Just outside Rockwell City, at the foot of the rolling hills to the north, a massive complex sat on the edge of a tall forest.
This complex had over 100 buildings, including barracks, offices, warehouses, mess halls, and various types of training facilities, all of which were typical for a military base; however, the biggest and most impressive structures here were undoubtedly the stables.
The Golden Wings Legion was a relatively small Army, comprised of roughly 8,000 soldiers with some 12,000 support personnel, but each of its 8 Regiments was a mounted force, with 2 of them being Aerial Cavalry.
As such, the Golden Wings Legion actually had the largest single military base in the Rockwell Kingdom, with all the facilities necessary to breed, raise, and house over 10,000 mounts ranging from Low First Order to Peak Fourth Order Beasts.
For the ground forces, Cloud Treading Colts were by far the most common as they were suitable to be used even by those in the Body Tempering Realm.
There were also Silver Fang Wolves that excelled at moving through forested and mountainous terrain, as well as the most powerful Destras, large black warhorses which even Spirit Realm Cultivators could proudly ride into battle.
The Aerial Cavalry mounts mostly consisted of Tartans, with the true elites riding the legion's namesake Golden Hawks, like Vanessa's Starlight.
Even at a leisurely pace, it took Vanessa Clark less than a quarter-hour to arrive in the airspace above the Army's base, where she was greeted by many signs of flurried activity.
While the Golden Wings Legion's headquarters was never a quiet, tranquil place, the amount of people and beasts moving about hurriedly today was clearly far above normal. This wasn't all that surprising though, considering General Gunthar's personality.
Although there was no 'official' deployment order from the Palace or the Council, there was no way the oldest veteran in the entire Rockwell Kingdom's military was going to just tell his troops to stand down and wait for further instructions.
Undoubtedly, General Gunthar had ordered the entire Army to begin preparing for a full mobilization and to be ready to depart at a moment's notice.
As such, weapons were being checked, supplies were being packed, mounts were being fed, troops were being recalled, and the various units were being organized and briefed with whatever information was available.
It was a hectic process, as all military operations tended to be, but there were no signs of chaos or disorder. Everyone was doing their job to the best of their ability without raising any kind of fuss; it was a model of professionalism.
Landing in the exclusive section of the base where the Golden Hawks roosted, Vanessa was promptly greeted by several of her subordinates, who all gave her a formal salute. Returning the gesture, Commander Clark simply ordered, "Prepare food and water for my mount, then ensure he is rested and ready to depart in 12 hours."
It was still early in the morning, with the sun having just come up a couple of hours ago, so in half-a-day the skies would surely be growing dark; however, having flown through the night both yesterday and the day before, this wouldn't be an issue for Vanessa.
After the beast handlers acknowledged the order, Vanessa nodded and prepared to head to her private quarters to clean herself up, have a meal, and get some rest herself.
Leaving her armour and equipment with a group of support personnel who were responsible for things like chores and maintenance work, Vanessa proceeded to the shared bathhouse where she thoroughly scrubbed the dirt and dust off.
Putting on a standard military uniform, she then proceeded to the officers' dining hall.
As the First Regiment Commander and Vice-General of the Army, Vanessa naturally had her own separate residence and could have had her meal delivered to her, but she had always been sociable and enjoyed interacting with her comrades-in-arms, so she very rarely ate in private.
The officers' dining hall wasn't crowded like the general messes for the common soldiers, but it was also not empty by any means, especially considering it was early morning and breakfast was still being served.
The food in the Army wasn't gourmet, but it was hearty and filling, so given how Vanessa had gone nearly 2 whole days just chewing on dried rations, she was more than satisfied with the selection, piling her plate high before finding a table with a few friends to sit down with.
Knowing Vanessa had been off on an emergency mission, and given the current scramble on the base, her colleagues were all eager to extract any information they could from her.
Figuring things wouldn't remain secret for much longer, Vanessa told her fellow Commanders and Captains whatever she could, avoiding only the more sensitive issues as she decided to let her taciturn superior figure out who needed to know such things.
It was roughly an hour later that Vanessa polished off her third helping and bid farewell to her fellow soldiers, now very much looking forward to slipping into her bed and getting some sleep; however, just as she reached her residence, a runner came up to her and shouted, "Commander Clark, you have visitors requesting an immediate meeting waiting for you in the main hall."
"Visitors? Who are they?" Vanessa asked.
"I don't know," the runner replied promptly, "There were 2 of them, but they were wearing Aura Concealing Cloaks and had veils over their faces."
Raising her brow, Vanessa Clark was now quite curious about just who could be looking for her at this moment. Very few outsiders would be granted access to a military base without their identities being confirmed; in fact, it was practically unheard of for anyone not related to the Army to be let inside without being thoroughly vetted.
That these 'visitors' could just walk onto the base and not even show their faces or reveal their identities was a surprise to say the least. As far as Vanessa knew, not even high nobles could accomplish this.
The only people she could think of that could proceed unimpeded into the heart of the Golden Wings Legion headquarters were Generals, members of the Royal Council, or…
"Was one of the visitors noticeably shorter than the other?" Vanessa asked pointedly.
Maintaining a serious expression, the runner nodded, "Yes ma'am, the pair almost looked like a parent and child."
Frowning deeply, Vanessa suddenly had a bad premonition, one that involved her not getting any rest and being saddled with a headache inducing problem.
Still, if these visitors were who she thought they were, there was no way for her to just ignore them, so she dismissed the runner, shook off her fatigue, and began walking back towards the base's main hall.
A quarter-hour later, inside a large but rather dull looking building, Vanessa arrived at a certain meeting room which was built from Soul Sense blocking materials to ensure privacy.
Turning to the guards who were standing outside the door, Vanessa firmly ordered, "Secure this hallway and make sure no one enters."
If the guards were confused by this order, they didn't show it on their faces as they promptly saluted and shouted, "Yes, ma'am!"
After ensuring that the perimeter was locked down, Vanessa knocked on the heavy door firmly to announce her presence.
A moment later, a muffled voice called out, "Enter."
Opening the door, Vanessa stepped inside and immediately saw 2 familiar silhouettes dressed in all-black robes with hoods over their heads and veils over their faces.
Vanessa had to work hard to stop her face from cramping up as she closed the door behind her.
All she could think when she saw this pair sitting on the couch in front of her, was, This must be what Allie feels like every time I make trouble for her…
Removing their hoods and veils, 2 extraordinarily beautiful faces that looked at least 70% alike, especially their dazzling silver hair, were revealed.
Shaking off her distracting thoughts, Vanessa assumed a formal salute while dropping to one knee and lowering her head, "Commander Vanessa Clark of the Golden Wings Legion greets Your Majesty, Your Highness."
"Rise," a gentle yet firm voice sounded.
Getting up, Vanessa lifted her head to meet eyes with the woman before her while maintaining her formal salute.
Seeing this, the older silver-haired woman smiled helplessly before saying, "At ease, Commander Clark."
Having received permission, Vanessa lowered her right arm to her side, though she continued to stand straight as she waited for the other side to speak.
Shaking her head, the woman sighed as she muttered, "Is there really a need to adhere to such strict formalities between us, Nessa?"
In a firm voice, Vanessa declared, "A simple Commander such as myself must show due respect to the kingdom's Third Queen in formal settings."
"Haa… very well," the Third Queen, Cynthia Morgan, seemed to resign herself. Under normal circumstances, she would have prodded or teased until the other side relented, but these were nor ordinary times, so she gave up trying to coax her 'Big Sis Nessa' out of her practiced stiffness.
With the pleasantries out of the way, Queen Cynthia straightened her back and assumed a regal posture as she declared, "Commander Clark, I have a request to make of you. I want you to escort my daughter out of the capital."
"Is this a personal request from Your Majesty, or is it a command from the Royal Family," Vanessa inquired, holding onto a last thread of hope that it was the former.
However, as if to shut down all possible routes of escape, the Third Queen replied succinctly, "Both."
Despite knowing this was more than likely the case, Vanessa still felt her brow twitch slightly as her headache grew worse.