After a moment, Ateia took a deep breath.

“Ok…then…so Magister Caelinus is planning a rebellion and Magister Vibius is in on it. He wanted Seero to join in, and tried to use us to convince her. It turned out badly, he attacked Seero, and then Seero rescued us. Oh, that’s a part that doesn’t make any sense. How DID you get us out of there, Seero? One moment I was waiting in my cell and the next we were suddenly upstairs.”

“Response: The evacuation mechanism is currently classified.”

Ateia took a deep breath and shook her head.

“Right, ok. So, um, Seero…did you kill Magister Vibius?”

“Answer: Target Vibius escaped as this unit retaliated against his forces. This unit prioritized evacuation of the friendlies over pursuit of the target. Once this unit confirms this location is secure, termination of hostiles will resume.”

Taog frowned and rubbed his chin.

“Are you sure about that, Seero? That would mean getting involved in the upcoming rebellion, going against Magister Caelinus and whatever forces are loyal to him.”

“Response: Target Vibius has already acted with unprovoked hostile intent towards this unit. Termination is now required to remove the threat to this unit.”

Just then, NSLICE-00P engaged her helmet and aimed her weapons and several magic circles at the entrance.

“Warning: Lifeform detected on approach. Affiliation unknown.”

Estrith took up a position by NSLICE-00P with her harpoon at the ready. Ateia and Taog ducked into one of the other rooms.

The entrance to the safehouse opened up and they heard footsteps…

Vafum Broadbane stepped into view, swearing at the sight below him.

“Relax, lass! I’m on your side!”

“Request: Please provide evidence of non-hostile affiliations.”

Vafum glared at her.

“Because I’m not here with the guards, that’s why! Fool girl, who do you think owns this safehouse to begin with?!”

NSLICE-00P checked the feed from her drones in the area, but found no other lifeforms in the area. Vafum was not lying, he had not brought anyone with him.

“Statement: This unit finds said logic reasonable. This unit must warn unaffiliated individual that any hostile intent will result in immediate termination.”

She let the magic circle fade, but kept her helmet on. Estrith glared at the newcomer but slowly relaxed. Vafum shook his head and muttered as he took a seat at the table. Ateia and Taog slowly made their way out of the room once they realized it was safe. Vafum looked over them and nodded.

“Ah, good, you got them out already. Now, mind telling me what happened? All we know is you went straight to confront Magister Vibius directly like an idiot and then had to run off for some reason. You’re lucky we guessed right on which exit you’d use.”

“Affirmative. Reporting recent events…”

NSLICE-00P told Vafum about her conversation with Magister Vibius, the assassination attempt, and the subsequent evacuation. Vafum swore and took a flask out of his pocket.

“By the Aesdes above, Caelinus is plotting a rebellion? Isn’t that just great?”

He took a swig and heaved a sigh.

“Well then, what are you going to do now?”

“Answer: This unit will confirm the friendlies’ safety, and then terminate hostile Vibius.”

Vafum raised an eyebrow and glanced around at the others. Taog shrugged.

“Seero doesn’t play around. She single-handedly stopped a Wulver incursion because they attacked us.”Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Vafum took a deep breath and shook his head.

“Don’t mess with the shiny lass, huh?”

A few hours went by, and Ateia and Taog turned in for the night. NSLICE-00P caught one Exploratores snooping the area with her Dungeon Field, but the scout in question didn’t seem to notice the safehouse and moved on. Confident now that the location was sufficiently hidden, she left Estrith, Melion, and the registered monsters behind to guard the place, and then Vafum helped her sneak back in. They took the long way around Velusitum until they reached the mountain side, at which point he took her into a hidden entrance into Khalbudor.

The Dwarves didn’t tell the Empire everything, after all, and Vafum had explored many 'abandoned' mining tunnels as a young lad.

Vafum had her wait in Khalbudor as he checked things out with his contacts in Velusitum. He returned to NSLICE-00P with his brow furrowed and a frown on his face.

“It’s weird, lass.”

“Query: Was there difficulty in locating the target?”

Vafum shook his head.

“The opposite, actually. Magister Vibius left town, very openly and publicly, and headed out in the direction of the border. The rest of the town is business as usual, no alerts have been put out and they aren’t searching for you either.”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye turned red.

“Statement: Target located and outside of defensive emplacements. This unit will proceed with termination.”

Vafum crossed his arms.

“I’d be wary, lass. It’s pretty obvious that it’s a trap. He clearly wants you to follow him. If I had to guess…he’s aiming to meet up with Magister Caelinus and his Legions after drawing you out of the area.”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered. On the one hand, if the target was not hiding their movements, then Vafum’s assessment was likely correct. The probability of an ambush was substantial. On the other hand, an engagement in the field provided advantages to NSLICE-00P. She would not be forced into close quarters like in an urban setting and so would have full access to her sensors, mobility, and large-scale attacks.

“Analysis: Accounting for the possibility of ambush, the situation still favors pursuit. This unit will proceed with search and destroy protocols.”

Vafum made eye contact with her, his face grim.

“Lass, helping you evade the guards or a couple of Exploratores is one thing. But now, you're likely going to face Magister Caelinus’s Legions. There’s not much we can do against that. If you wait, the Empire will send its own force eventually. Might be better to try and link up with them.”

“Response: This unit will scout the target ahead of time. If mission success probability is below the acceptable limit, this unit will fall back and search for alternative opportunities.”

Vafum sighed.

“If you say so. Good luck, lass. You’re going to need it.”

And so NSLICE-00P made her way out of Khalbuldor and set off in the direction of the border. She took to the skies with an invisibility spell wrapped around her, activating her long-range sensors to the limit…

Emperor Caelinus heaved a sigh and held his head as he read the report.

“Really, Vibius? Did you have to pick a fight with the mage who single-handedly saved Turannia?”

He sighed again and shook his head. Well, he could complain about the situation all he liked but at the end of the day he trusted Vibius to make the right call, if not a pleasant one. This NSLICE-00P had already worked on behalf of the Empire once. And against the Dobhar too, when the Empire couldn't contribute anything more than some limitanei. If Vibius couldn’t recruit her, he would have tried to eliminate her, lest the Empire manage to hire her once again. Caelinus didn’t particularly like that call, but he also didn’t disagree with it.

The problem was that Vibius had failed. NSLICE-00P remained at large and had turned hostile to them, right as Caelinus launched his plan.

She had to be dealt with all due haste, or she could wreak havoc on his lands. Or worse, join up with the Empire and return at the head of a Legion.

Vibius’s failure would now cost the lives of Caelinus’s troops.

He put down the report and turned to one of his aides.

“Contact Legates Emeritus and Agustalis and tell them to prepare their Legions for battle. Anti-Archon formation. And deliver this dossier to Legate Emeritus, he'll be much more motivated when he finds out she beat the Spellbreaker.”

The aide saluted and ran off to obey his orders. Caelinus sighed once more and then started his own preparations. Whatever happened, he would see this through.

NSLICE-00P made good time but Magister Vibius had contingencies for expeditious retreat and a several hour head start. She detected a large mass of people in the distance before she caught up with the Magister. Soon, visual scans confirmed what she was looking at.

It was an army.

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered. While circumstantial evidence might imply this was the aforementioned rebel force, she wasn’t certain on that. And even if they were, assaulting an army directly wasn’t necessarily the most efficient method of terminating her target. She would need to analyze the situation first. She moved closer to get a better look…

As she moved closer, a massive mana signature lit up in the force ahead and shot into the sky. The sky darkened and clouds began swirling around. NSLICE-00P increased power to her repulsors as powerful winds began to whip around her.

Soon, there was a full-on hurricane in the skies.

The winds continued to pick up speed, to the point that NSLICE-00P was having trouble maintaining her position. The clouds darkened, and soon lightning began to light up the sky. A bolt shot towards NSLICE-00P, and she barely managed to put up a barrier in time. The bolt shattered the barrier and struck her with reduced force, sending her spinning through the air and towards the ground. NSLICE-00P righted herself and then dove down.

“Observation: Hostile weather conditions preventing flight. Reducing altitude.”

She dove under the storm, and found the Legion waiting for her. A volley of enchanted ballistae bolts was already flying through the air towards her location. Her sensors managed to detect them ahead of time, however, so she evaded the assault.

“Hostility confirmed. Activating mass-termination protocols.”