Fire in the Sky [Closed]

[Takes place some time after The Day They Come]

It had been awhile since the Chief Commander last visited Stahlmin. After the incident at the Unanimity Fair, he had spent several months trying to keep things under wraps. It didn't help that there had been a riot of sorts from the cordoned off witches in Estermount. The Expiate center in Leiger served as the main headquarters as well as his main residence, so people would assume he came back to finally take some time off. Of course, that was never the case with Richard. He had come here strictly to work.

At his behest, Inspector Jinn had been summoned from his usual post in Aldmerrow to Leiger as well. The Chief Commander seemed to have a meeting of sorts in place and certain individuals including Jinn were expected to head to the conference room on the third floor.

Richard, as per usual, was early, and was already sitting at the head of the table, papers in hand. He had several books stacked to his side as well as a large mug of coffee. His hair was slightly in disarray and the dark marks around his eyes even darker than usual. It had been another sleepless night, most likely.

A few minute after Richard had settled in, another figure came into the room. He wore a chestnut bown suit and a bowler hat over curly red hair. He hugged a folder to his side with his left arm while his right hand carried a mug with a doughnut inserted to the brink like a lemon wedge.

Officer Jinn saw the commander as he walked in and gave a proper yet casual salute.

"Good morning, sir," he greeted before picking a seat. "Quite sudden of you to call a meeting like this. I hope things have been going well."

Jinn would notice Richard jolt as he greeted him.

"Hm? What?" The Chief Commander said absently. His eyes looked around warily before landing on Jinn. "Oh...Inspector, it's just you."

Richard rubbed his eyes with one hand and shook his head. Had he been asleep or something?

The Chief Commander straightened up.

"Good morning," he said. "My apologies for summoning you here so abruptly. Traveling gave you no troubles I hope?"

He didn't bother answering whether things were going well. Richard spent most of last night listing down and sorting out everything that was not going well.

"Nothing I'm not used to," Jinn stated. He gave the commander a once over and slid his mug towards him. "You look like you need this more than me, sir. I hope you don't mind sweet coffee."

Jinn took off his hat and pulled out of it a lollipop he quietly unwrapped and popped in his mouth.

"So who else will be at this meeting?"

"Oh, that's quite fine, I have my own," Richard said raising his mug.

Jinn would see that the liquid inside looked almost completely black. Was...that even coffee he was drinking at this point?

"As for who's joining us, well.."

"Good morniiiiing~"

A soft and singsong voice hailed from the entrance. A small young woman stood in the doorway. Her attire wouldn't strike Jinn as that of a combat officer. Rather, what the woman wore seemed to be more clerical in nature. She wore a vest on the inside covering a shirt. Her coat, in contrast to the typical ones, reached up to her ankles and was white in color with blue trimmings instead. From the Expiate dress code, this looked more akin to the medical and research department. The woman looked young, probably in her early twenties, with bright red hair tied in a ducktail where the ends sprouted just at the top back of the girl's head.

"Ah, Jacqueline," Richard said. "You're here. Inspector, this is Dr. Jacqueline Gagne. I'm not sure if you've been briefed before, but she's our probationary employee. Jacqueline, this is Inspector Jinn. He's from our Aldmerrow division."

The petite woman made an ecstatic salute, albeit wrongly. The side of her hand covered her forehead completely.

"A pleasure meeting you, Inspector!" she said.

"Dr. Gagne is currently in charge of examining the mental condition of our officers," he said. "We're seeing if mental condition monitoring would be to the benefit of our officers by having its own private sub-department."

"Please, no need to call me Dr. Gagne," the woman said. "Calling me Pipi is fine."

Richard sighed.

"That sounds too informal," he frowned.

"Hm? But it's so fussy calling me such a long name," she said. "You don't expect me to write Chief Commander Veiller all the time, do you? That's why I settle for calling you Chief!"

Richard's eyes narrowed. Exasperation radiated from where he sat.

"Just come in here," he said. "We're starting soon."

"Oui, oui, mon ami~"

Pipi chose the seat next to the Inspector. With her squinted eyes, she beamed at him.

"I hope we get to know each other very well, Inspector," she said. "After all, even high-ranking officers need mental condition checks. Don't you think?"

Jinn blinked as the women came in. It wasn't often that medical officers were called in for a meeting. It was certainly a surprise that she worked in mental health. The Expiate never had such a department. The woman chose to sit next to him and he greeted her with a pleasant smile.

"Well I look forward to working with you Doc. You can just call me Jinn."

He rummaged inside his hat and pulled out another lollipop, an orange one, and offered it to Jaqualine. If she looked he had five other suckers tucked inside his hat.

"Jacqueline, stop trying to lure in clients," Richard said bluntly.

"Ehhh? I was just being nice!" Jacqueline said. "But very well, Inspector! Jinn it is! It's funny, it's almost like 'gin' the drink, isn't it. Or perhaps ginger?"

Her mind ended up distracted, however, when Jinn offered a lollipop. Almost instantly, her eyes opened and her bright eyes shone.

"Candy!" she said as she took it. "Oh, thank you very much!"

Jacqueline snatched the candy and popped it into her mouth. Richard sighed. She was just one of the tiring people who were coming in today.

Speaking of tiring...

"What a pain," a low, and sultry voice whined.

In the doorway, Inspector Jinn would see Delilah with her arms crossed. Her eyes were closed and there was a scowl on her face. Despite her crankiness and it being the wee hours of the morning, however, she still looked as beautiful as ever.

"Arthur nagged me to come here," she said. "Honestly, he has some nerve threatening to give me a warning of absence. Paperwork, maybe, I can forgive since I can pass it onto someone else, but forcing me into a meeting...sheesh."

"Captain," Richard said.

There was a shift in his tone to a far sterner one. Bitter, even.

"I wouldn't have asked you here if it wasn't important," he said. "The festival--"

"Yes, yes, we all know, the festival was a mess," she said, plopping herself into a chair across Jinn. "You messed up, I messed up, well messed up...But do you really need to bring us all here to yell that we screwed up?"

Richard glared.

"This isn't about mere scolding," he said. "We--"

Delilah yawned and leaned over the table, her elbows resting on it as she made eyes with Jinn.

"Oh, Inspector~" she said. Her voice shifted from being irritated, to almost delighted. She smiled, her bright pink lips curving elegantly. "Fancy seeing you around here. If I had known any better, I'd have come earlier. I missed seeing you around, you know~? Did you miss me while I was in duty in Leiger?"

"Nice to see you again, Captain," Jinn greeted pleasantly, making a motion as if tipping the hat he'd already taken off. "Things have been running smoothly in your absence, you need not worry. That said..."

Jinn leaned over, crossing his fingers in front of his mouth. His eyes had steeled as he stared at his own knuckles.

"So this is about the incident from the festival afterall. For a moment I thought this concerned the incident with the Sakigake visit. This however is a very pressing matter. Has there been any new knowledge about the attackers?"

"It's partially about the festival, yes," Richard said. "As for the attackers..."

His eyes shifted sideways.

"I'll get to that once we're all here."

"Who else are we waiting for?" Delilah asked. She was now drawing circles on the table with her finger, obviously bored.

"Just two more people," he said. "They should be here soon."

As if on cue, another person appeared at the door. A man a little shy of six feet with sand-colored hair and bright green eyes appeared. He wore not an Expiate uniform of blue and silver, but instead wore the more notable Stahl military uniform of black and gold. He looked a little younger than Richard, probably only by a couple of years. Unlike Richard, however, he had a bright smile on his face and had a youthful vigor about him. Upon seeing him, Delilah shot up from her chair and sneered.

"What...are you doing here?" she demanded.

Richard stood up as well, gently placing a hand in front of Delilah to keep her from moving forward.

"Colonel Heinlein," he said. "I'm glad you could make it."

The man in the doorway grinned and gave a two-fingered salute.

"Richard, Delilah," he said. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Delilah straightened up, her arms crossed.

"Oh, you mean since you stabbed us in the back?" she said. "I don't know why you're here, but I'm pretty sure I said I'd slit you from nose to navel if you so much stepped in my line of sight, you piece of--"

"Captain!" Richard barked.

Delilah gritted her teeth and looked away. Richard sighed.

"Everyone, this is Colonel Heinlein," he said. "As you can already surmise, he's from Stahlmin's military central division. He's here to share some intel as well as arrange a partnership with the Expiate."

"Partnership my ass," Delilah muttered.

Heinlein didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by Delilah's remarks. Instead, he gave a brief bow towards Jinn and Jacqueline.

"Pleased to meet you all," he said. "I hope that not everyone here considers my presence unwanted?"


"Fucking pompous pouf prick..."


"Oops! Am I late?"


A cheerful voice came from behind the tall man. In contast to Heinlein, a shorter woman appeared in a white and gold naval uniform, the Yellow Rose emblem on her badge. The girl had magenta colored hair wrapped in an intricate french braid and a polished walking cane in her hand.


Jacqueline perked up.


"A Saorsian royal fleet member?"


"Quite correct, Jacqueline," Richard said. "This isMartel Aubriche. She was formerly a part of the Yellow Royal Guard and currently serves as Fleet Master for Saoirse's naval division."


Martel made a dainty curtsy.


"A pleasure, I'm sure," she said. "Heinlein, have you been pissing off poor Dahlia again?"

Delilah, who had been crossing her arms in her chair barely glanced at Martel before sneering even more.

"Oh great, you're BOTH here," she said.

Richard waved his hand.

"Alright, settle down, everyone," he said. "We can begin. Just take your seats."

Heinlein and Martel made their way to the two remaining seats opposite of Delilah and Jacqueline. Richard adjuated his papers.

"First of all, thank you all for coming on such short notice," he said. "I'm sure it wasn't easy for many of you to visit Stahlmin given your schedules. That said, we're all here to give an exchange of information."

"Exchange?" Delilah asked with an arched brow.

"Yes," Heinlein said. "With the simultaneous attacks that have been happening, Chief Commander Veiller has suggested intel in exchange for partnership."

"We all know the Unanimity Festival was an unheard of catastrophe," Martel said. "And the Expiate has the most information on what's going on. Before the kingdoms decide what to do, we thought Richard here could present us some info to help us, mmm, bend the kingdom's decisions in your favor of action."

Jinn remained neutral as the new guests came in. He paid attention to the discussion, glancing on occasion at the commander's expression. Things must be serious if he decided to consolidate the power of the countries. No wonder he looked like he was working himself ragged. Sure, the countries weren't hostile, but getting them to work together was another thing all together. They'd be lucky to get everyone to agree on a place to order for lunch.

"If I may," Jinn spoke up, raising his head. "The leaders of the kingdoms are more than very aware of what happened at the festival and the seriousness of the circumstance. The public is also very informed of the events going on in the other countries as well as their own. So what exactly do you want to know?"