Blair had smiled as they were filed onto the bus, it reminded her a lot of being back at Chapterhouse, even though she wasn't a Truthsayer the discipilned movements of the Sisterhood saw every trip the school took happen in a similar manner as what they experienced. She sat alone on the bus staring out of the window taking in the views. The canals seemed to almost twinkle in the sunlight and she began thinking a little of her task here. Chanal was a city the Sisterhood knew little of and that alone was reason enough to send a Missionara, someone to see what gems of knowledge could be learnt here to advance the aims of the Bene Gesserit. As the bus crossed another canal her mind turned to the poems of an ancient member of the Sisterhood, legend told that she had left valuable scrolls in a far away land but the map to them had been lost. All that remained was a book of poems written by the woman during her time away and Blair had memorised much of it, one of the scholars believed Chanal could have been the location because of the words it contained.

"A thin wet sky, that yellows at the rim,
 And meets with sun-lost lip the marsh's brim.
 The pools low lying, dank with moss and mould
 Glint through their mildews like large cups of gold.
 Among the wild rice in the still lagoon,
 In monotone the lizard shrills his tune.
 The wild goose, homing, seeks a sheltering,
 Where rushes grow, and oozing lichens cling.
 Late cranes with heavy wing, and lazy flight,
 Sail up the silence with the nearing night.
 And like a spirit, swathed in some soft veil,
 Steals twilight and its shadows o'er the swale.
 Hushed lie the sedges, and the vapours creep,
 Thick, grey and humid, while the marshes sleep."

She hadn't realised she'd whispered the poem rather than saying it in her head and continued looking out of the window while they made their journey. As everyone else boarded the bus she waited to be told where they were rooming before grabbing her gear and going for a walk around the block. She was keen to find a quiet spot, she prefered being outside. After a few minutes she found one near a tree and sat down, she unrolled the mat strapped to the bottom of the pack and sat cross legged on the ground her back ramrod straight. For a good five minutes she prayed as she meditated on her Prana Bindu, a method designed to enable a Bene Gesseirt sister to master her physical and emotional being. She always felt better after her meditations and now feeling refreshed she rolled the mat up and headed back into the dorm. She looked to see which room contained the spare bed and seeing one with a girl laying on one bed, a set of belongings on another and what appeared to be a Himeyanan girl who looked like she'd just arrived to.

"Anyone take that one" Blair pointed to the spare bed and once confirming it was empty put the smaller of the two rucksacks on it, "I'm Blair, I'm from Ui Cenneslaig" she placed the larger one on the floor and began unpacking. "Take care of your kit and your kit takes care of you" she thought to herself keen to get unpacked before breakfast. She had planned well for her trip, trying her best to fit in with what a student was like. She took out a long thin cardboard tube from her bag and opened it, descreetly palming her crystknife and tucking it into the compartment on her ankle. Next she took a large world map from the tube and pinned it to the wall, tiny little photos were glued onto it showing the locations she'd visited. She took the map everywhere she could and with the exception of Kaitaine it showed a detailed record of her global travels. She finished placing her clothing and other belongings away before turning to the others in the room. "So anyone coming for breakfast" she headed for the door and swung the cloak around her shoulders in a well practiced motion, it was not really all that different to the desert ones they all wore in Seitch, however those served a more practical purpose, she wondered if she could get away wearing her Bene Gesserit one here rather than this one, she'd brought it with her and it now hung in the wardrobe, just one more item people would consider eccentric, such as her combat boots which peered out beneth the cloaks bottom. She made her way into the hall to grab breakfast, having got a plate she looked and found an almost empty table and headed over taking a seat and watching for others arrving

Joanna McNeill may have been the Commanding Officer of the Truthsayers in Kaitaine, and more importantly in Seitch, but that didn't mean she flew a desk. That was unheard of in the Truthsayers, your first duty was to fight and defend the Sisterhood against any enemy that may present itself, and after almost 25 years doing that she was damn good at it. As the clouds obscured the moon the desert became cool, and the darkness like a protective shell around the Truthsayers. They'd gone out this evening without their cloaks they often wore in the desert, the sound could alert the KDF and that wasn't something the four person team wanted. They slipped out of the city using one of the secret tunnels and with all the stealth of cat sneaked into the KDF lines. Tents were neatly arranged in rows and every now and again a kind of open square existed in the centre of which an old oil drum had a fire burning in it. The flames were reassuring to the KDF as they gathered and chatted, shared some sneaked in whiskey or vodka and sometimes sang. It all made McNeill's job the much easier as the flames would hurt their night vision while the sounds they made masked the fient noises made by the team.

They'd split up once inside the perimeter, each being given their own sectors to cover. The brief was easy, try and kill as many of the KDF as possible while at the same time sabotage as much as possible. Joanna made her way down a line of tents, torches hanging from roofs showed her where people were sat in their tents relaxing and she gave these a wide berth, it was the silent and dark tents she had an interest in. She passed close to one such tent and listened carefully, her mouth slightly open to help her focus her sense of hearing. Inside the tent she could make out the sound of snoring and after a minute waiting she reasoned there was only one person inside, the flapping tent entance probably meaning the persons's tent mate was out somewhere. She carefully looked around and made sure no one was coming, she slipped inside the tent, her white bone knife at the ready. She slowly made her way to where the man's head was sticking out of the sleeping bag and after kneeling down beside him she placed a hand over his mouth, in a quick deep movement she slit his throat using her weight to stop him thrashing about. Once his blood had stopped flowing she wiped the knife on his sleeping bag and replaced it in her belt before retracing her steps.

She made her way further down the rows looking for other victims and came across a couple of of KDF quad bikes, she slashed their tyres before removing the keys that had been left in and threw them into the desert. She'd have loved to have had some C4 with her but they had to improvise the best they could. She continued her stalk and soon found another tent in which a lone soldier snoozed, once more a throat was cut and she continued on her way. As she reached the last tent in the row she heard a noise in the tent and stopped as her ears tried to work out if a startled soldier was about to emerge, what she heard amazed her.

"Bless the Maker and His water.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His passage cleanse the world.
May He keep the world for His people."

A Bene Gesserit prayer in this place, she could have laughed out loud at the thought but instead remained crouched listening.

"May Shai Hulud spare me, may he grant me a chance to return my people to their homeland and should I die in that goal may he take me to the here after where my Sisters shall know me by my efforts." the womans voice was trembling, Joanna had to admire her, this was clearly a member of the faithful who in the middle of a camp that would have killed any Bene Gesserit was praying. For a moment Joanna wondered if she should speak with her, perhaps she could tell them of the KDF plans, but then again it was probably a lowly NCO and therefore little use in the grand scheme of things and therefore not worth the risk. Joanna made a mental note of the tents location, she would ask future patrols here to check on the tent. It was reassuring to know however that when the fighting started properly that not everyone in the siege lines would be trying to kill them, at that point who knew what could happen. Joanna spent another hour using her knife to damage equipment, slit throats and make a nuisance of herself before she made her way back to the tunnels entrance, she was relieved to see two others already back.

"How did it go?" Joanna asked her eyes hoping to catch the last Truthsayer returning home.

"Good" a grinning Truthsayer Sergeant replied, "Got four of the KDF, including a Major.....and he had this" she handed over a map which had various positions within the KDF lines marked.

"Nice" Joanna patted the girl on the shoulder, it would certainly come in useful and she tucked it into her jackets map pocket ready to examine it back home "I got three, did a few tyres on vehicles, even found a water bowser and left the tap running, should waste some 100litres or so, maybe even flood a few tents if lucky."

"I got two, but did manage to put sand into a generator or two." All in all it had been a good night, the three swapped stories while checking the time, the final member was five minutes overdue, they wouldn't worry until it hit 15, after all moving through enemy lines wasn't always straight forward. With five minutes to spare the sight of a fourth Truthsayer was reassuring and Joanna was pleased everyone was going home, that was until the forth girl collapsed. "Oh shit" Joanna muttered as she hurried over, it was clear the girl had been in a scrap and a wound in her stomach was bleeding badly. "You two make sure there is no blood trial" Joanna ordered and the two Truthsayers began tracing the steps and shifting the sand to hide any tell tale signs of blood. Joanna meanwhile lifted the girl into a hoist and began moving back down through the tunnels to get aid.

Cairan had just recieved the phone call he'd long been waiting for, his first shipment of Black Cocaine would be arriving in a few days, that meant big money to be made, however his manufacturer had also rather surprisingly sent him a consignment of pills, supposedly some new super ecstacy or something that was going to be the next big thing. Frankly he didn't care drugs weren't really his thing, woman, wine, music and art where, however to keep himself supplied with those to a level he required he needed money, and deals like this were perfect for that. "Thomas" he turned to his ever present bodyguard type who towered over him. "Please go and get Ayah and Livia for me, and bring four of your best guys.....but ones you wouldn't mind missing." he watched the large man grin as he headed off to carry out his little duty.

Five minutes later the six people arrived in Cairan's office, a room smartly made out with wood panelling upon which works of his own art hung, they were mainly all landscapes of places he imagined you'd see in some celtic paradise, rolling meadows, loch's and highlands and while they would never grace professional art galleries they weren't exactly bad work either, creating them made him happy so that was all he cared about, however the endless stream of sicaphants he surrounded himself with always told him he was a great master of his craft. "Ah my two nymphs" he crossed to them kissing each before taking one in each hand and sitting them on the sofa while he busied himself making them a fresh orange juice, "Gentleman make yourself comfortable" he motioned to various chaires around the room and the four men found seats and cradled their rifles as they sat awkwardly on the fine antique furniture. "I have a little task for you six" he handed the girls the fresh juice before squeezing in between them placing his arms around them. "You four are to escort my beautiful ladies to a meeting, they will be going to Keepton in East Moreland" he announced, the two girls looked puzzled it was not common for the girls to leave the island, "You will ensure their safety" he said firmly leaving the guards in no doubt what that meant. "they and you will be carrying a special cargo." he held up small packages of condoms with pills in them. "Each will be carrying six of these" he announced matter of factly, a few of the guards looked nervous and Cairan leaned forward. "I'm told its no worse than eating an oyster" he ran a hand down Livia's thigh, he often made her consume oysters for their "affrodisiac" properties. "Each of you four gentleman will recieve $1000 for doing this" suddenly the mens nerves disappeared as the sum offered was vast to them. "And ladies you will do it because you love me, don't you?" the menace in his final words as well as placing a hand around Ayah's throat as he pulled her close to his lips left little doubt. "Oh, and if you don't do it these four men will get to enjoy you before they head off and then so will all their friends." He was stood up now and poured a glass of water before returning to the seat, "and if one of you runs the other dies" he was almost cheerful, and "I certainly don't want anything to happen to my beautiful Livia" he handed her the glass as he removed a knife from the back of his belt. He reached into a box and pulled out one of the pill filled condoms and handed it Livia. "Just like an oyster" he smiled as he placed it in front of her.

Livia hesitated and Cairan waited, when Livia still hadn't picked it up he picked up the knife and used it to slide the package closer to her before running the flat of the blade menacingly up and down Ayah's thigh. Livia picked it up, she felt her heart racing and placed the package in her mouth, it tasted awful but she took a sip of water and swallowed the feeling sending a spasm of shock up her spine. "Good Girl" Cairan kissed her cheek, "Five more" he placed another on the table.

It took over an hour for the six mules to swallow all the packages and now they were on the boat heading for the mainland the men in high spirits at the thought of getting paid, meanwhile the girls sat nervously between them. Once on shore a mini van was waiting and the six were dressed as backpackers as one of Cairans' "Associates" explained the cover, "You're students heading back to Keepton" he handed the men some paperwork which had hastily been prepared, "and the girls are your classmates you took home with you" he opened the back of the van and showed a set of rucksacks similar to what students on a gap year would use. "Safe journey" the man waved them off as one of the guards clambered into the drivers seat and the rest got into the back surrounding Livia and Ayah. 

OOC- Cheers Dave

Anuoshka Pelagiya sat enjoying the festivities with her husband Tobias, he was a keen dancer but wasn't sure of the tradition of such a moment as was keen not to mess up, after all being a Duke from Lodja meant he was probably the best representative the nation had here, and of course he hoped to improve his daughters standing in the eyes of King David. "Darling" he began whispering in Anuoshka's ear as the music began to slow from the first dance. "I believe with the abscence of our daughter it's your duty to monopolise the King" he pointed to what seemed to be several young ladies jockying to be able to dance with the King. In the mind of the Pelagiya family each of them could be a potential rival to their daughter, clearly if Stasya was here she'd be the only thing the King was interested in but obviously that wasn't possible.

"Of course" Anuoshka kissed her husband and wandered onto the dancefloor making a bee line straight for the King, ignoring those twisting and circling around them. "Your Majesty" she timed her approach to perfection, the last note playing just as she bowed. "I wonder if I may dance with you, seems my poor husband has twisted his ankle" she shook her head in disappointment. The King shifted awkwardly , he wasn't much of a dancer anyway but knew such events required a certain level of protocol and a foreign Duchess was someone he couldn't really turn down, especially someone who knew about him and Stasya. The King extended a hand as the music started again and Anuoshka put her hand on his shoulder. "Very muscular" she commented watching how the King blushed as they began to preambulate. "I see why my daughter finds you so attractive, she has good taste" she added loving making this high ranking man feel awkward. "I do hope that none of those lovely ladies waiting to dance there are disappointed that your sharing my daughters bed" she gestured with her head as a few furious looking ladies seemed to be watching them. "Oh don't blush so much Your Majesty" she chuckled, "Us Lodjains aren't as up tight as many, Sessifet tells us that sharing our bodies with people we admire and love is a good thing, beauty is after all something people should enjoy and you and my daughter make a beautiful couple"

"Erm...thank you" David mumbled as he tried his best to stop himself looking more awkward on the dancefloor than he normally was.

In a months time Queen Viktoriya would mark her first anniversary of being Queen and it had been a hectic year, she'd created the Network of Crowns, hosted the amendments of the Uppsala Convention and been part of forming the CNN, she'd also become the first Lodjain Queen in hundreds of years to deploy her troops outside of the nation. She could be rightfully proud of what she'd achieved, Lodja was open to the world and taking its steps towards becoming a central part of global politics. Just two things had escaped her, the first was a happy marriage. She knew that was more down to luck than anything, it was tradition a Queen's first husband was selected by the Conclave and clearly the political wrangling had seen the High Priestesses nephew Baron Roman come out ahead on that. Viktoriya had hoped that over time she would get to love Roman, he was certainly a handsome enough man, but there wasn't the feintist hint of love in their relationship as he seemed to have more interest in drinking and gambling, she suspected he also had taken a mistress, perhaps even more but that didn't annoy her too much, it was kind of the norm amongst royalty and the Goddess was hardly one to frown upon such actions.

What did annoy her though was the second thing that escaped her and that was a child. There was a tradition that within the first year of her marriage the Queen would conceive a child, Roman's lack of attention to their marriage had made that difficult and when he did grace her bed his performance was sub par, usually he was so drunk she was amazed her even managed to get his socks off. That had lead Viktoriya to take matters into her own hands and with the aid of a charming Marine officer called Vladimir she'd been playing her husband at his own game. That had been two months now and despite Vladimir's attempts she was still not with child, he was however much more charming and caring that her own husband. There of course had been a deal struck, Vladimir had a desire to marry one of the Queen's Ladies in Waiting, in return for him providing her with a child Viktoriya would arrange the marriage, but now she was having second thoughts, after all Vladimir in just a few months had shown her much more tenderness than Roman and the law did permit a Lodjain woman to take more than one husband, perhaps she would make him husband number two.

She was musing her first year over in her head as she sat inside her private physicians room on the Isle of the Goddess, she was nervous her periods had been irregular since becoming Queen, the doctor put it down to stress and the lack of day to day routine but wasn't worried having taken bloods and done various other tests, it had lead to her getting her hopes up more than once. She sat nervously waiting for the doctor to complete her test, it was almost now a monthly meeting but previous times she'd already known the answer. She sat on the edge of the seat as the doctor waited for the doctor to wash her hands and the test results to come through. By the time the doctor had taken the seat the two strips had changed colour. "I'm delighted to say your pregnant, may I be the first to congratulate Your Divine Majesty" the doctor had a wide smile, she'd known how desperate Viktoriya was to conceave and with the first anniversary of her coronation looming she could see the Queen's face showed a sense of relief.

"Please do not tell anyone just yet" the Queen had breathed a sigh of relief that she had around a month in hand and she was in the family way, all that was left was a decision. It was tradition that the Queen named a single King even if she married multiple men, and that tradition held that it was the father of her first child, in her mind Roman didn't deserve that honour to stand alongside other great King's of Mundus such as King David of East Moreland. That thought made her a little sad, she had still held in the back of her mind a distant hope that they would marry and raise a platoon of children however she knew there was no chance of that, not with Roman around. She could however make Vladimir an offer beyond his wildest dreams, she knew he was keen to advance his families lineage by tying it to the highly influential Immich family, but surely he would see the Tar connection even greater, especially if it made him King. She would speak to him tonight when he shared her bed again, although this time it would merely be for her pleasure.

Viktoriya thanked the Doctor and made her way outside to find her Warriors of Gaia bodyguard waiting for her, they accompanied her everywhere within the Palace while she had specialist agents for her time off the Isle and for watching the security of the rock on which it was based. As she exited the doctors rooms her staff stood up from the benches that lined most of the corridor. "Any news Your Divine Majesty?" Lady Anna Immich asked eagerly, she was a keen traditionalist and knew it would be as though a curse had hit her nation if the Queen didn't get pregnant soon.

"We must reflect" the Queen replied in an icey manner, just as she had on many other occasions. Anna seemed disappointed, surely the Queen would have been excited if a child was growing inside her. The group followed the Queen as she made her way down the corridor, soon they reached a section of the Quad, an enclosed garden which had a walkway around the edges, their were many gardens like this in the Palace but The Quad was the largest and the Queen often liked to pass this way after the visits to see her doctor. She stopped, as she often did to speak with an old man called Tostig who maintained the garden here, he was a Pleb but had been a member of the military who had been spotted by Queen Sonja tending a garden outside his married accomodation on a base, she loved the way he'd used the limited space to make an oasis of colour and had wanted such a thing for here, and so far he'd spent the last thirty years doing exactly that. "Good afternoon Tostig" the Queen said merrily as she approached the man who was focused on his work.

"Your Divine Majesty" he gave a low bow and it was clear his aging spine suffered from it, every day he bowed and everyday Viktoriya eased him up and told him he should take things easy. "I have something for you" he beamed and disappeared off to the wheelbarrow returning with a single White rose, "The first of this year, it's called a Queen Rose and Her Divine Majesty Queen Sonja always asked for the first to be brought to her, she believed it to be good luck" he handed it towards the Queen who noticed the care that had been taken with its presentation, the thorns removed and it placed on a piece of silk, she took it and smelt it, the rose was beautiful and she put it into her hair.

"Thank you" she smiled as she took his arm and began to stroll the garden keen to see what the row of roses looked like. As they reached them at the centre of the garden she noticed a young apprentice of Tostig working on them pruning them with secaters. He got up off his rubber mat he was kneeling on and bowed to the Queen. She couldn't recall his name but she would chat with him a while, after all he was taking great care of her favourite place in the palace. She approached and the youngster kept his eyes lowered. "Hello" Viktoriya said as she approached, she was now only a few meters away, "We wanted to thank you for...." she didn't finish the sentence as the boy had lunged forward the secaters in his right hand plunging them deep into the Queen's neck, blood sprayed and a burly Warrior of Gaia sprung forward tackling the boy as Lady Anna, quickly being covered in the Queen's blood grabbed her monarch gently lowering her to the ground. Viktoriya's hands instintcively went towards the wound to pull the secaters out.

"No" A Warrior of Gaia knelt down and pulled her hands away knowing the blades acted like a plug stopping the Queen bleeding to death. A look of sheer panic in the 18 year old Queen's eyes. Behind them Lady Jasmina was crying, she'd never seen anything like this before and as Anna's white dress began to turn pink Jasmina fiented leaving Tostig to care for her, he too had gone deathly pale. More and more people were flooding into The Quad as the Warriors of Gaia radioed for help.

"Release the Goddess" the boy yelled as he was lifted to his feet and dragged away struggling. "The vessel known as Viktoriya is cursed, the Goddess should be released, find a host worthy of Sessifet" the boy was screaming as he was lifted and hurried away from the scene by four burly strangers. The Queen's Security Agents had now arrived, while the Warriors of Gaia were supposed to be responsible for the Queen in the Palace walls the Agents felt they had to respond and one was carrying what was known as the crash bag, essentially a military surgical bag with everything a medic would need, including IV drips of blood matched to the Queen. Withourt a word they pushed the Warrior out the way and set about their work, only when ready did one of the Agents delicately remove Anna's shaking hands from the wound where she'd been trying to apply pressure like she'd once read you should. She was hesitant and nervous about moving, what if it meant the Queen bled to death.

"Shhhhh. Its ok...its ok Anna" the agent soothed her, "You've done good, let me sort her out now." Anna nodded and backed away slowly as the agent set about their work, she stood her hands covered in the Queen's blood and the front of her dress now pink. She walked away her mind numb and slowly sat on the grass rocking as she hugged her knees while praying that Sessifet would save the Queen's earthly body.

Besarian had sat through the ceremony frankly amused by the whole religious notion of it, if he was honest it was the first time he'd actually attended a full Christian ceremony and he found it tedious. Back home the Priestesses didn't need to constantly remind people of their duties to the Goddess, they lived them everyday through having a living breathing Goddess in the form of the Queen. It was simple, there was no need to be told to obey a God, because if you crossed the Queen you went to prison, it was that simple. A well ordered society such as that of Lodja celebrated their Goddess not reaffirmed themselves to obey them. Besarian shook his head at the whole negativity of the faith he'd just witnessed.

With the ceremony seemingly over he got up to go and strecth his legs and made his way to the waiting car, there was a ball to attend and so as such he figured there would be drink there, if he was going to be surrounded by these Christians all evening he may as well do it with a glass of wine or six.

"Why the hell are we out here" Lydia Fremen asked as they paddled the kayak along through the sea.

Sarah McPherson checked her GPS and then returned to matching Lydia's strokes. "Nathanial suggested we come." It annoyed Lydia, Nathanial Corrino while not being a Truthsayer, for obvious reasons, was becoming more and more the de facto military leader of the Sisterhood outside of Kaitaine. He was however good at his job and got his hands dirty but centuries of tradition meant some Truthsayers didn't like his interference. Some liked even less the fact that this newer breed of Truthsayer seemed to have his favour, Lydia though was impressed with Sarah, she navigated better than a seasoned Truthsayer and she may appear a petite 19 year old but she had a sinewy strength that took everyone by surprise. The two had been tasked with meeting this patrol ship off the Uburzian coast. The impending storm had provided perfect cover and the survival gear they had stowed would keep them safe if they mistimed it, the large military style inflatable life raft sat deflated in the stern. "We're here" Sarah informed her. "You got the flare?" she asked and Lydia was already loading the gun, as agreed a single red flare was launched into the sky and while it drifted the pair prepared, assault weapons were slung at their back ready should this be something more untoward, each instinctvely checked their ankles for the crystknife and then Lydia pushed a bag on a rope over the side containing some gear, if it went wrong they'd hit the water, grab rebreathers and try and swim away, not something they looked forward to but a plan was a plan. They waited for the boat to come into shouting range and then Sarah yelled. "We have an appointment, something about a package?" she yelled.

---

Joint Ironside Publication

By the time the Gillespie and his team arrived the standby team were already tooled up and ready to go. They'd temporarily took control of the airfields fire brigade hanger, and were mapping out their plan to snatch the impending visitor they believed was part of the Truthsayers. Gillespie was a little nervous, Saxby noticed the officer seemed a little more tense than normal. "You OK skip?" he asked as he handed him a tin mug full of thick tea.

"Yeah, just a bit concerned this is a come on, I mean they know we have some of their guys for sure, what if this is some revenge attack" he explained, Saxby laughed, they'd done similar operations on Borlanders several times and he'd never seen Gillespie so nervous, perhaps the Stoneton attack where Gillespie had been injured had left some mental scar.

"We'll be 'right" Saxby said patting him on the shoulder, "We've Barks, he'll sort us out if anything goes down" It was true Barks wasn't a Red to be toyed with and he was a quick thinker, nearly as quick as his temper could be. The issue addressed the team slipped into what the Red's did best, taking the piss out of each other until the spotters called it in.

"Single white female, blue car, approaching" the disguised Red's at the gate to the airfield let her in after a check of ID and the car rolled towards the hanger, it was open but no one home. They hoped she'd go in and poke around, being caught in the act of something. They watched as she entered calling a few names, it seemed like she was very familiar with the place. "GO!GO!GO!" words came over the radio and five men hurried across the tarmac between the fire station and the hanger, the woman was taken by surprise as five black clad men balaclava's levelled weapons at her. Barks, Saxby and Gillespie jogged over to find the woman kneeling with hands on her head.

"Who are you?" one of the assault team barked at her, his reply returned with an icey stare. "Tell us who you are or you'll be sorry" the cliche nearly made her laugh, a flicker of her mouth about to say something before stopping and the stare returning. "You speak English?" clearly she did, the early reaction confirming it. "Morelandish?" still nothing but a stare definatly back at the questioner.

"Gaelic?" Gillespie asked knowing the answer already before he walked to face her. Her mouth began to open and then stopped. "Tha fios agam cò thu Sarah[1]" James said as he let his weapon rest on the sling.

"Dè tha thu a 'dèanamh an seo?[2]" the woman said unsure if any of the others could speak the language they were conversing in. Barks stood behind mildly impressed with Gillespie's linguistic abilities.

"Bidh dragh oirbh mu sin nas fhaide air adhart. Airson a-nis feumaidh sinn faighinn a-mach às a seo.[3]" Gillespie said firmly in a tone that masked his message. "Pick her up, put the bitch in the fire brigades landrover while we search this place" They had no large vehicles with them having come in on the helicopter but needed somewhere to stick their prisoner securely. Barks opened the back and Gillespie was about to push their prisoner inside but stopped, "Better search her" he began patting her down in a thorough manner. "Anyone got plasticuffs" A pair were held up and he continued his search, as his hand reached her boot he felt what he had expected to find, a lump, he ignored it and instead pushed her onto the rough metal floor. "Saxby stand stag, I want to ask a few more questions, rest of you start checking that place out again." The men wandered off, knowing Saxby didn't speak word one of Gaelic he knew he was safe. "Fuirich còig mionaidean. Gearr an inneal a 'sgaradh thu bho na suidheachain aghaidh. Tha na h-iuchraichean mu thràth. Tha an fheansa an ear lag dràibheadh troimhe agus a 'cumail a' dol."[4]

"Fuck you Morelander" Sarah said spitting at him, letting a heavy Celtic accent come through.

"Nice" Gillespie said wipping the spit from his face with a gloved hand, a touch he thought a little unneccessary. He climbed down and slammed the door locking it behind him.

"What you say?" Saxby asked.

"I just told her that we thought she was a terrorist and that we hang them here, if she helped us we could see to it that she got a prison sentence, seems she's not interested in self preservation." he smiled as he walked away towards the hanger, "You coming?" he asked and Saxby jogged a few steps to catch up. "OK" Gillespie got the rest of the teams attention. "She's a Celt, seems she's one of these Truthsayers, my bet is she hoped to buy weapons here and move them through various countries. I'm guessing if the Kaitaine government had sleepers here so did the Bene Gesserit nutters" Saxby looked confused, it didn't seem like the woman had said that much but it was hard to disagree with Gillespies assessment.

Back across the tarmac Sarah had managed to get her Crystknife out of her ankle sheath using one hand, she was thankful Gillespie had used plasticuffs and she managed to split them. She glanced out the window of the back of the landrover and spotted the Red's were all in conversation, as quickly and quietly as she could she cut through the tarp that acted as the fire brigade landrovers roof and clambered into the front seat, just as Gillespie had said the keys were in the ignition, she knew she'd not have long as so looked around the cab, a firemans helmet sat on the passenger seat, it wouldn't be the best of cover but it was better than nothing, she placed it on her head, looked up at the sun, worked out which way was east and turned the key, the engine thankfully started first time and she drove off as fast as she could, in the rear view she saw the Red's chasing after her and heard rounds ping off the vehicle and through the cab, she could tell from the sound some where heavier calibre, no doubt sniper rifles and so she zig zagged as she crossed the airfields grass and smashed as told through the eastern fence, she knew she'd have to outrun the authorities but she had a head start and was sure she could get away, after all she was a Swordmaster, one of the Truthsayers elite. She drove quickly down a countrylane she spotted about a mile away, she could hear helicopters now, no doubt the Red's were using their transport to search, she smashed through a farmers hedge drove straight across the field and towards a small river at the edge of some woods. She didn't wait for the vehicle to come to a stop before she was out and running through the woods. Her mind was already racing over her actions, get back into Northfort, get to her safe house, grab her fake ID and get the hell out of East Moreland, and then find out what the hell Nathanial Corrino was doing working for Red Legion.

1.	I know who you are Sarah
2.	What are you doing here
3.	Worry about that later. For now we need to get you out of here
4.	Wait five minutes Cut the canvas separating you from the front seats. The keys are already in. The eastern fence is weak drive through and get away.

Corporal Niall "Patch" Hulme hated Seitch, it was far too warm to be sitting around beseiging a desert city, and the fact that he was a member of the KDF Special Forces unit meant he was constantly expected to be ready, his weapon, body armour and gear worn at all times, as such he was sweating like a pig. He had been woken pretty much at sun rise for his turn on duty, he much prefered it when he took the nightshifts, that way it was at least cool and occasionally something happened when they spotted Truthsayers in the darkness. There would be a brief exchange of gunfire but the small groups of Bene Gesserit soldiers didn't want to really engage and would disappear like ghosts into the night leaving a panicing and confused KDF behind. He'd been in four of these exchanges now and each time no one had sustained more than a scratch. He had no idea how they could do it, the women would literally appear out of nowhere and often spotting them was a pure accident, one night someone had as they'd headed towards a choice looking rock for a shit, suddenly as they were about to drop trouser they'd spotted a dark, caped figure crouched nearby, at first the soldier thought it was someone having the same idea as him but then the figure had slashed at him with a white bladed knife before hurrying off leaving a staggering soldier with his trousers round his ankles yelling to his comrades. The memory of that soldiers pale butt cheeks in the moon light made him chuckle as he settled into his position in a small scrape they'd dug a few days ago, it was covered with cammo net which at least gave a small amount of relief from the sun.

"Morning Corporal" the Private on duty handed him the logs from the nights guard, some false alarms as usual but nothing else.

"Thank you Private" he responded as he picked up the spotters scope and scanned the city. It was, in his mind, a shit hole, a place full of dusty narrow streets that you'd struggle to get two people to pass in without turning sideways. It was a soldiers nightmare, the streets twisted and turned and everynow and again a walkway cut above giving a perfect chance for ambushes and traps, add to that these little white marks they'd spotted painted everywhere, marks they'd worked out the Truthsayers used to gauge distance. When they'd first gone into the city around two months ago they'd taken days to work it out but after that they tried removing them, it didn't matter because the next day they'd be back replaced during the night by the caped ghosts. Hulme had no idea why they were even here, the Truthsayers had no answer to artillery and air power yet they sat here, he'd voiced his observations up the chain of command several times.

"But Corporal, who knows what intelligence on the bitches could be destroyed, beside McPherson wants to turn the place into a prison, it'll save billions and imagine being put in their and left to rot, it'd make me think twice before I committed a crime." he'd been told and it seemed most agreed with their esteemed President. The President had even come up one day in the first few days of the siege and spoke to them, one phrase stuck with Hulme, "Seitch must be taken in one piece to show the world we are not the violent vandals the Bene Gesserit try and persuade the world we are. We shall therefore one day invite the whole of Mundus to a great meeting there and say, if we're so bad why does our enemies greatest city still stand?" It seemed at odds with the prison idea but at the end of the day his was not to reason why. He laughed at the idea of the President switching the use for the city back and forth, his laugh was however stiffled as a Truthsayer patrol hidden in the desert launched a mortar shell into the foxhole guided by Truthsayer Corporal Ruth McHeart.

From Ruth's position on the roof top she watched as the first mortar round landed exactly where they thought it would, "Confirmed OP kill" Ruth told the mortar team who already had the tube packed on high tailing it away across the desert to secret caverns only the Bene Gesserit knew. Ruth smiled as the KDF fired hundreds, if not thousands of rounds off into the desert, she even spotted a helicopter take off sweeping the desert looking for the mortar team who were now safely away.

"We're back at Desert Alpha" an out of breath voice came over the radio, "No casualties"

"Roger that, will look for more easy targets" Ruth began scanning the seige lines once more as the sound of gunfire still poured into the desert.

Sarah had laid low for a few days following the attempt to get hold of the nucler material, by the time she'd got to Heyra and the safehouse there her back up phone was full of messages and texts, it took her a few hours to get them straight before she could think. It seemed the leadership of the Sisterhood, those black wearing morons of the Mothers, had taken the attack badly. They were always so worried about things, "Stay hidden. Stay silent, the Kwizach Hadarach is coming." Sarah didn't buy that she believed that if this supreme being was to come back to Mundus they would need to be brought back, legend said they would come at a time when Mundus was plunged into a period of fire and torment, and that was exactly what she'd been trying to create, action and not words were the only way they were going to get Kaitaine back from those godless bastards.

She was thinking of her options, the nuclear one was probably gone now, but there were still other avenues to take, rumour had it there were chemical weapons doing the rounds of Zimalia and Scordisci that you could get through various backdoor avenues, but what she needed now was to retool and head to Zimalia and start that investigation. She used her phone to dial the front they had at the airport and found no answer, it was strange as it should have ben the middile of the working day. She tried three more times and nothing and so was left with little choice other than to phone the airport security. She asked casually about the company "I've tried ringing them four times but its not connecting" she told them.

"Nah, should be working" the security guy said, as he'd been instructed to by Red Legion, one of whom was sat recording the message. "They've been in and out all day."

"OK, thanks" Sarah wondered what was going on and decieded she'd just go to check it out herself.

Blair would have prefered to have been with her Bene Gesserit sisters in Seitch but Mother Hannah McKay had ordered her out just before the seige of the Holy City began. She had protested heavily even when she had returned to Ui Cenneslaig but once McKay set her mind to something it wasn't going to change, and now she found herself here in Chanal. She'd travelled a lot in her life, mainly looking for books and arteafacts for her Missionara Protectiva, but this time she was here to study History and do a little exploring in the local historical artefacts market, you never knew when something of interest to the Sisterhood would come up. She waited by the baggage carousel rocking backwards and forwards on her heels patiently waiting for her two rucksacks to turn up. She spotted the first and swung it off with ease slipping it onto her back almost in one fluid motion. She waited for the next and scooped this one up, it was smaller and multi-coloured covered in various patches from her travels, Northfort, Claith, Heyra, Vaguzia, even one bearing a regimental badge of a Kiataine Army unit, the prescence of that one a conveinecnce if she ever had to wander around Kaitaine. Her belongings gathered she headed through immigration using her Cenneg documents and then out into the foyar. She found somewhere to get a coffee, and then sat people watching for a bit with a newspaper.

The A-XX is a prototype ground attack aircraft currently in the final stages of development by LodjaWings and likely to be avaliable within six months.

The aircraft utilisers a pusher propeller mounted above swept rear wings and a unique tail design. This both helps mask the sound signature of the aircraft as well as help protect the engine from ground fire. The aircraft will also feature eight underwing pylons and one central body pylon giving ample room for significant amounts of weaponary capable of providing exceptional ground support.

The aircraft also is highly economical being able to fly several hundred miles before staying in a target zone for several hours at a time. The aircraft also features a compact body type making it highly manouverable, the composite materials making it light weight while also durable.

The aircraft is expected to retail at around $30million flyaway. Final prototype testing is due to take place over the next few weeks and should you be interested we would be happy to invite you along for the tests.

 Stanislav Basik,
 CEO of LodjaWings

A team of scientists from Ui Cennesliag today have announced a disturbing piece of information about the recent Kaitaine space launch. According to one of our sources the supposed unmanned mission may not have been so. Files have been released of a voice recording that the UC science team claim could only have come from orbit. A conversation was monitored for around thirty minutes and then went silent from one end, no further contact was heard despite what appeared to be input from ground control.

Since the early part of the year Ui Cenneslaig have operated various space based labs and monitors in order to learn more about the solar system. One of these picked up the transmissions of the Kiataine space launch a full 24 hours before the Pravada announcement of a satellite launch that was designed to burn up in the atmosphere. Speaking to our publication Professor Killian McHugh of the Ui Cenneslaig space programme said. "This is disturbing, it is our point of view that while being obsessed with carrying out a rapid space programme in order to impress the world that they have rushed to send a manned mission knowing full well they are not ready. As such I believe what we have picked up is a great disaster in space, maybe the first of its kind. I think this person has either burnt up in re-entry or skimmed off the atmosphere and is lost in space with no chance of rescure." The audio has been made available to several other nations who have also given similar assessments including the Joint Nordic Space Programme whose director told us, "In our view this is a failed manned mission. I think they knew this was a possibility and as such delayed the announcement until they knew how it would have ended. This shows you can not rush space exploration."

So far the Kaitaine Ministry of Defence which oversees the Kaitiane space programme has refused to comment on the speculation instead just re-releasing statements about a successful launch and satellite mission.

[table]
[tr]
[td]Policies[/td]
[td]Stance[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Drugs Law[/td]
[td]What rules do you have on drugs[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Same Sex Marriage [/td]
[td]Stance on marriage[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Education[/td]
[td]How does your education system work[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Property Ownership [/td]
[td]Who can own things[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Voting [/td]
[td]Who can vote[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Prostitution[/td]
[td]Can you pay for sex[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Freedom of the Press[/td]
[td]How does your media work[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Freedom of Movement[/td]
[td]Can people leave and enter easily[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Abortion[/td]
[td]Legal/Illegal[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Health Care[/td]
[td]How does Health Care work[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Gun Laws[/td]
[td]Can people own firearms[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Internet Neutrality[/td]
[td]Who controls the web[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Business Ownership[/td]
[td]What legistaltion exists around companies etc[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Marriage[/td]
[td]Stance on different sex marriage[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Table for your nations legal stances etc.

Duke Tobias and his wife Anoushka had boarded the King John and had a look around, they didn't know many of those who had gathered, after all they were just nobles from Lodja and not international diplomats. Being the highest ranking Lodjain here though had been enough to get them admitted. "Is he there?" a voice from Anoushka's video calling phone asking. Anoushka turned the phone to point towards the part of the boat where King David was standing. "You have to make sure to talk to him" Stasya Pelagiya instructed her parents. She'd been doing her best to keep David's attention over distance and while she'd tried to get the permission to be away from her duties as a Lady In Waiting during the festival so she could once more catch the King's eyes in person but her parents were now tasked with doing their best to keep David interested.

"So what happens as a Cultist wedding" Tobias asked his daughter, he'd ensured she'd learned about other nations and she had taken a good interest in East Moreland five years or so ago, something that he'd encouraged, she was somewhat of an expert now, spoke the language and knew the customs.

"Well usually they take weeks to plan" Stasya replied as she watched from the opposite side of Mundus. "But generally their hands are bound, vows exchanged and then people get drunk" she thought for a moment that in reality it was little different than weddings the world over."

"Oh, simple enough" Tobias sat down towards the rear and waited for things to start.

Throughout history there have been two Holy sites for the Bene Gesserit, one is the desert city of Seitch, the other is an island known as Chapterhouse which sits just 1km off the East coast of Kaitaine. Traditionally Chapterhouse was the centre of the Bene Gesserit faiths educational programme where they trained the members of the four different branches. It also houses a large collection of religious documents and research. When the nation fell to the Communists there was a great battle for the island and again in various uprisings, the last being in the 1970's which saw 100 Truthsayers publically executed in the aftermath.

When Kaitaine fell the Four Holy Houses were instructed by Reverned Mother Giaus Moriam to head into exile in Cantabria, Achkaerin, Aosta and Ui Cenneslaig, additionally many Bene Gesserit fled to these nations following their family loyalties. The faith had always been wealthy thanks to families trying to ingratiate themselves with the Sisterhood, and as such purchased land for four schools in the new nations. These schools were established to appear like normal girls bordering schools however as well as teaching everyday subjects they prepare the girls for a path within the Sisterhood.

Each of the four schools are known as Lifeboats and are on the surface run as a private boarding school including appearing to collect fees for students, which in fact are donations from wealthy families. The Schools are run by an experienced Mother and between the four of them they are the leadership of the Sisterhood, occasionally they may feel one is more senior in terms of the God/Gods favour and name them Reverned Mother meaning they are in charge of the whole faith.