers raised in the shape of a “V” up at the sky. The slender man and his group then disappeared into the crowd that began to form around RED-1, Mela, and Wadaw.

  “What a happy little reunion.” Ruz leaned forward towards Kitra and said with a toothy grin. Kitra pushed him away and practically snarled at him. “Down, girl!” He laughed.

  “Kudos to you for putting up with him for so long.” Ursun said to Kitra.

  “It hasn’t even been a week, you dolt.” Ruz raised his voice at Ursun. Ruz would have poked the man if Kitra hadn’t been in the way. He considered shoving her aside, but thought better of it. She'd probably shoot him, he thought.

  “Six days have been more than enough time, thank you very much.” Kitra said with a shake of her head. “Speet was a delight, though.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Speet bowed slightly at her. She saw him out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. She thought the goofy-faced man was very cute for some reason, despite him being twice her size.

  “We got here last night. Rode in on a "donated" troop transport." Cril, Ruz's second-in-command said quietly while wiping sweat from his brow. His wet face, dark as charcoal, glinted in the mid-morning sun.

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  "Donated?" Srell asked. He was always surpised to hear how high-pitched Cril's voice was, but it was sure to get Srell's attention. In Esdegon, a man using such a voice would have gotten that man beaten, even if Cril was more muscular than most men in Srell's birth nation.

  "Yes, at gunpoint." Utcao, the smallest and skinniest member of Ruz's team, said. The men of RED-2 laughed like a bunch of jocks making a dirty joke in a locker room.

  "Ugh, men." Qisyit said as she approached their lively group while there was still space for her to do so. Her orange jumpsuit was missing a few of the tools it'd had when they were all back in the True Twins cave system. She twirled the braided bang that hung down in front of her dirty face as though she was bored.

  "Keep this area clear!" Wadaw yelled out to the men and women that had begun to congregate around Prism and the rest of them. The group immediately complied with his command and started to step back, though their eyes remained on Prism and his allies. Prism simply stood by silently and observed his surroundings. He scarcely had the mental fortitude to do much else with how little sleep he'd gotten.

  "You all made it out here, too?" Leanna asked Qisyit and pointed over to the female engineers of RED-4.

  "We were given an express trip here in a shipping truck courtesy of the "Gospel", as the guerillas in this region call themselves." Qisyit pointed her thumb back at a few vehicles parked a dozen meters away. "There are True Twins from all over Sguvi here. They each have their own regional quirks, but they’re still fighting together, somehow."

  "Oh, there's still in-fighting, trust me." Mela said while she stepped forward and gestured around at the army to Qisyit. "The biggest problem we'll encounter after toppling Gusa's regime is quelling all the counter-revolutions that'll break out across our liberated nation. Our “regional differences” will quickly become irreconcilable."

  "Any news about the peace summit?" Lorias asked Kitra. He wanted to get things back on mission, as did Ursun.

  "Ship incoming." Prism interrupted. He broadcast his voice across the entirety of the park using his fog as a medium.

  Everyone looked up at the sky, waiting for some visual sign of the vessel. Just as voices of confusion began to speak, a rumble began to be felt in the chests of everyone within the large area. It was the telltale sign of a large airship. Its engines pulsed in the air, sending out infrasonic waves in all directions.

  “There.” Prism pointed up towards the western sky.

  Right as Prism raised his finger, a large area of the sky shimmered like sliver glitter falling beneath a spotlight. A massive oblong ship with a golden, gleaming surface revealed itself to the crowd. Its svelte form seemed to glide through the air despite it being an 100-meter long cylindrical object with no discernable mechanism of flight that Prism could see. To him, it was yet another highly advanced piece of Kingdom technology that threatened to kill him and everyone around him at a moment's notice.

  "That must be the ship transporting the diplomats." Wadaw was the first to say within their group.

  "Its one hell of a ride!" Ruz said with a whistle.

  "Try not to sound so impressed. Its Kingdom-tech, after all." Ursun said to his would-be rival.

  "It looks familiar...doesn't it?" Leanna said with a tilt of her head. She placed her slender gloved fingers on her cheek and quietly pored over her memories.

  "Yeah, you're right..." Srell nodded to her.

  "The speedsub...the one back in Getla Base." Lorias pointed up at the ship, then traced out the shape of the remembered speedsub's conning tower that was missing from the top of the ship that flew overhead.

  "My goodness, you're right!" Leanna furrowed her brow and nodded profusely. "It's been modified a bit, but I'd bet that it is the same ship!"

  They all stared up at the airship while it flew over their heads and onwards to the center of Zazi.