Tavaar - 44th Edition

(I've skipped a bit.)

“Not that you would give in,” said Shello. “We feared you might kill someone, or something nearly as rash.”

“Such as leave the military?”

“The family needs you here,” said Khaiu. “You have tremendous warrior skills. Besides, we love you.”

“And that is why we have come,” said Shello.

“To do what?”

“Gahrem convinced us that things in this company have been allowed to go too far,” said Khaiu. “It was clear to me that you are not the only one under pressure – though you suffer the worst. We have come to make an end to it.”

“We would have come sooner, but first we had to serve our punishments. Then we had to come up with a plan to get into this company.”

“Do Klarissa and – Tora – know what you’re about?”

“Tura. Yes. They contributed to the plan.”

“What are you planning?”

“To stop this,” said Khaiu.

“Yes, but by what means?”

“By any means it takes,” said Shello.

“Thank you. I don’t know if you can know how much this means to me. However, you are too late. Everything has been resolved since last moon. Kelenbah and the others are gone.”

“Gone? Who commands then?” asked Shello.

“I do.”

Khaiu’s eyes went wide with sudden comprehension.

“Of course! That explains it. You designed the defense, but you did not have the strength to man all positions. How were you able to remove him?”

“By making him believe he was about to get that which he wanted most.”

Khaiu laughed. “The perfect bait. Well, then, I believe I have no misgivings about handing you this.”

He produced a small leather patch from his pack. Shello did the same. Each patch was about the same size of her palm and stamped with matching symbols of a shield within a shield. These were their badges, given to them at the start of their test. By presenting them to the High Command at West Stop they would prove their success. If caught, they would need present them to the company commander.

“You give them to me, yet I have not earned them.”

“We are here. Are we not your prisoners?” asked Khaiu.

“Are you?”

“We are ever your prisoners. You know that,” said Shello.

Tavaar couldn’t stop her smile. “But I did not catch you. You came of your own accord.”

“Could you find better prisoners than that?” asked Khaiu. “Your plan defeated my plan. You guessed what we were doing and set us up to be captured. It is not your fault you were undermanned. Yet even with that, you nearly caught us. Had I not seen movement to confirm my doubts, we should have walked into your trap. Yet even then you still catch us, but using the one bait we cannot resist. No, Tavaar. In my mind, you have earned the victory. Take them.”