Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1^st January

Central Tower, Sanctuary One

Callum sat in the conference room with several high ranking officials of relevant departments and military branches. He gestured for them to begin. In response man representing the special investigative team they establish to look into what happened and walked to the center of the room.

“Greetings,” The man said in a flat monotone as he addressed those gathered here. “I will now present the final report on the incident from over four years ago…”

Callum turned his attention to his laptop screen and found the relevant file and opened it seeing the report. The research and development carried out on the technological knowledge Lyenery had left them had progressed considerably but they were still nowhere ready to mass produce the most advanced stuff for civilian use. The more they advanced the more incomprehensible they found the technology of the old imperium.

The room had several cables snaking around as their equipment wasn’t compatible with the technology of the tower which was still locked behind security measures, so they had to bring in their own and try to fit it as neatly as possible and hope it didn’t snag somewhere.

“There has been no progress on the investigation as to what happened to the Black Sphere within the pyramid in the sealed zone. Our present conclusion remains unchanged that it was taken but by whom or why we have no leads. Until it changes we deem further investigation to be futile.”

Callum listened to the report continue on each detail while remembering what happened that day when they fought that thing. It still gave him nightmares and the worst part was that he felt like it wasn’t gone for good.

“. . .on the matter of the droids used we have  made progress. Please select file IR-TRD547.”

Callum quickly searched the folder and found it. It was primarily about the droids Oliver had controlled. He studied the details and found an image of a device attached to the droid.

“The device shown in the photos are of the device they used control them. The schematics and statements collected from Oliver and his men are consistent. However recent findings suggests that was not the case.”

Callum saw a set of three images from an electron microscope showing the structure of the materials labeled material 1, 2 & 3 respectively. The first material was a titanium based alloy his own armor used, the second material was listed as from the droids Oliver used.

According to the data the second material would withstand physicals loads beyond titanium but had a lower tolerance for thermal gradients, his memories confirmed it as bullets did very little to the droids armor even if they got past its shield but sunforged blades cut through it easily like butter which would not be the case for titanium.

“The second image is of the materials of the droid and for comparison we used our most advanced alloy from four years ago. Structurally the second material is superior and analysis suggests it to be able to withstand pressure and tensile loads beyond the titanium alloy next to it unless exposed to strong thermal loads. However what we found was that this material was not part of the droid at all in any way.”

“Can you elaborate how you arrived at that conclusion?” Lissa asked looking astonished by this.

“Yes ma’am, we found several inactive droids and did comparative analysis, these had no trace of this material whatsoever. If you look at the third material it shows signs of extreme aging on its surface however the second has characteristics of something manufactured recently.”

Callum turned to the file and quickly went through the details, it was more comprehensive but it was true, the material look brand new in comparison to the ancient material it was compared to. He turned to the representative to ask, “Are you saying this droid was made recently?”

“Yes sir, while we have yet to identify the composition of the material, our best estimates would put its creation anywhere from eight to twenty seven years. We do not yet know the manufacturing process or composition so this estimate is unreliable.”

“I take it you found something else to corroborate your conclusions?”

“Yes sir, within the droid we found areas that were older. This material was found consistently on the other droids we studied. Furthermore this older third material is vastly superior to the second material especially in terms of its ability to withstand high thermal loads. We believe the old parts are the remains of its electronic brain which were placed inside a new chassis. We believe that without this then the control device would not have worked.”

Callum scrolled down and found a more detailed breakdown of the electronic brain, most of it had areas that were newer. The explanation on the droid continued for another hour but he could easily imagine what happened, Oliver and his men after excavating enough of them would’ve tried taking them apart to study and repair them. The newly built droids could’ve been altered to appear extremely old then buried with the rest. With a bit of memory tampering they would’ve believed they managed to find a way to control these machines with any failures in others being explained away due to age and lack of maintenance. But if they could do that then why use the electronic brain from an old droid at all instead of building a new one? He wondered what the point of all this was, why would beings that could traverse the cosmos use such round about methods?  What was truly going on here?

“Do you have any speculation as to how this material was manufactured?” asked a member of the general staff.

“Which one?”

“Both.” The officer clarified as he looked at the file it stated the droids were examined within the research facilities set up in the forgotten city where they carried out their most advanced and secretive projects.

“The second material appears to be grown like a semiconductor which led the teams to speculate an advanced form of deposition method was used but no further progress could be made. The third material is more of a mystery, we suspect a similar method of manufacturing only far more advanced than the second.”

“How advanced?”

“We do not know.”

Callum let out a silent sigh, so the best they could come up with was an advanced form of deposition they used for manufacturing semiconductors, a technology they were given only a few years ago. But they could not expect more advance technology to be given to them which meant they had to figure this out on their own.

An hour later they concluded the report and Callum returned to his office till the next meeting was scheduled for later which was on their current state of affairs.

2 hours later

“Let us begin with the state of our systems modernization program.” Callum said and an officer began to debrief everyone.

“The phased array radars and lidars have been added to 46% of all stationary and mobile ground based radar systems though the estimated time of completion has been readjusted to six months behind schedule. Retraining all personnel has also experienced delays and will likely be finished nine months behind schedule.

The datanet implementation is current at 43% completion though data security is still uncertain in many areas. . .”

“Lets move to our air force.” Callum suggested seeing there not being much point in dwelling on data security. In truth they couldn’t do much about the matter as the Department of Data and Transmission Security was set up only two years ago but the leading experts on the fields still were unsure about many aspects of this area which meant the department had no clear solution yet and was playing catch, a problem that was shared by all nations and one that wouldn’t be solved for many years.

“Yes sir, our Castellan and siphon classes have been fully upgraded with the Mk.III L.A.Cs and the new missile systems, radar and lidars. The nuclear launch tubes can be fitted with hyper-velocity missiles but the onboard systems still need further testing before they can be considered operational. Our older airships are being refitted and all crews retrained. Sixty of the air cruisers have been built and twenty more are to begin their air trials this week…”

Callum nodded as they had reserve engineered the damaged Erdian vessels they recovered from the ocean floor something he knew his wives would be fuming at if they ever found out. Erdus had acquired several HE-VT shells from their brief alliance with Katolis so he couldn’t leverage that knowledge.

5^th January   

Eflatol city

Temirov estate

Maiele and Nakal entered the estate which had over the years had seen changes to accommodate the electrical and communications connection brought over. Entering the living room they saw everyone was chatting except for Aleesia who was wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, she had gotten taller which made this uncanny to look at.

“Did the meeting go badly?” Maiele asked seeing Aleesia looking so deflated.

“No, she secured the deal without issues. She’s just mentally exhausted after maintaining that façade.” Ruvyn said sipping tea.

Aleesia had learned much these past four years that she could be trusted to handle important matters. Learning to maintain a façade had allowed her to do her job but once that mask fell off she returned to be usual self wanting nothing more than to hide in her room.

They were interrupted by the phone and Romet answered it, “It’s Cal.” He said switching it to the speaker.

“—I got news, Aleesia I think we found the place you came from. We’re setting up an expedition as we speak and we need a local on this.—” Callum said

“Are you sure?”

“—They’re scaly, blue, heavy and they don’t have industry.—” 

“Ok I get it, I’ll pack up and head on the next airship.”

They continued conversing for some time before he ended the call to go to another meeting.

^6th January

Sanctuary One

Aleesia quickly boarded the Castellan airship and heading to her cabin with found Rayla’s s luggage already there, putting her things down she headed for Callum’s cabin.

“Welcome back.” Rayla said hugging her

“Not like I had a choice.”

“Oh nonsense, you had the choice of not coming.” Callum said hugging her as she lifted him off the ground as she was now a head taller than him compared to when they first met where she was the same height.

“What about you Ray, how'd the promotion go?” Aleesia asked

“I made Senior Lieutenant. We finished training for leading a company so we’ll be forming our command squad after getting some newbies fresh off the academy.” Rayla said not looking forward to the increased workload.

“Your also getting your new vehicles as well, well be heading to Erdus for the public debut.”

“These part of the joint development treaty using mom’s schematics right?” Rayla asked thinking back on the announcements from after the war ended. All she knew was that their mom’s schematics were going to be developed together with Erdus but anything beyond that was just hearsay.

“I know a bit about those, the project involved making new versions of everything.” Aleesia went over the conversation they had over a year ago while she went to see Amy and Cassie.

“Yeah, we formed teams and put them to work across both countries. The factories all started production last year.” Callum added as this joint project was a nightmare to organize and oversee especially since it involved another nation.

“I forgot!” Aleesia said running out of the room leaving the two confused.

“What’s going to happen to Stella?” Rayla asked deciding to wait for Aleesia to return.

“Our entire ground fleet from four years ago are either being refitted for new roles like garrison duty or scrapped entirely. Some will be kept as museum pieces.”

“I’m gonna miss that troublesome IFV” Rayla wondered if Stella would ever see combat. “Wait, you mean no front line duty at all?”

“Pretty much, the Lancer-33KE platform still has uses so they will receive refits as APCs and other roles but no matter what upgrade you give them its impossible for them to fight on he front like in the last war.”

Rayla was curious, her IFV had a lot of fire power but they were going to be re-designated as APCs and their existing tank forces being melted down. She had seen firsthand how capable both were so she really wanted to know what the new vehicles were like.

“I’m back” Aleesia popped back holding a bag which she handed to Callum.

He opened it and found it to be a red shawl and he smiled and took out a coin handing it to her.

Aleesia bit the coin and watched the smoke pooling and coalescing in front of her till only a emerald green shawl was in her hand.

“What did you early recon find?” she asked quickly wrapping the shawl around shoulders and smiling.

“We started yesterday and our recon spotted cities with your people but it seems they are all small, most look like they have less than 30,000 with a few major cities ranging from a 70,000-300,000 and one of them is near the lake you dived into.”

“How’d you find it anyway?” Rayla asked

“Wasn’t hard, there were only two gates on this continent, the rest are way to far and opening. Opening the second one had us with a face full of water and fish.” He said as the report he got after they sent a team through the other gate. “Sending an expedition where we found a lot of cities on the way to the lake where the other gate was. Turns out there is big city pretty close to the lake, we think it’s a capital.”

“We’re heading there?”

He nodded, “Not like there’s any point in visiting anywhere else, we can look for your friends and family once we get some leads.

Chapter Text

Subterranean Realm 2

In a mountainous area with forests as far as the eye could see and clouds foretelling heavy rain, deep within it an ancient gate came to life and a large portal opened up roughly a hundred to two hundred meters high above the ground, the iridescent edges expanded as an air fleet comprised of four castellans and six siphons came through one by one.

Once the portal closed they began to take up a loose formation as they began to slowly fly over this new continent completely invisible to the naked eye. Through the windows they saw a flock of birds with bright red feathers except the tips of the wings feathers which started off with yellow that turned into blue.

A whole two hours as the bridge crews were using the opportunity by running drills on using the new systems since they weren’t operating under any imposed time constraint which eliminated any need to travel at full speed.

“Whatcha working on?” Rayla asked putting her novel down and scooted over to Callum who turned his laptop to give her a better view, it showed the view of one of the airship’s cameras with a lot of colors overlaid over the vid feed.

“It’s the live feed from the Lidar system, it fires of light pulses and measures the time to get a return to make a 3D map which is placed over the video.” He explained then raised an eyebrow before turning to look at Aleesia who continued to press her face against the cabin window looking out when her usual response to anything new was to hound him till he explained everything in detail.

This honestly reminded him of his siblings waiting for a package to arrive especially when it was for one of their projects.

“That might help me aim an autocannon if my scopes get taken out by an ogryn again.” Rayla said recalling the last swarming where they encountered several of them and one of their fiery blasts took out her optics which made it impossible to shoot back and they had to retreat.

“No, we aren’t at the stage where we can produce enough for vehicle. The new vehicles you’re getting all have a laser ra—.”

“I get to shoot a laser cannon!” Rayla beamed holding up her novel, the cover depicted a man in a bulky diving suit shooting a laser from a pistol.

He turned to her with an annoyed look and flicked his finger on her forehead, “Not that kind, it uses a laser to measure the distance to so the new FCS can aim.”

“I wanted a weapon.” Rayla pouted.

“Those things are energy inefficient compared to an ether gun.” He countered as no self-respecting military would adopt any piece of equipment because it was cool, everything had to be shown to be necessary, rigorously tested, easy to produce and easy to maintain before it could even be adopted otherwise they’d waste a lot of money, manpower and resources on building a military that looked good on paper but useless in every metric that mattered.

3:20 PM

They arrived at their destination and could see the city like the many they had passed over, it appeared to have a population somewhere slightly above 100,000.

They were more than three hundred meters above the ground but Callum tapped a few keys and zoomed in where they could see that almost every building had a 3rd floor and appeared to be made of stone and permacrete. The streets were bustling with people going about their day.

The vid feed changed to the large fields of what appeared to be banana trees, maize and other crops just outside the city walls with aqueducts feeding water to them and the city. The fields were inside a smaller wall made of loose blocks of stone.

“I didn’t know you had bananas here.” Callum said recalling the foods she mentioned about her home but couldn’t recall her mentioning anything like banana.

“I’ve never seen a banana until you brought me to your home. Those are ensete, the pulp is used to make kocho, a flat bread.” Aleesia answered remembering the taste when she last ate it with others while looking at others who were better off and could eat whatever they wanted.

“Looks like we’ll need your stomach for this.” Callum said wondering what kind of unknown food grew here while looking like a banana tree.

“I live to eat.” Rayla patted her stomach, “I wonder how many people are out in the fields?”

“Hold on.” Callum tapped a few keys and the vid feed changed to a thermal image, the black and white image changed to multicolored. They could see the heat of people walking through the banana like trees.

“Will we get this kind of thermal optic?” Rayla pleaded

“Yes. You can change the settings for that.” He said

“Let’s get going.” Aleesia said knowing that Callum was looking for information though she had no idea what kind he was looking for.

The ships turned off their invisibility and waited up in the air an entire hour before a single siphon class began slowly descending. They got reports from the intercoms that the city was now in a panic.

The three had changed into something more appropriate, Aleesia wore a simple blue long dress with her new shawl wrapped around her shoulders which was what was normally worn by her people though she stood out for her clothing and her company. Rayla had put on a formal three piece suit instead of a dress while Callum put on his dress uniform.

“I feel bad for some of them.” Aleesia said hoping her previous owner was here and got trampled during the chaos. She wondered if the people thought the airships were flock of giant flying monsters here to gobble them up.

“I don’t.” Callum said, the last time he tried to act in the shadows resulted in a fool causing a war. This time he opted for the opposite going for an overwhelming display so that they might understand the foolishness of causing trouble and he had no qualms about demonstrating his fire power to drill the point home.

The airship landed outside the vast fields of crops while the rest of the air fleet remained up. The deployment bay opened and six modernized Lancer IFVs rolled out followed by a full squad of knights from the Legion. Two old tank and a full platoon waited on standby as the three and the others disembarked.

“They get the upgrades first, I am so jealous.” Rayla muttered seeing the only noticeable difference to the IFV's were the two missile pods attached to the side s of the turret.

“Really?” Aleesia asked wondering how Rayla was more interested in the vehicles over being in a foreign land.

They stepped forward calmly still under the shadow of the airship. A short distance away among the banana like trees were several hundred guards wearing what appeared to be light armor, their weaponry were spears and bows. But they were too focused on the behemoths outside their city. Their bodies were covering in scales like Aleesia with slight variation in shades of blue they exhibited.

“Once part of a grand civilization now reduced to this.” He muttered under his breath wondering what those three would think if they were here.

They stepped forward calmly till they were up to a meter from a man who was better dressed not in armor but his attire that felt appropriate for an official with an indigo shawl that appeared to be of good quality, his scales were of a lighter shade and the tips of his head tendril arm had some coloration which Aleesia had mentioned was like makeup.

“Are you in charge here?” Callum asked in ofnesh, his words were heavily accented but it was clearly understood, in these past four years he had brushed off on several languages feeling he’d need them.

“Y-y-yes, my name is Ilrune, I’m a humble palace scribe” The man stammered clearly scared.

“You needn’t be afraid, these are our airships. We’ve come here from a distant land. Am I correct to assume that this is your capital?”

“N-no, this is a provincial capital, our true capital is further west, my superiors sent me to here after your umm ships appeared above our skies.” Ilrune’s voice became calmer as he realized this wasn’t an attack of some kind though he now exhibited a more controlled fear. “May I ask for your names and purpose?”

“I am Callum Albarae, the Lord Margrave of Anterim, First Prince and current Regent of the kingdom of Katolis.” He said then gestured to two behind him, “These two are my fiancés Aleesia Albarae and Rayla Urisys.”

The two offered a curt bow and Ilrune bowed in return then turned to Callum.

“We’ve come in search of certain individuals and of ancient lore and history.”

Ilrune suddenly bowed deeply. “I will send word to my superiors of this at once your highness and I must apologize but we will not be able to arrange a proper reception and stay for you so quickly.”

“You needn’t apologize, we arrived unannounced after all and we can wait aboard our airship so you may prepare at your leisure.” Callum said amused by this development.

“Thank for your boundless consideration your highness. The preparation will take up to five days, I will take personal responsibility for its readiness. May I ask for one of your men so we may discuss protocols so both sides can speak cordially.

Callum nodded and watched the man ask for their leave before moving to the soldiers and began writing something on a piece of paper and gave it to one of the soldiers who ran off like his life depended on it then Ilrune began conversing with two people who appeared to be an officer.

“Why’re we humoring him?” Aleesia whispered.

“What’d you mean?” Rayla asked

“I’ve seen a few scribes and they didn’t dress this well.” Aleesia said knowing that the more expensive the clothing meant the higher up they were and the fact that the officers seemed to show him deference made it clear he wasn’t a low ranking scribe.

“Their clearly up to something.” Callum whispered.

Ilrune returned and bowed once more. “May I ask about who you are looking for and the lore you seek here?”

“Aleesia was a slave, we came looking for her friends and family. I intend to buy their freedom, she will tell you their names and descriptions. As for the other, we are looking for details on an empire so ancient that very little of them remains. They were capable of feats so great that one would mistake them as gods. I have some sketches that might help.” Callum  gestured to one of his attendants who brought a large stack of papers with portraits of each of them he drawn with Aleesia’s help there were additional stacks with sketches of the forgotten city, the space station, the droids, the statues of the sovereigns and the imperial insignia along with those of the knight orders.

Ilrune began going over them and Aleesia went over to tell him about her friends and family followed by a delegate who came with Callum.

By the time it was 5:40 PM Ilrune bowed apologizing once again before they all departed and the airship lifted off gently.

They quickly changed into something more casual and met up again in Callum’s cabin where he was busy once again doing work.

“Would it kill you to enjoy your vacation for once?” Rayla said picking up her novel and trying to find where she left off.

“Yes it would, also I am not on vacation. You are.” He countered.

“It’ll probably be a while for them to find my folks so we’ll be here for months.” Aleesia said gently sitting down, while ordinary furniture could easily handle her weight no problem but it was an entirely different story if she jump on them.

“So what’re they doing that’s got both your panties in a bunch?” Rayla asked as she couldn’t find anything unusual.

“Ray remember how he said they wouldn’t be able to prepare a proper reception?” He asked and she just nodded.

“Well a prepping a reception wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours, at most it would be ready by tomorrow morning. They’d just need to keep us entertained until then so I ask you this, why do they need to make us wait for this?”

“It’s that fast?” Rayla asked

Aleesia nodded to that, “I’ve seen plenty of how nobles act during these past four years. They either have the stuff on hand already or could easily send for them as they’d have deep ties to the big merchants. Finding us a place to stay would be easy. Their just buying for time.”

“Why?”

“That is the crux of the matter here, what is going on in there that they need us to wait five days for? It’s not like I had much hope for getting any reliable information so we’re mainly here for Aleesia’s friends and family.” He said as he was pulled into a crushing bear hug.

City of Diothosi, Elarion,  Xadia

Tamnaeth looked through his spyglass from one of the several safe hiding places within the city that he and his allies built over the years. He watched Sol Regem sitting in the city central square which was located a few hundred meters from the amphitheater. That place still worked as an execution ground though the number of executions had dropped.

Suddenly Sol Regem raised his head high and began looking up. Tamnaeth followed it and saw a large wooden platform being held up in the air by chains pulled by arch dragons. They descended slowly till they landed.

On the platform laden with stacks of wooden crates and objects wrapped in cloth. Tamnaeth realized this must’ve been what Sol Regem sent them to find which meant he had to observe and listen to everything.

“You’ve done well to come back, I hope your search was not in vain.” sol Regem said, not a hint of judgment in his voice.

“We have your majesty. This is just the first haul and the others will arrive soon but we will need to make several journey’s to retrieve everything.” Spoke an earthblood elf, he and the other elves look like they had returned from a trek through a muddy bog.

They opened the crates and held up their contents which ranged from bows, staffs, swords, scrolls, amulets and many more. All of them seemed to radiate power like a sunforged blade only these were of different primal sources.

“Excellent, with this we can begin training our men in the ancient ways but for now you may rest before you return.” Sol Regem said, his voice tinged with pride.

Tamnaeth watched calmly gathering every single detail trying to make an inventory within his mind of everything.

Chapter Text

6:30pm

“Ah so it begins.” Callum said watching the screen built into the wall, he connected a wired from it to his laptop and watched the external camera feed while he worked. The undead had spawned right outside the fields and were amassing on the small stone wall which acted as an outer wall. The stone blocks were large so the wall wouldn’t be knocked over but they weren’t that high. The fields had wooden stakes or stone rods stuck into the ground between the crops which was a cheap and effective way to keep the infestation from spawning. However this method had limits, it didn’t stop them so much as forcing them to spawn elsewhere adding to the number in the new location but at least it kept the fields from being ruined otherwise they wouldn’t survive.

He watched stone crawlers climb over the small walls and go into the fields, the fact that they were smaller than a horse and the crops had enough space between them meant any loss to crops could be absorbed without concern.

“Damn their lucky.” He muttered as both subterranean realms faced only undead and stone crawlers. Those puny walls wouldn’t stop an ogryn or ghoul which was why they needed to send IFVs and tanks on patrols at every night especially under their current circumstances. He quietly turned his attention back to his work.

8:11 PM

“What this?” He said seeing something on the vid, the thermal setting showed something popping out of the ground but it didn’t’ fully emerge. He knew it wasn’t a stone crawler or undead as they didn’t emit enough heat to be this bright on the thermal scopes. He quickly hit the intercoms.

“Bridge, there’s something on the thermal vid feed on camera 3, lower right grids. . .”

Once he finished telling them he turned his attention back to his screen. He watched with fascination as it emerged and it was something like a snake or worm. It slowly dragged it long body out of the ground and then looked around before raising itself high that its head was over the low walls and slowly managed to get over it, once on the other side it began moving towards the city wall.

Based on the scale he figured it was six to eight meters long. Watching it crawl towards the city walls conjured memories he’d rather forget about. The guards fired arrows at it causing it writhe violently before going limp. He noticed several more emerging, most were struck by arrows but those that got close were hit by spears which had rope tied to the ends to retrieve them.

This was a new type, if its body wouldn’t crumble then he could negotiate for some to take back and study. He wasn’t naive enough to think it was impossible to think they were exclusive to this realm so it was better to prepare for the worst.

7^th January

11:00 AM

Ilrune had returned to discuss matters with the delegates when Callum asked for him.

“Greetings your highness, I trust the night was pleasant.” Ilrune came to the conference room as directed.

“It was but I’ve come to discuss a more urgent matter. The worm creatures that appeared last night.”

“Yes your highness?” Ilrune said taking a seat not sure where this was going.

“What are they? We have nothing like them in our lands”

Ilrune understood why he was called, “We call them rot worms. They first appeared almost two years ago.”

“That would be a bit over four to five years for us.” Callum quickly did some mental calculations after learning they used the imperial calendar which had a thousand days in a year which was 2.35 times longer. This put the appearance to when he used the teleport pad to arrive at the old ruins. He was starting to suspect he’d need to gather every piece of information no matter how obscure or mundane.

“Yes, when dawn comes they turn into dried husks however they come back to life when night comes again. We found that grinding the husks to dust prevents this and it enriches the soil like the undead. They have many teeth which they tear apart bodies and they take those pieces back to the burrows in the forests where they let the meat rot to eventually devour.”

“Have you confirmed this?”

“Yes, we have seen them ignore fresh corpses and fight ravenously over the most rotten one if one is present. When we discover a burrow we find the husk around a badly rotten piece of a body usually eaten. We once thought they may lay eggs in the corpses but to our relief that was not the case.”

“In our lands we have two creatures called ogryns and ghouls.” Callum said creating an illusion of them. “They have existed for as long as we can remember, during these past few years the infestation have become fiercer. I intend to acquire some intact rot worm husks to take back for study and I would like your men’s expertise in tracking down these burrows. I will provide generous compensation for it.”

“I’m sure than can be arranged after the reception where it would be possible to negotiate such things.”

Callum nodded, in truth he needed no help for that but it was better to have a record of positive collaboration to draw upon later down the line when he had the freedom to pursue further diplomatic actions.

9^th January

“That’s a lot of rules.” Rayla said reading the reception procedure. “The alcohol bit is one big paragraph. Do we need this many rules?”

“Yeah, each kingdom often has cultural, local, and individual customs and rules regarding certain things so we need to figure out what to do to avoid offending one another. The right side of the room will be hidden by a curtain with a small gap for them to communicate with their lord using sign language so that they can advise without worrying about appearing in anyway rude.” Callum said

“You’d be surprised at how much showmanship is involved in these things. I had to learn a lot of ways insults and compliments were made indirectly.” Aleesia said finding that to be the most pointless thing in her education.

“It says here alcohol is to be consumed only at the conclusion of important events when both sides aren’t likely to hold another important meeting for some time.”

“Ah that’s an easy one, I learned about it from the other slaves while under my first owner. Coming to a meeting drunk or to start drinking is telling the other side you don’t think this is important and that they aren’t important.” Aleesia said, she had a lot of information that a slave would know but she wasn’t book smart about any of it to explain beyond the obvious.

11^th January

Callum and everyone else arrived at the palace. The building itself was large and had several buildings connected together through open hallways as it also functioned as the main administrative building with an inner courtyard that was divided in two by a wide path with fruiting trees and bright orchids on either side.

The delegation walked at a leisurely pace with a full squad of knights to either side, the vehicles were on standby at the front. They walked along the wide path that cut through the courtyard. The path was decorated with tiles forming simple geometric patterns and to the sides they saw a narrow pond with small fish and the fresh scent of fruit wafting through the air.

Upon reaching the end they saw several palace guards awaiting them, their armor was heavier but also more ornate which made the delegation understand something else was going on but kept their suspicions to themselves for the time being.

The guards in front took up a straight line formation and led them inside. They we led down a large hallway with an arched ceiling decorating in bright geometric patterns.

They arrived a large set of doors that the guards opened slowly. The guards parted and they could see an old man at the opposite end of the chamber. He wore a long red coat of some kind which hid most of his cloths from view. There were no jewelry save for a single opal necklace around his neck, he had was what appeared to be shawl or something wrapped around the top of his head.

One guard turned to face them and announced whom they were meeting. “You are now within the presence of Lord Saleh Ianralei who invites you honored guests so that both our lands can begin a journey that is cordial.”

The guard then turned to face his lord whose eyes were wide at the delegation. “Your lordship we introduce His highness the Regent and First prince of the far away kingdom of Katolis Callum Albarae, his fiancés Aleesia Albarae and Rayla Urisys. His advisors, Sir Ervin Streisand and Sir Ronald Nakir.”

As they were bid inside they walked in till they stood four meters from the throne. They briefly glanced at the curtains to their right where they could see silhouettes of people behind but it wasn’t clear. It angled to the left near the throne.

They all bowed while Callum did not, they had agreed asking someone of Callum’s position to bow to someone who was of lower rank was not good for any diplomacy.

“Greeting guests, before we begin I would like to apologize for delaying this reception. My grandniece, the second princess was due to arrive so we delayed it to send word to her not to come as a precaution. Ilrune was merely acting in the interests of protecting my brother-in-law’s grandchild so I ask you to show leniency if his actions were in anyway rude. ”

“I understand the reason Lord Saleh but I must reiterate that such actions can easily be mistaken for different motivations.” Callum could understand the reason since they operated at the speed of carriages so a time delay was unavoidable so he chose not to make an issue of it.

“To make up for it I have something. The sla… ahem people you came for. Fortune has it that they were in this city so I wish to offer you to them emancipated as a gesture of goodwill though the procedure will take a few days to complete. They are waiting at the guest house where you may stay.” Lord Saleh said

“Thank you Lord Saleh.” Callum said then gave a nod to Aleesia.

“Thank you for your generous consideration your lordship.” Aleesia said offering a deep bow.

Callum understood the plan, Saleh wanted to emancipate them so that they couldn’t raise the issue of the reception. Technically he could raise the issue but he would look like a fool if he did it after receiving such an apology. He was more interested in the fact that Saleh is a relative of the king, this connection held a lot of merit for the future so he had more to gain by doing nothing.

Rayla and Aleesia were told to wait over in a nearby room since this would take a while.

Lord Saleh took a deep breath, his eyes focused on them unblinking, “I am honestly surprised that Hyishyin still lived in this world. Your arrival has rekindled an old spark in me.”

“I understand that my people once lived among yours but died when the infestation began.” Callum said

“That is indeed what our history speaks of. What you call the infestation, we call the taint.” Lord Saleh paused to choose his next words.

“I am told you seek lore about a long dead empire. I am willing to go personally to my brother to ask you be allowed access to our kingdom’s archives but there is someone else who could offer more.” Lord Saleh gestured to the curtains and an elderly man with a walking stick wearing a white robe and a white head wrap stepped out offering the delegation a bow, his features were that of someone advanced in his age.

“This is Archbishop Zeafan. The temples hold large amounts of lore and are willing to negotiate for them.”

“What do you Lord Saleh and you Archbishop Zeafan wish in return?” Callum asked

The Archbishop took a few breaths before speaking, his voice was like an old man. “Once our people lived across the oceans and the infestation as you call it happened after our first great cities were built on this continent. We do not know if our people on the other side still live or not.”

“Could you not build ships to travel there? Surely you could avoid the infested ships?” Callum understood they wanted to know what happened to their people but it felt like a weak reason unless there was something over there that would have political ramifications here.

They both gave a confused look and turned to the curtains, after a few moments they nodded and turned to the delegation.

The archbishop placed both his hands on his walking stick. “We cannot go to the coast and sea anymore because of the tainted that live in the deep. They are great beasts of evil that can crush ships with ease and slaughter our people turning them into their thralls. Every attempt has been thwarted by them. But your flying ships should be impossible for them to drag into the depths. Our coasts are unsafe even in the day that there are no cities near them, people only go to harvest salt.”

“I take it this is important?” Callum asked

“There are many items of value on lands our people lived in, the most pressing one is a sacred relic of great importance. We need it.” The archbishop said

“I can arrange an expedition if you can provide us with directions as to where we’re going but this relic, if the people there still live then I cannot bring it back.” Callum said knowing that clear verbal agreements were problematic as they were a step short of official policy and he wondered what significance this relic held.

“That is agreeable, it’ll take us time but we should be able to find the information you seek and provide those who can teach you our language. Now I believe you wish to acquire some intact husks?” Lord Saleh said.

“Yes, we have seen nothing like them so we wish to study them and prepare in case they ever appear in our lands.”

“May I ask the same of those two creatures from your lands?”

“Yes, I believe that can be easily arranged.”

Lord Saleh turned to the curtains nodding, “I will send word when the men are ready to show you to as many burrows as needed.”

“For compensation I can provide salt and fish from our seas, I will also treat their injuries if any comes to harm during this task.” Callum said and maintained his neutral expression seeing a glint in Sahel’s eyes knowing he had him hooked.

“How much?” Sahel asked cautiously.

“Enough salt to fill this room and our oceans are safe to harvest fish from I’d say half the amount of the salt.”

Callum watched Sahel turn to the curtain for a long time, he had prepared gold and silver for this but after learning about the state of their coasts he realized it would be easier to impress them with things that they couldn’t easily get. Gold and silver could be accumulated but salt was a commodity that was vital and being this deep inland meant they would be paying a lot for it unless they had a salt deposit nearby and as for seafood, they wouldn’t be able to transport it this far unless fermented which meant fresh sea food would be worth a lot especially if they wanted to hold a feats to impress others.

"Would it be possible to form a long term agreement for purchasing more?"

"I think we can agree to that though we will need to set up a system of exchange otherwise it will struggle long term."

Lord Saleh turned to the curtain for a long while before speaking. "I shall gather those capable for when the time comes to discuss the matter in detail."

Chapter Text

4:00 PM

“Let’s head to the guest house.” Callum said to Rayla and Aleesia who were bored waiting for him. Now that the negotiations and discussion were over hey could head out and relax a bit.

“Great I’m starving,” Rayla said as they hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

 “I found out your age as well, by the local calendar your 28 and after converting to our calendar its over 65.” Callum said.

“So that’s how old I am…. It’s not a problem is it?” Aleesia asked

“Isn’t it a little late to ask that?” Callum rolled his eyes.

“Guess that means I’m no longer the oldest.” Rayla said pulling Aleesia’s cheek.

“She’ll live three times as long as you.” Callum said

Back in the throne room

The doors closed shut and Sahel reclined a bit more relaxing as this was over.

“Was this necessary brother?” he asked the king and his grandniece who stepped out from the curtain followed by Ilrune.

The king just smiled, “They were told they would be meeting you, if they met me instead of you here then the negotiations would have been over before it started.”

“Well the salt and fish would help our coffers a lot especially if we can negotiate to get more at a low price.” Saleh said knowing they could sell them for a decent amount if they ever found themselves financially strapped.

“I believe they will acquiesce to that request. From what I can gather they only offered this much salt to us because it was more valuable to us.” Ilrune said

“Elaborate what you based that assumption on” The king said 

Ilrune nodded, “Your majesty, their ships can sail the skies and they arrived on metal carriages that moved on their own. So I posit that these allow them to move vast quantities quickly without needing to stop in between. The lack of additional costs and the range of distribution would naturally bring down the costs.”

“What do you advice on how to handle this?”

“Your majesty, even if they could doesn’t mean they have enough flying ships to divert to us so should limit any trade to what would give us the most return. Salted meats offer high profits and is easier to transport than salt so I would recommend we develop a trade network and build storage and processing mills for them in key locations.”

“Make preparations for us to return to the palace soon, we will need to get ready for when I formally meet them for negotiating this. Ilrune upon our return you are to take this suggestion to ministers and form an effective plan for us.”

“Yes your majesty.” Ilrune bowed and left to begin preparing for their return.

 “Vesstan?” the king called on the officer in charge of the city’s garrison stepped forward. “I want you to disguise yourself as low ranking officer and go with the men and observe the tools of these hyishyin. I want a better understanding of who we’re dealing with.”

“Why? You seem awfully paranoid?” Saleh asked finding this uncharacteristic of his brother.

The Archbishop spoke this time, “Lord Saleh, the scriptures warn of a threat where its harbingers come offering promises of greatness that would lead to ruin.”

“You think its referring to them?” Saleh asked as he always found the scriptures to be too vague for his taste.

“I’m saying we should be cautious at how generous they are being.” The Archbishop said

“They seem uninterested in dominating us so it’s possible to coexist but I would still like to know more about what they are truly capable of. Even if they do not find the mausoleum, their existence will have a noticeable effect on the economy and politics of our continent. We need to best position ourselves for when that happens.” The king said seeing the benefits of forming an agreement where they could become a distribution hub for salt which would bring the kingdom a lot of revenue.

“You seem uninterested in asking for how those flying ships are made.” Saleh said

“They brought them here to show us they were mighty, if they wanted to sell us them then they wouldn’t need to wait for us to ask. They seem more interested in history which means there is something major going on.”

Guest house

The guest house was entirely marble white with the floor covered in tiles made of geometric patterns and the walls lined with frescos. The window frames were arched with dark curtains. There was an interior courtyard similar to the one in the palace. Yet not caring in the slightest Aleesia rushed towards the living room ignoring the opulence that would’ve normally been the focus of her curiosity, she ran without slowing down till she saw the door to the what was the living room, slowing to a halt at she reached the door and looking inside she saw everyone she had thought she would never see again. They all stared at each other before Aleesia rushed to hug all of them and began crying.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” Her mother spoke as she and her husband embraced their daughter again. Her friends join in and Aleesia didn’t say a word as she just cried and wailed for several minutes.

“What happened after that day? You just disappeared.” Tanya asked happy to see her friend again as they all hugged her tightly.

“I ran till I found a lake and jumped in.” Aleesia said wiping away her tears then plopping herself on the cushioned sofa. She kicked off her shoes and folded her legs on the sofa then looked to them, “Well? Aren’t you going to sit?”

“Careful, we were told some important guests were coming and—” her father spoke but Aleesia cut him off seeing where this was coming from.

“What did they tell you?” She asked as her drying face was now marked with a joyless smile as she was starting to feel the headache Callum often felt.

“That some important—”

She held her hand up, “I meant WHY you were brought here.”

“Someone came to the slave house and asked for us then declared were belonged to the palace and….” Her mother spoke

“Yeah I figured as much.” Aleesia rubbed her index finger up and down the right side of her forehead. “Listen you aren’t slaves anymore, you’re all free now.”

“How? Why?” her father said

“You bought us?” Ilyana said in disbelief.

“Explains the cloths you got.” Ayda said paying attention to the fine cloths her friend wore.

“No the lord of the city bought you and freed you as an apology for making us wait so long to see him.” Aleesia said finding the idea that she could buy their freedom laughable as she didn’t have the authority to act like that without clearing it with Callum first.

“There is no way a lord would meet someone like us, I want the truth, whats going on?” her mother asked looking worried.

Aleesia groaned as she could already tell what was going through their minds, “Ooooh boy, this is going to take a while, we can do this later. First there’s someon—.”

“Are we interrupting anything?” Callum said standing at the doorway with Rayla.

“How long have you two been there?” Aleesia asked

“47 seconds and counting.” He answered.

Everyone else just stared in disbelief at the newcomers.

Aleesia got up and pulled Callum to her, “Mom, dad this is Callum, my fiancé and this is Rayla also his fiancé.”

Her mother just tried to speak but she struggled to form any coherent sentences and Aleesia felt a vein about to pop.

“Yes he is a hiyshin.” Aleesia said as they sat down then she turned to the rest of them and took a long deep breath. “SIT NOW!”

Callum sighed seeing this was going to take a while and spoke in a more commanding voice. “Since you five won’t be saying anything I’ll start. Your lord has bought you and will emancipate you once the procedures are finished then you will be handed over to us. You will be brought back to our country to be educated so you can read and write. Dad, mom you can stay with us, the same goes for you three until we can provide you with adequate housing. You can get any job you desire once your schooling is concluded. Now any questions?”

The five just stared at each other unsure what to do as they felt intimidated by Callum’s very presence.

6:00 PM

Aleesia came to her parents’ bedroom. “Can you at least try to talk?”

“He’s a prince we can’t—”

“Was I really this embarrassing when we met?” Aleesia groaned in exasperation remembering how Callum found her servility to be annoying but seeing it from his perspective made her understand why which also made her confused as to why the slave owners seemed enjoyed it.

“Listen, we already exchanged shawls and gave our answers and I need to finish my education before getting married for real. He is your son-in-law and you’re going to live in our estate so you’re going to have to talk to him at some point and that applies to the rest of this family.”

“I know but this is just…” her mother said unsure what to say.

“Confusing? I was at first but it’ll only take longer if you keep this up.”

“We will try umm you said Rayla was his fiancé too?” Her father asked

“Yep, the two of us are the only commoners. His first two wives rule the nation to our north. His other two fiancés are from a noble and a merchant clan from a different kingdom. His little brother is the crown prince, he has two adopted younger sisters, the youngest is a former princess and the oldest was born to parents who were both high ranking government officials.” Aleesia said then watched her parents seem to shrink away in fear as the prospect of associating with so many high ranking people.  “This is going to take longer than I thought.”

“I think we’d better talk to them.” her father said getting up.

“He’s probably in the courtyard. Also no acting servile, it’s embarrassing. I’m going to get Rayla to help me drag those three to the baths.”

Courtyard

Callum sat on the grass working on some documents when he heard footsteps. Looking up he saw her parents.

“Hello.. umm son we.”

“Dad, mom, sit down and calm down first.” Callum chuckled.

“My na—”

“Siora and Aila. She told me and you don’t have to force yourself.”

“Son we’re sorry but this is all too fast for us, we’re just confused.” Aila said still confused how sudden things changed.

“I need to know, do you truly love my daughter.” Siora asked him but unsure what expression he should make in front of a prince.

Callum turned to them feeling insulted by the question. “I do love her otherwise there would be no reason for me to want to marry her.”

They recoiled hearing his stern voice and he groaned seeing the family resemblance didn’t end with just appearances. At least he knew where Aleesia’s cowardice originated from.

“You have all the time in the world.” Callum said hoping they’d improve before meeting his siblings.

“She said she can’t marry you until she’s finished her education, is it important?” Aila asked

“Oh that, she’s adamant about being a competent and capable secretary with a stable income before marrying me, she refuses to be anything less and she won’t take no for an answer.” Callum answered as this wasn’t a big deal for him but to Aleesia it was very important since she wanted to get close to an equal standing with him.

Bath house

The five entered the bath house which was filled with a faint steamy mist and a flowery aroma. The ceiling and walls were decorated with an all-encompassing fresco with small windows that had thin curtains to let light in. Rayla entered the bathing pool first as Aleesia watched her three friends just stan around intimidated by the bathing pool which could easily accommodate dozens of people but with just five of them it felt so large.

“Is it really alright for us to use it?” Ayda asked sounding unsure which the other two agreed with.

Aleesia was in no mood for this and enacted the most logical solution to this problem which was to just push all three of them into the water then jumped right in.

“What was that for?” Tanya spit out the water she swallowed.

“We’re here to bathe, not to admire our reflections. Didn’t you four used to talk about this stuff years ago?” Rayla said

“We did.” Aleesia confirmed as she floated atop the water.

 “But that was different,” Ilyana stammered, “Back then we—”

“Well now you can, once we get to Anterim you can have as many hot showers as you want.” Aleesia said sinking till she was neck deep.

“You mean the houses we were told?” Tanya asked.

“Back home every house has one. It’s not just for the rich, it is mundane.” Aleesia said remembering her old life going to the communal bathhouses talking about this stuff and now she was living that dream.

“Next you’ll tell us the commoners food is fit for royalty.” Tanya said and the three just stared blankly as Rayla and Aleesia gave them a knowing look.

“You’re kidding, right?” Ilyana asked, her voice shaking.

“Everything that is fit for royalty here is mundane as salt where we’re from.” Rayla said

“Ray, salt doesn’t work as it’s extremely valuable here.” Aleesia said

“What about clothes?” Rayla suggested

“That might work but for us slaves rags would be the most accurate word.” Aleesia said and saw her three friends were too busy fantasizing about it all to hear them.

“Should we be worried?” Rayla asked

“Trust me, it’s better to just leave them to their fantasies and enjoy this bath before dinner’s ready.”

“Think your folks will hold a conversation with him?”

“Nah I expect him to be the one doing most of the talking while getting annoyed with the servility.”

Chapter Text

7:40

They were all led to one of the dining areas. The room was lit by several ornamental lanterns, the soft glow gave the room a welcoming feel. Upon stepping inside they were greeted by the tantalizing aroma of berbere which tickled their senses.

The attendants having finished preparations quietly left allowing the guests to enjoy their meal in peace.

The dishes were placed on a thick, soft carpet. At the center was a large platter featuring a rich reddish stew with large pieces of meat and hard-boiled eggs, all heaped over a layer of porous brown flatbread. Surrounding this were plates of assorted vegetable stews, each served over a layer of flatbread, followed by bowls of salads, blanched vegetables, and various condiments. Large glasses of water and milk stood ready to quench their thirst. Finally, a plate of rolled flatbreads staked on top of each other completed the feast.

The three of them sat around the food eager to dig after not having had any lunch and the aroma of the food made them salivate. They then gave an annoyed look when the other five who were hesitant to sit down and join them. It took much time to convince the newly emancipated gelphan to sit with them.

Rayla and Aleesia looked at the food like a pair of starving predators while Callum was only slightly more dignified right now but not for much longer, on the opposite end of the spectrum were the five who kept staring at the food in disbelief as if afraid to touch it.

“I’ve dreamt of this for years.” Aleesia said feeling her eyes well up.

“I take it’s a big deal here?” Callum asked

Aleesia wiped the drool from her lips. “Yeah, it’s called doro wot, if you walk through the richest areas you’d be able to smell this stuff all the time. The flat bread is injera.”

Rayla tore off some injera, it felt so soft, spongy and stretchy with a sour fermented smell. She scooped up some stew and meat following it up with a big bite and was floored by the explosion of flavor in her mouth that quickly turned into an intense raging heat. “Whoa this thing has some major kick!”

Callum and Aleesia needed no prompting and followed the gluttonous elf’s lead.

“I’m definitely gonna ask for the recipe and loads of ingredients.” Callum said, his face turning red from the heat burning his tongue.

“I think I can make something close to it with what’s in the estate. We can definitely use chicken or duck for the meat though they aren’t this meaty or fatty, for eggs I think any will do and we’ll need to add something to get this oil separation.” Rayla said already running her brain to come up with a viable recipe.

“What about the greens?” Aleesia asked taking a piece of egg and meat mixing it with the salad. She ate with a goofy smile plastered on her face.

“I’ll need to see what it tastes like on its own but I definitely see adding ginger to it, maybe tomatoes to get this sweetness.”

“That’s reminds, in Galem they didn’t grow as much rice so they added ground lentils to the batter. It’s now become the staple in Temirov so we’ve been growing more lentils for it and our rice harvests gives us a nice surplus that food prices have come down.” Aleesia said

“Oh now I definitely want to try it.” Rayla said

“You’re thinking of mixing this with that, aren’t you?” Aleesia swallowed then stated flatly.

“You know me too well.” Rayla said as they both resumed stuffing their mouths.

Bedroom

Callum sat on the center of the massive bed in meditation, he slowed his breathing and began to feel each breath more clearly, the expansion and contraction of his lungs, the movement of his muscles. He tried to maintain stillness yet his body twitched with urges to just make wild movements.

He tried to clear his mind and focus entirely on his power as he carefully roused it to the surface. It wasn’t active all the time, rather it was more akin to a machine that needed to be turned on. He patiently let it increase in its density and let it fill him completely.

Good, that’s done. He thought to himself as he began drawing on the ambient etheric energies to himself. He felt it slowly lose its elemental nature and take on a more pure attribute as it joined his own inner power. He still didn’t know where this inner power actually came from, he knew the only reason he had it was because Cepheus made him into a custodian but that didn’t explain much about it.

He managed to pull in enough that he was now wreathed in power, with each exhalation it flared like a flame and receded as he inhaled.

With the first part finished he moved on to the next part which was carefully moving it around his body. He focused and channeled it to his palm forming a small invisible dot that hovered just above his skin which he slowly moved to form an invisible rune.

Once it was stable he began to form another rune underneath it for a spell. It became harder with each stroke, each curve, and each adjustment to the thickness and flow paths to form an extra rune as he also had to maintain the first one. As he approached completion he noticed the flow paths beginning to collapse leading to a cascading failure.

Mentally he sighed. During in these past four years he hadn’t made much progress in this area, he was still limited to hand signs if he wanted to use multiple runes without drawing each one. He tried again this time he began to coalesce the energy more densely.

Slowly he let it build up when he found his mind was hazy, trying to focus he could make out silhouettes. He could tell he knew what those shapes were but that knowledge seemed to refuse to materialize as thoughts, like he was trying to turn a feeling into an image. He kept trying to understand and visualize this ghostly feeling when his mind was dominated by the vision of a whirlpool of energy in hues of blue, red, purple, and orange. The colors slowly shifted to a golden hue the closer it was to the center. Soon the vision changed to one of destruction where every direction he looked was filled with corpses of many species and wreckages of vehicles and droids, the land itself was scared by battle.

He recognized the resemblances to the droids and designs his mother-in-law had given them but they were so different that he was certain he had never seen them before which made him wonder if this was real or a figment of his imagination and as usual his lamented he had no one to ask about this.

Meanwhile Aleesia stared wondering if he was really meditating or if he had fallen asleep while sitting like that, part of her wanted to shine a flashlight in his face just to test the theory. “Think he’s even aware of us?”

“Is that necessary?” Rayla asked pointing to the flashlight while lying on the opposite end of the bed reading a novel.

“I can’t help it, I’m bored.” Aleesia whined clicking the flashlight at he ceiling.

Rayla leaned over the bed rummaging through her bag and tossed a novel her way, “Here, this should keep you busy for a while.”

“How many did you bring?” Aleesia caught the book and checked the cover, it was another science fiction book.

“Sixty.” Rayla answered flipping a page still enjoying the fiery memory of their dinner.

12^th January

Callum sat eating breakfast enjoying the sight of Aleesia being overwhelmed by her attempts at trying to get her parents and friends to not act servile.

He kept his expression neutral to hide the smile that was just under the surface as he took a bite of Kocho, he found the taste similar to a dried apple. From her he knew slaves were fed this a lot so he was curious as to what it was like though he had no illusions that this was in any way the same. For sides they had honey, vegetable stews and a bowl of tibs which were pan fried cuts of meat.

They could ask the guesthouse attendants to prepare anything so they opted to try different foods for each meal. They had a lot of options to choose from but Aleesia was too busy so he and Rayla were left deciding what to get.

16th January

“How many did we get?” Callum asked

“Sir we captured 41 intact and sealed, there was an incident where a rotworm hadn’t turned into a husk and attacked the men though it was dealt with no injuries or fatalities. Currently they are placed in a vault in one of the airships.” Ervin said

“Good send word to bring in the amount we promised. Also ask them if one being active in the day ever happened before.”

“Yes sir though the fish will take time to be ready.”

“That’s fine, they’ll be sealed so we don’t have to worry about freshness. What were their reactions? I’m certain Saleh must’ve placed someone high up in there to observe.”

“The men said that there was one individual the rest seem to be unusually formal with him compared to the other officers.”

Callum decided to leave it at that, seeing as they’d be extremely curious about what they were dealing with. “Have they told us what this relic is and why it matters?”

“Yes sir, it’s a magical spear of some kind, according to the Cardinal it was given to their first king by their god whom he served, it is capable of besting powerful foes. It holds political and religious significance to these people as its wielder is considered the chosen of their gods.”

“Not this again.” Callum groaned at his luck, “Are we going to see these kingdoms fight over it to establish themselves as the rightful successor of their first king?”

Ervin paused to think for a moment, “At this point sir I cannot say. Worst comes to pass we might have to act like we never found it if we ever do find it.”

“If there are any survivors then we’d save ourselves this trouble. If not then we’ll be digging through ruins for a long time.”

“On that there is additional news, they say there existed a great library in their ancient capital across the seas. If we are lucky then some document might have survived.”

“I’m no archeologist but I doubt those archives would’ve survived exposure to the elements for this long.”

17^th January

“Where’s he going?” Rayla asked seeing Callum walking with Ilrune.  She and Aleesia walking on the open hallway in the first floor while occasionally picking fruit from the trees when they spotted him.

“He called for him to discuss buying a large amount of food and seeds. He’s going to pay for it with salt, sugar, sea food, high quality fabrics and anything else.” Aleesia said

“I take those things cost a pretty coin here?”

“Remember how in your old home and in Vasuria the food all varied region to region?”

“Yeah, every place often has dishes entirely unique to it and its gets pricey if you want something not commonly grown.”

“Perishables will perish if you move them with slow moving carts so each region’s cuisine and prices vary a lot. Non-perishables can be moved further but it drives up the cost as it changes hands so often. In Temirov when we got the trains working the prices around them started to go down and become the same since it was easier to get now.”

“So if we gave them trains then salt won’t be a big issue?”

Aleesia nodded, “You won’t have an army of middlemen to move stuff anymore raising the price every time it changes hands though Cal won’t be doing much here.”

“He’s not?”

“From the files I’m allowed to read we don’t have anyone to spare for that. The majority of personnel are too busy working on the modernization projects. Even the experts aren’t sure about some of this stuff.”

“I guess we aren’t freeing the other slaves.”

“It’ll be decades before we could try something like that and that’s assuming we won’t have any major projects by then eating up manpower. Things in Temirov have eased up but its way different and weird from when you first went there.”

“I bet their marveling at all the stuff till they get used to it.”

Aleesia shook her head over it how annoying it became to administrate certain stuff. “I wish that were it, a lot of canned or freeze dried food is used as a currency especially in the secondary and black markets  because everyone knows how long it stays good so people trust it as payment for work, rent, sex or contraband.”

“I know from our old lives this stuff would be amazing but after getting used to it this feels weird.”

“You want something weirder? They got a cult over there.”

Rayla stopped in her tracks and just stared at her for a moment, “Wha?”

“It’s weird, they aren’t human supremacists as they got both humans and elves, they are cooperative towards us and stay out of trouble except for one teeny tiny part of their beliefs that thinks we were chosen by their gods who were so pleased with us and gave us this tech and they think mom is our chosen emissary who will eventually have them join Anterim.”

“If mom is viewed like that then I don’t want to know what they think of Cal.”

“The kingdom thinks this is some plot by us to ensure mom becomes queen since we don’t seem to be trying to get rid of them so they plan to pawn off the territory to be rid of this.”

“They’d give up land?” Rayla said incredulously as that sounded nonsensical, nations always fought tooth and nail if they thought a single dot on the map wasn’t where they preferred it to be.

“It’s not public knowledge, behind closed doors they tried to sell it to Regalia and trade it for some of their land. The Regalians still being a protectorate under us panicked and rejected it thinking it might piss us off so they called us in secret not long ago.”

“Is the cult that big a problem to make the kingdom give up on the chance of getting this tech?”

“Slaves give better profit margins than workers, and if stuff moves slowly and not very far then you can get away with pricing stuff way higher. A lot of people are very wealthy and powerful because of how things currently are so they have a vested interest in keeping things from changing. If mom became queen then their current way of life would be threatened if she spread this tech around. When the trains began operations then a lot of merchants lost their jobs and if we didn’t retrain them for new jobs then we’d have problems.”

“But trading territory?”

“Their attempts to strangle the territory to keep mom from gaining support failed and they have no means if exerting control. The longer this goes on the stronger mom’s position gets, we’ve already got a fourth of the nobility fully committed to us in secret and close to half are leaning towards us, that number will only grow so upper echelons have just written the entire territory off.”

“Wouldn’t the kingdom benefit if they—oww!” Rayla was cut as her cheeks were pulled by Aleesia.

“Ray, these people care about the kingdom only because they are the main beneficiaries of how things currently are. It doesn’t matter to them if the kingdom benefits if they don’t get to maintain their current power, wealth and status.”

“Guess these four years have been trouble.”

“You have no idea the stuff I had to figure out. The problem is that the cult goes out of their way to be useful to us and they earned a lot of goodwill with the public which they used to smooth over things to help us. Unless they cross some sort of line then we can’t touch them. We’re worried they might do something crazy if we don’t absorb the kingdom which we don’t want to.”

“You think someone else is behind this?”

“We looked into it, we found no one who had their memories messed with. I did look into the religion of their realm, it’s basically the same as yours but with the entire pantheon given equal importance. The cult belongs to a sect centered on the tale of Garasiov.”

“I remember that. It’s one where a lone farmer Garasiov who helped a minor god of medicine and law that travelled the lands disguised as a beggar. In return for his generosity the god taught Garasiov how to build and maintain a prosperous kingdom that would be like a second heaven. Then many generations later one of his descendants insulted that very god causing the knowledge to be taken away as punishment.” Rayla smiled recalling the memories of being told stories in the temple when she was little though she wasn’t much a believer.

“That’s the one though in this version it’s the god of all knowledge and wisdom. This sect believed they need to regain the favor of this god. They were declared a cult and excommunicated when they broke with orthodoxy favoring this minor god over the others.”

“They didn’t try to threaten them with death or anything to make them give up those beliefs?”

“Oh they did, by the time two thirds of them were caught the cult had gone underground and stayed hidden for years. Then we showed up which made people think the cult might have had a point.”

 Rayla groaned while being grateful she’d never have to deal with any of this in her job, “I can already hear him complaining.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard him complaining on the phone.” Aleesia said recalling when he was first told on the phone about the cult. It was both amusing and somewhat worrying.

Chapter Text

Callum’s estate, Anterim

The living room was quiet save for the rolling of dice and the laughter of young teens.

“11, YES, I got across!” one of them said and went

“No David.” Elis said looking up from the giant book she used to plot the campaign. “You’re supposed to add any buffs and subtract any penalties you have.”

“Eh?!”

“You have no buffs for this stat active but you have a species penalty of -1, another -2 from your heavy equipment and -1 from your injury and even without that you’d need to roll above 14 with our current DC so.” Ezran spun his hand around for emphasis then did a sweeping motion across his neck.

“So is he?” a girl asked sitting on the chair looking down at their game who was busy trying to come up with a new character.

 “He fell to his death. We shall drink in his memory using his exceptionally fat and heavy wallet when we get to a tavern” Ezran commented which earned a few muffled laughs.

“This is harder than it looks.” Another one said still working on a new character after his last one died ignominiously.

“Hey we offered to do a beginners level campaign but you all wanted to play the advanced one we had going on.” Aanya countered recalling how they were surprised at how this game was more math and probability than anything else.

“If you asked to do the main one we had on hold then you’d be wiped out.” Elis said after having fudged the dice so many times just to avoid them dying sooner.

As they continued the door opened and the head butler came in, “Excuse me but the snacks you ordered have arrived, shall I have them brought here or to the other room?”

“Here.” Ezran answered

“Very well your highness.”

Elarion, Xadia

Tamnaeth woke up under the shade of the tree, his bow and short sword lay next to him as he gazed at the canopy. His position as a guard in the militia allowed him a lot of freedom to go where normal civilians couldn’t go without raising suspicions, but the downside was that he also spent and equal amount of time on guard duty. 

These past few days had been uneventful which also meant he was bored. His colleagues were keeping a lookout from the camouflaged watch tower built on top of the tree. They rotated in pairs to minimize their effort.

“Hey Tam looks like the next shift is here.”

“Seems a bit early.” Tamnaeth stretched lazily before looking to see Ceyln returning after freshening himself up.

“Don’t look at a gift dragon in the snout.”

Two others jumped down from the watchtower and landed besides them as they watched their replacements coming and waved to them.

The four waved back and exchanged small talk when they met. One of them turned to Tamnaeth clapping him on the shoulders. “Tam, the captain’s calling for you in the old tavern, wouldn’t tell me more.”

“What? The boss offering me a drink?” Tamnaeth said wondering what this was about as the others laughed.

He pretended to appear as if he was still considering it, he had built himself a reputation as a capable scout and warrior with a love of wine and a habit of wandering off to pass the time, everyone seemed to have their own story as to where he wandered off to and he always gave non-committal answers if anyone asked. Occasionally he did just wander off if there were people nearby just to have witness who could confirm what others thought so that no one would try to figure out where he really went.

Arriving at the city he parted ways with his colleagues then made his way to the tavern, the fact that it wasn’t specified which one meant it was going to be the one they frequented. He saw they still kept the old tavern sign which was made from an old throwaway board from a lumber yard with the words ‘Eat & Drink’ carved into it in a shoddy manner.

He went in and waved to the owner.

“Must be a slow day if your drinking this early.” The owner waved back,

“Nah,” Tamnaeth shook his head moving past the other patrons, “boss said to see him here, where is that bastard at?”

“Ah so that’s it. He and the rest are in the other cellar.” The owner pointed to a door.

“Huh?” He wondered why they were meeting down there.

Closing the door behind him he went down the stairs where the ale was stored. He saw a group of people around two dozen people around captain Malon, a red headed skywing elf with a scar running from his elbow to his wrist. They all noticed him when his steps became audible.

“Was wondering when you’d show up.” Malon said gesturing to a corner.

“What’s so important you dragged us all here to this seedy underbelly to chat alongside the drunk roaches?” one of them asked

“Since everyone’s here I’ll get to the point. The upens are going to make the militias official and they asked everyone to send our best to form an elite unit, the pays good so any of you want in say so now.”

“Whats this new army about?” asked Vianola, a female earthblood elf that enjoyed getting into brawls after one too many drinks.

“Until it’s publicly announced all details are for members only.”

“If the pays good then I’m in.” Tamnaeth slapped the ale barrel he sat on, but internally he was curious about this, what kind of special elite unit were they forming. If he agreed then he could gather information on things from within which wouldn’t raise any suspicions compared to an outside poking around.

After mulling it over only six people left, the other seventeen waited for the explanation.

“Alright, word is a lot of dragons and more people left to the seas and came back with equipment from really long ago.”

“Wait.” Tamnaeth raised his hands, “You mean we’re going to be using rusty knives?”

“Nah,” Malon shook his head, “Soul bound is what they told me.”

Everyone leaned in close, they didn’t say a word and eagerly waited for more details.

“They want to create an elite unit made up of those who can use em. They’ll take us all to Diothosi city in a week so get your affairs in order by then.”

“Wasn’t that place off limits?” another asked and the captain just nodded.

18^th January

It was late at night around the lake which was converted into a fish farm. Tamnaeth sat at the edge of the wharf that extended far into the lake, his legs dangling off the edge and submerged just below the ankle. His boots lying next to a half empty bottle of ale and a bag of fish meal which he grabbed and tossed three handfuls into the water. The water became lively as hundreds of fish gathered to feed, their bodies thrashing and splashing around.

He turned his gaze towards the sky, at the five moons. Ever since the incident four years ago the number of moons had increased by a lot, now seeing multiple full moons at once wasn’t something that happened once every three months anymore. He wondered how they carried out the coming of age festival with so many full moons each year.

An hour later a voice came from behind. “I take it this is important?”

Tamnaeth didn’t bother to look, the voice was impossible to mistake. “Sorry for the sudden call but their building a formal military and scouted me for an elite unit meant to use soul bound gear and other stuff. I’m to head to Diothosi city in a few days.”

“They’ll probably open up the city for people soon, I’ll send agents then, until then just gather as much information as you can. They’ll contact you”

“I’ll hang around places similar to where I normally hand over information so it should be easy though I really want to know where this stuff was kept hidden.”

“I’ve had people poke around but everyone’s tight lipped, they won’t even mention it in any documents.”

“I wish I could go home just once.” Tamnaeth sighed kicking the water in frustration.

21^st January

Confederate Palace, Storm spire

Ibis bowed before Avizandum and presented his report.

“Your majesty the six sewage treatment plants we built in cooperation with the Western Union have been operating without issues so far. The three towns are very happy with them, the fertilizers, ambrosia kelp and oysters they provide have made nearby regions send requests to have them built in their locations.”

“Have our relations improved with the region to the point where we can expect them to accept our offers of membership or observer status?” Avizandum asked as the western union was an official protectorate under the Dukedom which meant the territory they regained was undone.

“No, despite our progress they view our overtures as honeyed traps.”

“Where are tensions highest?”

“Primarily in long term agreements. These could turn very hostile if not handled carefully.”

“hlay fis.” Zym said popping out from behind a pillar.

Avizandum turned towards his son, “Azymondius I will play with you shortly so wait just a little bit longer.”

Zym shook his head then pointed towards Ibis.

“Son Ibis is very busy.” Avizandum said

“hlay fis!” Zym said

“Your father is correct your highness, my work would not give me much free time right now.” Ibis said, the young dragonlings had started to speak even if it was only half formed words.

“hlay fis!” Zym said forcefully.

“What if I play with you after a short time, will that satisfy you, your highness?” Ibis said offering a concession.

“hlay fis!” Zym shook his head,

“You want to play now?”

Zym shook his head.

“Do you wish to play with someone specific?” Avizandum asked

Zym shook his head this time looking more irritated. He raised himself on his hind legs then pointed a claw at Ibis then brought both his claws together in a clapping motion a few times. Then got on all fours then leaned his entire body forward straightening it like an arrow pointing towards the window.

Ibis put the documents he carried on the table as he got on one knee then looked in the direction the young prince was pointing. 

“You wish to play in the gardens?”

“Nyuuuu!” Zym shouted as Ibis and Avizandum were confused as to what the young dragonlings was trying to say.

As Ibis got up and hurriedly picked up the documents causing them to slip from his hand and he quickly began picking them up.

“hlay fis.” Zym saw a folded up map and started lightly stomping it.

Ibis opened the map of Xadia unsure what the young prince wanted. “Do you wish to play in the forests?”

Zym grabbed the pillar to prop himself up and started banging his head against it.

22^nd January

Storm Spire

“What troubles you?” Zubeia asked seeing her husband peering down the ledge at the city below.

“It’s the west, they still refuse to even consider our sincerity.” He said not taking his eyes off the city even as Zubeia pressed her head against his.

“Then keep trying and give them time to see it.”

“But how could they just abandon their own for outsiders?”

Zubeia could see the issue now though right now the biggest hurdle she could see to it was her husband so she silently gathered her thoughts.

“After  they invaded I was angry and prepared to fight till my last breath to destroy them.”

Her voice shook with anger as electricity arced across her wings before simmering back to her usual gentler tone. “But when I watched our son playing with the young children and his constant attempts to leave, I realized that such distinctions or what we thought of such things meant nothing to our son. To him they were his friends.”

“I do not understand.”

She chuckled, “You are as clueless as when you first tried courting me. Try to see from their perspective, their history, they are under no obligation to view things as we do. When the Dukedom invaded and annexed them, they were shown sincerity with no duplicity, something the western tributaries had never gotten from us. To them we are more akin to invaders.”

24^th January

Diothosi city

Tamnaeth along with many others were gathered in the amphitheater, in all honesty he’d rather be anywhere but this executioners ground. From the look of it he counted a few hundred while there was still room for thousands more. Everyone was exchanging small talk until a shadow fell upon them, looking up they saw Sol Regem descending towards them.

The Sun king landed with the sun to his back causing the audience to be awestruck though Tamnaeth just felt intimidated.

Sol Regem looked at each one of gathered, taking in their features. After having his sight stolen for so long he found himself unable to ever tire of seeing anything no matter how mundane it was.

“Welcome, it brings me joy to know all five hundred of you have answered my call. We have built for ourselves a new home here from the scattered embers of what once was our great and beloved Xadia. Now they burn brightly as a beacon of what might be made whole one more. On this land we shall build a new nation. . . .”

Tamnaeth listened to the sun king pull at the emotions of those present, if he wasn’t so used to gathering information and reading between the lines combined with his yearning to be home then he wasn’t sure he could’ve avoided being swayed by these words.

“. . . . All things our people lacked before coming here. We have built cites to shelter us, our fields provide us with sustenance and medicine. Now we shall reform our militias into a proper army to defend us. But you, you are among our best. You shall be the example to the rest, the first of many that will form an elite force that will symbolize our resilience, our determination, and our pride as Xadians.”

The crowd burst into cheers and the sun king waited for them to stop, only once they were silent did he speak once more.

“In the times before the veil, our people built an empire that spread beyond the horizons until the great war brought it all to ruin. To protect us all our rulers here created the veil sheltering us from the destruction that was wrought upon the empire. Fearing we might fall prey to such war amongst ourselves they took our greatest weapons and magic then sealed them far away until they were needed. When I became monarch that knowledge had become myth. But we have found the ancient vaults and the time to unseal it is now. You shall be trained in using these great artifacts including magic of our forbearers. Our best scholars are studying them as we speak to impart the knowledge on to you all. You are our best but if you cannot use them then do not force yourselves. You are not unworthy if you fail, your lives are invaluable to us all and all shall find a place among us.”

Tamnaeth realized this was information that needed to be delivered quickly but knew he’d have to wait for his contacts to find him which wouldn’t happen until more people were brought here. The rest of the speech held no real information that could be used so he spent his time trying to figure out what else was going on.

Chapter Text

25^th January

Tamnaeth sat with the others in the building right next to the great temple. None of them made small talk with him or anyone and he stopped trying after reading the room in order to not stand out. He put on the same expression plastered on every face which was hope and fear. All they were told before being brought here was that they would have to choose which one they wanted and that the binding ritual would be held at night.

He had watched the scholars call out people gathered one at a time and with each person leaving to claim their prize, the expressions slowly leaned towards envy that the best might be taken before they were called.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t eager to have a soul bound item of his own but he wasn’t as invested in the idea as everyone else, he wondered if it was because he was a spy or because he just wanted to go home. He recalled the stories he had heard as a child and the ones he had told to the children who would keep pestering him till they heard a new story. Each story that had soul bound items was usually something that only the hero could use to signify they were chosen but what the item did vary so much from tale to tale.

“Tamnaeth?” a man dressed in scholarly robes called out.

“Here!” He quickly raised his hand.

“This way.”

Tamnaeth got up and followed right behind the scholar. Neither spoke while leaving the building and till they entered the temple. It wasn’t a long walk and there were dozens of guards standing right outside the temple doors.

Upon entering the doors closed behind them and the scholar motioned his hand across the large room where the people would gather to pray. There were weapons, armors, and other items placed on the floor as far as they could see.

“Take your time, your scouts training should have trained you to use a wide breath of items.” The scholar said

“You have me at a loss.” Tamnaeth said

“Virion. I am currently in charge of binding and teaching you all.” he introduced himself

Tamnaeth took a deep breath to make sure his act wasn’t slipping, he slowly walked across the room, giving a good long glance at each item he passed. He saw swords short, long, & broad some curved others straight, daggers, polearms of every kind, staves, amulets, and armors wondering just how many they truly had as he knew they would’ve made several trips to bring in more so he made a mental list of what he saw.

Eventually he arrived at the area for bows and could tell they were all well-made and did not look worn, rather they all looked like they were made recently.

“These look all new.” He looked up and saw the scholar just smiled but did not answer.

After spending time examining all fifty bows he found one that had a filigree pattern carved alongside the runes.

Picking it up he found it was heavy despite its appearance. His experience in archery told him this was an excellent bow if only it didn’t weigh as much. On one end was the bow string and he pulled it and tied it to one the other end which was harder than he expected. He lifted it up and took a moment to steady himself before pulling the bowstring like he would when readying to shoot.

“I see you’ve chosen yours.”

Tamnaeth turned and saw the scholar give him a genuine smile. He thought on those words then shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s far too heavy to wield properly.”

The scholar gave a light nod, “The weight will be gone once you’re bound to it. You have good instincts as that bow is rather special, it alignment matches the moon and sky making it exceedingly rare.”

Tamnaeth looked at it wondering how it could be that special, he just saw good craftsmanship without expecting anything else then turned to the scholar.

“Are there any two sword sets?”

“Many,” the scholar replied pointing in a direction and led the way.

He saw they were sheathed but he could tell they were well made but like with the bow he could see nothing special about any of them. He noticed one pair had different markings on the scabbard while the other pairs each had the same markings. He decided to go for it if for no other reason than because it looked different.

“I’ll take these.”

“The twin crescents, an excellent choice.” he remarked.

“Why?” he asked already regretting his decision.

“They are both aligned with the moon but each blade has another alignment, one to the stars, the other to the earth. Your future is promising if your instincts alone could lead you to find these.”

Hearing this he gave the biggest smile a determined warrior could give while internally his mind was a fountain of profanity at his own carelessness, standing out was the complete opposite of what he came here to do. If he knew this beforehand he would’ve picked weapons that were less good, but he couldn’t return these without having to explain why he picked them then changed his mind.

He decided to console himself with the logic that if these were special and he used them then it meant no one loyal to Sol Regem would be using them.

Later that night

Tamnaeth stood in the ritual circle wearing only a ceremonial toga, in front of him stood a female startouched elf dressed like what he assumed was a priest, he didn’t know much about the religious customs of the startouched elves so he couldn’t say what it was. Placed right in front of him were the artifacts he had chosen, the twin swords and the bow which had its string removed.

“Are you ready?” She asked,

He nodded, she wore a veil which covered her face but her voice seemed off, it wasn’t familiar at all but rather he felt her manner of speaking tinged with condescension that seemed to make him think he’d seen it before.

She extended both her arms high and held them in place as she turned her gaze to the sky. After incanting something her eyes glowed brightly and she swiftly brought her arms down creating two vertical lines of primal energy in the air between them.

 Her hands moved elegantly creating a large rune but she did not cease, with each added movement, another strike or curve appeared to the side of the rune and kept growing. It was like a sentence of runes spreading till it formed a ring with him at its center.

Once the ring was complete she brought her hands together and the runes began rotating so fast that it appeared as a single solid ring of light. She then took out a knife from under her cloths offering it to him. “A drop of blood on each artifact and they will be bound to you.”

Holding the knife he lifted it to the sky then brought his free hand, without hesitation he made a small cut on his palm. Blood slowly flowed freely and he brought his hands down.

He held his wounded hand above the bow and two swords, he felt the blood trickle to his fingers slowly collecting at the tip till it fell as droplets. The artifacts glowed the moment his blood touched them.

He felt a surge of power flowing through him like when he drew on the power of the full moons, the cut healed itself much to his surprise.

“Become one with the moon and take them into yourself.”

He slowly slid into his moonshadow form with practiced ease then grabbed the bow. He could feel it, he could feel the skills of those who used it before flow into him, he could tell how many had used ti before and how capable they truly were, it was truly a humbling experience.

He lifted the bow and found it was light as a feather, the weight from earlier was gone.

“Fire it.” she said

“But I have no string or arrows.” He said

“Fire it.”

He looked at her in incredulity, how was he supposed to pull or fire a bow without a bowstring or arrows.

“Fire it.” she said a little more forcefully.

He looked more confused but decided to do it, thinking this must be part of the ritual. He stood and aimed the bow at the sky and with practiced precision brought his right hand to where the bow string would’ve been, only he felt the string.

He turned is gaze to his hand and saw no string yet he could clearly feel one. Deciding to trust his gut he pulled this phantasmal string and he felt something else, he looked in astonishment as he had an arrow in his hand, pulled and ready to fire.

He took a breath to calm his nerves then let it loose, the arrow flew then became many as they disappeared into the night sky.

“What is this?” His shock plainly visible on his face.

“The bow uses your connection to the sources to create arrows, as long as your will remains unbroken then you will always have arrows. Now the swords remain.”

He set the bow down respectfully and unsheathed both blades from their scabbard. The blades had a subdued glow and like before he felt the abilities of its previous users flow into him.

The blades glowed like a beacon yet he was not blinded in the slightest looking at them, rather he could see past the light with ease.

“Come to the practice fields tomorrow where we will begin your training.”

He didn’t say, just nodded to her. He needed to think, he would have time to learn tomorrow but first he needed to order his thoughts.

Later

Tamnaeth lay on the bed in his apartment, the weapons he gained sitting on the small desk. He still questioned the wisdom of letting him take it with him. They would be useless in anyone else’s hand unless he was killed but that hardly justified not putting it somewhere safe like a vault.

He wondered just what an army with these could do and what Sol Regem’s intention was. During the twelve years war having these would’ve helped surely but he doubted they could’ve done more than give them a slight edge against the Dukedom whose weapons out ranged them and their vehicles were much too fast and armored.

Was it instead to intimidate the humans to make them think against from ever attacking? Would these honestly be a threat at all? He had no idea since he could only see these being a threat to those within Xadia, not those outside and his mind caught on the words, these would be useless against anyone outside of Xadia, but inside was a different story.

But he shook his head, even if Sol Regem wanted to do that he would need a casus beli. How would he even do that without losing the support of his own people since he’s been telling them how much he’s doing this for Xadia. Was he just going to use this military might to push for changes over time? He wasn’t good at these things so he gave up trying. Thinking further wasn’t going to help so he decided it would be better to sleep.

26^th January

“Shall we begin with the sky,” said Lyceas, the star touched elf that performed his ritual and had been assigned as his instructor.

He nodded hiding his irritation at her haughty voice. They were all brought to the forests to train so they could practice without risk of accidents. Besides him there were nineteen others with three other scholars.

He drew the ephemeral bowstring and called on the power of the sky like he practiced with the moon earlier in the day. He felt the wind swirl tightly around the arrow. He still did not understand how he knew what to do but every time he tried to form it into words he couldn’t like he was trying to put into words something that couldn’t be described.

“Tell me what shape is the wind around the arrow?” Lycea asked

He focused and could feel the wind but for some strange reason he could picture it, like it was a solid object with defined features which was the exact opposite of what wind was. “It’s like vines growing from the arrowhead and tail reaching out to the opposite ends.”

“Now shoot.”

He let the arrow loose and watched it fly in the air like a confused fly till it bled off its speed and fell back down.

“The binding makes the user know instinctively how to use it but you must learn how to control it through training. The shape of the wind around the arrow determines its speed and your control over it, the arrows travels to where your gaze falls hence why it flew around like that. You must shape the wind like a spiraling cone with the tip at the arrowhead to achieve perfect control. Start by simply trying to form an approximation of that shape till it comes naturally.”

He ignored he arrogant tone and thought on the information as he watched her go to the others to instruct them.

Sometime later

“Accursed arrow.” He said watching the arrow fall into a tree. After four hours all he managed to learn was that he arrow disappears after sometime but in terms

“Easy, do not try to move a large amount at once, you need to move them in very small clumps.” Lyceas said while adjusting the spear stance of another person then turning elsewhere and scowled, “I told you before not to make it burn so quickly, are you trying to injure everyone here?”

He glanced around as the scholars were busy instructing everyone, for every ten warriors there was one scholar.

Chapter Text

9th February

Subterranean realm 2

Guest house

“I take it things went well in the capital?” Callum asked as he took a seat opposite to Ervin and Ronald who had returned an hour ago.

“Yes sir, it went very well. They present a well prepared and detailed plan to show us that we can have long term trade. From using the salt to preserve meats to be sold elsewhere, to processing facilities and distribution networks. We offered to sell the salt cost in exchange for a 12% cut of the profits which we can use to purchase anything we want. We can’t import any metals from them as their mining is hampered by these rot worms which can destabilize tunnels. Their economy wouldn’t be able to sustain or survive an outflow of metals.” Ronald summarized.

“I guess we can buy food stuffs then. Tell me, what did you find out about their mages?”

“The number of people born with magical abilities is exceptionally rare to the where many kingdoms can go generations without having a single mage though their capabilities are random. Most can only do simple magic while those that can perform potent spell craft are a rarity on to themselves. They have tried marrying two mages but it seems to have no effect on the probability.”

Callum just nodded, Cepheus had told him those who could do magic were rare but he didn’t think it would be this rare but it did explain why they were so behind. “What of their magical lore?”

“The kingdoms closely guard whatever research they conduct in the hopes of using it if a mage is ever born to them. The temples do store some copies accessible to all that the kingdoms do not mind spreading.”

“What of the map?”

“They have sent world to the main temple and have secured one but their measurements aren’t precise as one would expect but we will need to have our cartographers assess it. They will have compiled all relevant information we have asked for by the late August.”

“Good, we shall depart within ten days. Until then you may enjoy yourselves.”

““Yes sir””

Meanwhile Aleesia took her friends to the city after acquiring some civilian clothes. The four of them were currently walking through the market. Walking around she focused her attention on the stalls and listened to the people around haggling for prices, she couldn’t read or write the script so her hearing was all she had to rely on. She began creating a list of items in her mind and adding their prices.

“Why are you walking so slow?” Tanya asked falling in step besides Aleesia.

“So I can determine the value of the currency here.” Aleesia understood why they were like this as she was much the same as them when she was a slave, she never stopped to listen to what went because she was simply trying to get to somewhere else quickly to avoid trouble. Now she had to take her time to gather information and evaluate it.

“Can’t you just ask the attendants for it?” Ayda asked since the guest house attended did whatever was asked of them.

Aleesia shook her head, “That only gets you so far. Now let me concentrate.”

She resumed comparing the price of everything to form an estimation of their values and that of the coins.

The prices back home couldn’t be used as a measure since the values were predetermined and there were heavy price controls and industrialization, the prices in Vasuria would be more reliable if she used goods that were the same and substituted things that were similar enough.

“Whoa that’s not good.” Aleesia stopped mid stride after finishing the comparison, her results were a bit surprising.

“What is?” Ilyana said looking around if there was trouble nearby.

“The currency is heavily inflated.”

“Huh?” Ilyana said as she and the other two shared similar expression.

“It means these coins aren’t worth a lot.” Aleesia said realizing they wouldn’t know what that meant.

“Is that bad?”

“Yeah, if it’s inflated then things will cost more than before.”

Later that night

“I got the recipe figured out!” Rayla ran in and found Callum and Aleesia busy with work.

““Eh?”” They looked at her.

“The recipe for doro wot. The chefs told me everything, the thing I thought was ginger was paste of galangal and several other stuff that they fermented. The sweetness was from something that looked like a big leek, I think we can use onions for that...” She continued to elaborate her ideas on substituting things to get the taste as close to authentic as possible while Callum and Aleesia listened to pass the time.

20^th February

Callum’s estate

Callum and Aleesia came to the living room to find their siblings already there busy plotting their next campaign with a lot of snacks nearby.

“Are your exams over?” Aleesia asked sitting down realizing they must’ve arrived while the two of them were busy unpacking after returning home. “Yeah though the guys are still panicking about tomorrow’s test.” Ezran said tossing a tiny jelly tart into the air and watched it fall right into his mouth.

“Wish they’d give us something tougher.” Aanya complained twirling her braided hair. The three of them were bored as the classes were too easy for them compared to the tests and homework their tutors and Callum put them through.

“Yeah, we spend half the class waiting for everyone else to finish.” Ellis said, being the older of the three meant that she would get out a year earlier.

“I told you three to just enjoy your time there.” Callum said, he didn’t honestly send them to learn because the stuff they’d been tutored on were more advanced than what normal kids their age would’ve been taught in order to prepare them for administrative and government related matters.

Those like them would normally begin helping out with governing and other matters once they were sixteen so he had sent them there to make friends and enjoy themselves since they won’t have as much freedom once they get older. They were meant to go to a school in Katolis city but after the population was taken he enlisted them in Anterim instead. Due to this they also didn’t need to appear as often as normal students since they scored so well especially since they also had to learn about things they would be doing.

“There’s someone I’d like you three to meet.” Callum opened the doors wide and they saw more people.

“Meet my parents and friend.” Aleesia said happily.

The Ezran, Aanya and Ellis quickly got up and went to greet them but were stunned by them bowing. They turned to their older siblings and saw Aleesia was covering her face in embarrassment while Callum just shook his head.

The three turned to look at each other and decided to act like the bowing never happened, they tried to talk but quickly realized it wouldn’t be easy.

27^th February

“I’ve perfected it!” Rayla barged in with a triumphant goofy grin plastered over her face.

Callum cocked an eye. “I’m gonna need you to narrow it down.”

“I’ve managed to recreate an effective substitute for doro wot. My folks and everyone in my neighborhood loved it. I taught it to the chefs and they said they’ll make it for everyone’s dinner tonight.”

“Guess I have something to look forward to tonight.” Callum said looking back at the paperwork, knowing the kitchen staff would make enough so that the entire estate's staff could all bring it home to their families.

“I asked those three if they wanted to try what I made for lunch but they wanted junk food.” Rayla shook her head and sighed in exasperation, “Teenagers.”

“What’d you expect? They like comfort food.”

“Guess that’s why they love it when I get them chocolates, these days it’s hard to find regular chocolate bars anymore. It’s mostly wafer coated or aerated.”

“Oh that’s a byproduct of wartime production and supply.”

“What does the war have to do with chocolate?” she asked

“Everything. You know how you all got ice cream one day then chocolate the next followed by cake then chocolate then pudding and chocolate again?”

“Yeah, that was delicious.” Rayla patted her tummy at the memory of eating big servings of dessert.

“Giving you all more delicious desserts every day is the most effective and cheapest way of keeping morale high in wartime. Most people feel like their eating almost twice as much chocolate than they actually are if it’s aerated or wafer coated so we could keep you all happy without needing to double production. This also meant we could produce enough cakes, ice cream and pudding to give you all bigger servings on those three days. In a sea battle one of our ships was sinking, some of the crew tried to save as much of the ice cream as they could.”

“I can understand their feelings—wait what does that have to do with me buying chocolate from the stores?”

“Well, all those people after the war kept their taste for aerated and wafer coated chocolate bars and kept requesting it so we had to produce more of that.”

Eflatol city, Subterranean realm 1

Within the older parts of the city which lay empty after most of the original inhabitants left more than four years ago, it was something that began with the war five years ago followed by further exodus brought on by ensuing economic coercion the territory was subjected to.

Thus every city within Temirov had small areas that were empty effectively creating ghost districts throughout the region. The administration was too busy with the expansion projects and viewed these locations as something that could be revitalized later.

Gradually through immigration the population started to trickle in, primarily to the border cities and those with very little means gravitated towards these ghost districts attracted by the low rents, slowly breathing life into them.

Eflatol was within the very center of the territory saw its ghost districts remain largely empty until recently. Instead it had begun to attract an altogether different type of people who were not in search of work, they came in pursuit of what they claimed was salvation.

Ilamyr got off the tram and walked forward till she stood before the temple, now restored by its new occupants in their own image. Normally what one saw when looking up was the symbol of the pantheon depicting six orbs held together with filigree that represented the gods holding all six elven races above all of creation.

That had been replaced with a morbid symbol depicting a large gear encircling a stylized skull with a scroll of parchment clutched in its jaw. One eye socket had what appeared to be a light of some kind inserted into it while the other remained empty.

She walked to the building and knocked on a side door, a minute later the door opened and was greeted by the head priest.

“Greetings, what brings you to this humble shrine.” The head priest was a fellow skyw elf who wore simple dark robes with his hood pulled back and a red sash wrapped around his waist and an iron chain around his collar.

“I’m from the Daenal clan here on behalf of Lady Maiele. My sister, the ocean elf with scales used to come here until recently.” Ilamyr said as Aleesia often volunteered for this when they were too swamped.

“Ah please come in.” the head priest smiled and slowly walked in, they sat in the nave of the temple where the congregation would have sat to pray.

The priest sat opposite to her and bowed, “How may I aid those who serve they who are three in one.”

Ilamyr only knew about these people from reports and wondered if Aleesia dealt with this every time she visited one of their temples.

“It seems some of your faithful, I’ve been made aware that they seek to work directly on the equipment we’re being given.”

“Yes, it is a great honor to be directly ministering to the works of the knowledge bearers.”

Ilamyr kept a neutral expression. “Some of them have tried to chase away others who also wish to take those jobs making problems for us and Anterim.”

“What?!” the priest turned to look past the pulpit, at the statue in the center of the sanctuary and bowed and spoke what Ilamyr assumed were prayers though his voice was too low for her to make out any words.

After he was finished he turned to her, “The creations of they who are three in one would be offended if they were tended to by those unworthy. I shall speak with the cardinal to instruct the laity to refrain from such actions that shame us in the eyes of the trinity.”  

Ilamyr just nodded but said nothing. As far as she could tell, his words seemed to imply the machines would take offense and not their god or was he saying their god inhabited them. She didn’t truly understand them or their faith, Aleesia seemed to have a far better understanding of it all after her numerous interactions.

Chapter Text

26^th February

Callum’s estate

“How’d the shopping trip go?” Callum asked without looking up, his pen dancing across a sheet of paper as Aleesia stepped into his office.

“Got enough to last them till autumn.” Aleesia replied, setting her shopping bags down and rifling through them briefly before turning her attention to Callum's desk. “We’ll need to go buy some winter clothes for them later.”

“Now you’ll have someone to share the pond with them.”

“No biggie since you can fit a lot of people in there and never bump into them. That reminds me, my mom and friends thought swimwear was the same as lingerie. It took longer than explaining to Aanya and Elis.”

Callum nodded, still focused on his work. “I arranged for a tutor for the five of them. He’ll start at the beginning of next month.”

Aleesia’s face lit up with relief. “That’ll make things easier. Explaining everything to them was getting exhausting.” She picked up a document from his desk, scanning the contents. It was an expenses and status report, but something caught her eye. “Why are these new plants labeled as inoperable yet still being built?”

Callum finally looked up, a slight frown creasing his brow. “Mom never finished those designs so all the facilities meant for them are being retooled”

“What are they going to produce after retooling?” Aleesia asked, her voice laced with concern. While her work involved administration, it mainly involved the conglomerate and nothing related to defense or the government.

“Supersonic aircraft since we've just started production,” Callum explained, leaning back in his chair. “And our current fleet is mostly subsonic with jet and propeller driven aircraft.”

“Why make subsonic jets at all? couldn't you just make all the new ones supersonic?” Aleesia questioned, puzzled by the apparent compromise.

“We didsn't have the technical expertise so we had them train by making subsonic jets otherwise we'd have to wait several years longer."

Aleesia’s eyes narrowed as she processed the information. “How much we gonna be able to build?"

“Depends on the aircraft but we're aiming for a total capacity of 300 each per year.” Callum replied, though he knew it'll be a while before they could have a capable air force again.

“They’re that difficult to build?” Aleesia asked, recalling reports from the war that boasted of thousands of aircraft being produced.

Callum sighed. “Transistors, integrated circuits, software coding and digital designing—they’re still new to our teams. Without the lights-out factories, we wouldn't be able to build a single one.”

“Lights-out?” Aleesia repeated, unfamiliar with the term.

“It’s a fully automated manufacturing facility that requires minimal human oversight,” Callum explained. “They’re churning out munitions and parts for our military, but the cost of setting them up was astronomical. And frankly, our engineers barely understand how Mom’s code work.”

Aleesia’s curiosity sparked. “Can we visit one of these factories?”

Callum shook his head. “No, they’re off-limits to everyone. But you’ll get to see the aircraft when they’re unveiled to the public. The ground forces will be revealed in a couple of weeks here and in the Dukedom—we’ll be traveling there for that.”

“Shouldn’t you be here for the unveiling?” Aleesia asked, concerned.

“If it were our Founding Day, I couldn’t leave,” Callum said with a slight smile. “But this unveiling is mostly for public show. My presence isn’t necessary.”

“And the navy?” Aleesia inquired, her thoughts drifting to the larger picture.

“We just started production but mom never finished designing all the equipment so we're using existing analogues to make do. For now, we’re retrofitting our existing fleet.”

“Won't other nations try to build those supersonic jets?” she asked

“Right now we’re both several decades ahead of everyone else and that gap will only grow once we figure out the rest of mom’s unfinished designs.”

“I thought Estaria and Del Bar were our allies?”

“That’s not how technological exchange agreements work, we only trade technical expertise and designs that were written explicitly in the agreement and since these haven’t been unveiled to the public, they can’t exactly ask us for them without revealing there is a mole in our midst.”

“Sounds like a headache,” Aleesia said, shaking her head.

Callum chuckled, though it lacked humor. “Welcome to my world.”

Arch Duchess’s office, Erdus Dukedom

Cassie entered the room, her nose buried in a report, the soft click of the door barely registering in the silence.

“We got word back from the test site,” she announced, eyes still glued to the document.

“Did it work?” Amy was completely hidden behind mountainous stacks of paper.

Cassie finally looked up, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Yes, it worked perfectly. The limbs fully regrew. Uncle Richie already cleared it with Cal, and we’re set to start production in a couple of weeks.”

Without missing a beat, she crossed the room and opened a cabinet, retrieving a bottle of grape juice. She downed it in one go, the bottle making a soft pop as she set it down on the table.

Amy’s eyes flicked up, a hint of relief softening her features. “Good. There are a lot of people who’ll be thrilled to have their limbs back. Get me the spare, will you?”

Cassie grabbed the second bottle of grape juice and handed it to her cousin, who accepted it with a grateful nod.

Amy gulped it down, savoring the taste before setting the half-empty bottle down on the cluttered desk.

“I still have no idea how mom made those runes with just a single blade.”

“I’ll add that to our bucket list for when we rescue her.”

March 1^st

Callum’s estate

“Well they’ll be busy for the foreseeable future.” Aleesia placed a file on the chair then collapsed into the nearest sofa. Her hand fumbled reaching for the remote.

“I thought you’d be the one tutoring them.” Rayla said brainstorming another recipe, the small basket nearby filled with crumpled sheets of paper.

“I don’t know the first thing about teaching and I got loads of work eating up my time.” Aleesia pointed to the file she dropped only moments ago.

The TV clicked on and Aleesia kept changing the channel till it showed a military parade.

Rayla looked at the screen and recognized the uniforms belonging to Del Bar. “Oh right, today is their founding day.”

“Yeah, we’ll be heading to Erdus for their founding day, they day after their debuting the new ground vehicles mom designed. Our new aircraft will be debuting on our founding day.” Aleesia said watching the formations of IFVs, tanks, and other combat vehicles right behind the troops marching.

6^th Match

Diothosi city, Xadia

Tamnaeth sat in the shade with the others resting, watching the others training. This had been the routine for some time now where they trained hard then let another group take over.

He watched the formation of mages form a line and pointed their staffs ahead, far in the distance was another line of mages who created a massive wall of earth. He glanced at one of his twin blades, wondering if he could create a large wall like that.

Turning his attention back at the first line, their staffs glowed with power before unleashing a barrage of lightning bolts and fireballs. During the war he had seen skilled mages do similar feats but these people were novices and the sheer quantity would’ve decimated the front line of an ordinary army. He began to wonder just what they would be capable of if they mastered these new tools and his greatest fear if they learned how to create them.

“Man if we had this all those years ago then we wouldn’t have had to suffer.”

Tamnaeth saw the one who spoke was Narbeth, a fellow moonshadow elf but from the northern regions of their home kingdom.

“You think so?”

“You think the humans could’ve withstood that?” Narbeth asked

Tamnaeth gave a humorless smile, “Trust me, my team was killed by attacks from far away, this formation would meet the same fate.”

 “So just make sure to get close enough to nail them.” Narbeth said refusing to concede

“You’ve never fought in the war have you young man?” asked Olaurae, another fellow moonshadow elf who sat beside them. He along with everyone who fought in the war knew from experience this type of display wouldn’t do much. “I watched a lot of good men get killed trying to get close enough to launch spells at them.”

“Then why are we doing this?” Narbeth asked

“It’s so that if we do fight them again then we’ll make them bleed. One day all of Xadia will be united and we will bring the fight to them. They will learn that in the end their abomination is no match for true magic.”

The old veteran and the brash youngster continued to talk and Tamnaeth returned to watching the exchange of mages.

He hoped all the intel he was gathering would be useful. He wasn’t worried about the humans being attacked by any combined army, he was certain the entire force would be crushed in the first night before anyone realized. He was more worried about the inevitable retaliation that would follow soon after. His own nation would be the first to bear the brunt of the attack, all he could picture was home, his mentor, his friend all dying among countless others.

8^th March

Storm spire

Avizandum sat with the rulers of each kingdom present for the conference.

“Are you certain?” Queen Khessa asked .

“Yes your majesty, they have acquired a vast number of soul bound weapons, armor and other items. All our agents have gathered what they could and we have enough old document that at least corroborates their story.” The  intelligence chief spoke.

“I will have my people begin producing more sunforged blades and shields for us.” Queen Khessa said

“Would that not make them suspect hostility towards us?” asked King Llewel of the moonshadow kingdom. Since Elarion existed within the normally uninhabited southern regions of his kingdom, he feared causing civil unrest.

“Not if we announce this as part of equipping our forces meant to protect our borders against humanity.” Khessa explained since even Sol Regem wouldn’t be able to say anything to oppose it that wouldn’t undermine himself.

“It could work but we should word it in such a way so anyone would think it’s due to our windfall in revenue. We already agreed to use it to pay down out war debts, the amount left over could provide a satisfactory explanation as to why we’re doing this all of a sudden.” The earthblood king said,

Avizandum turned to the scribe, “Would the changes be difficult?”

The scribe ceased recording the events of the meeting and thought on the matter, “No, your majesty but the changes need to be agreed upon so that no contradictory information arises in the records.”

“I propose we move our discussion to intent, do we know what they intend to do?” the chairwoman of the skywing federation asked.

“No your majesty,” the chief said, “so far all we know is that they intend to form an army that can use it. Our agents are currently trying to infiltrate them so we have opted to avoid contact to minimize the risk of them being discovered.”

“We need to eliminate their agents hiding within our kingdoms so that they can’t cause nay internal problems,” the tidebound king said.

“But keeping them alive was one of our means to control information flowing out.” The moonshadow king responded,

“It’s that or letting them run amok.”

Chapter Text

15^th March

Callum’s estate

Neia and Ilamyr, accompanied by their families, had arrived at Callum’s office, the atmosphere tense

 “I take it this is not good news?” Callum asked, setting his cup down carefully.

Maiele nodded. “Because of Regalia’s resistance to their offer, they are now considering offering our territory to you for a considerable sum.”

Callum coughed nearly spilling his tea, “Our laws are fundamentally different from yours. You wouldn’t retain your aristocratic status, instead, you'd be subordinated to the thirteen major families under our governance.”

“Prince Kaarel has stated he wouldn’t agree to any arrangement without your approval. However, it seems his real interest lies in becoming a permanent vassal.” Neia added

Callum thought on it “Vassalage is fine but we’ll need to discuss the terms, tell him I’ll send soe diplomats within two months from now. As for being absorbed into Regalia, it doesn’t particularly disadvantage us, so I don’t have any immediate objections.” He paused, his mind racing through the potential complications. “How would this affect your merchant clan in cross-border operations?”

Ruvyn smiled having made preparations for such thing, “All Merchant houses can operate across borders without much trouble. However, we’d need to establish a headquarters within each nation we operate out of.”

“Prince Kaarel offered his cousin’s hand in marriage to Kasval,” Rommet added, his tone skeptical.

Callum’s lips pointed up in wry amusement. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Kasval shrugged, “I don’t even know her.” He tried to be nonchalant but everyone noticed he didn’t exactly answer the question.

 “To me it doesn’t matter which so long as the new system spreads.” Maiele spoke up as she desired the end of the slave system which would not happen unless they industrialized.

Callum leaned back into the chair, ultimately them getting absorbed into Regalia would allow them to create a much larger example of how beneficial this technology was which would lead to the emancipation for his fellow humans as technology would render the slave system obsolete. However absorbing Temirov into Anterim didn’t yield much benefit, they already had plans to build cities to expand the domain using the portals.

 The discussion stretched on for another hour. When Aleesia’s parents and their entourage arrived and were all introduced to each other which ended the same way it always did.

March 20^th

Rannerias estate, Erdus dukedom

“I missed this place,” Rayla said, reclining on the sofa and dunking her biscuit into a cup of tea. The last time she’d been here was for the wedding two years ago.

“Where are they, anyway?” Aleesia asked, walking into the living room after helping her parents and friends settle in.

“They're probably busy checking the preparations for tomorrow’s conference. They’re a lot busier now,” Callum replied, glancing out the window. He watched as Aleesia’s parents explored the garden, enjoying their newfound freedom. Nearby, Neia, Ilamyr, Rommet, Kasval, Aanya, and Ellis were playing with Ava, while Ruvyn lounged in a chair, reading. Maiele and Nakal had wandered off to enjoy some private time together. Callum smiled, hoping moments like these would last forever.

A tap on the chessboard brought his attention back to the game. Ezran had moved his knight, setting up a check if not countered within the next turn.

“Clever,” Callum said, moving his rook to block. “But not clever enough.”

The two brothers locked eyes, each trying to read the other's next move.

Rayla turned away from the game to look out the window and froze as two figures as her left eye twitched reflexively. Two figures clad in black with their faces obscured by masks and dark shades, leapt through the window in synchronized flips. She didn’t need to wonder, it was impossible for her to not know who they were. She’d gone four years without dealing with their particular brand of absurdity, and here it was, coming in full force.

“The hell?!” Callum exclaimed as the figures dove past him, rolling to a stop and striking an exaggerated pose.

Before he could react further, his vision went dark as a large box dropped over him. The two figures struck another pose.

“Get this thing off of me!” Callum demanded, growing increasingly annoyed.

Amy and Cassie pulled down their masks and grabbed several biscuits from the tray, munching happily. Everyone else just stared as they were unable to process what was going on.

With a flourish, they brushed the crumbs off their faces, pulled their masks back up, and struck another pose. Callum was suddenly launched out the window, cursing loudly as he flew. The duo struck a final pose before leaping out after him.

Moments later, they heard the sound of paper crumpling before they lifted the boxed Callum over their heads, now covered in wrapping paper with a big ribbon bow then ran off with him.

“Hey! Come back here with him!” Ezran shouted, poking his head out the window and shaking his fist at how his game was ruined. Everyone in the garden just stared in stunned silence at the spectacle.

“I thought they’d calm down after the wedding. They seem to have gotten worse,” Rayla sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, they did go two years without seeing him. This must be their way of making up for lost time,” Aleesia looked too exhausted to care, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Meanwhile, in the garden

“Is it really necessary to kidnap and gift-wrap me like this?” Callum grumbled, still squirming. He was glad to see his wives again, but he had hoped for a reunion that didn’t involve being kidnapped. Again.

“Yes,” Cassie said without missing a beat as if this were the most logical thing in the world to do.

“At least get this bloody box off me!”

They set him down, unwrapped and removed the box, revealing his annoyed expression. But Amy and Cassie were too pleased with themselves to care.

“If you want to drag me off, fine. But at least don’t grab me out of nowhere like this,” Callum said straightening his clothes.

Amy and Cassie exchanged a look, smiled, and nodded. “Okay.”

“Good, now we—”

Chomp

Chomp

“OUCH!” Callum yelped as they both bit his arms and started dragging him away by their teeth. They mumbled something, but with their mouths full, he couldn’t understand a word.

“This is not what I meant,” he protested, wondering if there were any words in any language that wouldn’t backfire on him.

Institute of Advanced Robotics, Frenoria

They observed through the reinforced viewing panel as the mechanical golems underwent the final stages of assembly. Each one was protected within armor that could easily withstand small arms fire. Mounted on their shoulders was a light ether machine gun fed power by cables connected to the main body. Their massive arms ended in razor-sharp claws capable of tearing through flesh.

“So, they’re finally ready?” Callum asked, as this was a project of the dukedom exclusively, he had limited access to information. He suspected or rather knew they had cleared the area of any sensitive information to make sure it didn’t get imprinted into his perfect memory.

“This is just the test batch. They need to go through an entire year of heavy use before we can decided if their ready for full production.” Amy said, the project was slated to be finished three years ago but with everything that’s happened, the entire project was delayed due to the incorporation of new technology and because it was no longer a top priority compared to implementing their mother’s designs.

“Have you considered equipping them with the new heavy ether cannon?” Callum asked as he could see uses for this if could import this technology.

“We tried,” Cassie interjected, her tone reflective. “It  drains too much power and the caster loses control for a minute. We still don’t know why.”

Amy turned to Callum with a speculative look. “Any chance you have something like this in development back home? Maybe something that could be folded with ours?”

“No,” Callum shook his head wishing he did. “Our robotics division is busy trying reverse-engineering the autonomous factories. We’re stretched thin.”

He did have personnel in Temirov but they were specialized in robotics so even if they recalled them, they’d just be assigned to help modernize their industries instead.

21^st March

Rannerias Estate

Amy, Cassie, Callum, Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis had gone to attend a conference that would officially launch the defense expo for the founding day celebrations tomorrow. Meanwhile, the rest of the family gathered in the estate’s expansive living room, watching the live broadcast on a massive screen.

The camera panned across the grand hall as a live orchestra played. Rows of elegant, high-backed chairs, occupied by officials, dignitaries, and military personnel, were neatly arranged on either side of the aisle. A plush red carpet stretched down the center, leading to a stage adorned with the flags of the Dukedom, Katolis, and Anterim, their colors bright and vivid under the stage lights. At the front of the stage stood a sleek podium, and behind it, a large digital screen awaited its cue.

The camera zoomed in on the crowd, capturing the visages of military generals, government ministers, and industry leaders. There were brief glimpses of whispered conversations between representatives of different nations, including those with long-standing rivalries. Reporters sat in designated rows, their cameras ready to capture every moment of the unfolding spectacle.

“Is that Preston?” Neia asked, her eyes narrowing as she spotted a familiar redhead among the sea of faces.

Rayla leaned forward, squinting at the screen. “I think it is. And those next to him must be his sister and dad.”

As they watched, Amy took her place at the podium. The room fell silent, the orchestra fading into a hush. She began her opening speech, her voice amplified perfectly through the hall’s state-of-the-art sound system. The audience listened intently, some nodding in agreement, others furiously taking notes.

As her speech eventually reached its climax, she revealed the existence of the fully automated, lights-out factory. The digital screen behind her sprang to life, displaying a series of dynamic images. Rows of robotic arms assembling artillery shells in large quantities with precision. The visuals shifted, showcasing different assembly lines—each crafting something distinct, from missiles large and small to bullets and spare parts, the production seamlessly continuous without a single person involved from start to finish.

Amy concluded with a startling statement about the plant’s capabilities, noting that the Dukedom was now producing over a million artillery shells a month. The camera panned across the audience, capturing the astonished faces of military officials who immediately began whispering to one another. A million shells a month was unheard of, even during the peak of the war four years ago.

At this revelation, Maiele, Ruvyn, and Ilamyr’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads. The rest of the family exchanged worried glances, wondering if they should call a doctor.

“Why are so many people there?” Rayla asked,

“Politics,” Aleesia explained. “The joint development has been a well-guarded secret. Everyone’s eager to see how this revelation will shift the political landscape.”

“But wouldn’t they figure it out afterward anyway?” Rayla asked, still puzzled.

“Yes, but seeing the vehicles up close gives them a better idea of how they stack up against their own military assets,” Aleesia continued. “They all have their own projects and this will give them an idea on whether or not to cut, further or divert existing projects. This is also a prime opportunity for these attendees to broker deals with one another.”

“Who has the best stuff?” Rommet inquired, glancing around the room.

Aleesia shrugged. “This is more Ray's expertise.”

“Don’t look at me,” Rayla raised her hands defensively. “There’s no way someone of my rank would be allowed to see this stuff.”

Chapter Text

22nd March

The three teens and Ava quickly jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the exhibition hall. Behind them, Rayla walked at a more leisurely pace while Aleesia walked briskly ahead, eager to see the fruits of the military projects that had been kept under wraps for four years.

At the entrance to the hall, Callum, Amy, and Cassie were already waiting for them.

“Shouldn't you three still be at the parade?” Rayla asked as she watched the three teens already go inside the hall.

“Nah, Uncle Richie is handling that, normally the previous ruler would be overseeing the parade while we the current ones handle the next event.” Amy pointed to the exhibition building.

Rayla noticed how casually Callum, Amy, and Cassie were dressed, a stark contrast to the formal attire they'd worn at the ceremony with all those officials barely an hour ago. "Aren't you supposed to be in formal wear?" she asked.

Callum quickly waved her question away, "This isn’t a formal event so no need."

After a bit more idle chatter, they walked inside. The lobby was immaculate, with polished marble floors reflecting the light and pure white walls lined with large, intricate tapestries. Ahead, they spotted Aanya, Ezran, Ellis, and Ava gathered around an armored vehicle chassis. Aleesia, propelled by her boundless curiosity, was already heading straight for them.

As they got closer, Rayla noticed that the vehicle chassis had no wires or additional components. "Where’s the rest of it?" she asked.

Amy patted the chassis affectionately. "This is just the base heavy vehicle frame. It's one of the Universal Combat Platforms, developed under Project Rubber Ducky."

Ava perked up at the mention of 'ducky,' barking excitedly. Ellis chuckled and patted her. "No, girl, there’s no actual rubber ducky here."

Amy continued, "The universal chassis are versatile. This one is meant for our MBTs, HIFVs, HAPCs, SPATs, SPGs, MLRS, SPAA, and more. We've put it on display to showcase how versatile these are. The rest of the chassis are like this though they aren’t meant to take a huge beating."

Rayla frowned, thinking about the different requirements for each role. "All of them? But each type has unique specifications."

Callum nodded. "That was exactly the problem we had in the war. Every vehicle we used had to have its own chassis with its own dedicated production line and logistics chain. With these universal platforms, we streamline everything. Parts from one can be used to repair or maintain another. No more problems where a unit got parts they can’t use because someone mislabeled a crate or filled in the wrong inventory list."

As someone trained in logistics, such things were the bane of his existence so that being avoided automatically earned his approval. They quickly began showing the other chassis which began with an an eight-wheeled platform.

"The Ranger chassis is whats going to replace the Lancer-33KE, its faster, amphibious, has better protection."

"So this is what I'm going to ride? I want to see it with its hull, armor and weapons." Rayla said trying to picture it in her mind and coming up with things that no sane military would allow.

"No, your new vehicle uses tracks. Just wait a while and you'll get your answer." Callum said since he already knew what changes woudl be implemented on account of him being at the meets where it was decided.

"Huh?" Rayla was pulled back from her fantasies as they moved to the next one which was a tracked vehicle chassis called the Pelican, she wondered if this was her chassis but it turned out to be not it which made her conclude she would get he heavy tracked chassis.

"Ray!"

Rayla looked around and saw them all standing around a display area partitioned with a large reinforced viewing glass wall with various items put on display. She ran over and saw they were all ammunition of various sizes along with other things but the one they were directed to was clearly meant for an autocannon.

"These are just 30mm rounds but we have higher calibers as well." Callum explained pointed to the variety of calibers lining the display, each one bigger than the last.

"What’s this one?" Rayla pointed to a round that looked unusual, its top part was flat with long nail poking out of it.

Cassie conjured a magical illusion to demonstrate. "That’s an APFSDS—Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot. Once it leaves the barrel, the outer casing, or sabot falls away, and the projectile itself is like a small dart with no explosive filler. It’s designed purely for penetration and spalling."

Rayla's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why not use APCBC shells? They have more mass."

Callum shook his head. "This dart has a velocity of 1,975 meters per second and can penetrate 145mm of rolled homogeneous steel almost a kilometer away"

Rayla's eyes widened in shock. "We needed an 85mm gun to achieve those numbers in the war, and now you’re saying this tiny thing can do the same?"

Callum nodded, “Trust me, we've surpassed everything we had from foru years ago. Now the next is one is a PHE – Programmable High Explosive, you can use the FCS to pre-program the fuse to timed, impact, proximity or delayed.”

“Does it have shrapnel?” Aanya asked as she, Ezran and Ellis pressed their faces against the glass case.

Callum nodded, “Yeah though the one right next to it carries more shrapnel than anything else.”

Rayla still seemed skeptical. "Wouldn't a standard HE or HE-VT round be enough?"

Amy’s expression grew serious. "You wouldn’t last long on the battlefield without these. Trust me."

Callum then led them to two blocks placed side by side. "Now, let's talk armor. The first one here is Composite Armor. It’s spaced armor with layers of different hard and soft materials in between. It’s much lighter than a solid steel plate of equal thickness. It’s what we’re focusing on right now.”

“I take it the second one isn’t as good.” Rayla said

“It’s very good, it’s just not as high up on our priority.” He said as they all looked at a blocky plate of some kind. “This is Explosive Reactive Armor or ERA for short. It’s basically an explosive charge sandwiched between two metal plates. The external plate is frangible so when it explodes the plate fragments into very tiny pieces that are launched against the projectile degrading or destroying it”

Ezran’s jaw dropped. “You’re strapping a bomb on your vehicles?”

“You’d need a high energy impact to set it off. Against HEAT warheads it offer protections similar to 1500mm of rolled homogeneous steel, against large APFSDS it drops to 300mm but the blast does degrade the round.

“But it’s a bomb.” Ezran said still pointing to it.

Callum had to concede that point, “Yes it is, it’s not safe for infantry to be near it when it goes off. It is still extremely useful in an actual war despite that risk. But against the infestation it’s useless since they can’t set it off so it’s not that high on our priority list.”

“So why are you making them at all?” Rayla asked

“It’s for adding extra rooftop protection to vehicles.” Callum said

“You expect me to believe this thing will protect us from artillery.” Rayla wasn’t convinced, having narrowly avoided being taken out by them and seeing many vehicles destroyed by just the blast, she knew better than to think anything was safe from artillery.

“Artillery? No hohoho.” Cassie said gesturing to a missile and next to it was a bazooka but with what looked like cameras where the aiming sight should have been.

“This missile is multi-purpose and can be used to intercept low flying air targets within 14 kilometers. They use laser guidance as a backup but their mainly a Fire-and-Forget weapon, you aim at the target and the system inputs its visual and thermal data then fire and then you run away. The missile’s onboard guidance system will continually track the target and guide it right on top of it. Now aren’t you happy you have 1300mm of explodey armor on your roof?”

Rayla just gulped loudly, during the war she recognized the dangers of unguided rockets even though they had a very short range. These were on an entirely different level and she wondered how much harder fighting would be with these all over the battlefield.

“You can counter those missiles using smoke launchers.” Callum added, “They’ll be equipped on all vehicles as the smoke will block the missile’s sensors though it will still have inertial guidance to try and land a hit. We’re still developing the system to use programmable rounds to intercept them. There are other defenses but right now we can only produce enough for our front line vehicles.

“What do you mean its still in development? I thought mom gave you complete schematics.” Rayla said

“Our mom’s schematics work fine. We don’t have anyone who fully understands any of it yet so fixing any problem that arises is hard in the best of times. We had to make compromises with a lot of things to make everything work. It’ll be many years before everything is fully ready.” Amy explained knowing that without their mom’s expertise, they had to go through this using the good old reliable but slow trial and error hoping they don't blow themselves up in the process.

Callum nodded grimly. "If we were using technology from five years ago, this shoulder-fired missile would be the size of a car."

As the explanations continued, the group’s excitement grew. When it was time to move to the main hall, Rayla, Aleesia, Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis rushed to the door, eager to see more.

"Calm down, you lot!" Callum called after them, laughing as he put his hands on his hips. "These exhibits aren't going anywhere."

They caught up in the first room, where rows of armored vehicles filled the massive space. Rayla and the others stared in awe at the sheer scale of the exhibit.

“Yes yes yes its impressive, now come on.” Amy said as the three just walked past them to the first exhibit which was a boxy tracked vehicle. There were two hatches in front of the turret for the driver and gunner, there was a second hatch just behind the turret. The hull used the light tracked pelican chassis from earlier so Rayla concldued that this wasn't her vehicle.

Amy leaped onto the vehicle, her excitement evident as she began her explanation. “Meet the M2KM4 Roller. It’s designed for a crew of three and comes armed with a 30mm autocannon, a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, a pair of ATGM launcher pods, and best of all, the turret is completely unmanned.”

Rayla’s eyes widened in surprise. “Did you just say unmanned?”

Amy nodded. “You bet, the plan is to have all turrets unmanned since its the most exposed part of any vehicle, so if we don’t have crew members inside, we don’t need to armor it as heavily. That saves weight, which we can then use to enhance protection for the crew compartment instead.”

“But wouldn’t that make reloading difficult?” Rayla still seemed skeptical as during combat they burned through ammo quickly and she wasn't sure how much ammo could fit in that turret.

Amy sat down on top of the turret and spoke, “The underside of the turret has a hatch which you can feed the ammo boxes into, the loading mechanism can take it over from there.”

She then stomped the turret bustle, “ The ATGM’s are stored in here with its own loading mechanism. You can store up to 1,200 rounds for the 30mm  and up to 6 wire guided ATGM’s inside the vehicle.”

Amy hopped down from the turret, and they moved on to the next exhibit, eager to show them what else was in store.

The next vehicle they approached was an imposing sight, featuring a long hull with a low profile and a sharply sloped front. Its armor was arranged in angular plates, giving it an aggressive and formidable appearance. It’s turret was mounted at the rear and was equipped with two missile pods.

“This is the Serpent,” Callum explained. “It’s an armored personnel carrier built on the Heavy Universal platform. It’s designed to accommodate a crew of four and transport a full squad of ten soldiers. The unmanned turret is armed with a 30mm autocannon, a coaxial machine gun, and two missile pods for emergencies.”

The group began to examine the Serpent closely, inspecting its features with a mix of curiosity and admiration. Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis quickly climbed inside, eager to explore the interior and made their way to the crew station.

Rayla, however, noticed something different from her previous experiences. “Is it wise to have the crew and the passengers in the same compartment?” she asked, recalling how her old IFV had a thick steel partition separating the crew from the transport section for added protection. This vehicle didn't have that.

Callum shook his head. “The Serpent is designed for rapid insertion, deployment, and extraction. Not heavy firefights. The reduced armor makes it faster and more maneuverable. Its primary role is to quickly transport troops to a designated point then to get out of there. There’s an optional add-on armor package which includes adding a partition for the crew though we doubt it'll make any difference.”

Aanya looked puzzled hearing that. “Won't everyone shoot those missiles if they see it coming.”

Cassie pointed to several bright orange blocks strategically placed around the hull. “These are part of the hard-kill Active Protection System. The system is equipped with sensors linked to onboard computers. When it detects an incoming attack, it detonates one of these block, creating a focused explosion that intercepts and destroys the threat before it can hit the vehicle.”

“Will this system work against APFSDS?” Rayla asked, wondering if her own vehicle would receive similar upgrades.

Callum shook his head again. “It'll be years before it can reliably intercept something moving that fast. The vehicle also has a soft-kill APS that emits radio interference to disrupt laser-guided and other sensor-based weapons,” he added, pointing to several disc-shaped emitters on the vehicle. They were told the specifics of how it worked and the three teenagers tried to compare it to what they already knew.

“Ray, the next one is what you’ll be driving.” Amy said with a grin, pointing toward the next exhibit.

Amy and Cassie quickly leapt on top of the hull of the next vehicle which appeared very similar to the Serpent APC but its heavily up armored profile and centrally mounted turret gave it a more imposing presence.

Rayla just stood there gawking at it unsure how to describe this amazing war machine she would get to crew. Despite it looking so similar to the serpent but she knew this was meant for combat and it was obviously more armored.

“Say hello to the Ravager,” Callum announced, his voice filled with pride. “It's our Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Jump aboard, and we'll go over the details.”

Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis immediately rushed for the transport compartment behind the vheicle, keen to explore. Rayla, however, made a beeline for the gunner’s hatch on top which was clearly labeled, popping her head inside before climbing down into the cramped space.

“There’s so much stuff in here.” Rayla was giggling, her fingers gliding over the screens and control panels that surrounded her. Behind her was a weapon far more intimidating than the autocannon on her old IFV. This was the kind of firepower she’d always dreamed of wielding.

Callum, Amy and Cassie just watched Rayla act like a kid that was let lose in a candy store as Aleesia slowly climbed the hull to look around.

“The Ravager has a 3 person crew and can carry 7 infantry.” Callum said hoping Rayla found it to her liking.

“Really?” Rayla looked around, noticing for the first time that there were only three hatches. “Why just three?”

“Ask Mom,” Cassie interjected with a grin. “She’s the one who designed it that way.”

“What about Sophie?” Rayla asked, wondering what role her friend would play now that the vehicle only needed three crew members.

“What’s her rank?” Callum inquired.

“She made warrant officer a couple of months ago,” Rayla replied.

“She’ll be in the rear company HQ vehicle,” Callum explained. “You’ll get all the details later when you get your new toys.” 

Rayla nodded, her curiosity shifting back to the control panels in front of her.

Amy decided to take over explaining, “There is an up-armored version that removes its infantry-carrying capacity for additional armor and power while leaving just enough room to store extra stuff. Maintenance teams can make the conversion in a couple of hours.”

“That quickly?” Rayla asked, popping her head out of the hatch.

Cassie nodded recalling her own surprise when they were briefed on the capabilities of these designs. “The front armor can withstand anything that isn’t a very large caliber gun. The motor being in front means it’ll act as a last line of defense. Sure you’ll be immobilized but at least you’ll still be breathing.”

Rayla nodded, understanding the logic. An IFV wasn’t meant to go toe-to-toe with tanks, it was built to support infantry. But knowing the front was so heavily armored gave her a sense of security. It could have made a huge difference in her first battle of the last war, where a tank would’ve killed them if reinforcements hadn’t arrived in time.

“And this?” Rayla pointed to the turret behind her.

Amy sat on the turret, legs crossed before speaking, “It an unmmaned turret with a 57mm autocannon. It fires APFSDS, HE-VT, HE, APHE, PHE, AHEAD rounds, it has a fire rate of 2 rounds per second with a total capacity of 8,000 rounds. There’s a 12.7mm coaxial gun with 12,000 rounds. The turret has a remote-controlled mount for a machine gun that can be aimed independently from the main gun. You can equip it with either an etheric or standard 12.7mm machine gun. The standard has a maximum capacity of 12,000 rounds, while the etheric can fire 16,000 shots. Additionally, there are four missile pods, and you can carry up to 120 missiles in total.”

“Wow, that’s a lot!” Rayla wanted to cry tears of joy at how much firepower she was being given.

“Yeah, but that’s just the total capacity,” Callum cautioned. “In reality, you’d only carry a few hundred rounds for the main gun and maybe ten missiles unless you were in some dire or very unusual circumstance. We’re ramping up ammo production, but we have to be smart about resource allocation.”

Rayla’s initial excitement quickly fell down the cold dark abyss known as reality, but she understood the reasoning, if a vehicle got destroyed then all that ammo would be gone with it, then a thought occurred to her, “Whats the gun elevation and depression on this?”

“Depression is -6 degrees though if you adjust the vehicle suspension then you can get it down to -12 degrees. All our vehicles have this feature. Elevation is 80 degrees.” Callum explained and Rayla squealed happily.

“The missiles can be fire-and-forget, wire-guided, or laser-guided,” Callum continued. “You can transfer fire control for the missiles or machine between you and the commander.”

“Where do you keep the ammo?” Rayla asked, the sheer volume he mentioned which after a few seconds of scrutiny was clear would never fit inside the vehicle.

“The ammo is stored in coins, the system extracts it and it coalesces fully formed in the loader which shoves it into the breach and fires. The unsealing device is the hardest part to mass-produce so it and the coins are kept in the lowest parts of the hull, away from the turret. This design eliminates the risk of ammo detonation.”

Rayla could see why the crew size was cut since the vehicle could handle ammo loading autonomously.

Just then, Ava popped up from the driver’s hatch, barking enthusiastically. Amy and Cassie quickly helped the large wolf climb out before she dashed off to the back of the vehicle.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Callum cleared his throat. “The Ravager is equipped with phased array radars, lidar, and a laser range finder which can be used by the FCS to track both ground and airborne targets, though it’s still in the final testing phase. It also comes with a few quad rotor drones for reconnaissance or surprise attacks.”

“Drones?” Rayla’s interest was piqued.

“Yeah, they’re small remote controlled flying toys. Just fly them high to get a better view without exposing yourself or carry a big grenade that you can drop on top of an enemy position.”

“Great more death from above.” Rayla lowered her head back into the crew compartment, she wondered if more things will come down from the sky to try and kill them.

“We have plenty more ways to rain death from above,” Callum teased, making Rayla hiss and sink deeper into her seat. She probably would’ve closed the hatch if she could.

“The PHE rounds are also handy,” Callum continued. “They can be set to detonate above enemy trenches and the larger caliber is great for breaking through walls.”

“What about those?” Aleesia asked, pointing to another IFV on display a few meters away. It looked almost identical to the Ravager, except the turret housed a much larger gun.

“That’s also a Ravager, that turret is equipped with a 75mm, 105mm gun. There’s also a version with a 125mm cannon. You can swap out the turret on this one for any of those or even a 30mm if you want.”

“Amy, Cassie where do I start worshiping your mom?” Rayla asked as she finally understood why they were replacing all their old vehicles despite their impressive record. These new designs were versatile enough to handle almost any combat scenario.

“Mom’ll ground you for life if she heard you say that.” Amy said

“I’m an adult, she can’t ground me.” Rayla protested.

“Tell that to our grandpa.” Amy countered which made Rayla shut up in confusion.

“Let’s keep moving,” Callum called out, hearing Ava’s bark from the transport section. When he glanced over, he saw the wolf and his siblings already strapped into the seats, ready for a ride.

“That means you too, cadets,” he said, helping them out of the vehicle. The three saluted playfully before dashing off to the next exhibit, Ava bounding along behind them.

Chapter Text

The next vehicle in line appeared to use the same heavy chassis yet was built differently and it lacked a traditional turret, instead sporting a pair of missile launch tubes positioned on a mechanical arm that could rise and pivot from the hull and a retractable remote control mount with a 12.7mm machine gun. It was heavily armored with a large number of ERA blocks on its already thick roof

“This is the Nest,” Callum announced, gesturing towards the vehicle with pride. “Our latest tank destroyer. It specializes in launching missiles and drones. The hull is heavily armored to make sure it doesn’t get taken out easily”

He pointed to a display nearby, behind the glass partition were its munitions, most of them were missiles they had seen in the lobby but the second one featured eight folding wings, arranged in a cross pattern at both the front and rear of the fuselage.

“This here is the Hornet, our main drone,” he continued. “It can stay airborne for about an hour, giving you plenty of time to find and strike your target or have it fly back to you. Its wings are folded inside the tube and deploys immediately upon launch. We have three sizes meant to be fired from 105mm, 125mm, and 155mm barrels.”

“You’re planning to shoot them out of a tank gun?” Aanya asked incredulously, as she leaned over the launch tube to get a better look, even daring to stick her hand inside to feel the smooth interior.

“Why not? It fits perfectly in the barrel,” Cassie replied with a smirk. “So there’s no need for a separate launch system. And We’re producing up to 2,000 drones a day.”

Rayla looked impressed as she examined the drone. “How does it handle guidance? Are we talking fire-and-forget, or do we have to stay locked on until impact?”

Cassie nodded, happy to explain. “You use the onboard camera to guide it manually till you spot a target. You have two option, one is to set a lock on the target and let the system take over or fly it yourself straight into the target and kaboom.”

“That’s impressive,” Rayla admitted, imagining the tactical advantages of having such a flexible and deadly tool at their disposal. “And the missiles?”

Callum answered this time. “Similar deal. The missiles are fire and forget, laser and optical guidance built in but you can connect it to the battle network to feed it targeting data from your own drone or other units.”

Aanya, still fascinated by the launch tube, pulled her hand back and shook her head in disbelief. “So, you’re telling me you’ve add a bomb to a remote control toy plane.”

Callum nodded happy that she figured it out.

Rayla marveled at the display. “2,000 drones a day seems like a lot.”

“It is,” Cassie confirmed. “That’s all from two factories, one day we’ll have more.”

Ava, having been distracted by the new vehicle, barked excitedly from the back as if sensing the enthusiasm in the air. They all chuckled as Callum continued.

“We’ve got more to show, and trust me, it only gets more exciting from here.” Callum said, motioning them to keep moving,

“This is exciting?” Ezran said eyeing the row of five of small vehicles in disappointment.

Each one used an identical hull and sported a distinct armament configuration. The first had a compact 30mm autocannon mounted on top, the second featured a missile pod with two missiles already loaded, and the third was equipped with four smaller missiles instead. the forth had no weapons as far as they could see, only a type of radar and the fifth had nothing.

The others shared Ezran’s lack of enthusiasm. Compared to the impressive machines they’d seen earlier, these vehicles seemed exceptionally underwhelming.

Callum, noting their lack of interest, decided to explain what they were. “This is the Mongoose, it’s a two-person vehicle with three main armament options. The 30m needs no introduction, the second is a dual configuration ATGM launcher and the third is a short range anti-air missile option. The forth is a scout/sensor configuration and the fifth is like an APC and field ambulance”

Aleesia raised an eyebrow. “But why these?”

“They’re cheap as candy and easy to manufacture quickly.” Callum explained. “This way infantry won’t be stuck inside bases during the swarming and in war you can quickly retrieve the injured without a tall and easily visible vehicle.”

“That I can get behind” Rayla had to agree, using a combat vehicle to take the injured wasn't safe and waiting for a rescue vehicle wasn't good either especially if the injury was serious. She was sure these would mainly be given to garrison and nightwatch units.

Beside it was another heavy platform and the turret showcased was entirely different. It featured a prominent circular disk at the front with four 30mm autocannons, two mounted on either side. At the top, a radar antenna was visible. Alongside the autocannons housed a bank of six large missiles on each side.

“This is the Storm, our medium range SPAA.” Callum explained. “The front disk is the tracking radar, and the top antenna is the search radar. This setup allows it to detect aircraft, incoming missiles, or even mortar and artillery shells.”

Rayla’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Can it intercept those incoming shells as well?”

“We’re nowhere near ready to do that,” Callum replied already able to picture the thoughts forming in her head. “The radar primarily helps us identify the source of incoming threats so we can begin counter-battery operations.”

Rayla’s face brightened with hope. “But it will get better, right?”

Callum nodded reassuringly, and Rayla couldn’t help but leap with joy that it made Amy and Cassie look restrained by comparison.

“Furthermore, the four 30mm autocannons can be replaced with a pair of 57mm if needed. The dual configuration missiles can engage aircraft, drones and missiles at a range of 13 kilometers.”

Rayla pondered for a moment. “Isn’t the ravager also an SPAA since it has a radar, HE-VT and missiles as well?”

“It’s also armored and armed it can be considered a tank as well.” Callum countered dryly, “Given the high volume of missiles and drones, traditional air-defense batteries aren’t enough. Our strategy is to equip every vehicle with as many countermeasures as possible to enhance crew survival.”

“Up next, we have our two frontline vehicles,” Cassie announced, sparking a wave of excitement. Rayla, Aleesia, Ezran, Aanya, and Ellis raced ahead, eager to see what was next. Callum, Amy, and Cassie trailed behind, arriving to find the group frozen where they stood.

Amy chuckled and stepped forward. “Meet our Main Battle Tank, the Banther.”

The Banther stood before them, a marvel of armored warfare. Encased in a combination of composite and explosive reactive armor. It had a menacing presence and appearance appropriate for its name sake. The additional armor blocks on the skirts were noticeably thicker than those they had seen on earlier vehicles.

Sitting atop the heavily fortified hull was a massive turret, its angular front armor extending to accommodate a formidable gun, crafted to pierce through any defense. A small targeting camera was attached to the barrel itself and on the right turret cheek was a smaller aperture that housed its own dedicated sensors, and on either side of the turrets were twin ATGM.

Perched above were two small rotating cameras for the commander, but upon closer inspection, they noticed an array of sensors scattered across the turret. At the turret's center, a large remote-controlled gun mount equipped with its own camera was positioned.

“That's one massive turret,” Ezran commented, trying to climb on the turret, followed by the others.

“The Banther requires only a three-person crew and is armed with a 125mm main gun, though we're planning to upgrade to a 155mm eventually,” Amy explained.

Aleesia raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a bit overkill?”

“It is overkill,” Rayla agreed. “Especially after everything we've seen today.”

“The schematics originally called for a 155mm,” Amy said. “The factories just started producing them last week, so for now, we're using the surplus of 125mm guns. The sensors have everything from night vision, thermal vision, lidar, radar, a laser warning system and range finder.”

 Cassie then took over the explanation, “The tank features three APSs. The first two you've already seen, plus a third one that projects a light barrier to degrade kinetic projectiles. It's still in the testing phase. And, of course, the addon armor can significantly boost its protection.”

Aleesia pointed to the autocannon mount atop the turret. “And this?”

“That’s a 30mm,” Callum explained. “Perfect for dealing with infantry, drones, and light vehicles. We're considering adding a similarly powerful ether gun, but that’s hit a brick wall.”

“Where’s the crew supposed to be?” Ezran asked, jumping down off the hull and searching for a hatch at the front.

“The crew is housed in an armored capsule behind the turret,” Callum replied, watching as they climbed onto the back of the tank to peer into the crew compartment. Ezran and Rayla quickly descended inside.

“Are the missile pods really necessary?” Rayla asked from within.

“They're optional,” Amy clarified. “You add them on if you're going to face multiple heavily armored targeted. If the main gun is disabled, then you can fight back with the launchers. You can load them with drones, front-attack, or top-attack missiles.”

She tapped the side of the turret. “And just so you know, this is all addon armor for the side. The actual turret isn’t this wide.”

“Is this the periscope?” Ezran asked, pointing to a small device in the driver’s area.

“Yeah, that's a backup in case all the driver’s sensors are knocked out,” Callum said. The group took their time examining every detail, fascinated by the Banther’s capabilities, before being reminded that another vehicle awaited their inspection and went to take a closer look at the vehicle on the opposite side of the room. Though it shared the same chassis and hull as the Banther, the turret was strikingly different.

“This,” Cassie began, gesturing to the imposing machine, “is the Terminator, a heavy combat vehicle designed to support the Banther on the battlefield. Its primary weapons are twin-linked 57mm autocannons, perfect for tearing through infantry and light armored vehicles or fortified positions. For heavier targets, it’s equipped with four ATGM launchers. And if any enemy infantry manage to get too close, there’s a pair of remote control mounts with an automatic grenade launcher and a 12.7 machine gun. This thing requires 4 crew members if you want use the remote mounts.”

Rayla’s eyes widened as she studied the vehicle. “Why do we need the Ravager when we’ve got something like this?” she asked, unable to hide her amazement. Her new IFV seemed almost insignificant compared to the sheer firepower of the Terminator.

Callum stepped in to clarify. “Different roles,” he explained. “The Terminator is built to lead the charge alongside tanks, to smash through enemy infantry and light armor up close, allowing the tanks to focus on their primary targets. Your IFV, on the other hand, is meant to stick close to infantry and push ahead. Plus, the Terminator requires significantly more resources and manpower to produce. The test crews have already started calling it the Ghoul Slayer.”

“Where’s the artillery?” Rayla asked realizing that the only indirect fire platform they had seen was the Nest.

“In the courtyard.” Amy said pointing ahead to a large set of doors.

Chapter Text

As they stepped out into the courtyard, the harsh sunlight forced them to shield their eyes. Once adjusted, they saw the remainder of the vehicles.

The first vehicle to catch their attention was a large, bus-sized armored transport.

“This is the Cocoon,” Callum began, gesturing toward the transport. “It’s designed to carry up to sixteen personnel or a significant amount of cargo. The armor is sufficient against small arms fire, but it’s primarily meant for back-line support.”

Rayla squinted at the vehicle. “So, basically, it’s replacing the old canvas-roof trucks we’ve been using?”

Callum chuckled. “Pretty much.”

They moved to the next display which was the long and boxy hull of the 8-wheeled Ranger platform. Mounted on top was a turret with a short, thick-barreled gun, accompanied by a remote-controlled 12.7mm machine gun.

Amy stepped forward to explain, “This is the Hammer. It's a rapid-fire mortar system that can launch 120mm mortars, even while on the move. It can also be used as a direct-fire weapon if you get caught out.”

“I want them.” Rayla said already knowing how much helpful these would be due to her experience of mortar teams being necessary and how hard it was to keep them safe.

Ellis pointed to another vehicle across the yard, its massive, boxy turret and long gun suggesting something much heavier. “Is that artillery or some kind of super tank?”

“Artillery,” Callum approached it, admiring the engineering. “That’s the A155 Scorpion. It's a self-propelled gun with a 155mm cannon and a mechanical autoloader. It has a range of 70 kilometers, but with rocket-assisted guided shells, it can reach up to 80 kilometers—assuming everything works smoothly and doesn’t get jammed.”

“Are you going to be increasing the number of guns in each battery?” Rayla quickly recalled last night’s announcement about ramping up production.

Amy shook her head. “No, we’re keeping the numbers the same. Anymore and they’ll be too juicy a target.”

Next, they approached a vehicle with a massive launcher rack, 3 rows of 8 launch tubes mounted on a heavy platform. Rayla couldn’t help but flinch at the sight.

“This is the Wasp,” Amy explained with a grin. “It’s an MLRS, capable of firing a variety of rockets and missiles in rapid succession. It’s primary armament is the new thermobaric rocket also known as a vacuum bomb.”

“How’s it different from a normal HE?” Rayla asked

“A Fuel Air Explosive has no oxidizer, its 100% fuel. It has a two stage detonation. The first explosive breaks the container and spreads the fuel as a cloud, the second explosion detonates that cloud. The blast wave is much more energetic and lasts longer. If you survived the blast then you get to die from the following refraction which creates a vacuum which ruptures your lungs.” Cassie chimed in while watching Rayla cowering behind Aleesia.

“I’m pretty sure Grandpa Ruvyn won’t be thrilled about roads being mined.” Aleesia tried to comfort Rayla.

Amy shrugged. “It’s not exactly a civilian-friendly system.”

They arrived at the next vehicle which was a truck with a smaller MRLS launch system. It was ultimately just a cheap version of the wasp, every other vehicle after that was a different weapons configuration of what they had seen.

“Let’s head back, it’s about time for everyone to be here.” Amy said looking at her wrist watch.

“Oh right, the parade and the closing events should be over.” Aleesia said realizing the time. Everyone else had stayed back to watch the rest of the founding day event.

“You lot are going to be giving them a tour while we handle the officials. Once that’s all done, we hit the buffet,” Callum said as they all headed back inside.

Sometime later

Callum watched the Del Barian and Estarian military officials inspecting the Banther while officials from their respective minister of defense asked the attendants on specifics. All around them he could see crowds gathered around each exhibit. The attendants were being drowned under so many questions though the government officials seemed to have more questions than the journalists present.

In the corner of his eye he could see everyone else, Aleesia seemed to be struggling to explain the stuff to her parents and friends.

At the buffet

“You three got a big haul.” Rayla said watching Ezran, Aanya and Ellis devouring a big chicken drumstick, their plates filled with stuff from nearly every section of the buffet.

She sat down the table next to their where Callum and Aleesia were sitting, “and you two look exhausted.”

“I had to explain a lot of stuff.” Aleesia said dunking stir-fried noodles into a thick broth and slurping it all down.

“And I had to deal with political haggling, when a side wants something they’ll be insufferable.”

“So is the air show going to be like this?” Aleesia asked

“Yep though its official title is the ‘Advance Aerospace, Tactical and Strategic Defense Technology and Forces Expo’ since it’s going to have more than just the air force being revealed.”

“We’re sticking for the parade this time.” Aanya said

“You three still upset about missing today’s parade?” Aleesia asked and the three just nodded.

Rannerias estate

They all sat in the living room watching the live broadcast of the forum, it was an event set up for the media of both countries to ask question on the vehicles and other related topics. Amy, Cassie and Callum were seated on chairs each holding a mic, opposite to them was the forum moderator who explained to everyone that they would only receive answers to questions asked and nothing else beyond it.

They watched a journalist from the audience be given the mic to ask,

“Your majesties,” the journalist seemed to be unsure about his words at first, “The information we were given was that the dual-configuration missiles can shoot down aircraft but are they fast enough to do it reliably?”

Callum spoke, “Yes, all aircraft in service within the continent travel below Mach 1 while the missile can travel at Mach 1 but we have an upgrade currently in development to allow it to move at Mach 1.3 or 4,459km/h.”

“I thought it was ‘excellency’ and not ‘majesty’ for him?” Rayla asked turning away from the screen.

 “I can answer that,” Aleesia stifled a laugh, “Cal is the current Regent of Katolis but he’s also their husband so he’s also Archduke by pure technicality. No one knows how to treat this so their sticking to ‘majesty’ to avoid accidentally insulting all three of them.”

“Why?” Rayla said before seeing a familiar pattern here, “Is this like how they brought him up when someone tries to hit on them?”

“Pretty much,” Aleesia said knowing those two enjoyed causing chaos.

They turned their attention back and the same journalist asked a follow up question,

“Your majesties, are there any missiles dedicated for anti-air roles or are the dual purpose ones intended to cover them both so simplify logistics and reduce costs?”

This time it was Amy who answered, “We do have dedicated anti-air missiles, they would cost less as they wouldn’t need to carry a payload big enough for hitting ground target. They weren’t included in the expo because they won’t be entering service till mid-July so any questions about them will have to wait for the next event.”

“You know I’m starting to think those three are up to something.” Rayla said as her suspicions grew.

“You’re just realizing this?” Ezran said as he knew politics was mostly just scheming anyway and his brother enjoyed it sometimes as he always helped him in raiding the bakery and his other ideas when the responsible thing would’ve been to do the opposite.

“Your majesties,” the journalist this time was a woman who had hair as red as Preston’s, “The lights-out factories you spoke of at the unveiling event, do they truly need no personnel?”

Cassie answered seeing as it was her turn, “For production they require no one, the only time people are involved is during routine maintenance checks which happens once a day and near the months end where it’s all shut down for a thorough inspection.”

“How much is the cost reduction in using them?”

“Everything currently costs a fifth of what it would normally cost us to make though once its fully matured the cost will drop further.”

“With such massive reduction, when can we expect them to produce things for the civilian market?”

Cassie looked to Callum and Amy as the three began discussing the details and then she, “It will be twenty years or more before that can become a possibility due to the software being extremely complex for each component. We currently do not have enough trained personnel for our military needs.”

“This is a tough one.” Aleesia said, “They have to make sure to word it correctly or it’ll blow up in their faces.”

 “Eh? Is this more politics?” Rayla asked

“Worse, it mass politics. The people might panic if they don’t clearly explain things.”

“Why would they? Wouldn’t cheaper stuff be good for them?”

“Sis, you can’t be seriously unaware?” Ezran asked wondering if it was possible.

Rayla tilted her head still not seeing the issue, going to the store and buying things at a fraction of the cost sounded wonderful.

Ellis decided to explain things, “What would it mean for the people who already make this stuff?”

“Oh,” Rayla realized the problem, if these factories could make anything then the people would lose their jobs.

“It’s also why mom has so much trouble in Vasuria, the guilds have almost all the best trained people. they oppose it because their scared of losing their jobs.” Aleesia said and Maiele nodded,

They turned back to the screen and saw the journalist did ask that.

“How would they impact the people who already produce most of the common products?”

Callum decided to answer, the three and their administrations had discussed this scenario so many times, “Most workers will benefit and I’ll explain our current position but there might be differences depending on our nations individual policies and I ask you all to wait for me to finish before asking anything else.”

After a moment passed Callum began explaining things. “Their implementation will be careful and deliberate. The workers will see no changes to their annual incomes in the short terms, however their working hours will see a 20% reduction and it could decrease further depending on how well it goes. Some jobs will inevitably be lost so those impacted will be retrained for other jobs under the Guaranteed Right of Employment Acts of both countries.

 Another benefit is that the automated systems can fill in for them if they are sick or on vacation no matter when, theoretically a person could take a paid vacation whenever they wanted and not worry about their incomes at all.”

He was interrupted by someone but the moderator had to remind them not to interrupt before telling Callum to continue.

“Once the system is implemented for the majority of the economy, then incomes can be brought down as their current levels would be too high to sustain without excessive minting which could cause an inflationary effect.”

Once the moderator signaled for questions, many in the audience wanted to ask which only made it impossible to pick anyone out.

Eventually one was chosen, “Your majesties, will it work as you all have just stated?”

 “We cannot say, this mode of production is entirely new to us so we can only implement them and adjust things based on what we learn. But something like this was a long term goal of our nations for decades, we had thought it would be many decades before we developed the means to reach this point.” Cassie answered, in truth both their nations were founded by people who knew what this type of system would be like but her parents and uncle were still missing and the First Margrave and his brethren were dead.

“When can we expect the initial implementation of this?”

Amy answered, “Before we can implement that, we need to develop the technology necessary for it and let it mature. Only once that is done can we truly begin developing the next stage.”

“Do you have any concrete plans for the dangerous jobs you mentioned?”

“Yes, we plan to have personnel remotely operate robots work such as mining can be performed with no risk even at night.”

“How long should one wait for this technology to be made available to the public?”

Cassie decided to speak on this, “Technically the technology is already available and being used, it’s right now mainly used in industrial, administrative and finance sectors. For normal good they will see a reduction in size and have better performance as you’ve all seen the introduction of transistors have done to radios and TVs”

This continued for another two hours till the event ended.

On the ride back to the estate the three of them were glad that was all over.

“Think this was enough?” Callum asked looking out through the stained glass window as their car drove quickly.

“Who knows but they’ll have to respond to this.” Cassie said

“At least the next few months will be interesting,” Amy said as this meant that all they could do now was to wait for the seeds they planted to bloom.

Chapter Text

23^rd March

Rannerias estate, Erdus Dukdom

“Alright what are you three plotting?” Rayla asked sticking her head through the partially opened door and saw Amy, Cassie and Callum looking through some reports.

“““What you mean?””” the three tried to look innocent which only made them look more suspicious.

“You’re definitely up to something.” Rayla’s eyes narrowed,

“If you want to know then you’ll have to watch TV everyday till it happens.” Amy said as she tossed a report on the table and picked up another one.

“Is this about those aliens?” Rayla asked and the three just broke into uncontrolled laughter.

“No,” Callum wheezed as he tried to speak, “this is just normal political shenanigens. While they are a major concern, we still have time before we can worry about them.”

“How do you know?” Rayla asked as she had been keeping an eye out for anything suspicious like she was asked to.

“Ray, our planet got moved to a new solar system four years ago, it’ll be a while before they find us so we got time to prepare.” Amy said casually flipping the report,

25^th March

Rannerias estate,

“Nothing’s happening.” Amy said opening her eyes as Cassie continued trying.

“Well I just kept at it and found myself in some weird city.” Callum said, he had told them about what happened while in Aleesia’s homeland meditating to focus his power but he had no idea how it happened.

“We’ll have to keep trying till something happens,” Cassie said finally opening her eyes.

“Easier said than done, we got the whole day to deal with the legislature.” Amy countered,

Much later in the day

“You sure this is what you three want to build?” Callum looked up from the specifications his siblings just handed him. The schematics seemed okay with no risks to those three.

They nodded, their eyes beaming with excitement,

“Alright, I’ll get my old chemistry set for it once you make a working model.” He said and the three high fived then ran out of the room.

“What’re they so excited about?” Rayla asked, her eyes still glued to the TV wondering when their surprise would be on air.

“A new project their working on, apparently seeing the new military hardware has made them want to go big with this one. They had Amy and Cassie look at the design and fix up the issues.” Callum said

“But do they need you for the chemicals?”

“Yeah, you need a license to buy and use them.”

26^th March

Rannerias estate,

“I’m surprised you three are working considering we’ll be heading back tomorrow.” Rayla said watching Callum typing something into his laptop.

“With everything going on, taking time off isn’t an option.” Callum said

“This better not be normal for you.”

“It is.” He retorted,

“Cal, their going live, broadcast channel 42.” Amy shouted as she and Cassie kicked the doors open then jumped onto the sofa.

“Already? I was expecting a couple more days.” He slowly got up and turned on the TV.

“Where’s this?” Rayla asked, resting her chip on top of Callum’s head

“The legislature building in Del bar.” Callum said adjusting to her weight,

They watched the broadcast announce that the legislature had reached a verdict.

They could see king Florian sitting in attendance and they could recognize the delegation that came for the event. The Speaker of the legislature got on the podium to deliver a publics statement.

“With the present vote, the motion passed unanimously. This legislature has authorized the joint development of new ground vehicles with the nations of Evenere, Neolandia, and Estaria with the goal of developing a fleet of vehicles with unmanned turrets and similar capabilities—”

“I guess this is what they all decided after we unveiled our new toys.” Aleesia said

“Well they would feel the need to catch up if one side had total superiority in something.” Cassie said

They watched the speaker list of the several projects they intend to pursue, stating they expect to have production ready models ready within two years.

“Can they do that?” Rayla asked as she had no idea on how they would go about such a task.

“No, it would be impossible to replicate with their current technology as we operate in the 2 to 1 nanometer feature size” Callum answered, his attention taken by the broadcast he analyzed every word. “Their semiconductor industries are still new and operate mainly within the 50 to 200 micrometer feature size and they have started limited production of a 20 micrometer feature size.”

“I feel like I need to remind you people that I don’t speak sciency words.” Rayla said

“The smaller it is, the more powerful and efficient it gets.” Callum answered as he could not make it any simpler than that without giving an entire class on the topic.

“—we, together with Neolandia, Estaria and Evenere intend to reveal in May the aircraft and air defense systems that were in joint development for three years and entered production only recently. The event will—”

“Ah about time, I was wondering when he’d get to this.” Amy smiled triumphantly.

“Was this what you were plotting?” Rayla asked as she and Aleesia shared a look of exasperation.

“Yeah,” Cassie said, “After we announced our joint development project. Those four countries got together to start their own since they couldn’t join us.”

“Are they mad at us over it?” Rayla asked curious as to what kind of political turmoil this was turning into.

“No, since we’re married they’re worried we might end our old alliances and form a new one.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Ray, running a nation means you have to consider all the worst case scenarios no matter what. During the war, all four of them were reliant on aircraft supplied by our two nations. Del Bar and Estaria needed you to supply HE-VT shells.” Cassie said

“Yeah, now I can see why they would be worried.” Rayla said being able to picture what it looked like from the outside.

Cassie continued her explanation, “They saw their effectiveness during the war so developing their own domestic industries to produce them was a necessity. This also heals their relations from the war, and splitting the development costs was practical so they had no reason not to work together.” 

“They all came here expecting us to have stuff that was better than what we had during the war.” Callum added

“So we showed them something straight out of sci-fi and now they’re in panic mode?” Rayla began to see how the train of thought went,

“Yeah, we were curious about what exactly they were working on so we forced them to reveal their hand.” Callum explained the real purpose behind the expo.

“So you just wanted to see their new toys?” She asked and the three nodded.

9^th April

Outskirts of Diothosi city, Xadia

Tamnaeth was tree napping in the shade of an old tree by the small stream.

“Sorry I’m late.” A voice came

“You got more of you?” Tamnaeth asked

“Just a few.”

Tamnaeth didn’t say anything, he knew setting up a network of agents took time.

“What have you got?”

“The soul bound items are all real. Mine are exceptionally good and I can do a lot with just them. An army of them would be nigh unstoppable.”

“Are they planning to attack the humans?”

Tamnath turned to give his handler an annoyed look and saw the man had braided his dark blue hair this time, his wings folded back completely. “If they fight the dukedom, then we should just watch as they are crushed. I think they’ll use these to attack all of us instead or the north western territories.”

His handler continued to listen to all the piece of information Tamnaeth had gathered, from idle gossips, to rumors to words uttered by officers and anyone high up.  After some time he offered his own conjectures to his agent.

“Sol Regem doesn’t need a casus beli, we’ll end up giving him one.”

Tamnaeth’s mouth was agape at those words. “H-how?!”

“Right now Elarion and this entire southern region is inside the sovereign territory of the moonshadow kingdom. If he declares a new nation then your country will not stand idly by, they’d have to challenge it.”

Tamnaeth realized the seriousness of this, “And he will appear as a hero who was simply trying to look after his people and was being attacked for it.”

“He has sympathizers and agents all over. If they start moving then the confederation will be slowed down dealing with them and delaying any military response since the armies have been downsized after the war.”

“Will we be able to fight?”

“No, it will take over two years to ready a proper army for an all-out war. Tell me, how many soul bound equipment do they have?”

“I’m not certain, I only have an estimate and they’ve been bring in more

“Based on what you’ve seen and how often they bring in more, whats your best estimate?”

“I’d say one army. I currently have five bound to me, though the vast majority have up to three.”

“What do your items do?”

“My bow lets me create and guide arrows to their targets, my left sword can create a floating barrier of rock while the right one lets me see a moment into the future. A Necklace that lets me use my shadow form anytime I want, and two gauntlets, one heals my injuries in days when it would take weeks while the other heightens my senses.”

“How many warriors do they have?”

“Only a few thousand who can use them effectively, we’re going to be assigned to train those who will be bound afterwards.”

“Continue as you are but do not take any risks, tell us if you hear anything and we’ll dispatch someone to look into it, you are currently the only person we have within this new army so we cannot afford to lose you.”

11^st April

Confederate Palace, Storm spire

“We will not stand for this,” the moonshadow representative slammed his fist at the table.

Avizandum just nodded in silent agreement as the messenger left the room after delivering the information they had gathered.

“We aren’t telling you to stand by and let them build a nation by taking a piece of yours.” The startouched representative spoke trying to calm his colleague. “But we need time to ready our forces.”

“I agree,” The sunfire representative spoke knowing how true those words were, “None of us can ready our militaries sooner than a year. The war debts make it impossible for us to increase their size.”

“However if we wait then they will gather more soul bound items, time is on their side as well.” The earthblood representative took the side of the moonshadow kingdom.

“Yes but we’d be giving them a just cause. We cannot afford that and let his collaborators use that as a pretense to subvert our citizenry,” the tidebound representative countered,

“I have an idea,” the skywing representative said, “What if we spread the idea that the moonshadow kingdom allows Sol Regem and his followers to use the kingdom’s land without oversight or taxation out of kindness. Instead of being a righteous defender, he would look like an ungrateful troublemaker if he goes through with his plan.”

“That might work.” Avizandum said as he hoped they had enough time for the belief to become established. If they had done this several years ago then they might have prevented this from becoming a problem of this scale. “However we should also make preparations for it doesn’t work and every measure we can to delay this so we can build up our forces properly.”

13^th April

Diothosi city , Xadia

Tamnaeth threw the fish meal into the water as he watched the hundred archers in the distance take aim and fire their arrows, as they reached the zenith of their trajectory they came down hard on the wooden targets. Despite the distance he could easily tell that almost half of them hit their mark. Normally volleys of so many arrows were shot but very few ever hit anything, as even densely packed formations often had shields and armor.

Overall it was more useful at pinning down the enemy and whittling away at their morale than reducing their numbers. The fact that that they managed to hit so many would’ve marked them as heroes of legend but he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything but sympathy and contempt. Sympathy at how they were going down a path that was doomed. Contempt at how they were leading all of Xadia down to a path of pointless bloodshed.

He returned his attention the fish below that were feeding. The large fish protected the smaller ones that followed it and he could see the similarities. His mentor told him years ago that this was inevitable and they could only delay it. He too could see it clearly now, even if he was able to kill the entire leadership, it wouldn’t change much as those under them held the same belief and would fill in to take their place.

4th May

7:03 PM

Erdus Strategic Command Room, Frenoria

Amy and Cassie arrived at the mission room looking at the screens depicting all relevant information.  The officers and personnel all stood to salute before sitting back down. The command room was an underground facility located under the main executive building designed for briefing and overseeing major ongoing operations.

They both quickly took their seats, their attention focused entirely on the large screen depicting a map with a red blinking dot slowly moving. It had a dotted red line depicting the point it first appeared on their radar and the path it took.

“Report?” Amy said as she and Cassie began reviewing the information on the laptops in front of them.

“Ma’am, it’s been traveling at Mach 3.2 since we detected it. It’s silent as the others.”

“What’s its likely target?” Cassie asked already having read the previous reports on how it got in the last couple of times. They still relied on the pre-war radars so this was to be expected, they were just lucky it flew over an installation equipped with the new radars.

“The closest high value site in the area is the Tolmek aircraft production facilities.” The officer briefed them summarizing the events thus far.

Several minutes passed before they got an update,

“—The target is changing course.—” The officer in charge of the feed from tge radar network answered over the comms. It took sometime before the dot on the map was almost on top of the production facility.

“Was the facility warned?” Cassie asked

“Yes ma’am,” the officer said, “all the new aircraft are inside, only the old ones should be visible.”

“—We have a confirmed visual from the ground.—” Came a sudden report

“Get us the live feed.” Amy ordered

Within seconds one of the screens changed displaying the feed from a night vision camera at maximum magnification and they could see nothing in the screen meaning it was invisible then it switched to the feed from a thermal imager that depicted an amorphous blob of dark blue that was  a bit brighter against the cold night sky with faint blotches of yellow and green coming through though it was especially noticeable on one side.

“Guess we should’ve expected this.” Amy said in annoyance already knowing full well what they were doing to appear like this, “Do we have any idea on its shape or size?”

The officer shook his head, “We’ve cross checked the RCS with our database but from what we can gather it should be similar to a delta wing configuration.”

“Any bafflers?”

“Unknown and we don’t know how good their RWR is so we’ve ordered the radar operators to only use the TWS.”

“Keep collecting data, make sure no one uses the STT.” Amy said observing the screen, so far the target had now flown past the facility and probably took some photos. She began mentally going over their infrequent appearances so far, it been mostly over military installations or new industrial sites. She wished the new air defenses would be operational everywhere so they could just shoot it down.

Chapter Text

5^th May

Callum’s estate

“Alright what’s with those three?” Rayla arrived in the living room and saw Ezran, Aanya and Ellis had their faces pressed against the windows looking out at the front gate.

“I told them the motor they ordered was going to arrive today and they’ve been glued to the window ever since.” Callum said busy as usual with Aleesia right next to him sorting through the paperwork.

Rayla began to gently peel them off the window and sat them down, “Well the big reveal is going to start.”  She said turning on the TV and sat down.

“Thats Neolandia, the parade grounds south east of the palace” Callum remarked as the TV showed an area with a lot of trees where the camera panned to shots of the crowds gathered for the aircraft flyby to start the event.

“—We have two hours before the event begins but one of our teams was given permission for an early look at the new aircrafts and their new air defense system.—”

“Well good for them.” Callum said as the shot switched to the inside of a massive hangar with a reporter introducing a man named Lucas who was a Major within the Neolandian air force. The shot panned to the several aircraft and two missile systems.

They were first shown the missiles, the first one appeared to be between 10 and 15 meters long mounted on a single rail launch platform and right next to it was another one but with three smaller missiles around the 5-6 meter length.

“—These are the munitions for our air defense systems. This large one is the Locust-1 meant for long range interception, and the one next to it is the Locust-2 which is for our short range system.—” Major Lucas said clearly in a practiced tone,

“—This is impressive Major but I’m sure our viewers all have question.—”

The major laughed and spoke as if he was expecting this, “–I can tell, I’m sure you all wish to know how it compared to the missiles Erdus and Katolis jointly developed. The Locust-1 has an effective range of 140-160km and a top speed of Mach 3.5 while the Locust-2 has a range of 41-63km with a top speed of Mach 2.7. However we can’t make any effective comparisons yet as we haven’t seen their dedicated anti-air missile.—”

“—Major do you have any idea on what that missile will be like.—”

“—I cannot offer anything but mere speculation. If it is the same size as their dual use missile then it’ll be vastly inferior to these in terms of speed and range as you can only fit so much propellant inside such a small fuselage.—”

“Damn, guess we lost.” Ezran grumbled and the two girls beside him wore the same expression.

“Come on you three, it’s not a competition.” Rayla said

“Ray, it IS a competition.” Aleesia said pointing to Callum, “I’ m sure he’ll order the development of a longer range missile after today.”

Rayla shrugged, she had no idea what Callum, Amy and Cassie will do to accomplish that but she also didn’t care enough about politics to bother asking.

They watched the screen shift focus to an aircraft, it was very similar to the aircraft that started appearing after the war. It had a long snout but this one had a distinctive flat oval shaped air intake at the front when other aircraft had circular intakes. Ahead of the front landing gear they could see holes for the internally mounted cannons. Its rear fuselage lines and the cockpit canopy matched in shape making it look arched, it had long wings swept backwards that had become the norm for post-war aircraft.

“—This is the Spearhead S-A100, its the prototype for our supersonic aircraft which would be developed into more capable forms so only a 100 were ever built, hence its name.—”

“Hey is there any reason the wings are swept back like that?” Aanya asked asked as the major continued giving them a brief history on how the aircraft’s development went. She had seen current aircraft all have swept wings but during the war they were all straight and immediately after.

“I think it lets it fly faster.” Rayla said as that seemed the most likely answer.

“Not exactly, flying faster creates unique challenges which can affect performance if you use a straight wing. A swept wing avoids all those giving better control and stability at high speeds, the downside is that at low speeds its performance drops like a rock.” Callum said as he turned his attention back to the tv.

“—This aircraft can fly Mach 1.2 to 1.5 depending on conditions, it is a fighter bomber with a maximum payload of around 2,900kg, it also carriers four 20mm cannons.—”

The major gestured to the wings of the aircraft, “—If you’ll look down here you’ll see a pair of missiles under each wing.” There were two types of missiles, the two mounted closer to the fuselage were clearly bigger.

“— These are the new infrared missiles we’ve been developing. You need to get behind the enemy to fire these missiles as the engine exhaust is easy for its sensors to track. The larger one has a speed of Mach 2.4  with a range of 2.7-5.3 km and the thinner one moves at Mach 1.7 with a range of 2-4 km. They can turn at 12G which is much higher than any pilot can endure.—”

“G is gravity, right?” Aleesia asked

“Yeah, it’s how many times the force of gravity you’re experiencing. The body can withstand 5 to 6Gs for very shot durations. A missile has no squishy organs or the like to worry about.”

“Hey do we have a missile that can fly at Mach 1.7 or 2.4?” Ezran asked hoping the answer was a yes,

“A rear aspect missile like that? We don’t have any of those.” Callum said and rolled his eyes as he watched his siblings sink into defeat.

They watched as the major gestured to the opposite side of the aircraft which had a large and bulky missile placed on a pedestal.  “—Another weapons option for it is a ground attack missile the pilot can control from the cockpit, it is similar to the drone we saw revealed months ago with a control stick inside the cockpit for easy use.—”

“Their jet shoots out drones?” Aanya asked

“Not exactly, it’s likely a missile with a drone’s manual control system.” Callum answered

“Is that better or worse?”

“Worse really.” Callum already had a decent idea on what kind of equipment was inside the missile being revealed. “Controlling that all the way to its target while flying makes you an easy target.”

The shot panned to the next aircraft. It had a pointy nose instead of the hollow snout that had become ubiquitous for military aviation. The nose was thinner than the fuselage allowing for two semicircular intake openings on either sides starting from the front section of cockpit bubble. Its swept wings seemed wider and the tips were rounded, it carried four larger missiles.

“—This is the Spearhead S-B3.H, this subsonic jet was developed from S-B2.C which was our test platform for our air launched missile systems.—”

The Major pushed open the jet’s nose revealing a dish antenna.

“—This is a radar system to help acquire targets and provide targeting data for the radar guided missiles it carriers and comes with the standard four 20mm cannons for close range fights. It’s missiles can be fired at a target from any direction as long as you can acquire a radar lock. They travel at Mach 3 and do 15G turns with an effective range of 12-23km depending on conditions. It can equip the two infrared missiles I showed earlier if needed—”

“No, we don’t have a missile with the same specifications as these.” Callum said already anticipating the question and watched as Ezran, Aanya and Ellis glared at the screen in jealousy.

“Is it like the phased array radar you showed us?” Rayla asked realizing she never asked about it.

“No, this is like our old radars which needs to mechanically move the antenna to scan the area, phased array radar can steer the beam electronically and much more quickly. These guys would be better off asking you for targeting data than their own radars.” Callum said as his siblings were now busy keeping score that their ground vehicles had the better radar.

They were now shown the next jet which had a fuselage reminiscent of a long bullet, there were triangular shaped air intake openings where the wings connected to the fuselage and it had twin engines instead of one with the tail extending further behind. The tail stabilizers were placed above the rudder at the very top of it.

“—This is the Spearhead S1, our mainline supersonic fighter, it can carry six missiles either radar or IR guided and is equipped with the four 20mm cannons. It has a top speed of Mach 1.83 with great acceleration thanks to its twin engines.—”

“—Excuse me major but are all of them named spearhead?—”

“—Yes, this joint project was named spearhead so the name was applied to all aircraft developed under it, the S stands for sequence and the number for in which order they were developed.—”  The major continued giving a summary of the aircraft explaining it could it act as a light fighter, escort fighter, fighter bomber and reconnaissance aircraft.

They stopped in front of the next aircraft which looked similar to the S1 only its wings were a bit smaller with the horizontal stabilizers below the rudder. It had the triangular intake openings between the fuselage and wings only these had forward swept spikes extending from it.

“Hey what are those pointy bits?” Rayla asked

“Those are likely intake ramps to smooth out the air flow before it enters the engines.” Callum said, while he wasn’t specialized in aerodynamics or engineering, he knew enough to get understand the basics especially after reading their mom’s designs.

“—This must the Spearhead S2—” the reporter said

“—no, this is the S5. It is a fighter bomber that can fly at Mach 1.5 to 1.7 though it can reach 1.86 under ideal conditions. It can drop bombs from high or low altitude with a payload capacity of 6,400kg. It can also equip our missiles if needed.—”

“Is that a lot?” Ellis asked curious

“Depends, but I’m curious as to how accurate their bombing sight is.” Callum said and he explained what he could about what a fighter-bomber even was as the screen moved to the next aircraft.

Callum whistled seeing triangular shaped delta wings, the fuselage was long and ended with the single engine exhaust nozzle at the back and a pronounced tail fin.

“—This is the S6, our main interceptor. It uses what we call a delta wing which is ideal for high speed flight and it comes with the standard armaments as the other aircraft. What makes this one special is that it can fly at Mach 2.3, we had hoped to reach much higher speeds but the engines proved too difficult. —”

They watched the explanation go on about how difficult the engine development process was as they moved to the next aircraft. It looked a lot like a giant version of the S6 but with four jet engines under the large triangular delta wings. Its massive bomb bay doors were open revealing their payload.

“—This is the S7.58, our supersonic bomber with a speed of Mach 2 and a bomb payload of almost 9,000 kg. We have one more aircraft to see.—” The major said as he led them to their last item, It looked similar to the rest except its left wing was straight while the right wing was swept back.

“— And this is the S9/3G, this is a prototype for a new piece of technology. A mechanical sweeping wing that can change its pitch from straight to swept while flying. The final version has entered production and will be revealed by the end of the year. Soon we can field aircraft that can fly well at high and low speeds without any downsides. This prototype can reach Mach 1.7 but we’re confident it can reach Mach 2.1, sadly this one won’t be flying in the show.—”

“Hey Cal, is that true?” Rayla asked wondering how this even worked.

“Yeah changing wing pitch does allow that though the idea isn’t new. “ Callum said with complete disinterest, “During the final months of the war we gave a few prototype jet engine aircraft that had this option though you could only change the angle of the wings while on the ground. Automating it would be the next logical step.”

“Guess that means we have that as well.” Ezran said and Callum was wondering why his siblings were so invested in who had the best stuff.

They watched as the remainder of the time was spent listening to Major Lucas giving more details about the development of each aircraft and the challenges involved. Then the screen switched to the air show which had started which involved the aircraft flying around in formation.

It was a breathtaking dance of their latest aircraft that carved graceful arcs through the sky in tight formations. The fighters executed a series of intricate maneuvers, they soared and dove leaving long trails of colored smoke painting ephemeral ribbons against the backdrop of the sky.

The military officials of Neolandia, seizing the moment, made a statement that swiftly captured the crowd’s attention. With a tone of resolute pride,

“—we may be behind Katolis and the Dukedom in terms of our army, but with this display we can stand proud and claim that our four nations now dominate the skies. A feat we shall replicate with the army. . .—”

The announcement was met with a resounding cheer, a thunderous applause that echoed across the open space.

The crowd's focus was soon redirected skyward as the aerial spectacle continued. The supersonic jets performed a series of elaborate stunts, their movements synchronized to perfection. In a particularly stunning display, the fighters flew in a spiral formation, creating a luminous tunnel of bright blue and red exhaust trails. The interceptors, sleek and agile, darted through the center of this helical vortex, their paths illuminated by the glowing trails of green.

The climax of this segment featured the large S-7.58 bomber which barreled through the tunnel of exhaust created by the fighters scattering it. The bomber's sheer size contrasted sharply with the nimble jets, highlighting the diverse range of the aerial arsenal the four nations developed.

As the show progressed, the stunts became increasingly elaborate. Older aircrafts both jets and propeller driven began to take their turn in the spotlight. Though their designs were less advanced, their inclusion added a nostalgic charm to the event. The propeller planes looped and dipped, their slower, graceful movements providing a striking contrast to the high-speed acrobatics of their modern counterparts.

The coordination and preparation that went into this event were evident in every maneuver. Each aircraft, whether a cutting-edge supersonic jet or a propeller plane from four years ago, all played a role in creating a spectacle that was both thrilling and memorable. The air show was more than just a demonstration of technological prowess, it was a testament to each country’s commitment to excellence and innovation in the realm of air superiority.

 “Oh boy, this ain’t gonna end well.” Callum said foreseeing multiple future headaches on the horizon.

“What?” Aleesia asked not sure what he was getting at.

“Nothing, just something I’ll have to deal with.” He said then his laptop lit up with a message and felt his headache rise. He answered it and heard his wives cheerful voices which only made him more worried as sirens were blaring in his mind.

“Dominating the skies he said.” Amy said

“Replicate with the army he said.” Cassie added

“Counting their chickens before they hatch, they are.”

“Coming home to roost, the chickens are.”

“Please, must we do this every time?” Callum sighed, fighting the urge to not slam his laptop shut.

““YES, we absolutely must.”” They both said in unison, he could already picture what kind of expression they were making while Aleesia and Rayla still unsure what was going on decided to comfort Callum figuring it was best not to inquire on the details.

Chapter Text

9^th May

Anterim Fortress

“Take a seat colonel.” Callum said to the air force officer who just entered,

Callum quickly took a letter from his drawer, “I read through the letter of request you sent, in truth I was not expecting this.”

“Apologies your Excellency but I stand in agreement with my men that we should answer in kind.”

“Well your counterparts from Erdus have echoed similar sentiments. We have talked it over and decided to approve of it.” Callum slid a file across his desk.

“You will discuss a new routine and present it no later than by the end of the month. It must be something doable with no additional risks. If it can’t be done then you will do the original routine you all came up with it. Everything you’ll need is in the file.”

“Yes sir,” The colonel saluted, unable to hide the smile forming on his face.

Callum wondered how he let himself get talked into this one, at least his siblings and his people would get a massive show out of this.

11^th May

9:11 PM

Callum continued going through the deluge of paperwork involved in the changes they made to the event when the hotline to Erdus rang. He hit the speakers wondering what it was this time.

“—Cal, General Cornelius and the general staff seem to think they got a solution to our sky problem. —” Amy said

“Guaranteed to work or not?” He asked already wondering

“—Weeeeeell,—”

He sighed knowing he probably wasn’t going to be getting any sleep tonight, “Let’s hear it then.”

“—If we can position our new jets and interceptors to.—” Cassie said

“Let me stop you both right there,” Callum was already at the coffee machine watching his mug being filled, “We collectively only have a 20 interceptors between us, adding the other aircrafts we have won't help much either since we only have a limited number of airfields that can service them along with the limited radar coverage we have. Thats ignoring the fact that our pilots aren't certified for live missions yet"

 “—Not just those, the ones undergoing testing as well.—” Cassie quietly cut in.

“That 4 highly experimental prototype interceptors between us.” He countered taking a sip and instantly pulling away feeling his lips burn.

“—If we can get just get one close enough then the F-666 missiles should do the job on their own regardless of what aircraft we use.—” Cassie said.

He gently set his mug on the desk, “Again our new radar aren’t widespread enough, we'd need to spot them way ahead to scramble a jet.”

“—Yep it’s a huge gamble but General Cornelius says its our best option till our air defenses are all set up.”

“We’ll let’s try it.” Callum said, “Not like I got anything better.”

“—We should have the paperwork done in a week.—” Amy said

“Let’s hope this works,” Callum said, as this was a joint project they couldn’t use them in active roles without both nations agreeing to it unless it was an emergency. He was also hesitant about having his pilots taking such risks on aircraft that weren’t ready yet.

He began making calls to the necessary departments to start this cumbersome process.

34^th May

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ,

“I must say your file from the AOTP is an interesting read. Most get reassigned back to their old units before their first year is done.” Lieutenant Colonel Videric Wyatt sat behind his desk, flipping through personnel files as Rayla and Jasmin sat across from him, stiff as a nail. Their new rank pins felt unusually heavy on them.

 “Captain, Senior Lieutenant, as of right now you are both in command of the 18^th motor rifle company,” The Lt Col looked up from the document and straight at them as he slid two files across the desk.

“Sadly your company is composed mostly of fresh graduates with no field experience. You’ll need to keep a very close eye on these greenhorns."

Jasmin and Rayla opened the files. The 18th was a newly created company, and its ranks were filled with newly commissioned cadets vehicle crews, none of whom had seen combat. During the war several formations had suffered heavy casualties so surviving units were disbanded and absorbed into other units to keep them combat effective. After the war they slowly began rebuilding and the 18^th was all that’s left before the 47^th division could be considered full restored.

 “You are to begin their training on the 4^th. Until then, just focus on getting accustomed to your responsibilities, the personnel office can give the details not mentioned in the file. The vehicles and inventory for the company has been fully prepped for your use. Make sure the unit is ready for at least basic operations for the Swarming. I’ll introduce you both to your unit in 30 minutes. Captain you are dismissed.”

“Yes sir.” Jasmin stood and saluted before taking her files and walking out. Rayla remained seated as she was not mentioned.

 “Now you,” the Lieutenant Colonel’s expression remained unchanged, “The Major General has briefed me on the special assignment you were given by his Excellency and your unusual status.”

Rayla felt her cheeks warm, this was an awkward way to say she was engaged to the Margrave.

“The high ranking commissars along the senior officers at my rank and above were also given this assignment. Due to the secretive nature of the orders you may report any findings to me or Colonel. Wilkens directly from now on regarding this matter.”

Rayla felt embarrassed at how she mistook his words. Realizing now he was talking about how he had told her to keep an eye out for anyone acting strange enough to warrant special suspicion. Still she felt relieved that she had allies in that task and when she thought about it, it made no sense that it’d only be her Callum told to keep an eye out when he had an entire army at his disposal.

“One final thing, when you go to requisition things you need to clarify you’re an elf. They won’t know from your name and you should know you can’t exactly be filled up with just a human sized food pack or wear a helmet for our heads.”

“Yes sir,” Rayla said knowing that elves were a tiny minority so they’d need to assign these things carefully.

After sometime she joined Jasmin outside the office and they began going over the file they were given.

“Seems we both get our own offices,” Rayla went over the details, she found the list of personnel and their ranks. The non-combat staffs were all from before the war. “Guess the support sections are all long timers like us.”

“Check page 7.” Jasmin said quickly going over it, “They’ve assigned experienced NCOs from other units to train our own.”

“That’s a relief,” Rayla said knowing that fresh and inexperienced NCOs were usually going to give bad orders at first, they knew it because they had done it themselves.

5:11 PM

After meeting the company personnel including its NCOs and senior personnel they both decided to head for the company motor pool to inspect the vehicles.

The motor pool was a newly built large heavily armored hangar where the maintenance crews did their work but underneath was a well-built reinforced bunker where the vehicles could be stored and worked on. These lower levels could be accessed through a winding ramps, stairs or elevators to move personnel, equipment and vehicles with ease.  

Going down the elevator they found the area to be well lit, the vehicles were all present with their new factory shine intact though not for much long. On opposite sides were dedicated maintenance bays, it was very spacious so that the work flow would not be impacted by overcrowding.

“So these are our new toys.” Jasmin remarked placing a hand on the hull of their command vehicle. Her first time seeing them was on TV from the event in March but now she would get to command a fleet of them.

Rayla began checking the turret, the familiar 57mm and the four launcher pods. Tomorrow they would have to look at the inventories and other stuff.

She quickly noticed a pair of blast doors that connected to the network of service tunnels that ran under the base. Pre-war bases had some underground facilities but after the war ended, every base was being rebuilt to a new standard with high levels of redundancies. They would allow for the safe transport of personnel, ammunition and spare parts underground, keeping operations running even if the surface was flattened.

“What are those?” Jasmin pointed to the back where she noticed a fleet of smaller vehicles.

“Mongooses.” Rayla said recognizing them, apparently one had googly eyes painted on its front, “Those are so the infantry can go out at night without a transport.”

2^th June

Rayla sat in her office, she went over the file on the equipment and personnel readiness assessments, duty rosters, etc. She yawned as documents were all incredibly dry and wondered how Callum managed to read so many. Right now she had gotten help from her colleagues so she knew what to do though most of it felt obtuse with all the protocols for administration, reviewing, the chain of command some of which were legal while the rest were something the division made up over the years. The larger military apparatus or government took no issues with units having their own idiosyncratic procedures so long as they didn’t interfere with wider protocols.

She began typing in her office computer a draft schedule for their training on the 4^th. From the report she got, since the company was almost entirely filled with new graduates. She wondered if she should ask Callum whose bright idea it was to put all the greenhorns into a single unit instead of over several companies so that the experienced people can teach them more easily.

She leaned back narrowing her eyes and wagging her finger at the empty chair across from her desk.

“Do you honestly expect me know that Blah blah blah.” She said doing her best imitation of Callum right before he would lecture her on how each cog in that particular system worked, most of which would probably go into one ear and out the other.

She wondered how Callum could type quickly as she entered each word slowly. She was glad they taught them how to use a computer in the ATOP.

“Should I let them use the simulators this long?” She wondered out loud. The vehicles all had a training simulator to practice firing with virtual ammo at real dummy targets. She had no idea how it worked but she would ask the tech crews when she met them later in the day.

She finished the draft and tapped a few keys sending the details to Jasmin. With that done she turned her attention back to the personnel files. She had gone through one squad and she still had plenty more to go.

Sometime later she busied herself with the manual for her ravager. Being a command vehicle meant it had a lot more features but came with a lot more reading. Scanning through the index her eyes landed upon an item labeled ‘combat data assimilation’

It sounded archaic so she flipped to the page just to see what nonsense she was dealing with. It was filled with so much jargon going over things and their accompanying explanations were so obtuse with page long equations she couldn’t even make sense of.

“Why couldn’t you assholes make it easier for a normal person to understand?” She cursed deciding to ask the CTO and began searching for the number before picking up the phone.

The CTO answered the phone curious if there was an issue.

“Sir, the manual talks about something called the combat data assimilation.” Rayla answered still unsure what it is. “I can’t make sense of this bloody book.”

 “—This is new to us as well. From what we can gather all the vehicles over time can get  better from repeatedly doing something like a person.” The CTO answered honestly,

“You mean it’s alive?” Rayla asked

“—What no no—” the CTO hurriedly said, “—No, the egg heads all say that if we kept trying to shoot moving targets then over time the system will be able to track the target and calculate the lead better over time. Stuff like that.—”

“I know we name our rides and treat them like their alive but that sounds like their actually alive.” Rayla said

“—That’s what we told them and they said they can’t explain it in any other way, but they are certain it’s not alive or able to think. Ever since we got trained on this stuff we’ve had more questions and the higher ups haven’t given us any good answers. I honestly don’t know how the egg heads manage to make all this stuff yet can’t explain how it works to us normal folk.—” The CTO vented his frustration at this problem they were saddled with.

Rayla kept silent not because he was a superior but because she knew the person or ghost who designed these machine was gone, not something you could tell a person and expect them to believe it since everyone who knew her mother-in-law’s existence was bound to an oath of secrecy by state order.

4:00 PM

Motor pool

“Just press this.” Sophie said pressing the button. The screens blanked out for a moment before a small line of text appeared saying ‘Combat simulator initiated’

“Feels weird you won’t be with us anymore.” Rayla said looking at the new simulator setup, Sophie after being made a warrant officer wouldn’t be on the front as often.

“Well we’re supposed to troubleshoot from the back.” Sophie said sitting atop the vehicle while helping Rayla, Alexandra and Jasmin learn the controls of their new vehicle.

“What the hell?!” Alexandra cursed and Sophie went to the drivers hatch to see what happened,

The other crews were being taught how to operate their vehicles though later tomorrow the designated drivers would begin their own training. The maintenance crews were busy checking the vehicles while also teaching the rookies.

6:12 PM

Rayla gently tried aiming and the turret responding quickly, in fact its traverse was too quick and too wide. She quickly let go and opened up the setting console and dialed down the control sensitivity. She watched the system accept her changes and she tried again, this time the turret didn’t go beyond what she intended though it still needed adjustment. There were so many settings half of which she had no idea what it did.

Learning to operate a new turret wasn’t easy, like when she got moved to Stella she had to keep trying till her body stopped falling back on her muscle memory for their old APC. However her new Ravager turret could be adjusted meaning so rather than simply trying to learn it, she had to adjust the whole thing to match her as well. Another issue was that she no longer had a gun sight, it was all done through cameras and sensors like from her sci-fi novels. Most of the operational tricks she learned on her old IFV were useless and she quickly needed to learn this new vehicle and its systems.

Rayla quickly called over one of the techs which was new slang for the maintenance crew.

“Yes ma’am?” the crewman asked wondering what the problem was.

“The turret feels a bit slippery when traversing quickly,” She explained,

“We get that a lot,” the tech said, “It’s nothing to worry about, this stuff is just too good and too different that our old senses seem to find everything a problem.”

“This stuff feels needlessly complicated.” Rayla grumbled

“Think about how it is for us. We ain’t got a clue what some of this stuff actually does. We need to look at a manual for most things just to be sure we aren’t messing up.” The tech said.

Rayla could only nod as this technology was still very new. Before that, they all only needed to handle analog machines which were simple in comparison that a rookie could learn in a couple of days.

They were all retrained to handle circuitry, computers, digital systems and other things that didn’t exist until a few years ago and two years wasn’t enough as they needed more years to be proficient. It was unavoidable that a military wide modernization on this scale would cause problems as no one really knew how to properly train people on this stuff. It would likely be years before they managed to figure it out to the point where they standardize training.

4th June

“Dismount!” Jasmin ordered and felt the armored doors open as the seven strong infantry squad quickly exited the vehicle. Looking through the monitors linked to the external camera’s including her machine gun camera. She could already see the formation they assumed wasn’t good.

“Dammit,” Rayla saw two of them were so close they might as well be hugging the vehicle, she quickly called on the squad channel, “Anders, Zoya, maintain safe distance from the vehicle or you’ll be run over.”

Their coordination was lacking as their fields of fire were all over the place. She listened to the infantry squad commander giving long orders to the infantry and she quickly contacted him, “Daniel, use shorter and precise commands. You won’t have time for long sentences in an actual mission.”

Rayla began slowly turning her turret, she was glad this was training. If this had been the battlefield she’d had them taken off the frontline. She noted Daniel was too by the books when giving commands to the infantry squad which was to say she had no confidence in his ability to think beyond a textbook.

“Advanced forward,” Jasmin said then turned to her readouts, “How’re you two handling the gun and driving?”

“Needs more adjustments,” Rayla answered back, as she and the maintenance team would be busy later when they got back adjusting the settings.

“The suspension is good but it’s hard to get used to tracks after using wheels for so long.” Alexandra said

“Go slowly, I don’t want to run over own squad.” Jasmin answered, she quickly listened to the other squad channels. The NCOs that were temporarily assigned to their company seem to be having similar problems with the greenhorns. She quickly heard from one NCO that a rookie sprained their ankle.

Right now they were practicing how to move as a squad and this would continue for four weeks. After that they would practice attack, defense and ambush. The three of them had years of experience now but watching the greenhorns go at it only served to remind them of how embarrassing their first time was.

An hour later they began explaining to their squad what they got right and what they got wrong along with how to improve before dismissing them. Then they went to find the other squads and inquire about how they all did and to no one’s surprise, the NCOs went over in great detail how the greenhorns messed up.

Chapter Text

11^th July

Fomond, Kingdom of Regalia

Kaarel stepped into his father’s office, laying the draft on the king’s desk. The king quickly put a bottle of fine vine of his desk to celebrate then began going over the details.

It had been two weeks of back and forth but they had managed to negotiate a draft with the delegation that arrived. His father had started slowly delegating some duties to him in preparation for his ascension onto the throne in twenty years and he had been working to establish a firm foundation for himself. Now he could move on to the next part of his plan and for that he needed his father’s approval.

King Ardeth began carefully reading through each line. The vassalage would go 10 years to see how it would work then become permanent. He could find nothing additional on the topic so he moved onto payments which would be calculated on a per annum basis for the deployment of their military assets, to his relief it was only the additional cost of them operating outside their own borders with the reason being that they didn’t want a military that was dependent on payments from a foreign nation. While that would give him some leverage over them, he wasn’t stupid enough to risk angering the nation that decimated his army in minutes.

As for payments he wondered how he should structure the treasury rules for it, would it be best to be classified as tribute or fees. For his perspective they fell into both categories despite them both being completely different things.

They would have to also maintain the air fields but his kingdom already did that and the air fields paid for themselves with all the ingots and chemicals they sold to Anterim so he could ignore this section.

The last item dealt with trade and finance specifically giving them access to each other’s markets and financial sector. There were specific institutions that would need to be created to ensure it all went smoothly but there was some overlap with existing institutions so he could easily move personnel around to establish them more easily.

The king took out his seal and stamped the draft. Now they would have to hold a final round to finalize it all and create a proper treaty and it would become legally enforced though it would only take effect when the protectorate agreement expired in two years.

“I think there won’t be any problems if it’s this clear cut. Now if only Vasuria would stop trying to sell us their land then things would be terrific.”

“I’m thinking we should accept their offer.”

The king frowned at his son who should already know their country’s finances. “You know we don’t have the money for purchasing such a large territory and trading our lands will be hard to justify.”

“What if we took out a loan to cover the costs?”

The king’s frown deepened, “Son, if we can’t afford it on our own then we can’t afford the 9% interest such a loan would carry.”

“No but I made enquiries to Anterim, the highest interest rate on their loans in 1%.”

The king blinked then picked up the wine bottle and held it up the light from the windows to see if the bottle was really full or not because he was certain it had to be empty to make sense of what he had just heard.

“I’m pretty sure you aren’t drunk,” Kaarel could already picture what his father was thinking, he would’ve had the same reaction but having survived the decimation of their army all those years ago had made him imperturbable to most things.

“Do you really need to do this?”

“They are going to become the dominant power in the world. I want to position us to benefit from it.

13^th July

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ,

Rayla’s office

Rayla reviewed the personnel readiness and training reports in addition to the evaluation by the assigned senior NCOs. So far the greenhorns had done well enough which was to say barely in most cases.

The phone rang and she quickly picked it up, it was the field team in charge of preparing the test field with dummy emplacements to simulate enemy position. It sufficed for basic training but it was a poor substitute for a real battlefield. The explosives would be replaced with colored powder since no one in their right mind would use live rounds for this kind of things.

Tomorrow they would put the company through serious training exercise, the senior NCOs assigned to instruct them would not be involved in the exercise, they would instead observe and evaluated them on their performance as individuals, squads and platoons then present it to the company senior staff.

Based on tomorrow’s results, she and the senior staff would decide if these greenhorns should redo this training or go to the next stage. If they passed then it was a weight off her shoulders as it meant the company was on track as per the lieutenant colonel’s instructions. If not then they had to reschedule some stuff.

14th July

Training grounds

Jasmin observed the formation on her tactical map. The NCO’s were using overhead drones to observe the company’s performance while listening in on all radio chatter to evaluate them.

The exercise scenario involved a recon drone finding the enemy building three separate emplacements. Many advantages were added to give the greenhorns an easy time. It would that the enemy would not be reinforced, did not have any drones, nor have any jamming capabilities. In other words this was the easiest test they would give them.

Rayla hoped they didn’t disappoint them after all these concessions. The company had broken into three platoons each with three IFVs with the company command vehicle commanding the 1^st platoon.

“Dismount.” Jasmin ordered as each platoon neared their designated target areas, the 1^st platoon would take the main emplacement while the 2^nd and 3^rd platoons would act independently and go after the emplacements to the sides.

Looking through the cameras she could see the squad wasn’t as disorganized as on their first day, she could still easily spot mistakes, one person was leaning too much to the front, she could easily tell he would lose his balance if he turned quickly. Over all the mistakes weren’t too bad so she graded them as adequate on this.

The infantry all spread out, two vehicles were further away to each side, and they would all form a three pronged pincer attack.

“Slow advance.” She ordered and the vehicles slowly crept forward to minimize noise and dust clouds, the infantry kept pace while maintain enough space between them.

Rayla trained her turret forward to the left while another vehicle aimed forward to the right, she began looking through the normal and infrared imagers, the light vegetation made it easy to spot the targets though in a real scenario this would result in the enemy already firing at them.

“I have visual confirmation,” Rayla transmitted her targeting data to them on the battlenet. There were two dummy cannons and brightly colored cardboard targets were easy to spot and the system highlighted each designated target. Now each vehicle in the platoon could see what each of them were targeting to ensure maximum coverage and avoid shooting the same target.

“Load drones,” Jasmin ordered and transmitted approach vectors for each one and gave Rayla the go ahead to act when ready.

“Gunners, load programmable rounds and set for air burst around the enemy.” Rayla ordered as she went through the preset options.

After the drones were loaded, they were launched in the desired vectors. She along with the drone operators flew the drones over the enemy position till they were behind it. With a single command two  dove straight at each cannon while the other two went for what appeared to be creates of ammunition.  

It was immediately followed by a burst from the vehicles. The cardboard targets shook and fell down as the emplacement was hit from different directions.

“Maintain covering fire and secure the objectives.” Rayla ordered and felt their IFV move, the infantry moving at the same pace ready to duck at a moment’s notice.

“Cease covering fire,” Rayla said as the infantry was close to the objective, they would incur friendly casualties if they used anymore programmable rounds, “Jas, you’re up.”

“Roger,” Jasmin replied, ready to provide suppressive fire as she took control of the remote machine gun while the vehicles kept their distance.

Within a minute the infantry took the emplacement and raised the victory flag. Jasmin and Rayla agreed the infantry and vehicle crews did rather well.

Rayla asked the three vehicles for a count on the ammo they used, she would need to make sure they didn’t fire more than enough and decide if they needed more practice.

“Fuck!” Jasmin swore, reviewing the footage.

“What happened?” Rayla asked, suspecting someone in the company had messed up.

“3rd platoon.” Jasmin sent the data.

Rayla frowned. The 8th squad was in charge of the 3rd platoon. “I’ll check it out, you handle our platoon.”

“Thanks,” Jasmin replied, focusing on her duties as she directed the company to return to base.

Rayla began going on the drone footage and the comms recording of the 3^rd platoon. Things seemed to be going well and she started to see the issues. “Fuck!” she swore,

“I told ya,” Jasmin groaned in exasperation,

Rayla’s eyes narrowed in annoyance as she couldn’t believe they would do that. She contacted the senior NCO who was observing them for details before she met with the 3^rd platoon.

Back at base

Jasmin was reviewing the exercise with the 1^st platoon while Rayla made her way to the 3^rd platoon.  She could see they were smiling, excited at the prospect of being congratulated for taking the emplacement so quickly.

She had gone over the footage multiple times during their ride back to base, she had all the data she needed.

Upon reaching them they all stood at attention, their expression jovial at their accomplishment while Rayla maintained a neutral expression that hid her disappointment as she wanted to rebuke them. She asked for a laptop, each vehicle had one in case it was necessary.

One of them retrieved it and she played the overhead footage from the drone and they all watched, she could see they were proud of themselves.

She rewound to a segment and paused. Turning to face them, her expression still neutral.

“Care to explain why you pushed ahead?” Rayla asked, fixing her gaze on the 3^rd platoon at their recent performance in the combat exercise.

“Ma’am,” The newly minted junior lieutenant, Ronald stepped forward and answered his Senior Lieutenant, “I thought we could capture the point quickly if we moved fast enough while using our storng armor.”

Rayla saw the senior NCO assigned to evaluate the platoon standing in the background shaking his head in exasperation at the foolishness he saw from them and she could only agree with that reaction.

“You aren’t supposed to rely on your armor.” She took a deep breath and spoke in a neutral voice. “You need to act like you have none.”

“Ma’am?”

Raising a single finger, she emphasized, “Your first defense is always to avoid being spotted, your second is to avoid being targeted, and your third is to avoid getting hit.” She extended three fingers, then closed them back into a fist, lowering her hand to her side, “Your armor is for when you’ve fucked up completely because you better pray it stops the round or you’ll be dead.”

“Yes ma’am.” Ronald said unable to must anything in his defense.

“Now,” She turned to the deputy squad platoon and the squad commanders, “You all agreed to your platoon commander’s orders to have the infantry form up tightly behind the vehicles.”

“Yes ma’am,” they all answered, their postures rigid as they were wondering where else they messed up.

“Why?” She raised a hand up to halt and gesture to the commander of the 9^th squad,

“It would’ve provided effective cover from any incoming fire till we could identify all the enemy positions.” The senior rifleman spoke, his confidence shrinking under her gaze.

“This might’ve worked a few years ago in the war but not anymore.” Her gaze fell on the entire platoon, “A single programmable round flying over the vehicle or its sides and you’d all get caught up in a blast.”

She saw all the rookies turn pale, as their previous confidence turn into despair. “We space vehicle and infantry apart to minimize such risks.”

She paused letting her words sink in before speaking, “Outside of these two mistakes, the rest is passable. Now me and your instructor will tell you how to improve so don’t let either of us catch you making this level of mistake again.”

“Yes Ma’am” they all stiffened as both officers were thorough with them.

6:42 PM

Rayla’s office

Rayla sat heavily in her chair, the silence of the room almost deafening after the day's exercise. The first thing she did was pull up the after-action report from the senior NCOs. She needed to cross-reference their evaluations with her own.

The 2^nd platoon did an adequate job, it wasn’t great as the report mentioned several issues bit at least they didn’t mess up like the 3^rd platoon. It was frustrating but not unexpected, given how green they all were.

The 1^st platoon had done better but only because she and Jasmin were running it with years of experience to back them up. The reports only confirmed their own assessment of their own platoon.

She set the report aside for a moment and pulled up the training schedule for the next week on her computer. They had the opportunity to rerun the exercise though she made some modifications—this time with fewer advantages and more realistic combat scenarios.

"Next time, no kid gloves," she muttered to herself as she marked off the next phase of their training. It was clear they needed to understand that war wasn’t about being the fastest or the most heavily armored. She sent the changes to Jasmin.

Sighing, she reached for the training manual, flipping through the sections on squad-level tactics and leadership. She made a mental note to recommend extra training for the 3rd platoon. If Ronald couldn't grasp the importance of subtlety, he would be taken off command.

With that, Rayla jotted down her thoughts in the training notes, then went to fill her coffee mug.

Chapter Text

17^th July

Diothosi city, Xadia

The amphitheater was filled with hundreds of people none of whom were the typical civilian, but soldiers. Tamnaeth sat at the front, acutely aware that those beside him were not just regular soldiers, like him they each had three or more soul-bound items tied to their essence so he was curious as to what the purpose of this gathering is and why those like him were told to sit in front.

Suddenly, a shadow swept over them, and the crowd fell silent as every eye looked up at the sky. Sol Regem descended, his form a dark shadow against the bright sun.

“My warriors, you are the best among us.” he boomed, his voice rich with pride, “I am glad you answered my summons in earnest.” The words washed over the crowd invoking a sense of pride in being acknowledged by their ruler.

“But,” Sol Regem continued as the sun dimmed as it was hidden behind clouds, “Our people tasked with bringing us more have said that there are none left. So we must search further out, beyond the veil itself.”

A wave of murmurs rippled through the audience, uncertainty creeping in, twisting their expressions from pride to trepidation. He felt a knot tightening in his stomach as he sensed the collective unease rising like a tide, whatever was next he knew he was not going to like it at all.

“Our present armaments are insufficient, we know this, we ALL know this,” Sol Regem pressed on, his words like cold water splashed on them. The crowd shifted and their restlessness was palpable. Memories of past battles flared in their minds, the utter defeat in the war against the humans etched into their very souls. Some grimaced, others clenched their fists, a mix of anger and resolve sparking in their eyes.

Slowly the clouds moved and the sun shined once more and he observed the crowd’s murmurings wondering if Sol Regem was using sky dragons and mages to do this heighten the effect of his words.

“It took us four years to find what we have brought back, even my brethren had to land on islands along the way to recover, and the resting places of your new armaments were guarded by powerful spells which delayed our recovery of them. Avizandum can turn himself into a bolt of lightning to travel great distances and among the ruins we found soul bound items of dragons that lets us do that and more, they can bring you all with them.”

The crowds began to whisper more audibly as the notion of being able to do what only the current dragon king could do was truly beyond what they had expected.

“I have called you here because you are our pride,” Sol Regem proclaimed, raising his wings wide, casting an enormous shadow that enveloped them all. “I ask you to choose whether or not you will join them and be among the first of our people to set foot in the lands of our ancestors.”

The crowd surged with emotion as they envisioned themselves setting foot in the lands they have heard of since their youth.

“You will not be a testament of what survived their downfall. You will be a bright beacon to their souls that what they have built will be reborn through us, as we take our rightful place and reclaim our legacy as they have always intended for us.” Sol Regems voice boomed eliciting cheers.

Tamnaeth could see what his intentions were, they didn’t know what truly happened in the ancient war and spells that remained active this long were no doubt a serious threat. But he knew the greatest dangers for he had seen it, the infestation as the humans called it and it would be a battle of attrition for anyone who dared to set foot in that cursed land.

“Those of you seated in front are the greatest among you all, and shall lead you through this.” The declaration resulted in loud cheers aimed towards those in front,

Tamnaeth forced a smile, masking his true feelings beneath layers of false pride while mentally cursing so hard at this. He was a spy sent to gather information. Not only was he being sent far away, he was given a leading position. Two things which made delivering information to his handlers difficult.

Later that day

Tamnaeth stood before the door, this was where he would meet his new team, he could hear a cheery voice from the other side, and it sounded so young. He knocked.

The door opened and young and cheery skywing elves garbed in lose fitted clothing, his wings folded back, “You must be Tamnaeth?”

“Yes? You are?” He answered put off by the unusually bright cheery face standing in front of him.

“Avo, short for Avourel.” The young elf then gestured to the two others in the room, he started with a tall earthblood elf who was cracking open nuts before eating them. “This lug his Elred,”

Elred simply stood and nodded, a way of greeting he heard of that was common in the far eastern parts of the earthblood kingdom.

Tamnaeth turned to the last one, a tidebound elf named Emmyth. His cloths while different had patterns that bore a strong resemblance to the style found in the north eastern part of the moonshadow kingdom.

“We were wondering if you decided to bail on this mission.” Emmyth spoke,

“Not on your life” Tamnaeth said, projecting a lot of pride in his tone then his voice returned to a more neutral voice as he addressed the three men. “So you lot are aware of what this expedition entails.”

“Yes,” Elred spoke calmly, “Once the expedition arrives on its destination, scout teams like us will look ahead for dangers and anything else.”

“Good,” Tamnaeth said then turned to Avourel who looked like a teenager, “So how old are you, and why are you here?”

“Fifteen” Avourel grinned sheepishly, “Their offering a lot to come on this expedition.”

“Then you shouldn’t come on such an expedition.” Tamnaeth said,

“That’s precisely what I told him.” Elred said

“Not on your life, all that money means I won’t have to worry my life after I’m old enough to retire.”

“Not my life boy, you won’t have a retirement if you die.” Tamnaeth felt his real-self bubble to the surface. He forced his emotions back down with all his will but this was hard to accept. It was only during the final years of the war that they were desperate enough to allow anyone this young near the front.

“I have earned the right to be here like you all.” Avourel said mustering all his courage,

“Fine but you should know that once we’re underway, you aren’t gonna get any chances to return.” Tamnaeth said sternly then turned to Emmyth and Elred, “So why are you both here?”

“I suppose I just wanted to see what rest of the world is like.” Emmyth said looking at the ceiling sounding unsure himself, “I came here because couldn’t find work and this felt like a good opportunity.”

“Guess its my turn.” Elred said turning to face them, “My brother died in the war, I want the strength to avenge him.”

“You understand that if we attack them then they might also attack the rest of Xadia who aren’t with us.” Tamnaeth spoke

“Don’t worry I’m not stupid enough to think we should, I’m content to just wait for them to try again.” Elred said candidly,

“Very well, the four of us will head to the training fields. If you can do basic scouting then I’ll accept you all.” Tamnaeth said, scout teams were similar in size to assassin teams, rarely more than four or five to minimize discovery. He would see if these people would be an asset or liability on this crazy idea.

20^th July

Outskirts of  Diothosi city, Xadia

Tamnaeth leaned against the bridge throwing fish meal down into the water, the setting sun had bathed everything in a fading amber glow. It was a peaceful scene yet like the waters where the fish splashed as they fed, his mind too was anything but peaceful.

“Sorry I’m late,” came a voice with barely audible footsteps. “Had to make sure I wasn’t followed,”

Tamnaeth saw his handler then shifted slightly, glancing back at the rippling water. “Sol Regem has announced his next move.”

A brief silence fell between them as the statement lingered in the air.

“He’s exhausted his supply of soul bound items so he preparing an expedition,” Tamaneth replied. “Beyond the veil, to find more. He claims that there are more powerful ones out there.”

“How big is this expedition?”

“At least five hundred of us for combat, the rest for support and other roles each broken into small teams.” Tamaneth said thinking on these last few days. “Those like me with many armaments were offered a chance to lead these teams. But they don’t know what they’ll be facing. Not really.”

There was a pause, the handler considering the information. “I take it you can’t refuse?”

“I could but then I’d be giving up the chance to learn more. They don’t know what’s beyond the veil, I do. One of my friends lost an arm, we were lucky to survive.” Tamaneth shuddered at the memory of their encounter with that thing, a creature that had to be hacked to pieces before anyone was certain it was dead. The undead were weak but they were terrifying for they were endless.

“Focus on coming back alive then. We have agents we're trying to get within the normal military structure so focus only on this objective.”

The handler remained silent for a moment, and then shifted the conversation. “What of the dragons?”

“Lord Avizandum can turn into lightning to travel vast distances. They’ve found items to extend that power to others to quicken the search.”

The handler’s eyes darkened. “That’s concerning. We won’t have years but months.”

Tamnaeth watched the water again, his expression unreadable. “I’ll do what I can to report back before we move out.”

“What of your team?”

“Three, they are very capable archers but they barely qualify to be scouts. Honestly I don’t like my chances of coming back alive.”

“Take the bag you were given years ago.”

Tamnaeth turned to face him but said nothing, his handler simply nodded. He gave a slight nod, already beginning to calculate the next steps in his mind.

“We’ll see how long I can stay close to the fold.”

With that, the conversation fell into silence. The sun dipped lower, and the shadows stretched longer. Tamnaeth kept his emotions buried beneath the surface, just as he had always done.

“Until next time,” the handler said, already retreating into the woods.

Tamnaeth didn’t watch him leave. He waited until the sound of footsteps had faded entirely before he turned and walked back, his thoughts focused solely on what lay ahead.

21^st July

Anterim

Callum entered his office and found an envelope, he cocked an eye brow as usually no one would enter if it was empty. Picking it up and turning it over he saw the heraldry of the Templars. He turned to the cloaked portrait of the first Margrave above the door.

“Well my lord, what do you intend for me now.” He sat down in his chair and opened the envelope, inside it was just a coin and blank sheets of folded paper.

He knew better than to expect invisible ink or anything, that made no sense unless the receiving side was aware of it ahead of time. He unsealed the coin and a tall stack of paper appeared before him.

It was titled ‘Automation and Work, changes that must be ensured to allow a smooth transition’

“Just how far have you prepared?” He wondered out loud, the last time the Templars unsealed something like this was during the war. Well it was the first and last time he was aware they were even doing that at all which made him wonder how busy they had been these past four years.

He started reading it,

“It brings me joy to be writing this, if you are reading this then it means you have come a long way since I first arrived here when you all used muskets. So much must have happened that you’ve diligently progressed to this point.”

Callum’s lip curved down as he turned his gaze to the portrait, “I’m sorry my lord but we didn’t not arrive here through our own merit. The technology was given to us by your empress because of circumstance alone.”

He found it odd how every Margrave since the Second up to himself wanted Anterim prosper yet none of them truly knew what their Founder intended for them.

He was the first one to learn what the First hoped they would achieve. He felt pride and anxious over it, pride that their founder had faith they would reach this point, anxious that they might fail to meet these expectations.

He turned back to the paper,

‘To you, all you’ve known is a society, a civilization where work and money are a necessity to the many. I had only know of this through my studies as I came from an era where that was not the case. People worked to find fulfillment, to pass the time, to compete as indulging solely in their hobbies would grow monotonous without anything to contrast it. Money wasn’t necessary for living, it was just a gesture of gratitude than anything else. If you could not afford something then the store owner would just give it to you at no charge.

You are at the point where you can begin your journey to achieve the same. Society must be mentally and culturally prepared for such a drastic the change as this is something that you’ve never had in your historical experiences.’

Callum turned the page and began reading. It contained writings in great detail on what steps must be taken to ensure thing went smoothly and he was truly grateful for the First Lord's foresight.

24^th July

Callum almost finished reading the entire thing, with his workload and everything else he was glad he was able to have enough time to read it all. He did try to stay up late at home to read more but Aleesia put an end to that by dragging him to bed saying that since Amy and Cassie weren’t around, it fell to her to keep an eye on him.

He turned the last page and,

‘It is difficult for me to imagine what kind of happiness or liberty can be enjoyed by those who go hungry and cannot find work.

True happiness and liberty in such a society are unattainable by the unfortunate who languish and despair under the shadows, fighting over discarded scraps thrown their way, they who are ignored for their very existence disrupts the illusion of the perfect and prosperous society enjoyed by those who bathe in the sun, who feast without thought or remorse.

Only where that lie, that barbarity is torn down. Where a person is not haunted by the specter of the next day being deprived of work, of home and sustenance. Only in such a society is real, and not on paper, personal happiness and liberty of every kind possible.’

‘I do not who first spoke these words but realizing this change was the goal of our sovereigns and the goal of our Imperium. I was born in a time long after they succeeded, to those like me tales of that past sound unconscionable yet my father and emperor who lived during those time said they indeed were real. I do not know what befell us but it’s clear we failed as the civilization we hailed from no more. Try to learn from our fall so that you may be spared our fate.’

With that it ended and Callum sat it down and reclined in his chair. He opened his drawer and pulled out a sketch he made of Cepheus, Akuram and Lyeneru. He thought back to their statues and that of their brethren in the Forgotten city, this world which remained a testament of all they had built. They had achieved so much, things that he until a few years ago would regarded as fantasy yet.

“How,” He began to wonder aloud, “How could something so powerful just fall like that?”

Chapter Text

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ, Anterim

Rayla drew two parallel lines on the blackboard and said the bottom one represented the ground itself and the top one their gun.

“Now your guns have a depression of -6 which can go down to -12 if you use the suspension controls.” She turned to those present who were the vehicle gunners from her company, training them was something anyone could do but she was the only one in the company who had experience using them in actual combat and the experienced gunners from the other companies were out on patrol.

“What you need to understand is that this is contingent entirely on the terrain you’re on. If the ground is slopping up then your gun depression decreases. The suspension control system simply gives you more wiggle room but single degree can be deciding factor in whether or not you can shoot.”

“Ma’am? Wouldn’t staying hull down and using the drones or missiles fix this?” one of them asked

“Yes it would.” Rayla said flatly but decided to explain the teensy weensy yet ever so crucial little tiny detail that no one who came out of a war would ever forget, “Assuming they haven't been rendered inoperable by an incoming lucky shot and you'd be amazed at how common lucky shots there are.”

Training against cardboard cutouts was fine but in a real operation, they would shoot back or in case of the infestation, charge at them. A major problem with new vehicle crews was that they tended to forget that their vehicles aren’t invincible. When she first encountered a ghoul it tore the backdoor of her APC apart, she was glad her own instructors had to drill into her skull to always treat their vehicles as fragile.

28^th July

Coastal regions far south of Elarion

As the first light of dawn broke near a coastal town, Tamnaeth and everyone else watched as the expedition was getting set. Large metal platforms with massive chains were being loaded with crates filled with dried food for their journey and seed to plant if it proved necessary. The dragons could go months on a single meal and they had gorged themselves in preparation for this.

The dragons all wore large armor across their body and head. Something that had started during the war. But these were different, these were thousands of years old. Each piece had runes that glowed bright with power as the ancient magic still burned strong within and it was what they would use to travel to their destination. There would be eight hundred elves and sixty dragons in total.

Though earth and water dragons were the least suited for long range flight, they now no longer had to worry about that.

It was near noon and everyone ate a huge meal before climbing on the metal platforms. The ground shook under them as the dragons made their way to them. It was only right next to them that one could appreciate their sheer size of these majestic beings but with the armor they looked more powerful.

Tamnaeth stared at the sky dragon next to him as it grabbed the chain, from what he was told they had been training to do this since they returned.

The runes on the armor began to glow blighting as electricity arced out from them and across their bodies. Tamnaeth felt the need to back away as the electric discharges grew more frequent then his eyes were blinded by a sudden flash and he felt something seize his entire body and he felt like he was being burnt alive from the inside out. For a timeless instant he lost all sense of who, what and where he was. Overwhelmed by pain, nausea and terror than he ever thought it was possible to experience.

Then he felt his entire body grow cold as ice in an instant, he gagged trying to breathe but his lungs would not move, his body would not move. Then suddenly he fell, feeling something hard beneath his face.

He began to hear something, slowly his vision began to return and he tried to blink his blurry vision as clear as he could and only then did he recognize the sensation of an arm helping him up.

“Are you well?” the person besides him asked.

He groaned in pain unable to answer, it felt like nails were being hammered into his head. He did not know who was helping him up and at this particular moment he could not bring himself to care either.

Sometime later he had recovered enough to realize they were in a clearing overlooking a white sandy beach.

Now that he was able to think clearly again he asked one of the scholars who told him this was the island where they found the soul bound items. They had farms set up to help feed them all and the dragons had gone there to use their magic to grow the crops quickly.

It was a bit later he found Avourel lying on grass groaning.

“You okay boy?” He asked easily slipping back into his persona as Tamnaeth,

Avourel just groaned loudly in response,

“Well you can’t back out now. But I did try to warn you.”

Avourel let out an even louder groan, probably trying to say something but in his current state the boy was incapable of forming any words let alone full sentences.

He left to find Emmyth and Elred, deciding it was best to let the boy rest.

30^th July

47^th Motor rifle division HQ, Anterim.

“Is there no end to this” Rayla complained as she continued with preparing their next training exercise, then straightening herself and wagging her fingers at the empty chair opposite to her desk, “No now get back to work.” She did her usual Callum impression which had become a common routine for her at this point when it came to sudden paperwork.

As she worked, the alarm on her clock rang and she quickly silenced it then began working on her computer switching to the tv broadcast. She found this convenient as she took a sip of her mug only to grimace realizing it had gone cold. “This is what I get for not finishing it quick.”

 “—We bring you this special broadcast from—”

The live broadcast of an unveiling in Del bar of a new addition to their air arsenal which she heard about a week ago and marked it on her calendar to watch. She knew those three were up to something but all she had to go on was that it involved the other nations.

She watched the shot pan to a new missile of some kind so she turned up the volume as the reported shut up and pointed the mic at a spokesperson

“—This is a new radar guided missile for long range interception that just finished its trials and will enter production by early July next year once the legislature approves the funding, for it.—”

The report quickly brought the mic back to themselves “—What makes this missile different from the ones unveiled back in May—”

“—An excellent question, this missile has a top speed of Mach 3.9 but it has a range of 90-110 kilometers. What’s more it has its own onboard radar even if the aircraft that fired it is unable to maintain a radar lock, as long as the missile is within 30km from the target it can guide itself.—”

“—This sounds remarkably like the self-guiding missile from eastern states.—”

“—Indeed how comparing them isn’t wise as theirs is intended for ground targets, it doesn’t need to fly that fast to do its job. Our new missile is intended to allow our aircraft to eliminate threats before they can get close.—”

“—I take it this missile was still in development a few months ago? —”

“—We were trying to solve an issue with its propellant mixture not working at high altitude. Now that the issue is resolved they are ready to enter active service with full approval from our partners as well. Our prototype variable sign wing aircraft under development has progressed to the testing phase and it can better use this missile.—”

Rayla recalled what Callum explained about those moving wing aircraft and wondered what they planned to unveil that would counter this missile. She was currently learning about their own surface-to-surface missiles but she had no idea how air-to-air missiles worked or how they dodged them but figured she could ask after the unveiling.

31^th July

Island of the Plamore, Outer limits of the veil

It was early morning and Tamnaeth stood staring at the familiar wall of fog he had crossed years ago. He pressed his hand against it and felt a solid surface keeping him from going through. They had arrived here in the previous day and rested. Now in a few short moments they would cross the veil.

He turned around and walked back to the platforms where everyone was busy checking their cargo. He saw Avourel sitting with Elred watching over him, the three adults had decided they would take turns watching him since none of them felt okay with someone this young coming along.  He asked his superiors but they felt his skill made up for the young age which frustrated him.

Once they were ready, the dragons grabbed the chains and flew up, lifting the platforms with them. Their arch mage had cast the spell and the dragons flew straight at the veil.

Tamnaeth and many others closed their eyes and braced themselves, if it didn’t work then they would crash into that wall.

He felt something cold almost wet wash over him and opened his eyes. He was surrounded by fog so dense he could not see more than half a meter. He could hear the massive wings flapping which meant they were still in the air but there was no wind at all.

Soon he began to feel something around him. It felt like something was moving in the fog or rather the thing was made of fog.

It took hours before they finally exited the veil and was slammed by a blast of salty air as they breathed a sigh of relief.  They shielded their eyes from the harsh sun as they looked beyond and saw a vast empty ocean.

He wondered if they would have to fly like this but he soon got his answers in the now all too familiar sound of rapid electric discharges. He braced himself knowing how miserable he was going to be.

1:10 PM

Island of Traygus, Outside the Veil

The long-abandoned coastal city stood as a ghost of its former self. Once a bustling hub where ships crowded the harbor, unloading their cargo under the watchful eyes of traders and sailors alike, the docks now lay eerily silent. The stone walls and harbors weathered by centuries of wind and salt collapsed piece by piece, disappearing beneath the tide with each passing year as the seas were relentless in reclaiming the land.

Tamnaeth still weak from the arduous journey, forced himself to stand on shaky legs. His muscles ached, the fatigue of travel weighing heavily on him, but he refused to falter. Borrowing a spear for support, he used it to steady his trembling limbs as he surveyed the city. They had landed on this island some time ago, but they had no idea how many other islands had passed on the way.

As he limped along the ancient streets, he was struck by the sheer age of the place. Buildings, worn by thousands of years, sagged under their own weight. Some had no roofs at all, their skeletal frames exposed to the elements, while others had trees growing through their crumbling walls, roots tangling with the stone. The smaller structures had mostly fallen into ruin,

The tall spires that once reached toward the heavens, temples and monasteries that had housed generations had crumbled into dust under the weight of time itself. The smallest structures and builds fared better as they had less weight to bare but without anyone to care for them, they too would eventually turn to dust leaving nothing behind.

Tamnaeth paused, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to conjure a vision of what this place had once been. He could almost hear the echoes of a long-forgotten time filled with laughter, the rhythmic clatter of hooves on cobblestones, the bright colors of banners fluttering in the wind, all gone. All of it now reduced to a dull, faded memory. Only the silence remained, a quiet so profound it seemed to press against his ears.

Despite the desolation, he felt a small measure of relief. The stone-paved streets beneath his feet were at least stable. He knew that when it began, he would not have to fear about anything coming up from the ground at all. As ruined as they were, there were still enough buildings with intact roofs where they could find shelter for the night.

As he trudged past the city's edge, the distinction between civilization and wilderness blurred. Where once there would have been a clear boundary such as a city gate, perhaps, or the thinning of buildings—now the wild encroached without restraint. Trees and thick vegetation pressed inward like an invading army, their roots cracking stone and their branches snaking through the empty streets.

Pushing through the overgrown foliage, Tamnaeth emerged into a wide clearing. The air was thick with the scent of earth and cut vegetation. He didn’t have to wait long to see why.

An earth dragon pressed a forelimb into the earth, its enormous feet cracking the ground beneath it. The earth trembled as etheric energy pulsed through the soil, churning it like waves on a stormy sea. The land responded to the dragon’s power, bending and reshaping itself under its influence. As the dragon moved across the field, it repeated this process, crushing the hardened earth and exposing rich, fertile soil in its wake.

He watched in quiet awe as the elves quickly sowed seeds in the newly tilled ground. Water dragons swooped down next, their sleek bodies gliding over the fields as they rained down torrents of water, quenching the dry soil. What would have taken days of manual labor was accomplished in mere moments.

Once that was done all the dragons assembled and the air itself shimmered as the dragons began to radiate their magical essence outwards and it began seeping into the earth. The soil, now enriched by their power, would give life to plants that grew faster than they could naturally. Where a field might normally take months to sprout, here it would flourish in days, fed by the dragons' magic.

Tamnaeth marveled at the sight as it was a statement as to how dragons were foundational to their civilization. Though the dragons’ abilities were powerful, they had their limits. Each dragon could only bless the land for so long before they would need to rest. To work around this they would normally fly over a field once blessing it with just enough energy to guarantee a bountiful harvest.

Slowly the scenery became bathed in the amber glow of evening and Tamnaeth looked out knowing that once the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, then the nightmare would begin.

Chapter Text

Island of Traygus, Outside the Veil

6:88 PM

Avourel groaned as he dragged himself up the flight of stairs, finding Tamnaeth, Emmyth, and Elred already armed with their bows and gear. They turned at the sound of his familiar, weary grunt, concern flickering in their eyes as they watched the boy stumble toward them.

"Go to sleep, boy," Elred said firmly, the three adults exchanging glances, they could all see he was in no shape to stand watch.

Avourel opened his mouth to argue, but they wouldn't have any of it. With gentle insistence, they guided him to sit down and rest.

The three took turns scanning the city outskirts from the roof, the building perched on the edge facing the fields. Their team, along with others, kept watch in shifts while the rest of the expedition rested for the day ahead. Behind them, further into the ruins, the dragons lay in quiet readiness, poised to move at a moment’s signal.

"You seem tense, chief," Elred remarked, sensing the tension in Tamnaeth's posture.

"We’ve barely set up, and most of us haven’t recovered," Tamnaeth muttered, eyes fixed on the dark horizon. "Now’s when we’re most vulnerable."

“… no one is alive here,”Avourel groaned, making the others exchange worried looks.

“Listen, there’s no one alive now, but,” Emmyth sighed, glancing at Tamnaeth, who maintained his unyielding vigilance. He turned back to the exhausted youth, his voice lowering. “We don’t know what kind of spells from the great war might still be active. It could happen any minute, or in some random corner of this city.”

“He’s right,” Elred agreed quietly. “We’re far from home. One mistake could be fatal.”

“Shhh!” Tamnaeth suddenly hissed, straightening, his bow at the ready, an arrow already nocked. His eyes narrowed, fixed on something in the distance.

In an instant, Emmyth and Elred snatched their bows, moving with practiced silence. Avourel forced himself to his feet, legs trembling as he wobbled to the edge, trying to peer into the night. They had no moonshadow elf’s night vision, but they trusted Tamnaeth’s instincts.

“There are several of them,” Tamnaeth said, voice tight. “About to break through the bushes.”

The others strained their eyes, finally catching the rustle of bushes in the distance , soon vague figures stumbled into view, shadows shifting in the dark still too far to see any details.

“People?” Elred’s voice wavered with fragile hope.

“Let’s go meet them,” Emmyth whispered, excitement creeping into his tone. He never expected there would be survivors here, the others would be overjoyed once they learned.

“Ready arrows,” Tamnaeth ordered, his voice cutting through their hope like a sharp blade at their hearts.

Elred looked horrified. “We can’t shoot those people!”

“They aren’t people,” Tamnaeth growled, his eyes never leaving the advancing shapes. With his superior night vision, he could make out the truth, the tattered clothes, rotten skin clinging to bones, sunken eyes staring from lifeless faces, horns protruding from decayed heads. He had seen their kind before, only these resembled elves than humans. “They’re not alive. Fire a light arrow.”

More figures began to stagger through the trees and to their horror some were emerging from the ground itself.

“Earthblood elves…” Avourel’s voice shook as he tried to rationalize what he was seeing.

Emmyth fired a light arrow at a nearby tree. The soft illumination exploded into the night, revealing the nightmare in full. It was not survivors they saw, but corpses, walking as though they’d been pulled from their graves and mangled.

“What… what are they?” Emmyth’s voice trembled, his throat tight.

“Some remnant spell left behind,” Tamnaeth replied, releasing his arrow. It sailed through the air, crackling with electricity, striking one of the creatures. The moment it hit, electricity discharged from the arrow as the creature crumbled to dust. “Living beings don’t do that when hit.”

Without waiting, Emmyth fired a light arrow into the sky. It flared brightly, a beacon that split the night, alerting the camp. Far in the distance, dragons stirred, their roars resounding across the city.

But even as the dragons answered, more of the creatures kept coming, slow, stumbling, yet relentless, emerging from the earth itself like a forgotten curse. Their rotten forms were now illuminated in the glow of Emmyth's light arrow. Bones jutted through decayed flesh, and their once regal clothing, now tattered, barely clung to their skeletal frames.

“Shoot down as many of them as you can.” Tamnaeth tightened his grip on his bow as more of them clawed their way out of the ground, the air thickening with an unnatural chill. He loosed another arrow, it struck and the explosive electric discharge took several down together.

Soon the other three joined in though Avourel was the slowest but they were managing to to take down a fair amount with each passing second.

“They’re everywhere,” Elred whispered, his breath quickening. “How many more are there?” His eyes could see more as if there was no end to them.

Tamnaeth didn’t answer for he knew they were endless but they felt hope rising within them as they heard the flapping of large wings and a moment later the massive silhouette of a dragon flew right over them.

As the dragon landed, its sheer weight crushed the creatures beneath it, sending waves of dirt and dust into the air. Its roar was in sharp contrast to the silence of the horde. With one powerful sweep, the dragon's tail smashed through the horde, pulverizing dozens in an instant as their crumbling remains were scattered.

Soon arrows flew over them en mass as the rest of the camp, those able anyway rushed to them.

“Sorry we’re late.” A skywing elf then looked stunned at the sight of Avourel, “What are you doing here? You should be back with the others resting.

Amidst the din of battle, the three adults of their team felt annoyance welling up but ignored it focusing on more pressing matters as more of their numbers joined the battle. Arrows and spells of fire, ice , stone, vine and lightning engulfed the battlefield.

But even as wave after wave of the undead crumbled beneath the onslaught, more of them emerged, their movements slow, unfocused, lacking any intelligence behind them but completely unyielding as they were truly endless. For every one that fell, another seemed to rise in its place, a grotesque and ceaseless tide of death. Tamnaeth’s jaw tightened, knowing their fight had only just begun.

"How are they still coming?” Elred gasped, his voice trembling as his breath came in short, panicked bursts. His arms ached from the constant barrage of arrows, but his efforts seemed futile. He fired again, his arrow piercing one of the undead through its skull, but as the corpse collapsed, a dozen more took its place, dragging themselves from the blood-soaked ground like worms from rotten flesh.

The earth itself writhed beneath them, the soil churning and breaking open as more of the dead clawed their way to the surface. The battlefield was alive in the worst possible way—an ancient graveyard come to life, its cursed inhabitants answering a silent, malevolent call. “There’s no end to them!”

“Get back. We will burn them away.” the dragon bellowed, With a mighty beat of its wings, it soared into the sky, joining its kin above. The circled the battlefield, their enormous silhouettes visible against the moonlight.

The dragons opened their massive jaws, and from the sky fire rained down in violent, searing waves, and the air became thick with heat so intense it was unbearable. The elves had to shield their eyes, their skin prickling with the overwhelming, suffocating heat as the thick smoke choked the air around them. They could hear nothing but the roaring inferno.

Once the scorching heat subsided they opened their eyes to the once-dense forest was now reduced a smoldering hellscape, blackened trees crackling under the weight of the destruction. The ground was scorched, burning embers flickering across the charred remains of the battlefield. Yet, through the flames, through the smoke, the undead continued to come.

Amid the scorched land some still stood, still moving towards the city. Their bodies smoldering or wreathed in flame only made them appear demonic, heightening the dread many felt. Soon more began to emerge renewing their decimated ranks.

“How do we stop them?” someone cried out, the panic in their voice cutting through the haze of smoke and fear.

Tamnaeth’s mind raced, grasping for any solution amidst the relentless tide of death. They couldn’t hold out forever, and deep down, he knew it. Their only hope was to survive until dawn broke—if they could last that long. But something flickered in his memory, a desperate thought, a gamble. It wasn’t much of a plan, but with every passing moment, the horde closed in, and they had no other choice.

Before he could speak, a powerful gust of wind knocked them back as Sylpharion, a massive sky dragon, descended in a flurry of wings and dust. “Get on,” the dragon commanded, his voice booming. “It’s not safe for you here.”

“Lord Sylpharion, wait!” Tamnaeth shouted, his heart hammering in his chest. “We need more than just retreat! Have the earth dragons and mages build a wall around the camp. We can take shelter inside. And... reinforce the ground beneath, too, so they can’t claw their way up!”

Sylpharion turned his head, one massive eye locking onto the horde of undead that continued their relentless march. “Do you think that will hold them?” the sky dragon asked, his voice betraying a hint of doubt.

“I don’t know,” Tamnaeth admitted, his voice laced with fear. “But nothing else has worked.”

There was a tense pause, Sylpharion weighing the options as the undead army drew closer. Finally, with a low growl of frustration, the dragon nodded. “Get on. We’ll organize the others on the way back.”

Tamnaeth didn’t hesitate. Grabbing Avourel, he and the others scrambled onto the dragon’s back. The ground shrank as Sylpharion beat his wings, the air rushing past them as they ascended. Tamnaeth's heart pounded in his chest, his eyes fixed on the sea of undead below, spreading like a plague through the forest, undeterred by flame or magic. Their numbers were endless, and with each passing second, the ground seemed to birth more of them, crawling and lurching from the earth’s depths.

Sylpharion’s powerful voice echoed through the sky, giving orders to his kin. The dragons soared, carrying as many elves as they could, swiftly relaying Tamnaeth’s plan.

They arrived at their camp which was only a few hundred meters away from the horde, where the remaining elves had gathered. The sight of the remaining forces, tired but ready for one last stand, filled Tamnaeth with a brief flicker of hope. But time was running out. The undead wouldn’t stop.

As Sylpharion landed, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. Earth dragons and mages began their work immediately. The ground shook violently as massive walls of rock erupted from the ground. The walls stretched high into the air, their jagged edges reflecting the desperation of those who conjured them.

But even as the walls rose, the tension in the air only thickened. The ground beneath their feet trembled again this time as it was being compacted and hardened to stone.

They moved quickly to the edge of the walls to begin expanding it. Tamnaeth’s mind raced with doubt if they could build it fast enough. But there was no time for second-guessing.

As each minute passed with agonizing slowness, the walls grew till it became a protective ring around the section of the city they made their camp in. They were greatly aided by the old buildings as they only had to build the wall in the spaces between them.

“They’re coming,” someone shouted, their voice shaking with fear.

Tamnaeth saw that person atop was the walls. He made his way up to one of the taller buildings and looked outwards and saw them. The air was thick with dread as everyone waited as the elves prepared themselves, getting on the buildings with arrows knocked, spells at the ready, but the tension was unbearable as every second felt like an eternity.

Except one, Tamnaeth who was calming himself down as he knew it was over. He had seen the walls of the human cities, while those were built more thoroughly and taller than these. He knew this one would do the job fine.

They would live to see dawn, he knew and looked down as the undead were halted by the wall. They didn’t stop so much as couldn’t move forward with the mass of stone blocking their path. He let lose a few arrows knowing it would be fine as he needed to vent.

Minutes later he felt they were safe, and looked around seeing others were realizing the same thing. The dragons told everyone to rest for now while they could. They could decide what to do in the morning now that they were safe.

The expedition burst in joy as the mages collapsed from exhaustion, the warriors all dropped the weapons eager for some rest.

He quickly lay down on the roof of the building, if he was lucky then tomorrow morning he could probably talk them into heading back or at least consider it. If that happened then Sol Regem couldn’t get any more power, his goals would be stopped and in a year or two he could return home. His thoughts drifted to his home and wondered what everyone was doing. He was glad they were safe. Slowly his own exhaustion began to took over as he began to slip into his dreams.

32^nd July

Morning

Tamnaeth woke up and stretched trying to force out his desire to sleep in. He could see the early light of dawn from the horizon. He moved to the edge to look out and saw the undead were still present, their numbers had diminished as several of them were starting to crumble on their own with fresh dirt all over the city indicated where they crumbled.

He knew that soon the city would be safe till evening again but for now he could relax and lied down, hoping he could catch a bit of extra sleep.

Chapter Text

They gathered together, the dawn’s light casting long shadows over the wall that saved them from the undead. As the sun rose higher, the last remnants of the horde crumbled away, dissipating into dust. Relief swept over the expedition, but even in their victory, a sense of superiority simmered beneath the surface.

The dragons, majestic and towering over the elves, had gathered around, their enormous wings folded as they landed, one after another.

Ignivarus, an arch dragon of the sun, strode forward, his golden scales glimmering in the morning light. “Give your thanks to Tamnaeth,” he bellowed, his voice resonating like thunder, “for it was his plan to build the wall that saved us this night.”

A cheer went up from the gathered elves and dragons, their voices praising Tamnaeth, though his heart twisted with unease. He blushed as his name was chanted, the cheers growing louder, and the crowd pressed in around him. Tamnaeth wanted to shrink away, to vanish into the shadows, but their eyes were on him now.

“Do not shy away, you have earned their praise,” Ignivarus said, lowering his head to peer directly into Tamnaeth’s eyes, his fiery gaze piercing. "But before we go any further, I must ask—how did you know this would work?"

Tamnaeth forced himself to remain calm, to maintain the lie he had carefully constructed. He had thought of this moment, planned for it, knowing full well that any slip could give him away. “I was trying to think of something, anything, that might save us,” he began, his voice steady, “when I remembered something from a few years ago.”

He paused, letting the tension build before continuing. “Back in Tansai, when I was in the slums, I overheard people talk about how the humans seemed terrified of the dark, preferring to stay indoors at night because the city did not have walls and they kept pestering the city officials to build walls around the city,”

The crowd listened intently, though their disdain for anything human was palpable. The mere mention of humans made several of them sneer, but Tamnaeth pressed on.

“Wait,” someone interrupted, a younger elf with contempt in his voice. “What do they have to do with this?”

“I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Tamnaeth lied smoothly, “But when we were fighting last night, I wondered if this was reason the humans want their cities walled off and lock themselves indoors after sunset.”

He hoped someone would catch the underlying message, that their grand plan to arm themselves with soul bound items was meaningless because if they set foot in enemy territory then they’d get bogged down. He could already see it happening, their realization leading to the plan falling apart and then things would stabilize and he could consider his mission concluded.  

“Humans?” one elf spat. “Those wretches can barely stand on their own feet, and you think they fight these monsters every night?”

“Their vile craft decimated our armies,” Tamnaeth countered, keeping his voice level but he felt his hopes of this ending crumbling away. “It could easily destroy these creatures as well, no?”

Nivomor, a water dragon, lifted his massive head and spoke in a low, rumbling voice, “The creatures they fight must be weaker than what we faced.”

“I concur, there is no way they would survive against such a foe.” Ignivarus snorted, the plume of smoke rising from his nostrils, “They are an inferior race the gods saw unworthy of the blessings they bestowed upon us. Wretched that they were we still burdened ourselves with taking them in under our care and granting them prosperity but that was never enough, they wanted what they did not earn and dabbled in the unnatural to take it.”

Tamnaeth watched the flame of hope dying completely as he understood how they could come to this conclusion. These shaky rationalizations could be accepted because it just reaffirmed what they already believed. After all what point is there in questioning what you believe when you accept it to be as valid as water being wet.

He originally thought they were simply blinded by false words, these past four years he saw everyone in Elarion act normally but he slowly realized that was because everyone else held the same belief. No one would challenge that belief because it would sound like saying the sun doesn’t rise.

Undivorax, an earth dragon lumbered to them, “Our ancestors should’ve wiped them out instead of banishing them. Would’ve saved us all this trouble.” There was a murmur of agreement from the crowd.

Tamnaeth bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from speaking out. He was deep behind enemy lines, surrounded by those who would kill him in an instant if they knew the truth. To them, he was one of their own, a fellow zealot who believed in their cause.

But he was still himself, the spy playing a role and he had to use their language and attitude when speaking lest he blow his cover. So he forced a smile, playing the role he had been assigned.

“Shouldn’t we focus on preparing for tonight?” He decided it was best to move the subject to something a bit more urgent like not wasting time, mainly for the sake of his life and sanity,

Everyone nodded to his words and the conversation moved on, but Tamnaeth’s thoughts remained on what would happen this coming evening. These people couldn’t be reasoned with, he was beginning to accept that reality.

They wouldn’t listen and return which was the rational thing to do, they would search for what they came here for or die. Neither prospect he wanted to entertain on any level.

10:11 AM

Tamnaeth moved through the devastated landscape, the ground beneath his feet was blackened and dead, a lifeless expanse where not even a single blade of grass dared to rise. The fires that had swept through the battlefield had left nothing in their wake but ash and ruin.

Just the day before, the trees had stood tall, their leaves fresh and green, a reminder of life even amidst chaos. Now, they were charred husks, skeletal remains of what had once been vibrant, their twisted branches reaching toward the sky like gnarled fingers.

The air was thick with the acrid stench of smoke and ash, clinging to everything, and as he walked, each breath tasted bitter, a reminder of the destruction that had passed through this place.

As he moved farther, the blackened earth began to give way to patches of green. At first, they were sparse, small pockets of untouched land where the flames hadn’t reached. But as he pressed on, the scorched ground gradually retreated, and soon he found himself surrounded by the forest that still thrived.

The sight of untouched greenery, of life amidst all the death, stirred memories of his home.

But the feeling was short-lived. As his gaze drifted to the fields ahead, his heart sank. The ground there was upturned, many of the undead rose from these grounds and trampled the fields under them.

Yet admits this he saw areas untouched by the marching undead where the seeds they planted the day before had sprouted. He saw the thin delicate buds reaching out towards the sun like outstretched hands.

He felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. He had hoped that everything had been destroyed which would make the expedition unsustainable in the long run forcing them to return. He knew the sight might make them all think they would be fine if they made the fields bigger, he was certain that was what they’d do.

Tamnaeth lingered there for a moment longer, his heart heavy. He had to return now, had to play his part in this charade, but the thought of it made his stomach turn. As he turned his back on the field, the greenery seemed to mock him, those young leaves waving in the breeze as if to say, he was doomed to suffer.

33^rd July

Tamnaeth ate dinner with everyone, tonight he was not on watch which meant he could relax. Avourel, Emmyth and Elred were resting nearby, exhausted after the four of them went scouting. He pondered what to do next when Zarvoril called everyone’s attention,

He wondered what happened as he stared at the moon dragon that was put in charge of the expedition. Did they find what they came here for? No, that would’ve caused a commotion unless it was all done in secret which did raise a few unnerving possibilities.

“It is clear we can grow food here, these undead creatures trample over the fields we prepare.” Zarvoril spoke as all eyes were focused on him, his gray blue scales appeared golden under the light of the fires. “Fortunately I have a solution, we shall grow our food on island at the edge of the veil. I sent several of my kin to see it done and we sent a message back home to send people there as well. Within weeks we shall get all the supplies we need, until then conserve your strength.”

With that proclamation the camp was filled with chatter as morale began to soar among the lower ranks. If they could get food delivered often then they could begin their search in earnest even if it delayed them by a couple of weeks.

“Chief, you okay?” Avourel asked wondering why Tamnaeth and several others in charge of their own teams seemed less happy about the good news,

Elred let out a sigh of exasperation, “He and everyone leading a lead are wondering what they would do in the worst case. If they can’t grow enough, if they can’t bring it fast enough, if there are any incidents. They are trying to think of what they’d do then.”

Tamaneth just nodded to his subordinates words but in truth he was worried that they might succeed, and what worried him most was that if it failed they might not even considering head back. He wanted to scream right now at his situation.

34^th July

Tamaneth arrived at what he assumed were the remains of an important building, from the large walls and broken areas he could picture this being something big, perhaps a shrine? The structure was separated from the rest of the city by a wide paved area. This was also the case back home and since their ancestors came from here he felt they would’ve likely built things the same way.

Walking through the hallways, he looked at the broken walls and occasional arches or collapsed ceiling trying to picture what it would’ve looked like. Enough of it survived that he was sure it had several floors but most of it had collapsed long ago, only the ground floor was intact enough to make out.

Still he tried his best to imagine what it was like, did they have carpets, sculptures, artwork, curtains, wall paintings, how would they go about brightening it up.  He started to picture the jovial craftsman he back home who was often hired to decorative railings, utensils, window frames or anything else. He loved his work and was giddy with excitement then ran himself to exhaustion by the time he finished his commission. That last thought made him worried, it had been four years since he was last home.

Eventually he saw a pair of startouched elves come out from a stairway heading down, they carried a large crates.

“What’s all this? You loot graves down there?” He asked trying to figure out what the crates held.

“Huh? No, there’s a whole archive down there. We’re taking these up to study. It might tell us what where’s looking for.”  One of them spoke looking excited at reading what they hauled.

“That reminds me, what exactly are we looking for? You sound like we’re here for more than armaments.” Tamaneth said deciding to see if they might spill anything.

“Normally you types don’t care about this stuff,” the elf said sounding confused at this development.

“Considering those things nearly done me in, I have every right to find out what you’re up to especially if it impacts my survival.” Tamnaerth responded,

“Fair enough,” the elf said then raised an eyebrow, “I’m Ryfon, and this is Katar.” He introduced himself and his colleague.

“We’re planning to bring all these back to Xadia, we must preserve all this knowledge as they might be lost if we just left it here.”

“No you moron,” Katar spat back, “He means what we’re looking for.”

Tamnaeth watched as they started bickering realizing that this was a routine for them, but after a while he coughed to get their attention.

“Ah right, we’re looking for any mention of how to make soul bound armaments, maps that might tell us where anything valuable might be kept on the island or other islands, lore on the arcanums that might help us, knowledge on building the ocean pathfinder. ”

“Ocean pathfinders?” Tamaneth repeated the word

“Oh right, it’s not well documented but we have a few records that speak of a spell that created a calm path through a stormy sea. That and scant mentions of many wonders.”

“It better not be a wondrous miracle that forced us to build a wall here.” Tamnaeth pointed to the floor and the two just let out a humorless laugh at his insinuation.

Chapter Text

8^rd June

Island of Traygus, Outside the Veil

Tamnaeth stood over the recovered soul-bound armaments, over thirty eight of them, his gaze tracing the layers of ancient dust that had hardened like a crust over them. These relics were found scattered across the ruins of the city.

Despite being called armaments, only six were actually weapons, the rest were ancillary and support items meant to aid the users.

“Think there are anymore?” He asked Katar who was diligently taking an inventory of them before they would end them to be cleaned up.

Katar paused, his quill hovering over the parchment before shaking his head. "Doubt it. You’ve got to remember, they were in the middle of a civil war." His tone was flat, pragmatic, the voice of someone who had seen enough of history’s scars to know better than to expect treasures lying untouched.

"He’s right," Ryfon added, joining them. "No one would’ve stashed these away when they needed them."

Tamnaeth sighed, his shoulders slumping theatrically, though in his mind he was smiling as this was the only piece of good news he had gotten so far.

Sol Regem could arm a few thousand solely because Xadia had chosen to disarm themselves for ensuring internal stability and hide their arsenal in a single location.

However outside of Xadia there would be no single location that would ever hold a large amount. As the world back then was consumed by war and the subsequent collapse meant no one would’ve gathered up all the soul bound armaments after their users died to find new wielders.

It was possible to find such small numbers in the other cities, in the forest if they dug around for long enough but it was impossible to find them in numbers to build a proper army.  To amass that many would probably take decades and that knowledge made him happy to hear this when he returned.

9th June

Verdant Air Fields, Katolis

As the airship continued its descent, Callum looked out from his cabin window to the perimeter of the base, where the incomplete air defense batteries stood as silent sentinels.

Though not visible, the air was constantly flood by electromagnetic waves from radars and other systems scanning for anything out of the ordinary. The air defenses were not fully operational yet so they remained on a heightened state of readiness. It was a reminder that even the most advanced air base couldn’t rely on aircraft alone, the base’s layered defenses were just as critical to keeping it secure.

He could see large numbers of aircraft, from fighters to massive bombers either on standby or undergoing light routine maintenance.

Closer to the center of the base, Callum noticed the alert pads. A few old interceptors were parked there, separate from the main clusters of aircraft. The activity around the alert pads seemed more intense, more focused. He found it ironic that they kept using them when the base had more modern fighters to fill the roll simply because they wanted to avoid giving any annoying guests from getting too much information’s.

After touching down, Callum was driven to the control tower which also happened to be the tallest structure in the base. He was met by Major General Douglas Mckinsey and his command staff. They exchanged pleasantries before Callum was taken to inspect the underground facility which was the main reason for his visit.

As they descended in the main elevator, the command staff returned to their duties. When the doors slid open, both men stepped out, showing their IDs to the guards.

The underground halls were tall and wide, designed to reduce the sense of claustrophobia that often plagued those working below ground for extended periods. The lighting mimicked sunlight, and fresh air was pumped down from the surface through a sophisticated filtration system. Additional filters were strategically placed to prevent the buildup of any gases, harmful or not. Even the temperature was meticulously controlled.

“Sir, I still have my doubts about this plan,” Major General McKinsey said candidly, referencing their new orders. “I’d prefer to wait until the ADN is fully operational and our flyers finish their APT.”

“I don’t disagree,” Callum replied as they walked through the brightly lit corridors. “But their little incursions are becoming a bit too frequent for comfort.”

“This is why I hate these secret joint projects,” McKinsey continued. “You’re stuck in limbo until everything’s unveiled.”

“We couldn’t have built all this on schedule by ourselves,” Callum pointed out as they arrived at an observation deck. Through a massive, reinforced glass window, they looked down on a large maintenance area two floors below, lined with their new supersonic jets.

But this attention was directed towards both their current interceptors and their next generation prototype with the maintenance crew busily working on getting them air worthy. While the personnel at this air base were trained for it, there is a large time lag between when they start and when they become proficient at it.

His attention drifted to both the current interceptors and a next-generation prototype as crews worked to ready them for flight. He watched as one of the massive blast doors opened, and a white triangular-shaped aircraft was towed into a maintenance bay. He wondered if it had been brought down the elevator from a hangar above or if it had used the vertical landing zone.

The blast doors were a common feature, linking different parts of the base through an extensive network of service tunnels and elevators. Building such a vast underground facility had been a monumental task, especially within the tight deadline. This airbase was just one of several under construction, each at varying stages of completion, and this one would serve as the testing ground for new protocols.

Later, Callum was led to one of the subterranean launch bays, he saw a heavy fighter already prepped and on standby on the catapult system as the blast doors slid open to reveal the tunnel runway with lights coming on illuminating the path. The speakers announced that the area was clear, and moments later, the jet accelerated down the tunnel.

“Impressive,” Callum remarked observing the runway as the blast doors slid shut. The launch system had been built large enough to accommodate even heavy strategic bombers. With these underground runways and their surface counterparts, the base could launch far more aircraft than a much larger air base.

“Unfortunately, it’s no good for landing,” McKinsey added as testing its viability was one of the tasks they were assigned.

 “Any injuries?” Callum asked

“No, no injuries,” McKinsey assured him. “With UAVs it’s difficult if not impossible to land if they’ve suffered any damage so we’ve determined it’s too dangerous to land manned aircraft through it. Our pilots will not do it in any case.”

“Looks like we’ll need to bolster air defenses, then,” Callum said thoughtfully. The underground base was designed to maintain full combat effectiveness even under heavy bombardment. However, without the ability to land aircraft in the tunnels, their operational capacity would take a hit. Still, from what he had seen, the base met all the other key objectives.

He would need an additional four days to fully inspect everything but he was overall impressed to the point where he felt confident he could convince the legislature to approve additional funding for the air force in the next budget.

15^th June

Island of Traygus, Outside the Veil

The dragons descended from the sky, their massive claws gripping the heavy chains that held aloft the platforms laden with food, the same platforms they used to bring their elven allies. Each dragon bore the weight of provisions grown on the Island of Plamore bordering the opposite side of the Veil.

As the platforms settled on the ground and the chains went slack, and the dragons landed quickly, their exhaustion was palpable. They lumbered away from the landing site. Their massive forms moved with a heaviness that mirrored their fatigue, scales dull under the fading light. They move some distance away where they could lie down, muscles quivering from the effort, their breaths deep and labored. Elves came to help them remove their armor.

Even with the soul bound armaments, making the journey this many times by transforming themselves into a bolt of lightning was difficult even for a sky dragon, it was more strenuous for dragons not attuned to the sky arcanum. But they knew that this was the only way to sustain the expedition.

The dragons, though drained, kept a watchful eye on their surroundings as they rested. They were guardians as much as transporters, and even in their weariness, their instinct to protect their elven companions remained. The expedition's survival hinged not only on the food they brought but also on the dragons' fierce vigilance.

Meanwhile, other elves moved with urgency. They worked to swiftly unload the fresh cargo, moving in synchronized patterns, aware that every moment counted. The expedition relied heavily on these deliveries, and any delay could spell trouble for their ongoing efforts. Baskets of fruit, barrels of grain, and other supplies were quickly carried off, the air filled with the sounds of clinking metal and hurried footsteps.

29^th June

Rannerias Estate, Erdus Dukedom

Amy tried to focus but her mind remained clouded. After weeks of trying she had managed to enter the same state Callum told them both about, she was certain this was it. She could make out, no, that was not correct, she sensed something ahead. In this all-consuming darkness she was certain she knew what those shapes were but her mind refused to create an image of them. It felt as though she was in a dream without any memories.

Soon the hazy within her mind vanished, replaced by visions of a massive whirlpool of energy that forced its way out from her mind. She stared at the vortex of golden light swirling above her, its outer edges seem to turn an amber hue. Streaks of black and white appeared momentarily within it but its center was blindingly bright.

She turned and saw a sphere, a planet coming into view. Its blue oceans had a slight green tint. As it grew closer, she wondered what nay of this meant. The moon that orbited it had patches of light on its surface. A lunar city? She wondered but her thoughts were interrupted by the view of the planet. Upon it she saw a tower rising from the ground, connecting to a ring built in orbit.

Soon the vision seemed to blur and she felt pain surge through her as something hit her head. A moment later she felt something solid still against her forehead.

She grunted in paint as, pressing her hands ahead to steady herself and felt something wet and sticky beneath her palms.

Pushing herself off she looked above and saw she had slammed head first into a build. It was filthy, the exterior was covered in grime, the windows stained, pipes protruding out leaking dark liquid. She looked at her hands stained by it and felt the urge to heave. She realized the smell wasn’t just the grime, the air itself was so acrid it burnt her lungs as she breathed.

 “Ugh.. I just bathed.” She tried to cast magic so she could clean herself but nothing happened, it was odd as she could gather ether just fine but she couldn’t for a spell. She filed it away in the back of her mind as she focused around her.

She seemed to be within an alleyway, the street beneath her feet were just as filthy. She walked to a nearby window to see her reflection, her forehead and parts of her hair stained with the same grime as she wiped her hands on the window.

A mischievous grim appeared on her face as she took out a pen from her pocket and drew whiskers on her cheeks using the window as a mirror. Putting the pen back in her pocket she walked out of the alleyway and the sight was as depressing.

The streets were as filthy with discarded bags and dirt everywhere. The builds were slightly better though they looked just as bad from her perspective. Neon signs boards written in script she didn’t recognize above stores flickered, street lights were just as bad if not worse with some shattered, it had a thick layer of dust making her realized this place has been like this for a long time.

She tried to thinking of something and her gaze wandered till it stopped. There was no sky, in fact it was a ceiling where all the buildings touched.

“Am I underground?” It felt like the correct assumption since the closest thing to this was the underground facilities they had been building.

A moment later she saw someone in the distance. Hope welled up within her as she ran towards them and stopped as she saw them clearly. They wore a hoodie but under it they appeared to be the same species as her mother, a male to be exact but with brown unkempt fur.

She reached out to get their attention, “Excuse me, I was wondering—Huh?!” Her hand went through them. It reminded her of how she and Cassie spent their early childhood trying grab their ghostly mother and failing.

She jumped in front of them trying to get their attention and froze when she saw his lifeless expression. His gaze was cast down as he walked through her. Those eyes seem miserable, devoid of any joy or hope. She decided to follow him to see where he was going and occasionally walked past other of different species, all of them she had seen statues of in the Forgotten city.

She followed him to a store where she saw the man purchasing something in a plain white plastic package with no label save for small liens of script. Looking around she found every aisle was filled with the same.

She picked one up, the plastic crinkled under her grip. She half expected her hand to go through it. “Guess the only thing I can’t touch is people.”

She tore open the package, inside it was a white block of something, she brought it up to her nose and sniffed but it had no smell. Looking around she saw a poster on the wall of someone else of the same species with well-groomed appearance as he took a big bite of this white block. His smile was wide like he was eating the most delicious thing in the world with several packages under his arm.

She eyed the block suspiciously as she pulled it out of the package and took a big bite then froze instantly. Her body shuddered then she spat it out.

“Uuugh, that tastes like nothing particularly identifiable.” She resisted the urge to vomit, wondering if it was something that needed flavor added to it or if this was something only her mother’s species could taste.

She turned her attention to the store owner who looked just as miserable as the man she followed in here then turned her gaze back to the poster. The wide smile on it seemed unnerving somehow so she left.

As she explored she found another person, this was a large bipedal dragon but without wings like the statue they past when they were taken to the forgotten city first. She followed the man, she thought it was male anyway to a building and up the stairs.

He opened a door and went in as she looked inside in confusion. She shook her head thinking she must’ve imagined it, there was no way this would ever make sense.

She heard another door open behind her and she looked behind her, it was someone who looked human, it was a female but with red skin, a tail and horns. The woman walked over to another room and knocked.

Taking the opportunity Amy looked inside she saw a tv, a bed, a kitchen, computer and a small table all within a tiny room. There was another room she assumed led to the bathroom. All she could think was 'how were these people living in such tiny rooms?'.

Walking through this depressing place for a long time till she saw the number of miserable people increase. Outside of the sense of gloom they brought with them she wondered where they were going. The crowd was huge but she easily passed through them.

“This is convenient.” She wondered if this was what it was like for her mother to go through things without a care in the world.

She arrived as a wall lined with sliding doors and people rushing in and out of them.

“An elevator!” She dived into the first door that opened and watched as the huddled masses flooded in and then waited. None of them made small talk with each other and she felt depressed just by being around them.

After what felt like hours the doors slid opened and dived out,

“FREEDOM!!” she yelled landing on her feet as she was instantly blinded by the intense light. She relished the feeling of sunlight touching her kin. The smell of the fresh cool air was like perfume. As her eyes adjusted she started looking around as the lifeless masses walked passed her and dispersed in all directions.

Picking a random direction she ran ahead without a care, taking in the sight of the clean streets, buildings painted and pristine, trees and plants well taken care of. Stores with clear glass windows displaying their wares.

She ran inside building after building and found nothing of what she saw down there. The apartments all had multiple large rooms.

She went into the nearest store and saw aisle after aisle filled with many different products with bright colorful packaging. Each product had multiple variants all competing for attention and saw people looking at products. They were complaining about the lack of variety but these people were different, they were all full of life, eyes brimming with hope.

Sitting in the middle of the road she was panting heavily, looking at the sky she noticed a massive tower stretching beyond the clouds.

“This is the same tower I saw from above.” She wondered how long it would take to reach it since she couldn’t fly.

“AMY!!!!”

A familiar voice reached her ears and she sprang to her feet looking around and saw her cousin. They both ran and hugged each other tightly, happy to see the other. Cassie noticed the whiskers on Amy’s cheeks so she took out her pen and drew some on herself as well.

“This means we can both be in here.”

“Yeah but how?” Cassie asked the obvious.

“No idea, I was underground, that place is filthy and depressing.”

“You ate the white stuff?” Cassie asked

“Bleugh!” Amy stuck out her tongue to show her disgust.

Before they could continue, alarms blared broadcasting people to evacuate to the shelters.

““WHAT NOW?!””

They saw the peaceful scenery turn into chaos as people running in all direction. Vehicles rushed through the streets and through them as they tried to figure out what was happening.

Amy heard then heard a faint voice, trembling and filled with fear. “You heard that right?”

Cassie just nodded as they both began to look around. Soon more voices joined and it became impossible to discern what they were saying. They could feel fear, uncertainty, frustration, despair, anger, and pain in them all.

But most of all they both realized these voices weren’t from the people running and panicking all around them, it was coming from the depths of their own mind. Soon the voices died away and heard only a single one, it was cracking as if on the verge of tears.

All they heard next the voice repeating what it first said followed by loud click before a bright flash blinded them both.

Amy gasped as she found herself back in their shared bedroom. Both of them were panting, covered in sweat.

“The hell was that?” Cassie spoke, her breathing was ragged.

“No idea,” Amy wiped away the sweat on her forehead.

Chapter Text

30^th August

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ, Anterim

The 18th Company stood assembled outside the motor pool, the damp ground beneath them still slick from the heavy storm that had battered the headquarters overnight. Though the rain had ceased an hour ago, the cold morning air still clung to their skin, a biting reminder of the early hour. They stood silently, each squad arranged in precise columns with their junior officers at the front, as thoughts raced through their minds. Why had they been called here in full dress uniform? It wasn’t a barracks inspection as such an effort could’ve been carried out any time during training. No, this was something far more deliberate.

The massive motor pool doors groaned as they began to lift, revealing Company Commander Jasmin and her deputy, Senior Lieutenant Rayla, both dressed in formal attire. What followed next sent ripples of surprise through the ranks. Alongside them stood the entire senior staff, including the senior NCOs assigned to train the fresh recruits, and more shockingly, Colonel Wilkens himself. He was flanked by senior officers of the brigade, and behind them, a squad of soldiers marched in perfect step, carrying standards bearing the ten greatest battles in the 47th Division’s illustrious 211 year history.

The 18th Company maintained discipline, but unease was palpable. They were unsure of what they were witnessing. Suddenly, the loud blare of vehicle horns echoed from within the motor pool. The company's vehicles joined in, their deep roars resonating as the ground began to tremble. From their flanks, vehicles from the rest of the battalion appeared, rolling into position to surround the company, their squads dismounting and forming ranks around the armored columns.

The horns wailed once more, a unified sound that reverberated through the company’s bones. Jasmin, at the head of the formation, stepped forward.

“Company, attention!” she barked, her voice sharp and clear, cutting through the confusion. The soldiers snapped to attention, but still, uncertainty hung in the air.

“Present ranks!” Jasmin ordered. The command was unfamiliar, and the soldiers exchanged quick, puzzled glances. It was not a standard drill command. Then, from the senior officers standing in front of the motor pool, the NCOs marched forward, each one stopping before the junior officers they had mentored during the company’s training. With a solemn precision, each NCO withdrew a small rank pin and pinned it to the collars of the young officers then saluted.

The junior officers returned the salutes, though they could barely conceal their bewilderment. As the senior NCOs completed the task, they moved not to their trainees but toward their own original units, the ones they had come from as the torch had been passed.

“When you arrived,” Jasmin’s voice came over the comms, resonating in the helmets of every soldier present, “you were greenhorns, recruits fresh from the academy, incapable of handling basic tasks. But over these months, you have learned. You have grown. You now no longer need the constant supervision of your seniors.”

The force of her words swept over them, carried by the weight of their training and the gravity of the moment. “You wear those uniforms not because of where you came from, but because of what you are becoming.”

There was a pause, a moment of silence as Jasmin let the significance of her next words settle. “As of this moment,” her voice surged, filled with pride, “the 18^th Company is officially recognized as a combat-ready unit of the 47th Motor Rifle Division. You are now part of the Storm Riders. Stand tall, for today, you carry the weight of this history!”

As one, the entire brigade saluted, the sound of boots snapping together echoing like thunder in the still air.

The history of the 47th Division loomed large over them. Born over two centuries ago as a cavalry unit, the division earned their name when they joined the knights of the Order of the storm Riders as they charged through a storm to flank an enemy army.

An act that had led the masses to call them the Storm Riders. While they could not officially call themselves that as the name of a knight order is exclusive to solely them, however no one within the entrenched and archaic bureaucracy would care as to what a unit unofficially referred to themselves as, so long as the official paperwork didn’t reflect it.

The 47^th was one of the oldest and most venerated units in Katolis and Anterim with two centuries of unbroken service. Only eight other division sized formations could claim a longer lineage, and those were surpassed only by the 30 Knight Orders.

The new officers, like Jasmin and Rayla, had already proven themselves in the last war, earning the right to stand alongside the senior officers. But the rest of the 18th Company was different. They were formed to fill the gap left by the disbandment of the 27th Company that absorbed into the 11th to maintain operational strength.

This formation of fresh graduates was largely untested, their few months of training a trial by fire, intended not only to prepare them but to see if they were worthy of continuing the 47th's storied legacy. Today’s ceremony was the culmination of that test.

Jasmin and Rayla returned to their place within the 18^th company as Colonel Wilkens' stepped forward to welcome the company

33^rd August

Barracks

Rayla saw the 18^th company assemble though this time there was no need for formalities.

“Listen up you lot, now that we are a battle ready company, we get to take part in night time patrols.” Rayla watched as they beamed with excitement. “You’ll get your schedule by next Saturday. Now patrols will last a week then you get two weeks for training in battalion, brigade and division level coordination and tactics in between during the day. So I suggest you start sleeping during the day so your bodies can adjust to it sooner.”

“Now when they first started making the ammo they had a lot of duds, so the standing orders are to fire away will those are all used up.” She watched them feel conflicted about firing duds even though the risk was minimal, “Just remember trigger discipline, just we can fire as much as we can doesn’t mean you should.”

8^th September
Central Command Center, Anterim Fortress

The command center was a hive of activity, after its refit over a year ago, its high-tech systems were humming in the vast, dimly lit room. The sleek, reinforced steel doors slid open with a mechanical hiss as Callum rushed inside.

As the air thickened with tension, he could feel the weight of the moment, the urgency pressing on every corner of the room. There was no time for formalities, only answers.

He approached the Chief of General Staff, who stood by a massive data display. The older man, his face drawn tight in concentration, acknowledged him with a curt nod.

“What’s the SitRep?” Callum demanded, his voice cutting through the murmur of activity. His watch had ticked over eight minutes since he received the alert and rushed here as fast he could.

The Chief of General Staff gestured to the screen. “Sir, it started as a brief blip on our southwest border radar. Later t was close enough for our radars to track it.”

The map on the screen showed a red line stretching from the coastal radar station to further in land. Callum’s eyes narrowed as the line blinked and stopped. It reappeared further inland. No doubt the spy plane was flying without any idea it was passing over their newer more sophisticated radar systems.

“Options?” Callum pressed, watching as the red blips pulsed on the map.

“We don’t have an air defense battery within range that are capable of engaging at this altitude or speed, sir,” The Chief of General Staff replied, his voice steady despite the gravity of the situation.

Callum frowned as he needed things that could be one, “I said options.”

“We sent order to Verdant Air Base to prep and launch the interceptors nine minutes ago,” The Chief of General Staff said, his voice betraying a hint of urgency now.

Verdant was a long distance from the point of detection, and Callum knew it. Even with the speed of their interceptors, it was tight. An interceptor of that speed had to be launched within ten minutes from initial detection. Two prototypes were the only craft capable of catching the target, but it would take precious time to prep them for launch.

“Is this spy plane the same model as before?” Callum asked,

“We can’t be certain,” The Chief of General Staff replied. “The radars are in TWS, but the radar cross-section is consistent with data from Erdus, and the signatures match our previous intel on their aircraft. We presently have no reason to suspect any differences so far.”

Callum nodded. His wives, the Archduchesses of the Dukedom, had made sure that the intelligence-sharing between their nations remained strong but neither had enough air defense, interceptors or radars yet.

Another eleven minutes passed, each second pressing heavier into the atmosphere of the command center. Then the voice of a communications officer broke the tense silence.

“Sirs, interceptors have launched.”

The map flashed, showing two triangles labeled Vampire 1 and Vampire 2, representing the two interceptors. They sped toward the target, their speed climbing rapidly.

The tension thickened as the room fell into a hushed silence. Callum stared at the screen, watching the interceptors gain altitude and speed, while the red dot representing the target continued its course, unwavering.

The officer monitoring the situation reported the flight path. “It’s still heading for…” The officer’s voice faltered as they looked at the readout. “It’s heading for Smedley’s, sir.”

“Smedley’s?” Callum echoed, his voice filled with alarm. The Special Materials & Engineering Division colloquially known as Smedley’s was a newly formed organization tasked with research and development of highly classified projects

The Chief of General Staff barked orders. “Recheck the data. Warn them of this.”

“Was there a leak?” Callum turned to one of the officer at the console. “Check for any other potential targets.”

The officer nodded, his fingers flying over the keys as the map shifted. Three locations now flickered on the screen, one over Smedley’s and two others nearby. The possibility that the enemy might be trying to confirm the exact location of the facility sent a ripple of tension through the room.

“Send orders to the intel division to check for any breaches in security, have another team stay hidden and keep an eye on the intel teams.” Callum said and everyone nodded, the Katolis intelligence division going rogue had taught them to be suspicious of everything and they weren’t willing to risk anything.

“Vampire 1 and 2 are at Mach 3.3. . . .at Mach 3.6…” The reports kept coming. Callum’s heart beat in his throat as they continued heading for the target, and a brief flicker of hope surged through him. Could they pull this off?

Then the radio crackled.

“Urgent report! Vampire 1 is suffering engine issues. It’s breaking off to perform an emergency landing!”

The room fell silent, they all knew the risks of using prototypes and now here was the proof right in their faces.

“And Vampire 2?” the Chief of the Air Fleets asked, his voice betraying the first hint of worry.

“No issues yet, sir.” The officer's words were a thin thread of hope in the dark. Both aircraft were something they couldn’t afford to lose.

Callum could feel the room collectively exhale. Orders were immediately given to launch a rescue team for Vampire 1, but all focus shifted back to the remaining interceptor.

“Vampire 2 is at Mach 4!” came the report. “Still accelerating.”

Every eye followed the numbers on the screen as the interceptor climbed higher. It was the prototype’s moment of truth, if this failed then they would have to cancel the operation.

“Mach 4.5 sustained—no issues!” Another voice reported, the relief in his tone palpable.

Callum’s jaw tightened as the red dot signifying the target continued its course toward Smedley’s with Vampire 2 was still enroute.

“Target is outside radar coverage!” the voice of the officer suddenly blared, breaking the fragile silence. “The target’s disappeared. Likely to reappear in four minutes.”

Every second felt like an eternity as if the target changed course now they wouldn’t realize it until it entered within detecting range of another radar.

Four agonizing minutes passed. Then the target reappeared, still heading for Smedley’s. And there was Vampire 2, on an intercept course.

“Vampire 2, we have you nearing intercept range.” The officer’s voice was steady but urgent. “We’re connecting. Report when ready.”

“—This is Vampire 2, all systems green. Target will enter effective range in 10 seconds.—”

The screen showed a large yellow circle on the map, it was centered around Vampire 2 and the target was now inside that circle. The silence was tense, and then the transmission came through from the interceptor.

“—This is Vampire 2. I have TWS lock. I repeat, TWS lock established. Requesting permission to engage.—”

The room went still, all eyes turning to Callum. As Margrave, he had the final say in this matter. He nodded slowly, his voice low but firm. “Permission granted. Shoot them down.”

“—Yes, Your Excellency.—” A collective breath was held as the officer acknowledged. Callum felt the tension building. The missiles would be away in moments.

“—Specter 1 away. Specter 2 away.—” The pilot’s words came quickly and clearly over the radio.

The map updated, showing the two missiles launched in perfect synchronization, streaking toward the target. The data link between Vampire 2 and its payload was t represented by a blue dotted line connecting the missiles and the aircraft.

“Specters 1 and 2 have attained Mach 8.” The officer’s voice rang out and they waited as the screen get updated by the millisecond.

Everyone held their breath, watching the screen as the missiles were nearing their target and the blue dotted lines on the screen became a single line.

“Terminal phase achieved. Onboard radars active. Lock confirmed.”

Moments later they received information as the IR trackers were active as the missiles neared its target. Another agonizing moment as their eyes were glued to the screen, feeling their heart beating hard inside their chests as the anticipation rose.

“Confirmed hit!” The report came through loud and clear. “I repeat we have hit confirmation. The target is down.”

“Track it and figure out where it’s going to crash. Send recovery teams to secure that place immediately.” Callum’s command was carried out as the command center erupted into cheers, the sound reverberating off the walls. Callum exhaled, feeling the heavy weight of the tension lift. It wasn’t over yet, but this was a victory.

But for now, the room was filled with relief. The mission had been a success. The spy plane was down, and the location of their most sensitive sites remained safe, at least for today.

He quickly dialed the phone to let his wives and the Dukedom know of this, the missile performed well in a live mission though the aircraft will need to undergo maintenance and a thorough reevaluation process.

Chapter Text

14^th September
S.M.E.D – Aeronautics Research Facility

Callum stepped into the cavernous underground hangar, its walls swallowing the echo of his boots on the cold concrete floor. His eyes locked on the wreckage of the downed aircraft, twisted metal and shattered composites scattered around. Despite the severe damage from being intercepted at the speeds it was flying and crashing from such a high altitude, the engineers had managed to piece together much of its original form using what was recovered.

“What have you learned?” Callum's voice was sharp, betraying his eagerness to know more about the machine that had been spying on both his nation and the Erdus Dukedom.

The technician wiped his brow and nodded toward the craft. “It confirms our earlier assumption of being a delta-wing configuration, sir. But this is not a manned aircraft. It's a drone.”

“A drone?” Callum frowned. “Only we’re supposed to have that kind of technology. Have we had a security breach?”

The technician shook his head. “Very unlikely sir.”

“Was there anything noteworthy in its construction?”

“Yes, it’s an alloy of 90% titanium with 6% aluminum and 4% Vanadium though we will need more time to verify if trace amounts of material were used. However we found no indications of stealth geometry or coating.”

He led Callum toward one of several doors, stepping inside it was filled with parts recovered from the wreckage with personnel taking them apart and examining them. They moved to one item in particular.

“Look at this.” He lifted a damaged, box-shaped unit that had been cut open. Inside, Callum saw the fried remains of vacuum tubes, transistors and large integrated circuits at the 200μm process range.

“These are basic ICs,” Callum muttered as this stuff that was modern five years ago when they were first introduced to this stuff but it became outdated in a matter of months as they advanced to the nanometer range. “Simple, but crude.”

“And very prone to failure,” the technician agreed. “We found multiple layers of redundancy, eight layers to be exact, which implies the design wasn’t reliable at all. We estimate the original design may have been meant to accommodate a crew of two or three.”

Callum raised an eyebrow. “So it was originally designed for a crewed mission?”

“That’s our theory. The conversion to a drone seems to be a later modification. Likely due to how unreliable it was.”

“And the propulsion?” Callum asked, glancing toward the opposite end of the room, where one of the destroyed engines was being examined.

“All ramjets,” the technician replied. “However the craft would require a detachable booster to take off due to the engines unique characteristics.”

“What would its operational parameters be?”

“It would fly a pre-programmed route, take aerial photos once over the target, then return home. The Radar Warning System would likely have to be set to trigger the return-to-base function if it detects sustained radar focus, though we still don’t know how they ensured a safe landing with this level of unreliability.”

Callum imagined the drone streaking across the skies undetectable to most radars. “Were you able to recover anything from the memory systems? A flight plan with launch and landing points?”

The technician grimaced. “Unfortunately, the memory storage was intentionally made to be very fragile, a countermeasure in the event of malfunction or interception. There was a small explosive charge inside it so we cannot gain any insight in that.”

Callum sighed, the frustration mounting. “Any clues as to who sent it?”

“We've found no markings, no distinct manufacturing processes in its construction or unique environmental effects on its hull that we can pinpoint to any one nation. The only thing we can be confident of is that it’s not from the Dukedom.” They could be certain because of the shared technology profile they had, there was no reason for them to do this with inferior technology.

Callum frowned, his thoughts racing. “So that leaves four candidates, two of which are our allies. This is going to make for a complicated week.”

The technician nodded. “We’ll have a preliminary report ready in two days, but it could take months to fully analyze everything.”

Callum gave a curt nod and turned to leave, his mind already spinning with how this would turn out.

17^th September

Central Tower, Sanctuary One

Main Conference Room

The Expansive room which was originally austere was now covered in a layer of the familiar and comfortable to hide the metallic sterile walls that housed ancient archaic technologies. The Auditorium could easily seat over a hundred thousands of people with plenty of room to spare though it never even reached a fraction of its capacity under its new occupants during these past five years.

It was now being occupied by members of the Low Assembly of Katolis and the High Soviet of Anterim which were the legislative bodies of both entities. The many other committees and departments of civil, economic and military bodies were present as an emergency session was called merely two days ago.

The speakers of both legislative bodies called the room to order and began the special session. Each person in the auditorium looked at the computer screen in front of them and put on their headphones. The loudspeakers were used of a backup, viewed mostly as decorations these days.

The journalists were also given seats close to the front though they could comment on what took place, they were forbidden from directly interrupting the session.

Callum, the current Margrave of Anterim and Regent of Katolis stood and walked up to the podium, where he had sat where several people of high rank within the administration. He addressed the gathering thanking them for making time though in reality he knew they would’ve been brought here whether they wanted to or not, emergency sessions weren’t optional for anyone but appearances had to be maintained.

“I called have called this emergency session to announce that on the night of September 8^th, our forces detected and intercepted an unknown spy drone entering our borders.”

He was interrupted as the room erupted from all sides be it the representatives or journalists and the entire auditorium had to be brought into order before he could speak again.

“For the past several months this drone had made deep inroads into our airspace though at the time we had no means of intercepting it as it had the ability to move at Mach 3.2 at an altitude of 28-34 kilometers, these characteristics  render it invisible to conventional radar and untargetable by aircraft, airships and anti-air guns in service.” Callum explained then tapped a few buttons on the podium and a large illusory projection of the crash site was depicted, the same was shown in miniature across the screens in front of each person present. The image changed to the inside of a large empty room where the wreckage had been moved into. It was clear they had reassembled the wreckage to as close an approximation of its original form using all that they had recovered.

The images shifted again, this time to an artist’s rendition of the craft based on the wreckage and details they were given on the aircraft. It measured over 44 meters in length with a wingspan of 22 meters and a height of over 6 meters. The wings were a delta configuration with three very long engines, one mounted in each wing with a vertical stabilizer over them, the third engine at the rear of the fuselage.

“The wreckage has been moved to a floor above us and will be available for you to observe it tomorrow.” Callum watched them all focus on the screen in front of them as they went through the preliminary report, its contents had all classified information redacted to be made suitable for public consumption. Afterwards it was time for the representatives to ask question.

“Your Excellency, if this thing is invisible to radar, how did you even know it was there?” A representative asked, being untrained in these matters meant they would have many question.

“Conventional radar is designed to track aircraft moving below the speed of sound. Since this aircraft moved at over 3 times that, the radar would only get a faint momentary blip indistinguishable from any anomaly or error.” Callum explained as he would try to keep things simple but leave the highly technical details to those more qualified. “Our new radar installations have the ability to track them though many of them are still not operational yet.”

“Your excellency, are there alternative means of detecting them?”

Callum tapped a few keys and the image showed a green image but with nothing there, “It uses illusions to render itself invisible to visual identification”

A moment later the image became blue with a single spot that was distinctly bright green, yellow and red, “It uses sky magic to generate cold air which is circulated around the aircraft to make it blend into the night sky, this also reduces its infrared signature allowing it to minimize detection.”

 “Your excellency, if they were detected before then why did it take so long to respond?”

“Several reasons, Firstly they were unlikely to gain much usable data outside of what level of completion a given installation was at which represented no real loss of intelligence.

Secondly, our air defense systems that can engage such targets are not fully operational yet as their personnel are still undergoing training.

Thirdly, only one of our air bases is currently capable of servicing our new aircraft with construction and training of the remaining sites still a year or two away which means any interception can only happen if the target is within that base’s operational range.

Fourthly, the interceptors we used were highly experimental prototypes and we only have two of them, one of them suffered a malfunction during the operation. Any other aircraft we had would not have been able to catch up to it unless it was already patrolling the area.

Lastly, until they are debuted, they cannot take part in live missions without consent from all parties within this joint development treaty unless it was in response to an attack which the drone was not doing.”

Callum finished then let the technical personnel take over giving those gathered a detailed explanation of how the technology worked. The current technological landscape and resulting changes to warfare and military tactics were things that were considered purely fictional until a few years ago, so he had little expectations of them wrapping their heads around it anytime soon.

He watched as the representatives asked questions ranging from if they identified who built them to if they could be weaponized. He found the last one hilarious because of course it could be weaponized, he was certain the media would have a field day with that comment.

He wondered though, which of the four nations built it. They were doing their own joint aviation development so it was likely they all had the ability to do this. This drone used mostly titanium in is construction to withstand the intense heating involved at flying above Mach 3 and titanium was mined in Katolis, Erdus and Del bar which didn’t’ narrow it down since they all exported it as well.

Out of all of them, Estaria was the least likely due to their small size but he couldn’t discount the possibility since they were the first ones to develop submarines so they had a record of ingenuity even if they lacked the resources.

The issue was whether it was one of these nations doing it, or if all of them were doing it independently or jointly. He had no information to help narrow it down.

Several hours had passed and it was 3 AM by the time the technical details were all explained but they all knew it wasn’t over until the Margrave says it.

Callum stepped back on to the podium, “I’d like to continue this session by calling for—” He yawned mid-sentence as staying awake hadn’t gotten easier over the years. “—calling for a re-prioritization of the next budget to enhance our ability to deal with these events.”

By the time it was all over, everyone shambled out of the auditorium like they were the living undead.

18th September

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ

Rayla’s office

 “—we now bring you the recovered remains of the spy drones whose origins remain unknown—” the reported said as the camera panned to the main wreckage. They could see colored metal frames used to hold the entire thing together. “—though it may not appear like it from the TV screen, this aircraft is clearly similar in size to a large bomber. We are told that it can be modified to carry weaponry but the specifics are kept classified.—”

“What kind of weapons would an aircraft like that have?” Sophie asked sitting atop of the desk.

“No idea, let’s leave this to the egg heads.” Alexandra said as all four of them stared at the live broadcast on the computer screen that was going over last night’s emergency session over the enemy spy drone which had caused an uproar across the nation.

The fact that it was shot down was reassuring but Rayla wondered if they decided to announce it only after shooting it down to mollify public instead of letting them panic knowing there was a drone overhead that could potentially be modified to carry weapons.

 “Who do you think made it? The dukedom?” Jasmin asked

“Nah, somehow I doubt they could be behind this since they already know most of what we’re working on.” Rayla answered, being close to the top of both really made that easy to figure out.

 “—Here we have one of its engines according to the redacted report that was made available, it is a mechanism called a ramjet—” the camera focused on the engine, it had cables, pipes and other bits heavily damaged, its main structure was twisted and dented all over.

“—This engine is what allows this aircraft to travel at three times the speed of sound, making it undetectable and untargetable by most radar, aircraft and weapon systems. We have asked the government to comment on the capabilities of the aircraft used to intercept this one but they refused to disclose details citing it as classified. —”

“Think more of these will show up now?” Rayla asked

“Probably not,” Sophie shrugged, “whoever sent them is probably getting cold shoulders after learning we can shoot em down.”

Chapter Text

21^st September

Callum’s office

Callum put the phone on speaker to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, “Please tell me you have anything.”

There was a pause before an answer came “—We talked with diplomatic corps from all four nations and they all deny any knowledge of it, our contacts also have nothing.—”

With that the call ended and Callum groaned in frustration leaning back in his chair as another avenue was closed. It was clear the diplomats would be kept in the dark so they could maintain plausible deniability as they wouldn’t be lying when they said they have no knowledge of it.

“Coffee?” Aleesia asked going through some basic administrative paperwork.

“No,” Callum opened his drawer and pulled out a bottle of soda, “I’m in the mood for something else.”

“So what now?”

“Nothing,” Callum filled two glasses for them both. “Unless we get some credible leads there’s nothing we can do.”

“How big a problem is this?”

“Depends, spying on each other is something every nation does.  They have nothing to gain and much to lose if it got out they did it.”

“So you give up?”

“Yep, by now they’re probably scrapping everything to make sure no evidence can be found. We got requests from Estaria and Del Bar for the data on that drone. They say they want to reverse engineer their own. Cassie said they got similar requests from Evenere and Neolandia.”

“So if one of them is really behind it then why do they need the data?”

Callum sighed, “If they build any new ones, then any old ones can be lumped into that and the trail runs cold. All we can do is charge a pretty coin for that data.”

“Do you think their acting behind the scenes?” Aleesia asked as she didn’t really need to specific who it was but it had bothered her that they had been inactive since the war.

“Honestly no idea,” Callum sighed as he refilled his glass, “If this is just these four nations being cautious then its no big deal. If someone is messing with their heads to get them do this then we got problems.”

“You think they’ll mind control them into attacking us?” Aleesia asked as that was a huge contributor to causing the last war.

“Hardly, if mind control was that effective then they wouldn’t need to play these games behind our backs.”

Aleesia leaned in, her eyes kept blinking which was a clear sign she wanted her curiosity sated now.

Callum rolled his eyes at how she got curios about anything new, “It’s inconclusive but we hypothesize it can’t make you do something you’d normally be opposed to, not without causing extreme personality shifts and mental instability like my step-brother.”

“Isn’t Felix the only one who was like that?”

“Yes but thats because the mind control only made them go to the pyramid and use the black sphere. Everything else they did were things they would've done regardless. It was hard to notice as the dissonance wasn’t too great.” Callum recalled how his mentor’s actions were so consistent. If he hadn’t seen Felix’s sudden change then he might not have connected the dots to realize Oliver was being manipulated.

“So it’s not controlling them, it just makes them more inclined to do certain things?”

Callum nodded, “Even if they haven’t used it, we’re still forced to implement countermeasures that have caused issues for normal governing. I got requests asking these changing be reverted.”

24th September

City of Anrena, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

It had been days since had landed in the ruins of a vast coastal city, where they swiftly erected stone walls to encircle a small area for protection. Unlike the ruins of Traygus, these structures were relatively well-preserved. Tall domes, proud spires, and ancient temples stood defiant against time, as imposing as they had been in ages past. Clearly, this city had been masterfully built to endure even after the great collapse.

Yet, they understood that time would eventually erode even these formidable structures. Whether in centuries or millennia, the decay was inevitable.

Before coming here, they had scoured every city and town across the island of Traygus, recovering what artifacts and records they could find. Among the remnants were items of profound scholarly and cultural significance, yet less than three hundred soul-bound weapons surfaced, along with several times that in ancillary items.

The maps and archives that survived spoke of Folduin—a continent known for its grand cities and deep-rooted history—suggesting it could be a trove of soul-bound armaments. With renewed purpose, the dragons set out in search of it, though it took over a month before they located its shores.

When it became clear that they wouldn’t find any more easily on Traygus, the dragons ordered preparations to depart, much to the disappointment of the scholars and archivists. Many felt there was still much buried knowledge left unclaimed.

Their search now spanned an entire continent. Realizing that their small team wouldn't be enough to cover the terrain, the dragons sent a message back to Elarion requesting reinforcements—both more personnel and more dragons. It was clear that the task ahead would require much more than the handful of them could manage alone.

Back in the ruined city of Anrena, everyone earnestly dove into their work. Everyone except one particular elf.

“Watch it!” Tamnaeth grumbled as he was now covered in dust raining steadily down on top of him. “We came here to uncover stuff, not to cover me in it.”

“Oops, sorry about that,” Ryfon muttered as he paused, waiting for Tamnaeth to move before resuming his meticulous work of brushing a roll of parchment.

“You okay in there, chief?” Avourel called out, spotting Tamnaeth, whose form blended so seamlessly with the dusty surroundings that it was hard to tell he was even there. Their scouting team was busy assisting the scholars.

“I found it!” Katar’s voice broke through the dust-filled air, and everyone rushed down the hallway.

Tamnaeth, his well-trained body already in motion, surged ahead of Ryfon. As he cleared the hallway, he found himself in a vast chamber. The walls were covered with intricate murals made of flat sculpted images interspersed with strange runes. His sharp eyes quickly scanned the space for anything.

Ryfon caught up, eyes darting over the dusty murals. “I think you’re right. This is it.”

Tamnaeth as the representative of the not so scholarly scouting team asked the question that took precedence. “Can’t someone tell me what this even is?”

Katar, eager with discovery, gestured toward the murals. It showed a group of elves circling something, maybe a platform. Then they were placing things on it and raising their arms to the sky. The next image showed the platform glowing with runes all over it.

The images continued, now depicting the platform with what appeared to be a powerful warrior in its center. And in the next image, it was shown battling another group of elves, their figures small and overwhelmed by the size and strength of the warrior.

Tamnaeth furrowed his brow, trying to piece it together. “What is this?”

Katar was already poring over the runes, his voice a mix of excitement and curiosity. “This is the Life Giver of Mountains... or more specifically, it tells us where they could be and how to use it.”

Ryfon shook his head at his not so sharp colleague missing the question entirely. “It’s a tool used to create massive and powerful golems.”

Avourel raised an eyebrow and decided to ask the obvious question. “Don’t we already make golems?”

Ryfon’s fingers traced along a line of inscriptions.  He took out his brush and began sweeping away the dust that has collected on the murals revealing the faded colors and jewels underneath. “If you read your history, you’d know these golems can fight.”

Tamnaeth’s hand moved instinctively toward his sheathed blades. A sudden impulse to silence everyone and seal this place away flashed in his mind. He could easily dispatch them all with his skill but sealing this chamber was a different matter. The sheer size and complexity of the place meant that any attempt to keep it hidden would likely fail. If they didn’t return, a search would inevitably follow, and once the location of this place was discovered, then suspicion would likely fall on him before anyone else unless he could come up with a plausible explanation which he couldn’t.

He decided it was a stupid idea and his muscles relaxed. Part of him felt a fleeting sense of relief as he wouldn’t have to kill Avourel.

He sighed deeply in resignation, feeling the weight of the moment settle on his shoulders. Everything seemed to only be getting worse and all he could do was follow along to see just how bad it really was.

25^th September

Tamnaeth looked down from his perch atop of the dragon as they flew towards the north east. He turned his gaze back up and unfurled the map.

“Lord Taeral, I think our current heading is correct,” Tamaneth saw some hills far away that were marked on the map.

“Excellent,” The lunar dragon eagerly sped up.

“Why do I have to tag along?” Avourel said grumbling as he wasn't allowed to go on his own with a dragon.

“Because I ain’t letting you wander around here unsupervised.”

“Where am I supposed to wander off to? the tail?” Avourel shouted in frustration.

“You’ll find away.” Tamnaeth knew all too well that teenagers will get themselves into trouble no matter what.

Taerel was enjoying himself he listened to them bickering when he noticed the forest abruptly ended. Beyond it the land was barren with only grass.

“Lord Taeral?” Tamnaeth asked as the dragon suddenly stopped.

“This is not natural.” The dragon's instincts told him something was wrong here. “Hold on, I’m going to fly high.”

The lunar dragon ascended quickly while his gaze remained affixed to the ground. The tree line was clean and formed a very slight curve. “Is this on the map?”

“No clearing or anything else” Tamanaeth looked over the map again for any worlds or notes.

This was clearly not supposed to be here, flying along the tree line did confirm that it did form a massive circle which led to another question, why did it do that?

“I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing here.” Avourel peered down trying to see what had the two spooked.

“Tree lines do not form clear borers.” Tamnaeth had clearly understood what the lunar dragon was implying. “Not unless you actively cut them to maintain that appearance.”

Taeral just nodded as the population of thiscontinent was wiped out long ago which made them all feel uneasy. A kilometer on the opposite side was another tree line which indicated this clearing was in the shape of a ring.

Landing near the edge of this inner tree line, the two scouts quickly dismounted and readied their bows as they proceeded into the forest to investigate. Taeral stayed at the edge of the forest ready to force his way through if they called for him.

The birds and insects were lively but after moving a hundred meters the forest seemed to get darker despite the afternoon light flooding through the canopy which unsettled them.

The young scout looked around, suppressing the slight tremble in his arms and instead focused on what was nearest trying to assess the situation. He felt safe knowing that Tamnaeth would spot any real dangers.

“Huh, what is that?” He squinted seeing something through the trees, quickly letting out a silent whistle and gestured to the direction. “It’s not far,”

They moved further in until they saw it. An animal carcass, only it was impaled on the branches high up with its guts exposed.

“Ambush predator, must’ve carried it up there.” Tamaneth could tell it was days old, he tried to use the carcass and trees to try and estimate the size of the creature that killed it. A slight breeze was coming from behind them so their scent would be carried deeper in. If the predator was nearby then it might come to investigate.

“Uhh chief?” Avourel was hunched over examining a block of stone that the tree roots had grown over. The stone hadn’t suffered any weathering or cracks, there was a rune inscribed on its surface. Looking back they could see more of these stone blocks despite being partially covered with vegetation.

“I think we should ask the bookies about this when we get back, they’ll have a_”

“Shhh” Tamnaeth's eyes darted left and right as he unsheathed his blades, “It's all gone quiet.”

Avourel nocked a lightning arrow and steadied his breathing. Scouts were taught that birds, insects and other animals would become silent if they sensed danger nearby.

Tamnaeth began looking more carefully. From the trees, the ground, the vegetation, trying to find anything amiss when his eyes landed on something in the trees. It was a hand but after staring at it long enough it became apparent it was just an odd growth the trunk.

That only lasted a moment as hand moved before something big moved, obscured by the trees.

“Run!” Tamnaeth said as they both ran back as fast as their feet could carry them. He occasionally glanced back to see if they were being pursued as a lightning arrow was shot high up, the thunderclap was received by Taerel who roared in acknowledgement. There was around a hundred meters to cover but to them it felt much longer.

They eventually broke through the tree line, their lungs burned from exertion as they ran past the lunar dragon that moved to stand between them and the forest. 

The dragon stood on his his hind legs, wings spread wide before roaring into the tree line. Ready to burn everything in front if whatever they were running from would dare give chase.

Seeing nothing come forward he realized it must be safe now and turned to his compatriots who were panting. “Are you injured? What were you running from?”

"Tamaneth struggled to form words, "Large predator, couldn't see clearly but it had hands."

"Runes glowing bright," Avourel leaned on his bow for support, "they were on stone block."

“Get on.” Taeral lowered himself so they could climb on, “we’ll inform the others on the way back.”

They were quickly airborne, and continued their original heading which to their dismay, the map pointed them many kilometers straight to the middle of this forest.

Chapter Text

City of Anrena, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

It was evening when Taeral flew over the perimeter wall. They were given a wide berth to land before several people rushed to them eager to find out if they were successful or not.

“Gather everyone,” Taeral instructed as he laid down on the stone streets to rest.

By nightfall everyone of note had gathered. Tamnaeth looked around and saw Ryfon and Katar among those present, they were chatting with his team.

"I take it you've found something huge?” Zarvoril, the official leader of the expedition asked, hoping they had found the city.

“We have.”

“Excellent, we shall head out tomorrow and retrieve the Life Giver of Mountains,” Zarvoril declared as those gathered cheered.

“There’s more.” Taeral cut in with a tone of uneasiness that the other dragons easily noticed. “There's a ring shaped clearing in the forest, at its heart is the city. I became suspicious so I had my two compatriots go in to see if they could find anything.”

Tamnaeth after receiving a nod spoke up, “We had managed to get two hundred and fifty meters when we found the carcass of what I believe was a large deer hung high up in the trees. Then we found white stone blocks, each with a single large rune carved into it all around us, they were covered in roots, soil and vegetation yet none of them had any weathering or cracks.”

“Excuse me?” One of the scholars interrupted, “Can you describe the runes?”

“I only saw one but it was a straight vertical line with two lines originating from the center slopping upwards away from the middle, like a person waving their hands.”

“Algiz, it detonates protection or protector, though the literal meaning refers to a deer or deer like.” The scholar turned to his colleagues to discuss further.

Tamnaeth continued where he left off, “Before we could examine it further, the forest became dead silent all of a sudden. As I looked around to see if anything was there, I saw a large palm holding on to the side of tree trunk, when it moved I caught the glimpse of something large moving but I couldn’t see anything more. We ran back to Lord Taeral immediately after.”

The gathering had gone silent and Zavoril turned to his kin, “Could this be a creature like those two legged monsters we encountered?” He recalled their first time encountering them, they breathed purple flames which were painful even for sun dragons and he wasn’t going to take the chance of one roaming around.

“It is possible,” Ignivarus slowly got up, “But this is the first time we've seen one last past noon.”

“If I may,” One of the scholars spoke up, “It could be that this a normal flesh and blood creature of this continent.”

Zavoril nodded, “I chose caution. Those blocks might give us some clue that we can look for in the archives.”

28^th September

In the dimly lit archives of Anrena, Tamnaeth sifted through brittle tomes and yellowed scrolls. Dust clouded the air with every page he turned.

“You found anything?” Tamnaeth put down the text which only held irrelevant details. They were busy in the old archives looking for any useful leads while the scrolls and tomes already taken out were being looked into.

“Not unless you saw more of what it looked like.” Katar was flipping through a tome on animals then looked at shelves filled with ancient lore, “If it’s a normal creature then it should be in here somewhere. If not then we’re wasting time.”

“What about this?” Ryfon turned over a tome over revealing a tall creature with thick long fur across its body and stood upright on two legs. “It’s called a starefoeta.”

They saw a depiction of an elf beside it for scale which put its height to be almost two meters tall,

 “The height is about right but the hand seems too big.” Tamaneth quickly recalled.

The next page had a depiction of its head, they noticed its hairless face was flat with lips and a nose that was reminiscent of a person only animalistic with sharp pointed teeth. Even the messy long fur on its head and its chin made the similarities to a face uncanny.

“They are solitary predators, they'll eat anything.” Ryfon quickly went over the details which was large, "Good news is that they were completely wiped out thousands of years ago.”

“What if some survived and their numbers grew?” Katar quickly countered.

Ryfon shrugged as he couldn’t argue against that logic since the continent was huge. “”Then we got a big predator on the lose.”

“Does it say how fast they move?” Tamnaeth began wondering what to do if they encountered it again.

“Faster than a person.” Ryfon turned the page and kept reading, “Says its skin is so thick that blades aren’t that effective unless you hit a vital area. It’s better to use poisons or to trap it then burn it alive.”

Evening

They all gathered as they and everyone else had found several likely creatures within the archives but the starefoeta was the only one with hands like what Tamnaeth saw. After some deliberation they decided it was the creature and used whatever was in the tomes to figure out its behaviors so that they could prepare for it.

“Now let us move on to the forest itself,” Zarvoril said as the creature wasn’t the main problem here, “Has there been any progress on learning why the forest is like that?”

The fact that no one said anything meant they had found nothing, Zarvoril pondered their next course of action, the runes and forest were a very different matter as any old magic still working had to be treated with caution considering how far from home they were.

Eventually a decision was made, “We shall remain here another week to study the archives further, in the meantime a team shall be sent to investigate the forest and those runes. If they can’t find any danger then we move on to the city as planned.”

29^th September

Unknown forest

Tamnaeth kept a sharp lookout for the starefoeta, there were nineteen other scouts besides him were present and formed a perimeters a hundred meters away from the ten scholars assigned to them who were studying the stone blocks.

He heard a short whistle from one of the scouts. Heading towards it he realized the reason. There was another deer carcass on the trees only this one was all bone and fur with vines and moss growing all over it.

“Must’ve been an old kill.” Sayun the most season tracker among them was investigating it. “Either they have large territories or this is an old hunting ground.”

“We head back.” Tamnaeth tightened his grip on his bow, they were in a different part of the forest far away from where he and Avourel first set foot in. If its hunting territory was massive then they were safe but if not then they needed to regroup.

The forest was still full of the sound. A clear sign there as nothing dangerous nearby meaning they shouldn’t wait around for that to change especially with sun starting to go down.

As they made it back, the scholars were still busy investigating the blocks. Tamnaeth took whistle from his pocket and blew it hard. After a few minutes the scouts gathered and the scholars began to pack up their things.

“Wait!” a tidebound elf called out as everyone turned to them, “Caeden and Nenu aren't here.”

“The eight least experienced will escort the scholars out of here. The rest of us will go look for him.” Tamaneth ordered before any panic could take hold and they quickly formed into two groups.

“Which direction were they?” Sayun asked,

“That way.” The tidebound elf pointed to the left.

They kept walking through the forest as it was starting to get dark, everyone kept their arrows nocked. 

Sayun was busy tracking the two missing scouts, his confusion apparent as the footprints were steady and consistent. There was no sign of panic, pursuit or anything as if they were on a stroll and nothing could explain it. Then the footprints stopped and everyone could identify the impression left in the soil.

The two scouts for some reason had dropped to their knees,, their palms left deep impressions on the soil. Ahead was a large flat stone but there was nothing to indicate they leapt onto it.

“Why here and why did they get on their knees?” Sayun asked as he looked around. The trail ended here so where were they? It was as if they just vanished. It was getting darker and the rest didn’t have a moonshadow elf's vision at night,

“AAAAH!”

They all turned at once, arrows nocked and ready to fire. They saw one of them on the ground, blood on his face as his gaze was cast upwards. Looking up they froze seeing the lifeless body of one of the missing scouts. His body was impaled on the branches like the deer carcasses.

“Signal the dragons, we’ll go up the trees.” Tamnaeth loosed a lightning arrow at the sky, it exploded with a bright flash and loud thunderclap. Several more followed suit as illumination arrows were fired at the trees to give them as much vision as possible.

They began climbing the trees, grabbing the body and carrying it with them while looking around for any signs of the other one or the thing that did this. Reaching the top of the trees, they heard the beating wings of the dragons hovering high above them. There was no area for them to land so they lowered their tails as everyone climbed one by one.

Tamnaeth was the last one to climb on, keeping his eyes downcast hoping to catch a sight of the missing scout. But there was nothing, just the trees and the growing darkness which the creature hid in and he was certain it was probably watching them.

City of Anrena, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

Zarvoril and the other dragons gathered around as the investigation team returned. They noticed the faint smell of blood and grew worried as they noticed a body in Tarel's claw.

“One dead, we have another missing.” Taerel gently set the bloodied body down. They all saw the abdomen was torn open.

“What happened?” Zarvoril asked as several healers rushed to the group.

“My lords,” Sayun stepped forward, “We formed a perimeter so that the scholars could investigate in safety. When we all regrouped we noticed two of our own were missing. We split into two teams. We found this one impaled high up in a tree.”

“the second one?” Ignivarus asked.

“No sign of him my lords.”Sayun shook his head as his palms tightened into fist, “According to the imprints on the soil, they seemed to be on their knees before whatever happened to them.”

“I’m calling off the investigation into the forest. You will instead fly over the area and look for our missing comrade. No one is to set foot inside the forest until further notice.” Zarvoril commanded, he wanted to know very badly what was happening but he couldn’t risk more lives.

“What of the city?” Ignivarus asked, “It’s clearly within this forest.”

“We can't set up camp there. We’ll spend a few more days look through the archives here before we and head back before sun down each day until we have taken what we need. F”

 “You doing okay kid?” Tamnaeth walked up to Avourel who stared at the corpse, the young skywing elf was visibly shook and tried to bravely nod but Tamnaeth wasn’t fooled. No one would be fine after seeing a corpse for the first time especially under these circumstances. “Go with Elred and Emmyth, get some food in your stomach.”

Chapter Text

2^nd October

City of Lurik, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

The dragons descended into the heart of the city, the temple complex beneath were worn down with several parts having collapsed yet most of it was intact.  Landing in the courtyard then elves quickly dismounted and began looking around.

Avourel peered over a fallen statue of a four legged animal, “Where’s the head?” Pointing to its neck, its head wasn’t nearby and none of the broken stone nearby looked like it would conform to the shape of an animal head.

“It’s a headless statue,” Katar mused as bending down and touched the neck area, “the head would’ve been made of iron and hollow, then plastered over. The legs wouldn’t be able to support the weight otherwise.”

“So why’re they all the same?” Avourel switched his gaze from one fallen statue to the next and they were all the same.

“Gratitude, they were used as bait to wipe out the starefoeta. Afterwards they started viewing the deer as a helper sent by the spirits to aid them and built this temple.”

“Shouldn’t there also have been statues in the other cities?” Emmyth recalled not seeing anything like this in the other cities.

“Not exactly, it depends on what the statue is about.” Ryfon answered, going through the archives had given them a lot of knowledge on the cultural practices of these lands.

Eventually they arrived at an open area where the dragons and mages were quickly clearing the debris.

“This is it.” Ryfon pointed to the center of the area where they saw a large stone platform. “That is the life giver of mountains.”

“I was expecting something,” Emmyth gestured to it for emphasis, “well more.”

“It doesn’t need to look pretty, that was what the structures around it were for.”  Katar answered back as they all tried to picture what it might have looked like. A ring of pillars holding up a massive tent, mages and priests carrying out ceremonies around it.

“So I take it we’re heading home after this?” Tamnaeth hid the rising hope in his voice.

“Nah,” Ryfon countered swiftly, “There’s still the matter of find enough soul bound armaments and other stuff.”

3^rd October

“I was honestly expecting us to trigger some kind to ancient trap when we found it.” Elred was lookinh out the window, the life giver of mountains was disc shaped and secured with chains. Several dragons  were lifted it into the air using chains as their bodies slowly became wreathed in lightning.

“There probably was one but it might have stopped working long ago, we don’t really know much about the magic our ancestors used outside of vague details.” One of the scholars said as they were packing the old tomes stored within the building.

Now that they found the item in question, they needed to find a detailed set of instructions on how to properly use it but the archivists and scholars had taken the liberty to get everything else as well with the argument that they didn’t have the time to look through them all.

It was an argument that even Zavoril couldn’t refuse as it was on his orders that they couldn’t waste time sifting through the tomes for useful information.

"So whats that about?" Avourel pointed to the damaged wall section, on it were sculpts depicting two warriors with lines of script underneath them.

"That's Ranya and Bermun, the last heroes of this city, it was made by the last survivors before they too perished." Ryfon said as he and the others examined it the moment it was found,

"It's a shame as there won't be any writings on them," one of the scholar added lamenting the loss of of their tale, "we don't even know which race they were."

10^th October

City of Lurik, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

“All four missing?” Taerel was shocked at this news. The dragon raised himself on his hind legs and looked around, the cold storm winds didn’t carry any unfamiliar scents which was somewhat of a relief but his concern shifted to those standing beside him.

They had decided that squads would remain together and a dragon would be close to render assistance in case anything happened. Sayun and Tamnaeth’s teams were resting around Taerel when the scout came calling for help.

“We don’t know for certain my lord. Our teams were supposed to meet up but they never showed.” The scout panted heavily as told them what happened, “Our captain got worried so he told me to contact you all in case they weren’t just late.”

“Smart idea,” Sayun commented on how prudent that choice was, a false alarm was always better than a real one. The seasons tracker stared at the sky, the thunder storm was still rolling in slowly darkening the entire city. He found it concerning as the Starefoetta was nocturnal and last two went missing in the dark forest at evening so they were confident they were safe during the day when the sun was out.

But he had no idea if it would come out of the forest if it as cloudy like now. The creature had evaded them easily in the forests and the direction the scout came from had a lot of trees growing in the ruins.

“Tam, you and your team head back and inform the others.” Sayun turned to the sun dragon, “My lord, we should search for them from the sky.”

“I agree,” Taerel waited for the five elves to climb on before he flew off.

Tamnaeth knew he had nothing to worry about, those four would be safe flying high above the ruins. He then turned to Avourel, “Fly to them, it’ll be faster than you moving with us.”

Avourel didn’t argue as he took off and the three adults felt glad that the young boy would be safe in case anything happened to them.

“You think they’re really missing?” Elred asked occasionally glancing behind them as they moved towards the camp.

“Let’s not risk it,” Tamnaeth said, in fact they hadn’t launched a lightning arrow into the sky solely because they weren’t sure.

Further south of the city,

High above the ruins, Taeral scanned the area trying to see or smell anything out of the ordinary. They had earlier flew over where the scout had split with his team but they found nothing so they would fly along the direction the missing team was.

The first two who went missing never fired any lightning arrows so they were worried since the two teams they were looking for didn’t do it either. There was the possibility that they were fine but they couldn’t afford to take such a chance.

“It’ll rain soon,” Taerel picked up the faint smell of parched soil from far away, but he quickly noticed a familiar scents. “They’re up ahead.”

“How many?” Sayun asked

“Five no six mayb… there’s blood!” The sun dragon sped up as he readied his fire breath should it be needed.

Minutes later they landed where the scent the was strongest, the elves quickly got off.

“Stay sharp,” Sayun yelled as they readied their weapons. Taerel was downwind of them, if anything tried to come at them from behind then it would have to go through a mighty sun dragon.

They noticed a small smear of blood on the broken pavement. They moved slowly taking in their surroundings for any sign of movement.

They found more blood and it led to inside a building, Taeral had them halt as he used his claws and tore off a large portion of the roof then peered inside.

“there’s blood but no bodies.” The dragon moved back as he gave them a signal to enter,

Inside the elves found several soul bound armaments, the floor was smeared with blood in several locations. Sayun knelt beside the nearest pool of blood, it wasn’t enough cause death from blood loss but the wound had to be serious.

Moving to the other areas he wondered what exactly happened. The trail of blood indicated the missing scouts were brought here unconscious. Then laid on the floor before they were killed with a single fatal wound likely to their neck resulting in the blood they now see.

But this just raised more questions, what was the point, why not just kill them then bring them here? There was nothing in the building to indicate it was unique or had been used before.Then there was the issue of the soul bound armaments which did explain why Taerel found a faint scent to follow but no explanation as to why they were taken off.

They wee interrupted as it began to rain, and it would wash away any scents for them to follow. They reluctantly had to accept that there was no point in continuing and went outside,

“My lord this is clearly no beast, this is, well I’m not sure.” Sayun wasn't sure they were dealing with an animal nor an intelligent one for that matter.

Taerel nodded as even he had doubts, the archives spoke the starefoeta understood tools and traps on some abstract level but this clearly didn’t align with their findings. This was something more.

Back at the temple,

Tamnaeth and the others arrived and saw they were already climbing on to the platforms so the dragons would lift them all out of there. Avourel had busied himself helping the scholars move their tomes and parchment into crates then covering them in large leather sheets.

Minutes later Taerel rejoined them and spoke of what they found which perturbed some and greatly worried everyone else.

“Two are missing,” one of the scholars yelled as they did a head count, panic quickly spread among them.

Tamnaeth looked around and realized it was Ryfon and Katar who were missing.

“Where were they last?”

“In the eastern end of the archives, fourth floor.” One of them shouted,

“I’ll fly over there,” Avourel flew off before anyone could stop him.

“Dammit, I’m going after him.” Tamneth's earlier prediction being proven right. “You two stay with lord Taerel and join us once everyone here is on secured.”

The corridors were eerily silent, the only sound the distant rumble of thunder. Tamnaeth ascended the staircase to the fourth floor, swords drawn and eyes darting to every shadow.

“Kid? Ryfon? Katar?” His voice echoed, swallowed quickly by the oppressive stillness.

“Over here!” Avourel’s voice rang out.

“Damn it,” Tamnaeth muttered scanning the area as he made his way to the boy, the labyrinthine layout of the archives making it impossible to see far. “We need to move fast. This place—”

“Whats this,” Avourel saw a piece of parchment hanging off the nearest shelf, on it was a message written ‘jump in here to escape’. Looking down he saw a sliding chute where parchment rolls would be dropped into. Was this Ryfon and Katar’s doing or was this a trap? He pondered on it and showed it to Tamnaeth.

Avourel began lookign around and stiffened when he heard something nearby.

Moving ahead to see who it was, looking through the bookshelves he could see the cloths the scouts all wore and he felt relieved that back up arrived. He turned the corner to greet them then screamed.

“Kid?!” Tamnaeth rushed towards Avourel, finding the boy on the floor shaking. Following his gaze Tamnaeth froze.

He saw one of the missing scouts, only he had no head, the area around his neck had fully healed over. The arms were raised up with fingers elongated almost to a full meter.

The storm outside was getting worse and he quickly pulled Avourel back to his feet, he could hear footsteps from all around.  Seeing no clear path to the windows he decided to risk it.

“Down the chute,” Tamnaeth drew his blades,

“We don’t know whats down there?” the boy argued.

“Can’t be worse than this.” Tamnaeth countered as Avourel folded his wings tight then slid down the chute before he followed after.

They existed the chute crashing into the hard floor, they both groaned wondering where they were.

“Our rescuers are in need of rescuing it seems.” Ryfon commented helping them up,

“Can’t complain about having weapons though,” Katar quickly closed the chute shut with several large rocks.

“You two are okay?” Tamnaeth asked as he tried to shake off the pain from his fall, looking around they were in a small chamber illuminated by a single illumination spell. “that’s good news”

“Good news?!” Avourel pointed vigorously at the now closed chute as he finally snapped, “How is any of this good news?!”

“He’s right, its terrible news.” Katar said dryly trying to keep the terror down with a bit of humor.

“Right now, we’re all in the repository,” Ryfon quickly walked towards a stairway leading up, “Now come on, we gotta get out of here.”

“We’ve managed to clear most of the stairway and came back when he heard you.” Katar picked up a few books as they began climbing the stairs. The chamber they were in was where all the tomes and parchment ended up to be collected if they needed to move large amounts of them out of the archives instead of having to carry them down the stairs.

“Any idea on what happened to them.” Avourel kept pointing behind them.

“We found a few tomes about it, then we ran into them and ended up here.” Ryfon explain as he held up a few books, “We shouldn’t have come here.”

“Yeah its too dangerous,”

“No,” Ryfon gritted his teeth, “it’s worse than that. We can’t let anymore fall no matter what.”

Before he could speak further their path was blocked by debris.

“Allow me.” Tamnaeth unsheathed his sword. Using its power he began slowly moving the debris, the other three grabbed the heavy rocks and started moving them by hand. He hadn’t mastered this aspect of his armaments but it would be faster than if he use his hands.

Once enough of the debris was cleared they saw light coming through and ran up the stairs. They emerged into the lobby and found one of those headless things waiting for them but fortunately the exit was in the opposite direction.

“I’ll cover the rear.” Tamnaeth drew his bow as the rest ran while he slowly moved backwards never taking his eyes off the creature. He started moving to the right and it turned towards him.

He loosed two arrows, an illumination arrow followed by a regular one. The first one erupted into a bright flash near it but the creature swatted away the follow up arrow with its hands.

Not sight base then, he thought. It had no eyes so it should’ve been obvious but the fact it moved without a head meant he couldn’t be certain. He loosed another arrow that created a loud thunderclap but he got no response which meant sound wasn’t what it relied on either.

That left only smell, he pulled out a small pouch from his cloth and tied it to an arrow and loosed it. The creature swatted it away causing its contents to scatter all over it yet still there was no reaction.

Seeing no point in staying further, he quickly bolted for the exit and noticed two more if the creatures had appeared behind the first one. He quickly heard a small thunderclap followed by a draconic roar which did wonders for his morale.

He ran out the building and was immediately buffeted by the heavy rain, rejoining the others the two kept their arrows trained at the door as the creatures slowly shambled towards them. The storm had made everything as dark as night.

A thunderous boom erupted as Taerel landed behind them, seeing the creatures he moved ahead to protect the elves.

“My lord, we need to escape now.” Ryfon shouted over the thunderstorm as he and the other elves quickly climbed on.

“What are these—”

“Just fly!!” Ryfon shouted cutting of the sun dragon. “You can’t stop them!”

Tamnaeth gave one final glance and saw something else in the back, he couldn’t tell what it was until a flash of lightning illuminated its features for the briefest of moment and he felt the same terror as when he first encountered the ghoul, no this felt more malevolent.

He quickly climbed on before the ground began to shrink away as Taerel quickly flew up and joined the other four dragons that waited for them.

“Where is everyone?” Tamnaeth asked as he couldn’t see any dragons besides the five present,

“We had them leave the moment you two disappeared.” Sayun answered as the dragons began to fly them back to their camp at Anrena. Far away from this place.

Chapter Text

City of Anrena, Continent of Folduin, Outside the Veil

The storm passed swiftly, leaving the city unscathed. Yet, the news brought back by those returning from Lurik was far more troubling than the weather.

Those of rank within the expedition had gathered with the scholars to discuss particularly the notes that Ryfon and Katar found which they both said were of vital importance.

“You may both begin,” Zarvoril began after getting confirmation that the camp was now being heavily patrolled.

“Thank you my lord,” Ryfon turned to everyone present, “Katar and I had found a journal detailing the location of other great artifacts when we noticed several aged leather bags, they had stacks of parchment inside which they found was unusual. Normally, such documents would have been compiled into books and archived, which is why it caught their attention.

One of the scholars spoke up, “Which section of the archive was it in?”

“Theology.” Ryfon answered gently placing them down, “These were the very last written works of this city. The mural on the damaged wall section was made in case these were lost.”

“Does it say what this creature is?” Taerel was convinced that this wasn’t a mindless beast but their research had yielded nothing.

“We are not dealing with an animal, but a great spirit.” Katar’s answer was met with shock and disbelief even by the dragons.

Spirits were treated as being allegory to denote significance whenever they were mentioned in scriptures or any text for that matter. Sol Regem was currently the oldest living being they knew of and this view predated even him.

The pair explained that as they initially deduced, the people of this continent used the deer to lure the starefoeta. This led to them venerating it as a sacred animal and built the city of Lurik. From then on every year they would sacrifice an old deer to mark another year where the starefoeta was wiped out.

Many lifetimes passed and one day, a great spirit in the form of an elk appeared on the sacrificial altar. Their interactions with it were cordial and the land became richer as it walked among them. Slowly people shifted their veneration from the deer to the spirit itself.

Over the generations they noticed their worship was empowering the spirit allowing its blessing to be more potent. Their lives changed as the food they grew seemed to keep unnaturally long which they easily found buyers for and brought in wealth allowing the people to live prosperous lives.

Ryfon and Katar called a moon mage from those gathered and showed them a depiction of the spirit along with other details. The illusion of it the man conjured left everything speechless, it was truly beautiful.

They returned to the topic at hand, the people lived in harmony with the spirit until civil war broke out throughout the empire. The dragons and mage of the continent had left to fight but the spirit chose to not involve itself in the conflict.

But that would not last, in the final days of the civil war, the world turned to hell where every night they would be beset by hordes of monsters. With so few mages they could not operate the Life giver of mountains effectively, even the great spirit was only able to reduce their losses.

The spirit grew weaker as the population kept declining, in desperation it demanded they worship hard and give it more offerings but that did little to change their situation as its injuries only grew more severe fighting the endless hordes.

What they realized too late was that like how the spirit’s existence changed them, their worship also changed the spirit, molding it into benevolent provider and protector.

But now their worship was fueled by fear, paranoia and desperation. Slowly it twisted the spirit into something malevolent. This became apparent when the spirit took the dying and severed their heads, turning them into unkillable thralls to fight alongside it till.

He added that their previous assumption that the statues were originally made headless due to a lack of adequate material and that they later attached a hollowed out head made of iron was wrong. It turned out that these statues were toppled and their heads removed due to such objects seeming to provide the spirit with a very small amount of strength.

Eventually those still alive decided that this had to stop. One morning when the spirit retuned gravely injured, they attacked it.

The mages who still lived operated the life giver of mountains, the small army of golems pinned the thralls while they worked to bring down the spirit.

Two warrior, Ranya and Bermun sacrificed themselves to behead the spirit. With no commands coming, the thralls ceased moving. But their victory was hollow as the spirit was not banished back to its realm, it laid there twitching besides its severed head.

They took the head and performed a ritual to bind the spirit to the land for all eternity so that the world would be spared from what they had unleashed.

The thralls would remain unless their true heads were found and burnt. The spirit had severed the heads off the dying and bound their souls to it, giving them a twisted form of immortality where they were kept in perpetual worship of it while their bodies were used to create the thralls.

The survivors worked tirelessly by constructing countless blocks of stones empowered with runes around the forest creating a barrier as a precaution should the binding ever come undone. The large portion of the forest was cleared in the shape of a ring, the delineation marking where the barrier was.

They wrote down all that happened and created the wall sculpts in honor of Ranya and Bermun’s selfless sacrifice.

As their work was nearly finished, their fears came to pass and the spirit now enraged by their betrayal had tried to subvert their mind to undo the binding but they resisted to the bitter end.

Eventually the survivors had only one task left to complete, they set themselves aflame to deny the spirit any of their souls. Their burning corpses marked the final deaths the land would see for eons to come.

Katar turned to Zarvoril and lowered his head, “My lord, I beg you, we must return the life giver of mountain at once. It is the last line of defense our ancestors put in place and powered a second barrier that kept the spirit from entering the city.”

The weight of his words fell on them. They had lost seven people inside the city only after they removed the life giver of mountains. They continued elaborating the details that were written down then Zarvoril pondered on it for a moment before deciding.

“It is regrettable but we cannot allow this spirit to escape. We have no choice, we must return it but it will be done only when we can do it safely.” The lunar dragon made his declaration. He wished they could take it with them but this spirit now knew of their existence, if it escape then how long would it be before it arrived on the shores of Xadia? It was too dangerous so he made his decision quickly before any question or debates could arise on the topic.

“But what of those who have been turned?” Tarel asked, feeling it was his fault for having Tamnaeth and Avourel look into the forest and bring their existence to the attention of this spirit. From his perspective, these deaths were due to his actions alone.

“There is some good news,” Ryfon managed as he turned the pages, “Our ancestors were too paranoid to leave things to chance so the barrier has two other functions. It slowly weakens the spirit and as for the thralls, it undoes whatever is binding their souls to their heads. It will take centuries but we can’t risk looking for them.”

“You said it can twist our minds?” Sayun rubbed his chin as he began to explain his suspicions. The first two who went missing were probably being manipulated by the spirit into worshipping it before it killed one of them and turned the remaining one into a thrall. The other seven would have met a similar fate.

“I believe that would be safe assumption. It might have been so weak that its ability to influence our minds wasn’t enough so it targeted those isolated.” Ryfon offered his conjecture.

“If worshiping it wrongly was what changed it then couldn’t we worship it back into something nice?” One of the scouts asked

“Excellent idea, we could also ask it if it wants to come with us to Xadia!!!” Avourel snapped at them man and no one argued as the idea was too risky to entertain.

“I saw it and I doubt you anyone would want to worship it.” Tamnaeth spoke in agreement with his teammate.

“Perhaps this would help convince everyone.” Ryfon and called the moon mage again and this time the man was horrified by what he was shown. He reluctantly created a large illusion of it which made everyone turn sick.

Gone was the breathtaking beauty and divinity of the earlier depiction. Its fur replaced by scarred skin riddled with diseased growths, spines growing out of its back.

It had a new ‘head’ made from two severed torsos fused together at the waist. Ranya and Bermun took its head so it used their bodies to make a new one for itself.

The upper torso had no head, its arms raised high and fingers elongated to form antlers. The lower torso had its arms dangling, behind the stump of the neck was a misshapen head with two yellow glowing eyes.

“That’s it alright.” Tamnaeth recalled what he saw, now understanding what those things were but he had another question, “They don’t seem to rely on sight, sound or smell so do we know how to fight them?”

“By completely immobilizing them.” Katar answered adding that burning them to ashes had no effect since they would reappear quickly.

11^th October

City of Lurik

It was the middle of the day when the dragons were carefully lowering the life giver of mountains. Around them the elves gathered in the open courtyard with weapons poised to strike at anything they saw while the remaining dragons circled high above them.

The massive stone disc was set back into its original place with a heavy thud, The life giver of mountains glowed as the runes on its came to life.

“Whats happening?” Taerel watched as the winds picked up and the ground lit up with power that prickled their skins and in the distance they saw a wall of light form around the city’s outer edge.

The ground beneath began to churn and flow like water as golems began to emerged, they were of warriors mounted on cavalry. Each one was so detailed that no skilled sculptor could hope to match.

The golems rode out into the city as more were being created, each formation taking a different direction.

“They are hunting for the thralls in the city.” Katar held tightly to the texts they had recovered. With that everyone felt more at ease since the golems would

Zarvoril admired the golems moving to carry out their last orders. There may be another of this ancient artifact around somewhere else so there was still hope that they could accomplish their original objectives but this disaster had been rectified.

Neuhrith City, Vasuria, Subterranean Realm 1

Prince Kaarel and his delegation from Regalia sat in conference, on the opposite side were several ministers and officials from the kingdom of Vasuria. The long table acting as a divide between the two sides.

“I was expecting some of the royal family to be present.” Kaarel spoke as he measured the opposite side.

Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, Vasuria still had no real monarch and so the duties of the head of government were taken over by a conclave of the royal heirs in an acting capacity till the matter could be resolved.

“I’m afraid they can only provide consultation in this matter.” The minister of the crown spoke who acted as head of state. He introduced the minister of the treasury, the minister of lands & titles, the commander of the national army and the minister of the trade. In a nearby room were other officials present to offer consultation if it were needed.

They began by laying out a map and marking the territories under discussion, Temirov and the territory to its north along with several other territories had their borders highlighted in yellow. On the Regalian map several territories in their south western regions were highlighted in blue.

Kaarel studied the map, those south western regions had decent sized cities and a thriving textile and farming sectors, they used to boast mines but they had run dry decades ago. The region was slowly expanding their cities but its population wouldn’t represent a huge loss.

“This part will need to be changed,” He highlighted a point on the map, “We have a large fortress there and giving it up is not an option.”

“Then what about changing it for this area?” the minister of the crown suggested.

“That will be fine.” Kaarel could see no issues, in fact most likely issues had been dealt with by their diplomats, now they just had to finalize it.

They continued discussing the changes to the border till the original highlights had seen several changes to the overall map.

 “This change won’t cause problems with them, will it?” the General of the Army spoke and this wasn’t a matter he could avoid being involved in.

“Yes I have discussed with them,” Kaarel nodded and produced a roll of parchment handing it to the other side, “As long as we provide a new map that shows the changes then there will be no problem.”

The state was clear with the implicit threat that if the maps were inaccurate to hide any territorial control then it would be on their collective heads. They quickly began discussing military limits and roads around this new border. The number of military personnel near the border would have to be an amount neither side found threatening without reducing their own defenses though none of them felt it was necessary as no one was that crazy.

“Now I would like to purchase these lands,” Kaarel pointed to the north western edge of Vasuria. The price he offered for was considerable which after a bit of discussion were approved.

By nightfall they had finalized the agreement, now they needed to run it through the proper procedures before it could be ratified and implemented which could two years.

Chapter Text

16^th October

Callum’s estate

Rayla closed the gate behind her, the crisp evening air brushing against her face as she made her way to the front door. Just as her hand reached for the knob, a low mechanical rumble caught her attention. She turned her head toward the sound.

From around the corner of the mansion, a bizarre, wheeled contraption rolled into view. It was a patchwork of thin metal sheets painted a garish red, topped with a turret armed with what looked like a mortar tube. The whole thing looked like it had been cobbled together by someone with too much imagination and not enough engineering sense. And it was heading straight for her.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Rayla’s lips curling into a smirk, dropping her bag by the door. She took a few steps back, her eyes never leaving the vehicle.

The turret swiveled with a creak, and before she could react, a large cotton ball smacked her square in the face. She brushed it off and realized some of it was in her mouth just as another cotton ball whizzed past her ear. The cannon fired a few more in quick succession, forcing her to duck and weave.

“Really?” she called out, her voice laced with amusement. “This is how you greet me?”

The vehicle didn’t answer, of course, but it did start rolling toward her with a determined squeak. Rayla broke into a light jog, easily keeping a couple of meters between them. The thing wasn’t and the wheels sounded like they hadn’t seen a drop of oil in a while.

After a couple of minutes, the cotton barrage stopped. Rayla slowed, glancing over her shoulder. “Out of ammo already?”

The answer came in the form of a hatch popping open on the side of the turret. Aanya’s toy dart machine gun emerged, mounted on a wobbly gun mount with its own video camera. A small hand reached out and began cranking the toy gun’s handle with alarming enthusiasm.

Rayla’s eyes widened. “Oh, no”

The air was suddenly filled with a hail of suction-cupped darts. She tried to dodge, but there were too many. Within seconds, she was completely covered, darts sticking to her clothes, her hair, even her face. She stood there, arms outstretched, looking like a human pincushion.

“Not this again.” She exclaimed as she started pulling the darts off of herself.

Before she could recover, a dodgeball shot out of the turret, aimed straight at her chest. Rayla caught it effortlessly, her reflexes sharp as ever. She glared at the vehicle, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

“Alright, you asked for it,” she said, tossing the ball aside.

In one swift motion, she darted toward the vehicle, staying low to avoid detection. With the grace of a cat, she climbed onto the roof and settled cross-legged on top of the turret, her presence completely unnoticed by the occupants below.

“Where’d she go?” Ezran’s voice floated up from inside the vehicle.

“She’s probably behind us,” Ellis replied. The turret creaked as it swiveled to check. “Not there.”

Rayla clamped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She could barely contain herself as the turret swung back and forth, the kids completely clueless.

“My periscope’s jammed, I thought we oiled it?” Aanya suggested, her tone far too serious for the ridiculous situation.

“We did.” Ezran said

Rayla couldn’t hold it in any longer. A snort escaped, and she quickly covered her mouth again, but it was too late.

“Did you hear that?” Ezran asked, his voice rising in pitch as she pulled open the turret hatch.

Before they could figure it out, Rayla leaned over the edge of the turret, her face appearing upside down in the hatch. “Boo.”

The collective scream from inside the vehicle was music to her ears though it did not last as the three quickly brought out toy pistols and emptied the magazines into her face.

Later that day

“How’d they get that thing?” Rayla asked

“They designed it, then bought all the stuff and put it together.” Callum replied

“How?”

“There’s an engineering college nearby, they’d help you with stuff like this if you put in a request. I had to make the propellant for their cannon while the rest of it was being assembled.”

17th October

Callum’s office

“What’re you doing in there?” Rayla asked seeing Aleesia in Callum’s chair and the usual busy body was missing.

“Since I’m handling clan stuff, I get to sit in his chair as long as I don’t read any classified documents.” Aleesia kept her eyes glued to the screen as she was typing out something. “He’s currently busy meeting with the king and crown prince of Regalia.”

“Eh? Doesn’t he have anyone who can do that for him?”

“Oh he’s bringing an entourage. How long you gonna be here for?”

“I’ll be heading back after the harvest festival. I need to help organize for the swarming.” Rayla picked up some of the documents lying around and found it to be an incomprehensible table of stuff. “What’re you working on?”

 “Right now I just got word that an extra twenty thousand tons of tomato puree got taken out of long storage by mistake.”

“How’d you not notice that much sauce is missing?”

“Hard to notice you’re moving this much stuff. There’s half a million tons of poultry, pork, fish and beef being loaded onto trains right now.”

“Sounds like a lot.”

“You should see the year over year data on how much food we go through during the harvest festival. You need to start weeks ahead to get everything ready on time.”

18^th October

The Grand Square, Anterim

The parade began as the ground forces of Anterim marched passed the Gate of Unity which was the main entrance for the government district which contained the Hall of Deliberation which was the legislature building, the Margrave’s Sanctum, the Supreme Court, and other buildings.

On top of the gate was Callum along with high ranking officials of Anterim. Underneath that were high profile bleachers officials from other nations sat including Amy and Cassie. It included guests from Temirov and the kingdom of Regalia.

The gate overlooked the grand square where the parade headed down to pre-designated positions, all facing away from the gate as a symbol of unified willed.  At the far end of the square where their eyes pointed to was a tall spire erected in honor and memory of those who died to establish Anterim.

Normally only a hundred troops from Katolis would be allowed to join. But for the first time in the more than three hundred year history, troops representing Erdus, Del Bar, and Estaria were invited to take part.

Rayla and everyone else watched from the roof of the Gate building, from their position they couldn’t see Callum or the others but they have a great vantage point over the entire square. 

Ezran, Aanya and Ellis were soaking in the sight of all the military hardware as they weren’t able to stay for the parade during their stay in Erdus. They recognized all the vehicles they had seen during the unveiling earlier in the year and some they hadn’t seen before such as trucks carrying large drones or missiles.

The ground parade was concluded with a gun salute by a column of towed artillery on each side of the capital square followed by an announcement that the debut of their modernized air force was about to begin.

“I wonder they’ve been cooking up?” Rayla wondered as she turned to the others.

“They just told me they were gonna show off a lot while rubbing their hands together and cackling.” Aleesia shrugged as she found their stereotypical behavior to be unimpressive.

“Is he turning into those two?” Rayla found that idea to be terrifying for some reason.

Soon the orchestra changed music, everyone began scanning the skies as the announcer said one single line, “Flesh, stone and metal will give way to time, but deeds shall last an eternity.”

Upon hearing those words Callum, along with every military official in the balconies including the personnel assembled in the parade ground saluted.

Rayla being a soldier herself she felt obligated to do the same, though she felt embarrassed that she was doing it while not in combat fatigues or her dress uniform. This routine was done back in Erdus as well.

Soon they saw a part of the sky shimmering, revealing the force of airships. Five Castellans flying in a right echelon formation, on the opposite side were five Siphons in a left echelon. But that was not all as the area in front them were taken up by symmetrical formations of modernized Lotus class air cruisers from the Dukedom.

The wide space between the two echelons shimmered revealing a new airship, this one had a flat top which was announced as a flying aircraft carrier.

They were joined by older airships each taking position behind the newer ones. Once formed the fleet flew low over and past the square showcasing their arsenal. They watched in awe as the ground below darkened beneath their sheer mass.

Everyone’s attention was directed ahead as small dots appeared far off in the same direction the airships appeared from. These dots rapidly grew in number as they announced that this held over three thousand aircrafts.

Leading them were the many dozens of heavy four engine bombers of Anterim and Katolis followed by the massive eight engine flying wing bombers of the Dukedom. Right behind were innumerable formations of propeller driven fighters, interceptors, strike craft, dive bombers etc.

Following close behind them in equal numbers were the jet powered aircraft that entered service shortly after the war.

Every single of them had been in service for less than ten years, yet their sheer numbers were a grand tribute to that very service as no one ceased their salutes till everyone single aircraft flew past the square. It was followed by a more intense gun salute.

“I didn’t know we could bring so many for this.” Rayla said as she and everyone else on the roof stared at mass of aircraft shrink with each passing moment.

“Same, I was expecting only a couple of them.” Aleesia replied before it was announced that their new aircrafts were about to appear.

It took a few minutes but the music changed as the first of the new aircraft came into view. They were in a vic formation of three black flying wing aircraft and to their flanks were two echelon pairs, the first one was smaller and painted white while the other was grey.

Behind them came a similar formation of two different aircraft, at the center was a large swan like white bomber with echelons flown of a smaller variant. Their wings quickly swept back as they neared the square.

AWACS, CAS, logistics, EW and other types of aircraft also flew before they finally saw a large formation of several twin and single engine fighters showcasing their variable sweep wings as they flew over.

Then the music picked up in intensity as eight new formations of fighters appeared right behind one another.

They kept flying straight then suddenly pitched their noses down flying straight at the square. Ezran, Aanya an Ellis cheered at the sight while Rayla and Aleesia felt their legs turned to jelly as to looked more like the jets would crash into them.

Fortunately that never happened as they saw the fighters pull up hard. The three teens leaned against the railing smiling, the adrenaline kicked in as the aircraft flew right above the gate of unity creating a powerful blast of air.

They were joined by the swing wing fighters from earlier as all the jets flew straight up before they began performing maneuvers. There would be no grand speeches, just an uninterrupted display of technological supremacy.

Chapter Text

21^st October

Parade grounds

They all had gathered and gone through the gate of unity to government district where everything was set up to be shown off.

“Say hello to the Prometheus-100 air defense system,” Callum led everyone to the air defense system which consisted of multiple vehicles  for command and control, missiles, radar, ECM etc.

“Whoa that’s big.” Rayla stared at the 4 launch tubes all fully deployed vertically from a single vehicle.

“It’s called a Transport Erector Launcher or TEL for short. This battery is just for the N58799 missile, it can shoot down airships and large aircraft at a range of 800-1,200 km. The missiles have just entered production a week ago so we don’t have a stockpile yet.” Amy answered, as much as they would love to push for its mass production years ago but it is also undeniable that no one has anything worth using this particular missile against.

“How many does it carry?” Rayla asked since all the military bases would get their own air defenses so she was curious as to what’s going to be placed around her base.

“Three to four TELs for each missile type,” Amy explained before moving onto the other missiles which had a range of 600, 250 and 120km while making sure she didn’t accidentally let slip some of the secret ones still in development.

“Could this thing have shot down that spy plane?” Rayla asked

“Easily,” Cassie answered, “if we had the missiles or personnel, both our legislatures quickly approved funding to expedite missile production after the spy plane.”

They walked through the open area and arrived at several armored vehicles with large antennae that looked to be the size of billboards.

“These are our wide area jamming systems. They can blanket a wide are with so much interference that communications and sensors are rendered ineffective. They have a minimal effective range of 500km, our longest range is over 4,000km.”

“That’s basically a big chunk of the continent” Aleesia asked recalling the size of the maps. “Does anyone  even having anything worth jamming that far away?”

“Nope, right now the only viable targets we have are each other.” Callum gestured between himself and his wives, “Eventually we’ll need it for when they catch up to us.”

The next was a truck with some weird camera like pod on its top.

“What is this? A telescope truck?” Rayla asked scratching head trying to figure out what it even was.

“Nope, laser air defense system.” Callum said watching her eyes bulge out.

“You said they were impractical!” Rayla felt betrayed as her science fiction dreams were standing right in front of her.

“They are, your IFV could only power a small low-powered version and if there’s rain, fog, dust clouds, smoke then this thing is useless.” Callum answered, he decided not to mention that ground vehicles have much thicker armor that the laser would have no hope of burning through.

They quickly moved onto a line of transport erector launchers. Three of them each had a single large missile deployed. The others had varying numbers of launchers.

“These are part of our new Tactical and Strategic forces.” Callum walked up to the nearest one and placed his hand on the truck, on its back were a set of 12 missile launch tubes

He pointed to a next truck which had four missile tubes along with an extendable radar system. Next to it was a much larger wheeled transport erector launcher with two missile tubes deployed. “This one on the other hand is for firing two ballistic or cruise missiles at ranges of 1,200 km.”

They moved on to two missiles that were lined up one next to the other

“Fulgur-1, it’s a ballistic missile with a range of 650km. It carries an 800kg warhead and can hit anywhere around a 50 meters of the target.”

“Does anyone else have anything to match?” Rayla asked knowing that a 50 meters wasn’t much on the battlefield.

“Del bar would be the closet, they can guarantee their missile will hit a targeted city, they just have no idea where in the city it’ll hit.” Cassie shrugged as this was all the intelligence they could scrape together on that project.

“That’s crap,” Rayla knew how explosions could destroy things far away from the impact area but this wasn’t even worth worrying about.

“Well the guidance system is from their nuclear arsenal and those don’t need to be very accurate.”

They moved on to another missile through instead of the round and pointy conical nose, this one had a boxy angled nose with an opening under the nose.

“And what is this?” Ellis asked

“Fulmin-2, a hypersonic missile with a top speed of over Mach 12 and a maximum range of 5800 km. It uses a scramjet engine which is why it looks different. We have other missiles like it though the only difference is the range and warhead types.”

“So is being fast good?” Aanya asked

“Yes, it can also change its direction as its coming down making it a nightmare to shoot down.”

“Can anyone shoot them down?” Aanya asked with eyes sparkling,

“No, right now we’re the only ones who can, that also means everyone’s nukes are kinda useless now.”

“Doesn’t that mean everyone’s gonna be panicking like headless chickens after today?” Ezran asked

“Yep, we’re probably gonna be busy with this for a while.” Amy said then pointed to the remaining two missiles, “And THESE are our new nukes.”

The first one was identical to the Fulmin-2, while the last one appeared to be a normal long range nuclear missile.

“This first one is what we call a neutron warhead. It blankets a 10km wide area with intense radiation, but the blast wave is only good for 1km at most.”

“Does that matter?” Rayla asked not seeing the difference,

“Well a normal nuke involves creating much more powerful blast wave that levels everything, this warhead leaves most stuff relatively intact and radioactive.”

“The last one is what we call a Nuclear Cluster warhead but mom dubbed it the ‘Hell’s Rain’ warhead.” Cassie slapped the truck, “The missile can fly over Mach 24 in any weird course you want as long as it’s within 80,000km and it uses a coin storage system to deploy multiple warheads at once.”

“When you say multiple?” Rayla’s left eye twitched at the implication.

“The exact number is classified, but it has plenty of decoy warheads. Three warheads are aimed at each target and can be configured for deep underground, surface or air denotation. The warheads can range from 250 to 750 kilotons, and 1 to 10 megaton yields.”

“No wonder she calls it ‘Hell’s Rain’.” Aleesia commented

“With this. MAD is only applicable between our two nations.” Callum shook his head at where things were right now.

“Mad?” Aanya asked

Callum chuckled realizing they wouldn’t learn about this for another year, “Mutually Assured Destruction or M.A.D. It’s a nuclear doctrine of you don’t nuke me so I don’t nuke you.”

“The name is fitting, don’t ya think,” Cassie asked

“I swear you people are all mad.”

“We’ve already established that.” Amy pumped up her chest with pride and Rayla rolled her eyes.

Sometime later they moved onto the aircrafts which were set up all over. The first were a pair of large bombers, they stood before the massive swan like craft, it had four large jet engines placed in two nacelles under the wings.

“We call this the Swan, our long range strategic bomber. Top speed Mach 2.2 with a payload capacity of 50,000 kg though if we used coins then that goes up exponentially. It can carry anything from unguided, to smart munitions to nuclear armaments.” Amy said then pointed to the aircraft near it.

It was smaller with a long pointy nose that resembled the a stork, it had large air intake on both sides of the long fuselage that fed into two large engines at the rear.

“This is the Falcon, a tactical bomber with a top speed of Mach 2 and a total payload capacity of 30,000kg.It and the swan both use variable sweep wings.”

“You mean that moving wing plane that Del bar and the others showed off months ago?” Ezran said as the three teens took a notepad out from somewhere and started writing stuff down.

“Yes that,” Callum said surprised the three were still keeping score as they climbed aboard the swan and explored the cockpit.

After climbing down they led across the street to a set of three flying wing aircrafts they saw in the parade.

“These are subsonic stealth bombers. The large black one is called the B-2 Spirit and we plan to make 50 units for each nation.” Callum looked at it and all he could see was something they had very limited use for despite their best efforts.

“As for the other two, the white one is called the Avenger,” Amy gently patted the small grey one, “ and the is the Hunter, a drone. Both can carry a payload of up to 2,300 kg.”

“When you say stealth, does it turn invisible?” Neia bent down to look under the drone.

“No, that’s called cloaking.” Amy replied seeing how easy it was to think that, “stealth just means it has low observablility to radar and infrared detection.”

“How does it work? Is it like the spy plane?” Ilamyr recalled the live broadcast where they explained how the spy plane was hard to spot.

“Only in terms of infrared detection,” Callum said then asked for a mirror and flash light which Amy brought out and tossed him. He gave the flashlight to Ezran and asked him to point it at the mirror.

Callum angled the mirror down creating a glowing spot beneath his feet. “This basically how stealth geometry works. Radar ways bounce off of stuff like light does so as long as we avoid any right angles then most of the radar waves are scattered elsewhere.”

He then adjusted the angle so that the reflected light landed on Ezran’s chest.

“It can’t be that simple, can it?” Rayla asked

“It can and you can beat it with our most sophisticated radars. But you can do it cheaper by placing a lot of radar receivers over a wide area. If enough of those receivers gets the scattered signals then you can clearly see the plane.”

“Now for the show pieces,” Cassie pointed to the twin and single engine fighters variable sweep wings and the three dashed towards the planes without hesitation leaving everyone else in their dust. There was a ladder attached to each fuselage and the three quickly climbed to get a clear view of the cockpit.

“Make sure to strap in in case you accidentally turn it on,” Callum joked knowing those three would be busy examining everything. The planes had their etherium taken out so there was no way anything could happen. “Both of these won’t be entering production.”

“““WHAT?!”””  the three shouted in shock and horror causing everyone to roll their eyes,

“They are superior to what everyone else has but they just aren’t good compared to everything we can build.” Amy said knowing the three of them probably found the idea of a plane with moving wings to be more interesting.

“So why build them?” Aleesia found it odd

“We made a total of twenty to study the technology and use it as a test bed. They’ll be turned into museum pieces after today.” Callum explain, while they could mass produce these two fighters, they would get outdated very quickly and just wasn’t worth the investment.

“But aren’t changing wings better?” Ezran asked climbing down followed by his sisters,

“Trust me, you can get the same performance on the other jets.” Callum said as they all moved on to the next one.

They were led to a pair of single engine fighters that had delta wings and canards configuration, the closest one was clearly smaller with two air intakes on either side of the fuselage in front of the main wings.

“This is LMF-39F or Light Multirole Fighter. It can land and take off from any road you can think of. It’s also very cheap to produce and maintain.” Callum found it odd that this little thing offered a lot of flexibility especially for the subterranean realm.

“It’s mainly going to be used in your neck of the woods.” Cassie pointed to Neia and Ilamyr since their realm had no runways. “It’ll be cheaper on Regalia’s budget if we limit ourselves to these.”

 Callum nodded, their airships currently patrolled Regalia as part of their protectorate agreement but using the air carrier would reduce the expenditures for both of them since there wasn’t anything there that warranted any serious military presence. He placed a hand on the canards, “All our new jets have vertical takeoff and landing or VTOL capabilities so they can hover anywhere if necessary.”

“Doesn’t that make these tiny air ships?” Ellis tilted her head,

“Sort of, our mom designed a lift system for the fighters and we reverse engineered a version for our airships. The benefit is it takes 1/3^rd the power to keep them flying.” Amy said

“““Anything else?””” the three resumed taking notes

“Just an airflow manipulator” Callum answered as the technology was very interesting, “It lets you control the airflow around the aircraft and the how the air inflow and exhaust giving you great performance.”

Aleesia began pushing all three of them right next to the nearby aircraft, it had a single round air intake located under the fuselage, the canards and delta wings were much larger. There were twelve missiles already mounted on its hard points.

“Say hello to the MMF-10C.” Callum said

“What makes it different besides the size?” Rayla asked

“More hard points and bigger payloads.” He answered, these two aircraft would be vital as they were easier to produce and would allow them enough of a buffet while they increased their mainline fighter production lines.

“So is that you main fighter?” Neia pointed to one a bit further off. It had two large air intakes that fed its two jet engines that were placed close to each other at the rear. The leading edge of the wings had a steep angle and had two vertical stabilized at the back.

“No, the HDSF-15E is a strike fighter can fit air to ground ordinance without giving up any air to air weapons.” Callum said as they slowly walked towards it, its only downside was its cost otherwise they would have made it their main fighter instead. “It has the best acceleration and can reach Mach 2.5 without the air control module that out other aircraft need. Its only downside is the cost and its less maneuverable.”

“I’m guess it’s going to reinforce any existing units since it can perform both roles.” Rayla asked seeing the versatility being its strong point.

Callum nodded while Ezran, Aanya and Ellis were too busy staring and had to be dragged to the next plane which looked similar only the fuselage was more boxy.

“TI-31M, our current interceptor, once its main engines are ready then it can have a top speed of Mach 3, until then its stuck at Mach 2.3.” Callum stared at it wishing they engineers would be able to solve the main issue soon. They need this thing at full performance soon.

“Is this the one you used to shot down the spy plane?” Rayla asked examining it,

“No” Cassie swatted the notion aside, “We used an experimental prototype interceptor to do that, it can fly at Mach 4.5 though its can go much faster. But it’s so unreliable that sending it out was a gamble.”

Using it was risky as if they didn’t produce results then their respective legislatures would have censured them without question for using it in a live mission.

“”Moving on to the main fighters,” Amy said pointing ahead.

It was twin engine aircraft. The leading edges of the wing formed a steep angle while the trailing edge was slightly angled, the twin engines had two vertical stabilizers as well. This gave it an almost avian predator like appearance especially the front which gave the distinct impression of a bird head.

“This is the ASHF-35S, our main air superiority fighter. We also have a naval variant called the A/NHF-35N, .” Callum answered 

“Why do you need a separate one for the navy?” Neia asked

“The Navy has different requirements from the air force. The entire airraft's strucutre needs to be reinforced to attach a catapult shuttle connector and arrestor hook which makes them heavier. You can’t take off or land on a carrier without them.” Callum honestly wished they could use a single variant to cut down on costs but pragmatism and the navy insisted otherwise.

“The lift and air control systems will let you take off and land vertically but if those get damaged then you’ll have to land normally or eject. The wings also need to be foldable to not take up to much space, and the entire thing needs an anti-corrosion coating or the salt will eat through everything.” Amy added some extra details which she noticed the three teens quickly noting it down like they were a bunch of journalists from a tv drama.

Eventually they moved on to an aircraft that looked very similar like the last one except its nose section was wider and painted yellow giving it an almost duck bill like shape. The rest of it was painted a rich blue.

“What’s this?” Aanya walked up to a small pedestal with a button on it. Above was an illusion projecting the texts which she read aloud, “A Super maneuverable fighter-bomber?”

She pressed the button and a giant fedora appeared on top of the plane’s cockpit as music played and the illusory text changed. “Perry the super maneuverable fighter-bomber!?” She turned to everyone else, “Whose Perry?”

“No idea, mom’s design had this doodled in.” Amy replied finding it an odd addition as there wasn’t anything else on it, though they were very curious about it.

“So you decided to add it for this.” Aleesia said she and Rayla gave an accusing look to Amy and Cassie.

““Hey for once none of this was our idea.”” They both said pointing to their husband who refused to make eye contact.

“So what’s this ducky plane for?” Aanya asked

“THFB-34 is just a fighter bomber though it leans more towards being a light tactical bomber. It and the HDSF-15E have different mission profiles.”

Chapter Text

“Now we have two stealth fighters left.” Callum said pointing down the street which opened up to a small plaza where both twin engine aircraft were placed side by side. Their sleek appearance made them appear way more advanced than the others.

Callum walked up to the first one which had blended wing body fuselage that used a delta-wing design with forward-swept trailing edges. It had two outward canted vertical stabilizers and the exhaust nozzle had wasn’t round but had a boxy beak like shape. It had two engine nacelles under the wing.

“This is our main advanced stealth dominance heavy fighter, the ASDHF-57 Felon, it’s shape, thrust vectoring and other systems makes it the most maneuverable aircraft on the continent.” Callum said proudly, he wanted to say world but he suspected the droids in this world would take issue with that declaration.

“It has a pair of wing root missile bays that can each hold a single short range missile, and the space between the engine nacelles has a much bigger bay for holding four larger missiles or other stuff. It uses a coin loading system so the missiles can be launched forward and backwards with ease.” Cassie pressed a switch near the air intakes causing the wing root missile bay to swing open.

“So the other aircraft can’t shoot backwards?” Rayla asked

“They can, these two aircraft can seal and unseal the missiles in a second while the others would need at least five to ten seconds.” Callum said as he knew in any battle that every second always felt like an eternity.

“This thing also has 360 degrees of sensor coverage, the leading wing edge, the pointy bit between the exhausts, the cheeks ahead of the intakes, above and below the fuselage have their own radars, then there’s IRST and other sensors as well.”

“And the other jet?” Ezran pointed to it, it had an appearance similar to the HDSF-15E but had the sleekness of the ASDHF-57. It had canards in front, the main wings were broadly triangular like delta wing  with the leading edges sharply swept back, while the trailing edges are slightly forward-swept, giving the wings a jagged appearance.

“The ASHIF-20 Wēi Lóng, it’s a interdiction fighter meant for long range engagements. The main bays can carry four large missiles and there are side bays for an extra two. But this birdy doesn’t have a 360 degree sensor coverage. ” Amy explained.

“What happens if something gets too close for the missiles work?” Ilamyr asked, while she barely understood how these weapons worked, it didn’t appear missiles were useful at very close range.

“Besides a 30mm cannon, both aircraft have several blasters placed all over the fuselage,” Cassie quickly jumped on the hull and pressed a switch, a small box object no bigger than an IRST sensor emerged. “These things can rotate and have a limited firing arc. They fire lightning bolts to shoot down drones or missiles. An aircraft will take a long time to bring down but their sensors will get frazzled.”

“So getting close ain’t gonna work.”

“Not unless you had an aircraft with similar capabilities.” Callum knew better than to doubt the reports of his test pilots who had to put this thing through its paces, “Most air battles will be beyond visual range but getting close won’t help much.”

“The ASDHF-57 is so maneuverable that it could aim its nose gun at you quickly, that’s why we’re having it act as escort for the Wēi Lóng so one can focus on very long range while the other sits back to support it.

“Anything else?”

“Just weapons and drones.” Cassie pointed them to the ceremonial building which was turned into an exhibition hall.

Inside the building where they saw many items all put on pedestals for displays. The closest were the missiles

“Why do these have wings?” Aleesia asked seeing bombs that had wings strapped to them.

“Those are for turning them into guided standoff weapons.  The wings unfold and the system guides itself to the target 40 to 240km away.” Amy said, after the war they had a lot of bombs just lying around and they had better things to do than refilling an already full stockpile.

She gestured to their left where they saw several large missiles with large fins or wings built into them. They were either tubular like a regular missile or had boxy appearance similar to the fulmin-2.  “These are subsonic, supersonic or hypersonic cruise missiles. They have their own internal engine which lets them fly itself to the target. The wings and fins can be folded to fit them in a tube.”

“You three remember the remote guided missile they showed off?” Callum pointed his siblings a different assortment of missiles, each one of different sizes. Before he could say another word they were off. These all had multiple guidance system as a redundancy.

Before long they were shown multiple air to air missiles ranging from those that flew at Mach 2.5 to those that had speeds above Mach 6, and all three teens celebrated.

“Wait, how do you dodge these missiles?” Ezran asked

“Easy, you use flares to make extra heat sources to make IR seekers go after them instead of the jets. For radar guided missiles you use chaff to disrupt targeting. If you are far enough away then you can start maneuvering once the rocket motor burns out to make it bleed energy.”

“That reminds me, whats the point of the non-stealth jets you have?” Aleesia thought on it and they seemed pointless.

“Most of our stealth composites are devoted to missiles, drones and the navy. We just don’t have enough leftover for maintaining a lot of stealth aircraft.” Callum admitted, in fact that was their biggest bottleneck, “Until we can make more then we’ll be using non-stealth aircraft a lot.”

“Right now we can only maintain around 240 stealth fighter which we should have by the end of this year. It’ll take a while to increase stealth material production.”

“How hard is it to make?” Aleesia asked

“A lot but our biggest problem is budget and manpower, we just don’t have enough of either. Our plan is to just build the aircrafts up to 60% completion and sealing them away so we can quickly put them together and throw them into service once we get the stealth material” Amy said.

“Can’t you move money around?” Rayla asked which earned her three sets of annoyed looks from the three royals.

“Listen, everything that can be reallocated has already been done so. Every department and branch fights tooth and nail for a bigger slice and keeping them under control is harder than you can imagine. The army got a bigger slice simply because we don’t want to deal with giant ghouls again.” Callum said as he along with Amy and Cassie were remembering how much trouble negotiating the budgets were.

Soon they were shown the jet engine without their outer casing, the turbines were illuminated by blue light as a small electric motor spun them slowly with details posted on the wall pertaining to its energy consumption and total thrust along with the cost of production and operation.

Next they were shown several drones excluding the Hunter which they saw earlier. These had different shapes, one appeared more like a plane, and another was like a sleek stealth fighter, and a fourth one was a massive quad copter. Around it were smaller ones one of which Rayla recognized as the short range drone her IFV had equipped.

“Your division is slated to get the fourth type added to your existing aerial drone arsenals in a few days.” Callum said as he pointed to the opposite end of the room which had multiple remote controlled mounted guns on display. “These can be equip up to 30mm guns in case you need help along with bombs and missiles.”

“Cal, are these what we think they are?” Ellis pointed to a set of wheeled and tracked with no room for anyone to operate.

Callum nodded, “Ground based drones, guns, missiles and anything else you want. The production just started a month ago so you’ll only get a small number of them for a while.”

“And this one?” Ellis pointed to a wheeled drone the size of a shoe box.

“Remember the drone you’d fly into a target for a big boom. This is the land version of it. Eventually the mongoose will see less action in a year or two once our drone production really kicks off.”

“Aren’t we changing our stuff too quickly?” Rayla knew acclimating to new stuff would take a long while and rushing it only caused problems.

“Trust me, it’ll be years before we’d added everything and the modernization project is finished.” He said

They were shown off many more times before arriving at two small planes which seemed out of place inside the building.

“Are these drones as well?” Neia asked

“Nope, these are just mock ups for the light and medium stealth fighters. They’ll eventually replace the LMF-39F and the MMF-10C, the production line for them is still under construction. The light fighter can be converted into a drone is necessary. We’re also working on drones you can attach to fighters to do recon or fight on their own. ”

“How can one pilot control them or you going to have a team remotely control them?” Rayla asked

“The onboard intelligence will do that on its own, the pilot just has to authorize their actions.” Amy said

“It can think for itself?” Rayla exclaimed causing everyone else to stare in shock.

Callum, Amy and Cassie just face palmed hard at their reaction.

“No, it’s just a more proactive version of the algorithmic intelligence your IFV uses to learn. It teaches itself through trial and error till it can execute commands without issue.” Cassie said hoping they wouldn’t misunderstand then realized that was pointless as misunderstanding was the norm these days.

“You can be certain they aren’t sapient in any capacity.” Callum added as this field of software was so out of the norm that most people still weren’t sure why Lyeneru wrote the code in a particular way, they were still developing their own rudimentary version by trying to reverse engineer it but it was still years away before it would be operational.

“Does that mean you can build droids like in the forgotten city?” Ilamyr asked

Callum, Amy and Cassie burst out laughing at the suggestion and were soon on the floor unable to stop themselves.

“We’re nowhere near ready to start fantasizing about those yet.” Callum managed to speak through aching lungs.

It took a long while for them to recover and move on to the next area which was filled with mock ups. But not of planes or ground vehicles but of the naval projects. They saw frigates, destroys, cruisers, heavy cruisers, a new submarine and two types of aircraft carriers.

They all lacked the many turrets that dotted the previous generation of ships, instead sporting one or two single or double barreled turrets with smaller point defense guns all over.

The two carrier mock ups had a displacement of 80,000, and over 110,000 metric tons respectively, featureing multiple missile and turret defense batteries. They even had detailed mock-ups of the aircraft on their decks while the other carrier had mock-ups of drones.

“Do you need two carriers? I’m pretty sure we all had just one type during the war.” Aleesia asked

“Our current plan is for our two nations to each have six heavy carriers and twelve standard carriers for now, that number will be doubled a decade later. The other ships will eventually replace the existing fleet.” Callum was glad they didn’t retire their carrier fleet so that they could retain as many carrier capable personnel as possible, something which required a lot of political wrestling every year.

“Is the unveiling for next year?”

“No, the year after that. By then we’ll have a total of four carriers and their respective escort fleet ready.” Amy said then pointed to one final mockup which strongly resembled the falcon tactical bomber but was explained to be a subsonic close air support vehicle.

26^th October

By the time the sun had gone down, all the dignitaries had arrived at a large exhibition hall which was the venue for another forum, it was decided by both Anterim and Erdus that it would be better to hold these so the public and other nations could be made aware of things instead of allowing crazy speculations to run rampant.

Inside, the opening speeches were finished and Callum gestured for everyone to direct their attention to the screen which came to light. It showed an aircraft with an unusual shape especially when compared to the aircraft debuted earlier, it had a double delta wing design and the nose was unusually round. Then the video shifted to a large rocket whose body resembled an exceptionally elongated delta wing craft.

“These are for our joint space program. The Nuclear Orbital Ship was a secret project of Anterim and Erdus was brought in as a partner in its development, we currently have four operational. The rocket was under development by Erdus until we were brought in” Callum watched as everyone was taken aback by this as this went beyond what they were expecting.

Rockets and space were a major subject of discussion among the masses years ago but it died away once the war started and no new developments were announced causing it to fade from public interest. Now it was likely the topic would pick up again.

“The orbital ship can reach space on its own but the rocket is for speeding that up. We plan to perform a manned launch in December with plans to conduct multiple satellite launches next year. The goal is to do performance tests so that we can begin construction a space station for conducting research.”

Many journalists quickly raised their hands trying to get the moderator’s attention while the news reporters had their faces buried in their cameras. Callum left the podium and went to sit beside his wives who just watched as the moderators and staff tried to get those gathered to calm down which was a difficult task that took a while.

Eventually one was selected who needed a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking, “Your excellency, this is impressive but do we not already control a city sized space station? What use does this serve us?”

Callum picked up the mic and pause for a moment, “Technically its six but we didn’t build those nor can we access many of its systems. Building our own gives us options to conduct research in micro-gravity under more controlled conditions. Launching satellites also offer significant benefits to us.”

The next journalist was far less hesitant, “Your majesties, what would those benefits be? Would it allow us to see into other nations?”

Amy smiled wondering when this was going to come up, “Yes but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, it can be used to see mapping weather patterns and terrain, it can also be used in place of the CNS which we call the global navigation satellite system or GNSS which would help shipping and air travel by offering them redundancy. Another use would be for extended range communications and data transfers.”

The question kept coming about the space program till they had to end further question or they would be here far longer than they intended.

“Your majesties, regarding the nuclear cluster warhead, what purpose does such a devastating missile serve, won’t fear of it incite a preemptive strike?”

“Our nuclear policy is tied to the existing treaties which prevent the use of nuclear weapons for a first strike. A decapitation strike is predicated on a preemptively eliminating a targeted nation’s ability to retaliate. With these warheads that strategy is rendered ineffective.” Cassie answered as this was a well-rehearsed topic for them as they couldn’t just reveal to the public the real reason they needed these weapons.

“Your excellency, with the naval unveiling after next year, does that mean that civilian applications are going to come soon afterwards.”

“In a manner, now that most of the research and development for the military is winding down, most personnel will be reassigned to civilian projects but the issue as before is that training is proceeding at maximum capacity so it’ll take years before they will be seen in civilian use. We intend to create a new government body for civilians to send in requests or ideas they have, if its viable then it will be worked on.”

Amy took the mic to answer the rest, “Small computers being used for administration, finance and all has been a huge success, the next step would be producing them for home use. Another idea is to create a small handled computer for people to use to make payment through the bank account instead of cash, it can have additional uses but these projects are still in the early prototype stage.”

“Your majesties, is such a thing possible?”

Cassie had to stifle a laugh, “Governments, administrative, logistics, financial, research, manufacturing and other institutions all used this for many years. Until now it couldn’t be done without a bulky computer that ate up half a room. The technology is fully there, the early versions will be simple and will be for trial runs to refine the design before a proper one can be designed for mass production.”

“Your excellency, since there are plans for making autonomous drones for the military, then will that technology be applied to busses and public transit?”

“We know it is possible from observing the drones in the space station and across the world. But the technology is still in early development so we do not know when it will be ready, but it won’t just be for vehicles as other jobs can be automated with it. We foresee almost any job being possible to automate so no matter what type of job a person has, they will be able to work fewer hours and have longer vacations to spend with family and friends.”

And the entire went as such with no end of questions that would probably be on the mind of many whether for good or for ill.

Chapter Text

33rd October

47th Motor Rifle Division HQ, Anterim

Rayla stepped into the motor pool and saw a Ravager with a badly damaged turret. The Armor, electrical connections, screws and all were removed before a ceiling mounted crane lowered then lifted the turret out then a new one was placed in shortly after.

“What happened to it?” Rayla never took her eyes of it as she walked up to the maintenance crews.

“Bad round got jammed in the breach and cooked off. Most of the internals got burnt badly.” One of them said as they were busy connecting everything and doing preliminary checks on the systems.

She had to admire how much quicker this was than the old days when a vehicle would be out of commission for days. Now they could replace most of it in a day as long as the skeletal framework didn’t need changing.

Sometime later in her office, she sighed finishing the report on the company’s preparedness,

“—I got word from the Lt Colonel, apparently we’re getting a drone brigade or two so we need to focus on training everyone to use the upgraded data link system.—” Jasmin said over the phone as she finished her own meeting.

“Guess I’ll have to reschedule the advanced brigade coordination training to next year.”

“—They started production of some kind of data linked helmet. Not sure when we’ll be getting them but the news is going bonkers over it.—”

“I’ll ask around.”

“—I thought you’d get in trouble if you did that.—”

“Only if I push my luck.”

A few more exchanges and she set the phone down and began dialing a new number. After a couple of rings the other line picked up.

“—No—” Callum responded flatly.

“I haven’t even said anything.”

“—You want to ask about all the unreleased details for the stuff that was just announced to the media. So no no no and no. This info remains off limits until it enters service.—”

“Can you at least tell me about the new helmet we’re getting soon?” She figured that it would be fine since the media was talking about it.

“It has ultra-light weight micro cameras and sensors that’s fed into to a speaker and heads up display with a built in processor. Now if you want the unreleased details then ask elsewhere.”

Rayla’s gaze kept shifting back and forth from the book shelf which contained some of the novels she brought with her and her own computer then a question popped in her mind. “Wouldn’t it be faster if the helmet processed it?”

“—The helmet will have a small processor to handle basic tasks but anything more will make it heavier and prohibitively expensive.—”

“That reminds, any trouble with the other nations?”

“Besides the balance of power being lopsided? No, everything is fine”

“Well it.”

“—Ray, show them respect. Unlike us who were given them, they had to design and test built their jets and weaponry on their own.—”

“Sorry” She didn’t know what else to say and heard him sigh.

“—We’re gonna have an international conference early next year to make sure things remain peaceful. We’d rather not blow our military potential on the wrong enemy.—”

“I’m surprised they still don’t believe us when they have no problem in believing that the planet was made by aliens.”

“—Believing in one doesn’t make someone automatically believe the other, and we don’t have any hard evidence to convince them. I’d think it was crazy if I was them. It’s probably best the masses don’t learn about it yet.—”

“So whats gonna happen in the conference?”

“—Probably something to alleviate their concerns and that of their citizens since an arms race would financially wreck their economies.—” Callum knew that the modernizing they were undertaking would be physically impossible using pre-war technology. Even back then the balance of power was only moderately in favor of them and the Dukedom but now the gap had widened astronomically.

Later that day

Rayla sat in the mess hall eating as she and everyone else watched the large flat screens on the walls, showing. If this was one of the primary mess hall then they’d all have to eat fast to make room for the next group to eat but the secondary mess halls were more casual meant for those who were no training rotation.

The screens showed the legislative building and she noticed Callum, Aleesia. A bit further away were Ilamyr and Neia along with their families. They were all now her family which made watching it awkward. Nearby she recognized prince Kaarel and his father who had their own entourage present.

They saw Prince Kaarel sign and stamp a pair of document which were counter signed and stamped by Callum. The speaker of the legislature stood up and took to the podium.

“—With the full vote of the High soviet prior, and the seals placed now upon it. The treaty of vassalization is hence forth ratified.—”

The chamber erupted into applause as Callum and Prince Kaarel shook hands and exchanged the two documents. The news reporters quickly began going over the details of the treaty which specified that the king of regalia would become vassals to Anterim for ten years upon which they could opt to renew or separate and regain their status as a sovereign state. There was also a clause where Regalia could choose to fully integrate into Anterim.

Once the celebration had died down the speaker began to read the details, “—Regalia has formally criminalized the institution of slavery however the feudal nature of their government and the speed of information has resulted in difficulties in enforcing the law. A committee shall be formed to deliberate with the kingdom’s government on how to ensure compliance with the law.—”

“Finally we get to do this.” Sophie said playing with her pasta and Rayla noticed everyone around her was cheering loudly as well.

The assembly went over who would chair the committee and it quickly passed with unanimous vote as voting against it would not go over with the public at all.

“—Regarding the kingdom’s current economic position. We shall begin working with them to form an effective plan on industrializing and modernizing their kingdom while ensuring local self-rule, cultural, economic and political autonomy are preserved with respect to the treaty stipulations. In addition the decommissioning of all pre-modernization military equipment shall cease and be temporarily transferred to Regalia as when they become available.—”

“Seems Stella might get to finish a full service life after all.” Jasmin said as the announcement was clear that once a unit had gained their new equipment, the old ones would be sent away instead of being melted down for material.

“I think she’ll have an easy life there.” Alexandra commented as they began reminiscing about their old IFV.

15th November

The screen showed a protest gathering with several signs held up before the camera went back to the new reporter’s face.

“—Several trade unions in the service sector have expressed doubts on the extent of the automation plans alleging that they would adversely affect them.—”

Rayla watched the news recalling what Ellis said months ago, and now this was the inevitable outcome that had to be dealt with as delicately as possible. The news reporters began talking with someone who was in charge of this protest.

“—Tell our viewers your concerns and aims here today.—”

“—We want it known that we will not support this policy if protections are not added that would prevent out labor from becoming unnecessary.—”

“—Are you saying your jobs will be gone?—”

“—Yes, we are mere cooks, servers, and the like. If a machine could do our jobs then bringing down costs would be easier than if we were not kept on. How can we support a policy if there is the possibility that we would be deprived of our livelihoods? And even if that didn’t happen what worth does our work even have then if a machine can do it better?

Rayla had to agree with them on this, she had always wanted to open her own restaurant but what would be the point of it.

Back during her childhood, food had restrictions because of the war so she loved it when she got to eat more of Ethari’s cooking when he managed to hunt some extra game. It made her so happy that she wanted to bring that happiness to others once this war was over, a restaurant seemed to be the best idea.

Pulling open her desk drawer, she took out her notebook which she wrote down her ideas and plans for it once she retired from military service.

16th November

“You okay?” Jasmin pointed a spoonful of chickpeas curry at her second in command who seemed to be mindlessly stabbing her food. They came to the secondary mess hall early because they added a new item to the menu which they said was from the subterranean realm, it turned out to be cylinders of steamed ground rice and coconut that you break up and mix with curries or bananas.

“Huh?” She finally seemed to notice what she was doing, “Sorry just thinking.”

“Yah I figured that much, I meant why when there’s this?” Jasmin pointed to her plate which hasn’t been gobbled up by the great elven devourer above it. Taking a bite she found it odder how Rayla wasn’t eating.

“The protests that started two weeks ago, I kinda agree with them,” she admitted

“Why? They’ve been going on but nothing’s come of it yet.”

“I always wanted to open my own restaurant but what place do I have in it in it if it a machine can do it better?” And what value did her efforts amount to when measured against a machine that never got tired and could probably make any food on demand with ease.

“So don’t use em.”

“Yeah but what if I could serve people by not being there at all?”

“Girl, they said these things are for when you get sick or want a vacation so use em when its time for that.”

“—We have breaking news from outside the Erdian legislature!—”

They both turned to the screen showing a large protest with people holding up signs. The mess hall went silent as the new anchor stated that this group was in communication with trade unions in Anterim and Katolis. The image changed to the onsite reporter before panning to the crowd.

“—As you can see by the signs they carry, they want the legislature to enact labor protections ahead of any consideration of these new technologies being implemented.—”

“Guess everyone is as worried as me” Rayla did agree with their reasoning.

17th November

Margrave’s Office

“Cal, you got a request from the speaker himself, says they might have to old the next session up earlier to nip it in the bud.” Aleesia kept going through the messages as they kept popping up.

“For once I’d like to have a whole year where nothing happens.” He grumbled as he continued working.

“Well your 2 o’clock appointment with the Del Barian ambassador got moved to 3.” She quickly added a footnote to it and sent it to the office below. “Whats the story on my old country?”

“The temple is having an internal feud over whether or not to tell us everything. We’re gonna wait and see what comes of this since all we got is a general heading nothing on distance.” They could head out but the greater the distance meant more landmasses and a bigger search area, they didn’t have the time or resources for such a wide search.

“Seems your tv appearance has no changes yet.”

18th November

Aleesia checked his suit before giving a thumbs up and he walked on to the stage where the news anchor introduced him to the viewers. It was followed by a word of thanks for taking time out of his busy schedule, in truth he had no desire to be here at all when there was more urgent work left to take care of. But it was best to speak now instead of waiting for things to get out of hand.

Normally he had others to do this kind of thing built they all insisted it would have a bigger impact if he went in person. The only other choice was his brother and he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“You excellency, you are no doubt aware that people have expressed opposition recently over the proposed automation plans. Do you think they are unwarranted.”

 “They are warranted.” He wasn’t going to insult their intelligence by denying their worries, “Even we do not fully know how this will work so they are completely justified in seeking to protect themselves from any potential downsides.”

“One of the concerns they have is they might not have a job anymore if full automation becomes a reality. Do you have any plans to address those concerns? What you are proposing is changing the system has lasted since our ancestor’s time”

“That will require a long answer, but to correct your statement as it has changed drastically over time.” He stated knowing that Amy and Cassie were probably doing a tv appearance of their own, and he was curious if they would behave or turn it into a fun comedy,

“I should start from the beginning. Before industrialization most labor was agricultural and only required heavy work when it was time for planting and harvesting. Prpdouction was very localized and the majority of people enjoyed vastly more time to themselves even if entertainment options were limited.

That was upended when industrialization began, farms no longer needed to hire as many people anymore since tractors, pesticides and fertilizers, vehicles all reduced the input labor required while exponentially increasing crop yields to unseen levels.

This was also when massive factories emerged which centralized production as they could outcompete local producers in terms of both cost and quantity. This led massive squalor as cities with factories were unable to house or handle the sudden influx of people. The conditions at home and at work including the hours were appaling to say the least. It required the mass adoption of trains, trucks and powered ships to upend this.

During the agrarian period the labor input was measured in the number of workers. With factories the labor input was measured in work hours until advancements reduced that as well.

However one thing remained constant during these two periods, people worked because they needed money to exchange for life’s necessities and comforts. This results in people defending their livelihoods out of fear.”

He took a pause to catch his breath and let what he said so far sink in but the host felt the phrasing was problematic,

“Your excellency, your words imply that it is wrong for them to want protection enacted to give them job security.”

“Yes that is precisely what I’m saying.” Callum kept his gaze steady, he knew where this question led to and they all saw it coming, “These people are not choosing to do anything. Destitution is not a choice so the only actions available to them are those which avoid that. ”

“Your excellency, but people are provided pensions, welfare, affordable housing, legal protections, benefits guaranteed to everyone. Your statement implies these safeguards do not exist.”

“That all relies on healthy consumer spending, sufficient savings and a strong tax base. However if the economy took a downturn then that is no longer the case like what happened over a century ago when all nations went deep into debt due to a devastated economies.”

“Your excellency, wouldn’t it be more practical to focus on strengthening those protections instead of pursuing automation at this scale? Couldn’t that provide stability since the people want to keep the status quo intact?”

“No, the idea of having to ‘earn a living’ implies that by default you don’t actually deserve to be alive. What freedom or choice do people have when they are haunted by the specter of being deprived of work and all that it entails. We must find a new way of doing things and now such a possibility is within our grasp.”

“Your excellency, what you are suggesting is a radical shift from our current system. How can you guarantee it will work? Even during wartime, the state-controlled economy relied on rationing and heavy regulation. People still sought the black market for extra goods. Doesn't that prove demand for traditional economic structures will persist?”

Callum smiled at that statement, “That is precisely why we are not simply replicating a war economy. During the last war, we suspended all non-essential economic activity. Without wages, how could people access what they needed? We solved this with ration stamps—each week, people received stamps based on family size and needs, ensuring affordability of essentials.

Make no mistake we are fully aware some of you watching this had gone to the black market get extra things and the only reason you aren’t begin prosecuted is because none of the thing you acquired were taken from what was allocated for the war effort.

But my point here is that everything was financed through labor and resource allocation purely based on needs and wants. Money was not even a consideration.”

“Your Excellency, that was a temporary wartime measure. People tolerated rationing because survival was at stake. But in peacetime, won't people want to earn money, to have the dignity of working for what they desire?”

Callum exhaled sharply but held up a finger, signaling the host not to interrupt.

“With our current technology, we believe we can move beyond merely providing necessities. I’ve said it before—automation is not about eliminating work. It is about ensuring people can work while having the freedom to take time off without consequences.”

The host remained unconvinced but allowed the pause to settle before preparing his next challenge.

“Your excellency, how would you handle distribution of resources if money isn't a consideration?”

“Wealth becomes pointless in such a system so is it really a consideration to be had? Me and the other clans operate in this way when dealing with each other, money is paid only when there is an imbalance. It is that meaningless since its only uses are to pay peoples salaries and as a pricing tool. Granted we are many decades away from this becoming applicable to the masses but for the first time in our history it is an actual possibility."

This would continue well beyond the agree upon hour and late into the night. Callum knew it wasn't a fantasy not only because of the letter from the first Margrave but also from this artificial planet they inhabited. It was proof that such level of automation could be done.

Chapter Text

19^th November

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

Far in the forest, away from the mundanity of everyday life, the masses kept ignorant as the songs of battle echoed. Fangs of stone tore through barricades of ice only to be themselves torn down by snaking branches bearing new buds. Tall vortexes of flame were cut by blades of water.

On this field stood two, blood dripped and flowed from wounds light and great, yet in their eyes was ferocity born of pride and a desire to win. In the year so far thirty seven times they clashed and the score was merely one higher than the other, nothing decisive was ever gained for close to equal they were.

Amy glanced at her wings, burnt to the bone as the scent of burnt flesh stung her nostrils. On the opposite end Cassie’s wing were sliced off, bleeding profusely. Both undid the spell and their wings vanished giving them reprieve from the pain before new wings could be formed.

In a hand they each formed a sphere of concentrated lightning before they were split into many smaller ones. With hesitation they fired them at each other only for them to be blocked by a thin wall of water.

They turned to the side flailing their arms upwards in frustration.

““Uncle Richie, we’re not finished!!!””

“I’m afraid you are” Richard stood there gazing at his pocket watch before closing it and putting it back inside his pocket, “The diplomats from Evenere will arrive in two hours.”

The two women crossed their arms and pouted as their match was cut short, again.

Anterim

“You make it sound like they’ll get each other killed.” Aleesia watched as Callum and Oliver continued their sparring match. One arm folded behind their backs and they swung at each other though it was clear the older warrior had the advantage,

“You should see their sparing matches, one time they gave each other severe organ damage.” Callum continued trying to parry his mentor’s attacks which left him with no openings to exploit.

The former director of Katolis intelligence was still under arrest but was occasionally let out to train Callum in swordsmanship.

“I just don’t see it happening.” She could only picture Amy and Cassie pouring ketchup over themselves to scare someone but fighting for real with very little restraint seemed to not fit their style.

“That’s just how they train.” Callum barely managed to avoid a blow to the head, the fact that they were using wooden swords was his only saving grace otherwise he’d be on the floor bleeding.

“Won’t they get themselves killed?” She wasn’t sure why Oliver told them to keep talking during the match but she had no idea why, and it made just as much sense as Amy and Cassie beating each other to a pulp.

“No,” Callum readied a block but it turned out to be feint as he was hit in the knees but he managed to block the follow up shot, “They won’t go that far, just far enough to hospitalize the other.”

“They seem more interested in fooling around together, namely by kidnapping you.”

“Doesn’t mean they aren’t hyper competitive. It’s best to stay clear of the area when they go at it.”

“So how much stronger are they?”

“They are high mages, but they said it’ll be a long time before they can be arch mages.” Callum felt his arms getting sore from the constant impacts, he knew he himself was nowhere near to being a high mage as people like that would beat him easily.

“What even do you need to be either?”

“For the former you need a good understanding and ability to practice multiple schools f magic, not on the level of an adepta. The latter requires a very high efficiency—woah!” He managed to block a serious blow then moved back to create some distance though his opponent was quickly on him again. “You need to be able to cast spells using very little energy. There’s a lot more to it but that’s the first requirement.”

The conversation continued as Aleesia kept trying to come up with things to talk about though it was a struggle as it was incredibly awkward.

Eventually the match was concluded and Oliver held his hands up waiting for the guards to put his shackles back on. Only once they were secured did the other guards put their rifles back on safety. Callum knew Oliver wasn’t going to do anything but everyone else wasn’t taking the risk.

Callum’s estate,

Upon reaching home they buried themselves in work.

“Why’d he make us talk so much?” Aleesia decided to just ask as the question had been plaguing her during their trip home. It didn’t make any sense as she could tell he was clearly distracted trying to talk to her.

“At my current level I have to fall back on instinct to do more than one thing. By talking I have to learn to do more than one thing consciously which is harder when it’s with a third person. With specters it gives me leeway to focus on one thing while they focus on others, it’s the only way I can cover to my weakness.”

“But you’re not going to be fighting a lot.” she said

“It’s not just that, when your attention is split you tend to fall on easier answers or whats been tried before. I can’t afford to do that.” He cradled his head on his hands as his voice became depressed.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing whats worked so far.” she knew that doing stuff that worked just made sense.

“We’re not dealing with normal, I need to be able to track and process multiple things, come up with decisions, solutions and interrogate them all much faster. I can’t afford mistakes or delays.”

“Cal, you’re not alone in this, so don’t try to force it.” She quickly wrapped her arms around him to console him.

20^th November

47th Motor Rifle Division HQ, Anterim

6:00 AM

The 18^th motor rifle company had all assembled outside the motor pool after returning from the night’s patrols. Jasmin went to attend a meeting so it fell to Rayla to handle this part.

She gave them all a cursory appraisal, despite the busy nights they weren’t too exhausted which was good as she wouldn’t have to take any of them off patrol duty.

“At sun down today you’ll face your first swarming. This is far more dangerous than the nightly patrols we’ve had you go through. It’s a lot more dangerous which is why we’ve been authorized to carry a full ammo load so you’ll be expected to maintain full tactical awareness via the data-net.”

The fact that the swarming always began on the same date every single year made preparing for it easier, the only issue was when it ended which was somewhere between halfway and the end of January.

“If you have anything in your vehicles needing to be looked at, then tell the maintenance teams this instant. After that turn in for the day cause you won’t be getting much rest once it all goes down. Dismissed.”

5:00 PM

“Is the drone set Sophie?” Rayla finished checking her turret controls then popped out of the hatch, affixed to the back of the turret was a bustle rack meant to hold, recharge and rearm its drones.

“Yep, everything is green.” Sophie unplugged her laptop from the last drone which was sealed inside.

“Too bad it can only drop one or two grenades.” Jasmin continued to check with the other units.

“Not like complaining will make them give those to us.” Rayla knew that asking would only get them chewed out. Looking at her console readouts it showed all 8,000 rounds for the main gun was loaded as were the ATGMs and machine gun ammo.

The vehicles had the capacity to carry vastly more ammo but regulations and the logistics people would never allow it.

7:12 PM

Rayla spun the turret scanning wide arcs as their IFV moved through the forest. Having a screen was easier than looking through a scope. The suspension was so good it was a smooth ride that she was certain she’d be fine if she took off her seat harness, then she proceeded to make sure it was secured knowing one big bump would have her kissing the hatch above her head.

Tapping a few keys one of the screens showed a wide area map, icons depicted the many drones flying overhead. They ranged from purely surveillance to those with offensive setup which was a huge morale boost since aerial support had always been limited during the swarming until now.

A small red light started blinking and she turned her attention to her main screen, it showed several undead which the system highlighted with a yellow outline. To her joy the system over the months learned to recognize the shape and movement of the undead and started doing this on its own when normally she’d have to do it annually.

Taking the controls, she fired a round which detonated in the middle of the undead. The firepower of the 57mm was overwhelmingly superior to their old IFV’s 25mm cannon.

“That’s ten down.” She cheered as the map highlighted a large group of them further ahead and tapped the location on the map. “Alex, we have a target rich environment ahead.”

“—Hold on—” Alexandra hit the accelerator as they sped through the woods,

“—Looks like the other including the mongooses have made contact.—” Jasmin said as she began issuing commands.

Rayla quickly took aim thanks to the systems easily compensating for their speed and terrain before taking out another group. Normally she’d need at least a four round burst to do this much. Before long the system pinged a priority notification for an ogryn around half a kilometers south, she switched the ammo for APFSDS as they began to head for it.

Soon the lidar and infrared sensors found it as it was now marked on her screen.

“—That’s a big one—” Alex was surprise to see one this big as turned towards them, she turned hard avoiding its fiery breath. “—Hey we just got this thing painted!—”

Rayla aimed for its ugly head before firing, the round instantly punched clean through its skull causing it to fall over. “Oh I love this thing.”

“—Alex, the sensors ok?—”

“—Yeah, they're working fine.—”

“Same here.. wait.” Rayla noticed the fallen ogryn was moving, she thought it would be dead after taking such a hit but figured another round would finish the job. As she was taking aim, it stopped, “Resilient that one.”

Soon the screen beeped as the threat analyzer was inundated with question marks. Tapping a key it showed the sensors were picking up some faint vibrations but the system had nothing in its data base to match it against. It couldn’t have been a vehicle barreling down the area as the map showed nothing.

“—What is it?—” Jasmin asked as she began checking her own console.

“—Let’s get out of here and fast—” Alexandra checked he map before the vehicle shook as something large and long erupted out of the ground hitting the front of their IFV. It’s gaping maw was filled with teeth.

“ROT WORM!!!” Rayla screamed firing a two round burst as they drove back to get some distance. It’s worm like body bled as it tried to force its entire body out of the ground. She fired a PHE into its mouth, the blast wave and shrapnel blew up its head and its long body collapsed.

“Alex drive!” Rayla began going through the comm channels till she found the right one,

“—Hey you can’t tap into that channel—” Jasmin was quickly notified as Rayla picked the division command channel and to her shock she was let in.

“—Lieutenant?—”

“Colonel, we got a big rot worn here.”

“—Anymore in the area? Weapon effectiveness?—”

“No sir, just one so far. The systems picked up rumbling then it popped up out of the ground. APFSDS to the body didn’t end it but PHE into its mouth did.”

“—Well done, your team will get commendations for this. Continue operations and await system data update.—”

“Phew!” Rayla felt relieved, she had only seen their dried up husks but it was enough to recognize it. She had no idea they could show up here and wondered if she should let Callum know but then decided against it as the information would quickly go up the chain of command.

“—Ray how do you have access to that channel?—” Jasmin knew certain channels had access restrictions or passwords and the main command channel wasn’t something even a battalion commander would be allowed to use.

“I’m under strict orders to not answer that. But I did go on a subterranean expedition earlier this year and saw those.” The fact that she was part of the subterranean teams as a reservist would work as a cover and the paperwork was real.

Moments later the system pinged as it began downloading a sizable data package, Jasmin quickly opened the file which showed a rot worm along with details on it especially their feeding habits which she found both disgusting and terrifying.

Rayla kept her eyes on the sensor readouts as the system worked to process and integrate the data it received with the creature it saw, one finished it would slowly accumulate more over time.

Elsewhere

Callum flew over the battlefield and saw the mongoose knocked over with a rot worm crawling towards it. With blinding speed he sliced off its head then gained altitude as he cast a spell making the branches of a nearby tree extend and slowly position the small vehicle upright.

“Any injuries?”

“—No sir, we’re fine but our systems seemed to be out.—”

“Head back for repairs,” He ordered as spotted several undead, he formed a sphere of electrify in one hand before diving it into small ones which he shot at them. It was like a small SMG with bad accuracy.

The reports of rot worms were few, less than a fort in total and only three were large. There appearance did warrant serious investigation though he was not sure what they could honestly find.

The swarming had been the same since the millennia long history here so the slow intensification over the last few years had no precedent. He decided it would be best to leave the questions for later, now was the time for unending violence.

Chapter Text

21^st November

11:23 PM

Frenoria, Erdus dukedom

Within the now empty storage room, a single rot worm writhed, trying to break free from the chains that held it down. The heavy flood lights aimed on it dimmed as a pair of shadows fell over it.

“You are very lucky Mr. Rotworm, you have unwillingly volunteered yourself to be dissected.” Amy took a scalpel and tapped the back of its head. Right under the skin was a chitinous carapace which acted like a skull.

The files from Anterim’s expedition had given them a lot of data but now they could do some additional testing on their own.

“So don’t move too much or this will get messy.” Cassie lifted a small buzzsaw, its high pitched whir causing the rootworm to struggling more violently against the chains.

“Hey I thought we were using a bone saw.” Amy protested

“This is faster.”

“Ehhh good enough” Amy made a small incision behind the skull and quickly cut the ventral nerve cord causing its body to go limp.

“Your majesties, we have word that these things have appeared in every nation.” One of the soldiers before returning to his post.

“Guess Cal can milk the data he shared for some brownie points.” Cassie began cutting into its skull to collect tissue and fluid samples.

“Maybe we can leverage that in the upcoming conference.”

9:50 AM

Callum’s estate

Aleesia was watching TV as she helped her siblings decorate the terrain set they were working on for the next part of their campaign. It involved making a castle overgrown with trees, vines and everything else making it easy for them to hide models of skeletons and other creatures.

During the past four years, the entire estate had found a love for the game that they often built terrain sets which only became more complex and advanced over time. Callum had far less time to build and play much to the frustration of his siblings.

Ellis finished connecting some wires then flipped a switch, a model tree made of rubber began moving erratically trying to hit the area around its trunk with its thick branches. “The angry willow is ready.”

Their construction was interrupted by a breaking news announcements, Aleesia quickly took the remote and raised the volume as Ava finally woke up from her nap.

“—We have received word that last night a new type of creatures had appeared. First encountered during an expedition to one of the subterranean realms. Through interacting with the inhabitants it was discovered that they appeared around the same time as the swarming had intensified years ago.

All data collected had been shared with all nations months prior.

Our sources confirm that there have been casualties and the military is carrying out an immediate reevaluation of their plans to account for this.

An emergency session of the high soviet will be held at 2 PM to deliberate future actions. We will provide further details on all this as they become available.—”

“Hold down the fort.” Aleesia ran off to get changed as things were about to get very hectic. Knowing Callum would probably be sleep deprived so she and everyone else handles his tasks till the emergency session began.

2:30 PM

“… their eyes as it were are rudimentary photoreceptors that can’t do more than detecting varying levels of light. To put it simply, its awareness of its surroundings is based on its ability to detect differences in heat, touch, vibrations, sound, smell, air pressure and chemicals it smells or tastes.”

“What is the likelihood that these creatures can burrow under our walls and damage our infrastructure?” One of the legislators interjected which earned a harsh rebuke from the Speaker before the researcher was allowed to answer the question.

“The risk is nonexistent. They do not burrow to travel but to hide in ambush to drag away prey to consume later. The Gelphan use the same methods as us to protect their infrastructure. We can rule out any immediate concerns and focus on studying the situation to check of any vulnerability we might have missed.”

This time the assembly waited for the Speaker to permit them.

“The report says that they turn into dried husks during daytime and comeback to life at night. Does this pose any potential problems?”

“As I stated before, they burrow to ambush or to drag away any person they caught. Their digestive system is specialized towards rotting meat.

The Gelphans already have good understanding on how to find their borrows and they use pieces of rotting meat to lure them to specific areas to be killed.

We only need to adapt that to our needs or chemicals to emulate it.”

It took another hour before the entire assembly was brought up to speed on the rot worms and it was authorized to try and see if a chemical compound could be cheaply mass produced for this purpose if using meat wasn’t viable due to health or other constraints.

With authorization granted, Callum quickly began typing a letter to clan Steiner for this since this technically fell under both their respective clans expertise.

Next they called up Vaeril to present recommendations from the military and general staff who managed to quickly come up with a plan.

“Gathered representative, I will make this quick, I request authorization to using all available ground attack drones and aircraft.

In the long term our recommendation is to expedite the production of ground and aerial drones. The current situation can be used to accumulate data to form effective protocols for detecting and dealing with them. . . ”

13^rd December

10:12 AM

The Control center overlooked the entire spaceport with large crowds gathered at the base of the building in the launch viewing area which gave the onlookers a clear view while maintaining a safe distance.

Within the top floor of the control center, Ezran, Aanya, Ellis and Aleesia had their faces pressed against the reinforced viewing glass at the rocket still connected to the service tower.

“How long have they been like this?” Callum entered the room with Ava in tow. Everyone else from this large family was already present except for Rayla who was at work.

“Since they got here.” Neia answered as she and Ilamyr sipped tea.

Taking a ball, he tossed it which Ava happily chased after. “How are things over there?”

“King Ardeth after taking the subway in Eflatol wanted one in every city.” Ilamyr recalled seeing the king willing to do anything to make it happen, he was still determined as she discussed with him an hour prior.

“The civil engineers are probably having a conniption fit over it.” Callum wondered if he might have personally explain that to the kingdom who was in the next room.

“He wants to help speed up opening those universities and training centers fast.” Neia had trouble explaining that those wouldn’t be open until they had enough qualified staff for every department which wasn’t something they could easily train.

They were interrupted by the announcement and Callum quickly grabbed the remote and turned down the volume from the news broadcast.

“—Attention: Launch preparations are finished, all safety checks completed, and all personnel have been cleared. NOS-3 will begin launch sequence in 20 minutes.— ”

“I can’t believe we get to see the first person go into space.” Neia was ecstatic as she had been the most excited out of anyone back home.

“It’s hotly debated but everyone on the continent including you has that honor when this continent moved up into space four years ago. This will be the first manned space flight.” He said

“Why is it debated?” Neia asked

“Some think that should go to those of us who first entered the space station since the continent is technically considered land.” He said as he gave them both a kiss on the cheek before rushing off the to command center while Ilamyr and Neia went completely silent afterwards.

“Oh come on, that’s all it took to shut you both up?” Rommet snickered as he and his brother momentarily tore their eyes away from the launch site.

Command Center

Callum sat down and watched as everyone in the room were busily running through last minute checks. As the minutes passed, each clearance was given with only one left.

“—Final clearance given, Launch in T minus 10 seconds. Guidance is Internal… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… —”

The service tower detached the last connection it had to the rocket, what looked like hard snow and white mist fell down from the cryogenic fuel lines as the liquid hydrogen and oxygen still within escaped.

“—We have confirmation that all engines ignition sequence had successfully started—”

… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0… LAUNCH.—”

The base of the launch platform and the ground itself began to tremble as massive rocket engines roared to life.

Slowly it began to rise till its exhaust nozzles were visible followed by a blinding pillar of fire that covered the ground in a thick cloud of superheated exhaust

“—Anterim, we have lift off.—”

They all watched as it gained altitude leaving the world behind, and as a civilization through its own efforts takes its first step into the wider universe.

“—we’ve passed the 20 kilometer mark, beginning gravity turn maneuver.—”

With the densest part of the atmosphere cleared, its straight upward trajectory began to gradually tilt towards a horizontal one.

The rocket engines generated so much thrust, needing only a minute to break the sound barrier. And at the rate its fuel payload was rapidly being consumed, it would inevitably reach several times the speed of sound.

“—120 kilometers reached. Beginning second stage...—”

The screens showed a highly zoomed video feed that the system enhanced. The rear view camera on NOS-2 showed the rocket detach and fall away.

“—First stage vehicle guidance control transferred to ground command. Beginning descent sequence—”

“—NOS-2 successful second stage ignition confirmed—”

“—Detonation engine ramp up finished. Switching from turbofan to scramjet mode, backup systems all green.—”

They watched the readouts as it continued its ascent as the spaceship now flew under its own engines. The engines were being powered by a compact fusion reactor, combined with its massive internal fuel system allowed it great power and endurance.

“—NOS-2 had reached 195 kilometers.—”

“—Orbital velocity attained. Engines shifting to plasma thrust mode.—”

“—NOS-2 confirms communication with Erdian team on NOS-4.”

With that the simultaneous launches from both countries were successful as the crews of both ships communicated as they flew to attain a parallel trajectory.

Inside the command center Callum and everyone else shouted in celebration as all the test launches and prototypes had finally paid off. They had left the confines of this world not through the advanced technology of times long passed, but of that which they built themselves and now they could truly claim to have made a place for themselves among the stars.

The screen blinked a moment before the face of a sunfire elf came into view.

“—Captain Fane, we’re reading you loud and clear.—”

 “—Mission control, we’re approaching the NOS-4 for next stage.—”

“—Roger, you may proceed.—”

Viewing room

They were all watching the live broadcast from the ship showing the other ship flying parallel to it. The radio chatter wasn’t interesting as none of them understood the technically jargon.

“—Attention, first stage vehicle beginning landing sequence.—”

They all turned their attention to the runway and saw the first stage vehicle, only from its current orientation it looked like a large and wide delta wing aircraft about to make a landing. Its landing gear was massive with many wheels made contact with the runway, slowly bringing it to a stop.

The standard cylindrical rocket was replaced by this aircraft like design to make recovery easier.

The second runway had another identical ship on it, intended to launch like an aircraft and slowly climb into space. It was kept on standby in case the other vehicle suffered any issues and needed rescue.

3 Hours after launch

The screen showed the internal bay of the ship opening, an object slowly rose obstructing the camera and the feed switched to an external camera.

The satellite was being pushed out by a robotic arm as the radio chatter between the crew and ground control as hectic. Slowly the solar panels, radiators, transmitters, and receivers emerged and the robotic arm released it.

The satellite’s own engines turned on guiding it to a stable orbit before the ship’s bay doors closed and the crews confirmed they were heading home now.

5 hours after the satellite is deployed

“—This is NOS-2 switching to Erdian control.—”

With that the connection went dead and a new one was established with the other ship.

“—NOS-4, Captain Jonathan, this is mission control Anterim. Do you read?—”

The screen flickered before the dark skinned captain’s face appeared who was in charge of the the Erdus Dukedom’s ship.

“—Mission control, we read you, control transfers completed, no abnormalities on our end.—”

With that the command center began checking the transmission and reception signals on their end before giving the go ahead.

This was the last stage of this mission where each spaceship would land in each other’s spaceport instead of their home nations. They willingly entrusted the safety of their crews to each other, to show how strong the capabilities, coordination and trust between the two nations were.

 “—Mission control, we are about to begin reentry sequence.—”

“—roger that NOS-4, you may begin.—”

The system readouts showed the spaceship had retracted all non-reinforced external sensors before accelerating towards the planet. The readouts showed the ship was vibrating from the shocks of punching through the air.

“—Prepare for communications blackout.—”

Moments later the communications was cut and only static could be heard with rare and brief transmissions. The extreme heat of reentry created a sheath of plasma blocking all radio transmissions.

“—Laser data transmission active, status of ship board reception unknown.—”

Overtime they noticed the ship’s trajectory begin to change, matching the mission flight plan. While they could transmit data to the ship, the ship itself could not do the same so everyone in ground control could only hope. The intense heat and plasma limited what their sensors could analyze, leaving them to make inferences.

“—NOS-4 is currently at 130 kilometers. First reentry sequence finished, it is likely entering the second sequence.—”

 “—zzzkt zzzz ead zzzkt e—”

“—Plasma sheath is starting to dissipate—”

Soon the transmission started to clear up,

“—Mission control do you read?—”

“—This is mission control, what’s your status?—”

“—The system seems to be having trouble measuring the vibrations. Probably a lose connection with the sensors.—”

It took a moment to respond to them, “—NOS-4, your transmissions are clear. Hull vibrations are well within safety tolerances. We are not seeing any issues on our end. You may proceed as planned.—”

As it was now below 85 kilometers, the ship began to slowly change its angle of descent. Using its underside and wing area as an oversized air brake, it began a rapid deceleration as the air density slowly increased.

They watched the sensor transmissions from the ship as it slowly descended. Their flight path involved a large circular path to ensure the hull was rapidly cooled as it traveled through the thin but freezing air of the mesosphere and then the dense stratosphere.

“—NOS-4 is within the third sequence. Altitude 60 kilometers and has switched to atmospheric flight mode. All air ducts are open, all engines are active. Ground control prepare to guide them in for the final sequence.—”

Outside the main building, Callum stood with all the onsite vehicles and personnel. They saw the spaceship, it was in the final sequence as it approached. The engines were shut off and the ship relied entirely on its avionics and momentum to carry it to the space port.

Like an aircraft, it pitched up slightly as its landing gear was down and locked.

It was met with much fanfare from the crowds in the viewing areas as the ship touched down on the runway and the drag chutes were deployed. The nose gear soon touched on the hard surface as the last of its momentum was bled away and the drag chutes detached.

Callum watched as the onsite crews rushed to the now stationary ship. To everyone’s relief, the landing went off without a hitch, with a flawless success the legislature would easily approve funding for the other missions.

The crew was slowly got out of the ship. The medical staff that after a brief check gave them the all clear, while the other onsite teams began quickly examining the ship and specialized personnel went to inspect the reactor.

Callum personally went to congratulate all eight of the Erdian crew. Once all of that were done the media was finally permitted to approach and they came like a ravenous horde that no one onsite was prepared for.

Chapter Text

  17^th January

Fomond city, capital of the kingdom of Regalia

“Thank you for coming.” Prince Kaarel said as he gestured to an earthblood elf sitting beside him, “This is Adreysin Mhaenal, a diplomat from Xaneeh.”

Rommet, Kasval, Neia and Ilamyr exchanged greetings as formal code dictated then sat opposite to him. Between them was a low table with a rolled up map and some refreshments.

“Our kingdom wishes to establish diplomatic ties with your Suzerain which another team is already handling.” Adreysin explained as things had changed greatly now.

Originally Xaneeh was shocked to learn of a human kingdom defeating Regalia then making them a protectorate. Anterim overnight became the dominant power, but upon learning they would only remain for a few years which meant there was no reason to do anything except continue as usual.

That had all fundamentally changed when Regalia had become a vassal of Anterim.

There was a saying that you could choose your friends but you can’t choose your neighbors.

For nations this meant they had no choice but to live with each other as they shared a border, so establishing solid diplomatic ties and channels of communications were a practical necessity, especially when it was with the sole super power on the continent.

“I have impressed upon their delegation of potential benefits of cooperating especially with the reason I called you all here.” Kaarel unrolled the map and his hand raced along the north eastern part of the kingdom till his finger stopped at a remote region near the border, it was called Shaohou.

From a glance it appeared uninhabited, no roads, no cities or anything of worthy of note. It was between two mountain ranges which acted as barriers of a sort.

“This region also extends into the kingdom of Xaneeh. We have each established a major city at our respective entrances into this region as building settlements further in have proven impractical.” Kaarel’s fingers traced down till landing then tapping twice at a city. It was the largest of four major cities with smaller ones all located south of it.

“What makes this region hard to settle?” Kasval asked trying to see what angle the crown prince was playing at. He turned to Ilamyr, but she shook her head as her family had no dealings that far into Regalia.

“The soil is rich but only some of it is suitable for cultivation. There are no rivers, and only a few sources of freshwater. There are some hot springs but the water is toxic and we’ve never found any signs of ore deposits so the region was left as is.”

“But you suspect there might be deep ore deposits?” Ilamyr suspected this might be the reason. There was no practical way for them to mine that deep down until Anterim showed up. Her own family’s mines benefited greatly from this as even their old abandoned mines were now operating again.

While aqueducts were expensive, they could be built to bring in water from afar. However, it didn’t matter much if they couldn’t cultivate enough food locally. Finding a solution to make the soil arable would take time.

It made perfect sense why such a massive region wasn’t developed. Now that Anterim brought its industrial capabilities, there was the real prospect of developing this land even if most people had no understanding of said technology.

Kaarel simply nodded to in response, since he proposing this, it meant his father the king and the monarch of Xaneeh was probably behind it.

“Am I to understand you want a viable network of cities to establish trade between our kingdom and Xaneeh?” Neia guess it likely, if the region was going to be developed then trade would naturally thrive.

“We already heavily trade with one another.” Adreysin pointed westwards and they saw well-developed roads and a river connecting many cities on both sides of the border. However they were far removed from the region in question by a mountain range.

“The Tiberon River is wide and deep enough that ships can carry both people and goods between our kingdoms and the roads are well maintained. This also made developing the Shaohou region not worthwhile until now.”

The four glanced at each other, this made little sense as trying to develop the western regions could easily produce results faster than developing a whole region from scratch. Anterim would demand a proper explanation as to why they should divert resources to a region whose prospects are a complete unknown.

“We can bring this to their attention but they will need to send teams to evaluate the prospects before any resources can be committed.” Rommet grasped their intent, developing the region would not only strengthen diplomatic ties through trade, but also assuage any concerns of the feudal lords at the border.

“Occasional merchant caravans do travel through the Shaohou region to…”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Neia interjected, she wasn’t well versed in merchant matters as Ilamyr was but going through such a region seemed like suicide. Ilamyr quickly nodded her affirmation to this.

“The caravans stop at the many abandoned forts littered throughout the region. Bringing their own supplies they save on expenses that would normally be incurred taking western route despite the distance and dangers.” Adreysin answered, this showed the region did hold potential but they had no means to do anything about it until now.

“The loss in tax revenue is statistically not worth considering but the gains if we find any resources is far too great. “ Kaarel affirmed with the Xanish diplomat.

As it stood both nations stood to benefit greatly from this and Anterim’s support was key to this project.

“They’ll need access to all documents regarding the region, from what has been verified to including speculations. The initial team will be small.” Ilamyr had helped such teams before so she knew what they would need. There were many people highly specialized for certain things so they needed to draw up a detailed end goal for them to work with.

“A rail line connecting our two nations would be a start, the region being uninhabited means we’ll face no local opposition.” Adreysin had seen them operating in Temirov and the territory’s had prospered irrespective of the rest of the kingdom of Vasuria. Many who used to transport goods had lost their jobs due to how efficient the rail system was so building one along their most used trade route would cause delays trying to resolve the issues.

Since Regalia bought the territory from Vasuria, they could expect the rail network to expand into every corner of Regalia. The king of Xaneeh had ordered him to offer any concession necessary, as having a connection to even a single Xanish city meant they too would have access to this network.

The other nations would probably be making similar overtures in due time so having one before them would be a great advantage.

“They will need to evaluate the entire region before they can decide on a possible route, especially since they need to test the hot spring water to see if there’s anything in there that might corrode the tracks. However building a city will be difficult and likely need years before they can approve of it.” Kasval knew they could build one on their own, but having Anterim financially and materially backing it would save them a great deal of time and effort.

After much deliberation, Adreysin had left to discuss with the rest of the delegation leaving the room less tense than before.

“I take it you have another reason for this?” Kasval asked, they were on a first name basis with him so they could ignore protocol when alone with him.

“Yeah, your step-father being human and elevated to nobility has evoked strong opposition. The neighboring kingdoms have taken a similar position like your old homeland.” Kaarel noticed Rommet, Kasval and Neia twitch from restraining their emotions.

The nobility were becoming more annoying but he knew he could shut them up by bringing up their suzerain. It didn’t really solve the issue itself as they could cause problem especially by creating massive delays.

This project would render their ability to interfere impossible and any future attempts by them would be political suicide. Currently central authority of the government was limited as they were still in discussion with Anterim with building a nationwide telephone and radio network. Until then he had to do this the old fashion way. He had zero risk of dissent from the military as they were always apoplectic to any suggestion of opposing their suzerain.

“How large are these caravans?” Ilamyr wondered as an increased size would be more efficient. A water mage was essential but affordable while they brought enough preserved foods and the animals could graze anywhere. Some caravans did hunt fresh game on the way.

“Anywhere from twenty to forty, every now and then you get some with hundreds but that’s the exception.” Kaarel said

“That sounds about right.” Ilamyr began calculating the economics of it and her conclusion was that using this route did offer a noticeable improvement of margins if one ignored the dangers. “How often do people fail to travel through the region?”

“Most of it is hearsay.” Kaarel said, merchant caravans normally operated with a fixed area, that didn’t mean they didn’t relocate in search of better prospects. This often causes people to think they died along the way.

“They are not gonna enjoy reading through that.” Kasval let out a mirthless laugh knowing the teams assigned to this would not enjoy having to work with hearsay.

32^nd January

Border city of Várdre, Regalia

The city was meant to serve as a bastion in case the forward forts were attacked. No attack ever came, as settling in the Shaohou region proved impossible. Any future plans had been abandoned centuries ago, with no one expecting that to change—until now.

The streets were well maintained, the wide walks were lined with flowering plants kept short through meticulous trimming. It added a nice aroma as people walked by,

Neia and Ilamyr stopped in front of a restaurant, it was well appointed considering how wealthy the district was. Inside the floors had a nice carpet and the walls had a layer of polished wood, lanterns meant for the night stood as decorative ornaments.

They managed to find one empty table, the woman who came to take their orders was human, as was all the servers. They quickly placed their orders then resumed their earlier discussion as the server silently bowed them went away quickly.

“Wonder how long it’ll take them to survey the entire region.” Ilamyr had no illusion that it would be years before they could even start as this was completely different from expanding an existing city.

“Hard to say, it might take long if there are no worthwhile deposits.” Neia knew full well modernizing the surface realm’s own industries and military were still ongoing so Callum couldn’t justify diverting resources unless it could align with it.

The server brought their food, the plate was stacked with idiyappams, made by laying rice noodles in a disc shape then steaming. They poured black chickpeas curry over it then began eating it.

“Ray would definitely love this,” Ilamyr said, using her finger to spread the curry over the idiyappams, waiting for it to seep down.

“I have no idea how she can taste anything while gobbling it up so fast.” Neia simply tore a small piece to scoop the curry before eating.

“Maybe she has a second tongue in her stomach.”

“Or she might be part of some secret experiment.”

“Have you been watching horror films again?”

“Maybe.”

“No wonder you seem sleepy on the weekends.”

After finishing they went to wash their hand and asked for the bill, the server brought a thin wooden board with the amount written in chalk. The two had taken turns paying for food and it was Ilamyr’s turn today.

She quickly counted the money, handed it over, then added a tip twice the billed amount, leaving the server flabbergasted

A reaction they had become all too accustomed to and would continue for years to come. The server, still staring at the generous tip, barely managed a bow as they left. Outside, Neia’s gaze landed on the sign above the door—‘Elves Only.’

“The more things changed, the more they stay the same.” She muttered, her nails dug into her skin remembering her adoptive father.

“That’s why we’re doing this,” Ilamyr reminded her as she remembered her late friend.

Caspian estate

The estate was one of many used to house important guests. Kaarel, using his authority as Crown Prince, had commandeered it, along with the nearby buildings, as their base of operations. The inside was luxurious to a fault with crystal chandeliers, stained glass windows, polished marble floor and all. Such extravagance would normally be reserved for the lord’s own residence, which made the Crown Prince suspicious—who exactly was the local lord trying to impress? But that was a question for another time.

Two of the buildings were being turned into labs to carry out tests on the soil, plant, and tissue samples with chemicals whose names were difficult to pronounce. He had no real understanding of how these worked, only that they had strict requirements for where they could be safely carried out. Otherwise they would have to do the testing far away.

 “You seem happy.” Rommet tossed the report on the table as he looked up at the mezzanine which was lined with books.

“The city lord was trying to impress upon me the error of these policy changes.” Kaarel put the book back on the shelf then slid down the railings.

“The cartographers guild is trying to delay us by saying we need to make an appointment first.” Kasval popped in to deliver the news, fully expecting Kaarel’s irritation to do the opposite of lessening.

“Oh I’ll get them an appointment, alright—an appointment to explain this to my father.” Kaarel rubbed his forehead before he stomped out to resolve it quickly.

As the door slammed behind him, Kasval smirked. “He’s not gonna have a full head of hair at this rate.”

“It might make him look wise beyond his years,” Rommet said as the two brothers broke out into laughter.

Chapter Text

2^nd February

Rayla’s apartment, Anterim

Everyone else was busy so she decided to take it easy and watch tv while munching away on the couch.  Her parents were busy in the knight’s fortress welcoming new initiates so she had the whole place to herself.

Changing the channel she saw what looked like a naval ship in the amber glow of the setting sun, quickly raising the volume as the image zoomed out revealing a heavy cruiser with its two triple barreled turrets in the front.

“—We bring you this broadcast live aboard the runway of aircraft carrier ANCS Aurora, the current flagship of the Anterian navy. This ship is head to take over maritime duties of the Katolian flagship, the KNS Staggered which will undergo maintenance.—” The screen shifted from the reporter to then runway which had several aircraft parked on the edges.

These singe engine aircraft all had a large round air intake right under the pointed nose which made it seem like it was meant to gobble instead of suck air in. Swept back wings on top of its long and tall fuselage. The wings were folded up to make space for so many aircraft to be parked next to one another.

The reporter brought her mic to an officer dressed in standard white.

“—What can you tell us about these aircraft?—”

“—These are VF-8 crusaders, one of several early supersonic designs.—” the officer then gestured the camera man to move as they were in the way of the loading elevator.

“—But that means our militaries have had supersonic jets much earlier, why was this not made known to the public?—”

“—Because the definition and criteria for a supersonic aircraft that we and the Dukedom have aren’t the same as the other nations.—”

“—Could you elaborate on that?—”

“—Certainly, our criteria requires an aircraft be able to sustain speeds above Mach 1 without any afterburners, by this criteria alone the crusader isn’t considered as one by us. It is one if you use the criteria used by Del Bar, Estaria, Neolandia and Evenere.—”

 “—What can you tell our viewers about this jet?—”

“—The crusader has been dubbed the last true gun fighter with its four 20mm guns. It could mount missiles if necessary. And it looks like our other bird just came out.—”

The officer pointed to the loading elevator as another aircraft slowly came up, this one had a pointier nose with two air intakes on its side. The wings were mounted under the fuselage and it had two engines.

“—This is the F-4 Phantom, a pure long range missile fighter. We have a light fighter as well but those have no duty today. —”

The reporter then took a moment to explain that the hangar was off limits and therefore couldn’t show the audience.

“Damn,” Rayla really wanted to see it, she was certain she had seen them fly during the parade but the fact that she didn’t know they were supersonic made her want to see them up close.

The camera soon moved to bulbous aircraft that looked like someone’s nose when viewed from the front.

“—This is an A-6 Intruder, a purely subsonic strike aircraft.—”

As the officer went over the aircraft’s details, Rayla wondered why they needed such a criteria. Were they just basing it on the advanced aircraft as the standard for everything?

They eventually went over how its shape ad people call it the flying chicken drumstick. Rayla smiled as she picked up an actual chicken drum stick covered in thick spicy gravy, “Such perfect timing.”

As she enjoyed all that chickeny goodness, the discussion had moved to carrier operations, namely launching and retrieving aircraft. The explanation began with the crew who all seemed to be wearing color coded uniforms as they worked on the deck. Each color corresponded with a distinct set of duties and responsibilities.

The officer pointed to a group of people dressed in yellow who was making hand gestures. “—The yellow shirt you see is directing an aircraft is they are signaling from above the waist. If it’s below the waist then it’s to the other flight deck crews.—”

Rayla was impressed as it was explained that a plane couldn’t land or take off without a yellow shirt controlling it. Then it moved to the other colors such as Green, red, blue, white, purple and so on. They had to use hand signals as the flight deck was too noisy.

She watched a crusader being taxied and attached to the launch catapult while all the signals were being explained. The aircraft was now loaded onto the catapult and a quick final inspection was carried out.

A section of the deck behind the aircraft opened like a trap door. Several deck crew were kneeling with one arm raised high up. 

In the low light of the setting sun, the engine exhaust was clearly visible. The camera zoomed in on the pilot signaling his director in what looked like a salute.

In response the yellow shirt kneeling forward, his hand touched the deck then raised to point straight ahead, the engines roared as the catapults pulled the aircraft so fast it was quickly airborne and gaining altitude soon after.

Another aircraft was launched soon after before the deck crew ran into inspect and set everything up for the next take off.

After a length series of questions, the screen jumped to somewhere else. The new reporter appeared who explained they were at the Naval officers academy then gestured to a set of models beside him. Both were aircraft carriers, one had a long straight deck that ended in a curved ramp while the other had no ramp and was wider with a second diagonal runway.

“—Before the war all carriers had completely straight rectangular flight deck but with the development of jet engines, they were already designing the next generation of carriers. The two carriers you see may look different but they are the same ship.—”

Rayla guessed it was probably based of their mother-in-laws design probably as a test model for the new ones. She leaned towards the screen as a retired admiral and instructor at the academy was introduced who began explaining why they looked so different.

“—What you see here is the original design with a displacement of 40,000 tons.—” the admiral took a model aircraft and place it on the runway which was reminiscent of a child playing, “— The ramp allows aircraft to take off even if the runway is shorter than what they needed. However this was deemed inadequate for large aircraft so it was quickly redesigned—”

His hand gently brushed against the flat runway of the other model, “—To launch heavier aircraft, the catapult was developed which would generate enough speed to be airborne. A second diagonal runway was added further back to help with landing. This also gave us a lot more space to work with.—”

“—Admiral, are the new carriers necessary then?—”

“—They are, our most advanced fighters are much heavier and need specialized equipment. We built these six carriers so we could have enough trained personnel ready to be transferred over to the new ones when ready. —”

Margrave’s office

“—You can’t expect us to support this unprecedented and unchecked level of militarization.—” King Florian argued back, trying to get Callum to stop.

“Actually I expect both our nations to do what we’ve always done which is not try to set each other’s military limits.” Callum answered, reminding them of how they always operated.

“—This is very different, its causing political and public unrest.—”

“How about I give you five of our old carriers? You use your new aircraft on it and your people calm down.—” Callum knew they would be decommissioned regardless and melted down so this seemed like a good way to gain some leverage.

“—You can’t be serious?—”

“You currently possess no carriers of your own, nor the ability to build any. I’ll even refit it to suit your needs.” It was already clear these carriers were advanced, but the technology on it wasn’t classified so giving it away posed no risk. Especially with the new super carriers being built. “All I’m saying is to take it under consideration.”

8^th February

Border city of Várdre, Regalia, Subterranean Realm

“I know you said this was hearsay, but this much?” Neia muttered, flipping through the files. The airship had returned from Xaneeh, bringing all the data they could gather on caravan travel through the region.

To their lack of surprise, many of the disappearances could be attributed to people just moving elsewhere instead of returning which was a common enough thing.

The remaining cases could be explained away as being due to carnivores, undead, accidents or the rare bandit attack even if they couldn’t know the exact details.

 “I told you.” Kaarel’s voice was dry as he skimmed the last document. Around them, scribes and aides worked furiously, compiling the data into an organized archive before it was uploaded.

A sharp knock interrupted them. A man in a white coat stepped in and handed them a stack of papers. “The preliminary report is ready.”

“Thank you, Dimitry,” Kaarel said, accepting the pages. He had made it a point to learn the names of their new suzerain’s scholars. It helped. People were more willing to cooperate when they weren’t treated like nameless servants.

Kaarel, Rommet, Kasval, Neia, and Ilamyr leaned in, scanning the pages. The numbers and symbols meant little to them, but the summaries were written in terms even they could understand.

“The land is just… acidic?” Kaarel frowned. He had expected some difficult mix of poisons, something that would be almost impossible to deal with. But this?

He looked around, but no one had an answer. All eyes turned to Dimitry.

The scholar adjusted his glasses. “Widespread soil treatment would be expensive and time-consuming. But the hot springs—” he tapped a section of the report “—are a different matter entirely. The water contains high concentrations of iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, arsenic, lead, sulfur, and other compounds which spread a lot. Purifying it would require specialized facilities and equipment.”

Neia exhaled. “So it’s toxic.”

Kaarel made a humorless smile. He found his list of poisons. “Does that mean there are rich veins of these metals in the region?”

Dimitry shook his head. “We can’t say for sure until a proper geological survey is conducted. But given the region’s geological activity, they’re likely to be deep underground. Mining them conventionally would be impossible. We’d need fully developed mining machines.”

No one spoke for a moment. Everyone knew that would take years. Maybe decades if things went really badly.

Ilamyr crossed her arms. “Anterim’s been deploying deep-mining machines elsewhere, right? My family reopened mines that were tapped out thanks to them.”

Kaarel nodded. “Then it’s just a matter of time.”

They continued reading. One section stood out—an urgent note about sulfur deposits.

“What’s so special about sulfur?” Kaarel asked, wrinkling his nose. “The report says it smells like rotten eggs and makes the water undrinkable. Not exactly something you'd want to dig up.”

Dimitry gave a rare smile, the kind a teacher gives when a student is about to learn something important. “Sulfur is used to make sulfuric acid. It’s the most widely consumed industrial chemical. It is vital for the production of fertilizers, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, explosives, food additives, paper, textiles, synthesizing chemicals, extracting, refining and processing resources.”

Ilamyr’s eyes widened. “Wait—you can’t make any of that without sulfur?”

“Not at scale,” Dimitry confirmed. “That’s why nations track their sulfuric acid production so closely, it’s a strong indicator of industrial strength. Some even call it ‘liquid prosperity.’”

There was a moment of silence. Then, slowly, Kaarel exhaled. He glanced at the report again, as if seeing it with new eyes. More valuable than gold.

“So that’s why you were all busy in the archives,” he muttered, clicking his tongue. The archives in the capital were vast—old maps, forgotten reports, even rumors could hint at where sulfur and other resources might be found. It would be faster than poking around the entire kingdom and hoping something pokes back.

10^th February

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

“—Okay I managed to get Del Bar to back down on the nukes by lobbying the admiralty with some carriers. But he’s not budging on the space program.—” Callum answered, the sound of pages flipping could be heard through the speaker.

“—What about hag from Estaria?—” Cassie asked, as the Estarian confederacy had a new chairperson after the election and Rosenthal retired instead of running again after his term was finished.

“—She and the legislature are against it fully. I offered to transfer some submarines but they didn’t bite.—” He muttered.

“It doesn’t help that its four to two in the vote.” Amy said reading the file on her upcoming meeting,

“—I might have to sweeten the pot with Evenere at this rate.—” Cassie quickly made a call to their diplomats already on Evenere to put some feelers out ahead of her arrival.

“If this falls through then should we break with precedent?” Amy voiced the idea that she had been toying in the back of her mind.

“—I’m more worried about setting that precedent but it might be our only option.—” Callum quickly voiced his own issues with that idea,

“—Think you can get those mines up and running by the years end?—” Cassie asked

“—A couple of months over that if we’re lucky.—” He knew the reality he was working with.

“We can reallocate some people to speed it up, I’ll send someone to draw up the documents.” Amy said before they all said their goodbyes

Sometime later

She entered the conference room as Kasef entered through the other entrance. They both exchanged their greetings before sitting down.

“Forgive me for being blunt but my country can’t vote on your side’s….. hmmm?” He paused as Amy held a hand up then slid a file towards him.

She simply gestured for him to read, he was confused but decided to see what this was about. The title read ‘Desert greening’. It went over a recently approved joint project with Anterim for experimenting with afforestation and cultivating new flora that could tolerate harsher environments.

“We would offer your country entry into this project?” Amy said, they knew Neolandia’s present situation and prepared accordingly. Similar offers were being made to Del bar as well to draw concession though it would be far less effectives.

“And if I refuse?” Kasef barely managed, his eyes fixed on the page detailing the scope of the project.

“Then this goes ahead without you.” Amy stated flatly, both her cousin and husband were busy trying to wrangle whatever advantage they could, she couldn’t afford falter when she was given the easiest one.

Neolandia could Join now and reap the potential benefits, or they could continue on their own. The latter wasn’t an option as their agricultural lands were being threatened by desertification which they could only halt so far, pushing it back was currently out of their means.

“What do you want for this?”

“Where do I start?” Amy smiled as she began writing it down exactly what she wanted from them.

Chapter Text

12^th February

"Guess we hoped too much." Neia sighed, skimming the follow-up report. The surface soil was merely acidic, but deeper layers contained unsafe levels of heavy metals.

"This place might just be cursed," Kaarel muttered, rubbing his temple. "Every time we find a solution, something worse comes up."

"Not cursed, just inconveniently toxic," Ilamyr countered, flipping straight to the solutions section. "We have options: soil extraction, soil flushing, phytoremediation, microbial remediation, myco-remediation."

Kasval groaned. "I swear they’re making up these words."

"Since they came up with these methods, I think they get to name them however they want," Neia quipped.

Rommet had already found the page explaining soil extraction. "Soil extraction is literally digging up the contaminated dirt, treating it off-site, then dumping it back. That’ll be needed for removing some very stubborn contaminants."

"That sounds like a logistical nightmare," Kaarel muttered knowing they would have no choice, "And expensive."

"Soil flushing is next," Rommet continued. "You dig an injection well, pump in water or chemicals to dissolve the metals, then pull them out with an extraction well."

"Like washing dishes, except the soap might be toxic," Neia said.

"Pretty much," Ilamyr confirmed. "Says some stuff can’t be flushed unless you use different chemicals that either breakdown or bind with it. We have to be very careful with them."

"Then there's phytoremediation—planting things like sunflowers, mustard, ferns to absorb the metals," Rommet went on as he ignored the complex equations listed below, "Harvest them, extract the contaminants, but obviously the crops wouldn’t be safe to eat. It’ll take decades though for severe cases."

Kaarel found much to his relief, the report was clear that the toxic elements could be extracted from the plant matter, though the process involved was complicated.

"Microbial and myco-remediation are next," Rommet continued. "Using microorganisms or fungi to immobilize or change heavy metals into something less toxic, organic compounds could be broken down. The soil can be flushed once enough time has passed."

“Does it say if it can be used with the flushing chemicals?” Neia asked her brother who said it depended on the chemical but the report didn’t specify anything more.

The report had its recommendation that a rigorous mapping, Soil core sampling, advanced spectroscopy and study of the whole region be carried out. They would prioritizing soil flushing, first chemically then through fungi and microbes wherever it was viable. Then whatever was left would be dealt with using sunflower and mustard plants over decades. Soil extraction would be reserved for when they really needed it.

Afterwards they would use organic waste collected from faraway to turn into biochar which would be added to the soil. Especially since flushing would kill off microbes, introduce new chemicals along with removing minerals and nutrients. It was like amputating the limb before they could graft a new one.

 “I’ll need to explain this to the Xanish delegation if they want to cooperate with us or not before I try to lobby our suzerain.” Kaarel started formulating a proper message for it.

“Excuse me, there’s been an incident,” one of the staff, a man by the name of Jacob slowly set the phone down as he looked at everyone, “Six researchers have gone missing. The vehicle is being towed back.”

This caused the elves to look shocked who weren’t expecting anything like this, each transport had six people with two always remaining within the vehicle to radio for help if anything happened.

“What happened to them?” Kaarel placed the file down then leaned towards the man,

“The team was sent to an old fort to assess its viability, they reported it was getting dark so they would stay there and head back the following morning. Another team passed by when they saw the vehicle stuck on the road, the hood was opened but the team was missing.”

13^th February

They all sat by the computer looking at the live video feed of vehicle being investigated. Eventually they saw a thick yellow rope being pulled from the vehicle.

“Whats that?” Kasval spoke into the radio then clarified about the rope.

“—All vehicles have them in case they get stuck, you tie one end around something sturdy like a tree then the motor winds it up and pulls the vehicle out.—” one of the investigators answered as they checked it.

“They must’ve been attacked while trying to get unstuck.” Neia felt it was likely as the response from the on-site team was one of affirmation, the investigators couldn’t think of anything else.

The lack of blood was puzzling as no one could explain it. Undead tore apart people and a predator would leave blood if it dragged its prey, and bandits made no sense.

19^th February

“Guess I should have expected this.” Callum stamped the report then placed it to the side.

Aleesia ever curious picked it up and started reading it, the fact that it wasn’t immediately yoinked out of her hand meant it wasn’t confidential. The report was about the progress on Regalia, she had spent a couple of years in Temirov so had a decent idea on what kind of trouble they were dealing with, just on a much bigger scale.

After flipping through the pages it said there was the likelihood of rich deposits of sulphur followed by several recommendations. The page had his official seal meaning funding for it was approved.

Near the end it said six people were missing though it added that they were likely dead. The details made no sense as the undead tore people apart, not make them disappear. Bandit knew better than to cause trouble especially after one group caused an incident and fled to the mountains before being surrounded by a small army.

“You think it’s a local predator?” She already guessed it was unlikely as there should have been blood mentioned.

It continued that an investigation as ongoing but nothing more on it. She looked at the time and was more confused, “Where’s Rayla?”

Normally she’d be here by now with a new recipe to foist on them.

“She’s at the protest pushing for more labor protections.” He yawned as he kept going through the paperwork.

“Huh?” Aleesia’s tendrils acted up as this seemed off, “Shouldn’t she be annoying you over this?”

“Writing and passing laws is the legislature’s job, complaining to me won’t do anything and neither will this protest.”

“So then what?”

“They need to do enough local open ballots, if enough are passed then the legislature is legally required to take it into consideration. Protests are organized if they feel the legislature won’t do it which is why its odd.”

“Are they being manipulated?”

“Don’t know but I fail to see what they could hope to accomplish by fomenting this. My money is on this being a normal overreaction.”

21^st February

Grand Square, Anterim

“Where’s that cauliflower?” Rayla shouted as she finished simmering down the sauce to the right consistency as she kept stirring.

“Just finished,” Two people brought a large amount of cauliflower that had been sliced before being battered and fried.

“Let them know I’ll need more soy sauce after the next batch.” Rayla said as she began adding the fried cauliflower to the giant wok and began vigorously mixing it.

They had a bunch of people who were meeting with the legislatures to lobby them, she had no skill in that regard so she helped them in the large communal kitchen they had set up. The government had simply asked for a list of those who came here from outside the city so their lodging expenses could be covered. Several buildings around that was meant to hold events in which were given to the protestors without much fuss, one of which she was presently in.

The government was very cooperative that she found it off putting, it felt like they weren’t treating this seriously which did piss her off.

23^rd February

Winterpeak, Del Bar

Later, Ezran burst through a door and sprinted toward the massive hot spring, his excitement overriding any hesitation. He leaped in with a loud splash.

Callum followed at a more measured pace. The vapors from the spring met the cold mountain air, creating a thin veil of mist over the water. He watched it swirl, reminded of a report on the Shaohou region. A hot spring resort there could be an intriguing idea—one that might attract innovative architects eager to integrate their latest technology into the experience.

As he eased himself into the water, submerging up to his neck, the thought took shape in his mind. If done correctly, it could serve more than just leisure; it could act as a wedge between those clinging to the institution of slavery. By appealing to their self-interest and showing them the benefits of modernization, he might be able to accelerate abolition. At the very least, it was worth experimenting with.

His scheming was abruptly interrupted as a pair of warm, wet hands slid over his eyes. Soft fingers traced along his temples before gripping his face just tight enough to tease.

"Guess who?"

Callum smirked and, instead of answering, reached up and yanked the hands away with a swift motion, pulling their owner right into his lap. Amy gave a playful yelp before settling in with a satisfied grin.

"Gotcha," he murmured.

"Did ya miss us?" Amy purred, pinching his nose as Cassie who had crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her chest against his back.

"Sure I did, but would it kill you both to act normal for once?" he asked dryly, though he made no effort to push either of them away.

"We made it clear from the start, you’re never getting normal from us," Cassie said pulling his ears up and down.

"And you’re not normal either since you wanted both of us," Amy added, smirking as she sat beside him.

Looking across the spring, they saw Kasef and his wife, Evlyne, playing with their son. Aleesia, Ezran, Ellis, and Aanya had joined them.

"Where’s Rayla? Is she still worried about wearing a bikini?" Amy asked, scanning the area for her.

"She’s busy with the protests," Callum replied, prompting confused looks from his wives.

"Shouldn’t that be after they don’t get their way or have things changed?" Cassie asked.

"It hasn’t. We can’t find any clear motive so our conclusion is that it’s a massive overreaction," Callum admitted with a shrug.

"Same on our end. Everyone’s demanding labor protections before the technology is even ready." Cassie frowned. Their system had been built with so many redundancies that genuine subversion was nearly impossible so they were left with no viable explanation but it left them fully unsatisfied.

"True. You think it’s because the media’s been pumping out so much sci-fi?" Amy asked. Over the past four years, there had been a surge in speculative fiction, spurred by real-world events—the discovery of the Forgotten City, the abandoned space station, the continent orbiting the planet, and the technologies contained within. Many of these stories explored dark, dystopian futures, with one of the most popular depicting servant robots rebelling against their creators.

"Some people do seem worried about that, but most are just afraid of losing their jobs to machines," Callum said. It was understandable as the current mode of production was all they had ever known, and the current system wasn’t compatible with the one they intended to build. The problem was that explaining their vision was nearly impossible when they were still working out the framework themselves.

“If mom, dad or our uncle were here then this would be a cake walk.” Amy said then as a question popped in her head, “Uhhh where did that idiom come from anyway?” Cake walk when taken literally made little sense.

“Let’s shelve that for later and join them.” He said as he had been doing historical research a bit too much that he wasn’t in the mood for more no matter how curious he actually was. But before he could say or do anything they both lifted him up above their heads and walked to the others.

24^th February

Conference hall

The leaders sat around a large, circular table. Callum glanced to his left, where Amy and Cassie were seated, and to his right, where Chairwoman Eva Campbell of the Estarian Confederacy sat. At the head of the table was King Florian of Del Bar, the official host of this year’s conference.

The seating arrangement followed a peculiar tradition: each leader’s position mirrored the geographic placement of their nation on a circular map. No one really knew why this had been established, but the custom endured.

The diplomatic corp and foreign affairs minsitries of alls six nations had been engaged in multiple rounds of negotiations for almost an entire year, they had a good outline for everything, now they had to form a coherent draft treaty to be put up for finalization.

Callum had no intention of thrusting his younger brother into leadership prematurely. He wanted Ezran to enjoy his childhood with his sisters and friends while learning at a more leisurely pace. That responsibility fell instead to the Katolian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who had full authority granted by the head of Katolia’s legislature to represent their nation.

"Let us call this meeting to order," King Florian announced. Each leader placed a medallion in front of them, signaling their participation. It was another ancient tradition, its origins long forgotten.

The first to speak was Vanessa Campbell.

"I urge Anterim and Erdus to slow the rapid pace of your automation and military expansion."

"We refuse," Callum answered immediately. "We never objected when your nations expanding their technological and military capabilities. And we expect you to respect our sovereign right to do the same."

"Not in this matter as a prolonged arms race will harm the continental economy," Chairwoman Campbell countered. As the leader of a smaller nation with limited resources, she knew her country couldn’t keep up.

"An arms race implies you expect us to attack you," Amy said coldly.

"You can hardly blame us," King Kasef interjected. "Your two nations are growing suspiciously cooperative." They had signed so many agreements that they were reacting as a single unified nation at this point.

"Would you rather our two nations go back to being hostile?" Amy asked, her tone unreadable as she reminded them of the last war.

"No," king Kasef admitted. "But our people are demanding we match your military build-up. They no longer trust our existing treaties—especially since M.A.D. no longer works with their new air defense systems."

He was afraid. Everyone in their four nations was. No country had ever wielded such overwhelming power before—it was inherently destabilizing.

"We can’t simply stop producing nuclear weapons when our existing arsenal will reach the end of its service life in twenty years," Callum pointed out. Machines wore down. Eventually, they would need replacing.

"If that’s the case, I believe we can reach a compromise," Queen Fareeda suggested.

"You better not be proposing we end the Treaty of Nilan," King Florian warned.

"What? No," Queen Fareeda reassured him. "The missiles themselves aren’t an issue so I propose the ones built are put into storage while halting all cluster warhead production and instead build standard warheads to extend the deadline. Technical data for the neutron warhead is shared to maintain nuclear parity.”

All eyes turned to Callum, Amy, and Cassie. Beneath the table, their hands moved in rapid sign language, their expressions unreadable as they debated among themselves. They agreed that the cluster warheads were overkill as they were thirty years ahead of what they needed but the idea of halting production was counter intuitive.

Finally, Amy spoke.

"We can share the technical data for the neutron warhead designs but we refuse to agree to the rest.” Which then led to an endless back and forth that went nowhere.

Chapter Text

26^th February

The conference dragged out as both sides continued arguing their case until some compromise was finally reached, mainly to the relief of the four countries and the mild annoyance of the other two. King Florian read out the draft.

“With this we are in agreement that the armed forces of Anterim and Erdus during peacetime will henceforth (Section 1):

• Not deploy any hypersonic missiles with non-nuclear warheads close to the border if they can strike at any military base within 15 minutes. The criteria for such bases will be determined by bilateral or multilateral agreements.
• Standard non-course altering ballistic missiles are exempt from this as long as the range is limited to 650 kilometers with a warhead yield of less than 1000kg of TNT.
• All hypersonic missile complexes near the border will remain inactive and all such munitions will be held in storage.
• A prior notice of 1 to 2 months issued to all relevant parties for conducting test launch, readiness & training exercise.
• Shall not sign any agreement that allows the deployment of such missiles to operate within another nation except one-another.
• The use of wide area jamming shall be forbidden except for training and testing purposes.

In exchange the kingdom of Del Dar, the kingdom of Evenere, the kingdom of Neolandia and the Estarian confederacy shall henceforth (Section 2):

• Not establish any additional bases to force relocation of missile complexes mentioned in (Section 1).
• Not conduct military exercises to combat the above without prior advance notice of no less than 3 months.
• Patrols near such regions as mentioned in section 1 where such weapon bases are deployed will be limited in size.
• Should any member attain similar parity then they too shall be subject to terms of (Section 1)

Additional stipulations:

• The signatories shall produce a framework and enforcement mechanism for the above (Sections 1 & 2) 
  
• Deliberations of strategic and tactical nuclear arsenals shall be deferred and held separately.
• The establishment of a comprehensive continental security framework once the above two stipulations are completed.

The medallions were tapped and placed face down. With this the risk of escalating tensions at the borders was reduced, sadly this was still a draft and they needed to work in a finalized treaty then have it ratified by their respective national legislatures. But to achieve that they had to leave out the discussion of the cluster warheads to get Anterim and Erdus to accept to this. Hopefully future discussions of such weapons might be fruitful. 

With a sigh of relief, King Florian moved the discussion to establish a framework for maritime forces since so far they have only established a draft and this might end the same way the king thought.

“Is this necessary? I feel like this discussion will be fruitless until their modernized navy is revealed.” Kasef pointed out as they couldn’t form any agreements of things they had no information on.

King Florian nodded in agreement, there was another topic they could deal with, “Then I propose we discuss the deployment of future spy satel—”

“““Absolutely NOT!””” Amy, Cassie and Callum immediately cut him off.

“Do not for a second think we have forgotten that at the very minimum two of your nations have violated our sovereign borders by repeatedly sending nuclear capable supersonic high altitude spy planes.” Cassie bit out, they had shot down two more in the month following the first one but they could find nothing in the wreckages to point towards which nation sent it.

“We all reject such allegations.” Eva Campbell spoke on behalf of her own nation and it was joined by similar statements from the other three.

“We also reject your rejection until we find out which one of you it is. The technology found within those wreckages matches whats used presently in YOUR nations.”

“Surely, it could have been either of you as well.” King Fareeda spoke,

“What reason would our two nations have to spy on each other when all our technology is jointly developed?” Amy quickly and implicitly reminded the gathering on who were in technological and military preeminence and who were not. “As far as our nations are concerned, none of you have any leg to stand on in the matter of espionage unless you can conclusively prove your innocence.”

All nations carried out espionage regardless of what national and international laws say on the matter. Everyone knew it, however it was only an issue if they got caught doing it.

They took recess for half an hour before returning, this time the topic was kept to form an outline for a draft on maritime and maritime aviation.

“Regarding the navy I think we can ignore nuclear armed submarines as long as they remain within their respective nations maritime borders.” King Florian cited a treaty signed many years prior.

Back then such armaments didn’t exist so the law was made in preemption as it was only a matter of time since land based missiles could be adapted for underwater launches. This did provide a framework that could be adapted once they got around to it.

“So how about we discuss our existing surface ship classification. Starting with capital ships.”

“I would like to extend the peacetime patrol radius of our capital ships.” Queen Fareeda spoke up as the navy was the primary military of her island nation. It was opposed by both Chairwoman Campbell and King Florian who had no intention of having Evenere’s capital ships operating closer to their borders after the last war.

King Florian offered a compromise, “It might be feasible if it was followed by a reduction in total capital ships.”

Queen Fareeda slammed her hand on the table, “My nation will not reduce our capital ships in such tense times.”

“Are battleships even considered capital ships at this point?” Chairwomen Campbell asked, it was a serious question. While she and her nation would love to see a reduction in Evenere’s naval power, it was undeniable that during the last war, all naval battles revolved around carriers. She pointed out that battleships normally had to be escorted by airships which proved less effective against naval aircraft.

It did give her some satisfaction to see Queen Fareeda reluctantly agree with it.

“If you’re going to talk about them then you should know we’re planning to retire all our battleships.” Amy pointed out to them, they had already partially decommissioned them to only operate as a reserve force. Once the modernization was finished they would be completely decommissioned then stored away or scrapped.

“Our navies will be reorganized around dedicated carriers as our capital ships. We intend to have heavy cruisers and battlecruisers take over the role of battleships as heavy firepower platforms.” Callum explained to them as their Castellan class airship fulfilled the need of such firepower so having a battleship was just an unnecessary cost that provided no real benefit.

To his hidden amusement, Queen Fareeda seemed more worried probably because her nation’s doctrine of having more battleships than anyone else had just had to accept that Evenere's battleship armamda was now a floating scrap heap.

“Then I propose a hard limit on carriers.” Queen Fareeda knew that her nation would lose its maritime relevance otherwise. “What are your requirements for your capital ships?”

“Having a minimum displacement of over 78,000 tons. A normal carrier needs to have a minimum air compliment of over 80 aircraft while a heavy carrier needs a minimum of a 120. They have their own built in air & point defense systems.” Cassie answered as she and the other two knew Queen Fareeda was probably wondering how to build them in large numbers.

“Then I think an upper limit of eighteen for carriers or any warship at 65,000 tons or above.” Queen Fareeda said as that number was still below the forty Anterim and Edris planned to build but would allow her own nation to catch up while maintainign a large captial ship armada. She felt it might be possibleto build carriers below that tonnage en mass.

“I think you don’t fully understand how dedicated carriers work.” Amy already knew what Fareeda was thinking and there was no way they would go along with it. “Only a third is meant to be on active duty at any given time. The remainign two thirs are to be udner maintianence, refit, training or reserve duty.”

“Thats too much. How about twelve?” King Kasef suggested trying to move this along before someone accidentally pushed for too much. His own nation couln't afford to operate that many and he hoped Estaria who were in a similiar position would back him.

“Make it sixteen.” Amy made a counter offer,

“Instead of decommissioning, transfer your existing twelve carriers to us.” Queen Fareeda suggested, reverse engineering an existing ship they had would be faster and more efficient that designing one from scratch.

The other three nations automatically and vehemently opposed it as they shared a maritime border with Evener. It took an hour but the four of them decided that the carriers would be divided among them all.

Amy felt their gazes fall on them, “Very well but only after our new ones finish their sea trials, and you need to specify any refitting requirements.” She offered as the technology on them wasn’t a secrecy concern as the newer ones rendered them obsolete. “But you’ll need to produce your own aircraft for them.”

“Let us move on to sub-capitals. Am I assuming correctly they will function in a similar capacity to existing roles?” King Florian asked

“Predominantly yes, the roles remain unchanged for each classification.” Callum assured him as there wasn’t really much to change since the reorganization for carriers was already completed.

2^nd March

Grand Square, Anterim

Rayla and the other cooking staff sat down in the square. The majority of people who sat in the parade ground as the outdoor cooling system blasted cold air bringing the ambient temperature down, evening being under the midday sun wasn’t an issue.

Lying down she felt the cold breeze as a radio played music, “Hey Rob, I was expecting this to be” she searched for the word, “complicated”

“Trust me its more complicated on our end.” Robert said, he was in charge of the lunch shift and had talked to the organizers in arranging all this. “We just need the legislature to pass an overarching framework to preempt any problems of automation. If we get that then we can call of the protest and push for everything else locally.”

“I really don’t get politics.” She muttered,

“Most people don’t. Finding enough people who do know this stuff to take our concerns and turn them into legal propositions was the first issue. The second was finding people who are good at speaking to coach them.”

“So why are the rest of us here then if those were the only people you needed?”

“The more people are gathered, the more the legislature will see outside of their offices how serious we are. Then we can do this more easily in the local level.”

She whistled softly realizing this was to make sure everything at the top level was already aligned so that they could all take their time in crafting specific laws at the local level where trade unions and local councils had more power.

“I just hope I can make a restaurant when I... whats happening over there?” Rayla pointed to the far side where it looked like the protest was getting heated.

“What?” Rob asked as he looked out then saw it, “Not again.”

“You know what this is about?” She asked

Rob sighed, “The competorists and the absorptionists. The only thing they ever agree on is the major families should be abolished.”

“What’re they fighting over.”

“What they always do.” Rob just shook his head as he watched the rest of the protestors intervened trying to separate the two groups. “Competorists want all businesses to be separate from politics and the government, believing that it would be better to have people get rich by comeptiting with each on who makes the better stuff. The absorptionists think it should all be run by the government instead and having rich people is unecessary.”

“So they hate the major families?”

“Well most people are unsure why we maintain a family of aristocrats running a major portion of our industries when everything else doesn’t.”

“Why do we?” Rayla asked, now that she thought about it, it made sense.

“The 13 families were created on the First Lord’s orders, it was added to the Primacy clause of our constitution. Anything written there is sacrosanct.”

“So these guys can’t change it ever?”

“No, and we need to find a better way to keep them away from each other.”

But Rayla was now thinking of a different matter. Why did the first margrave institute this? Was there a particular reason or something else.

11^th March

“Then we are in agreement that all six of our countries shall henceforth:

• Not operate more than a total of 12 capital ships.
• Capital ships cannot be built with a dispalcement of below 90,000 tons.
• Aircraft carriers all circumstances shall be classified as capital ships.
• Carriers shall be defined as capital ships whose primary role is the deployment, recovery, storage and maintenance of manned and unmanned aircraft.
• The Confederacy of Estaria and the Kingdom of Neolandia due to national limitations shall be given exemption and thereby permitted to operate carriers below 60,000 tons with a max capacity of 24 carriers.
• Of the combined existing 12 carriers in operation with Anterim and Erdus. All shall be transferred as per given under Section 9, Sub clause A1.
• Carrier operations shall be as stated within Section 10.

Section 9: Transfer of carriers to Evenere, Estaria, Del Bar, and Neolandia to ensure maritime stability. Anterim and Erdus Shall:

• Sub clause A1: Transfer of the previous generation carriers (Saber class carrier) to the Kingdom of Evenere receiving 5, The Confederacy of Estaria receiving 2, the Kingdom of Del Bar receiving 3, and the Kingdom of Neolandia receiving 2. (Upon the completion of the new generation carriers entering service)
• Sub clause A2: The specifications for refit of carriers, aircraft compliment and the time of delivery/transfer and the final price shall be decided on bilateral basis only, with Anterim and Erdus considered a single party.
• Sub clause A3: Transfers shall only take palce upon full payment per ship.
• Sub clause A4: Negotiations for transfer of relevant technologies and equipment to allow domestic production is limited only to items being transferred.
• Sub Clause A5: Provide assistance in the training of personnel by allowing personnel to be brought aboard.

Section 10: Operation of Carriers.

• Onboard munitions stores must not carry any armamernts designed purely for targeting fortified structures.
• Composition of carrier fleets are domestic matters of each nation.
• Carrier air compliment cannot include  any aircraft or munitions that violate the Corsica armaments treaty.

Special caveats:

• Saber-class carriers have a displacement of 60,000 tons but shall be treated as being above the 90,000 ton minimum for all nations except the Confederacy of Estaria and the Kingdom of Neolandia with regard to treaty limitations.
• All nations may seek the purchase of additional sabber-class carriers but it will be through a bilateral basis.
• Battleships shall be given a grace period of twelve years to undergo decommisioning and shall not be treated as capital ships.

King Florian called for a vote and the draft was passed after the last four iterations failed.

Queen Fareeda felt 12 was a decent limit, to get support for it she had to back an exemption for Neolandia and Estaria on carrier dispalcement. Those two nations were unlikely to build anything bigger so it was good for her, Del Bar was unlikely to actually build twelve large carriers so that wasn't an issue. The only real challenge came from Anterim and Erdus who weilded massive militaries but this limit did mean her own nation could catch up and one day hope to regain maritime preeminence.

Callum, Amy and Cassie for their part managed to secure some political favors that offset any costs from signing this, even thought they had ways circumvent such limitations.

Later that night

Ezran, Aanya, Ellis and Aleesia were playing another TTRPG campaign as Callum, Amy and Cassie explained what went on.

“Are twelve carriers going to be enough. I though we need eight doing patrols at any given time?” Ezran asked as he had listened to the meetings back home.

“Not an issue.” Callum reassured his teenage brother. He had to ensure his teenage siblings were well versed in such political maneuverings. “We just build more but don’t call them carriers.”

“Really?” Aanya asked while examining her character sheet.

“Just slap on some long range missiles and keep the displacement below 90,000 tons for good measure. If anyone complains then say it’s an aircraft capable missile-cruiser.” Cassie explained as treaties and their limits were all dependent on how well you could play with words and definitions.

"We only agreed to a tonnage restrictions for carriers. We never signed any such agreement for destroyers, frigates, and cruisers." Amy said

The Conference would last a few more weeks and the drafts would be handed off to their foreign affairs ministers to begin a separate conferences to turn them into enforceable treaties. There was simply not enough time to devise an effective treaty with enforcement mechanisms in a single conference. Until then they could only agree on broad strokes.

Chapter Text

24^th March

Winterpeak, Del Bar

9:32 AM

“I’m off, cya around lunch time.” Ezran quickly put his coat on and rushed for the door.

Ava barked and waved goodbye before she went back to her nap.

“Where’s he off to?” Ellis put down her dice staring at the way he went.

“Something’s not right.” Aanya pointed to his snack box which was still uneaten. The three of them never left snacks go to waste.

“Shall we follow him?” Ellis went to get Ava’s leash. The large wolf barked happily, “shhhh Ava, we need to be quiet.”

“We better make it fast,” Aanya put on some shades then tossed another pair to Ellis as she watched through the window Ezran speeding down the street.

Meanwhile in the conference

“Regarding your flying carriers.” King Florian decided to get a basic rough draft on this before they could move to space.

“Carrier airships.” Amy said

“Very well, what is there role?”

“Anterim’s Castellan and Siphon classes and our own Solace and Rider class airships will be taken off border patrol.” Cassie explained as the heavy airships had too much firepower to operate close to the border. “The carrier airships mainly use drones which should allow us to patrol the border more effectively.”

King Florian and the others seemed to relax as this was a point of contention they thought would have to be differed with the cluster warheads. This would further demilitarize the border regions which should smooth things over for when the time came to discuss those warheads

The heavy airships even after removing their nuclear armament still had the firepower to fight multiple airships which required stationing a lot of military forces as a precaution. Now they could be assigned to less tense regions away from the border.

Drones were less problematic as surveillance types unveiled months ago had no armaments. A benefit was it was far harder to escalate and easy to deescalate if it was shot down since no pilot to endanger.

Grand Square, Anterim

Rayla and the kitchen staff gathered around the small radio, the volume set to full.

“—The conference has been concluded and the initial statements indicate many military and border tension have been resolved. Similarly there has been progress on the topic of automation.—”

Everyone leaned closer as if doing so would allow them to hear something easy to miss.

“—It was decided that automation would be a domestic matter for each nation. The four nations of Del Bar, Estaria, Neolandia and Evenere shall implement tariffs to ensure any exports from Anterim or the Dukedom won’t negatively impact their own domestic economy….—”

“That can’t be good, right?” She asked as they all stared at one another.

“No,” Rob said as he wiped the sweat from my face. This news meant that the trade unions in other nations would focus their efforts internally, reducing any indirect pressure applied to leverage this.

Winterpeak, Del Bar

Entering the living room, he found Ezran lying face down on the sofa, his two sisters consoling him as they rubbed his back. Ava nuzzled his head. A plate filled with treats meant for him remained untouched

“Ez?” Callum began to worry as his brother never turned down snacks.

“Just kill me.” Ezran said, sounding miserable.

Callum turned to Ellis and Aanya who shook their heads.

“Ez found a girl.” Was all Aanya said and Callum quickly pieced together what happened. He figure he could ask them about it later but now he had to help cheer up his little brother.

25^th March

5:32 pm

Grand Square, Anterim

“—The motion is passed. The right of labor protections from automation is passed.  The government is moved to produce a framework for the following:

• The formation of a universal basic needs programs.
• Amendments to the Guaranteed Right of Employment Act to account for automation.
• The protection of incomes from reduced working hours due to automation.
• Implementing protections at the local level to test efficacy before expanding their scope.
• Transparency in implementation of automation…”

The radio kept listing out the stipulations of what was just passed followed by how long the government had to develop framework and implement it.

Rayla and everyone else in the park cheered, hats, scarves and others items were thrown in the air. They had only gotten a third of what they wanted as the remaining two thirds were things no one even knew would happen due to automation or not. The lack of certainty meant the legislature couldn’t touch it.

“We did it!” Rayla rushed to the communal kitchen with everyone else to help prepare something celebratory for tonight since this meant they would return to their normal lives after that.

There was still a lot to do but it could be done at the local level since they were now mandated to enact which meant they didn’t have to try convincing a plurality. She figured she would have to learn what all the jargon meant but that could wait.

26^th April

Callum’s estate

Rayla entered the office and found Callum and Aleesia busy with paperwork as usual.

“We got our demands met.” Rayla declared proudly.

“That’s lovely Rayla but let me explain how this works.” Callum didn’t even bother to look away from the paperwork that had piled up since he left for the conference. “What you have is a legislative agenda to come up with a framework for all that. Once that is done then they need to write specific legislation to implement and enforce it. Until then, all you’ve got is just words on paper like the treaties I went to deliberate.”

“But..” Rayla tried to speak but he cut her off.

“That is followed by making circulars announcing changes to each relevant department before anything can be enforced. After all that is done, then you can do stuff at the local level and not before. also half of the stuff you got was already being worked on so thank you for burning up most of your political leverage.”

Rayla deflated like a balloon then collapsed on to the sofa as the previous weeks started to feel hollow.

“This isn’t a tv show where things happen automatically after some passioante speech.” He said knowing she would have to learn that translating legislation into practice was time consuming.

Aleesia poured some sweet orange soda for Rayla who slowly drank it then began drinking straight from the bottle. After a loud burp she decided to ask a question that’s been on her mind.

“Can’t you aristocrats pull some strings to speed this up?” Rayla knew they had to have power and influence if they existed.

Callum put his pen down and just stared at her for a long moment before speaking. “Do you know why the 13 families were founded?”

“That the first Margrave took his staunchest allies and rewarded them by granting them privileges and enshrined it in the constitution.”

Callum shook his head, “I asked WHY, not HOW.”

“To show his thanks.” Rayla said as her eyes narrows as Aleesia joined her in wondering what he was getting at.

“No, the government was meant to take a leading role and directly operate the majority of strategic sectors like defense, education, power generation etc. However there were many things that didn’t fall under that category and letting those remain outside of direct government control would eventually lead to the rise of an entrenched class of business people with extensive control over essential commodities.

Our clans were founded to control the majority of those vital sectors on behalf of the government.

People think we are aristocrats, we are not. What we really are is a government agency with guaranteed total control of certain sectors to ensure prices remain low for essential commodities and create a reserve labor pool, finance and additional industrial capacity to be called upon in anticipation of emergencies.

It’s the government sets the rules and objectives. Our only job is to find a way to make it happen. We’re kept under strict watch to make sure we don’t get corrupt and we’re raised from birth to fulfill this role.”

“Seems unnecessary and complicated.” Rayla said which was followed by Aleesia who voiced her agreement.

“So how do you keep prices low?” Rayla was curious as the prices in Anterim were always lower than elsewhere by a fair margin.

“That’s the benefit of a vertical integration.” He took out 14 coins and stacked them up and explain what each one represented, “If every step of the process was done by an independent business them they would each need to make a profit. To make a profit of 1 coin the final product price will be 14.”

He then took almost half the coins and put them away, then held up the top coin from the now reduced stack.

“Now let’s say I own all those businesses. That means I don’t need to make a profit in every part of the process.  So the finished product takes 7 coins per unit to make so the final price is 8. That a huge price reduction.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” Aleesia was now filed with curiosity which meant she would be very annoying till she got her answer.

“Yes, this lets the government through us regulate prices to ensure things remain affordable.”

“So what would pries be if you all weren’t messing with it?” Rayla asked

“Around the same as everywhere else.” Callum said as the highest prices were often a third less than prices outside the domain.

“I really need up my game so I can look at that stuff.” Aleesia whined as there was still a lot that she wasn’t allowed to touch.

27^th April

‘This is so campy.’ He thought as he watched the movie play out. It was so exaggerated and over the top that his mind was unable to maintain any suspension of disbelief. The film had people waging wars using living spaceships which had weapons bolted on to its skin. The crew lived in large chambers made of metal and plastic embedded into the body of the space organism.

He looked to his side and saw Rayla wide eyed and smiling as she ate up the movie. ‘Well at least she’s enjoying it’ he smiled thinking to himself.

A bit later they sat in the park with a large pile of junk food.

“It wasn’t bad but it did broaden my horizons on campy space operas.” He said taking a big bite of his burger.

“Next week they have the premier of Storm Ravens, it’s about a civilizations of anthropomorphic animals living I airships their entire lives since the majority of the land is volcanic.”

“I can already see the implausibility of that plot.”

“Oh YOU!” She grabbed him by the shoulder and started shaking him back and forth, as he periodically tossed fries her way to appease her.

Sometime later they finished all their food though he still questioned if this only counted as a light snack for her.

“My folks should already be in the Silvergrove, they’re having my uncle craft our wedding ornaments.” Rayla quickly got all the food wraps and crushed them into a large ball before tossing it straight into the nearest waste bin.

“I thought we were going to have them made here?”

“Nah, they’re dead set on doing it with the authentic stuff.”

“Still feels weird not holding a large reception.”

“For my people it’s a family and close associate’s only event.” She held his hand as they began walking to the tram stop which was on the opposite side of the park. “Knowing Ethari, he’ll probably lock himself away in his workshop till he’s satisfied.”

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Relax this is normal.”

30^th April

Callum’s estate

“Hey what’s this?” Rayla picked up a sketch of a bulky gun colored in crayon. It seemed to be a thick glowing radiator coil wrapped around the barrel.

“An idea we’re toying with for our next campaign.” Ezran said writing down some math then handing it off to Ellis to check.

“We’re aiming for a full sci-fi campaign t—” Before Aanya could finish, Rayla ran off like a rocket.

Several minutes later Rayla returned with sparkling starry eyes as wide as dinner plates and a goofy smile as she quickly set her collection sci-fi novels on the floor.

“How about The Land Ironclads by Herbert George,” She held up the short story and began going over the plot to the eager teenagers who started noting down the ideas. The main focus of the story was on the Ironsides.

“Aren’t these just tanks with legs?” Aanya asked as the main focus was a war fought in a desert using big and long armored fighting vehicles that move on many legs each ending in wide flat pads. It was armed with a naval gun turret and several machine gun turrets all remotely controlled.

“Well yeah,” Rayla said as she flipped open the book and showed the print date, “This thing was written 12 years before the first tank was made.”

“Does it say how it works?” Ezran took out another notebook and began writing down a section for it,

“It uses a sophisticated system of levels, gears, inter-linkages to control it. It’s hard to tell what any of it means.

There’s also ‘advanced optical and sensing devices’ which I think he means external cameras and sensor suits. The way it’s written can mean anything from periscopes to stuff I find in my IFV. It’s powered by a bucket sized reactor that’s been super charged using a proton exchange membrane.”

“Hold on, I’ll ask them about this.” Ezran got up and went to the phone as he looked up the phone book and started punching numbers

“Who’s he calling?” Rayla asked but Aanya and Ellis just told her to wait.

The call connected and they all heard singing through the speakers.

““—tsugi kara tsugi e to MISUTERI, kimi ni mo kanjiru hazu—huh?!”” The song abruptly ended before Amy’s voice came through, “—Hello?—”

Ezran quickly began explaining their idea for their next campaign setting.

““—You’re making sci-fi without us?!!!!!—”” they both shouted and needed a lot of mollification before Ezran could resume explaining. It took a while as Rayla often had to expand on certain details.

“—Got it, the inter-linkages and all can work if its wheels or tracks, but mechanical legs aren’t practical without advanced electronics that the story doesn’t have.—” Amy went over the basics as she and Cassie knew enough about advanced engineering to help them out. “—We currently have real examples of reactors smaller than that but the proton exchange membrane is complete nonsense.—”

“Why’s that?” Rayla asked

“—It’s a semipermeable membrane meant to keep hydrogen and oxygen separate to it can be exploited in a hydrogen fuel cell. It does nothing to impact the processes or mechanisms inside a fission or fusion reactor.—”

Rayla wailed as one of her books was reduced to unscientific-fiction.

Chapter Text

1^st June

Callum's estate

2:11 PM

Aleesia watched the broadcast of the launching of their two new aircraft carriers while the paperwork sat in front of her untouched. She was envious that Callum was there getting a close up view of it while giving a speech at shipyard.

“Ali!”

“Huh?”

“Less jealousy and more helping me plan my wedding.” Rayla waved a book in the air,

Giving it a look, the page showed a fire log split halfway down the middle with several incisions. There were kindling stuffed in it. “You wanna use that?”

“Yeah, it’s perfect for lighting.” Rayla really wanted the wedding to include stuff from both their cultures so she had spent time trying to find stuff that’s common or similar.

“It should be fine.” Aleesia said, when Callum wasn’t around it technically made her in charge of the estate which also meant she needed to make sure nothing bad happened.

She had shot down Rayla’s first idea to use a pit oven which was digging a pit and using coals to cook food underground. The only problem was digging that far down required getting rid of the protective layers built to keep the infestation from spawning in the garden.

“Now I need come up with a menu that’s delicious and everyone can help make.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to symbolize all our families coming together and then we all eat it together. Back home everyone can cook to one extend or another but that’s not the case here so I need to make sure its easy to follow.” The fact that the kitchen staff would help made things easier.

“Whats the main item going to be?”

“I’m thinking of biryani using doro-wot since those had the biggest gut punches I ever tasted.” Rayla noticed Aleesia was drooling, a sentiment she could get behind but not now.

3^rd June

“How is this?” Callum showed the dimensions for a fire pit made of bricks.

“That’ll do but whats this bit?” She pointed to a pipe on one end.

“That’s for pumping in extra oxygen or steam.”

“Now we need to find some proper aged wood to use.”

“We can go visit some suppliers for those tomorrow.”

“Great, now all that’s left is timing so it won’t get cold.”

“Or we can seal them in coins and save ourselves the trouble.” Seeing no point is worrying about something when they could streamline with.

“But that’s not how we do it.” She whined

4^th June

“It adds a strong earthy flavor.” Callum kept memorizing the catalogue. All around them were log samples along with other cooking fuels of all kind that were avaialble.

“It does.” She sniffed the aged log, it was dry enough to do the job but the flavor profile wasn’t what she was looking. She needed something that would help mellow things out rather than be overpowering. She put the log back in its placed and picked the next one.

After deciding on a wood type which took an hour, they began looking for thinner logs to make torches, and what she chose was one that was used to impart a very sweet flavor to meats.

“I thought these were for torches.” He was scratching his head.

“It’s necessary to get the smell we need.”

“For a torch?”

“Yeah we add a special paste to it and the smoke makes you lightheaded.”

“Hold it” Callum held up an hand as he already had reservations about it, “What else does it do?”

She smiled and leaned into whisper into his ears, “the smell wets your appetite so we can stuff ourselves at dinner.”

Callum immediately knew that was her entire motivation for it and now began worrying his sibling would probably over eat and get themselves sick the following morning.

“It’s also a good symbol for both our people.” she added

“Huh?” he shook off his worry only for a source of confusion to be added.

“I read that it’s a symbol of safety in the dark like back in my home.” The forests around the Silvergrow were dark so torches were common especially for events. She noticed he had an odd look on his face, “What?”

“I think you misunderstand what the book was saying.”

“Shouldn’t it mean the same since its the same for us both.”

“The same?” He spoke realizing she still hadn’t a clue. “We aren’t the same.”

“I know, you’re a human and I’m an elf.”

“No.” He wasn’t angry at her ignorance, not entirely, he was puzzled how one couldn’t realize it. “It means that the only safe place for us is our own blood soaked funeral pyre.”

“What does a funeral have to do with it?” She noticed his eyes were cold.

“Because this land was where my people were sent to be wiped out.”

His words were without emotion yet there was something in his eyes that reminded her of what she noticed in the troops she was with before and during the war. It also didn’t escape her that he didn’t elaborate on how his people ended up here, she felt asking that would be crossing a line.

His expression took on a kinder smile, “I don’t hold you responsible for what they did.” Then it became cold like he was reprimanding a subordinate, “But our views around safety are vastly different from Xadia.”

18^th July

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ

Rayla’s office

They had comeup with a new training regime to account for the rot worms. To everyone’s relief they were few and stopped appearing when the swarming died down. But they were given orders to expect them to appear every year and worse outside of the swarming, and to prepare for it.

She played the recording of the last training exercise where half the teams failed. They had buried devices to simulate the vibrations to train the system but the crews seemed to not pay enough attention to it.

Easing the parameters wasn’t an option but they had to be ready by the next swarming and be capable of coordinating combined operations with drones.

Picking her mug she realized it was empty, “Ugh why is there never enough coffee.” She quickly went to get a refill while the live broadcast about the space program continued.

This time it was an interview with the leading scientist from the Dukedom who was being introduced as being pivotal in foundation of their space program.

“—Professor, we’ve had several questions from our viewers. One asks if there are plans to get people on to one of the moons? —”

“—No, ther current plan is to use remote controlled vehicles, but manned landings are something being considered. —”

This was followed up a longer answer explaining that they don’t know enough about the moon’s surface conditions to justify risking their cosmonauts.

“—Our next question asks what made our nation start a space program before everyone else and how has joining with Anterim affected it? —”

“—Working with Anterim has proven to be mutually beneficial since we were given access to their NOS program. —”

He went on about how being able to travel and join each other’s programs saved them a lot of time, money and resources needed to develop their own systems when they could share and co-develop them. This also had the added benefit of effectively operating under a much larger budget.

“—As for why we started it long before Anterim began their own NOS program is rather simple. Back at the university I was part of a team trying to study the movement of the sun, planets, moons and all. Our initial models gave us results that made no sense when measured against observable reality. —”

“—What did your models show? —”

“—That it should be impossible for the moons to orbit our world. They would need to move at speeds that is physically impossible for them to maintain their structure. But they weren’t falling apart, so solving it required doing more than just sitting here and theorizing. The government heard us and agreed to fund a program. —”

“—What did you find? —”

“—When we launched our first satellite, it managed to do what our models said was impossible to maintain a geosynchronous orbit. —”

“—What makes it impossible? —”

“—Based on our calculations, the altitude needed for such an orbit was a negative number, meaning right below the planet’s surface. Yet that is not what we observed with our launch and we were convinced we had missed some crucial factor.—”

“—But our continent now floats hundreds of millions of kilometers above the world’s surface, what effect does that have?—”

“—Our models say the same thing, that geosynchronous orbit is still below us and the impractical speeds for low orbit.—”

“—Surely you have something to explain this issue? —”

“—Yes, upon learning that our world is an artificial technological construct made up of spherical shells, the technological feats of the forgotten city and Atlas station. And finally witnessing the moons and our entire world being transported to a new solar system.

If this technology could do all that then it stands to reason it is also exerting forces that allow this world and the space around it to function in this particular way. Our existing models and current understanding gives us no insight as to how it functions.

It is also possible that the moons are also artificial constructs as well. Finding these answers was the mandate we were given.—”

The interviewer began going through the list of questions till they found one they were looking for, “—One viewer asks if we will encounter alien life?—”

Rayla snorted as she drank her coffee, it was clear they had encountered alien life. Well she had encountered alien ghosts anyway and they were going too be her in-laws which did make it sound like something out of her novels.

“—That is purely a question of when, not if. But what preoccupies us in that regard is what exactly happened to the civilization that built all this. They had hundreds of member species each originating from a different planet all co-existing.

So where are they? You can’t have a civilization this advanced spanning the stars and not leave survivors that would’ve reclaimed this world. It’s like they were all wiped out at once which makes no sense.—”

Rayla wondered if there was any point in trying to make sense of it

Callum’s estate

The interview was still busy with answering questions from the viewers. Aleesia turned her attention back to the paperwork which wasn’t all that difficult. Most of it just needed a stamp and signature. “So any idea on where our alien problems are from?”

“Our galaxy is ring shaped and we were originally near the outer edge. They must’ve been from that neighborhood. Our planet is now located somewhere past the inner edges but we still don’t have a clue where we are.

If we’re lucky then it’ll be centuries before we see them again, if not then a decade or maybe a few years from now.” He wrote something on a report before signing it.

“How’d you know?”

“We don’t. Despite our science saying it’s impossible, we seen its possible to move faster than light but we have no idea just fast it can go.” He wished they had something more concrete to work so they could plan more effectively instead of relying on vaguely defined worst case parameters.

They were in the middle of a scientific revolution where new fields of study kept emerging so quickly that they couldn’t keep up. But it didn’t change the fact that they were dealing with technologies that were way too advanced for them to even grasp.

“How many species do you think they have?”

“Depends really, I only met one of them, he called himself Shiziedus and said his species are called the Nekra-Zotan. But according to him, he was merely hired to help in whatever is going on.”

“You believe him?”

“No,” He would be a fool if he took it at face value, “If it is true then it means there exists another civilization besides the one targeting us. That does mean we have more options to consider even if they are purely hypothetical.”

“If it’s a lie then those options are dead.” She guessed

Callum nodded, “All we know is that they operate from the shadows for some reason. They have manipulated both humans and elves in carrying out their schemes. But we also suspect they may have recruited them into their ranks as well.”

“Wait, that means they could sneak in people to spy or sabotage us without the brainwashing.” Aleesia began to worry.”

“Yes, the issue is whether or not they are run by a single species that dominates all member species OR if they simply view everyone not part of their upper class as lesser.” No matter how much they evaluated it, Shiziedus’s words back then could be interpreted either way.

“Doesn’t that mean they could show themselves to any civilization and make themselves into their gods?” Aleesia recalled Rayla going on and on about the plot of one of her novels but that did feel like a possibility here.

“Our current assessment is that its highly likely. Your people and the other realm represent the only other two civilizations we’ve encountered.

With how massive this world is, there could easily be more giving them a large pool to recruit from while being almost impossible for us to find them.” He found this difficult to plan around because of how many ill-defined variables there were and nothing that could be objectively verified.

“Well my people sneaking in won’t be an issue since there are only…oh crap.” Aleesia looked at the door as she realized the implications.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have let your parents and friends stay here if I hadn’t taken measures. The staff are all armed as well just to be safe.”

Aleesia felt relieved and horrified hearing that. She wasn’t sure which to feel more.

“We suspect elves would make the majority of their recruits.”

“Why?”

“Using a single species also makes logistics easier. They don’t have the disadvantages of either of our species, and with innate ability to use magic and their racial specializations also makes them more versatile.

Their old elven empire on the world’s surface was looking for something they called the Halo. By some coincidence these aliens also seem to be interested in it. If there are any survivors outside of Xadia then recruiting them would be easier by using something from their own history.”

“Speaking of them, how exactly are there any elves and humans in the subterranean realm.”

“Those humans are a different species from mine. We speculate there is a system that transplant species across the world resulting in a common ancestor being moved there then evolving independently.

As for the elves, we think the same thing happened but more recently which is why they are still within the same species. This is all conjecture since we don’t know if such a system exists or of there was a gate and a lot of them just went through it.” There wasn’t much to go on so they couldn’t go beyond mere speculation.

He was interrupted by a call and he quickly put it on speaker,

“—They wanna hold the hearing on building the new cruisers much sooner—” Amy’s voice came through.

“that’s good since the shipyard’s will be fully ready within a month.”

“—So whatcha doin?—” Cassie asked

“Discussing the evolution and potential transplantation of our species and the elves.” Callum answered going back to work.

“—Well once the field genetics matures enough then we could probably have them look at our DNA to help figure out when this happened to our common primate ancestor.—”

“—One expedition found the fossilized remains of a species of giant primate with orange fur. Our mom called it Gigantopithecus. —”

“Wait, your mom did?” This was the first he was hearing of this.

“—Mom wrote most of the rules for this stuff.—” Cassie explained as  their mother had been very busy these past three hundred years, “—By our estimates it went extinct over 90,000 years ago. But it seemed to have had a carnivorous subspecies—”

“Carnivorous?” Aleesia asked

“—Yeah, apparently it was driven to extinction less than 10,000 years ago. The elves and dragons hunted down every last one of them. They called it big foot.—”

“Huh?” Aleesia found it strange that was what they called it.

“—Mom theorized both shared a common ancestor with another ape with orange fur only much smaller called orangutans which also shares a common ancestor with our species—”

“Wait, so you all came from monkeys?” Aleesia had trouble picturing such a thing.

““—APE, APE!, WE’RE APES!! A-P-E, APE!!!—””

Callum quickly lowered the volume for the sake of his ear drums as the two began a loud yet detailed lecture on the theory of evolution to the curious and confused gelphan.

Chapter Text

24^th July

Fomond, capital of Regalia, Subterranean Realm 1

King Ardeth’s office like the rest of the castle had become rather busy, sitting opposite to him was the current minister of the treasury and his designated successor.

“The duties of the Office of Treasury shall be split into two institutions. The ministry of finance once established shall oversee all of the kingdom’s financial policies including taxation, budgeting, public spending, and economic planning etc.

Under it is the Department of the Treasury which shall oversee management of the government's treasury operations, cash flow, debt management, physical and financial assets.

Ailduin, you are hereby relieved of your position and shall be made the Minister of finance. Eroan, as his designated successor you shall become the Minister of the Treasury

Your mandates are to ensure the Office of the Treasury is reorganized into two separate institutions. Our Suzerain has agreed to send advisors to ensure a smooth transition.”

The king presented each of them with a file detailing their responsibilities and objectives, one item in particular made both turn to one another in confusion.

“Your majesty.” Ailduin read it twice just to be sure before asking, “Will they really offer us such a large loan with these terms at 0.10% interest?”

During his time in the treasury, the interest the government paid out on its debt was 9% and the best he had ever seen was 6%. But this, this rate was preposterous especially considering how generous the long repayment period was., it even carried restructuring options in case they couldn’t repay it on time.

“That was my reaction when my son brought it to my attention. Legally they can’t charge more than 1%, and since we are vassals the minimum rate is 0.10% instead of 0.25%.” The king said recalling his own shock.

“That’s basically free money. With this amount we could pay down our entire debt immediately and easily maintain a tax surplus.” Eroan did a quick mental calculation on their national finances. The fact that they would get the entire sum at once, even the interest only applied to the amount spent and not the entire principal loan combined with long delay before repayment could commence made it highly attractive.

“My thoughts exactly, it would also allow us to finance building out first railway. But that will have to wait until the new ministries are all set up, otherwise we won’t be able to coordinate anything with our suzerain causing unnecessary delays.” The king spoke while waiting for them both to finish reading.

They were surprised at how many new ministries, departments, agencies were being added. Railway, commerce, telecommunication, education, labor, transportation, interior development, etc while others were being restructured entirely, nothing was left untouched.

“Before the end of next month, we must begin nationalizing all mines within our borders and establish a state-owned mining company.”

“Your majesty, please wait a moment,” Eroan already could tell this would cause a lot of friction, “We’d need to establish a compensation rate to ensure there is no ill will with their current owners.”

“Noted,” The king said conversationally, “. The current owners must sell their operation to us and agree to operate these mines under contract to us. Refusal shall be met with immediate confiscation.”

“I assume we shall be acquiring mining equipment from our suzerain?”

“Indeed, but our ability to use them is limited, if we consider the infrastructure necessary for it and everything else that comes after then its years off. Currently Temirov is the only part of our kingdom that is capable of it.” The fact that Regalia was an entire kingdom and while Temirov while large was just a single feudal territory was not lost on him. The time needed to build up the productive forces as the Anterians called it would take far longer especially when he considered the labor involved.

Callum’s estate, Anterim

The art room where he went to clear his mind had seen less use these past five years, his ever-growing workload and the time he had to devout to his siblings meant he had little time to sketch and paint. Rather all his time in here had to be devoted to another area.

“Just stick for at least second.” He looked down the large sheet of paper on the floor, it was the size of a large canvas. On it was a magic formula but one that only he could do. From the many unfinished works his mother-in-law was working on before she was taken, this one stood out to him even though it made no mention of what it even did.

But upon seeing it, he always saw momentary visions of it in its completed state and somehow, he knew it was something he was meant to perform. He wondered if he was simply gaslighting himself into believing that or if it something that came with being what he was turned into.

He brought the brush to the canvas then hesitated. The visions of the completed formulate oddly never stayed in his memory, he only had a feeling of what was meant to be there but he could never be certain. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Good grief, I’m a chemist, is it too much to ask for something I’m actually good at.” He had no one who could comprehend this one, even his wives didn’t recognize it. He did try to have it scanned by the tower’s systems but the system instantly rejected it. This left him trying to complete the formula without anyway to activate whatever kind of spell this was even for.

His concentration was broken by a knock on the door, he looked around the door to make sure there was nothing there to be knocked over before bidding Aleesia inside.

“You got a weird message, the subject is all asterisk and I can’t open it.” She held out the laptop

“Oh this,” He understood what it was and began typing in a password allowing it to be opened. “Well this is sooner than I expected.”

Aleesia peered at it and the lack of him immediately pushing her away meant it wasn’t classified. It was a short message saying ‘transplanting 2 flowers to reinvigorate the branch.’ With the sender as Patriel 3. “Alright what is this?”

“THIS is the internal workings of the clan. The sender is Samuel Albarae, patriel of the 3^rd branch of the family. Apparently two people from different branches wish to be transferred to the 3^rd.”

“How come I wasn’t told about any of this?” She started poking him with one of her long head tendrils.

“Because you aren’t supposed to know about any of this until you’re made into a merit adoptive which won’t happen until you pass your final exam next week.” He said as she technically had almost all the qualifications for that except a certificate of completing her secondary education.

“What exactly is a merit adoptive?”

“It’s a probationary rank within the clan hierarchy given after a person gains enough merit, placing one above a regular clan adoptive which is what you, Rayla and your parents are.”

“So am I par of this family or not?” She pressed as now she was confused.

“You are, regular adoptives have no obligations and responsibilities within the clan. As a merit adoptive you will be observed and evaluated to see if you are ready to go higher.”

Hearing that caused her to run off saying something about studying, he shrugged hoping she didn’t forget about office work.

29^th July

Border city of Várdre, Regalia, Subterranean Realm

Ilamyr walked down the street at a slow pace. “I clearly overpaid for this.” She muttered, examining each building as there wasn’t much to admire. They were maintained in so far as they weren’t violating any laws, but they did not match the public records listing them as pristine. The only thing she could see that could be considered pristine were her cloths.

If this was near the main roads, near the centers of trade, wealth and power then pristine was an apt descriptor of how things were. However, this was a residential district where not being beautiful was a given but even by these standards this place was unacceptable as most elves lived in housing less cramped and better maintained.

Underneath her calm and almost cheerful exterior, her blood boiled. This place could be listed as pristine solely because this was what was deem pristine for areas segregated for humans.

She had spent weeks going back and forth from the land registrar’s office to get a list of those who owned every building in this area. To her lack of surprise, they were all owned by absentee landlords who delegated all matters to a guild. This was followed up by negotiating with the guilds as intermediaries to buy up all the land. The laws around it were just too lax for her taste.

She saw a group of human children playing, she waved her hand calling out to them, upon noticing her they ran away in terror, and why wouldn’t they as the garrison patrols were a symbol of fear in these parts.

It was a stark contrast to Ezran, Aanya and Ellis running at her to give her a hug, she had to fight back her emotions as she kept walking. She managed to find the communal building where the elders often gathered to discuss what to do to make their peoples lives better, this was the closest they had to self-governance even if there was little they could actually do.

She was led inside and one of the elders came to greet her. She immediately stood up and bowed to the old man who was visible shaken as were everyone else.

“What can I do for you?” The old man sat down, eyes squinting as he tried to evaluate her. Everyone else sat anywhere they could, trying to appear as if they weren’t gazing at her with varying levels of suspicion after her unusual display.

Ilamyr smiled as she took out a map and opened it, a large area was circled in red, “I came to announce that I have bought up all the property in this area, starting today your rents will be cut to a third.”

The old man just stared at her like his eyes were about to pop out, everyone around also had the same reaction. She probably imagined they were wondering what was catch because this sounded too good.

Seeing a response wasn’t going to be forthcoming anytime soon, she opted to continue explaining, “We will begin providing education, better employment terms, healthcare, debt restricting or forgiveness soon so I need you to notify everyone in this area.” She tapped the map.

“When?” the old man’s voice was shaking as if he refused to believe this was real.

“As soon as we conduct a proper census to know who needs it more.” She said as they had plans for many years to come and they really needed to know who was who. Especially considering how low the effective literacy rate was.

30^th July

Callum’s office

Callum stared at the graphs and statistics on the report of how far along the datanet implementation was. It had reached close to 70% and the equipment production was stable that it would be completed by this time next year. However, that proved impossible as they would need longer to train enough people to operate them at a high level of competency.

Eventually the report concluded with working out a more realistic timeline for completion. He sighed as manpower shortages seemed to be all too common. Normally there would be enough people to train more but that was impossible as literally every person was currently either being trained or busy training others with incalculable more waiting in line.

His laptop pinged as he got a live message request, it was from Vaeril. He along with several others were sent to the second subterranean realm to collate the information the kingdom and the temples provided to estimate the location of their ancient capital.

From the last report he got a few days ago, the preparations were finished and they had set out for the coast to begin their expedition. The fact that Vaeril was calling automatically meant something happened.

He sighed and keyed his laptop, “How bad is it?”

“—We’re fine, though our paint needs to be reapplied. —” Vaeril mused leaning back in his own chair.

“Why?” Callum wondered what happened for the anti-corrosion stealth coating to be in need of a redo this soon.

Vaeril tapped a few keys on is end and the screen showed a video file. Playing it revealing the view from one of the ventral cameras.

The voices of the bridge crew were audible as they watched some massive serpentine creature swim close to the surface, from its appearance they concluded it was hundreds of meters long. Minutes later its head was raised above the waterline.

They could see rows of jagged teeth, multiple eyes, tendrils across its face, and thick scales all over tis body. Its head pointed towards the sky and breathed a fiery beam at the airship. The bridge scrambled to respond and brought one of its railguns to bear.

“What the heck?” Callum kept watching as the creature retreated after taking shot to its body. The recording eventually ended. “I take it this is the great beast of evil the archbishop told us about?”

“—Apparently so. Their breath is similar to an ogryn in that they form a tight beam allowing for greater range, in this case close to two kilometers. Flying above three seems to be enough.—”

“We’ll make that S.O.P for that place. Anything else?”

“—I’d like a drone carrier and a few cruisers. Full load.—”

“Give me four days. I’ll try to make a second team to focus on these creatures.” Callum began mentally going over the deployments to find one most easy to reassign. “Anything else?”

Vaeril paused a moment then answered “—When I got back to the tower, apparently one of the tasks I delegated came up. —”

Callum nodded figuring this was important with the odd looking his right hand man was giving him.

“—The team I assigned to translate and investigate the forgotten city to find out what their society was like gave me their findings. The ring of statues was translated. The top part is their name while below that were their monikers.—”

Callum wondered how that information about the statues was significant, they were made in the image of their rulers which happened to include Amy and Cassie’s adoptive parents and uncle. “Can you tell me my mother-in-law’s first?” He felt his wives might enjoy this.

Vaeril nodded though his expression did not lighten, “—Lyeneru Estelle: The Rift Strider, and The Corpse Eater.—”

Callum felt his jaws drop. Monikers could be either literal or metaphorical. While he doubted she actually ate any corpses, but what exactly did she do to be called that of all things? Well there was no point in wondering about it, if they ever managed to get her crystal back then they could ask her.

“—The important thing is with her husband.—”

“Go on” Callum said wondering where this was leading to,

“—Cepheus Albarae: Herald of the Blood Moon, and...—”

Vaeril paused collecting his thoughts, his eyes wandered down to the report as if to be sure he wasn’t misreading it.

“—…The Artisan of… War—”

Chapter Text

“But the imperium ceased to exist hundreds of millions of years ago.” The worlds barely out of his mouth as he stared at Vaeril.

“—Well historically speaking, different groups across distance and time who never met have come up with similar if not identical ideas, methods and all.—” Vaeril paused before voicing his other suspicions.

“—The other possibility is outside interference. —”

Of course that was his answer, Callum rested his chin on his knuckles. He would’ve been plenty happy if it was the first one as it required them to do nothing. If there was a statue or relic of some kind with information engraved on it then it would also lead to the same outcome.

“Who the hell was meddling around that far back?” Callum moved to the second option knowing there was meddling going on right now, but that didn’t mean everything in their history was the same.

Vaeril shrugged, “—Your guess is as good as mine. It might’ve been a group like the first margrave or perhaps a crystal even.—”

Callum listened closely as Vaeril continued to explain. It was indeed possible that whatever brought the first margrave and his fellow knights here could’ve happened before. But that left so many questions of where, when, how, why, what that they couldn’t follow up on.

A crystal was also possible since the Dukedom existed solely because of Lyeneru’s meddling. Being the same species was a prerequisite for becoming a custodian, yet he, Amy and Cassie were able to become one despite being a different species from them. However, there was no reason to believe that other species didn’t have viable candidates. Going by that logic there might have been elves who were compatible with a crystal.

The ancient elves had very advanced magic without a corresponding level of non-magical technology, so Vaeril posited that this might be a viable explanation for it, but again evidence was lacking.

“We’ll need to do some investigating, but let’s save that till after your current assignment is done.” Callum wondered if they might find a reference in the archives about something to narrow things down. Currently he simply couldn’t afford to send anymore expeditions without the legislature countermanding him for diverting so much military resources especially since they also needed to properly secure the kingdom of Regalia.

“—There is the distinct possibility that this meddling we’re dealing with started all those eons ago.—” Vaeril said darkly as his lips compressed.

“They came here several millennia ago then didn’t do much until now?” Callum found that hard to believe. No, he corrected himself, it made no sense in the slightest.

“—The device upon activation mentioned a custodial command, so there might not have been a custodian back then, or maybe they lacked the means to access the location making them give up on it, opting to come back every once in a while. And this might be there most recent visit where to their luck they found there was a custodian.

It could have just as easily been a different unrelated group who sought out this Halo back then, and this group only now showed up completely ignorant of any prior group’s actions... 

Either way this implies that whoever we’re dealing with holds considerable knowledge. In any case, this might provide an alternative explanation as to how my people came to know of this ‘Halo’ and why they were looking for it. Especially since we lack any knowledge of how divination worked back then or how effective it was.—”

This was the problem with having so little information, all they could do was make speculations and wait for new information to come up so they could start falsifying each one till they narrowed it down to something more manageable.

14^th August

Temirov, Regalia, Subterranean Realm

 “Marvelous” King Ardeth watched from the parapet walls at the water being discharged. He had come to commemorate the first official power transmission of their very first hydroelectric dam though he now felt his speech would’ve been better received if it was done here with this as the backdrop.

He noticed another part of the dam began discharging as well, only it was blasting out sludge with extreme force. “Is there an issue?” The king asked one of the staff assigned to escort them, pointing to the murky water.

The engineer looked around until he saw what the king was pointing at. “Oh, no your majesty. Its merely being flushed. Because of the dam, dirt and other material that would normally get washed down the river ends up accumulated in the entire reservoir.”

“Ah I assume it might also damage the turbines?”

 “Indeed your majesty, we have measures in place that collect sediment upstream but most of it still ends up here. The only solution is to dredge the entire reservoir or it’ll accumulate over time.”

King Ardeth nodded as it was easy to understood, the silt that normally flowed would build up and the dam would hold less water with each passing year then another question popped in his mind.

“What happens to everything after its dredged?” He knew it would still need to go somewhere after removing it since they couldn’t just put it back.

“We process it. More than half of it is sand and gravel which we can use in construction.  The rest can vary from trace amounts of rare minerals to a decent supply of silica and other materials depending on the geology of the area. The processing facility is still under construction.”

The king returned gazing at the discharge. Until now, dams were only used to store water, provide for irrigation and flood control. None were on this massive scale since they never… oh “What happens when the dam is too old to maintain?”

“First we empty the entire reservoir then dismantle the whole dam. Then we build a new one based on the needs at that time, or we don’t build a new one if that’s the situation.” The engineer explained before the king flooded him with even more questions.

22^nd August

Border city of Várdre, Regalia, Subterranean Realm

Caspian estate

“the blackmailing went well,” Kaarel entered after his trip from the territorial capital, “we’ll face no resistance from the aristocracy anymore.”

“It’s all good on our ends,” Neia said speaking for everyone else,

“Good now we can expect the obstructions to be less common,” Kaarel had laid out all the laws they found were conveniently being ignored in the territory, followed by a not-so-subtle hint at how pissed both the king and suzerain would be if they ever caught wind of this.

That was enough to get the feudal lord to acquiesce. He could’ve just reported it and let the legal process takeover but blackmailing produced much better results when the target’s options were to either do their job properly and earn clemency or to face the consequences.  And if they ever decided to try anything then their clemency would expire and be replaced.

“The census is almost done, but the buildings need serious renovations.” Ilamyr said still going over the recent reports. “I miss having trains and airships.”  She had gotten so used to them moving people and material everywhere, that everything felt painfully slow now despite this was the normal pace for everything in her life until a few years ago.

“Well there’s good news on that front.” Kaarel said as began going through the reports waiting for him which Rommet had been taking care of until now. “They started building a rail line from Temirov to the capital.”

“Oh right, you went there soon after for the dam being turned on.” Kasval said absentmindedly as he continued writing orders for personnel. “I think the automated track laying machines should’ve been brought over from Anterim by now.”

“Two have been assigned to this, more will be coming by the end of the year. Any word on the people who went missing?” Kaarel moved the subject back to something more immediate.

National Nuclear Research Institute, Frenoria

“Where’s Rodney?” Cassie asked before noticing the director busy talking with his staff, she and Amy quickly went over, “Is it true, you got the reactors to keep running?”

“Yes, your majesties,” Rodney beamed with excitement and so did everyone else in the room. The entire staff was a mix of two the two nation and every one of them looked like they haven’t slept a wink.

They both turned their attention to large screens which showed a separate sealed room located half a kilometer away and buried deep underground with walls that were heavily reinforced for both safety and security reasons.

At the center of the room was the backpack of one of the knights. There were many wires connected to it as multiple robotic arms used tools were handling it. Everything in the facility was at the cutting edge and the best of both nations were gathered.

After minutes they held a demonstration where the reactors were started up. While the screen showed nothing, the panels nearby showed power output of the reactor climb from zero.

“Sir, reactor output is at previous barrier.” One of the staff said.

“Have the instruments detected anything?”

“Nothing yet sir. It’s steady at 1 kilowatt.” Came the reply.

“Is that the reactors full output?” Amy asked

“No, we believed its being throttled by its internal systems and we still aren’t sure what its maximum output is.” The director said examining the readouts. “We’ve managed to find the component that handles encryption for reactor controls and removed it, then we had to create a translation software that we had to run using all our supercomputers to even make it startup.”

Amy and Cassie simply nodded, they had read the report from two years ago that they had succeeded in managing to make the reactor start up for a few seconds after which they hadn’t had any progress until now.

Amy and Cassie glanced at the panels, while they weren’t well-versed in nuclear science outside of the basics, they understood enough to make sense of the readouts.

“Have you had any progress on the material?” Amy asked, as they read the report that the reactor could perfectly reflect neutrons with zero wear and tear. This by itself was a huge find as neutrons held no positive or negative charge, that meant the only way to block them was by using thick walls of lead, water or something else.

“No, your majesty, we haven’t.” Was all the director said.

“Sir, fusion rate is falling but output remains steady at 1 kilowatt. Neutron generation is currently at zero.”

“How?” Cassie asked as she and Amy looked incredulously at them. They were fully aware these reactors didn’t use aneutronic fuel

“We don’t know,” The director momentarily turned away to examine a different panel. “It seems the reactor through some unknown process able to manipulate and convert neutrons into energy.”

“Sir twenty-minute barrier passed and— sir! One of the pack’s components have come online!”

“Which one?” The director asked as the screen zoomed in one the pack and highlighted the component in question.

“Do we know what its doing?” He asked

“Sir, fusion rate is falling sharply yet, I can’t explain it sir but energy output hasn’t changed at all. There should be no way such low fusion could generate this much power.”

“Seriously mom,” Amy muttered in a low voice, “Do you have anything we can easily figure out”

1^st September

Rannerias Estate, Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

“Can’t believe we’re back so soon.” Aleesia said while going through Callum’s schedule for tomorrow.

“If we put this off then it’ll get messy real fast.” Until now the civilians didn’t know anything about the things they were working on, even those who had access to it were ordered to keep their lips tight.

Now that the military and space aspects were made public, it was inevitable that they would want to know how the same technology would be used to improve their lives especially since what they saw so far had turned many of their speculative near future fiction into past tense.

They kept talking as they all walked towards the mansion, they were only a couple of steps from the door as it opened and saw the head butler who greeted them.

Callum then noticed the shadow at his feet growing in size and mentally sighed in resignation.

Aleesia noticed it to, she looked up and her eyes went wide as a pair of black and white human sized birds falling down towards them. 

Chains fell around Callum at the same time they both landed gracefully on incredibly short webbed rubbery feet.

“Penguins? Really?” Callum said as they were holding the opposite ends of the chains in their pointy wings, they pulled on it hard and he was instantly tied up. They lifted him up and waddled into the mansion, on their backs was a cord with a label that read ‘pull me’.

“uhhh what are penguins?”  Aleesia had no idea how to react to this, other than perhaps catch up to them and pull that cord.

“They are small birds found in a few continents way south.” Ezran answered

“Do they make costumes for animals here?” Aleesia asked and all three of them just shrugged.

"Where're they taking him?" Elis asked the butler who seemed unfazed by all this,

"I beleive they are planning to put him in an egg to incubate it till he manages hatche himself out."

Chapter Text

3^rd August

Anterim

“They busted out all the tape for this.” Sophie asked as she and Rayla looked at the exhibition ground. Massive air-conditioned tents filled with entire park.

“Did they air condition these tents before?” Rayla asked entering inside the first one and seeing vast sea of items on display. Each tent only allowed a limited number of people at ay given time to prevent any crowding and the exhibit was set to last thirty days so this wasn’t an issue.

“No, I think this is a first.”

“There’s the cooking section.” Rayla walked towards it only to be stopped as Sophie grabbed her by the arm.

“Oh no you don’t. We agreed we’d check out the farming section first.”  She stomped forward dragging Rayla along with her.

They stopped at what looked to be a very shiny and clean tractor with no space for a driver. Sophie whistled then walked up to one of the attendants to ask about it.

“Why’s there no driver seat or steering wheel?”

“There isn’t one, its fully automated.” The attendant opened a panel revealing a complex circuit board with a screen and keyboard on it. “You just connect whatever you want to the back and then enter what you want it to do and then you just sit back and watch.”

Their attention was directed to a bunch of pols with blinking lights on top. “Those are meant to mark the edges of the field, the unit stays within the confines set. Eventually we’ll add drones to help as well but that’s still in development.”

“OOHH!” Sophie’s eyes sparkled with a child’s innocent joy as this meant her workload at home would go down.

“So how’s the attachments for this?” Rayla asked with interest as this represented the latest breakthrough in the source of everything that would make its way to her belly.

They were shown all the attachments from ploughs, seeding laying machines, fertilizer and pesticide sprayers. Rayla suspected that since there would also be exhibitions held in Regalia, that everyone there have a reaction similar to Sophie’s, probably more so since Aleesia told her that the former slaves who worked the fields were now happily using tractors.

There was a large screen showing it using a rice planter which carried a lot of young rice plants that were fed into a series of rotating arms which planted them evenly.

“This’ll save us a lot of fertilizer and pesticide.” Sophie said going on the pamphlet.

“Really?” Rayla looked over to see what she was on about,

“Its hard to keep driving straight so there’s parts of the field that get little to none while some get too much.”

Sometime later they moved to tent which acted more as a food court and supermarket. Rayla detected the oh so familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee and snacks. She grabbed Sophie and dragged her off in search in the source of those delectable smells.

Finding the counter, she ordered for them both, collecting the coupon and were directed to where to get their food. Finding the stalls were easy.

“Now hold still.” The staff said fiddling with a few buttons before speaking again, “Okay done.”

They watched a machine fill the cups with freshly made coffee before the cups were raised up into the machine. A minute later the cups were lowered and they saw their faces clearly drawn on the foam.

Taking the cups, ice cream and a large serving of fried chicken and cauliflower, they made their way to a table to sit and take their time.

“Feels wrong to ruin this.” Sophie stared at her cup, the image was as accurate as a photo.

“My face tastes great.” Rayla sipped it trying not to disturb the foam though it slowly became distorted.

“Think they can do this with hot chocolate?”

“Probably,” Rayla shrugged knowing it was probably best to ask this stuff when she went to the estate. Knowing how Callum’s family was mainly involved in food related things, he probably would give her a lecture on it even though his explanation would enter one ear and out the other.

“So after finishing these, what do you want to see next? Household appliances or electronics?”

“Household since its the closest one.” Rayla taking a spoonful of ice cream and froze. She kept tasting it with an odd look on her face.

“You okay?”

“This is payasam.” Rayla said in a serious tone.

“Which is what?”

“A rice pudding.” She eyed the ice cream suspiciously knowing full well they had ordered almond flavored. While she had no idea what almond ice cream tasted like, she knew with absolute certainty what payasam tasted like.

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

“Tomorrow you need to visit the particle physics institute here, then after lunch have a meeting with the Del Barian ambassador stationed here…” Aleesia went over Callum’s itinerary for the next day now that today’s tasks were done.

Arriving at the exhibition ground, they both saw Amy, Cassie, Ezran, Aanya and Ellis, the latter three impatiently tapping the feet.

They all entered the tent that held all the electronics and the three teenagers all spanned their heads left and right taking it all in.

They were quickly led through the laptops they had on display and stopped at a large circuit board with components already soldered on.

“Whats this?” Ellis hovered over it.

“That is a motherboard, mom told us people in her time assembled their own custom computers for their own home use so we decided to see if there was a viable demand for it here as well.” Amy said

“And we plan to let you four try you hand at assembling it to see if it’s easy or not.”

Aleesia beamed while the three just squealed in joy and began pestering them on wanting to do it now.

“When we get back home, you’ll be under a camera so they can see how you’re doing.” Callum said

“So what else do we need?” Ezran asked looking around trying to find the other components

“Memory, processor, storage, power supply, software, cooling, and the case to hold it all.” Cassie listed it all off, “Don’t worry we have an instruction manual, your all goanna help us figure out if regular people can understand it.”

Aleesia wasn’t sure about being a guinea pig while the teenagers didn’t care in the slightest.

“Wait what’s the difference between this and a laptop?” Aanya paused to ask.

“These are more customizable and more powerful. Though our advanced photonics and non-silocon chips are reserved for military, industrial, research, medical and space uses.” Callum said and realized that meant nothing to them based on their blank expressions demanding more details, “I'll explain later.”

“And no, those won’t be available for you anytime soon.” Amy added before they could even ask as she saw all three were salivating now.

“You can drool over it later, there’s something we want you to try out right now.” Callum said as they were all led out of the tent and to the entrance of a mall.

“The place has been closed down for the whole month.” Amy said pointing to a stand which held several plastic guns of different types and each one had a rectangular screen affixed to where the iron sight or scope would be.

“There’s helmets, vests and pads nearby, put them on then take a gun.” Cassie said and gestured for Aleesia to do the same.

“Me? But I got stuff to do.” She protested trying and failing to hide how excited and eager she was which prompted Callum and Amy to push her towards the items.

After the four of them were fully equipped Cassie pressed a button, the small screen lit up showing what was in front with a targeting reticle.

“The game is laser tag. The onboard computer handles the details such as sounds and other things. You get points for shooting one another HALT!” Callum held up a finger as the three automatically aimed at each other. “See the red bar at the bottom right of the screen, that’s your health points. The moment it hits zero, your out.”

“There’s plenty of people inside battling it out so go crazy.” Amy pointed them to the mall entrance.

“Aanya, no stomping them into the dirt to show off.” Callum said knowing his little sister all too well, she owned every single toy gun, bow and crossbow ever made and used them often with great accuracy to dominate the play fights they had.

Aanya just muttered something noncommittal under the breath before running inside followed by the other three.

Callum, Amy and Cassie wanted to join them but they had stuff they needed to do soon.

“Think they’ll ever figure out why we’re even making these?” Cassie asked

“You mean having a lot of people learn basic gun wielding in case we need to rapidly mobilize the entire civilian population?” Callum shrugged, “Who knows but they can’t deny its fun.”

3:11 PM

Anterim

“This is way too much fun!” Sophie said firing a burst before ducking behind cover.

“I’ll say,” Rayla was laying prone while taking pot shots at people on the lower floor. “Never thought our training would come in handy in a mall.”

“Since they plan to make them available everywhere, think we’ll get these for our base?”  Sophie popped out of cover and kept firing like a machine gun.

“I don’t think the top brass would let us fool around the base like this.” Rayla countered as she lined up another shot then cursed as her target ducked behind cover.

“Guess your right, its…!!” Sophie paused as her expression darkened, “Please tell me I’m imagining that.”

“I hear it too.” Rayla muttered as she recognized the sound all too well before they heard something explode.

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

 Callum, Amy and Cassie looked out from the window, there was a huge explosion at the exhibition grounds and one of the tents was burning with people running and screaming, gunfire could be heard.

“You all get to the bunkers now!” Amy ordered the officials who didn’t need much prompting as they rushed out of the room. Their security detail was ordered to help rescue the civilians

“I need a SitRep.” Callum put the comm bead in his ears as he contacted his airship.

“—Sir, there’s explosions and shooting all over the city in… wait, we got an urgent message. It’s happening back home too!—”

“Keep me appraised.” He said as took out a coin and unsealed his armor and equipment, Amy and Cassie had done the same. After the war they made a point to carry this everywhere.

“Damnit it I got reports its happening all over the country.” Amy said quickly taking off her dress and putting on her combat suit.

“Same in Anterim as well. No idea about Regalia.” He began putting on his armor, none of them had the luxury of making sure their padded suits were comfy as they hurriedly put everything on.

“Hold on, can you confirm that?…” Cassie pressed the comm bead to her ear then turned to the others, “Their carrying the marks of the DRM, VA, SRG, EDP and more.”

Callum soon got similar reports from back home which puzzled him as these groups had either disbanded or were crushed completely, they never had the means to do this ever. He then dialed the security detail of his siblings and then cursed as he got no response. “I think the DRM might be after Aanya now.”

He quickly contacted the air ships, “Send a message back home. I’m ordering martial law, the garrison is to take control and have the military ready to move in if necessary. Lethal force is authorized. All forces with us here are to place themselves directly under Erdian command until further notice.” With that he ended the transmission.

They finished putting everything on and began layering as many spells over themselves before opening the window and flew off to the mall.

Arriving at the mall they found a small armed group, Callum wasted no time in disabling them via electrocution before the three of them landed.

“Definitely DRM.” Amy said looking at the cloth mask, and other items that were basically the group’s signatures.

“I should’ve known this would come back to bite me.” Callum said

“We can worry about our foreign policies later.” Cassie said as they made their way inside and quickly found half of the security detail assigned to the four were dead along with several dead assailants, there were several dead civilians as well.

“Cal!”

“Ellis?” Callum looked around and saw her poking her head out from anenergency access corridor and rushed to her side, he saw two members of the security detail who lowered their weapons and beared to be injured as well.

They saw that Aleesia was badly hurt, Ezran and Aanya were pressing a piece of cloth to her bleeding shoulder, the rest of her looked just as bad.

“What happened?” Amy asked she and Cassie quickly examined Aleesia before sealing her away.

“Ma’am, a firefight broke out, we tried to contain them while the civilians made their way to the bunkers but they had a powerful mage. We tried to lead them away from the civilians but these four were spotted.”

“Ali ran at them telling us to run here.”  Aanya said as the three stared at the coin Amy held, their eyes watering.

“She’ll be fine.” Cassie assured them and asked if there were anyone with any serious injuries.

“No ma’am, nothing lethal, we sent two ahead to clear the way to the bunkers, more civilians are hiding in those rooms ahead.” The guard paused to collect their thoughts, “Ma’am, the mage lifted her up with ease.”

Their eyes went wide hearing that, not even an elf could lift Aleesia with one hand, this information added an unknown variable making them up the threat level.

“They  electrocuted her before throwing her to the wall like she was nothing. The others died creating a distraction for us to drag her here. We used a smoke screen but once it cleared, they all vanished.”

Minutes later the guards they sent ahead had come back up saying the path was clear, Ezran, Aanya and Ellis joined the civilians and moved towards the bunkers.

“Go with them and hold out till reinforcements arrive.” Callum said as Cassie quickly sent word for backup. “We’ll look for more survivors here.” He said knowing there were others hiding wherever they could.

“That won’t be necessary.” A voice came from above.

Of course it was a trap, the three automatically suspected it the moment the guard said the enemy vanished once the smoke cleared. Looking up they saw a lone figure leaning over the rails.

“So you haven’t learned your lesson the last time Talmin.” Amy spoke easily recognizing the face of the traitor who instigated the war five years ago.

“Were his memories really lost or was it an act?” Callum muttered,

“No idea,” Cassie said as from his behavior after being captured, they concluded like Callum’s step brother, Talmin had lost his memories depriving them of any useful information. They still had him on house arrest but now it was clear they should have executed him.

“Don’t think you can take the throne ever again.” Amy said firing off several large lightning bolts only for them to blocked easily by a shield of water.

“Young lady, I maybe specialized for alchemy and potions, but I’m still an arch mage.” Talmin chided her before firing off more powerful lightning bolts. These exploded with great force, Cassie quickly created a wall of ice around them but the surrounding area was destroyed.

“Switch to attrition, he can’t do this forever,” Callum spoke into their comm channel. The three of them weren’t anywhere near the level of an archmage, and Callum knew he was the least capable among the three.

An Arch mage could cast high powered spells using less energy but even they would eventually run out, a limitation the three of them didn’t have. There only option was to drag this out till backup arrived.

“As Archduchesses and Archduke, WE WILL STOP YOU!” Amy declared,

“A fine determination.” Talmin spoke eager to see what they could do as he began casting another spell.

Amy created a large dome of water around them in an instant as massive fireballs rained all around them. She reinforced it waiting for the attack to let up so they could counterattack when she looked down, her feet were encased in ice

Talmin had used the water being knocked off the barrier to pool around them and freeze it. But she had no idea how as she had taken measures to avoid that.

“I got it.” Cassie said easily turning the ice back into water but they became more wary expecting something else. Through the water dome they could see the fire spreading.

“Ah shit!” Callum realized what was going on when he saw the flames leaning towards them. “CO2, he’s using the fire to choke us. Open the top.”

Amy opened a hole in the top of the dome and Callum created a lightning bolt then split it into multiple tiny projectiles before firing them straight up, he had aimed for one of the sprinklers and it struck the target. The entire mall was now facing its own downpour as the flames were replaced by steam.

“Nice job.” Amy said trying to see through the steam.

“Not done yet, the CO2 is dealt with but there’s enough chemicals here to cause problem, we need to freeze everything.” Callum said as the three of them used a wide area spell freezing everything till every surface was covered in ice.

“You just had to do that.” Talmin spoke out as he hovered above them, his wings spread wide. He formed a massive lance of ice and launched it at them.

Amy turned the water dome into a thick ice wall to block it. They were relieved the ground was permacrete which meant earth-based spells were out. They had the endurance to outlast him, they just didn’t have the skill to accomplish that.

“Surely you can do better or did you think you were strong enough to fight me.” Talmin pursed his lips expecting them to do something.

““Us?”” Amy and Cassie smiled under their helmets,

“No, but they can.” Callum said as he quickly threw a flash grenade which momentarily blinded Talmin, he formed a sphere of water around him anticipating an attack, only he was suddenly hit by overwhelming force which sent him straight through the glass walls and out into the open.

He had crashed into something, his barrier was still holding but the force of that attack had knocked the wind out of him. Opening his eyes he saw he had crashed into tree which meant he was now outside the mall.

“You really should’ve stayed at home.” A familiar feeble voice came,

Looking up he saw hovering above was the Prime Minister, around him were more people all wearing battle mage attire of the highest grade.

“Give up!” Callum said as he, Amy and Cassie ran outside, “Even you can fight this many arch mages!”

At least tent arch mages along with three times as many high mages were present. The odds did not look good.

“He’s right,” One of the duke’s spoke, not hiding their fury, “It’s over Talmin.”

“Not until I..” Talmin began to speak when he stumbled backwards clutching his head. “Urgh GAAAAAH!”

He began to vomit blood splattering across the pavement, his screams were joined by the unmistakable sound of bones breaking. They watched in horror as his body grew in size and began to change, blood foutnained out of his forehead before antlers erupted out. Bleeding lethal amounts of blood as skin and muscle tore apart and reknitted. Arms elongated and fingers became razor sharp claws.

Several of them looked away unable to watch as the former Duke turned into a large monster of some kind. His face heavily deformed ans twisted still carried traces of his humanity.

“I don't.. understand...what is.. happening.. to me?” Talmin’s voiced was filled with pain as it became deeper. 

Chapter Text

“What even is this?” Richard said unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

The creature lifted his claws and the ground turned like a roiling see before the soil rose up forming 8 meter tall golems that were identical copies of itself. There were dozens of them and each of them scattered in a different direction.

“Stop them before they cause more casualties!” Richard ordered and almost all the mages present went after them. The civilians would still be evacuating so even if they knew this was a ploy to spread them out, they couldn’t not fall for it.

“Don’t think this’ll help, soon every mage and military asset we have will be pointed at you shortly.” Richard said

“I can have my castellan provide fire support.” Callum whispered into the comms, while the Castellan he brought here was the most powerful airship around. But he couldn’t fire into a city of a foreign nation without express permission.

“Do it.” Cassie said, knowing that they needed to deal with this quickly. The political fallout could be dealt with at a later time.

“Callum help Duchess Erena in turning the ground into stone. Everyone else, keep your distance and bring it down.” Richard ordered as he began creating and firing hundreds of razor-sharp icicles while everyone moved into position.

Callum landed besides Duchess Erena, she took his hand and began siphoning vast amounts of power as the soil up to a meter beneath their feet turned momentarily before slowly fusing into solid stone.

At the same time Callum began giving instruction to his airship as to do and hoped the evacuation would speed up, the heavy ether cannons would be enough, if not then he might have to authorize an LAC which would be very problematic.

Pillars of stone erupted out of the ground striking the creature pinning it in place.

“That enough?” Cassie asked and she and Amy focused on maintaining the integrity of the stones.

“Plenty” one of the arch mages said as they began raining an endless barrage of spells, at the same time some of them began using moon magic to befuddle and disorient its senses, a difficult feat as they had no idea on what this creature was or how it sensory perception worked.

“I’ll hold it, you two go top everyone off” An elderly duke said landing besides them. Amy and Cassie didn’t argue and just flew to each person to recharge their etherium quickly. The attacks had intensified with no regard to perverting energy for later.

When it was finally over, the creature was held up by the stones that impaled it, blood and ichor oozing from every gaping wound across its smoldering body.

Moments later they saw steaks of light across the sky as the Castellan’s heavy ether cannons were fired, and hoped this was the end. Looking at the dead creature that was once their former colleague, they all wondered what his aim

“Hmpfmhehehehe.

His answers you wish to see

But his dying truth will end with me ehahahaha!”

The malevolent laughter grew as thick dark smoke began to come out of the dead creature’s mouth, as it pooled around a single point, they all recognized it was coalescing into something.

Richard sensing this was dangerous quickly descended, landing right in front of Amy and Cassie to protect them.

Slowly as the smoke began to take on a more solid form, its features became more defined.

“Him,” Callum took a step back, his voice shaking as he recognized those long-curved horns, sickly pale green skin, misaligned and misshapen eyes, those long-clawed hands.

“What’s wrong?” Duchess Erena asked seeing him visible shaken

“I saw that thing when I first got sent to the subterranean realm when I found Akuram’s crystal...”

Amy and Cassie’s eyes narrowed, they had learned of this elf from him but even their mother had no idea what he saw even was.

The being laughed, “In my hand is what you seek,

And in its pursuit, you shall break.”

It held out its open palm revealing three crystals. One red, one clear and the other purple. A sight that made Callum realize this thing was what took them in the first place. But the act of revealing them had triggered something else.

““HOW DARE YOU!!!”” Amy and Cassie brought their hands together in a loud clap as they were soon enveloped in ether that quickly took on physical form.

“Is this it?” Richard asked glancing behind him, seeing the two women within the avatar of their Dukedom’s goddess was something he had only ever heard about and never asked them to show it as it wasn’t safe for them to use.

Callum watched as the avatars changed, their bestial form took on a bipedal one. He could see both were identical to how his mother-in-law looked like.

They avatars quickly covered the distance between in a single leap and attacked only for it to be blocked by stone and roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around their legs before throwing them at a nearby building which collapsed under the force of the impact.

“We need to get at least one crystal regardless of the cost.” Cassie said through gritted teeth knowing they could afford to screw up. She sent word to everyone not to let it escape no matter what it took. They needed to get at least one crystal and move it to the central tower if they wanted to have any chance of coming out of this long term.

Amy quickly pushed away the debris, their mother’s avatar was sturdy but their human bodies weren’t immune to the sudden impacts of being thrown into a building. Hearing a frightened cry, she looked down and saw civilians who were hiding there and narrowly just avoided being crushed by her.

“GET TO THE SHELTERS NOW!” She commanded them before clearing a path for them through the debris and left. She saw Cassie had landed at building a few meters away.

Getting up she took a moment to reassert her control over the avatar before running towards the battle, this reminded her of the battle to retake the capital all those years ago. In the distance she saw powerful spells being fired off, they clearly weren’t holding back but Callum wouldn’t be able to recharge them all fast enough. The two of them had to rejoin the battle fast.

They were over fifty meters away when they were halted as they heard loud explosions and were blinded by bright flashes of light.

Cassie cursed loudly as she heard more explosions, it was like there were being inundated with flash grenades the size of battleship shells. It took moments for their sight to recover and saw the entire area was covered in thick white smoke.

They couldn’t see in any direction. She knew this wasn’t from the airship as they would’ve gotten a warning ahead of time which meant this was the enemy’s doing. She spoke into the comms an got no answer but what shocked her was that she couldn’t even hear her own voice.

She kept trying, her mouth, lips and tongue were moving normally yet there was no sound. In fact there was no sound anywhere, everything around her was dead silent.

Deciding to push on ahead, she found her body becoming sluggish and quickly understood. The smoke wasn’t just for cover, it also contained a chemical agent and her helmet didn’t have anything to filter it out.

She shoved a hand into her pouch to unseal a particular item but her body was quickly becoming unresponsive. The avatar faded away quickly as her mind wasn’t able to maintain the spell any longer and she fell down.

"Mom, please just a bit longer." She tried to force her body to move, to crawl if need be. Her hands stretched out into the thick smoke knowing how close she was. They were right there and she could afford to fail this time.

In her last moments of consciousness she heard wings flapping. Was it Cassie or someone else, maybe with them she could get to the battle. She managed to get only a glimpse before it all went black. 

Anterim

“All clear on this end.” Rayla looked down the scope of her rifle, she and Sophie joined up with the garrison and helped the civilians evacuate to the shelters. Now the two of them acted as lookouts from a nearby building, both carried the rifles and vest they borrowed from the garrison troops who went ahead.

“Rayla, backup’s here.” Sophie called out spotting a pair of APCs heading their way, “no idea which unit.”

They both left their weapons at the door and made their way out of the building trying to get their attention. Both APCs stopped, their turrets took aim as two men quickly stepped out with a rifles raised but not aimed at either of them.

“Are any of you injured?” one of the troops asked while looking them over for any concealed weapons or injuries

Rayla took out her military ID and showed it to them, “Senior Lieutenant, Rayla Urisys, 47^th Storm Riders.” She said as Sophie did the same. While the IDs had no real use in civilian life, it did allow them to join the garrison if they wanted to volunteer to help defend the city walls if they were off active duty.

“Ma’am,” The soldier’s tone changed as he lowered his rifle completely, “Staff Sargant Paul Anderson, 111^th Hillsides Tourists.”

“Two squads of garrison troops had gone ahead to the plaza. The civilians here have been evacuated to the shelter though there’s not much room left.” As Rayla began explaining what happened, those within the APC relayed the information up the chain of command.

They found the second APC carried only a half squad and lacked dedicated gunner, it was mostly filled with ammo and medical supplies so the two volunteered to help since they had experience handling an APC. The request was quickly accepted as they drove off.

Rayla quickly entered the turret and found the old pre-digital layout familiar and Sophie took care of ammo and Radio operation.

The unit’s specialized in high mobility flanking and interception in hilly or mountainous areas, which earned them the name Hillside Tourists and were station near foot of the Caldera which made them the closet unit for the capital.

They were still undergoing modernization but using pre-war era gear hardly mattered to them which fit  their motto of ‘It is what it is.’

5^th August

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

The hospital had many room that remained unused, it was a contingency for when they would need increased capacity such as right now. Even though the injured and dying were sealed away, they still needed more space if everyone was to work.

Amy and Cassie had taken a room to help treat the injured since their own medical licenses were valid and training up to date, plus they needed to something to keep their minds from thinking about how they failed.

There were two nurses present to help out as having two extra sets of hands was the only reason they could even do this.

They unsealed Aleesia who coalesced on top of the table. There was a lot of blood on her stomach as they sedated her before pulling up her top. They also took the liberty of tying up her tendrils which unlike hair could move and were venomous, and that wasn’t something they wanted to deal with.

“This isn’t too bad.” Amy said examining the wound, there was a punction wound on her abdomen but thankfully it wasn’t from a bullet. Rather she had crashed into something sharp when she was thrown. This made the procedure much simpler as they would need to an x-ray if it was a bullet and it didn’t cleanly exit her body out the other end.

“Good thing mom insisted on us getting a medical license.” Cassie said prepping everything, getting a medical license was something they had to get if they wanted their mom to tutor them in advance engineering and spell craft.

“It’s cleaned. Blood pressure and everything is normal.” Amy said as they had gone over her medical records which meant they didn’t have to guess what counted as normal for a gelphan.

It took another minute before they started, they inserted a camera into the puncture wound and saw the damage did extend to her orgasms. There was a small tear on her stomach and liver which they carefully reconnected before using a strong heal potion. They needed to hold the tissue together while new cells were made and closed the wound.

“We might need BG663 to finish this.” Amy said looking at the screen, having a camera this tiny was helpful though all this new stuff meant they needed to renew their medical licenses twice already these past five years.

They changed the healing solution and added a few drops along the recently closed wounds. With this the risk of it reopening was zero but there was also no record of a gelphan being operated so they had no way to know for certain. It took several minutes before her insides were all patched up and then they closed the wound on her abdomen. 

Amy began apply some of the healing potion to the rest of her body while checking the readouts of the monitors. Once everything was done, they congratulated themselves while the patient sleep like an unconcious log.

“I’ll mix some V87 for her just in case.” Cassie said moving to a corner, opening several vials and began mixing their contents.

“You two go rest, we’ll keep an eye on her.” Amy said and the two nurses simply bowed and left to rest in a nearby room. “I thought it was silly that mage doctors needed to learn surgery but now I’m glad we went through that grueling training.”

“Though goofing off was hard with mom hovering over us every hour on the hour.” Cassie giggled remembering those days. She fought back the tears that welled up in her eyes, they were so close to getting them back and now they didn’t know when they’ll get another opportunity.

Amy heard Aleesia groaned and looked down, she was still unconscious but moving. “Either the sedative is wearing off or we gave her too little.” There were restraints built into the table which she contemplated using if the sedatives turned out to not be effective. 

“Can you get something stronger?” She walked over to her cousin.

“A sec.” Cassie was capping off a vial of V87 she had just made before placing it in a box then took out a new vial, checking the label before handing it over before mixing another batch.

Amy slowly drew a syringe and checked the dosage before turning around and blinked.

She rubbed her eyes in shocked disbelief but what she saw didn’t change, she tapped her cousin on the shoulder to get her attention as they weren’t trained for this at all.

“Gime a sec.” Cassie said mixing some new potions when she felt a knuckle knocking on her head that only got more forceful with each konk.

“What?!” She turned and saw Amy pointing at the medical table.

“Oh that’s why.”  Cassie grimaced as she saw that this was going to be a bigger problem than they initially thought.

“This does answer a few questions.” Amy added as she took their comms out and called Cal.

Elsewhere in the building

Callum winced as the doctor gave him a shot of pain killer his left arm, it was encased in a full cast after having been reattached. It would be days before he could take it off but that was better compared to the people who didn’t make it.

The comm bead was still in his ear relaying everything that happened and the casualty reports from back home weren’t good. Both countries were on high alert as martial law was declared, deciding it would be better to cut his stay here and heading back on the 7^th seemed prudent.

Minutes later he was walking down the hallways when his comm bead buzzed,

“—Cal?—”

“It’s me.” He became anxious as Amy sounded worried which was never a good sign.

“—We found out why Ali is so heavy. She’s—” was all she said before there was a loud crash and then the line went dead.

Chapter Text

Callum ran down the corridor and saw a guard fall over in front of the doorway shaking in terror. He was worried about Aleesia and his wives.

He stopped and looked through the doorway and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Callum just stood in the doorway staringm unable to even speak. In the middle of the room encased in a giant block of ice was a wyvern only the blue scales and head tendrils left no room for doubt as to the details.

“Like we were saying before, the reason she’s so heavy is that she’s actually a lot bigger than she looks.” Amy said as she and Cassie just stood there contemplating what to do. “she tried to attack us so we turned her into popsicle.”

He walked over and placed and arm on the ice wondering what happened to her, “Is this the same thing that happened to Vanderbilt?”

“We’re reasonably certain its not. Her bones didn’t break and her skin and muscles didn’t tear during the transformation. Judging by her size we think the weight would be the same as before she turned into this. Vanderbilt’s transformation wasn’t so clean and he definitely gained mass in the process.” Cassie offered her own conjecture.

“So was this accidental or did he intend to have her transform into this and attack us?” He asked looking into the ice hoping she was alright.

“No idea, but we’re sure mom would told us if Ali was going to turn into this and turn our estates into something out of a creature feature.” Amy said as she knew her mother all too well.

“We were scheduled to send a diplomatic envoy, I’ll have them ask about this as well. Until then keep her sealed.” Callum said not knowing if being encased in ice was even safe for her.

Hopefully they could turn her back because he certainly couldn’t keep her in a cage but he also couldn’t let her out and risk hurting or killing someone.

If they were lucky she might regain her senses and he immediately stopped himself, he had no time to deluded himself into thinking everything would magically work out. That almost never happens if his luck was anything to go by.

8^th October

Biological Research facility, Erdus Dukedom

Amy and Cassie looked through the viewing mirror and the sedated wyvern form of Aleesia was placed on a large table and restrained with clamps and chains made of titanium alloy. The facility had originally been made for studying the infestation by using live specimens they captured so security and safety wasn’t an issue.

“Majesties, we finished the preliminary reports,” One of the examiners came up to them still reading the file, “Based on her original and current weight I think we can safely conclude that her body contained close to half the total mass to attain this form.” He sounded unsure as he kept rereading the file.

“Close to?” Amy asked picking up on the implication there was more.

“Yes, her total mass in this form is basically double and during these past few days her body has gained additional mass and volume. However, this matches perfectly with the amount of water her body as absorbed. She has stopped gaining mass at this point.”

They looked at the drip feed which fed nutrients and water directly into her blood stream. To ensure the safety of those around it was decided her snout would be muzzled shut. Their eyes moved to the back of her head, some of her tendrils had gotten longer and thicker at their base causing all but two to be moved down to her upper back.

“Does water really account for all this?” Cassie asked as they were told prior that there were clear signs of hyper accelerated mitosis.

“We do not know how and where that extra mass was stored….”

They both listened to everything while trying to wrap their heads around it all. Another mystery was her bones, they had gotten bigger and changed shape, most notably her skull but there was zero indication of any bone growth. The results of their examinations was that her bones were always like this which was impossible based on her old x-rays.

“Majesties, I’m not sure what we can do. We have no real experience in dealing with alien biology.” He sounded exhausted as he turned to the arch duchesses.

Amy and Cassie huffed out a breath and nodded, organisms from different parts of the galaxy were gathered and transplanted into this world. They were certain the Forgotten city would hold the information they wanted assuming they could ever find a way to access them.

“Her family and friends will be here tomorrow. We’ve received consent to carry limited tests for comparative analysis.” Amy said as Callum had called Aleesia’s parents and friends. The delegation sent wouldn’t report back so they had to make do with what they had.

11^th October

Amy and Cassie had called upon a meeting of the council of magi into session as they were given the preliminary report compiled so far on events.

“…. Total civilian deaths are at 11,677, of those 2,980 were those below 20 years of age. Military losses amount to 6,544 personnel dead.

Those who were injured is approximately three to four times that, those under intensive care are stable and not in any danger. Those who suffered loss of limbs or severe internal damage will undergo regeneration treatment based on need, the latter are sealed away for safety….

….We still do not have a final count of enemy combatants killed, those captured are being interrogated.

Reports we’ve received from Anterim indicate similar losses….”

They all listened intently as the details were elaborated. This was by far the worst incident in the history of the Dukedom eclipsing even the Durian missile strike from over two decades ago. With martial law in effect, the military was brought to full active readiness.

“… The enemy’s tactics involved the use of illusions, our forces were attacked by one up to two groups of phantom units which hid the location from which the actual enemy unit that would attack.

Our forces were pinned down by gun emplacements and anti-amor fire from buildings.

This was remedied by overhead drone surveillance and sensor feed from our airships however we were ultimately forced to use thermobaric munitions on the buildings to deal with it. This had led to considerable and entirely self-inflicted damage to parts of the city.”

“Get those who fought and pick apart their brains. Ask them what they would’ve needed to deal with this situation better. Use that to help devise a plan of action for when this happens again.” One of the arch mages said before turning to the Arch Duchesses, “Majesties?”

““Approved”” They said immediately it was brought to a vote which seemed redundant at this point due to how they already knew what each of their position would be.

“What of the damage to infrastructure, industrial and military installations?” Richard asked not taking his eyes of the tablet which kept updating with new information as it became available.

“The extent of the damage is still being investigated but a pattern has emerged. They targeted vital rail lines, advanced munition plants, 3 semiconductor fabrication plants, and the two particle accelerators.

Accelerator 1 has only suffered minor damage but accelerator 2’s construction will be on hold till the damage is fully assessed.”

12^th August

47^th Motor rifle Division HQ

“Damn you had us all worried ma’am.” Staff-Sargent Silvy said as the entire company gathered to welcome Rayla and Sophie back.

“We heard after it was all over you were with the hillside tourists.” Jasmin passed a round of drinks to everyone.

“It was tough, we had to wait for drones to blow up entire buildings before we could drive ahead.”

“Ours wasn’t any better, the routes were mined. They’re still checking everywhere for more, for whatever good it’ll to the 25^th.” Lieutenant Seymor said and they all raised a cup in the memory of the squad who perished.

“A munitions factory far south of us got hit badly, the brass think the civies were targeted to make us rush there so they could hit military sites, the sodding bastards.” Armsman Kenneth bit out.

“They hit large crowded areas but they were well coordinated, they fought like soldiers, not civies.” Rayla added.

“Traitors then, we should throw them to the Templars.” Armsman Jared said

“Trust me, the Templars already got em.” Rayla said wincing at the memory.

15^th August

Anterim

“.. with the damage our accelerators have taken, it would be faster to repair the one in Erdus’s since it suffered the least damage. Estimate time for it to be brough back into operational status is 4 months.

Our existing reserves will be depleted within 2 days from now. Until then we can’t produce any new high-temperature superconducting electromagnets for our new reactors.”

“And production will be reduced to less than half even after a single one is resorted?”

“Yes sir,”

“Can we substitute it with the previous 5.5 generation reactors?” Callum asked keeping his expression neutral.

“Yes, they are compatible but the lower output will limit performance.”

“We’ll have to make do. Ask Erdus for a list of what they need, make preparations to send it over.” Callum said before moving to the next topic, “Whats the update on the loss of life?”

“We’ve still haven’t finished counting the dead but its has increased by 0.3% from our previous counting.”

“How the hell did they get those munitions?” the speaker of the legislature asked, getting a small number would’ve been believable but not this.

“We’re looking into the records and warehouses along with all personnel involved in directly or indirectly related to it. Intelligence is following a lead but they can’t offer anything more until they can find anything actionable.”

“I think that’s all we’re gonna be able to do on this for now.” Callum said deciding it was best to move on to the next item, “Lieutenant colonel?”

He nodded to the recently promoted lieutenant colonel Hespiranya Sesigna of the Order of the Blood gears stepped up to present the report on the status of their client state, Regalia. She had volunteered to go there during her reserve periods to help train the local forces.

“Fortunately, there was nothing of note save for a minor incident just five days ago.

There have been thefts of spare parts and material these past few weeks.  The culprits disguised themselves as Garasians since the sect members trained and were assigned to maintain the equipment.

They initially though the imposters were new initiates due to them being ignorant of certain rituals and rites. But that was dispelled when they caught them in the act of handing off their pilfered gains.

They managed to capture some but the rest fled. Once notified my unit sent out drones since the nearest airship was too far.

They managed to evade us by heading to route 73. They’ve likely headed south once they mixed in with the traffic.”

“73?” Callum recalled the map and it was basically right next to the border, “What makes you think they went to Vasuria?”

“Your Excellency, the parts they took were made of stainless steel. Since trade of such metals is prohibited, we suspect these are merely black marketers.

Based on prices, once melted down, the metal would fetch a high price in Vasuria. The price drops considerably in Regalia and it might as well be worthless in Temirov due to relative availability in both.”

“I suppose security would’ve gotten lax since we’re busy sending people out to help survey everything.” The minister of interiors spoke up.

“Do they have any connection to the nobility in Vasuria?”

“No sir, an enquiry was sent and they were terrified as they vehemently denied any involvement. They have secretly launched an investigation own their own.”

A few more questions were thrown around but Callum brought it to an end as they needed to conclude this soon and move to more important matters. “Since you’ve spent time there, do you have any recommendations?”

“Your excellency, if I may. The sect has offered to set up their own patrols, feeling offended that the machines they worked on were pilfered. Our security will remain lax for a few more years so I think we should take them up on it.

I’ve managed to build a good rapport with them, I believe I can act as an intermediary in this.”

Callum paused to think on it before answering, “Allowing them to keep an eye out is acceptable but we will need to consult with King Ardeth before we can allow forming a patrol militia out of them.”

The treaty they signed did protect the sovereignty of their client state so he could not decide this on his own. The Garasians were still considered heretics by the officially state sanctioned faith of the kingdom so this might need to be something for the future when the sect’s image was improved.

“As for the latter I can agree to it as your Order’s fascination with integrating technology does position you to make good ties with them.” Callum held up a finger and let the moment drag on before speaking, “But do not forget, we are knights, our code and zeal is different from theirs.”

“Yes sir.” The Lt Col saluted before returning to her seat.

On one hand Callum couldn’t deny the Garasians were fantastically loyal to them even more than the Regalian crown.

On the other hand, they were a cult of machine worshippers that could maintain an independent information network and influence local politics that could backfire on them.

Chapter Text

16^th August

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

“Cal, they finished reviewing all the footage and confirmed there were snipers but we never recovered any sniper rifles or any bullets for one. We need you to check if there’s anything like that on your end.” Cassie said as kept stamping papers after Amy gave them a cursory read.

“—Intelligence suspects something similar but the report won’t be ready for a few more days. They think the number of combatants killed or captured doesn’t match the reports or security footage.—”

“Same on our end, this would be great if our folks or uncle was here. They’d probably have a million ideas to explain everything. Its far better than us having nothing to go on right now.” Amy commiserated their rotten luck.

“We’ve had people and industries work all three shifts so reconstruction can go without any interruption. Hopefully we get the people out of the bunkers and into houses in a few months.”

“—Some of the underground fencing got rearranged in the battle.—”

““Ouch””

“—Reconstruction is on hold till we do a full inspection. —” He said knowing their troubles had only just begun. “—The legislature launched an enquiry and I’m first on the list to be interrogated—”

“They ain’t going to try to get you to step down are they?” Amy became concerned,

“—Nah, they don’t even have the authority to even suggest that. The most they can do is cover their asses by trying to act like they are on top of this before the local soviets send them enquiries demanding an explanation. —”

“Well the people here are split, one half thinks using airships and drones was overkill, the other thinks we didn’t go far enough.” Cassie whined, wishing the public would agree to something.

21^st August

“Hey they got the autopsy done.”

“Give me the short version.” Amy said from under a mountain of paperwork,

Cassie began going through the file and she did not expect this at all, “Says here his DNA is completely human.”

“Human? This?” Amy created an illusion of the creature that was once Vanderbilt, it held a giant mallet with which it was hitting itself on the head.

“Tell them, not me.” Cassie waved the laptop in the air not even looking at the illusion, “All the cells are cancerous including the bones which really messed up the results, less telomeres than he should have, lots of scar tissue everywhere inside.

The prefrontal cortex is mush but the limbic system seems fine relative to everything else.

It’s a miracle he didn’t die the moment his body began to change.”

Amy and Cassie began debating what to do about all this when the phone rang and saw the number on the display, it was him.

““Good or bad news??”” they asked in unison while staring at the phone.

“—The delegation came back. Apparently, this is the first they’ve heard of a non-mage transforming. —”

““Can we change her back?”” They asked ignoring their desire to ask about the other details.

“—According to the report, the only way is to just lock them up somewhere, they’ll turn back eventually once starvation sets in. —”

“Any idea on why she’s acting like an animal?”

“—They lose all sense of self after transforming. At best they can maintain some level of self-control but it’s only for a short time.—”

“Guess this means when we have kids, we won’t have to explain to them why their mom wants to eat them.” Cassie said and Amy just nodded. On the other end Callum just shook his head not even wanting to ask.

25^th August

Fomond, Capital of Regalia, Subterranean Realm 1

“Is it true, they were attacked?!”

King Ardreth was startled as his son burst through the door to his office, sweat cowering his forehead clearly from having run all the way here from the air field.

“Yes,” King Ardreth opened a drawer and pulled out a report then placed it on his desk. “It’s all in there. Fortunately, they reassured me the worst this’ll mean for us is that they will have to delay sending us additional construction equipment.”

Kaarel sat down and went through the report, when he first heard of it, he rushed over here. “It doesn’t mention why this happened or who orchestrated it.”

“They are still investigating it. It’s probably the other nations that border them.”

“No, I think this is something else.” Kaarel said, his tone becoming more anxious as he kept reading.

“You think this was from within?” the king wasn’t surprised as every nation has treasonous elements.

“I don’t know, it’s just a suspicion I’ve had over the years after.”

“You’ll need to be more specific.”

“Remember how after the war, the two nations embarked on a massive modernization effort to further their technological and military capabilities? I always thought they were in too much of a hurry.

My suspicions only grew when both the Daenal and Temirov family gave the exact same answer to my queries. Like they knew something but couldn’t tell us.”

“I’m certain they aren’t plotting to conquer anyone here.” Ardreth said finding the idea laughable.

Kaarel let out a dry laugh, “Indeed, they could just demand it and we’d be in no position to argue.” He shook his head, he had seen what they could do and no one in their right mind would ever want to face it.

“No, I think they are preparing for a conflict against someone much stronger.”

“Elaborate.” King Ardreth closed the document he was reading and leaned forward, his tone switched to that of speaking with a subordinate.

Kaarel took a deep breath to pause and organize his thoughts, “Right now, the other four human kingdoms are facing internal instability because there is nothing they can do to gain parity. But Erdus and Anterim seem unconcerned that they are destabilizing their home continent. 

My conclusion is that they are sinking so much money, resources and manpower into this because they think it likely that they will need this capability soon.”

“If,” King Ardreth put great emphasis on that two-letter word, “…that is true then they might be embroiled in another war.”

“Father, I want us to speed up our integration and unification with them.” Kaarel said firmly, having thought this over. “If they end up losing then what hope do we have? We have been fortuitous that they have no desire to rule over us, but this foe might not be so beneficial to us.”

The king Ardreth leaned back into his chair and looked up at the ceiling fan, pondering the state of his kingdom. 

Starting from a few years ago when he authorized the invasion of Vasuria to their south, a decision that will not be happening again for several reasons that he felt needn’t any further thought.

Since becoming a vassal, the economy did take another hit as many guilds just left, taking their mages and skilled people with them. This was more painful than the loss of the slave market but keeping that around wasn’t an option.

The temple had also accused the territory of Temirov of apostacy for not prosecuting the Garasian sect, that accusation now fell upon him when he agreed to purchase the territory from their southern neighbors since he couldn’t prosecute them.

Normally all these would open up a nation for invasion or subversion by their neighbors, but in this particular case that wasn’t even a possibility. No one in their right mind wanted to face the inevitable retaliation from Anterim if they went after their client state.

The sharing of technology had already elevated Temirov greatly in a few short years, and had begun manufacturing commodities recently. According to his ministers, they would struggle to meet demand. Eventually in a decade or so they will be able to manufacture them across his kingdom

He had to agree with his son, Anterim was what one would call an ideal suzerain. If there is another power at work. Then there was no guarantee that his kingdom would receive the same favorable treatment from this other power.

“We should at the least put more effort into building up our industries, while our treaty doesn’t obligate us to join them in their wars. We might still be forced into it.” He said deciding quickly how to handle this, “Continue your work up north. I’ll handle things here.”

3^rd September

Subterranean realm 2

Vaeril had to control himself as he carefully placed the fragile roll of parchment into a container and closed it. Slowly he turned around after setting the case atop the others and looked around.

Turning back to the stone shelves, the other tomes and parchment were in a bad state. The building from what he had seen of the ruins outside, he surmised it had been much bigger. He pictured all the knowledge that must’ve been stored here and were lost as they slowly deteriorated as both time and the elements took their toll.

While they had tools to help restore some of them, they would need to take them back to Anterim. He doubted it would difficult to prioritize resources for it.

While they traveled, he had hoped they would find a thriving civilization. Instead all he found was ruins of one, another to the list of many wiped out by the infestation.

He picked up another parchment, it was in good shape so he carefully opened it. The script wasn’t easy to read as some of it had blurred but from what he could read, this was a poem.

He sighed, back when he was researcher at the university in Xadia, he dreamt of seeing the ruins and studying them. He never realized how difficult it would be to find anything intact.

“Sir we found something!” someone shouted as they ran inside.

“Dennis, don’t run in here. Last thing we need is someone ripping and fall into something fragile.” Vaeril turned to look up at the man, his gloved hands were dirty, and his boots and pants were caked in mud.

“We found something big.”

“The scepter?” Vaeril asked hopeful, he was curious about the scepter the Gelphans were eager to get their hands on but his hopes were crushed as the man shook his head,

“No,” Dennis panted as he placed his hands on his knees. “It’s a ship sir.” His eyes beaming with excitement, “An Imperial airship.”

Vaeril blinked as his lips moved upwards into a wide smile before he ran out of the building like he was possesed.

Sometime later

Vaeril stopped his mad dash as he saw workers, golems and dozers were clearing the area. He recalled flying over this area and their scans showed that underneath the thick overgrowth of vegetation and trees was a large structure of some kind right next to a large hill.

“Sir, wait up please.” Ennis finally caught up with him and looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.

Vaeril ignored him as he walked on, in the distance he could see a large excavator arm reach down and scooping up soil.

He walked around the giant pit they dug up, one side was slopped to allow smaller excavators to carry the soil out. They had to have started a few days ago by the size of it.

His froze in place as his eyes landed on the unmistakable shape of a thruster nozzle. Based on the size alone, he new this vessel would have to be bigger than a standard airship but he suspected it would fall well short of a castellan.

“How did you find this?” He asked as he began making a list of things he wanted the teams to look into.

“Murals. Inside. Temple.” Dennis said between gasps, it took him several minutes to catch his breath,

“It said their king had a flying ship that crashed in a ravine. With no one who could operate it, they simply left it untouched. The geology team says there would’ve been landslides in this area.” He pointed to the steep hill.

Vaeril could picture it, the infestation started thousands of years ago, enough time for the landscape to change. “Any texts inside?”

“Yes, we’re still checking the contents but one chamber had the mark of the imperial flag.”

“We’ll need to increase the scope of this dig.” Vaeril began wondering what he’d need before he could make any requisition.  

Chapter Text

5^th September

Anterim

Callum quickly tied his scarf around his face to ease the acrid stench. It offered a little but noticeable respite as he resumed moving.

His eyes remained on the walls, grime and filth oozed down from up high. Refusing to look down at what he was walking through, with each step he heard a wet slap under his boots followed by the sensation of his feet sinking down almost a centimeter. He’d rather not even try to think about what was even on the ground.

He kept himself distracted by trying to figure out where he even was. Aside from the filth, he refused to even acknowledge the people all around him going about their lives. He knew they weren’t real but the abject misery and poverty of these people was unconscionable. He could not fathom anyone could live like this.

Slowly a thick fog came and he could not see anything, even his own hand was barely visible as slowly all his senses became numb. There was nothing around him, just this endless darkness where he could sense shapes he could not picture but knew were there.

He now knew where he was, this was the dreamscape he and his wives had seen so often in their meditations. But he couldn’t recall meditating at all recently so how was he here at all?

His questions came to an abrupt end as he heard voices, there were many. He could not see them but somehow, he could feel them. He listened carefully as the voices became louder

“Do you not see? The war is over. We have lost. They have damned us all

Everyone who is alive right now and those who are yet to be born will now share in their ignorance, forever condemned to suffer under... under… THIS!” The voice seemed to struggle to even utter the last world.

“Coward!!” Another voice spat back, “Are you saying we should do nothing?!”

“No,” A calmer voice spoke up trying to deescalate though their own voice did not convince anyone, “No one is saying we should spend the remainder of our lives partaking in this ignorance of what is right in front of us.”

“She’s right, we must accept reality for what it is. THEY ARE GONE!!” The person who spoke was unable to hide the grief in their voice. Soon other voices joined in consoling the person.

“No, they will return.” The first voice became determined, as if they had made a decision that they had been putting off until now. “NOW WE RAGE AGAINST THE COMING LIGHT!!!”

It was followed by thunderous shouts of determined anger shared between each of them. The emotions he felt from them turned into a storm as he fought against the winds buffeting him.

“Dammit, what is going on here!” He muttered, moving through the storm and fog trying to find the source of those voices. There had to be something in this dreamscape that would give a clue as to what any of this even was.

A bony hand reached out, grabbing him by the throat then lifting him off his feet. The fog receded a bit revealing a skull, glowing red points appeared in its empty eye sockets. It’s jaws opened with a loud click as it uttered three words he instantly recognized.

Callum shouted as he suddenly found himself in his bed, rubbing his throat while gasping for air.

“The hell was that?” He muttered to himself as he took out his flash light and shined it at the clock, it was 3:80 AM. He momentarily thought about taking the sleeping pills from his drawer then decided against it.

There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now as his mind raced back to the dream and compared the skeleton that nearly crushed his windpipe to the skeletons which held Akuram’s crystal. The king if that as what that one was did match it perfectly.

But was he actually in that very dreamscape from when he was meditating or was this just a lucid dream based on those memories? If it was a normal dream then figuring out would be easy since its often internally inconsistent.

However, the dreamscape was not based on reality in the first place, the three of them had no idea what it even was. So how was he going to figure out if he accidentally managed to enter into it during his dreams or if it was just a dream and nothing more.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it so he got up and made his way to his office. If he was going to be up trying to figure this out, he might as well finish some paperwork.

11^th September

Subterranean realm 2

Vaeril walked across the temple hall, the water splashing under his boots echoing within the chamber. They had removed the mud and dirt that had filled the inside and now were using water to wash away whatever remained.

He stopped in front of a large mural, one of several each depicting a different part of their history, the first chamber depicted the airship crashing as their king was dying. He lived the remainder of his life which they estimated was only a few years bedridden. Upon his death, he was entombed in a large mausoleum along with his possessions.

The part of the mural that showed the location had unfortunately crumbled away.

He had skipped all the chambers after the first till he arrived at this one, the last one. He knew from his experience that if there was any information as to how they all arrived here then it had to be in here.

Walking up the mural, as he searched for the beginning of this telling of history, he noticed many of the colors had faded and many parts had distorted or crumbled. He bit his lip in frustration seeing the loss of knowledge.

Eventually he found the beginning,

“It was a gathering of celebrations that the struggle was over.” He read out loud, the language and script hadn’t changed from what was found in the archives.

The murals above it showed so many species standing together, several symbols and depictions made it clear that it was talking about the old imperium. But there was no mention as to what struggle they had overcome.

“… but we were betrayed by our own…” Vaeril paused to consider this, betrayal? By whom? He could find no mention of anything regarding that. But he kept his mind opened and read on, “Our gods had labored to protect us leaving themselves exhausted and vulnerable. The enemy had waited for this moment and struck. The gods shielded us from harm and we obeyed their commands to flee.”

He saw a depiction of their king along with several others aboard the airship leading … his eyes focused on the several much larger airships following behind it, carrying untold people skywards as they fled.

It showed a whirlpool forming and the ships flew into it. There was a battle during their journey that had gravely injured their king and his compatriots. One of the ships had fallen behind so their king moved towards it while the others moved on ahead.

However, something happened causing both ships to be thrown off course.

The mural showed another whirlpool in the sky and the airship coming out of it and crash landing on this continent. The other ship crashed into the ocean, most of the people aboard those ships escaped. He looked at his own hands knowing that being able to breath underwater was what saved them.

The people tried to call for help but no answer came, forcing them to settle here.

“Dennis,” Vaeril called his aide who put down his tools and came up beside him.

“Sir?”

“The next airship is scheduled to arrive soon, tell them to send in more people and equipment.

“uhh why?” Dennis asked the obvious question

“Because this isn’t an airship,” Vaeril’s voice became serious, losing all joy as he realized what they had unearthed. “This is a starship,”

His hand landed on the part of the mural depicting the ship going into the whirlpool, it was surrounded by what could only be interpreted as stars. Something that people who lived in the subterranean realm wouldn’t know about as the giant artificial balls of light were the only source of light down here.

Dennis examined the section of the mural and had to conclude it was highly likely that Vaerils interpretation was more accurate.

“There is also another ship in the ocean.” He gritted his teeth knowing there was nothing they could do to reach it in waters this infested.

12^th September

Anterim

Callum reviewed the footage, he could see a sniper taking shots at any officers within their line of sight from inside the apartment building.

They had concluded that this was a huge contributor to how the enemy managed to deal so much damage and maintain their momentum. Rebuilding a chain of command rapidly was difficult especially in the middle of combat.

Moments later the building got hit by a missile which brought a thin smile to his lips.

His eyes turned to the report which said that they recovered an old sniper rifle. The most troublesome thing was that after recovering the body from the rubble, they identified the person to have had no prior military experience.

He turned to look at the everyone gathered, the only person missing was Vaeril but his absence wasn’t an issue.

“Approximately 8% of them were identified as reservists. We are currently investigating the units they belonged to.” The staff officer stopped as the Speaker raised a hand.

“Have you identified anyone who might have access to anything classified?” The Speaker asked cradling his head in his hands, the notion that even a handful of their soldiers turned on them was a huge scandal but this was on a scale that they couldn’t hide.

“No, no one in any such position seems to have been compromised but we’ve tripled surveillance.”

“Are you certain the ones doing the surveilling aren’t compromised?” The general secretary asked, “Something of this scale shouldn’t be possible to hide.”

“Sir, we found nothing to indicate anyone in the intelligence and counter-intelligence units have been compromised.”

They going back and forth comparing what was present in each report to make sure nothing was missed.

“… among those captured were former soldiers who fought in the last war and developed PTSD, they were given treatment and were declared psychologically fit to reintegrate into normal civic life. The rest are those who lost family during the war.”

“Relapse and grief.” Calum said looking down at the report on his desk though he didn’t read it. He knew war was devastating to a person’s mind. Unlike the body, the mind was difficult to heal and it was impossible to know if they had managed to solve anything or not.

The hell they went through and the grief of losing someone close were things that could be used to manipulate them. He knew such emotions didn’t operate on logic or reason, and thus there would have been no need to give them any information that’s valuable, this meant interrogations would yield little to no information regarding the actual objectives.

“This is another loss for us.” Callum said in a quiet mutter that no one heard as he listened to the rest of the report which only served to worry everyone.

“…. There is also a sizeable number of people who came as tourists. According to their travel documents, only a small portion of them have any training or experiences in combat. We require instructions as to how to proceed.”

“The four nations have condemned this as an act of terrorism that took the lives of our own citizens and their own.” The Minister of Foreign affairs said, “If I may, I recommend we announce this sooner and pressure them to share information on their people who have been confirmed to be active combatants.”

“I have to agreement with it,” The Intelligence chief spoke up, “Our own assessment is that their public sentiment would pressure their own governments to cooperate if they suspect culpability on their part.”

“I want a plan of action ready it implements in two days, have all parties necessary for it be ready by then,” Callum ordered, this would heighten some tensions between the nations as internal opposition might try to use it to drum up support but that was copper compared to the gold at stake.

Chapter Text

14^th September

Elarion, Xadia

“Your majesty!”

Sol Regem opened his eyes as he roused himself awake. It took a moment to shake off his sleep. His nostrils flared with fire as he lowered his head to get a good look at the person who woke him. The man’s face was bright with joy which meant something good had happened that was worth reporting.

“Your majesty, they have returned in triumph.”

Sol Regem blinked to think who the man meant by ‘they’. Was it the group he sent to expand the farm lands? No, that was still weeks away from being completed. He then straightened as he realized who it was.

“Where?” His voice thundered across the palace.

“They sent a hawk-arrow, they are now resting on an island off the coast and will arrive later tonight.”

“Excellent,” Sol Regem’s wings flapped in joy creating a small storm that knocked over items around him. He paid no mind to the servants who cried at the sight of anything broken. “Prepare a grand welcome for them.”

Diothosi city, Xadia

“They look happy to see us.” Avourel said, leaning over the edge peering down at the streets, all lit up and filled with people welcoming them.

“You have far too much energy,” Elred said reclining against one of the crates,

“Take it easy.” Emmyth was happy to be back from that ordeal, “Tam, what’re you going to do?”

“Not sure yet.” His only objective was to take a long rest now that this crazy expedition was finally over.

They were jolted up as the platform made contact with the ground and they were all welcomed by the people with open arms.

Tamnaeth looked around for a particular face but didn’t find them, deciding it was best to rest now. His bow slung over his shoulders as he jumped off and joined the others in greeting their welcome party.

The people gathered naturally wanted to see what they brought but that wouldn’t happen as only a small selection would be shown. The rest would be brought elsewhere to be properly secured especially the bigger items.

Elarion, Xadia

Sometime later, Sol Regem along with his advisors met with Zarvoril and the other high-ranking dragons of the expedition in his palace. They began to debrief him, recounting everything that had happened, the knowledge that they were the only survivors of their old empire hit them hard.

There was always the hope that they would encounter others but now it was replaced by remorse. What was worse was the knowledge of what the world outside the Veil was like.

“… We cannot undertake such expedition for some time. I told them they could take the remainder of the year and the next year to rest and recover. Having to be wary night after night had worn down the resolve of many of them.” Zarvoril said making it clear that this was not up for debate, “That cursed spirit we encountered has shown that we need to study things carefully before we take anything.”

“Thankfully we have found several ‘Life giver of mountains’ elsewhere.” Ignivarus spoke up proud that they had managed to find them.

“First we must offer a proper send off to those who have fallen in the line of duty.” Sylpharion countered, “I also recommend Taerel be given leave, the loss is weighing heavily on his mind.”

“The scholars are also at their limits. They can share what they have uncovered including how to operate the relics but have those questioning them watch their tone, they are in urgent need of rest more than anyone else.”

“I will see to it myself,” Sol Regem said as things had progressed greatly, “How many warriors can we field?”

“We have gathered enough of eight thousand dragons and up to a hundred and fifty thousand elves. It will take weeks for everything to be brought over.”

“That is fine.” Sol Regem said as time was something they had in abundance.

“If it is merely using them then a few weeks is all we need. It’ll take years to fully master them.”

16^th September

In the middle of the forest he met with his counterpart as the shared a drink though they drank moonberry juice.

“I heard you all managed to find a lot.”

“Enough for a big army,” Runaan said taking a sip, right next to him was a bottle of real alcohol but he only brought it for the sake of anyone who happened to stumble upon them. “The life giver of mountains can make an army of golems. There are six of them.”

“What do they do and how will they be used?”

“They can make and control large numbers of golems. They haven’t breathed a word but if you want my guess, they will use them as fodder while everyone stays behind to minimize their own losses.”

“I heard tales you ran into a monster.” The man chuckled though it lacked any mirth.

Runaan ignored it as it was a topic he very much would like to avoid. “They’ll be able to train everyone to use soul bound items in a few months at most, but it will take many years to turn that into a viable army of this size.”

“Well there is good news. The Confederacy made a public statement declaring their outrage that Sol Regem violated the old oaths and took the soul bound items. He eventually agreed to a non-aggression pact.”

“What did he get in return?”

“The Confederacy would recognize Sol Regem and his group’s right to live here so long as they don’t declare independence.”

“Will that stop him?”

“We forced him to a non-aggression treaty, he cannot march his troops through the territories of the confederacy. He is effectively contained.

If he tries to form his own kingdom then he will be viewed as trying to fracture and weaken Xadia, and if he attacks us then even his own followers would have trouble reconciling his rhetoric of protecting Xadia with his actions.”

“I would not be so sure,” Runaan took a swig then paused remembering these past few months, “I have seen then come with rationalizations that reject reality. At best we might reach those who simply wish for a normal life.

How’d you convince the king to accept this?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t privy to those details,” he shrugged, “On that note, that old companion of yours has regained his lost arm, oth—”

Runaan raised a finger “I know a few more of that we could use.” A cynical smile began tugging at his lips.

17^th September

Diothosi city, Xadia

Tamnaeth wandered the city as the sun went down, sun mages were out and about casting illumination spells on the lamps in preparation for the night. It reminded him of visit to the human kingdom where had used something called a bulb to replicate this. He had learnt it was something the humans made only a few decades ago, it did make his stay easier as it reminded him of home.

Home, a word that had been on his mind every day for the past few years, he wanted this mission to be over and just go home. He sighed as he walked towards the nearest tavern for a drink.

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

Aleesia awoke in a hospital bed only to be on the receiving end of multiple hugs by everyone she knew. It was only after her parents left was she given the full story of had happened.

“You expect me to believe that?” She said still finding it hard to believe.

““Oh yes, we really do.”” Amy and Cassie nodding rapidly as Callum opened his laptop and played back a recording of a large blue wyvern strapped to a table and tied down with chains, moments later it began to shrink turning into her usually form.

“You mean I was completely naked this entire time?” She pulled the blanket over her head and curled into a ball underneath, too embarrassed to show her face now.

““huh?”” Amy and Cassie turned to one another, ““You turn into this and try eat everyone before getting strapped to a table where we ran tests on you like in a movie. And the thing you focus on is being naked?””

“Yeah, I have to agree with them on this.” Callum said turning off his laptop before reading the medical report the doctors left after her latest checkup.

“When you put it like that…” Aleesia paused then popped her head out from the covers, “Wait I didn’t eat anyone did I?”

“No no, they knocked you out then froze you in a block of ice before you got the chance.” He reassured her.

“That’s a relief,” She ducked back under the blanket when her stomach growled loudly. “Guess you really were starving me.”

“Well you won’t be eating a lot till all the micronutrients you’ve depleted have been replenished.” Cassie said taking the report from Callum.

“Trust us on this, refeeding syndrome can be fatal.” Amy said as they all heard Aleesia whimpering under the sheets that she couldn’t stuff herself silly this time.

 “I’ll be heading back tomorrow. You’ll stay here until the doctors clear you. Things are going to get pretty busy after that.”

“Can’t I enjoy my after-treatment vacation?” She pleaded.

““Can’t she?”” Amy and Cassie joined in which only served to annoy him further as he bluntly said no.

9^th October

Callum’s estate, Anterim

“Cal, they said they want permission to test the minisub sooner.” Aleesia read aloud as she was working through all the administrative work.

“Sure, give em the go ahead”

“So where exactly is this test facility?” She asked as she sent a response, the request made no mention of anything she could use to track it down, probably intentional she guessed.

“It’s a massive underwater facility we found two years ago. We’ve set it up to conduct deep water experiments. Well go there sometime after the naval programs and done next year.” He said and she squealed in excitement.

It was an hour of silent work as she kept going through report after report trying to familiarize herself with the changes in protocol after the incident. A lot of procedures had bee overhauled until she noticed there were provision of replacing a stipend…

“Whats the MMN Stipend?”

“Multi-species Material Needs,” Callum didn’t bother to look away from his work, “Elves have a higher caloric need than humans so they will need to make more money to enjoy the same standard of living as humans.

This wasn’t helped by the fact that everywhere was rife with anti-Xadian prejudice, we’ve had to crack down on it with extreme severity to get to where we are. By the time Rayla showed up, that particular problem was mostly solved.

From a business point of view, hiring an elf would cost more than a human so it made it difficult. The government and the clan weren’t hampered by such restrictions. But that doesn’t mean every elf would want those jobs instead of something similar to what they had back in Xadia.

The solution was to give every elf a stipend that let them satisfy their material needs. Then we had to change it and labor laws to accommodate the needs of the subterranean humans.”

“So what’re you changing about it this time?”

“We’re gonna make it a universal program since automation will render most jobs pointless. We’re still discussing how to make it work but they’re certain money will become less prevalent for people in the coming decade or two.”

12^th October

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ

Rayla saw the targets highlighted on the screen and gave the order, she and all the turret gunners in the company fired a simulated three-shot burst. The shells detonated at their pre-programmed ranges, the blat wave and shrapnel propagating the target area as the targets flickered out.

The onboard systems generated new targets and she began checking the map. The lone tank was behind them keeping distance and pace while the infantry moved ahead. Points appeared a few hundred meters ahead indicating the drones had truck their targets.

“Objective achieved, moving on to mop up.” Jasmin ordered before eying off the company channel, “This is so much better than what we used to do.”

“Yeah, no clean up,” Rayla nodded as before this, training often required setting up dummy targets then using live ammo which often ended with them cleaning up the mess they made. No one liked doing it and thankfully they didn’t have to do it anymore.

“Any idea on what’ we’ll be getting next year?” Alexandra chimed in,

“No, the circular mentioned nothing. But it should arrive by the time our six is done.”

“Chances are they finished the upgrade packages for our vehicles.” Rayla guessed it had to be that since the government announced that they would be moving towards full military production.

Chapter Text

14^th October

Vaeril watched as the whole air fleet arrived. It had four castellans, six air cruisers, and four combat airships and twelve logistics airships. This was beyond the cope of what he requested. They must consider this to be that important if the bureaucracy didn’t even try to get in the way.

A moment later his comms chimed and he was given their new orders. They were what he expected even if he was given more resources than necessary. He’d have to spend the next few days getting to know what he could or couldn’t afford to do with his present resources.

18^th October

Confederate Palace, Xadia

“We got word back from our agents. While not conclusive, we have a rough idea on what items they have and their uses. The number of fully equipped warriors in their ranks will be around a sixth of their bounded forces but we raised it to a third as a precaution.” The official presented the findings to the dragon king and the representatives.

Avizandum nodded, this information would prove valuable for making countermeasures.

“The production of sunforged weapons and shields are on schedule.” The sunfire representative spoke, Anterim buys a lot of sunforged items so it provided the perfect cover to obfuscate the real numbers allowing to more easily arm the Confederacy. It also was a large source of revenue.

“What is the status of our finances?” Avizandum inquired

Ibis stood up and spoke, “On that we have good news. I managed to negotiate with the western union to purchase our war debts at renegotiated rates.

This will reduce our debt repayments by spreading it over a more decades allowing us to speed up public works and rearm our forces faster.

The union will send observers to ensure the debt repayments are honored. This should help us build inroads towards eventually having them formally join the Confederacy.”

“While I agree to the first t, but will the second even work?” the moonshadow representative asked, still unhappy about allowing a destabilizing force remain unchallenged within his homeland.

“I have spoken with many officials within the Union during my visits, there is a small number of them who thinks having limited association with us would be beneficial. If we show their position is beneficial then others might also be swayed to our side.

The debt does give them leverage over us, this should be enough to assuage their fears of duplicity from us.”

“Excellent,” Avizandum wanted to give him a proper reward right now but this was neither the time nor place. “How soon?”

“They can begin once we formally sign the agreement.” Ibis answered as the representatives quickly sent orders to do it quickly. “I’ve managed to impress upon them the threat of Sol Regem. They wish to remain neutral but I managed to secure a secret agreement to sell us materials at cost.”

19^th October

Anterim

Callum slotted the rune plate on to his gauntlet and activated it, quickly feeling weight being added to his back. Exhaling slowly, he unfolded his wings spreading them out.

“How does it feel?” One of the researchers asked as they checked the readouts.

“The power draw is much higher. The wings feel more responsive. The weight is also bit more.”

“They are much bigger sir.” One of them answered as they walked up to him and began taking measurements. “I’m more concerned as to how you’re manipulating them at all.”

“Uhh what do you mean?”

“Sir, they are not physically connected to your body. They are just floating there.” The researcher held an ethometer to the wing trying to see if there were any measurable ether being emitted, “No emissions,”

“There are some weak photonic emissions from the wing. Not visible unless it’s extremely dark and you have great night vision.” Another said

Callum was shown a laptop, it was receiving a live feed from one of the cameras placed across the lab. He saw the part that should be attached to his upper back. There was no physical connection to him yet he could feel the nerves on the wings and move them as if he were connected.

“Is the light a sign of inefficiency?”

“Could be a result of energy needed to maintain it.”

“Try a blood or tissue sample to see if you can get anything from that.” Callum suggested since that did work for the old flight spell.

Minutes passed but the researcher grew frustrated as they were unable to draw any blood or get a tissue sample.

They found that anything solid just passed right through the wing, they knew it wasn’t an illusion as Callum spoke how he could feel something going through it. So there was some means by which signals were being sent back and froth from the wing and brain.

“I wish we could get rough with the plate.” One of the researchers complained knowing they couldn’t as there were only three in total and they could not afford to lose a single one which greatly limited their options.

“So do we all.” Callum stared at the rune plate. The ones meant for the golems were something only the three of them could use as their power draw wasn’t something anyone else could sustain.

Their attempts at reverse engineering did result in improvements to their pool of applicable knowledge when it came to sealing and etheric energy transfer even if many of the underlying mechanisms or principles remained a mystery.

They lacked the requisites to form a unifying theory to explain it so he hoped if they can get the airship over to the Forgotten city, they might get lucky. Unless it was the more likely outcome of it being to advanced.

24^th October

Callum aimed the rifle at the oncoming specters, unarmed but very fast. He managed to fire at two before the rest closed the distance. He activated his sword, the purple smoke shot out and coalesced in a second.

He dived straight at them, electric discharge arcing across the molten hot blade as he swung in wide arcs, as he his wings allowed him to weave through them with ease. His vision darkened as he turned and accelerated backwards, his rifle held entirely on his left hand as he shot wildly at them.

“—Sir, pausing the training, your vitals are in the red.—”

Ya think?! He wanted to say but held himself in check, “Understood.” He spoke through labored breathes. The remaining specters stood down and simply hovered in place, awaiting their next command.

Having borrowed several arch mages from the Dukedom gave him targets that were difficult to handle even when they were unarmed. Normally specters would be given weapons and he knew he’d be downed if he that were the case.

The intense acceleration, deceleration and speeds were only useable because he used the plates to see a few seconds into the future, having his nerves and brains functioning at higher speeds combined with the increased durability. Anyone without these would’ve likely died from overusing them.

During his attack, he nearly blacked out from the acceleration. He was operating at the very limits of what his body could withstand even when using the enhancement rune plates. There was no possible way he could use it unless as a last resort.

“Just how powerful are you really?”

These were runes and weapons were designed for the golem, which like the specters before him had no organs or anything to damage from moving at these speeds. So how powerful were they supposed to be if they could make him this deadly.

29^th October

Subterranean realm

Vaeril watched from on high as they had managed to dig out the imperial airship, it proved difficult as they had to use blasting charges wherever possible. They weren’t worried about damaging it, rather they were worried about causing the hill overlooking it to collapse on top of it all.

After sending a priority message back to Anterim, they had somehow managed to get everything he requested sent over quickly.

Around the Imperial airship, personnel were busy assembling the massive sealing array. Even after the war, they had only built two more as it was prohibitively expensive. The fact that his request wasn’t held up for bureaucratic scrutiny and the military escort sent over just showed how significant this find was.

“Sir you might want to see this.” Dennis popped up from behind and held up an old tome, “It seems there’s a ring gate somewhere in this region and it was heavily used before” He gestured with his hands in a manner that the answer was obvious.

“Look’s like we’ll be here for a long while.” Vaeril smiled, he was given orders to bring the starship back then return here, and stay for as long as he felt necessary incase anything else turned up. The central tower’s record had no active gates listed for these coordinates which meant this one must be dormant or locked.

In any case, they needed to find a map otherwise they would be here longer than even he wanted to.

6^th November

Vaeril watched as the truck was secured in the airship’s deployment bay. The massive goal block held the imperial starship sealed. Once it and the rest were secured, he would travel with it to the Forgotten city and oversee its examination until it could be handed off. Then he’d be back here to see if there was anything else.

8^th November

Border city of Várdre, Kingdom of Regalia, Subterranean Realm 1

A large number of people, both civilian and military gathered outside the walls. While those of high status watched from atop of the walls themselves as they heard news of a strange long object slowly making its way towards them.

“So this is a land train.” Kaarel commented, the vehicle approaching them was very similar to a train only much bigger. It was a large heavily armored vehicle with wheels that were both wide and tough.

With the airship returning to the surface realm to help with the Swarming and the rest on strict patrol duty, the vehicle itself had to be driven here.

“Yes your highness,” Lt Col Sesigna said, “This should allow us to carry out a trial run without any issues. May I ask if the young mistresses will be joining us?”

“No, they are busy in the territory to our south negotiating on behalf of my father and politely asked us to play in the mud without them.” Kaarel said admiring the vehicle as it moved towards them. It had three turrets two placed on the farthest ends with the last one in the very middle. “how long will it take for it to be ready?”

“Tomorrow late noon,” She said as the land train stopped near them, they saw personnel getting out of the vehicle to inspect it. “Are you sure you wish to travel aboard your highness?”

“I doubt we would be in any danger.” Kaarel said as he continued marveling at the vehicle before taking a look inside. The outer armor was unnecessarily thick indicating it was meant to be sent into dangerous situations.

The interior was arranged like a regular train only bigger. The section he was in was filled with screens and control panels for remotely operating equipment. Everything they needed to do a trial run of fixing the soil was onboard and they would restore and use one of the large abandoned forts to operate out of.

If this was several months earlier or later then they could’ve spared some airships but there was no point in complaining about it. It would be a few years for the rail network to encompass the entire kingdom, until then there was no reason to build one going through this region to their norther neighbor.

Chapter Text

10^th November

7:66 PM

“—Attention all passengers and crew, there is thunderstorm is getting worse and our speed will be reduced.—” The speakers then cut off.

“Good thing we’re well provisioned” Rommet commented over the momentary interruption. His attention turned back to the food tray on the foldable table as they all continued to watch the movie play out while eating dinner.

“I suppose so, though it feels strange to not have windows.” Kasval said to no one in particular, the doors, walls, floor and ceiling were reinforced with thick armor. Windows were removed entirely in favor of vents high up.

His attention turned to the two knights, Lt.Col and her subordinate. There were nine others as well with them, civilians meant to operate the equipment. Those five of them without their robes one would not suspect that they were members of the Garasian sect unless one paid attention to the amulet they wore around their necks.

“Honestly there isn’t much for us to complain out.” Kaarel added as he ate the noodles soaked in meat and gravy, he still hadn’t gotten used to the taste of wheat noodles but it wasn’t bad.

The thick armor and the movie drowned out the thunderstorm buffeting their vehicle, though the entertainment was mainly to their minds from thinking about the fact that it was night. Traveling by night was avoided unless it was unavoidable, this held true even in the surface realm.

He began to wonder if after the elevated rail network was finished, would the masses would start using it mainly for the novelty of traveling by night before giving away for commercial and logistical uses. He enjoyed pondering such things as his kingdom would be changing drastically from now on.

He raised his head in confusion as he felt them stop, surely they weren’t so lost in the moment that they lost track of time. Looking at the clock told him they were still an entire day away.

Did the storm get worse? He looked out only to recall there were no windows. The movie was shut off as everyone else seemed to belatedly notice it as well.

“Give me a sit rep.” The Lt.col spoke in a comms as she hit the loud speaker on it for everyone else to hear. The engine car was operated by six people so one of them should be at or near the comms.

“—Ma’am, a tree that fell over blocking our way. Can’t get out to remove it until the storm lets up.—”

“Understood, report if anything changes.” The Lt Col said after briefly pausing to consider if she should disregard protocol and use her sunforged blade. Then decided not to, in this storm she might end up messing up and injuring herself or someone else.

8:60 PM

In another city far south of Varde city, Neia and Ilamyr were meeting with city’s reigning noble.

Taerentym Faejyre set down the bottle of alcohol before picking up the jam jar. “You are telling me you made all this from that one worthless fruit?”

“Yes, it was taken to be processed immediately upon harvesting the nut.” Neia elaborated as this was now being done back in Temirov. The issue with cashew apples was notorious for going bad quickly which made storing it impossible. It needed to be processed within a short time after harvesting.

“The king is investing heavily in producing things like this within our kingdom.” Ilamyr added to make the crown’s position on this matter clear.

“How much time and money would it take to do this?” He asked them, curious as to how much could be made.

“It needs a well-maintained road to ensure it is delivered without bruising to a processing plant un six to seven hours. The facility will need to be as close as possible so it must be within the farming settlement.

The next issue is logistics, making enough glass containers and sending them to the facility can’t be done efficiently until the rail network and the other primary industries are all set up.”

1:09 AM

“Whats taking them so long?” One of them spoke through the noise of the tv. The storm had let up half an hour ago. They should’ve gotten the tree cleared by now.

“Maybe there was another tree further ahead,” Another suggested

“Without telling us?” Lt Laskin shook his head, “the infestation maybe mild here compared to our place but that’s no excuse to risk it.” He swore if they disregarded protocol because of that then he was going to show them why during the night outside the city walls, military law superseded civilian law.

He went to the comms and called them up. No one answered it, odd.

Opening up the console built into the wall, he saw a message, “Ah, they sent a message. Water got into a faulty line triggering the circuit breakers. They should have it fixed in…..” He checked the clock, “… uhh 10 to 20minutes. The comms in the engine car will be down until then.”

“Cards?” One of them said and most shrugged thinking they had nothing better to do.

1:42 PM

“The line’s still down.” Laskin shut down the comms system then checked the messages and found no new entries. He typed one in requesting, no demanding an update. “Did the circuit breakers also burn up all the lines?” he muttered in

“Perhaps we should check.” One of them, a sunfire elf said, opening the door and shining his flash light into the forest to make sure there was nothing there. Normally undead hordes were rare in places like this with few people so it was safe.

Popping his head out and looked to the front hoping to see something, he shinned his flash light so that if any of them saw it on the rearview mirror, craning his head trying to see if there was any response before getting back in and closing the door.

“Something’s off.”

“Rhistel?” Laskin asked the elf wondering if he saw anything.

“Nothing sir, the three is still there and I didn’t see it moving so they ain’t moving or shaking.”

“Were the faulty issues worse than they thought?” Kaarel asked wondering if he should suggest radioing for an airship.

The two knights nodded as Laskin opened a cabinet on the wall and took out two coins, unsealing the rifles, ammo and vest held within.

“Is this necessary.” Rommet asked to which he got two stern nods as the two simply put on their vests, put the magazines in their pouches before checking the rifles.

“I need two people with class 3 training with me to check this out, the rest of you stay with the Colonel.” Laskin said attaching a flash light under his rifle. Two sunfire elves, clearly Garasians stood up. “We’re in car #4 so there’s three cars we need to go through before we reach the engine, stay behind me.”

The Lt.Col moved to the door and stood there as she turned on her comms as the two did a brief check.

“Let’s move,” Laskin said as he trained his rifle ahead as he moved down the train as a brisk pace. While he hoped there was an explanation for why the engine team hadn’t contacted them. It was standard protocol to always assume the worst no matter how unlikely. For knight this was the default assumption.

After clearing the three railcars, he stood at the walkthrough connecting them to the engine car. The door was closed and he entered the access code. Carefully opening the door he found it empty.

“Just wait till I get my hands on them.” Laskin swore if this was a joke then he’d make them regret it. He and the other two checked everything and there was no issue meaning the fault was repaired.

Tapping the comms, “Ma’am, repairs finished but car empty. We’re gonna check outside. Get ready to open your door and provide covering fire if necessary. Switching line to full open.”

“—Understood, may warriors fortune smile upon you.—”

Opening the door, Laskin trained the flash light around the foliage before slowly peering out. Finally, he got off to check before giving the other two the all clear.

“Sir, they stopped cutting the tree up midway, the power saw is still here.” One of them examined the fallen tree, the trunk had been cut into several pieces down the middle meaning they were trying. But where were they.

Another elf moved a bit further back to inspect the outside for any damages and found a tool box near the wheels. There was an opened fusebox, looking up he saw smoke indicating the short had taken out the transmitter up top, “That faulty line was bad news, the transmitter up is still smoking.”

“We’ll have to configure the—!!?” Laskin snapped his rifle to the front as he heard the other man scream before something slammed the train.

Moments later he heard the something growling from the front and the bushes. His training kicked in and in under a second he concluded it was too dangerous to run to the front. “Ma’am, covering fire now.”

“To the back cars now!” He barked, the elf ran and he followed close behind. He heard something moving to their sides in the thick undergrowth.

He then saw blood smeared on the door to railcar #2 as he passed it by, looking ahead he saw the door in their railcar open and the Lt.Col jumped to laying down covering fire, tracer rounds flew passed them and into the thicket.

Clearing the third railcar before reaching the fourth one where they were ushered inside. The door slammed closed as the Lt.Col entered after them.

Moments later something slammed against the door shaking the railcar which shocked everyone.

“A large predator?” Rommet asked reflexively wondering if he should arm himself.

“Didn’t see. But there is blood smeared on the second railcar.” Laskin panted heavily.

“I saw a glimpse of it, it was too far to get a clear look but it’s eyes did glow.” The Lt.col answered, “I think we found what happened to those missing people in February.” She added,

 “If it’s a beast then it’s clearly developed a taste for people.” One of the elves spoke from his experience in the hunter’s guilds. “But I don’t know any in this area that have eyes that glow in the dark. Maye it’s migratory?”

Laskin quickly walked down the railcar and closed the door to the walkthrough connecting them to the next one. He keyed a small console and they heard metal moving as the locks fell into place.

“Our armor and best weapons are in the far back, as are the turret controls and the reactor car.” He opened a cabinet and took out some pistols handing it out to Rommet and Kasval who were the only other people with training to use firearms.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any swords in there?” Kaarel asked as he had never used a gun before, Laskin clearly seeing what he was getting at rummaged through it and found a pair of short swords.  

The Lt.Col  took the front while Laskin brought up the rear, everyone else between them as they made their way to the reinforced door at the back.

Carefully opening it, they saw the other door on the opposite end of the small walkthrough. Listening carefully to make sure whatever it was, wasn’t outside the walkthrough which used think steel plates and plastic within a reinforced cage to allow the railcars to turn.

They slowly opened the door and saw it was dark inside, shining a flashlight as they slowly made their way through it.

“With all due respect, we’re demanding they add light switched to both sides and cameras inside.” Laskin muttered

“Noted and signed” his superior muttered in agreement but opted to keep the lights off so as to not give away their position. All the doors were secured and they took the coins from the cabinets for good measure. Rommet and Kasval quickly put on vests and loaded the rifles they were given.

Once the railcar was confirmed secure, they moved to the door. The locks clicked open as Lt.col Sesigna keyed the console. As she reached for the handle, the door swung wide open knocking her back as a towering monster entered.

Its features matted by shadows as it roared, swatting the her aside.

“”Get her out” Kaarel said slashing at it with his shrot sword, it roared as he slashed across its chest before an arm grabbed the Regalian prince by the throat and slamming him against the ceiling.

Kaarel dropped the sword as his face was close to the creature, long fangs jutted out of its mouth. It was so tall its head bumped against the ceiling.

Its roar was cut off by several pistols firing into its legs. It dropped Kaarel who quickly scramble to his feet, the Lt.Col was on the floor so he pulled her away. Laskin fired a three-round burst into its skull bringing it down

“Hit the lights.” Laskin said, looking up and seeing a hole torn in the ceiling of the walkthrough as he pulled the carcass inside so as to not block the door as he closed it shut and keyed the locks.

Just to be on the safe side, he picked up the short sword and slashed at its throat.

“When this is over, you are teaching me how to use a gun.” Kaarel was rubbing his throat but was no worse for wear.

Once the lights were turned on, everyone blinked as their eyes quickly readjusted and moved closer to look at the carcass. Now that they had light, they noticed something even more unusual than its strength. Its appearance was that of a human except larger and bulkier, the skin had calluses with thick hair with veins visible.

Razor sharp claws on its hands and legs had changed to match that of an animal. Its face, hair and beard were thick and messy, the jaws misshapen with fangs jutting out.

“A werewolf?” Kaarel said

“How would you know?” Kasval gave him an annoyed look.

“I have seen human horror films.” The prince countered,

“I think he’s right.” Laskin lifted its clawed hand, they saw a ring which skin had grown over. “I’m not sure if its werewolf but I am certain that this ring is too small to fit in this hand.”

“So this thing was once a human?”

“Yes, since I don't see any horns.” Laskin said as he examined the eyes, they were yellow coloration. He noticed a tattoo on the back of biceps which he memorized for later. “Not even steroids could get you a body like this.”

“I think my rib is cracked,” Lt.Col Sesigna bit out, a hand pressed against her side. “and there’s more of these things outside.”

“It managed to tear open the top of the walkthrough. We’ll rush through those now instead of taking our time. Once we get to the back, we turn on the reactors and the turrets.”

“What about the ones in our railcar?” Rommet asked

“won’t work,” an elf spoke clutching the emulate around his neck, “its fed power from either the engine or the reactor.”

They began moving through the remaining railcars with swiftness until they arrived at the final rail. Entering quickly before sealing the doors shut.

“Lets check if our gears were where its supposed to be.” Laskin open a cabinet and unsealed a set of full knight armor and weapons. The two quickly took off their cloths and put on their combat uniforms. The deep red armor and heraldry on the Blood Gears clear on their pauldrons.

The others went to the control panels lining the wall and began turning them on. “Diagnostics complete, connection failures around the front. Rest is safe. No issues with the reactor but it’ll need a minute to boot up.”

They quickly secured their weapons and moved to the last door.

Laskin keyed in the code and heard something connect with a hiss outside.

“I’d say its secure.” He carefully opened the door and the walkthrough was within a thick steel tunnel connecting directly to the reactor car. Opening the last door he slowly entered, the rail car was at least over twice as long with the reactor at the far back.

“No need to close this door unless we have to.” He said turning on the light and signaled for the crew to turn on the reactor. This railcar which much wide than they realized. Meant to accommodate the people who would operate it and the length was a precaution in the event of a radiation leak.

Lt.Col Sesigna held a light machine gun and attached a belt box to it as the reactor slowly came online and the crew did the safety checks. The humans just watched the diagnostics were carried out while the Garassians started praying.

Once done slowly each system came online and they confirmed it was safe.

“Turrets coming online in a minute.” One of them said before the entire railcar shook at something slammed into it.

“Speed it up!” Kaarel said

“This can’t be rushed.” One of the Garassian’s said before they returned to praying while their human counterparts just ignored the ritualistic praying.

The railcar shook a few more times which seemed to whittle away at the nerves of everyone present.

“Relax, this thing was designed and tested to withstand ghouls and ogryns. I doubt these things can break in.” She tried to reassure them as the systems finally came online.

“You four with us and man the guns.” Laskin pointed to Kaarel, Rommet and Kasval and a 4^th person to the previous railcar. The 4^th person ran to his position while the three elves were confused as they didn’t know how to operate it..

“Sit on those chairs,” Laskin pointed, “Use the control stick for the turrets and the buttons on it are for the weapons”

One of the humans left his console and led the three to their seats. “Front button for your index finger is for the flamethrower. The bottom two thumb buttons are for the laser and etheric autocannon. The one above it creates an electric discharge around the turret.”

The three sat down and manipulated the control stick and the screen in front of them came online. It was dark outside.

“Damn its dark,” Kaarel said as the turret swiveled as he manipulated the control stick. “Wait I see something.” He saw a pair of eyes glowing in the thicket.

The human beside them pointed to a key on their console, “Press that, it’ll cycle through the optics.”

Doing so the screen turned green and somewhat fuzzy before the system began compensating by correcting the image. He saw the eyes but the shape was masked by the dense foliage.

He heard a loud thud from his speakers and his turret struggled to move,

“One of them is trying to tear off your turret,” Laskin said causing Kaarel to panic press the electric discharge button as Laskin fired the laser and ether cannon at it. He watched it fall limp on the roof before sliding over the edge.

Kaarel felt relieved as he cycled through the optics until he landed on the thermal imager. Everything was black or a dark blue and he saw a small spot glowing yellow and orange. A moment later it was shot at by another turret.

“Long range transmission is out, launching message drones instead.” Came from the speakers.

“Drones? We have those?” Kasval asked

“These are small and fly towards where we point and keep broadcasting an SOS along with details of our predicament repeatedly. It’s a back up in case the transmitter is down. With any luck the receiver in the city will dispatch an airship.” One of the crewmen said,

“We split into shifts until rescue arrives.” The lt.col said as she tasked Laskin to organize it while she took the first watch.

Chapter Text

11^th November

5:11 AM

Two thirds of them were fast asleep when the speakers blared.

“—Attention, this is the airship, Winterscale. Respond quickly. What is you status. —”

“We’re within the reactor car at the tail end.” One of the operators responded through the short-range transmitter, “All survivors are together.”

“—Understood, We will descend once the IFVs arrive shortly. Do not exit until you are given the all clear.—”

“Understood”

“—What is the status of the prince and the Temirovs?—”

“All three safe.”

“—This is Captain Forrestal, I need a sitrep.—”

“Yes sir, here’s what happened……” The operator began recounting what happened in details including those creatures.

“—Well I don’t know if they really are. But considering the importance placed on this project, we’ll need to report this to the top. I’ll expect a proper debriefing later. Flight mages will be sent to recover the bodies.—”

10:78 AM

The Forgotten city

Callum looked up at the statue of his father-in-law, it cast a long shadow. The other statues in the distance visible in the corner of his eyes. All around were vehicles carrying material or personnel around in preparation for the starship to be unsealed.

“I know you never had any expectations of me when I was made a custodian. I’m painfully aware of how I have no talent for magic or combat. I’m only good t a paperwork.”

“…… I couldn’t do anything when we saw your crystals in his hands. Our people paid the price for my negligence.

…Please I need help, I can’t protect anyone like this.” He stared up at the statue and felt like it was judging him.

“Sir, we’re about to begin.” Someone called out.

Callum pursed his lips and turned to the unsealing array. Walking towards where Vaeril would be.

Watching as the starship coalesced he began waking towards it and others began securing it by building steel frame around it.

Callum joined Vaeril as they both walked up a nearby building from which a mobile bridge extended to where the door was. Or they thought it was one.

He had seen the photos but seeing it with his own eyes made him truly appreciate it. An actual starship made using the same technology that surrounded them. If they could get it to work then it would be a great asset to their war potential, and if they couldn’t then it’d be thrown into the pile of stuff their best and brightest try and fail to figure out how it even works.

The main had worn away over the eons but the structure was still solid. There were areas whichthe y suspected were hardpoints to mount weapons. If the weapons were still aboard or not were a different matter entirely.

Standing in front of the door, Callum placed a hand on it an sent as much power as he could. He occasionally did this when they found a gate that was dormant or locked, but he never could get used to this sensation.

He along with everyone else saw a pulse of light spreading from the spot he touched. Lines which reminded him of circuits glowed for a moment as the pulse traveled through the entire hull.

A moment later the door slid open with a hiss. Callum stepped into the door which was like a short tunnel on account of how thick the hull was, wondering what was inside. He found himself in a large empty corridor and the air was incredibly stale.

Vaeril took in a deep audible breath before exhaling just as loudly, “Haa, ancient air.” He spoke happily.

“Can you please focus on finding us ancient technology.”

“Found it.” Vaeril pointed downwards, at the starship itself which made Callum shake him head.

The lights slowly came on as people quickly filed inside and began exploring and mapping every square centimeter.

Callum and Vaeril walked to the front of the ship trying to find the bridge. They knew it would never be in the front most section but somewhere in further behind.

They went room by room realizing the this was the bunk area where the crew must’ve slept. Each room contained a single bed and items of some kind. Likely the personal effects of the original crew.

 From what they counted, they estimated the crew must’ve been incredibly small, likely a few dozen at most.

They kept moving until they arrived at a door that had the imperial insignia over it. It slid open as he pressed a hand on it revealing the bridge.

“Guess bridge design is universal.” Callum commented as they both stepped inside. It wasn’t a huge space. It didn’t look like the bridge of an airship, rather it was like a series of cockpits.

Walking up to one, he saw control sticks, buttons, screens. He climbed on to the seat that was sized for a much larger occupant. His finger hovered hover the button and pressed one at random.

Did he press the correct one by luck or would it turn on no matter which one he pressed? Wondering how it was operated or why it was designed like this. He tried to press another button.

The main screen showed a new and unfamiliar script. “Vaeril?”

“Never seen this one before.” Vaeril said trying to make sense of it. This was a starship so it must be related to its function he reasoned but it didn’t help narrow down anything.

“What now?” Callum felt it draining power from him but at the same time, something emerged from the back of his seat and attached itself to the back of his head. “uhhhhh”

 His mind seemed to be focusing on something, like an idea that was beginning to form. He closed his eyes to concentrate, searching for something to grasp.

“I.. I see the bridge,” His eyes shut as the images were blurry, Vaeril kept silent not wanting to accidentally break whatever vision he was seeing. But ready to tear him out of that seat at a moments notice.

Slowly the vision became clearer and he found himself sitting in the same seat. Above him was a bubble canopy like that of a jet, outside the bridge was bathed in a red light only for it to give way to a vast expansive scenery.

He was high above the clouds with the land below visible. It was a beautiful sight, looking up he saw the concave surface meaning this was inside the planet. It took a few moments for him to piece together that he wasn’t flying but falling.

A much large ship passed underneath him at much greater speeds, its front was like NOS during reentry sequence. From its trajectory he saw it was going to hit the ocean… This was a recording of some kind being projected into his head. He would ponder the why later as he focus on what he was seeing. If that giant ship was going to crash into the sea, then that meant he was seeing it from the starship that would crash on to the continent below.

Well shit, he cursed as he hoped he was only going to see it happen and not actually feel the impact. The front of his vision grew bright, if this was indeed the starship then he saw heating up on reentry as well.

He saw maneuvering thrusters fire, he thought the propellant was plasma but quickly realized it was mixed with some kind of glowing particle. But several thrusters went out, he saw the hull was scarred from battle damage. The other propulsion system was struggling as it tried to bleed off momentum from the ship as the plasma sheath started to dissipate. But it wasn’t going to be enough to avert crashing…

“Wait, how the hell do I even know this?” He asked himself, was it also sending information along with this recording? If so them he hoped he could use it to get some useable details on this technology.

His musings were interrupted by the image of people falling away from the ship, he knew or rather the recording told him they were part of the crew and they were dead. He felt a sense of sadness at their deaths.

He watched the recording, the crash was violent with the recording cutting off before picking up much later.

He saw someone sitting on the ground, but he could not identify him at all. He was a fuzzy silhouette with no features. He was surrounded by gelphans.

“The ship is too damaged, I’ve activated the auto-repair but it’ll be many years before it can fly again.” The silhouette said as he leaned on a gelphan for support.

“What do we do now?”

“First we find everyone, then we try to figure out which throne realm this is.” He looked to the sky, “How are we here of all places?”

“I think we should keep everyone sealed away until we can be sure we have enough for everyone.” Another walked up to him and suggested.

The vision began to fade and Callum realized that this man must’ve been the king mentioned in the gelphan’s history.

He found himself back in the bridge with Vaeril at his side, “this thing showed me a recording how the crash and I know where the large starship crashed. In the oceans.”

“Too bad we can’t do mu… are you okay?” Vaeril noticed Callum was nursing his head as he got up out of there. He was wobbling on his feet. “You should rest for a while.”

Frenoria, Erdus Duekdom

“…. I believe with this we can safely conclude that the four nations had no direct involvement or knowledge of what led to that day.” The final report was concluded and the official returned to his seat.

“Let us move on to mattes of reconstruction and military prouction.” The minister of interiors glanced at the arch duchesses who nodded their approval before he continued, “Most of the damages to infrastructure have been dealt with, housing is slightly behind schedule on account of issues regarding personnel vetting.

The timeline remains unchanged but there are still reports of civilians wanting to relocate to different parts of the city or region. Accommodating them will take time as the inspections have added delays to everything…..

…… going to war time production has accelerated our modernization considerably but other areas are lagging behind for a myriad of reasons. Overall we estimate targets will be met two years ahead of scheduel.

The production of stealth composites has been accelerated and the stealth aircraft we have been producing in secret will be fully fitted with stealth coatings by the time of our naval modernization reveal. Anterim’s own production are in a similar state.

However, their reactor production has not improved yet until the accelerators are all restored, but our own—!?” The speaker was interrupted by a loud scream.

The entire room turned to see both Arch Duchess writhing in pain as they cried out. Someone quickly called for a medic and the other dukes and duchesses rushed to them.

Then the scream suddenly stopped as both women collapsed.

“Majesties!” One of them checked their pulses and felt relived they were alive, “Get a coin ready in case we need it.”

The Forgotten city

“Callum, whats wrong? Callum?!” Vaeril tried to wake him as the medic arrived,

“What happened?” The medic got down and began to check Callum’s vitals, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

“He was suddenly screaming in pain and them collapsed.” Vaeril said as he watched the medic do his job.

“I can’t find anything wrong here, we might need to take him to a hospital—WHAT THE?!” the medic saw something. He slowly placed a finger above Callum’s eye lids and pulled them up.

The two of them just stared as Callum’s pupils were glowing bright like small bulbs. Moments later the starship hummed as they saw light pulsing along the walls, the same as when Callum first opened the door to it.

Chapter Text

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

The Prime minister walked in as he got handed the news, “This is bad, They just informed me the Margrave is in a similar state.”

The room became filled with shock and confused murmurs,

“There is more troubling news, that Atlas station, Sanctuary One, the massive tower over the Caldera and the Forgotten city are all acting up. They think this is related to what happened to them.”

“They aren’t machines, how would what’s affecting them be the same?” One of the gathered dukes said,

“Forget that, we need to decide what to do before this gets out. Last thing we need is the public to panic.” Someone spoke out trying to focus on what they could do.

16^th November

“What’re their conditions.” Richard asked as the doctor came out with the results, the expression on his face was confused, frightened, worried.

“Its best you see for yourself,” the doctor led the prime minister inside.

Amy and Cassie still unresponsive as sensors monitored their vitals round the clock. There were thick cables emerging from under their sheets and leading to another room, “Their emitting  high levels of some kind of ether. We need to siphon it away or it’ll build up and discharge uncontrollably.”

The doctor leaned close to Cassie and pulled up her eye lid, revealing her pupils were still glowing.

“I have no explanation for the eyes and we knowfor certain they aren't in a coma. Every test we’ve done says they should be able to get up off the bed and start walkign around without issue. But…..” the doctor opened a report and handed it to the prime minister. It showed a photo of an eye only the pupils were now slitted like an animal.

“We’ve also detected faint emissions of alpha radiation along with changes in their brain and muscles.”

Anterim

“What do you mean you don’t know what it is?!” Aleesia demanded as she stared at the brain scan on the screen. It showed Callum’s brain had developed some kind of growth inside his skull and no one had any idea on what it was.

“Ma’am, we’ve never seen anything like this. We know its not a tumor, and we can’t find any damages or anything being caused by it.  We don’t even know if removing it might make things worse or better. Whatever is happening is beyond our ability to explain.”

Aleesia turned towards him. Ezran, Aanya and Ellis were already besides him worried to death. Opposite to them some strange device was attached to his arm, with a thick cable leading out of the room.

“Has the comparative analysis from the data Erdus gave us shed any light?” Vaeril asked

The doctor shook his head, “We just know that the three of them seemed to be suffering from the same if not similar conditions. But we’re not sure what any of this means.”

“There is another matter, the ether isn’t normal. The etherium its transferred to glows and just depletes by itself. We’re beginning to suspect this isn’t ether at all but something similar to it.”

Amy and Cassie found themselves inside a long corridor, signs hung over each door they walked past indicating this was a school of some kind. One side of the corridor was marked by windows giving a good view of wide open fields with a wall marking the outer edges of the premise and the sprawling city beyond.

On the opposite side were classroom doors, looking inside they found they were empty. Another thing to not was that besides the door was large window that slid open. Instead of glass or anything transparent, it was opaque plastic.

“Think we should suggest this for the education ministry?” Amy asked

“Should be easy to implement though what use would there be for it?”

They kept discussing until they heard footsteps heading up the stairs. Rushing to find out who it was, they halted as they saw someone they had not expected.

““Mom?!”” They blurted out as they saw a younger version of their mother. Her uniform consisted of a black sleeveless waist coat over a plane white shirt, black pants that reached up to her knees and sandals.

They jumped to hug her only to pass right through and hit the floor.

““You’d think we’d learn by now.”” They muttered remember all the times they did this as kids.

Getting back up, they followed their mother until she stopped in front of a classroom door. She went for the handle and paused as they all heard a commotion coming from inside. 

“She’s trying to run!” a voice from inside shouted.

The side window slid open revealing a young red skinned girl with horns and a tail who jumped out, her uniform was the same as their mother except she wore a skirt along with shoes instead. The young girl jumped out and ran down the hallway like her life depended on it.

Before the three of them could even process it, the door slid open revealing several black robed people wearing pointed hoods. The one in front cracked a whip against the floor.

“SHE VIOLATED OUR OATHS BY APPROACHING A MALE!! SHE’S A TRAITOR!!!”

“Capture the traitor!” Another shouted as they all chased after the person in question.

Like their mother, the two of them stared dumbfounded, jaws hanging open wondering what kind of school this was.

Sometime later, someone from inside came out and pulled off her hood revealing themnmselves to be a felenid and asked Lyeneru if she was the new transfer student.

They both knew they couldn’t ask her anything as this wasn’t really their mother. But seeing her as a kid made them happy for some reason.

“Guess we can see what mom’s school life was….. like…” Cassie paused as her brain finally made the connection. Amy did so a moment later as they finally understood how the dreamscape worked.

“It’s based on our memories.” Amy slapped herself for failing to realize it sooner. “Everything so far has been things we’ve seen, we’re shown or told about.”

“Right, mom showed us her school life using illusions when we were kids.”  Cassie looked around and thought they lacked Callum’s perfect memory, they were certain this was it.

“OOH remember when she told us about the rampant poverty and all from her first life,” Amy snapped her fingers as she recalled another detail. “A few years ago, mom told us the rations tasted like nothing particularly identifiable. And then we ate that stuff in the dreamscape.”

“Then I’m guessing the stuff we don’t know about we see or hear is our brain making it up as it goes along?” Amy pondered and Cassie just shrugged as they would need to have it tested later on. But that could wait, now they needed to explore this place to find out what was from what.

And so they ran down the hallways at such speed that should’ve caused the faculty to chase after them.

“Great, I’m back here again.” Callum muttered in indignation, hands on his hips.

He picked a direction at random and started walking, looking out into the darkness awaiting whatever voices or visions he’d be enduring this time.

“Still, what exactly is this place?” He spoke aloud, or was it thought aloud? He had never pondered that and brought his hands to his throat.

Speaking random words, from the vibrations he could tell the sounds were coming from where it should but it didn’t feel like his vocal cords were causing it. Interesting, he kept that in the back of his mind as he tried to find out anything else amiss.

After what felt like hours of walking, he got tired of waiting. “Oh, come on, by this time there should be some—?” He suddenly no longer felt anything solid beneath his feet. “—THIIIIIIIIIING!!!!” He screamed as he fell.

After minutes passed, he was still falling through the pitch black void. With no reference point to work with, he had no idea how much longer it would be before hit the bottom.

Was there even a bottom? He was not sure which answer sounded better, he tried to take his mind off it by thinking of other things.

The large starship crashed far away, on the opposite side of the continent so it must’ve taken them a long time to find the crash site. Their king managed to survive that long despite his injuries but shouldn’t they have healed by that point?

Or maybe the injury was an illness like cancer, it was plausible.

And so he passed the time thinking about such things until he wondered how much time had actually gone by.

“I could use a nice hot cup of tea about now.” He wished aloud and a hand appeared from his side and offered him a cup of tea on a saucer.

“Thank you.” He graciously accepted it, taking a long whiff of it, he began to drink it. He recognized the brew, it was one of his favorites.

He drank slowly, savoring each gulp until his eyes suddenly bulged out of his Skull and his cheeks puffed up as his tea addled brain slowly caught up to his present situation.

He turned to the side, spitting the tea like a fire hose.

Amy and Cassie were now soaked to the bone as they pulled out large two-liter soda bottles from somewhere and took a mouthful before spitting it all at him.

““This is not how you’re supposed to get us wet.”” They huffed out.

Callum, too confused just pointed at them, “Are you real?”

“What makes you think we’re not real?” Cassie asked

“How’re you sure you’re real and not a figment of our imagination?” Amy countered as they both pulled him in and began nuzzling their cheeks on his head. “Present an experiment that’ll answer that.”

Callum grunted realizing the only way to find out was to wait for all this to be over and phone them.

“Alright, let’s say you are real for now.” He said acknowledging that they were as unpredictable as the real ones. Taking a sandwich from them and giving it a sniff before taking a bite. He pulled at his shirt as it was now sticking to his skin, it felt so gross.

“Oh we can fix that.” Amy said as they both held hand-held vacuums.

“That’s not how cloths work.” He countered but they didn’t listen and vacuumed him, the suction was incredibly power that he felt trying to suck in his cloths. Once they were done, he was completely dry and no longer sticky.

“Hey, how’d you do that?!” He demanded as they were busy vacuuming themselves.

“We found out we can do the same stuff our folks did while they were ghost.” Cassie pulled a cushioned reclining chair out of her pocket and sat down on it.

“And we figured out how this place works.” Amy added as they both began to explain what they learned so far. Callum for his part simply listened carefully even to the things he did not believe.

The vision had started by them being in a memory their mother had shown them and it went on from there as they somehow found themselves falling down and screamed in terror. But after enough time had passed, they grew bored of it as nothing happened no matter how long they kept falling. They passed the time goofing around.

It was during that time they figured out how to create objects with a thought which was interesting but it didn’t solve their dilemma.

After they finished, he had to agree with their conclusion. The rampant poverty he witnessed in the vision was after hearing about it from them.

These places were based entirely around their memories and experiences. But he decided to hold off on judgement until confirming that these two were real.

Sometime later he tried to conjure things out of nowhere like them but to no avail, “damn how’re you doing this?”

“We want something and it pops up where we want it.” Amy shrugged as she conjured another bottle of grape soda. “We saw you but you were too lost in thought to hear us so we waited.”

“That sounds difficult to believe.” Callum corrected himself, he did not believe it because those two waiting instead of forcing him to notice was not what they normally did.

“How long do you think we’ve been falling.” Cassie asked as she stared down, she snapped her fingers a sandwich appeared in her hand which she began eating.

“Let me check,” Amy said as she checked the hand drawn watch on her wrist, she took out a pen and began writing ‘too long’ on all four sides. “We’ve been falling for too long.”

“uhhh Amy?” Cassie pointed to their sides and saw lit windows pass them by, “I think we’re about to hit the bottom.”

“I think your right.” Amy nodded, she turned to Callum and found him gone, “Hey! Get back here and crash into the ground with us.” She demanded just before they crashed into the pavement.

Sometime later he awoke, it felt solid beneath him for now at least. He groaned in pain, forcing himself up on wobbly legs.  He didn’t remember hitting the bottom but it sure felt like that was what happened

He saw Amy and Cassie were gone, he was completely alone in a dark void again until he heard faint whispers from all around.

“Well it’s about time.” He said wondering what it would be this time as the darkness began moving around like smoke, slowly giving way to a star system.

He reached for his own throat as he half expected to be hit by asphyxiation as he floated in the vacuum of space. It did feel exactly like how the read the reports describe it.

Looking around he saw stars in the distance, he kept looking until he turned a full 180. He saw he was close to one of the planets, this one was clearly rich with life by the amount of greenery and the large blue oceans.

It took him only a moment to realize he was essentially in geosynchronous orbit as he saw the sun slowly begin to move, steadily gaining speed.

Each time the sun passed by seeming to mark the passage of time. He saw lights appear and spread across the surface until it encompassed most of the planetary landmasses. His thought drifted to his world and how impossible it would be to replicate this over such a scale.

Eventually it slowed to a stop and he could see the sun turn red. A ship was leaving the planet’s orbit, heading away from the planet as he was overcome by an unyielding mass of anxiety, fear and sense of powerlessness.

A few seconds later the sun erupted in a fiery explosion. The planet’s surface was devastated, the greenery set ablaze and the oceans began to boil. As that happened, he heard and felt the terrified screams of untold billions crying out for help before they were all silenced.

The starship itself was caught in it as he watched sections get torn off along with what he suspected were bodies. The irradiated mass of engineered alloys and technology now tumbled lifelessly on its original trajectory. A coffin adrift in the empty void as a reminder of its makers.

The warm yellow star had now become a tiny cold blue star, its light barely illuminating the world below. The lights of a thriving civilization visible from space was snuffed out.

It was no longer able to support the rarest thing in the universe, life itself. He felt saddened wondering how many worlds across time and space suffered this fate.

Callum stared in silence trying remember what memories or experiences this vision was based on. The silence was ended by a sound, it was the rhythmic thumping of a beating heart. The tiny blue star pulsed matching each heartbeat.

He swept his arms through the cold vacuum and felt something drag at it, the resistance was reminiscent of moving underwater, slow, pressurized, yet devoid of the chill or weight of a liquid. When he inhaled sharply, only dry, hollow air met his lungs, not the suffocating flood of water his instincts warned him to expect.

The star system and all sounds slowly faded as it became pitch black again.

He felt solid surface pressed against the soles of his feet. He shuffled forward, legs dragging as if wading through deep water. Without landmarks, he couldn’t tell if he advanced or was stuck in the same spot. A gnawing sense of absence prickled his nerves—others should be here, he thought, though no faces or names surfaced.

“Where… am I?…”

He heard the voice again and it was clearly not his own, nor something he imagined. No, it different, it felt incredibly real.

“HELLO?” he shouted, spinning in place. They still had no idea what this dreamscape truly was so was this based on something he heard, seen and experienced, or was his mind making it up?

“…Who am I?”

The voice came again, closer now. He could now hear the a heartbeat slowly gaining strength.

“What am I?... Why was I born?”

This time, the words were clear but it and the previous questions began repeating ad nauseum. His mind was flooded with visions that came and went like a rapid slide show that was impossible to make out, only he actually could. Each one appeared and brought with it conversations, emotions, sensory experiences, knowledge all he could easily understand yet the moment they were gone, the memory of it vanished from his mind as well.

All he could remember were the emotions he felt, confusion, curiosity, hope, shock, satisfaction, and most of all an unfathomable fear and anger.

What is this?” He clawed at his temples, desperate to cling on to at least even a fragment of a memory so he might be able to gleam some knowledge from it. As abruptly as it began, the storm of visions ceased.

He began to hear metal and buckling and bending, stone breaking, and the explosive impact of weapons fire as the darkness was replaced by a bright light.

He stood now in a colossal dome, its vaulted ceiling arching hundreds of meters overhead. Flickering lights studded the curved walls, casting jagged shadows across the cavernous space. The structure had suffered severe damage, cracks spiderwebbed through panels, soil spilling from collapsed sections.

The ground trembled. A gargantuan droid slammed into the wall ahead. It fell laying besides the broken remains of four more. Looking down he saw the ground between them and him was filled with impact craters.

He found himself staring at the droids, their bipedal form made them have an almost human like silhouette which made what came next more horrifying to look at.  All five droids convulsed and the large weapons mounted on their arms, shoulders and legs were torn off within a second.

Electricity, coolants, and lubricants spurt from the torn sections. The droids armor crumpled like tinfoil and their limbs made of powerful allows bent in unnatural ways.  Their form made it easy for him to picture this happening to a real flesh and blood person. He thought this was too much as he heard someone give a slow clap applauding this.

He wondered who it was but he found himself unable to look away from the droids. The emotions he felt were a thin layer of satisfaction over something much bigger, the only way he could describe it was an almost external yet familiar yearning for something.

“But why am I here?”

He found himself in floating in space again, drifting aimlessly when a voice called out to him.

““Cal?!””

Turning around he saw his wives, they began exchanging what they had seen. They had seen a star system but one with a massive space battle followed by the worlds being hit hard. That was followed by a ground battle of massive proportions. He then recounted what he saw.

But most important was that none of them had any idea on what these visions were based off of. None of them had ever seen anything that matched it on any level.

Callum suspected the droid was based on the massive droid from when they fought that monster worm but that was all he could think of.The three of them kept bpuncing off ideas trying to find something but none of it worked.

Slowly they began to feel weak and tired as their surroundings faded as did their consciousness.

“Phone if we wake up?” Amy said as she sat down, eyes slowly getting heavier.

“Sure,” He answered hoping he wasn’t going to be swamped under paperwork.

“Make some time.” Cassie said, her voice faltered.

As their senses were fast fading, they heard a new voice speaking soothingly.

“Dream… not of what you are …….but what you want to be.….”

Chapter Text

The Forgotten city

“Careful, we don’t want to damage anything.” Lissa said as they removed one of the floor panels. Underneath they saw flat cables that were ten centimeters thick and forty centimeters wide coming from the direction of the control pods and heading deeper into the ship.

They tried to see if there was anything flowing through it but their instruments picked up nothing, either the line wasn’t active or the insulation was too good. Cutting into it wasn’t an option at all.

There was power flowing throughout the ship which meant it was relatively intact when they found it. They just had no idea what its actual condition is.

Turning her attention to the control pods, people sat in them taking a picture of everything inside before pressing each button. While the inside of the pod resembled a cockpit, calling it that made no sense since this was inside the bridge.

They had a few things in their favor. First their own user interface and its logic was designed by Lyeneru who hailed from the same civilization that designed this starship, this meant there would be commonalities. Secondly, keeping things simple was essential to ensure no one misread anything during normal and especially in emergency situations. And lastly, there were similar script located throughout the ship above certain doors, once the uses were known then they could make inferences and deductions. It wouldn’t decipher the language but it would make things much easier until they had an extensive vocabulary to work with.

She tapped her tablet and checked the progress on mapping the airship and found a call, she tapped it wondering what they found this time.

“—Uhh ma’am, we found ummm, we found uhh well…...—”

“That can’t be good.” Lissa quickly checked their location and selected a few people before telling everyone on the bridge to not do anything until she got back.

“What is it?” She called out as she saw the two men in the corridor, standing next to an open doorway.  She walked up to them before peering inside the door and saw the source of their confusion. The room was empty but at the far end there was something circular built into the ceiling. Right under it there was a small circular platform raised a few centimeters off the floor.

That automatically made her apprehensive as the ceiling looked like it was meant to hold something there. The walls were well armored and the lack of any control panels or anything meant there was either no need for it or it wasn’t safe to be in here. Opting for safety she decided to mark this room as off limits until they had some idea on its purpose.

However, the two men drew her attention to something in one corner of the chamber, or rather what remained of something. It was a served armored hand, shinning a light on it reflected a yellowish glare.

Crouching down next to it, she peered closely. The armor appeared to be made of… of gold? That made no sense, gold was too soft to be used as armor. Was it just platted gold as an anti-corrosion coating?

“Focus.” She chided herself to concentrate on the more. Shinning the light on where it was severed, they noticed dark brownish stains and something caked over.

“Blood?” one of them said as they began scanning their surroundings, over time they found other stains.

Lissa tapped the comms cycling through the channels until she found what she was looking for, “We found a severed hand. Prepare a team to analyze this hand and the blood stains. Do whatever you can before attempting to move it and take all precautions to avoid damaging it.”

18^th November

Anterim

There were muffled sounds from all around as he weakly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry that he could not make out any shapes. His body felt heavy as he glanced around, everything was a dull white or grey, there was the faint smell of antiseptics in the air which told him he was in a hospital or a medical facility.

He must’ve been in bad shape if he was sent here. He felt a group clinging to his side, glancing over he saw what he assumed were several people judging by the blurry shapes and colors, his siblings he guessed. Moments later he saw something blue press against his face, he winced as something rough like sandpaper rubbed against his skin so that was defiantly Aleesia.

But with all his senses impaired, he had no idea what was happening around him. A bright light was shined into his eyes and realized the doctors were checking his vision. Trying to speak was futile, his eye lids felt so heavy.

19^th November

Callum kept tapping his finger against the desk until he heard the line connect.

“Falling, tea, spit, soda, spit, handheld vacuum, star nova, ship to ship warfare?” He spoke into the phone and awaited the reply,

““—Yep, it happened. That last bit we heard before it ended, it was what mom always said when she put us to bed—””

“Discuss later,” Callum said as he ended the call and noticed his siblings giving him a puzzled look.

20^th November

Callum observed the before and after MRI scans of his brain on the screen, the doctor pointed to a part of it. There was something half the size of a bean which had grown there.

“I will tell you what me and everyone else I’ve consulted with has said, this makes no sense to us as to how this is possible.

What we do know is that it is not cancerous and we found nothing harmful. It appears to be a combination of an altered type of neurons and other glial cell types. Right now, there is no unusual neurochemical activity and it is presently in a rest state, consuming nutrients and oxygen to sustain its cells. It is clearly active otherwise it should have undergone apoptosis.

 It is too well formed and integrated into your brain that it would be highly unusual if not implausible for it to not have a function. This is my personal speculation but I believe that it will operate at an at rest or idle baseline of performance unless specific conditions are met. We just do not know what those conditions are or what it’s supposed to do.

The brain consumes a significant portion of the body’s energy but even it operates on a budget. It allocates that limited energy budget to areas according to what is needed at the moment. Unless there is any need to allocate more energy to it, I doubt we will find out what function this ‘growth’ performs.

The tissue samples we have taken are still undergoing tests so I can’t offer more on this subject.

But how this happened defies our understanding of the human body since fully functioning structures do not appear in the brain after birth. Especially not during adulthood.”

Callum saw every test so far had returned negative, which seemed odd since there should be something from that growth. “Okay but what about the rest of me?”

The doctor opened one of several reports, “You are presently in peak physical condition like you were a year ago. We’re still awaiting all the test results to come in but from what I’ve seen so far, we doubt there will be any problems……”

Listening to it all made his head spin, while he wasn’t a medical expert and needed the doctor to explain it all to him. And each explanation made him more confused as he looked at his walking stick, his body felt sluggish, “So why don’t I feel like I’m in peak physical condition.”

“Your myelin sheaths are slowly getting thicker and will continue to do so. As a result, your body is transmitting signals much faster than it used to. In addition to that, stimuli and information are being transmitted across your brain more quickly than it was physically capable of previously.

It’s best to think of it like transitioning from writing letters to making phone calls.

When you try to move, the brain has to send a signal to the limbs, it has built up an accurate predictive model to know perfectly well how that would normally happen. But when it happens much faster, your brain thinks something is wrong or that it sent the wrong signal and tries to compensate for and correct the deviation. That also happens much faster leading to an unending back and forth of overcorrections impairing your senses and motor functions.

Your brain is right now rapidly forming new connections to relearn how to use your altered body which isn’t helped by the brain also needing to adapt to its own altered state.

I’ve written a strict dietary and exercise regime for you.”

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ

After checking in with the rest of the company, Rayla turned her attention back to her consoles, the data link to each vehicle and the wider network was stable and secure. Two Ravagers had been outfitted with the 125mm cannon and followed behind the other eight. When she first got the Ravager, it used the 57mm gun but their division made the 75mm gun the standard which she was grateful for.

The map showed several drones flying over the entire area ready to provide fire support.

“Contact, undead 300 meters ahead,” She called out as the screen showed several undead, and checked the map “Ravager 4, its all yours.”

Moments later she saw the undead get taken out by a single proximity fuse detonation. Turning her attention back to the map, there was a ping from a drone marking a ghoul, a pretty big.  But it was pretty far, highlighting it on the tactical map, she told the two Ravagers with the 125mm to be ready for when they got a clear shot.

“Jas? Any rotworms?” she asked

“No, none within our AOO. Intel did say those spawned rarely, maybe its true during now as well? Or they’re lying in wait for one of us to drive over them.”

3^rd December

Callum’s estate

“I should probably buy up a lot of mattresses to cover the entire floor at this rate.” Aleesia held his hands as she helped him walk. He kept stumbling with each step and would’ve fallen over multiple times if she wasn’t around.

“That would make this harder for me.” Callum said as he carefully moved each leg. Even with a walking is, he had to move very slowly and deliberately. Trying to walk faster was more difficult than trying to stand in a collapsing building.

She just hummed a tune wondering how long this would take.

12^th December

Callum’s estate. Anterim

“You can read it tomorrow.” Aleesia yawned as she pulled the blanket over them both then noticed he seemed to be staring very intently at his laptop. Considering the hour and his expression it must’ve been very important, which meant only two things, either they both weren’t getting much sleep tonight or she would have to make him go to sleep.

“This is urgent.” He said as he just kept reading.

“I don’t suppose me getting naked would convince you to put it off for tomorrow?”

“Not when there are monsters eating my citizens—Hey what’re you?” He watched as she suddenly scrambled off the bed and started checking the windows in a hurry to see if they were locked or not. Then she proceeded to point a flash light through the window to see if anything was out there,

“Down in Regalia, NOT up here!” He said hoping she’d calm down and gave her the laptop to let her read. “And certainly not within the capital.”

She began muttering as she read aloud until she found a particular line. “Werewolves? Are you kidding me, those are movie monsters, not actual monsters.”

“Thisreport begs to differ.” He countered and watched her going into her closet and started fashioning a necklace out of stuff. There were feathers, an acorn and… he narrowed his eyes as he just stared, “That only works in the movies!”

“You got a better idea?”

“Yes, bullets and explosives, lots of them.” Callum smiled as that tended to work every time. “Now help me parse through this so we can sleep.”

Chapter Text

Border city of Várdre, Kingdom of Regalia, Subterranean Realm 1

“Still nothing.” Kaarel said closing the book and picking up the next one.

“Nothing in this one either.” Kasval shook his head as this was another dead-end.

“You boys haven’t given up yet?” Neia asked

“That’s cause you weren’t nearly eaten by werewolves.” Rommet turned to his little sister daring her to even try to argue. “There’s got to be something in here. Someone must’ve mentioned something.”

Ever since being rescued, the three of them had put aside their work and prioritized delving into every record they had available to see if there were any mentions of these creatures. So far all they found were stories of people not coming back but nothing as to what happened.

“Hey, I found something” Rommet called over, “This journal is from a pretty big caravan from over two hundred years ago. They think the water might be contaminated as people started hallucinating if they drank too much. One says they saw glowing eyes.”

“That might be it,” Kaarel stood up and jumped over the sofa towards Rommet.

“Says they saw it every now and then but it’s the only thing they saw with consistency. This caravan was over a thousand people. They didn’t lose anyone during their trip through the region.”

“So they only attack small groups.” Kasval rubbed his chin to remember what happened that night. “Maybe the tree being knocked over was a trap and they only feel confident attacking small groups.”

“You do know they’ll tell you more once they finish checking those bodies you brought back?” Ilamyr interjected as the bodies of the creatures and their victims were taken away immediately.

“We’re more interested in figuring out how long these things have been prowling my kingdom.” Kasval countered as having more of these things around was not a good thing.

Callum’ estate, Anterim

“Please prepare an envoy to head for Xaneeh to inform them that the project in indefinite hold until we understand what this actually is. Announce what we have so far to the public and cease all travel through that region. I’ll provide some airships to help move things between the two countries until we’re better equipped. ” Callum said as the report

“—Is there no alternative? —” King Ardreth asked, still shocked by the statement.

“I’m afraid until we can assess the seriousness of this threat, I can’t risk it. Our plans never took into account something like this. The long-term study will take a year or two.”

After a few more word, Callum set the phone down and sighed. The developed of that region would’ve been massive especially the access to the minerals it would’ve offered. Now his plans had been ruined not by politics or resources limitation but a monster straight out of a creature flick.

“Cal, the ministry just called asking how they should announce this?” Aleesia said reading the statement.

“I’ll call them right now.”

34^th December

47^th Motor Rifle Division HQ

“Sorry I’m late,” Rayla sat down still dressed in the kitchen staff uniform they gave her when she volunteered to help the kitchen. “I didn’t think it would take this long.”

“I’m surprised we’re getting biriyani so often.” Sophie said as she ate a spoonful,

“Turns out they had a lot of Tilapia on hand.” Rayla broke apart a piece of the fish meat that was coated and fried in a thick spice blend along with rice before taking a bite, it was a bit wet and oily but outside of that it tasted great. “The head chef decided to use it to make a cheap biriyani. This didn’t even take an hour to make. It was chaos in the kitchen though.”

“Well at least we get plenty of dessert” Alexandra turned to look at the dessert section.

Rayla only nodded as she enjoyed each bite, she had no idea this could be made so cheaply. Once she got back, she was definitely gonna teach everyone. It was just too bad she would miss the beef version that would be served in two weeks. It might even be on the menu when she finally starts her own restaurant.

“So what’re you guys gonna do these six months?”

“My folks ordered the new farming equipment so I gotta learn how it works.” Sophie smiled at the prospects, “Less work for everyone and more time to slack off.”

“The major would have your hide if he heard you say that.” Alexandra said looking around nervously.

Their talk was cut short by a breaking news broadcast on the mess hall screens. Everyone stopped what they were doing as breaking news during this time was never a good sign.

“—We just received word that the development of the Shaohou region within the Kingdom of regalia has been put on indefinite hold due to what we are told to be werewolves….—”

“Werewolves?!” Jasmin coughed out as she spoke, the four of them stared at one another in confusion. Everyone else in the mess hall seemed to be just as perplexed.

“—… there had been an incident of a small group going missing in the month of February but searches turned up nothing. A month ago, a land train was attacked resulting in additional deaths. The survivors were rescued and, in the process, recovered the bodies of several of these creatures.

We are told the remains have been rated the highest-level biohazard and taken to a secure and classified facility. There will be no public statement until a full in-depth study is concluded likely within six months with the final report at least a year or more later.—”

“Is there any monster that won’t show up here?” Rayla asked and the three just shrugged.

“Maybe we’ll have vampires next,” Jasmin said as she covered her mouth with her bicep and began to speak in a stereotypical movie vampire accent making the other two laugh.

Frenoria, Erdus Dukedom

“Werewolves?” The two archduchesses turned to one another in confusion, their lips slowly twisting upwards into smiles ““WEREWOLVES!!!!!!””

They shouted and tried to make for the door only to trip and fall down, ““Damn you, biology!”” the two cursed as the maids rushed over to help them both back up.

13^th January

Callum’s estate

“They got hospitalized and no one told me?!” Rayla exclaimed as Ellis filled her and her parents in on what happened. The three rushed ahead while Ellis slowly followed behind.

When they got to the living room, Ethari jumped to give all three of them a hug and didn’t let go until a few minutes passed.

“Ethari, when did you get here?” lain asked happy to see him, “Where’s Runaan?”

“I came three days ago,” He said gesturing to the small box on the table which contained what he made for the upcoming event, “He’s still busy with a long-term mission, I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“Cal, you three alright?” Rayla turned to see the three were just sipping tea, and reading documents.

“A couple more weeks and we’ll be back to our usual selves.” Amy said handing a medical report to her.

“You know I don’t know how to read this stuff, right?” Rayla countered and Amy just responded by telling her the three of them are fine.

Later that night,

“All done,” Rayla finished signing the marriage forms and accompanying documents and handed it to Callum who checked everything.

“Everything is good, now I just need to hand it off to the Registrar’s office and its done.”

“Now all we need is to do the ceremony tomorrow and we’re officially married.” She beamed until she saw Aleesia shaking her head, “What?”

“Ray, the marriage is only considered official when it’s handed to the registrar and they put an official stamp on it.” Aleesia twirled a pen with her fingers, “The clan registry has me listed as Cal’s wife but I had the official registrar’s office put my status on halt until I say so.”

“Wait are you the 3^rd wife or is it me then?” Rayla looked at her suspiciously

“Third since they only consider the date the document was signed on. The wedding ceremony isn’t something the government cares about.” Aleesia answered

“You still doing that proving yourself bit?” Rayla asked

“Yes she is, unless it becomes a problem then I just leave it as is.” Callum shrugged, he didn’t personally get it but he also had no real reason to oppose it.

15^th January

“Never thought I’d ever be chopping this much beef.” Callum said as he placed the pieces of meat in a large stainless-steel vat so it could be washed later.

“Well someone has to since the lunch and dinner will use a lot of it” Rayla said already salivating over tomorrow’s feast as everyone pitched in since early morning. “Hey whats wrong?”

“I was just thinking my grandfather would’ve loved to join in this.” Callum slowed down his work,

“I miss him too,” Rayla said as his grandfather often taught her Anterian cuisine whenever he could, knowing this wasn’t pleasant topic she decided to change it, “So what’s the story with these werewolves?”

“They are still examining the bodies. We can go visit the place next month. I think Rommet and Kasval are mainly here for that than our wedding.”

16^th January

“That tickles,” Rayla giggled as tall the women took turns applying the dark colored paste over the marked patterns all over her body though her stomach was more ticklish than she realized,

“We’ll we can always sedate you.” Cassie said as she and Amy slowly applied it. This part of the ceremony involved the men drawing th pattern on Callum while all the women too turns painting them over Rayla.

“Not like you can just cover my entire body with it,” Rayla watched her mother applying it to Maiele, Neia and Ilamyr while Ellis and Aanya waited their turn.

“Give us an hour and we can probably make it into a paint.” Amy winked at her which made Rayla twitch in fear as she realized they probably would if given the chance.

“Think dad’s also got himself marked?” Neia asked

Maiele shrugged as she was just curious as she examined the intricate patterns drawn over her hand. They had to use a substitute ingredient to make the paste as the normal ingredients were toxic to humans.

Later that night,

Lain and Tiadrin held their daughter’s hand as she led her to the edge of the tree line. They were grateful the estate’s massive garden had a small area that was like a dense forest to do this in.

““Let the moonlight dispel the shadows between you.”” They spoke the ceremonial line entrusting their child’s future to another, they both fought back the tears welling up as they let her hand go and watched her disappear into the shadows of the thicket.

Rayla wiped the tears from her eyes as she slowly moved forward listening to the music Amy and Cassie were playing for them both.

She was glad her parents went to the trouble of getting an actual ceremonial dress for her even if they weren’t made with the chilly weather of Anterim in mind. The long skirt and loose-fitting sleeveless top were the same for both her and Callum. But it left their arms, midriffs exposed to the cold air.

She was pleased with the patterns Ethari came up with using curves and filigree for the forests of her home and blending it with jagged edges and right angles for the walled cities over here. Her uncle was always passionate about his work and told her how difficult it was to incorporate the Albarae family crest into it when the style made in difficult.

She saw the torches burning a few meters ahead, their scent carried by the cold air. Arriving at the clearing she saw Callum standing on the opposite side though visibly shivering as he stood closer to one of the torches, a good idea she thought.

Looking at the sky, she marveled at the many moons each one at a different phase which made things difficult since her people often used the phases of the moon to tell when it was time for celebrating certain festivals or holding events. Now that was all thrown out the windows as they had too many moons. One benefit was that the night was much bright than it used to be.

They both stepped forward till they were standing less than a meter apart and recites their oaths in her own tongue though she had to fight hard to maintain her composure and not roll around laughing as he fumbled the pronunciation badly.

Once they were done with the recitations which she was never a fan of, she bent down so he could put the rings on her horns. She shuddered feeling his fingers touch the base of her horns, normally she enjoyed it when he touched her there but the cold made it feel so wrong.

Once he was done, she brushed her fingers against the rings, feeling the patterns cared into the metal before she turned her attention back to him. Callum had already bent down waiting for her.

She looked at the ear cuffs she held knowing that letting someone touch the base of your horns was a sign of intimacy and trust, something she could not do with him. Her hands rushed against the sides of his face as she leaned down to kiss the top of his head, he shuddered as she slowly put the ear cuffs around his ears.

They shared a kiss before they began dancing, slowly circling one another. She had taught him the steps over a year ago but they now had to do it at a much slower pace so that he wouldn’t lose his balance or Aleesia would chew them both out. She watched him carefully, there were moments he fumbled or felt like he was going to trip but to her relief she didn’t need to worry much.

Once the dancing was done they both sat on the ground and she let him lean on her shoulder to rest. “You sure you’re in any condition to be out here?” She kissed him on the cheek.

“Unless its dangerous then I can go anywhere.” He said as they threaded heir fingers togethers enjoying each others company until the moment was ruined by Rayla’s stomach loudly protesting how empty it was. They both laughed hard as it was past 10 and they hadn’t had any dinner, they needed to get back so they and everyone else could eat.

“I’m guess the fire mix is to make sure we don’t stay here too long?”

“Hey, don’t blame the mix, my stomach is always strict about when its time to eat.”

“Just how much you gonna eat?” Callum asked as Rayla returned with another full plate. He was on his second serving while she was about to start her fifth.

“Until my stomach calls off the hunger strike. Besides Ali is on her eighth.” She said as she mixed a lot of sliced onions into the rice and fried beef.

“You sure do love onions.” Callum commented seeing how she can’t seem to get enough of them.

“The fresh crunchiness is a nice contrast to the beef and rice. My people use onions since we cant’ get any boiled reuna here.” She said as a lot of food elves ate wasn’t something humans could so growing them here wasn’t an option since there wasn’t any reason to grow something that everyone couldn’t eat.

Looking around, everyone else was eating and enjoying themselves. This was a wonderful moment for them all and they wished to make the most of it.

Chapter Text

20^th January

“That’s the last time I put that many chili peppers into anything.” Rayla lazed on the couch in Callum’s office, “How’re you still standing after all that?”

“My stomach is sturdier than yours.” Aleesia answered as she continued to work. Almost everyone who overate ended up suffering from the spicy food from the wedding. Most had recovered by now though having lost their taste for anything spicy for quite some time.

“How come he hasn’t given you your own office here yet?”

“Technically this is my office since I’m the Matriel.”

“Shouldn’t it be matriarch since he’s the patriarch?” Rayla said and saw Aleesia give her a look that Callum does often.

“No, the Matriarch or Patriarch is the head on the entire clan. Being a Matriel makes me in charge of this branch of the clan.” Aleesia began writing something down. “I’ll be the sole owner of this office when I can show him I can handle the workload.”

“So where would Neia and Ilamyr fit into this?”

Aleesia paused and looked up at the sealing to think, “Neia likely would be a representative in the syndicate council. Ila might be an Executive of the conglomerate.” She guessed that’s where Callum might want to put their skills to use.

“I swear everything on this side of the continent is too complicated.” Rayla weakly threw her hands up in the air in surrender.

“Trust me, if it seems simple then someone else is doing complicated stuff out of sight…?” Aleesia was cut off by the door opening and saw Ezran.

“Did Cal say when he’ll be back?”

“In a few days, why?” Aleesia quickly looked up his schedule to confirm.

“I wanted to ask him to teach me how to shave.”

Rayla got up and went up to him, examining his face, “Yeah you got a bit of fuzz growing. You might end up looking like your dad and grandpa if we leave it alone.” She ruffled his hair which made him giggle before he went back.

“Did he say where he was off?” Rayla went back to lazing around.

“Whatever it is, I’m not allowed to peek into that. But from the look he had, he’s probably gonna be too busy to call us.”

“Hey, how about we have some fun in my room later?”

“Ray, my scales are rougher than sandpaper. You’ll be screaming in pain, not moaning in pleasure if you try to make out with me like a normal person.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Rayla shrugged not really too bothered by it.

“You were warned, I’ll get a first aid kit ready but there’s not much to do outside of kissing, caressing and cuddling.”

“Wait, you haven’t gone father with him?”

“We have, it’s just that we have to keep our cloths on or my scales get in the way. And I have to stay still, I once accidentally threw him off the bed when I turned suddenly.”

“Yeah, I can see how that’s a mood killer. Anything else I should know about?”

“Don’t get behind me, my stingers are still very venomous.” Aleesia raised her tendrils revealing the pointy tips for emphasis.

“I forgot you had those.”

The Forgotten City

Callum looked out from the viewing window at the severed arm. Armor had been removed revealing a dark and desiccated scaly skin taut over the bone. It was fragile that moving it here was a challenge and the room itself was kept sterile, dry and cold to ensure nothing happened to it.

“Is it a gelphan?” He asked guessing from what he could see.

“Good guess,” Lissa said, not taking her eyes off the proceedings, “The DNA is without a doubt gelphan. However, we found compounds that cause hyper coagulation but these do not naturally exist in gelphans or any organism we know of.”

“Source?”

“Unknown.”

“Of course it is.” Callum sighed as this had become a routine at this point, “What of the armor.”

She led him to another room and asked those inside to halt their tests.

“The material is very potent. While it looks like gold, we haven’t been able to identify what it is. Only that it is very tough.”

Callum stepped closer to the table which held most of the pieces. It had been thoroughly disassembled with labels giving it an ID code and weight. He paid more attention to the circuit layer that was previously sandwiched within the gauntlet, they knew what it was because they found too many similarities to the components used in the Central tower and elsewhere. Even if they understood next to nothing about any of this didn’t mean they hadn’t learnt anything so far.

“I take it we can’t use any of this in Project: Breaker?” He asked and Lissa just shook her head. He wondered if there was something ancient here that would surrender its secrets without any resistance. He felt having just one wasn’t asking for too much.

26^th January

“What’s this?” Ezran stared at the small bottle his brother gave him. He opened it and sniffed at it, it smelled like honey.

“It’s a potion you apply after shaving, it stop your hair from growing back for a whole year. When it does grow back it won’t get thicker.” Callum said giving his spare shaving set to his little brother, “You only need to add a single drop to a small amount of water and rub it all over your face.”

“Sweet, so what happens if it gets all over the rest of my body?"

"Just wash it off, it needs a few minutes to take effect and get rid of the hair roots. Your sisters were giddy when I gave them their own bottles.”

“Hey, girls don’t have beards,” He eyed his brother suspiciously, “Do they?”

“No,” Callum laughed, “You’ll understand when you get a bit older.”

5^th February

Central tower, Santuary One

Kaarel, Rommet, and Kasval sat in the conference room discussing their latest findings while everyone else just waited for Callum, Amy and Cassie to finish some other official matter before joining them.

King Ardreth was happy to see his son busy himself with something other than politics for once, he just wished it would be something other than this.

“Majesty, do you think the trade corridor to Xaneeh will be cancelled?” Ruvyn asked as he and Maiele hadn’t heard much on this matter.

“I was told it will remain on hold until further notice.” The kign said, he had such high hopes on this project until recently.

“We might have to build the rail network through or north west at this rate.” Maiele said knowing that would incur many delays along the way.

Aleesia, Rayla, Neia and Ilamyr were chatting when the other three arrived and quickly took their seats.

The large screen flickered before showing a woman in a white lab coat.

“Greetings, Your excellency, your majesties and everyone present. I am Dr. Kimberly Hallen…..” They began with a brief explanation of the facility and at what stage of research they were at present.

The screen showed the dead remains of one of the creatures, its forehead was destroyed by the three bullets Lt. Laskin shot into it.

“…. This is or was human at one point. The tattoo on his bicep and the ring on its finger match those of Dr. Leonard Arol who went missing around this time last year. We believe the others who went missing are in a similar state as well.”

They screen focused on one of the hands, specifically a ring which had skin grown over it before moving on to the nails which had become razor sharp with a photo of a damage transmitter popping up beside it.

“As you all can see, the ring has grown over it, the bone underneath is also larger. The claws are much tougher than normal claws evidenced by the damage they did to the radio transmitter. As for the muscle mass, not even taking steroids continuously can produce anything like this.”

The screen moved over to another one, it was female though this one was more bestial though it appeared to be elderly with its white hair. The horns made it clear it was an elf. The hands had turned into claws but the legs were like a beast.

“This female as you can see is much older, likely turned a very long time ago. The muscles aren’t as strong like due to its advanced age.”

“Doctor, do you know what made them like this?” King Ardreth asked as this represented a serious issue.

“Yes, your majesty, this is viewed as a complex DNA virus though that is purely for our convenience than any real strict definition.

There are debate on classifying it as an Endogenous Retroviruses but the sheer complexity and genome size may allow it to be categorized as a megavirus. Some have suggested it should be viewed as a neurotropic somatic reprogramming retrovirus among. There have been suggestions that this requires creating its own dedicated classification.

This novel pathogen goes well beyond the strict definitions and capabilities of viruses as we understand them. There are suggestions that this is not a virus at all but something similar and that was probably part of a complex colony at one point….”

Among the audience, only three truly understood what was being said. King Ardreth as several question which made it clear how unusual this was that they had no real idea yet.

“Lets move onto how this thing spread then how it effects the body.” Callum suggested as they would get nowhere if they stayed on this point.

“—The virus cannot survive outside a mammalian host body. In other words, it needs to directly enter the blood stream through biting.

From there, the virus spreads primarily through the peripheral nervous system till it reaches the brain inducing greater aggression and altering the limbic system as it spread across the body.

It triggers bone remodeling and muscle growth causing the body to become much larger. The legs as you see on the older subject appears to be digitigrade like a wolf or feline or certain saurians. However, this is just a plantigrade leg.—”

Amy and Cassie asked for clarification as this made no sense to them,

“—Your majesties, biomechanically speaking, this is merely a plantigrade leg standing on its toes with the knees bent forward. The metatarsal bones may have elongated but that only gives the appearance of being digitigrade. There is no physical way for it to be a truly digitigrade.—”

They were shown an x-ray of the leg to explain the changes that took place before moving on to the rest of the body.

“—The brain isn’t damaged, but the frontal lobe operates at reduced capacity while the limbic system is given dominance. This combined with the higher caloric needs end up robbing the infected of their higher thinking capacity.

All that is left is an animal, a highly intelligent one but an animal nonetheless.  

The fact that they took out the radio transmitter and one simply tore open the roof of the walkway and waited there shows they do retain knowledge. But how and why they have that knowledge is beyond their ability to think anymore.

We believe they are aware of the cities but stay away due to fear of military response that would be inevitable.—”

“Are you saying they are afraid to risk going near our cities.?” Kaarel asked hopefully

“—yes, your highness, they may not fully understand it but they on some level likely know its not worth the risk.—”

This answer while not conclusive did put Kaarel, Rommet and Kasval at ease.

“Do you have anything to point to where this came from and how to deal with it?” King Ardreth went to the heart of the issue.

“—Your majesty, our speculation is that this virus has been in this area for many thousands of years. We don’t know what species was the original host but we suspect that it went extinct around the time the first the first elves and humans arrived here. There must’ve been a crossover event where an elf or human was infected. As for dealing with it, killing all the infected is the only option.—”

“Do you know what the original host species is?”

“—We call it a werewolf simply because its easier to understand but there are no wolves in the subterranean realm. From our study of the infected and the virus’s own genetic code, our best guess is that the original host species is some kind of rat.—”

Chapter Text

7^th February

SilverGrove, Moonshadow kingdom

“How long will you be staying?” Ethari continued to stir the pot.

“Three weeks, I need to make several visits.” Runaan remained seated on the couch after Ethari had guilt tripped him into staying for a large meal which he was busy preparing. He slowly ate the slice of moonberry surprise specially made for him.

“Then we have plenty of time,” He hummed happily, he knew better than to ask about his husband has been up to and decided to fill him in on whats been happening here. “Rayla got married a couple of weeks ago, I just came back from it four days ago.”

“I missed it?!” Runaan felt bad for missing it and wondered how he could make it up to her, “So whose the boy?”

“The prince.”

“Mael?” Runaan cringed at the thought before Ethari interjected,

“What no, no. It’s the human prince.” Ethari dismissed it, “The older one.” He added a moment later. A few moments passed wondering why Runaan was suddenly silent, turning around he found his husband unconscious, the unfinished slice of cake now on the couch cushion.

“I just had that washed.” He scoffed, knowing he would have to do it again.

8^th February

After they were briefed on the were-creatures, they spent the previous two days being consulted on the subject matter before they could make a decision.

“It is fortunate that they cannot breed more of their own.” Kaarel spoke, not hiding his relief at learning this piece of information. “Now if we can wipe out all of the infected them this matter will be over.”

“I would not count on it.” King Ardreth advice his son against such optimism, “The region is vast and we do not know how much of it they inhabit,”

“Scouring the entire region alone will be next to impossible. There are other mammalian species inhabiting the region that could be carriers for this pathogen.” Callum agreed with not being optimistic, they had an idea on what the issue was but that didn’t mean they had the resources to deal with it.

“What if we limit ourselves to building and maintaining elevated high speed rail lines along with resource extraction & processing sites. This will reduce the area we need to patrol while hunting them down.” Amy said as building and defending entire cities and agricultural zones would be troublesome since they’d have to be on strict quarantine all the time.

“Do you have a proposal for hunting them down?” Maiele asked and cringed as she saw both her sons eager to hunt them down, she hoped the solution involved them not being on the ground.

“They must be hunting the local saurian population. If we find them then we might also find these werewolves nearby.

We have our airships fly cloaked and then parachute in a large amount of fresh meat to draw them in before we hit them with the main cannons.” Callum said, he was given several ways of handling this and this was as he understood posed no risk to anyone. The virus could not survive outside a host body so there was no risk of the explosions spreading it.

Kaarel gulped audibly as he still clearly remembered his own forces being annihilated by those very cannons all those years ago. A large group of werewolves would not survive this but the sheer ease at which their suzerain could suggest it honestly terrified him more than the weapon itself.

“How long will this take to plan for?”

“We could use airships to transport people and goods for now until we can hammer down a way to build and maintain an elevated railway here.”

He then paused to think on their current capacities and how to convince the legislature to go along with it, “We’re currently building more airships so allocating them here shouldn’t prove to be too troublesome.

However, revising the plans for the rail line will take longer and even longer to build since we need to account for these things. Especially if we need to rely on remotely operated equipment. Please notify the Xaneeh government of this so that we can begin discussions to write into treaties.”

King Ardreth simply nodded knowing that they couldn’t do much here. “I suppose we’ll need to clear vast tracks of land around the construction site to make sure they don’t get close.”

“That and an armored military presence.” Callum conceded, this project had now officially ballooned way outside their original scope and budget. Another delay in the long list he had building up at this point.

After the meeting concluded and everyone was heading back to their quarters when Callum found a priority message waiting for him.

“You found the gate?”

“Yes sir, its intact but locked out of the system until its forcefully reactivated.”

“Prepare a ship at once and send me all available data as well.”

“Sir,” the messenger saluted before heading off.

“Gate?” Amy asked wondering which one this was.

“The ruins where we found the starship, they managed to uncover a ring gate.” Callum said already mentally checking his schedule to see if there was anything urgent there that he couldn’t avoid.

“In other words, more tech.” Cassie realized they might find other pieces of technology on the other side. Even if the chances were barely above zero and their ability to understand it was nonexistent, they were desperate to get anything. She turned to one of her aides who was standing nearby, “Send word that we’re delaying our return.”

City hall, Silvergrove, Xadia

“Skor, it is true then.” Runaan hugged him old teammate after such a long time, seeing him with his arm regrown made him want to throw a party.

“Not fully, I’ll still need a year or two to regain all the muscles.” Skor rubbed his new arm, it had fully regrown but the muscles were that of someone with none to speak of.

“I know you all wish to talk but that can wait,” the chief said motioning for him to sit down as he dismissed the rest to wait outside.

Runaan maintained his professionalism when in front of his mentor and superior, but his last meeting here left lifetimes ago now.

“Tell me have you seen them?”

Runaan kept himself composed knowing what was being asked, “Yes, the only thing separating us from them is a set of beliefs.”

“Good, good. You are starting to learn the real weight of this trade.” The chief spoke matter of factly without betraying any inner emotions he might be feeling, “So can killing Sol Regem’s death solve this?”

“Delay it,” Runaan spoke knowing that this was the only outcomes.

“The treaty will keep him here for a time, but his agents are probably trying to influence the nearby kingdoms to undo these restraints as we speak. 

Undermining, subverting and eliminating his agents are our only means of delaying this till we are able to regain enough strength to keep him here.”

“On that I have something.”

“Oh?”

“The treatment Skor underwent. One of my subordinates in a teenager, he joined to earn money after his father lost him leg. The knowledge of it might make him and others seek out the same treatment, thus making them susceptible to our influence.”

The chief chuckled hearing that, “Rare of you to think of a solution unprompted.” Runaan fought to keep his lips from smiling, his mentor rarely gave praise. “I shall report your idea so they may evaluate its viability.”

Runaan bowed his head in gratitude before speaking, “Am I to continue my current role?”

The chief nodded, “Someone with as many souls bound items as you vanishing would raise suspicions. Information is vital. Gather as much so that we are not blinded.

Your cover story of being sent to infiltrate the western union has no changed, this visit is merely a report on matters concerning our kingdom. Here are the recent developments that you need to be aware of.”

Runaan listened to every piece of information that was gathered, much had happened these past few years. 

10^th February

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Rayla asked playing with the wooden practice swords as Callum took a ready stance opposite to her.

“The doctors cleared me for sparring so put em up.” His grip tightened on the hilt as he slowly moved to the side,

“Wouldn’t you rather I pull these up?” She teased him by gently tugging at the bottom of her shirt which had him grinding his teeth in annoyance. She found messing with him too easy.

They both charged, wood clashing against wood with strikes, thrusts, parry as they kept at it.

“You know most newlyweds spend the first few months fooling around,” She said as she used just enough force to counter his moves. He wasn’t hard to handle when he wasn’t using those rune plates to enhance his movements. “We should go to the movies until your back to 100%.”

“Fine, I’ll give you a 100%.” Callum used his rune plates and renewed his attacks.

Rayla was surprised as she increased her own efforts, she thought they’d have to wait until he was given the all clear before he could fight seriously. Noticing an opening she ducked and swept her leg to knock him down only for him jump up then strike downwards, making her block.

Odd, he’s never been able to dodge that. While she held back to avoid hurting him for real, her movements should’ve been much too fast for him to react in time. Was he using that future seeing rune spell? Nah, she saw him not equipping it earlier and even if that was a trick, she knew he’d have reacted much sooner if he had it on him.

She kept thinking as they resumed their melee, she upped her speed a bit and found him keeping up with her so it clearly wasn’t just luck. Curiosity won over as she broke into a dance, moving around him as she swung her practice swords in odd angles.

Callum was easily being pushed back as several blows connected giving him no room to counter. Slowly losing balance until he was disarmed and being lifted up like a kid. She them pulled him in for a big hug as she kissed him.

“Take this seriously!” He demanded, squirming as he tried to break free.

“If I took this seriously then your doctor would have my head,” She countered before releasing him. If it came down to strength then she could beat him easily, that was simply how vast the difference in physical strength was between them.

12^th February

“How’d the enrollment go?” Aleesia asked while setting her luggage down before opening up her laptop to work, she found it odd how Callum was able to do this much work every single day and not go crazy.

“All good, she’s now impatient at waiting three more weeks before college starts. Now I just need Ezran and Aanya to decide which one they want to enroll in next year.” Callum kept going through a list of colleges and what facilities they had to give them both recommendations. 

“Aren’t you the dotting parent hey!” Aleesia stopped as a different question suddenly entered her mind, “How come you haven’t had any kids yet?”

“Huh?” Callum finally looked up from his laptop in confusion, “We intended to conceive in August but with everything that’s happened we decided not to until this all settles down.”

“No arguments there.” As much as she liked the idea of babies, having kids brought into the world now that things had escalated wasn’t really appealing to her either.

26^th February

Subterranean realm 2

Placing a hand on the gate, wincing as he felt the sensation of his power being drained, after three whole years of not having to do it, he had forgotten how unpleasant it was. It would take a minute for the gate to appear on the central tower’s system but for now they needed to see the other side.

The gate came to life, the portal formed much more slowly, it was clearly not stable indicating damage or lack of maintenance. It kept flaring till it finally stabilized and an entire squad went through it.

Callum followed after them through the gate and then immediately bumped into the person in front of him. He winced nursing his forehead.

Well, that can’t be good, he thought to himself since standard procedure was to spread out. Instead, they had done the reverse which meant they were in danger. One of the soldiers whispered for him to look up. Several scenarios played out in his mind as he activated his rune plates.

Looking around, he saw they were surrounded by several massive golems that towered over them. 

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Callum could count on, it was his rotten luck. He calmed himself to analyze the situation. These golems weren’t attacking, so they weren’t in any immediate danger. 

He signaled behind him using his hands to indicate trouble while he observed. 

The massive golems were around nine or ten meters tall. They were hunched over with large forearms, massive curved horns, and a single eye on each of their heads. 

Casting his gaze downwards, he saw another type that was between two and three meters tall. Each one was shaped like a knight of some kind, wielding a tower shield and a cartoonishly large lance that was clearly impractical for their size. 

Did the former inhabitants set up these defenses? He noticed movement from behind the golems. He saw gelphans using the golem's tower shields as cover, each wielding not staves, not swords, nor spears, and definitely not bows, but rifles. 

The standoff continued, clearly neither side wanted to be the one to initiate hostilities. Callum began looking around more carefully as this wasn’t some uninhabited ruins but a still living civilization. 

He realized they were in the middle of an open plaza based on how far away the nearest buildings were. Hidden among the plants and parapets on the roof, he saw snipers. 

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling, he was overjoyed that they actually found one, another civilization like their own in this world. Electricity and firearms were clearly being produced, this implied high industrial capacity and scientific knowledge. This went beyond his expectations, and they couldn’t afford to mess up here. 

A voice cut through the silence. Callum noted that this wasn’t ofnesh at all and it was clearly spoken through a megaphone.  

It was an entirely different language, and after several attempts, the speaker clearly realized these new arrivals didn’t speak it and tried a different language. 

“Do you speak ofnesh?” Callum interjected, speaking loud enough to carry over to the other person. 

“Yes, I can spoke it.” The voice said, though they clearly weren’t fluent based on their pronunciation. But something about the voice told him something was different. But he could worry about that later since now they had a means of communicating with one another. 

“Drop you weapon.” They spoke again, their lack of fluency becoming even more apparent this time. “and no harm on you.” 

“You must agree to do the same after us,” Callum spoke each word carefully. He did have Aleesia teach him, and he was truly grateful. Now he hoped his tongue didn’t mess up. The last thing he wanted was miscommunication. 

“Yes.” The voice said, still hidden somewhere. 

“Lower your weapons, make sure they can see it.” Callum ordered as each of them slowly bent down, placing their rifles on the ground one by one. 

The other side lowered theirs but kept them on hand, clearly suspecting something maybe hidden. 

“We’ve done as ordered.” Callum chose that word to emphasize his side had no say in the hopes it might make them less hostile. 

“Step forward, leader.” 

Callum did so, his men eyeing their weapons, ready to dive in and grab them at a moment’s notice. To his relief, the other side's speaker came out into full view. Callum fought to keep his expression neutral, trying to hide his shock and astonishment. 

This person was not walking towards them, or rather, they couldn’t. They had no legs but slithered on a serpentine lower half. 

A saureyva? He had seen them depicted among the statues of the Forgotten City. They had found not one but two member species of the old Imperium. The person held an open palm up, indicating for them to wait before raising a small device and speaking into it. They pointed a clawed digit at Callum; he understood it was a question. 

“I am Callum Albarae, Raegant of the Twin kingdoms of Katolis and Anterim.” He tried to gauge their reaction but found that the snout and reptilian features were impossible to read. He had no basis to even guess. 

“This is Sehuano Reiham Sybil, senior advisor to President Zaiinda of the Colonial Unity.” A new voice spoke through the megaphone. 

Callum guessed this person must’ve been called as a translator. This meant wireless miniaturized telecommunications were a matured technology as well. Truly, he found his luck was getting better and better, which undoubtedly meant something bad was going to happen soon or later. 

“State your reason for coming here.” 

“We do not mean nay harm. We came here expecting to find more ruins like elsewhere, we were not expecting to find an ihnabited city.” 

“And what is your intent?” the translator asked, 

“To establish diplomatic ties to discuss future co-existence, cooperation and trade with your nation.” Callum hoped they would be receptive. 

“That is not a matter that can be decided immediately….” 

“Shall we agree to send envoys to discuss this?” Callum spoke but was cut off, 

“You misunderstand, receiving envoys cannot be done until this matter is fully discussed.” 

Callum wasn’t sure if they were playing for time or not, but he couldn’t be forceful. He too, would need time to bring the diplomatic corps up to speed and bring them over here. But there was still one card he could play. 

“We can agree to that. We shall come every ten days. By the God-kin I hope this is the beginning of many good things for us all.” 

He had forcefully kept his expression neutral and saw that Reiham’s face was unchanged. But that didn’t matter, he saw some of the soldiers had reacted when he used the word god-kin. This was everything he needed. He intended to keep it a secret and could dismiss any questions on the subject by claiming it was a phrase the first margrave often used, it might not be convincing, but they couldn’t easily refute it. 

“Very well, you may take your weapons and leave. Send only one person through the gate.” 

“We accept those terms.” Callum refused to use gestures like nodding, they may be universal, but could also carry different meanings in different contexts, so he wasn’t going to do anything extra. 

Turning to his men, he said, “Retrieve your weapons slowly and let us head back.” 

“Yes sir,” 

Callum had noted that the advisor had slithered away and the gelphan soldiers had raised their weapons. 

After going through the gate, the portal collapsed, and he took a moment just staring through the now inactive ring before turning to his men, “Inform the diplomatic corps at once, we need to ready a delegation fast.” 

He hoped they would agree so they could formally recognize each other and begin discussing. 

“You look disappointed,” Callum said, seeing Vaeril looking peeved. 

“How am I supposed to dig through ruins that don’t exist.” 

“I’m sure there are plenty still buried here,” Callum said diplomatically, knowing how much Vaeril loved digging up history over reading it. “Maybe we cou—Huh?” 

He spun around as the gate flared again. There was no one at the console, so did the central tower try to connect with it? Those around him pointed to the sky. Looking up, he saw a much larger portal like the ones they used to move airships through using the gates. 

Only what emerged wasn’t one of their ships; rather, this was of imperial design. Several droids hovered just below it as its ventral side opened up and a ring was released. The droids caught it and began rapidly descending. 

“Clear the area now!” One of them shouted, and everyone scattered. They easily guessed why the droids had come, and no one wanted to get in their way. 

They all watched as the ring gate was replaced with the new one. One droid lingered longer as it interfaced with the console before returning to its mothership, carrying the old gate with it. 

“What I wouldn’t give to know how that thing is powered,” Callum muttered as he watched the airship return the same way it came. The new ring looked like it was fresh off an assembly line, and for all he knew, it might be. 

Still, the sight puzzled his best scientists, who still had no idea how it was powered. The ring just hovered above the ground with nothing connected to it, the console was at least attached to a platform of some kind. 

“How long until you can sketch them?” Vaeril asked as he wondered if they could glean any knowledge from the images to improve their own designs. 

“Two hours if you want it penciled in high definition,” Callum said, already picturing the teams throwing a hissy fit over how the stuff keeps piling up, something he could relate to. 

3rd March 

Central tower, Sanctuary One 

“Looks like they didn’t bite yet,” Amy said, turning away from the cabin window as she saw Callum walking away from the gate after it closed. “Guess that means we’ll have to visit some other time.” 

“You’re heading back?” 

“Not much for us to do by staying here.” Cassie said as the two turned back to their reading. 

“What even is this?” Rayla bent down to look at the cover, which was titled ‘etherical energy extraction and transference with relations to thermodynamic interactions,’ which sounded complicated. 

“They finally managed to solve the big mystery of how freezing spells and an ice dragon's freezing breath works.” Amy said, turning a page, “and now they’re trying to figure out how to weaponize it.” 

“You freeze things,” Rayla said dryly, “What about that is complicated?” 

““Because until now, it looked like it violated the law of conservation of energy.”" They both retorted even more dryly. 

17th March 

Katolian Low Assembly 

“Man, this is so boring,” Ezran whispered as he watched the assembly deliberate. He was now old enough to join his brother in sitting in on these deliberations, even though he couldn’t do anything else except observe. 

Callum leaned towards his brother, “Welcome to my life. Just bear with it.” 

“Why can’t you just tell them your plan and get them shut up.” 

“Because they're all busy blowing their leverage trying to outdo each other and won’t have any left to try and make me lean towards their side.” Callum snickered as no matter what happened, some things never changed. One day, Ezran would have to do this on his own when he became king, but right now, he just needed to watch, learn, and suggest his own ideas.  

“You have the most power when they are all at a deadlock with none of them having a clear advantage on passing their agendas.” 

“But why can’t they do both? The budget’s big enough to build a new power line and an high speed rail line.” 

Callum pointed to the man who was passionately lobbying for the elevated tracks, “The territory he’s representing is currently producing excess that they want to sell to their neighbors.” 

Ezran nodded and turned to the other representative who was arguing for a new rail line. 

“Now this one’s territory produces a lot of fertilizer but the rail network isn’t as developed in that region. So having more makes it easier to distribute it. The nearby territories have a lot of agricultural lands and food processing. The side that gets their agenda first has more leverage at the negotiating table, there’s a lot of money at stake in this for them both.” 

“Why are they like this?” Ezran just shook his head, 

“We let this play out for two more days, then I’ll show you how to deal with it.” 

“What’re you going to do?” Ezran narrowed his eyes as he recognized the expression his brother was making. 

“Make an offer that those other territories can’t refuse, and these two will have to shut up and stop bickering ehehehehe.” Callum smiled mischievously. There was a lot he’d be teaching his brother in these next few years. Especially on how to navigate and manipulate the political landscape.  

29th March 

Central tower, Sanctuary One 

“What’d you think this is about?” Rayla whispered from behind. 

“Hard to say, it's probably….” Aleesia didn’t finish the sentence and just evaluated the situation. Being a matriel and Callum’s secretary did give her access to a lot of information. But Rayla was a senior lieutenant, a rank that didn’t amount to much in this gathering, which drastically cut down the possibilities. Either it wasn't important or it would be public in a matter of days anyway. 

The massive screen came to life and showed a domed structure of some kind. 

“Cal?” Rayla asked as this was new to her. 

“That’s the underwater facility.” Aleesia recognized it from the report a couple of months back, where they wanted to do the tests earlier, “They were conducting deep water submersible and submarine research there.” 

They were shown a submarine being lowered into the water before the video feed switched to the submarine's own cameras. The recording was sped up as the submarine traveled along the sea floor. 

The recording quickly returned to its normal play speed, which made everyone lean forward, knowing there was something important about to appear. A large casam appeared as the submarine moved over the edge and fired several micro torpedoes, which dispersed chemical flares along their trajectory. 

Jaws fell open as the flares illuminated a large stretch of the sea floor. Their eyes remained fixed on the massive skull of some kind of underwater monstrosity, which had rows of sharp, curved teeth. Its lower jaw was partially sunk into the sea floor as the submarine moved closer to the skeletal remains. 

"Please direct your attention to the rest of its body."  

Most of the room was startled back into reality by the voice, paying closer attention. They saw that the spine of this creature was buried. No, that was not the correct word, it was crushed to death by something big and heavy. 

"What is that?" One of them asked, unable to identify it in the low light.  

"That massive object which killed this behemoth is a vessel of some kind. Judging by sedimentation, this happened many thousands of years ago." 

They were shown a 3D interpretatino of the vessel wasrendered using the sensor data, and once the ocea floor and he skeleton was removed along with the sediment layer cause the room to erupt into gasps and murmurs until Callum ordered them into silence before telling the director to continue. 

"We found a large breach and several remains of what we believe were the crew inside. We sent a smaller submarine to retrieve some on the second trip." 

A moment later, they were shown images from inside the facility, on a table were the bones, all neatly assembled to form a horned bipedal skeleton. 

"What the?!" 

"By the spirits!!" 

"Of all the rotten!!" Callum spoke as everyone was just too shocked by this. 

"An elf?" Rayla whispered, looking to Aleesia to ask if she knew. The gelphan was as confused as her, it seemed. 

"This answers some questions we've had but.." Vaeril spoke, he was visibly shaken by this. 

"But it opens up way mroe questions that need immediete answers." Callum finished for him. 

Rayla watched as the elves in the room seemed to be the most animated about this, though she and Aleesia were the only ones who had no idea what this was about. 

"What's going on?" Rayla leaned close enough so Callum could hear her. 

Callum turned to her, his expression was one of shocked disbelief, like she had never seen before, "The aliens aren't using your people. They ARE your people."