Kashif was disturbed. Following Ms. Lombardi's brief meeting with Mr. Knight, he and Elizabeth were instructed to stand guard outside. "These next words are for her, and her alone," he recalled Jeremy saying. He was no stranger to such menial tasks. However, recently, he found his mind prone to wander. Perhaps this was due to all the chaos with Aeron, or maybe it was just another one of fate's strange whims. Either way, the gears in his head continued to turn.
"Be careful with those papers, Keith!" a passing operator told one of his subordinates. The poor soul must've been new, as he seemed to be in relatively high spirits—an exceedingly rare sight as of late. Even though his expression was chipper, there were obvious signs of fatigue.
"They must be overworking him." A sad, albeit unsurprising, practice.
"Would you like me to carry some?" Elizabeth asked. Like always, she extended a helping hand.
"Ah, no thank you," he replied. At a glance, it was clear that he was attempting to curry favor with his superior.
"No matter where you go, be it Heaven or Hell, mortals can never seem to escape the shadow of discrimination." Ms. Lombardi experienced similar hazing as well. Even in paradise, the tendency of their kind to gravitate toward unjust treatment was strangely inevitable.
"Hey, Kashif, are you okay?" Elizabeth wondered. "You were staring off into space," she chuckled.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine." By the time he looked up, the pair of operators had vanished into one of the many winding halls.
"I'm going to ask Ms. Lombardi for an update," Elizabeth continued as she strolled back into the conference room. Given the confidential nature of their boss' conversation, she'd likely be thrown out, but, for now, this gave him a brief moment alone.
"I wonder what they're talking about?" They'd already been briefed on the important details of the mission. "Well… I shouldn't worry about that." Such details were useless. While the chattering continued inside, Kashif sauntered over to a nearby window and watched the large courtyard below. As usual, it was packed to the brim with recruits and operators; however, there was a certain air to it that he hadn't noticed before. Maybe it was the way the head judges looked at each other, or perhaps it was something else entirely, but everyone in sight seemed to carry a slight sense of unease. "None of them trust each other." That said, he couldn't blame them. The massacre in Atlantis showed him that not even Angels were above mortal sin.
"You can come in, Kashif," he heard Ms. Lombardi say.
"Understood." It appeared that the talks went well.
"We'll be heading out soon. Make sure you're prepared." As she spoke, Kashif noticed a strange scroll dangling at Ms. Lombardi's hips.
"What's that?" he asked.
"It's a letter to one of my associates in Purgatory's colosseum. Ms. Lombardi's just dropping it off at the nearest desk," Jeremy chimed in. He, too, held a similar scroll.
"Make sure you don't lose that," Zia stressed.
"A letter?" Kashif pondered. "Who could that possibly be for?" Immediately, he turned to Elizabeth, however, she shook her head—she didn't know. "For Ms. Lombardi to not even tell us… this must be serious." Before Jeremy stashed the document, he caught a glimpse of a simple wax seal. It looked somewhat like a rabbit with horns instead of legs. "How bizarre."
"Whew!" Zia sighed. "Sorry that took so long! Bureaucracy runs at a snail's pace!"
"It's okay," Elizabeth said as she grabbed her things and headed for the hallway. It was time to get to work.
A pleasant breeze greeted them the second they walked out of the portal. If they strained their nostrils, they could make out the faint scent of alcohol and popcorn. "Oh, yeah, it's Bauenfest," Zia murmured to herself as she waltzed down the golden staircase. Unlike on Earth, the civilians completely ignored their arrival.
"I heard that a few judges like to party here during the holiday," Elizabeth added. The Giants must've been seeing staircases all morning.
"Well, that makes our job easier," Zia responded as her heels clinked against the marble sidewalk.
"We're looking for Mr. Mapp, right?"
"Yes. He's a popular diplomat here so he shouldn't be too hard to find." As soon as they got their bearings, Zia quickly made her way into the bustling city streets. Giants of all shapes and sizes were milling about, some with grins the size of dinner plates.
"It's not polite to stare, you know," a petite woman told them. She was a relatively normal person with brown hair and chestnut skin.
"You must be our guide," Zia said as she handed the official all the necessary paperwork.
"Thanks," the woman responded with a slight nod and brief handshake. "My name is Elina. I'm one of the Bureau's contacts at this planet's embassy. Our time together will be short, but I hope I'll be able to answer any questions you may have before meeting the Giants' representatives." Officially, they were here for a run-of-the-mill trade conference.
"I hope Elizabeth and Kashif remember their lines." They couldn't risk letting information about the Minister's plan leak. "Heaven and the Giants' relations are on thin ice as it is. They were trying to form a coalition with Purgatory's diplomats during the last summit, after all. If the Drakes catch wind of this agreement, they could use it as a pretense to expand their influence." As Zia pondered this little predicament, a large gust of wind rushed through the street. "An airship, huh?"
"That's one of the newest models," Elina told them as she watched the machine with sparkling eyes. "Amazing, isn't it?" Hovering above was a gigantic vessel that appeared to be a collection of an uncountable number of plated balloons. These balloons were all separate units, however, by congregating around a central control tower, they were able to coordinate and become a singular airship.
"I can't even fathom what that's supposed to be for."
"The Buried Council commissioned it a few years ago; I think they plan to use it to bolster Jupiter's defense."
"What a bizarre gadget," Kashif thought. After that, Elina took them on a brisk sightseeing tour of the Giants' new fleet.
"They're all so impressive," Elizabeth added, "Business must be good." Their guide couldn't help but chortle at that comment.
"We try our best," she joked as they arrived at the embassy. It was a small place, no larger than a quaint cottage, that was surrounded by shimmering lakes. While the external décor left a lot to be desired, the interior was eye-popping. The entire complex appeared to be floating atop a strange bed of flowers. The floor—which was clear glass—gave off the impression that they were wandering through a peaceful meadow. Instead of desks or chairs, the site's many employees used bizarre trees. "These are visiting officials from the Bureau," Elina told a Giant at what they assumed to be the embassy's front desk.
"Oh, the ones scheduled to speak with Mr. Mapp?"
Elizabeth scratched her nose and grinned. "The very same," she said. Soon after, the man hurried to notify his superiors, but, just as he left the room, the building shook like a ship in the middle of a hurricane.
"What?!"
"Is it an earthquake?!" the embassy employees yelped as they dove for cover. Typically, one would assume such rumbling would be the result of a natural disaster. However, Zia felt a pit in her stomach form that told her it was something far more horrible.
"It can't be," she thought as she headed for the nearest window, "Are we being attacked?!" All it took was one glance to confirm her fears. A sudden barrage of death rained down from the clouds, setting the airships alight and painting the horizon a disturbing red hue. Immediately, she reached for her gavel and rushed to the entrance, cracking it open.
"What faction would be insane enough to do something like this?!" Elizabeth thought as she and Kashif joined Zia, weapons at the ready.
"Demons," they heard Kashif mutter. Indeed, they could all make out the faint outline of a gigantic army flying in from just beyond the horizon. Zia recognized their banners immediately.
"That's Satan's personal guard! Why are they here?!" Even in Hell, the soldiers who directly served that fiend were a rare sight.
"Ms. Lombardi!" Kashif yelped as he pulled her from the doorway right as it was engulfed in flames.
"They're bombing us!"
"Then hurry up and get everyone to safety!" They couldn't afford to let embassy personnel die on their watch.
"Grab the others and hurry to the saferoom! The Giants will follow me!" Elina roared as she shielded some of her coworkers from the burning debris. "This… this is nothing!" It would take a lot more than a few scars to keep a woman from Jupiter down.
"Is there someone we can call?! Maybe a neighboring city?!" Unsurprisingly, their lines to the Bureau were all jammed. They were on their own.
"I wish," Elina grunted, "This is a backwater moon. This town's the best this rock's got."
"Things are just going from bad to worse." Zia sighed as she glanced back down at her gavel. "Maybe if I use this…" She shook her head. Only a fool played their best card first. "Elizabeth, Kashif, go ask the clerks if there are any emergency vehicles. We've got to save him quickly!"
"Him?"
"There's only one person on this planet worthy of an invasion of this scale: Griswold!"