The Innkeeper

The dragonling who delivered the letter stood far back in the distance, so that he would not be under the influence of the envelope and the letter that it contained. As a half dragon, he had always been extremely prideful. Moreover, it was exceptionally strong as well. It could attempt to break into the Earth immortal realm whenever it wanted, but suppressed that growth itself.

By working for the alliance, it hoped to gain enough credits to have the alliance help it transition from part dragon to complete dragon. At that point it would naturally break through, and would be much stronger than it would have if it broke through normally.

After serving on various battlefields, and accruing numerous commendations, it was exceptionally close to its goal, which was also the reason it had been pulled back from the battlefield.

Its successful service only increased its pride, yet ironically it was here, in the supposedly safe headquarters, where its pride had been thoroughly crushed. While it had not yet recovered from the ordeal, it decided to stay away from the letter and whatever it had to say. Looking at its superior sweating, it suddenly felt like it had made a wise decision.

The elf in question was currently experiencing a personal armageddon. Lightning was flashing, thunder was roaring, the ground was quaking, tsunamis high enough to blot out the sun were arriving on the horizon. All of that was, of course, only happening in his mind. Yet that did not change that the elf felt like it was the target of all these calamities.

It could feel an anger that could destroy the heavens radiating from the words on his letter, and though the elf was not the target of that anger, he had somehow become a victim of it nonetheless.

A soft, familiar ringing sounded in the office, and the elf was finally broken free from the grasp of the letter, his trembling hands dropping it. The elf did not dare to look at it again, but reflexively answered the phone call that was ringing.

"Zar, have you received a letter of clearance for departure for someone from the 'Midnight Inn'?" the person on the other end of that call asked, getting straight to the point.

Though the envelope had dropped, those words sounded like thunder in the elf's ears!

"Ye- YES LET THEM GO!" he roared, before shutting the phone. He did not know if he had yelled out of fear, anger or embarrassment.

With trembling legs he stood up and gave an incredibly dirty look to the dragonling, before walking out of his room. This matter was far beyond him. He needed to report to the top.

Back on the command deck, Lex had maintained eye contact with the officer as he made a call. When the screaming response came through, audible to everyone on the deck, Lex did not smile or gloat. He simply maintained eye-contact, awaiting their departure approval.

Chills ran down the officers back as he recalled his previous urge to respond to Lex's cavalier attitude. Like he said, he might really not have the authority to look into Lex's matters. But if that was the case, why wasn't he being escorted properly with all his clearances pre-approved? That was what usually happened in such cases. But it did not matter.

"What kind of vessel do you have? I cannot generate the approval document without knowing at least the ship specifications."

Without waiting for a prompt, Cirk stepped forward as he began to list only the relevant details for the Silent Wanderer. The officer felt slightly confused, as the ship being described clearly wasn't one designed for combat. It was, however, designed for stealth and speed. That did make sense considering the nature of their mission.

The officer looked back to Bearlin and said, "take them to the loading dock. Have them bring their ship there and get on board. I'll alter the departure sequence from here."

Poor Bearlin, who had suffered the influence of Domination the longest, could not catch a break and continued to lead Lex and Cirk. Lex nodded to the officer before following their guide.

Fortunately, things had not escalated, and they passed the final hurdle without issue. But there was one problem. Whoever was targeting the battalion would soon learn, if they had not already, that help was on the way.

He opened the battalion panel and spoke to Luthor.

"The enemy probably knows help is coming. Prepare accordingly."

This was once again risky, for if the enemy became too desperate, they might just end up doing something that would get everyone killed. Lex was relying on the fact that their enemy, whoever it was, was not able to muster up enough strength, for whatever reason. After all, the battalion only consisted of Foundation realm soldiers. Together they were not weak, but they couldn't really claim to be too strong either. There were too many ways to deal with them if someone really wanted to. The fact that they hadn't done so yet is what made Lex think this was a trap.

While Lex was musing such issues, they reached the loading dock and Lex released the Silent Wanderer from its spatial case.

The sudden appearance of a ship attracted some attention from the nearby staff, but in such a place unusual occurrences were somewhat of a norm.

Through the use of some heavy machinery, the ship was being loaded properly onto the platform which would take it to the departure formation. All of this seemed to be standard procedure, and everything was going according to plan, when Lex noticed a powerful aura approaching!

"Oi! OI! You the numbskulls that are delaying everyone's launch? What the hell gives you the right to stop all the other ships, eh? We have urgent business too!"

Lex turned and saw a dwarf at the immortal realm approaching them. He was clearly incensed at his departure being delayed to accommodate Lex.

"So much for not causing a scene," Lex murmured. Then he unleashed his aura, and his contingency plan.