Twilight looked up from a game of “Lemurian poker” she was playing with Verun-Kanas and the other senior members of the Royals and Fourth Baalkpan Guard and smiled wanly at the man approaching them from where Walker’s sister Mahan floated by the dock where they’d unloaded the AEF. He carried himself like Captain Reddy but had a slightly stockier build and wider gait. She couldn’t see his hair under the United States Navy cap shielding his eyes from the midmorning sun, and he didn’t look too familiar. She may have seen him once somewhere.
“How can I help you?” she asked when he was a little closer.
“I’m on my way to the medical tent, but I was told to go find Colonel Sparkle. She’s somewhere around here.” He looked around. “Could you help me find her?”
Twilight blinked. “I don’t know Colonel Sparkle, but I’m familiar with the title ‘Princess.’ Are you looking for her?”
“Possibly. She commands the Royals, as far as I’m aware. Are they the same person?”
Verun laughed, earning a glare from Twilight. “They’re the same person, all right.”
Twilight sighed and looked at his uniform to identify his rank. “Lieutenant. Were you on Mahan?”
“Well, I was on Walker before we came…here. Jim Ellis, acting captain of Mahan, at your service.”
Twilight stood and dusted off her clothes. Her wings unfolded and stretched before tucking themselves back along her back. “Mr. Ellis? It’s been a while. I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
Something dawned in his eyes. “We picked you up from that sinking ship, didn’t we? I didn’t recognize you! Princess,” he hastily added, bowing awkwardly.
“Don’t bother with formalities. I never really liked the stuff.” She picked her mage swords (in their scabbards) off the ground and clipped them to her belt. They’d been unclipped so she could sit more comfortably in the game circle. “Sorry, Kansas, Mouse, Tex, Louer. You’ll have to finish without me.” She turned to Jim. “Is it the all-hands meeting Captain Reddy wants for the officers?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay then. Louer, I know you’re just a corporal, but your sergeant hasn’t recovered enough for Sandra to let her out of the tent, so you’re coming with me.”
“I’m surprised I’m not still in the hospital tent!” he replied, waving his stumpy right arm.
“Honestly, so am I. but you gotta represent the Fourth. Come on, let’s play with the big boys.”
Louer reluctantly followed, his tail anxiously flicking with every step. He’d never expected to represent his unit to the rest of the AEF--and its commanders at that! His stumpy right arm, cleaned as it was, still had tangles of cloth from his destroyed uniform dangling from where a Grik had bitten it clean off. He’d saved Sergeant Kyhr Al-Khaf from being lost to the horde, though, and she was luckily healing in the tent.
They approached the hospital tent, where Matt was expected to be. One of the two Marines guarding it was Chack, who smiled tiredly.
“Is Captain Reddy in there?” Jim asked.
“No. He’s over by the pier,” Chack replied in near-perfect English.
“They carried him there?” Twilight asked, surprised. “He was worse off than a lot of guys still healing.”
Chack blinked. “He walked, Princess.”
-------------------------
Twilight, Jim, and Louer joined the rest of the officers and remaining leaders of the AEF by the pier next to the river. Larry Dowden was currently conning Walker back down to the bay, so he wasn’t there, but Spanky McFarlane, Chief Gray, Matt, Keje-Fris-Ar, Adar, the other ship captains and regiment commanders, and the two leaders of the Aryaalan reinforcements were.
Matt smiled from his seat as they approached with Chack, while Sandra clearly disapproved of his moving the meeting.
“Sorry, Skipper, I had to check a couple things on my ship--I mean Mahan. Picked up Twilight on the way over,” Jim said.
“No need to worry, Jim, Mahan is your ship,” Matt replied. He nodded to Twilight. “Princess. It’s good to see you in one piece.”
“The same could be said for you, Captain.” Twilight’s face darkened for a second, but it brightened again. “Phoenix is currently retrieving the containers off Friendship. I brought two with me, which Mr. Mallory took to Baalkpan yesterday morning.”
“Very well. I’m glad to know it won’t fall into Grik hands anytime soon.”
Just then, a grizzled Lemurian covered in stripes of lighter fur pushed his way to stand in front of Matt. His dented helmet lacked a feather plume, and he hadn’t seemed to refresh himself since the battle, unlike the other younger female Lemurian leader. He drew his battered sword.
Instantly, Twilight’s hands glowed purple and Gray’s pistol was pointed at him. Several destroyermen also racked their bolts in response while everyone else stood silent, shocked. The cat, unfazed, kept his eyes on Matt and laid his sword on the ground at Matt’s feet.
“My sword, my life, my honor--which is all that I am--is yours,” he said in a deliberate monotone.
Adar hurried to him and knelt at his side and whispered something like asking for confirmation.
“It is not a gesture, Priest! I gave my word, and it was broken. I am nothing without my word!”
Twilight relaxed and partly drew her own sword to scry through the shiny end near the hilt while Matt, Adar, and the Lemurian settled whatever was going on. Phoenix’s crew was working undisturbed, and were just about ready to depart. Out over the western ocean, a really big storm was brewing and slowly making its way over to Aryaal and Baalkpan. It would arrive in a week or two. She couldn’t find Sunset, though, her former student masked by a blanket of Nightmare Moon’s magic covering the entire northwest frontier.
She looked up just as Matt said, “I guess we won.”
Everyone cheered for several minutes as word of what he said spread through the army.
“We’ve won and I’ve heard how all of you distinguished yourselves. I’m proud of all of you, and I mourn the sacrifices of everyone here and those who fell. It was costly, and you have my apology for that.” Some people protested his acceptance of responsibility for their losses. Twilight understood, though. Princess Celestia had occasionally taken responsibility for losses inflicted, especially during the original campaign against Sombra over a thousand years ago.
Matt continued: “Almost four in ten of our brave soldiers, sailors, warriors, and Marines who began that battle were killed or seriously injured. Some of them so much so that they’re out of this campaign, at least.” He looked at the younger Lemurian leader who’d come out of Aryaal during the battle. “Her Gracious Highness, Queen Protector Maraan of B’mbaado told me her losses were similar. I imagine the same is true for those who followed Lord Rolak. We cannot doubt their courage and honor. They didn’t betray us, but King Fet-Alcas, still safe behind the walls we preserved for him.”
Twilight nodded grimly. She’d seen from the air how Queen Maraan and Lord Rolak had led their troops against the Grik to bolster the failing AEF as the Grik finally overran their retreat. To say they had courage was an understatement.
“But let’s put that aside for now. I believe Her Highness has an announcement to make.” Matt nodded at Adar, who whispered something to the queen. She stepped forward, her cleaned cape flowing briskly behind her.
“B’mbaado is proud, grateful, to have fought beside such warriors as yourselves. Never has such a battle happened, and never have warriors achieved so much against such odds,” she began in a husky, self-assured voice. “B’mbaado is warlike. We war often with Aryaal or other nations along the coast, so fighting is not strange to us. But we are unfamiliar with this war. The Grik are Evil. They cannot be called People. We do not even know what they fight for. Territory, perhaps?” She sighed. “When they came, we were faced with a war we did not want, were not prepared for, and could not win. We even tried to ally with our most bitter rival, Aryaal, to stand a chance. But we knew we could not win. It was only a matter of time, and I brought my Six Hundred to delay the day B’mbaado fell as long as possible.” She turned to Matt.
“But then you came. Not for loot or conquest or concessions. You came to help! Sea folk, here for our sake,” she exclaimed. She nodded to Jim. “The other iron ship had been here for some time and we knew it was powerful, but neither of our peoples had use for it once we knew it would not help one side or the other. And it was so badly damaged I expected to see it had sunk at dawn every day. When the Grik came, it tried to help, but it could not move, and it used its power to keep a passage clear between Aryaal and my home. For that, I thank you, Cap-tan El-liss.”
“And then you came with another iron ship and the great Homes of the sea folk, and you erased the Grik from the bay! It was the greatest thing I ever saw. Surely, if not for Fet-Alcas’s treachery, the land battle would have been just as one-sided and complete should our powers remain of the physical world.”
“And then, as the Grik continued to resist our attacks, you came down from the sky!” she said, turning now to Twilight. “You used power beyond even the iron ships and fought with a resolve that even I must envy. From what I have heard, you battled and defeated someone of similar powers as yours who was aiding the Grik and keeping them from breaking, and for that, you have my thanks, and that of B’mbaado. Without you, the battle would surely have been lost.”
Twilight nodded acknowledgement and gave a small, hurt smile. Sunset was her friend. It should not have come to this.
“I have come to realize that the war you fight to destroy the Grik is not just a war of honor, as we’ve fought before, but an honorable war--and one we must be part of. Until the end.” She blinked resolve and determination.
“I, Safir Maraan, Queen Protector of the People of B’mbaado, beg you will accept my nation and my warriors into your Grand Alliance to destroy the Grik menace once and forever.”
There were appreciative howls and cheers, and the humans that could clapped. Matt watched as the queen bowed formally and managed a smile. The ramifications of such a union ran through his mind, however, since the B’mbaadans were considerable warriors in their own right.
Queen Maraan, knowing he would ask, answered for him. “I was, of course, impressed by the skill and courage with which you fought. As an ally, might I presume you will teach us these skills of war?”
“Certainly, Your Highness,” Matt replied when Adar translated. “I’m sure we can arrange something. Lieutenant Shinya?”
“Yes, sir?” the Japanese officer asked.
“See to it. Set up something abbreviated, or try to integrate them into our existing regiments if they’re willing. God knows we need the replacements.” Noticing how Maraan staring at Chack with interested speculation, he added, “Use Chack as your liaison. If you want him the Second Marines, let him keep them. That’d be a good outfit to work their officers up in.”
“My thoughts exactly, Captain.”
Matt looked at the battle line commanders and Twilight before addressing them. “You are all heads of state in this alliance, with equal say in the matter. Do any of you object?” There was only respectful silence. “Good.” He turned to Maraan. “Your Highness, as commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, it is my honor to accept your nation into our alliance on behalf of its other members, with my gratitude.” He took a breath while the cheering subsided. “Lord Rolak.”
The Aryaalan quickly knelt before Matt. “Yes, Lord?”
Matt then had Adar explain to Rolak that he would rather have him fight alongside as friends, not slaves or vassals. He knelt to Rolak’s level and extended his hand. After an explanation, Rolak took it, and was a little surprised when Matt pumped it up and down.
Sandra and Shinya helped Matt back to his stool where he sat again. It was good as he was going to get it for now. The alliance had grown more.