[Three weeks later]
Sergeant Aeriliya sat straight as her carriage being drawn by a land dragon purposefully cut its way through the lazy bustle of the morning traffic. The fact that the sun was barely cutting its way through the gray haze caused by the new factories did little to alleviate the tiredness or foreboding from her body. Her Corporal came pounding on her door before dawn, saying there was an urgent matter which needed her direct attention. As if it wasn't bad enough she and her underlings were only making minimal progress with attacks at the industrial centers or the fear gripping the different cities because of the Screaming Specter.
Brushing her hand over the sprig of Black eyed Susan and begonia pinned above her left breast, brought an equal amount of relief but caution. Especially when her carriage was bypassing her usual route to the station. Theories about what could've possibly arisen ran through Aeriliya's head, and while the elven woman had a few ideas, none of them seemed to match the circumstances.
Along the way, Aeriliya spied a recently ransacked shop. The front windows and doors all splattered with bright orange paint, a sure sign that the owner had been speaking against the Emperor and thus labeled a Dissident. From the look of the shop, it hadn't been long since an arrest was made, there wasn't any dust on the ground and the scars on the inside were fresh. Whatever had been left inside had most likely been rapidly nabbed up by a menagerie of street urchins before the area could be cordoned off. The elven woman supposed it would be a matter of days before the property was bought up to make space for Martell or some other industrialist to put in some new offices. While not one to outwardly question her superiors, it seemed quite a shame to have such a quaint little storefront disappear.
Eventually the carriage halted outside of the foreboding structure of the Hall of Aequitas, the headquarters of the whole imperial police force. Its multiple pillars on each floor gave it the appearance of a large cage always ensuring there were few loiterers. Presenting her badge to the building's guard, decorated with the standard manacle and key, she was ushered inside. There was practically a small army of Aequitans running around. Plenty of the officers were either rubbing bagged eyes or nursing flasks due to the aptly named civil unrest.
Reaching the secretary who currently had her nose to the grindstone with all the forms at her desk, "Name and purpose of visit?"
"Sergeant Aeriliya Carnelis reporting in for an emergency summons", she replied authoritatively.
Snapping her head up, the secretary heartily apologized and promptly dropped her pen to lead Aeriliya through the headquarters. While people typically knew not to disrespect the elven woman, she had found the woman's behavior odd as she didn't go out of her way to be intimidating like many of her fellow officers. That perplexed feeling grew as they ascended to the top floor. Coming to a set of large , heavily reinforced, wooden doors the secretary knocked and announced, "Judge Hardstriker, Sergeant Carnelis is here to see you."
"Enter", a gravelly voice barked out.
Tugging the door open, Aeriliya stepped inside the office and saw the Judge sitting behind a completely uncluttered desk. Not only him, but also nearly twenty other officers were present. As Aeriliya and the people present noticed each other, the elven woman noticed that nearly everyone was at least the rank of Captain. Nodding in respect towards her superior officers she approached the Judge. While never having personally met the man, Hardstriker's reputation preceded him. Despite his dwarven stature, his tenured experience as an Inquisitor gave him a presence which innately commanded attention. Behind his bushy, yet neatly braided black hair was his piercing, steel colored gaze. With each step she took, Aeriliya could feel those steely gray eyes petrifying her.
She was so focused on the Judge that she almost didn't notice there was also a human infantryman, wearing a green leather coat standing at attention. Though his posture was dead stiff, she could see the signs of fatigue. She also noted how he seemed to be frightened, seeing his fingers twitching and his eyes darting around the room, as if anticipating an attack. The human's presence somewhat confused her. A uniformed man wasn't an unusual sight, but someone from the army being so far from the battlefield proper was far from common.
"Sergeant, I am glad that you arrived here on such short notice", the Judge gruffed.
Saluting in response, "Reporting for duty, Judge. Though, might I ask for what reason I was summoned? My Corporal gave away no details on the journey."
Hardstriker gestured at the crowd, "Take your place and all will be explained."
As Aeriliya turned back towards the rest of the officers in the room, despite her apprehension, she tried to keep her face composed. But as she swept her gaze, the rest of the officers were staring imperiously right back at her. She was aware that as someone of lower rank, it would be presumptuous to seat herself among the rest and chose to stand.
Standing in front of his desk, Hardstriker began to address the room, "I'm sure it may be confusing to summon the Captains of the Capitol and surrounding precincts, but an emergency has arisen", turning his head and waving the soldier to the front of the room, "This is Specialist Higgins of the Imperial army. He was part of a recent strike force to smoke out a suspected terrorist cell..", casting a glance at Higgins.
One of the Captains raised a hand, "Why is a mere Specialist giving a report and not an officer?"
Hardstriker once more looked at the soldier out of the corner of his eye, and Aeriliya thought she saw what looked almost like sympathy pass through the Judge's steely eyes, "It would be best if Mr. Higgins tells you why himself."
The Judge waved his hand and a magically sealed file appeared in front of everyone. When everyone took them, Hardstriker made a twisting motion with his hand and a small click was heard from each of the files. Appearing nonchalant, Aeriliya opened the binder containing the field reports of the commanding officer up until the foray into the woods. Seeing the name Brigadier General Hammond already filled the elven woman with unease. The old badger was an 'interesting' choice. His successes were only compounded by massive loss of life; Which was why he hadn't been apart of the current expansion campaign
Looking at the disturbed human, Aeriliya could only wonder what would reduce a man to be practically afraid of his own shadow