The Clean Up (Dated)

Feliks made his way into the brig, his guard following. He was coming straight from the meeting to her. He knew arresting Kira was more trouble than it was worth, but he had to put on a show. Such acts of defiance in his presence would not go unpunished. Finally he reached her cell. With a sigh he told the prison guards to leave, only the Valkyrie, himself, and the griffoness remained.

Another sigh, putting his claw on his temple, "Ms. Kira," he said shaking his head, "What were you thinking? He looked up at her, no smile. "Were you thinking that griffon was a innocent? That I was wrongly arresting him? I assure you he is not. He killed my men and is the reason the traitor Zweihander escaped." He paced to the other side of the room, his claws behind his back, "Why would you lie to me?"

Kira had been waiting for this meeting with the Commander again as she was sitting imprisoned in the brig of the Gryphon headquarters. She knew that she could not be kept here even if what she had said was true as her father would not allow his only daughter be imprisoned by the occupation forces not without subjecting them with what he used to call a political shit storm.

So now when the Commander finally came to her she was just sitting clam and waiting for what this would bring. "Why I did what I did is my own." She said as she looked up a Feliks. "But you Commander was acting rash and foolish, you just accused him from something with out showing the clear evidence. And what is worse you blackmailed him into doing what you wanted him to be doing, that is something I thought we gryphons had left behind us."

"No evidence?" Feliks stopped and looked to her, a small smile creeping on his face.

"Commander," a guard opened the doors and approached him with a file, and some kind of gem. "As you ordered sir," he said as he gave the items and left as quickly as he came, the doors slamming shut behind him.

"Well, just in time," he said while clawing through the files. "Are you aware of the new technology we are gleaning from this land, Kira? This," he held up the gem, "this amazing little rock can capture moving images, and store them. Can be used to archive important events, or even..." he placed the gem in a small contraption conveniently placed on a table. The thing buzzed to life and the crystal began to glow, producing an image on the wall. "...capture evidence." The images only lasted a few seconds, and were choppy at best, but still it was clear what was happening. The thing was above a griffon guard. In the blink of an eye, lightning flashed and the guard was slain. The flash revealing a black griffon in the same mask as Kestrel. The next image was the same, another guard dying to the shadows that the hunter loved to use.

"That, is Kestrel," he claimed as he removed the shard. "It took time identifying him, which is why he was not arrested a week ago. But it is confirmed. Now, lets see who he killed," opening the files, "Ah, this one left behind a family of four. Says here he was the soul provider for them." He looked up as he dropped the file in front of him and paced the room. "This one just got married," again the file dropped, "This one says that he only has one relative, an old grandmother back in the kingdoms. A memo says that she is sick and to send him back once is tour is up in...two weeks," again the file drops. "This one...well, nothing special, so I guess it is okay he died." He dropped the last file and approached the cell, his claws behind his back.

"Now that you've seen the evidence, know the victims, still have the same thoughts?" He paused, but did not wait for a response, "See, I know these times are hard, and he is new to the area. I was willing to give him a chance, to be a team player. See, this whole, "lone wolfing it" act, and that is what it is...well, there is no room for it in the new order. I need griffons able to follow orders, work together for a common goal." With that he leaned in close, "Are you a team player Kira?"

Feliks shook his head, "What is with griffons today?" He stepped away from the cell, "Kira, my dear, of course you are your own. Only slaves are not their own. You have freedom; the freedom to choose your path. However," He stepped back , putting a claw on the cell bars and leaning in, "there are repercussions to every action, every choice. It would behoove you to choose the one that has the least."

With that he motioned to the Valkyrie, who produced a key and began unlocking the cell. "I obviously cannot hold you here. You may have lied, but you are innocent of the charges. I would ask however, that you hear me out. I want to present you with a choice," he smiled, "give you the option to pick the best one."

The cell door opened and the Valkyrie returned to his post. Felkis calmly waited for Kira to respond.

Kira sighed as her prison got opened by the Valkyrie still it was expected that she would be released, but she had not expected it to be this fast. Even if she had not gotten convicted by the commander as he seemed to have seen though her ruse. She step just to the edge of the cage as she looked to the commander. "What are you saying commander? What are you suggesting?" She said a bit curious about what he meant.

"Well, I have a proposition for you. One which may utilize your talents." He stepped over to the scattered photos, "Are you wondering how I know about the Hunter Kestrel? Or how I got those images of him killing the guard?" He looked over to Kira, "You may find that this Occupation serves a greater purpose than just oppression." He smiled at her.

Kira looked confused at the commander she was not sure what he was talking about, what did he mean with that? "What do you mean?" She asked trying to keep a neutral face but was failing at it.

"Well, if you'd kindly come with me, I'd like to show you." He motioned for her to walk through the doorway. It lead down a dimly lit hallway. This building was not strictly the brig, it was attached to the entire combat building, with staging areas, armory, offices, war rooms, and even some bunks for officers and those on duty. Down the hallway, there was a label pointing to the right, "To Staging Hangers".

Kira followed the commander as he walked out of the brig where she had been held for only a short time but had still been held. She was still a bit unsure what he had mean but if he wanted to show her what he meant she would just have to follow. When she read "To Staging Hangers" Kira just raised an eye brow at it. What was Feliks trying to do, impress her?

Walking Dow the hallway with a thinly-veiled smirk, Feliks came to a pair of large, metal doors.

"Now... Kira, we know of your prowess at the helm of an airship. Haven't you ever wanted to fly-" he turned to her, looking at Kira from the corner of his eye. "-something bigger?" With a push, the two doors opened to reveal the glorious Hangars of every Kingdoms vessel in service to the Tsar.

Heavy transports from the northern sections of the Kingdoms, laden with timber and fuel, berthed alongside beautiful Courts pleasure-ships, decorated with precious metals and built of only the finest woods. Sleek Equestrian airships, fueled by magic and weather, could be viewed beside the solid metal plated Dread-Naughts of the Tsar. And in the centre of this flotilla? The most important ship of all was docked.

A rare sight, the ship had the controversial levitation crystal flotation system, allowing for the ship to significantly minimize the nessecity (and size) of the balloon above. The ship was 23 metres long, built of cleverly riveted metals, making the ship streamlined and smooth. Where the ballistae would be on a warship were spotlights, numbering four in total, attached to platforms on the sides of the ship. An odd machine was built on the underside of the vessel, looking like some sort of magnification lens/telescope combination. This machine was the whole reason for the ships construction.

Using a special magically-infused crystal, events could be recorded from the air with this ship, and the machine provided a "zoom" function. The events of that bastard Zweihander's escape were almost perfectly recorded by the ships trial run, showing Feliks in detail what had transpired.

He just needed someone skilled to pilot the vessel so that it would never be seen.

"Kira, that magnificent vessel in the centre... what do you think of it?" He smiled benevolently.

Kira was not sure what Feliks was going on about at first until she saw the ship that he pointed out to her. Really she was not usually impressed by things but right now all her restraints that she usually had learn do keep up went away. Her beak hung open as she walked over to the ship slowly and allowed her claw to run over the hull of the ship. She had to say it was a beuty of a ship, so much smaller then her old cargo hauler and from the looks of it much faster as well.

"Okay Feliks what do you want?" She finally asked him as she walked back reluctantly from the ship. Still not really sure what he wanted but she guessed that this was his bargaining chip to get her to work with her.

"Straight to the point... I appreciate that. You see, I was hoping you would fly this beautiful ship." He smiled warmly, bowing slightly to the griffoness.

"I offer a royal pardon as well, although you will get it regardless of your choice. Consider it a gift, or apology."

Commander Feliks made an almost imperceptible jaw clench at Kira's question. The truth was, he needed a skilled pilot, and Kira was the only one that could handle his craft for quite a distance. The previous pilot had been Feliks himself; unfortunately he did not have the reflexes to pilot that beautiful ship.

And now he was stuck with a griffoness that asked too many questions... how to go about this...

Maybe the truth would work.

"Kira, you're the only pilot skilled enough in this portion of Equestria to fly this ship."