Carlon deftly maneuvered the landing boat through the smaller reef system near the shore line. The other crew members appeared to be watching him like a hawk, but in fact their attention fell on Ammy.

"Not right, that one." said a young man, a simple ensign by his ranking patch.

An older, more grizzled sailor just grinned hearing the young man. He leaned in close to the ensign. "Not right is an understatement. Do you know who you're talking about?"

The ensign looked at the older man questionably. "Gunny, I have heard rumors that she's a witch. A hand waver. I even heard she's behind this whole mission looking for something that doesn't exist." His voice was low, but rising as he let loose the local ship gossip.

The Gunny guffawed. "That's a load of fairy tale crap. Let me tell you the true rumors. That woman is Ammy Phoenix, head of the Magite District. Now you might think a corporate type wouldn't know how to do anything but push papers. Ammy though didn't get the cushy job by having family in high places. She started in our position, as a Spell Blade."

Hearing the Gunny mention the Magite District as well as Ammy being a Spell Blade, the ensign reevaluated the woman. Being a Spell Blade would explain the eerie tattoos Ammy had all over her. The fact she went from grunt to executive made the ensign very nervous. "Did she kill to get to the top?"

The Gunny laughed then noted that shore was getting closer. Soon it would be time to start this little mission. "You could say that. She didn't kill business people if that's what you're getting at. Ever read about the Yasmiir conflict?"

Then ensign nodded. Who hadn't? The Yasmiir conflict was both a study in Conquest, Failure, and excellent Recovery strategies that all Huumaaraan military students read about. But nothing was ever mentioned about Spell Blades. "There was no report about Spell Blades."

The Gunny grinned. "They wouldn't want to say who started the conflict, now would they? Yasmiir held a gold mine of some mystical mineral that the high ups wanted for military research. They sent the Spell Blades in to determine if the mineral was what they were after. Ammy was among them. Heard they slipped onto the continent, passed as locals, and all of them even married to make the integration complete. Three years later, boom, we are called in to alleviate the inhabitants of Yasmiir of their precious minerals.

But, the Spell Blades told us nothing about the defenses. They had gotten attached to their new lives. Our ships were hit hard by artillery. We retaliated. The death toll was high on the Yasmiirans. They'd never come up against our weaponry before. A few of the Spell Blades died in the attack as well. More died when one was caught trying to call the navy off of attacking them. Ammy was the only one left of her company. Now what did the records tell you caused the final victory?"

The ensign was a bit dazed hearing this new intel on a piece of history he though he knew well. "The inhabitants yielded after the initial bombardment. They let the forces onto the island and didn't resist. Why?"

A soft crunch was heard at the bow of the boarding boat. Carlon gave a quick, low order. "We have beached. Move out. We follow up on Phoenix's lead." Carlon grabbed an assault rifle, and pulled on a flack jacket.

Ammy looked out at the moon lit beaches. She had been eaves dropping on the Gunny and the Ensign, and was now wondering if this mission would be a repeat of Yasmiir. Not waiting for the crew to finish prepping, she took four strides and leaped off the boat, making a splash in the shallow waters. She turned and eyed the Gunny and the Ensign. She knew what he was going to say next and just simply nodded, then headed up the beach head.

With everyone scrambling to get ready and to catch up to Ammy, the Gunny shoved an assault rifle into the Ensigns hands as he strapped on his helmet. "Yeah, the inhabitants yielded alright. Out of all of those Spell Blades, Ammy was the only who was not emotionally attached to any of the inhabitants. Seeing that full war would happen, leading to a lot wasted military resources, she went to weapon mode. A buddy of mine was on one of the ships that day. He said it was bizarre. A sudden flash of crimson erupted on the island engulfing all of Yasmiir. It lasted a few seconds, but when it vanished, the island was quiet."

Helmet on, the Gunny checked his own assault rifle and headed to the railing of the boat. He hopped down into the shallow surf. The ensign splashed in behind him, almost falling face first. The Gunny rolled his eyes. Great, a newby. Marching up the wet sand, the ensign was right behind him. "Then what? What happened when the island was taken?" he was puffing a bit, not used to the weight of the weapon or the flack jacket.

The Gunny stopped and turned to look right in the ensigns eyes. "My buddy was first on that island. His report along with everyone else was taken, edited, and distorted. But what he told me before someone offed him was that the island was silent for a reason. Only Ammy Phoenix was standing in the center of it. Not a damn trace of any other living being."