The crew had gotten off the airships, and were filing into ranks a few dozen yards north of the landing area; Corporal Krybirr was watching as the airship crews finalized everything for a full holding when the Thoracis' greeting envoy arrived. The drow turned his mount quickly to face them as hundreds of eyes fell on the small contigent of men from the nearby troops. He motioned to his men to hold back as the others approached and Colonel Glass delivered his nearly-ultimatum greeting that drew a daunting look from the Corporal.

General Thoracis? Fighting out here? the dark elf thought, befuddled amid the disrespect. It was starting to make sense to him why William had been asking about the legendary commander before: he must have known that Thoracis and his men were in the area.

As the man with Glass' troupe spoke up, Shalacius felt more at ease hearing his words, but scoffed a bit himself. Hearing out the small greeting from Elrohir, he gave a mock grin under his words, nodding.

"Firstly, no offense taken. I can understand the Colonel here having an abrasive manner- I would too if I had such little control over my men that they could speak over me when they pleased." he quipped, trading the insult back. "However, that aside, we were not aware Thoracis or his men would be present in the area, so you'll excuse me if I take a moment to digest this small surprise."

From nearby to the south, a booming voice carried over the plains.

"An enemy deployment at camp, men! Ready your weapons!" the rough voice of the dwarven captain rang out, sharply drawing Corporal Krybirr's attention.

Captain Lashgiver was approaching the camp, in lead of the Phalanx Division, who had begun pulling axes, warhammers, and swrods from the clasps and sheaths at their sides. Corporal Krybirr realized the powder keg that they sat on, and moved quickly.

"Stay your weapons, men! That is an order! Do not draw on these men!"

He waved his hands frantically to ensure he had the attention of the men before glaring at Captain Lashgiver. Evanthor's face was bright red with anger as he stomped through the grass, so angry he stammered when he spoke.

"W-w-what is the meaning of this?!? What makes you think you have authority over my division? There is an enemy platoon in our camp, and I said draw your weapons!"

His own face darkening to almost read, despite his dark grey skin, Corporal Krybirr snapped at the men harshly, pointing an accusing finger at them.

"You will NOT carry out that order!" He quickly pointed his finger from the men to Captain Lashgiver. "And you will not issue that order again. Do not forget that I am the superior officer here, Captain Lashgiver. This is a diplomatic party, and under the articles of warfare, we are prohibited from attacking them. Now you and your men, stand down immediately."

If the tension between Thoracis' men and the Corporal had been a powder keg, the tension between the two officers was an airship full of dynamite. They silently locked eyes before Evanthor yielded in acknowledgement that he was outranked.

"Very well. Men, hold your position!" He shouted behind him, before looking sharply at the drow. "What is the meaning of this, Corporal?"

"These men are a forward party from General Thor-"

Evanthor cut him off, with deliberate disrespect in his tone.

"I'm well aware of who they are, sir. What do they want?"

The drow narrowed his eyes at his dwarven co-commander hesitating only briefly.

"The General's men are ahead of us, between our approach to Gisela City and here. They are already engaging enemy forces, and this party has come to elicit an alliance from us."

The dwarf had already known, and had made up his mind hours ago.

"Preposterous. If they are between us and our goal, we will treat them as we would any other impeding force. They will fall in line withour enemies and face our-"

This time it was the Corporal who cut off Captain Lashgiver, his tone even more stern than before.

"That is quite enough, Captain Lashgiver. Now, these men have come under the auspices of a truce, and it is my feeling that it would be in both armies best interests to accept such an offer."

The two men locked eyes harshly, neither saying a word. The corporal knew that he couldn't supercede Lashgiver by his own edict on this matter, but he was not about to let the Captain spark off an even bloodier conflict than needed. Interrupting the silent battle of wits was the stately voice of William Steinbock.

"And we will accept their offer." He said as he walked up to the men.

Both turned suddenly with surprise as William strode with a noble air about him. Captain Lashgiver narrowed his eyes at the goat, cursing under his breath. While Coproal Krybirr couldn't overrule him alone, he and William together could. William walked between the two men, glancing with preturbation between them before looking at the greeting party.

"I am sorry for this outburst here. You may return to General Thoracis and tell him that our forces do not present a threat to him-"

"Mr. Steinbock!" Captain Lashgiver interrupted. William cut him a quick glare before continuing.

"-as our orders to march on Gisela and overtake the Imperial Army do not stipulate outside forces. Furthermore-"

"Mister Steinbock!" Evanthor interrupted again, drawing another nasty look and a growling tone from the goat.

"Furthermore... if he is engaging enemy forces to the east, then it is no doubt forces we would have to fight ourselves in order to carry out our orders. So you may return and let the general know that he has us at his aid."

William turned sharply, marching back towards his division to oversee the construction of the Behemoth. The angry dwarven captain was quick on his heels and Corporal Krybirr stayed to see the newly-allied party on their way off.

------

"You had better have a damn good explaination, goat!" the captain said when they were out of sight and earshot of the greeting party. "I should take my whips to you right now for that little display!"

Turning on his heels, William got nose-to-nose with Evanthor, anger burning in his eyes.

"I don't need to explain myself to you, Mr. Lashgiver. We are co-commanders of this army. Now, Corporal Krybirr and myself have made a decision about the situation that was presented before us. And while you may have had an opposing opinion, you were outvoted."

"So all of a sudden you think you have some sort of authority here, capran?"

William snorted hot breath that made the dwarf's beard sway slightly.

"I *do* have authority here, Captain. In case you forgot, I am commanding over the Behemoth Division. I may have been a civilian before I came out here, but now, I am one of the leaders of this army; and your pushing me around ends here."

Captain Lashgiver surprisingly cracked a smile at this, then sneered while nodding.

"Heh, alright then. You've gone and grown yourself a pair. That'll make it all the sweeter to take the lash to you when this is all over. Get your division prepared then, the briefing is soon."

As the dwarf walked off, he had a sinister look about him as if he was plotting...