It was ten minutes until the meeting was scheduled to start, but the attendants were already clearly restless. The days following the Prime Regent's assembly of Ministers had been abuzz with speculation, even for a contingent as secretive as the Valley Command. The officers were gathered in the Prelacy Room, where most of the high level Valley Command decisions and conversations took place. Lesquare stood in the corner, watching the others, as he liked to do. A cup of Ginseng tea rested in both of his hands, letting off flickers of steam. It was always cold down here in the dungeons of the Palisades. The War Chambers they were sometimes called. The room was tall but the lit candles that sat in the splayed iron beartrap chandeliers hung low, just above the central table,.

  They were all waiting for the newcomer, the possible enfent terrible. He was under both care and watch of Lesquare's eye. An assistant to Prime Minister Leynsham, as well as her tumour known as Deputy Tyrilius, had, since the assembly, discussed the nature and history of former-Frontstock Marks with Valley Admiral Henney, who subsequently relayed the information to Lesquare. The consensus was thus: Soldier of advanced improvisational and tactical ability, loyalty to his subordinates, but with recorded disregard, bordering on irreverence, to authority. It was this final finding that had inspired concerns about potential enemy collusion. Lesquare had considered the report carefully. He felt, at the end of the day, that if it did turn out that Chieftain Marks was on the level, he would be a reasonably good asset to have in the team.

  Iskal entered the room a few minutes before 8am. 'Sorry,' he said to the Valley Admiral and then the room, 'even with the instructions you sent, it's a maze down here.'

  'That's quite deliberate.' Replied Valley Admiral Henney as he rose to his feet a little stiffly to receive the salute from Iskal, 'Mazes facilitate secrecy.'

  Lesquare took his seat at the carved oak and brass table, the hard-edged wooden chair heavy in his hands. An intricate map of Oros had been unfurled upon the table by one of the clerks in anticipation of the meeting. He looked at the world as they knew it; the vast iris of mountains surrounding the pupil of the central Triskellion valley, traced carefully on rich paper.

  Iskal looked far better than when Lesquare had left him to venture home after the brawl in the Materials Town. A few days of rest in the orbit of his family had done him wonders it seemed. His movements, even minor ones like an adjustment of his sleeve, were sharper, less laboured. Perhaps a picturesque family like Iskal's was the true secret to contentment, to completeness. Lesquare had never bothered to try. He'd never really taken to love, or even romanticism, if he was honest with himself. He viewed it as a type of hobby rather than a feeling, like viola or needlework. Something that had never piqued his interest. Lesquare signalled with a swift wave of his finger for Iskal to come take the seat to his left.

  'Thank you for joining everyone.' Said Valley Admiral Henney. 'Most of us in here were in attendance at Prime Regent Leynsham's summons three days ago, so I won't waste our time summarising. Perhaps mitigation is the best word to describe the intent of this gathering.' Lesquare listened to the voice of his ageing superior officer. The words were as confident and assured as always, but they were spoken with the lilting intonations of those entering the winter of their lives. 'If a war were to break out, would Henney last it to the end?' Lesquare ruminated for a moment.

  Henney carried on with his opening remarks. 'As you're well aware, some ten years ago, the Prime Regent rolled out her flagship four-part plan to stem the Haemonine realm's economic advancement following their discovery of undara serum. The steps were as follows: One, invest in the Institute of Novel Engineering at the University of Collosea, two, increase the average wage of our miners to improve job interest and output, three, open new nickel and zinc mines in the south Collosean Mountains, and four, flood the Collosean capitol of Embestour with light-touch propaganda which extolled the virtues of the Collosean ingenuity and craftsmanship. These steps were all in the name of ensuring Collosea is the principle manufacturer of the machines that the undara serum would inevitably fuel. The Prime Regent achieved all these goals, and yet, it has had little to no effect on Collosea's respective standing in the Land of Oros. Haemonine's control of the Undara stocks have been the crucial 'x' factor.'

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  'But we still have our wealth of ore deposits, the mineral-rich mountains, and now the machines.' Spoke up Captain Pavani in his whining cadence.

  'Indeed. But it's proving to be not be nearly enough. I'm afraid the high high ministers have been rather withholding as to the current state of our great realm, with both the everyday people of Collosea and even officers of your rank. The people are starting to take notice though. Organised criminal behaviour is spreading like weed roots, general rates of poverty are escalating at an alarming rate, and, according to our intelligence, the insidious cults such as the New Becoming and the Silk Moths have been recruiting in droves. Our new Chieftain here can attest to that.' Henney pointed his outstretched hand towards Iskal, the hand itself shaking slightly with a mild tremor. The eyes of the room turned to Iskal but he said nothing, instead just nodding in agreement.

  Henney then turned to Lesquare, which Lesquare took to be his cue. He stood and walked around the table to stand beside Henney's chair, leaning in a little towards the table. 'Officers, if you would please consult the map before you,' Lesquare said to the table, 'specifically the Central Triskellion Valley. The Valley has remained evenly split between the three Orosian realms since the armistice of the Fourth Modern Orosian war, with each realm occupying a third. As you can see here, the Haemonine Undara Lake, the sole growing place of the now-precious undara moss, lies at the mid west of the Triskellion Valley, a few days ride from the entrance to the Haemonine capitol of Attekant.' Lesquare pointed to the Undara Lake with a long varnished wooden stick he'd taken from a shelf underneath the table. 'Also in the way is one of the other two Haemonine lakes, Stor Kannin.'

  'We're quite aware of this Lesquare, we're the Valley Command after all', said Captain Pavani with an embittered tone.

  'I'm quite aware you're quite aware.' Returned Lesquare with a humourless smile. He despised Pavani and his talent for moaning but Henney had always instructed them to 'play nice' during these meetings. Argument is for the hallways. 'This summary is for our new Chieftain, and to allow a visual cue for what we're about to discuss. Shall I continue old love? Good. The Haemonines have found themselves in a particularly lucky state of affairs, being that it is the unique conditions of the Undara Lake in which the undara moss grows. It is deep within their stake of the valley, and is now heavily guarded by a ring of battlements. With the failure of the Prime Regent's four part plan, the High Command are now considering possible means of...' Lesquare paused. 'Acquiring and holding a portion, if not the entirety, of the Undara Lake, and consequently the supply of undara moss'.

  'Madness!' Said Pavani. 'Warmongering...'.

  'That's not necessarily for us to decide,' interrupted Valley Admiral Henney, 'but, saying that, and this stays within the Prelacy Room, it wouldn't be the action I would take. Anyway, Lesquare is being his usual doomsayer self. Whether or not the Prime Regent decides on a claim by force is simply too difficult to predict at this point. There are other, more subtle plans we've been instructed with in the meantime. Lesquare, please continue.'

  Lesquare nodded. 'Our botanists have been, for years now, attempting to grow Undara moss within our own singular lake, the Indam Water, but they have come up short. This is largely due to the incredibly limited supply of undara moss with which they can conduct their tests, let alone samples of the Undara Lake water. It's also because we're not exactly known for our wealth of top level botanists like the Haemonines are. We're a realm of engineers after all.'

  'Here here!' Called one of the Captains. Lesquare let it sit there before getting back to his address.

  'If we could obtain these samples, then a larger war between our two nations might be avoided.'

  'How would we go about this?' Said Iskal. Lesquare was glad he spoke up, it showed him to not be just a passenger.

  'That is for us to determine over the oncoming days.' Replied Henney, speaking for Lesquare. 'Marks and Lesquare, you'll also begin work to try and root out the New Becoming nests in Embestour and the Ezo Laketown. In the meantime, myself and the rest of the high command will also be arranging for the initial troop manoeuvre into the Valley.'

  'So that's definitely going ahead?' Asked Captain Pavani, eyebrows knotting together.

  'Indeed. At the very least, The Prime Regent wants to produce a show of strength. She's convinced the Haemonine's are behind the New Becoming operation that Chieftain Marks uncovered. We have to be delicate though, even a slight posturing by way of a surge of troops can easily be the initial spark of war.'