The gentle morning sun peeked over the eastern hills miles away from the abandoned Kemarian temple. Brant and Ace headed their party as they approached the sanctuary. 

A dozen Innutukian soldiers stood just outside its doors, basking in the first rays and speaking amongst themselves. Their general stood among them. Upon spotting Brant, Ace, and their collection of companions, he broke away from his men and marched over. 

Brant shook the general's hand and returned his reserved smile. His entire demeanor proved entirely unlike the one he and Ace had witnessed upon departing two days ago. His movements, in contrast to the wild flailing from before, were now slow and controlled. 

"Greetings, General." Brant finally said. 

"Welcome." he replied, "So, I understand you took one of my armored cars and drove it off somewhere." 

"Yes..." Brant trailed off with a raised eyebrow, "We asked you, and you gave us the key." 

"Why would I do that?" 

Ace stepped forward. "I dunno, maybe because it was your Day of Ancestral Appreciation. Seemed a bit loose." 

The general shrugged. "Where is it now?" 

Ace's lips tightened as Brant's glance darted over to him. "We...In our haste to get to the palace, we accidentally left the vehicle behind." 

The Innutukian's brow furrowed. "Excuse me? What palace, anyway? Are you soldiers, or vigilantes?" 

"That line's a bit blurred around here, I'm afraid." Baird chimed in from where he stood behind Ace. 

Brant sighed. "I'm sorry we didn't wait for a more opportune time to inform you, but it certainly wasn't me who inebriated myself to the point of dysfunctionality." 

The general narrowed his eyes. "Inform me now." 

"Remember the attack we told you about on the Iron Skeleton, just a day before your men set foot in Kemaria?" 

"I do." 

"Well, during that calamity, two of our people got kidnapped and were taken to the palace of Kookaburra, god of laughter." 

The Innutukian general gave forth a guttural laugh at the news. Quite ironic, Brant inwardly remarked. 

"Excuse me, such a thing exists?" he asked. 

Brant nodded. "To an extent, yes. He's a member of the Alcontean pantheon, the Divine Flock." 

"Of course in reality, they're only demons." Baird asserted, "Otherwise, I have cause to be quite jubilant, as true divinity on their part would render me a literal godkiller." 

Aside from a warm chuckle from Aaron and an eye roll and playful slap from Keira, Baird received nothing but unimpressed reactions to his remark. 

"Well," the Innutukian general began, "just know I'm quite displeased at this waste of my resources. I would've expected men formerly headed by Princess Chariya herself to have some responsibility about them." 

Every face sombered in some measure at the mention of her name. Princess Chariya, co-heir of the Kemarian throne who had thrown that away to found the Kemarian Insurgence, was irreplaceable, and sorely missed. So irreplaceable, in fact, that as of yet, the Insurgence still hadn't appointed any successor. None desired the title, much less deserved it. 

Brant hung his head lowest of all. I got her killed, too. he thought. 

The general broke the heavy silence with a cough. "Anyway, I have news of my own." 

"What's that?" Ace asked. 

"So, your scouts and spies have been noticing increased Alcontean troop movement recently. Not just in Kemaria, but all over the Empire." 

"Right." 

"And these movements are full of irregularities and overall strangeness, usually a sign of impending war." the general said. 

"Listen, chap," Wendy called from beside Aaron, "we're not bloody nutters. We can put two and two together." 

"I'm sure you can. But there's a catch. Not only are divisions of their troops simply moving around, but they're also merging together into larger groups. I can't say for certain what they're doing, but it's gotta be something colossal." 

Brant frowned. "What could they possibly be gearing up for? Besides you guys," he said, motioning to the Innutukian soldiers near the temple door, "no country's military comes even close to equality, in much of anything." 

"I beg to differ." Wendy interjected, "Danlash has a bloody excellent—" 

"Okay, sure." Brant conceded, "But you've got to count in the fact that Danlash only fights defensively, and the one time you guys did venture out..." 

"Utter disaster." Ace completed. 

Wendy bit her lip. She swept an irritated glance over the two, but offered no objection or denial. 

The general's hazel eyes appeared impatient. "So, as I've been trying to get to, one of the divisions passed under the cliffside that way." He pointed southward. 

Brant's eyes widened. "They didn't discover us, did they?" 

"No. They were only passing through. But a couple spies snuck down, and they overheard talk of a meetup spot in Jasmidian. Five companies of Alcontean troops from around the region are supposed to gather there and join forces." 

"But why?" Brant asked, "I still don't understand why they could possibly need so many men in one place." 

"That's what we need to find out. I've got analysts working right now, taking the spies' report and triangulating some possible locations for us. Then, it would likely be wise to send some men to investigate and get us some answers." 

"Good plan." Brant said with a nod. "Well, I'm gonna get some of these guys settled in now, but make sure to let me know when you get those coordinates." 

The general nodded. "Will do." 

With that, Brant led his group past the Innutukian men and through the doorway into the temple. The general remained outside and appeared to stand still in contemplation. 

******************** 

Keira rolled her achy shoulders and stepped out of one of many kitchenettes in the former Kemarian temple. Aaron's laughter followed her out the door, Baird and Khemera's chuckles mingling with it. Catching up with her brother and friends had been enjoyable, but three months of confinement made outside air smell all the sweeter. Keira wished to indulge in the pleasure some more. 

The lithe young woman flipped her dark brown hair, nearly black in color, over her shoulder as she pushed the back door open. She stepped into the rays of the climbing sun, closed her eyes, and sucked in a deep breath of the fresh morning air. A brief spell of rain had just passed, leaving the grass with a pleasantly damp scent, as if the vegetation attempted to thank the clouds for their vitalizing gift. 

When Keira finally opened her eyes, she blushed. She had mindlessly came upon a mass of Innutukian soldiers performing a series of pushups. Several of the men had paused to fondly gaze upon her, causing the redness of her cheeks to deepen. 

Their general strolled down the spaces between the men with hands folded behind his back, a crimson hat in his fingers. He wore a well-fitted uniform matching the hat in hue, peppered with various insignia on the right side of his chest. A tasseled orange patch graced his left shoulder and gleamed in the sun, covering the origin point of a violet sash draped across his body and ending at his leather belt. 

The general met Keira's eyes, and his forehead wrinkled slightly. His attention swept back down to one of his men, and he crouched beside him. After muttering some words to him in their Innutukian language in a tone that sounded rather harsh, he rose to full height again and made his way to Keira. 

"Hello," he said when he'd come closer, "can I help you?" 

Keira shook her head, suddenly nervous to meet his eyes. Why's my heart racing? 

"No," she finally said, "I'm just getting a breath of fresh air, but thanks." 

"Okay, well, you're really distracting the men." the general said, giving a stern glance to a soldier with an acne-plagued face and wandering eyes. 

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's not like there's anything I can do about it. Who controls their eyes, after all?" 

"They do." he answered with a sigh. Then he furrowed his brow at a long-haired man. "Hey!" he barked, "Don't go slacking! I don't care if the grass is wet; your chest goes all the way down, or it doesn't count!" 

Keira eyed the general with greater comfortability when his gaze was focused elsewhere. She noted his Innutukian accent, how even when speaking in her tongue, a guttural quality remained in his voice, and he hit hard consonants with excessive force, almost explosively so. 

He turned back to face her, and by instinct, her eyes dropped again. "I'm still not sure why you have to stand here specifically. You can join them, if you'd like." 

"Wouldn't I be an even greater distraction then?" she asked with a smirk, finally venturing to meet his hazel eyes. 

"Maybe so, but at least then they could try to compete with you, and productivity would remain." 

"Nah, I'm good." she said with a giggle. 

The general grunted, but said nothing more. 

"So, what's your name?" Keira asked after a few moments of silence, apart from the soldiers' strained groans. 

"Trackenkaken." he answered, squinting at one of his men. 

Keira slowly nodded. She internalized her amusement at his pronunciation, with a strange clucking sound for one consonant sound and hard hits for the other three. 

"What a name." she remarked absentmindedly. "I'm sure any attempt of me saying it would be real tame to your standards." 

Trackenkaken shrugged. "Hardly anybody but us likes our way of saying things. We're known for warfare, not eloquence." 

Keira nodded. "That'd be your eastern neighbors." 

"Precisely. Their language flows off the tongue." After a pause, he turned to her. "You never told me yours." 

"Oh, my bad. Keira." 

"Keira." he repeated, hitting the first letter hardest of all, "What a pretty name. What does it mean?" 

Keira laughed. "It just means 'dark-haired'." 

A hint of a smile graced his lips. "Quite appropriate in your case." 

"I guess so. What's yours mean?" 

"It's 'sharper than the newest blade', I believe." 

"That's pretty evocative. I like it." Keira remarked. 

Trackenkaken chuckled. "Not to be taken quite as literally as yours, I'm afraid, but not every boy is given that name. I'm honored my father thought so highly of me." 

"Well, he named you before you were even born, so how could he have known—" 

"That's an incorrect assumption." he interrupted. 

"Wait a minute, what?" she asked, her green eyes widening. "You were named after being born?" 

"Yes, what's strange about that?" 

"Everything about it's weird. When were you named?" 

The general cleared his throat. "At thirteen, when I became a true man." 

"Then...what did people call you before then?" 

"I was called Dotron, which means 'second son'. I guess you could call it a placeholder name while my father watched to see what sort of man I would become, so he could give me an appropriate one." 

Keira's forehead wrinkled. "Seems kinda strange, but okay." 

"Well, to be completely fair, it seems a bit strange to me, seeing people among yours who have names speaking of nobility, for instance, when in reality they become vile persons who deserve no such honor." 

"You have a point there." 

"Of course." Trackenkaken said as he motioned for his men to rise with an upward sweep of his hand. "Well, now it's time for them to make some laps, so I must go. But it was nice to meet you, Keira, and the conversation was delightful. Enjoy the fresh air." 

"Will do, and thanks! I'm glad to have met you too." 

Keira watched the general depart with a subconscious smile on her face. He wasn't even particularly pleasant, but something about him just felt...right. At any rate, her curiosity had been piqued, some questions answered only leading to more arising.

******************** 

A/N: Well...things are starting to happen here. The Alconteans are on the move, and clearly up to something big, so that's never a good sign. And then Keira seems to be making herself a new friend, perhaps? You tell me. 😂 

(If you enjoyed this chapter, please remember to vote and comment. I always appreciate it!) 

I'm really not sure if I've asked this yet, but I don't think so. I'm assuming that since you're reading this, you've read at least the Iron Skeleton already, and hopefully the Iron Hallway as well. Anyway, do you have a favorite ship in this series, and if so, why do you pick them? 

(I don't think it's fair for me to answer, because as the writer, I know more than you at the moment, but also, I don't have the outside perspective you have. I'm biased. 😝) 

So I'll move onto our random question: What's a constant expense you're tired of? 🤣 

(For me, it'd probably have to be saxophone reeds. I have to constantly buy them, when there's no guarantee all the reeds in the box will be good. Some are only good for a day or two of playing, but you pay the same price!) 

Anyway, I have a busy morning of reading ahead. Have an awesome day, and I hope to see you tomorrow in the next update!