[Astral Harmony]

"Sargeant Tristam. Lance Corporal Lulu. We are beginning our approach to Red Island. Escort the prisoner to the deck in 15."

"Aye aya, ma'am." Lulu came to attention, turned and saluted the speaking tube just as Tristam emerged from the stairs with a plate of something that definitely looked prepared recently as opposed to the other meals Leraje had been served. The good smell had already reached his nose as Lulu unlocked the cell door. Both of them entered. Lulu bent over Leraje's cuffs and used a bejeweled key to undo the restaints. "Here, eat this. And once you listen to Colonel Ming on the island, then you can decide if your life really is only good for using without care and throwing away like an old rag."

-----

Nyam looked blankly at her new bracelet not unlike an archaeologist would peer at a priceless artifact that had taken years to find. Saren decided to speak in her stead. "The ship is perfectly fine, my lord. I don't see why it'd have problems. The GKS Luguro is the newest battleship of fourteen in our fleet, only about seven months old at this point."

"We are beginning our approach to Red Island. All docking parties report to the deck and stand by."

Saren put her hands on Nyam's shoulders and gently pushed her six feet towards the starboard side. "Pardon me, m'lord, but you may want to stand clear. I'll tell you why in just a moment."

A bridge was being manually extended from the port side as the ship slowed into dock. Suddenly, a booming voice blasted out of the darkness as one of the hatches nearly exploded open and a female centaur, armored in the Kingdom's colors and smiling with confidence, stampeded towards the bridge that was only halfway out. "MAKE A HOOOOOLE!!" Sulfurous cursing from the deck crew manning that bridge could be heard as the centaur galloped toward the bridge, showing no intention of stopping. The bridge crew braced. The centaur hit the edge of the bridge and jumped, just barely making it onto the dock. She didn't slow down and continued onwards towards the base camp.

Nyam finally managed to speak since receiving Douglas' gift. "One day she's gonna kill herself doing that."
"That would be Lieutenant Radian," Saren introduced the no-longer visible centaur. "Dutiful to a fault and addicted to military life if anyone can believe it. I heard she was allowed to join your search and rescue unit because there didn't seem to be a Breaker-class assigned yet. She's a powerful warrioress and graduated with high honors in the academy. She's not much in the brains department though, which explains why she never bothered to learn a lick of magic."

She pointed towards the base camp. "Lieutenant Radian will be back to escort everyone to go see Colonel Ming, the island camp's base commander. I'm sure the invitation didn't really give much in detail, but the colonel should be able to fill in all those gaps and then some."

-----

Richard looked annoyed at the sudden appearance of Hiro. "Yeah, this is the Luguro. Now buzz off, I'm a little busy here." He said, giving a not-so-subtle hint that he was about to get into Akane's worn out jeans.
Luco got closer to Hiro. "Hmmm...you must be Hiroko Dhoraillas, correct? You look exactly as you were described to me. Don't mind Richard too much. We're actually about to dock on Red Island, so you've made it just in time."