After the events of the morning, Niall took Theavi out for lunch. At first, Theavi seemed surprised, and maybe even felt rather uncomfortable with the proposition, but once they arrived at the small cafe outside of Achlis and she saw that Julian, who was joining them to be a part of the debriefing as well, was waiting for them, the General noticed her relax.

Niall was well aware of the fact that her attitude and demeanor had changed dramatically after officially meeting the people she was to gather information from. He was already sure that she didn't trust him entirely before this, but now it was even more clear.

Though this posed a bit of a problem for Niall, he knew that they'd have to move forward anyways. She would understand eventually... or at least, he hoped she would.

While they ate, Theavi shared the notes she had made and Niall assisted in adding extra details and correcting her as well. In a rush, she got quite a few spellings of names wrong, as well as ages. Then after lunch, Julian left on his own to finish more paperwork and Niall returned to Achlis with Theavi. It was time to introduce her to Luana, which meant he was one step away from finally getting this project started.

When they arrived at the Logistics Wing of Achlis, Niall walked Thea to the door to Kaya's usually bustling room, but instead was greeted by a relatively empty office. One of the few people who were there included Luana, who was resting her face on her hand, her elbow on the table as she snoozed away.

"Luana," Niall barked, snapping her out of her nap and startling her. He also attracted the eyes of the others who were in the room, though he paid no attention to them. Right now, his primary concern was the fact that this Soldier of the Aiverian State was posing to already be a bad example to Theavi.

The girl stood up immediately at the sound of his voice. "Sir!" Quickly, she straightened herself up, smoothing out the wrinkles in the coat and the trousers of her uniform before she rushed towards them.

Despite his frustration, he did find himself worrying a little bit. "Is Kaya keeping you in late?" he asked, his brows furrowing a little bit.

"No, no," Luana responded, waving her hand around before fixing her very straight, short black hair with her fingers and pushing it behind her ear. Though Luana was, in fact, Elorian, it was military policy to keep hair short – shoulder length for women, unless they accepted to keep it in a bun at all times – and so Luana, who hated tight buns apparently, had her hair exactly at her shoulders. "I was just up late last night."

The response made the General roll his eyes. "Don't sleep on the job, you fool."

She clearly wasn't listening, a grin forming on her face as it seemed like Luana was now distracted by the sight of Theavi. "So this the new girl?"

Niall sighed before he nodded. "Luana, meet Theavi Rhaanan."

Theavi, who seemed to be in a state of shock, smiled quickly. "It's lovely to meet you!"

He didn't need to guess why she was so shocked... most people were when they saw Luana. Luana was, after all, a State Officer who was also an Elorian. It was incredibly rare to see that, and frankly, she was the only female Elorian in the military that Niall knew of. She was unusual, certainly, and it didn't really help much to know that Luana's personality was also rather unusual. She was loud and boisterous and Niall was always wondering how the girl managed to keep her spirits up when she worked in a place so challenging as this. Of course, despite all of this, those traits were exactly what managed to draw Niall to her as well.

It was why he trusted her.

Luana, as annoying as she was, was also one of the strongest women he knew. She was a good comrade to everyone she cared about too, and that was what made her so loved by those who actually got to know her.

Luana reached her hand out for Theavi to take. "I'm First Lieutenant Luana Kharan," the girl said. "I report to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, though I'm working in the Logistics Department under Colonel Jaylen."

Theavi took her hand and shook it. "Wow." Was all she could say. "It really is so nice to meet you, First Lieutenant Kha–"

"Just Luana," Luana smiled warmly before winking. "So long as no one is around."

Theavi's eyes flickered over to the General, and the sight of that made Luana laugh.

"You can't possibly be scared of the General here, can you?" She laughed some more, making Niall roll his eyes. "He's not as much of a stickler as you think he is–"

"That's enough, Luana," Niall responded. "I don't need you teaching your poor discipline to the new girl on our team."

"Leave her to me, Sir," Luana grinned some more, following it up with a lazy salute. "I'll make sure she rises up the ranks of your favorite subordinates, just like I did."

"Oh please," Niall gave her an exaggerated eye roll and then to his surprise, Theavi chuckled. When Niall looked at her, she put a hand over her mouth, making him sigh before looking back at Luana. "Listen, Kharan, I have a meeting I need to prepare for. I'm leaving her in your hands. You know what you need to be doing right?"

"Yes Sir," she saluted him lazily again.

"Good," Niall nodded. "Now get out of my sight."

Luana gave the man a big smile, flashing her teeth before using her hand to gesture the way.

"Please don't ruin her," Niall added as the two walked off.

"I'll try my best," was Luana's response before she turned to Thea. "God, I'm so happy you're a girl."

Before they turned the corner though, Niall saw Theavi look at him once more, a look of surprise on her face. But his interactions with Luana almost always caused people to turn their heads, so he wasn't too baffled by the look.

Whatever the case, however ridiculous Luana made him look, at least Theavi seemed to settle down a little bit. Within seconds, Luana had managed to have brought forth a feeling of comfort in the girl, and that's really what Niall needed.

Maybe him deciding to make Luana her partner was a good idea after all.

Now all that was really left was for her to meet Milo.

And Milo... well, at least he was more predictable.

So what exactly was he?

That was the thought that raced through Thea's mind as they walked away from the General. Was he the cold blooded killer and traitor that evidence seemed to suggest he was? Or was he the caring superior that Julian assured her grandmother he was... or what he seemed like just now with Luana.

Thea had seen the flash of concern that appeared in his face when he questioned Luana on her sleep. She also saw the way he treated her... it was obvious that he wasn't just her superior. They were certainly at least friends... there was no way they would speak to each other that way if they were anything less than that.

More confused than ever, especially after seeing and hearing all that she had right before she met Luana, the only thing Thea was certain of was that she needed more time before she let herself judge him. She needed to trust her own thoughts and figure him out for herself, not listen to what other people say... especially if she would be working so closely with him.

But one thing that she knew for a fact right at that moment was that Luana was remarkable. Thea was certain of it, especially as the girl blabbered on about herself as a means of trying to help Thea get to know her.

And get to know her she did.

By the time the two reached the archives that Luana was supposed to show her, Thea had learned quite a bit about the twenty-three year old Luana and how she joined the military at the age of eighteen and the struggles she faced because she was an Elorian woman.

Thea was certainly interested, however she was more interested in finding out just why this girl would choose to join the Aiverian State Military. Why was she fighting for the enemy? Of course, she figured that it would be rather inappropriate for her to ask Luana a question like that right when they just met. So she would wait.

She would wait for a more appropriate time to ask, just like she was going to wait to judge the General as well. She would need to be patient.

"Do you have any plans for the evening?" Luana asked Thea as they left the archives. Despite acting rather indifferent to books and explaining how much she hated the silence of libraries and archives, she actually knew her way around them, impressing Thea with her knowledge. She had shown Thea around with ease, explaining how things were organized and how to find her way around, and now that that was done, they were wrapping the tour up so that Thea could head home.

"I need to do some groceries because I forgot to do it last night," Thea said, an embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm going to have to figure my way around though so–"

"I'll come with you," Luana said quickly. "I have the evening off, and I need to grab a few things too... then how about we go for drinks after?"

Thea seemed surprised. "Drinks?"

"Milo and I were supposed to go today but he got busy because he's preparing for your first day with him tomorrow," Luana continued, "so how about you and I go?"

The thought now excited Thea as she immediately began to think that she now would potentially have a friend. "I'd love to!" She responded, quickly. "That would be great!"

Luana smiled widely. "Perfect."

When Niall returned to his office, Mrs. Railer gave him a look with her eyes which Niall understood immediately. Frowning, he walked past her and opened the door of his room, spotting Keene Rivier.

The Secretary of Defense lounged lazily on one of the two seats that were on the opposite end of Niall's desk. He had his feet up and resting on the other seat, his not so clean shoes spreading filth on the soft fabric, frustrating Niall.

Twenty minutes early to their scheduled meeting, he had also helped himself to Niall's personal bar, a glass of whisky in his hand.

"Killian," the man smiled, turning his head towards his deputy as Niall walked towards his desk. "I was free so I thought I'd drop by early.

Niall took off the coat of his uniform and hung it up before sitting at his seat on the other side of the desk. "I hope you weren't waiting too long."

"Not at all," he waved it off. "I heard the new girl is here."

"She is."

"An Elorian."

"Yes."

Rivier nodded slowly. "You really have created quite the wild group of oddballs."

Niall smiled politely. "My team consists of people who I think are the best at the job... I don't particularly care about anything else." This wasn't the first time he's had to explain himself, and though it annoyed Niall greatly, he tried to be patient.

Rivier straightened himself up, pulling his feet off of the other chair. "So, she may be Elorian, but tell me she's at least a sight for sore eyes."

Niall held back a sigh. "That wouldn't be appropriate for me to say... Sir."

Rivier rolled his eyes, "always got a stick up your arse, don't you?" Though Rivier seemed to try and make it seem like the two were friendly, the both of them knew damn well that they hated one another. Keene Rivier would have done anything to get rid of Niall and Niall knew it. Though to be fair, Niall was doing everything he could to get rid of Rivier too.

Not only was he a war criminal but he was also simply an unpleasant man who thought Niall was unworthy of his titles.

It didn't really matter though what he thought. So long as Niall didn't do anything incredibly irresponsible, whatever Niall's race, his father, as well as his contributions in the Civil War, had made it certain that he kept his position, whether anyone wanted it that way or not. Niall didn't have anything to fear.

"Alright, let's just get it over with then," Rivier said, finally getting over his foolish ramblings. "How much have you gotten out of Rue so far?"

Niall raised a brow. "The girl officially starts tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Rivier said with narrowed eyes.

"The focus of today and yesterday was to help her know her way around–"

"I'd hope that the girl you hired is not a child in need of pampering," Rivier said. "This is the Headquarters of the Aiverian Military, Achlis, anyone hired here shouldn't need two days of–"

"Anyone hired here also needs to undergo quite a lot of paperwork in order to get started. We went as fast as we could, even spending most of the train ride from Abureth to here completing the paperwork, yet despite that we still needed an extra day to get all of her accesses verified," Niall said firmly. "It usually takes up to three months to allow for staff, let alone an Elorian, to get their access to the POW floors of the prison approved... I managed to get it for her in less than twenty-four hours."

Rivier took a sip of his mid-day whisky.

"With all due respect, Sir, I am most certainly trying my best to speed things up."

"Yet it is still not fast enough," he responded. "I wanted Rue executed two months ago yet we pushed it back for the sake of this project of yours which frankly, I still do not have much faith in. I gave you two months to show me some progress. Two months, Killian. Where is the progress? Even Karney's starting to make a joke of me because of this. Calling me a sympathizer... have you seen the papers? Heard the broadcasts?"

Niall's frown deepened at the mention of Karney, the Premier of Acteon. His utter distaste for the Premier was pretty much the only thing both he and Rivier had in common. "Finding a worthwhile individual to help with cracking the man is progress."

Rivier looked at Niall with an air of contempt. "Do you know how much progress we would have made with the other prisoners if we had just executed Rue when I wanted him executed?" he asked. "Those Crow bastard take us as fools now, they don't fear us–"

"Any information you would have received from the captured little Elorian boys who joined an organization they know little about simply to fight for a cause they barely understand would pale in comparison to what Rue could tell us," Niall said, firmly. "I must remind you, Sir, that this man knows the names and potential locations of most, if not all, of those who were associated with the Elorian Revolutionary Armed Forces. The Original Crows. Rhys."

Rivier shook his head. "You have too much faith in the thought that he'll actually talk."

"I need more time," Niall insisted. "Three more months and–"

"Three more!" Rivier spat as he leaned back in his chair and put one of his legs back on the other. "I don't have that kind of patience–"

"But patience in this scenario is an absolute necessity," Niall continued. "Sir, you've already tortured, starved and threatened him. You cut off two of his fingers, for crying out loud. You've tried one extreme already, why not allow me the time to try the other."

"I want him dead, Niall."

"And you can have that... eventually... with the added satisfaction that he's given us the information that we need," Niall responded, feeling a rush of frustration. Though Rivier seemed to repeat over and over again that he wanted Rue dead to set an example, Niall knew better than anyone that it was more personal than that.

Rue had made a fool out of Rivier before his arrest and Rivier wanted revenge.

"Just give me a few more months," Niall pushed.

The man looked away, reminding Niall so much of an insolent child. However, Niall forced himself to be patient... frankly, he really had no other choice.

"Fine," Rivier said after thinking about it for some time. "We'll do it your way, but get that new towny Elorian girl of yours to hurry up and get to it. I don't care what she has to do, just get him to talk. Make sure this doesn't end up to be more of a waste of time."

Niall let out a silent breath before nodding. "Thank you, Sir."

"Now what's next on the agenda? How are things looking at the Camp? What is the other Elorian scum on your team up to there?"