Chapter 80: Prisoners Collected

Lord General is a Cygnus title that elevates the rank of a Noble above the hereditary rank of their birth. All Cygnus Generals will be Nobles, but during wartime the Lord General ranks only slightly below the Lord Commander who will be in charge of this theater of War.

"I believe General Carb is a proper noble, please take a seat and I will escort you to him." Nico answers politely, kneeling and placing her Ion Destroyer on the ground. He can sit or lay down on it and hold the safety rails used by maintenance crews.

The voice sounds young, the General thinks. Perhaps the young Pilot lost her family here to the rebels before his forces arrived? The Cygnus Empire values noble blood very highly and took offense from the start to the rebel's tactics, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Lord General Kirkland checks the intelligence files on his wrist device, checking for any mention of Tarith's Rage in their files. What he finds is a bit of a shock though. The Tarith family is an ancient noble line, and at one point even married a Cygnus Imperial family member into their ranks. That would make this pilot an Imperial noble of Cygnus, as well as a hereditary noble in Kepler, even if she wasn't the most senior member, in line to inherit the titles.

Of course, there are millions of people who qualify as Imperial nobles at this point, but that doesn't mean that the Cygnus culture holds them in any lower esteem. The Imperial family has a long history of great deeds and not just those in direct contention for the throne.

"Might you join me for coffee while the papers are drawn, young Lady?" The General asks, curious to learn more about the situation within the Kepler Kingdom and the Tarith family.

"Forgive me, General. The battlefield is no place for a respectable young lady. I don't customarily leave my Mecha until a tour is over. I do hope you understand." Nico responds politely, making the General seated on the main weapon of her mecha smile.

"Of course, safety first. You spoke as if this is not your homeworld; might this not be your first combat engagement?"

"I arrived with the Abraham Kepler, straight from the battle at Belmont, on my first patrol after academy training." None of this was information the Cygnus intelligence couldn't already get in seconds, should the General be sending audio back in a way she couldn't detect.

"The Tarith's Rage has a splendid reputation among the forces." a voice comes from beside them as they enter the city, and Nico can see that the pilot has departed the Wrath of Carb, standing at the doorway to his giant mecha in preparation to head to ground level.

"Brigadier General Viscount Carb. At your service. Please follow me, and we will process your surrender while my Mecha is repaired. The last barrage caused some control module damage."

The two nobles head to the local academy, where they can hold a proper discussion, and Nico returns to the field to continue her search, along with the light mecha and a few of the crusaders who have functional hands.

Very little on the Cygnus Mecha interchanges with their equipment, but it felt wrong to leave it lying about, so Max ordered it all collected and stored within the city until they could find a use for it.

An hour later, the search teams made a notable find among the limited amount of potentially useful bits, an ejection pod from the exploded Super Heavy Mecha. It was damaged but indicated life inside.

[Tarith's Rage to General Carb, come in.]

[Go ahead Tarith, how might I help you?] He sounds very formal; he must still be with the other Commander.

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"Cleanup crew have recovered the ejected pilot's compartment from the other Super Heavy. Should I bring them to you for relocation, or should I leave them in there for a while?"

There's a long pause. "Gather all survivors. Cygnus is willing to ransom all their officers."

"Keep all officers alive if found, recovery crew. Their country is willing to repurchase all of them with terms." The infantry laugh at the Tarith's Rage. Of course, all Cygnus officers get Ransom, the same way that the infantry gets rewards for the pilots that they capture alive. Lately, they have been too hard-pressed by the attackers to keep Cygunus captives, so they haven't been making the effort and have been letting them flee instead. Or perhaps, only fighting rebel bureaucrats and their forces during her short time as a Pilot, she had become used to just killing everyone for treason?

Two more survivors in Brigadier General uniforms are found among the rubble, along with 3 Captains and a Major. Not bad, considering under fifty units survived to flee. All are brought to Tarith's Rage for sorting, and the capsule is pried open, releasing both pilots alive.

"Greetings, assembled officers. I am told you value noble rank over military rank, is that correct?"

They all nod, and she continues, "Good, my knowledge of Cygnus culture is limited. I am the Lady Tarith, pilot of Tarith's Rage. As civilized combatants, you will be brought to our base to await ransom negotiations. Those that don't wish that can be granted a merciful death now, dying in battle with full honors."

This was an honor they never expected. Being ransomed back will cost their families immensely, but dying as cowards would cost their entire lineage their title and good standing.

The coup de grace, or merciful death, was a custom of Nico's old life, she remembered. More commonly used for the severely injured, it was also granted to those whose honor demanded that they not be held captive after a loss.

One Captain stands up straighter. "Madam Tarith, my family is poor and newly promoted. We could not possibly afford the ransom. I'm afraid I shall perish of my injuries here."

"My condolences, sir." She says, then flicks his head with a giant finger, shattering his skull and neck.

"Someone gather his name for the dead on arrival lists."

"Thank you for your consideration. Cygnus pays a sizeable death benefit to the families who lose a pilot in combat." One of the Generals bows to the sinister-looking Crusader class mecha, the blood-red paint now scorched and gouged all over, and splattered with mud and oil.

"Now, to get you all to your compatriot. One pilot of the other Super Heavy survived as well." Nico informs them.

That's 5 of 6 Command Staff Generals apprehended, they realize. The Lord Commander will likely flee in shame at having ordered a mission that got so many Generals captured alive.

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