Elisabeth sat in Legio Victrix's field camp, reviewing the recent reports. Lord Twirll had perched himself on the potted, decorative bush-like plant where he had his nest and napped. It was so strange... She had almost expected to be rejected and called a traitor. Instead, the people welcomed her as the chosen one of the gods, and even when she freed all slaves, everyone still cheered her. Not everyone saw her from that perspective, and occasionally, a fight ensued, which was ruthlessly resolved by one of the Legions under her command. The combat prowess of the Legions was astonishing and she had witnessed it first-hand when the Fifth Legion casually swept away the first army of Berna. The Paladins were woefully unprepared to face a foe that couldn't care less about their supposed local fame. Facing the cold wall of shields and pilums of Death Heralds, the spirit of proud Paladins was broken, and they had learnt what true terror was. When Berna's field army retreated, followed by anyone willing to stay loyal to her father, she became the unquestionable ruler of that area. With wild satisfaction, Elisabeth abolished every law she hated and enforced a new set of laws she always wanted. Whenever she faced even a minor opposition, Lord Twirll spoke in her favour, raising his voice in anger if necessary, perfectly impersonating Jukk'nala and his whims. His mere presence was enough to deprive her enemies of their positions and titles, rendering them nothing more than heretics opposing a God. She was actually amused by how Lord Twirll used the dogmas of Berna's faith against all the priests and lords who opposed her. And oh, how convincing he was in his role. She would have dropped to her knees and prayed to him if she hadn't known better.
Some of the freed slaves, mostly women and children, fled to Arcadia, where they received help and safety, but others wanted to fight. They quickly learnt the true nature of what was happening, and their cold hatred towards Bernans made them Elisabeth's natural allies. However, during her time in Avalon, she learnt to look into the future and was aware that this hatred would be too destructive. While she had no idea how to change their way of thinking, she hoped that the presence of the Guardsmen of Arcadia would help. The variety of all races serving alongside each other in the Guardsmen core gave her hope that the people of Berna would also change, inspired by their example. She smiled faintly at that hope, and with a regretful sigh, she returned to reality. The initial stages of her war were simple, and gaining a foothold in Berna had been relatively easy. After securing the supply routes to Arcadia and fortifying the fortresses that were supposed to guard Berna against Cridian attacks... She even snickered, 'That went well for them...' Anyway, after turning those strongholds against the Bernans and operating them with the freed slaves and detachments from the legions, she was ready to move forward.
"My Lady! The airships!" someone called, and she walked outside.
Three giant airships glided in the sky, too high to threaten her forces but low enough to be clearly visible. "They head straight for Arcadia..."
"Yes, my Lady," Major Nix confirmed. She wasn't aware that she had said her observation aloud.
"We must warn King Theon... Three airships are a huge threat." Elisabeth turned to face him, but he just smiled calmly.
"We sent an Eagle to observe them. But the Legate told me he had already informed the King. It's a shame we won't see how the King will deal with them..." Raphael smiled and clasped his hands. "Have you decided, Lady Elisabeth, about our next move?"
•••
"Three airships..." I sighed as I saw the report. "Judging by their speed and the distance they have to cover, they will reach Avalon tomorrow."
"Can we fight them off?" Lavender paused the application of her face cream. "As far as I understand, airships are quite dangerous."
"They are, but... I don't want to just fight them off. We have the means to destroy them," I said.
"Oh, well..." the Dryad shrugged and returned to applying cream on herself.
Lavender, like all of my Queens, didn’t really need to use any cosmetics. However, she liked the feeling of her skin after using a cream, and I couldn't care less about something so mundane. I felt the gaze of Irene and a silent question in her eyes, so I provided the answer for it.
"For example, our Storm Eagles can spell doom on anything, or at least most things that think they rule the skies. Or the Wyverns..." I started explaining, but her bright smile was confirmation that she heard enough.
"So we can go to sleep now? I'm tired..." Amber complained with a yawn.
"I... I guess?" I confirmed, a little bit amused, only to be treacherously kissed by that special Luna’s kiss that always put me asleep.
When I woke up, the castle was already on yellow alert. The enemy was already visible as a tiny speck disturbing the majesty of the blue sky. The Bernans might have sent more diplomats, but somehow I doubted that. After all, three of my Legions were currently dismantling their country. However, after listening to Hestia and Lavender, I sent an Eagle to ask their intentions. It was almost an afterthought, but as soon as I sent it, I already knew it was pointless. Like seriously! I would lie just to get closer to my enemy. However, the captains of the airships were not as clever or unhonorable as I was and started shooting at the Eagle as soon as it got into their range. With that part explaining itself nicely, I faced the problem of actually dealing with them. As we stood at the roof of the Palace observing the growing airships in our binoculars, we heard Ian announcing his greetings.
•••
Janet A'nnet Sparrow was a captain, but according to His Majesty, she was, in fact, an Admiral. However, without a navy, she took that with a grain of salt. For generations, her family members were sailors, and the fact that land-locked Cridia even had a navy and families with naval traditions was close to a joke. The Cridian airship fleet was in ruins for decades, and even her father had heard about them only in tales. Because of the lack of available occupations, her family devolved into captains of supply barges that traversed the Cridian waterways. When she was at her lowest, she was found in some backwater tavern by the agents of King Theon, who offered her a job. During that time, she was absolutely wasted, but all evidence suggested she agreed to it when she woke up in Avalon with a massive headache. At first, she was impressed by the city, but then she was taken into the underground workshops and saw the skeleton that slowly turned into the ship she was going to command. Since that day, she rarely touched alcohol, sacrificing every waking moment to help, providing her knowledge and theoretical expertise passed down in her family. Whatever she needed was provided; any book or manual she wanted was delivered almost instantly by the resourceful agents of Avalon. Janet fairly quickly learnt that resources were problems for others, not for her new King. She used her connections and brought everyone she believed would be useful and loyal to King Theon to Avalon. Janet personally gathered her crew and trained them, waiting for the day when she would return to being a proud Captain of a proud Navy.
And today, finally, was that long-awaited day. Captain Sparrow stood on the bridge of the HMS Victory, gazing at the sunny sky. She whistled a merry melody and was smiling with a bloodthirsty glow in her eye. Her... Well, not exactly her’s… but traditionally speaking, her ship was finally ready. Master Ian and Master Verni tuned the last bits of their complicated machinery, and she could feel the potent soul of her vessel awaken under the deck, deep inside the massive bowels of the warship. She ran her hand affectionately over the railings and leaned over to take a better look at her crew. The helmsman was already ready and smiling at her, awaiting her orders. She observed the planned chaos on her ship with the content smile of a commander who liked what they saw.
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"The matrix is stable, Ma'am!" her navigator reported with a wide grin. "All calculations are correct; magic formulas are forming."
"The crew is ready to go," the first mate reported. "The anchor is up! We are ready to set sail at your command, Ma'am!"
"Shields are up, and the mana crystals are full. We are all green, ma'am!" the last report arrived soon after.
"Set sails!" the Captain shouted steadily, but her eyes sparked with unbridled happiness. Her command was carried instantly, and the vast, snow-white sails caught the wind, setting the majestic ship in motion. Barely able to hold back her excitement, Captain Janet A'nnet Sparrow gave one more order. "Lift off!"
•••
"Is that... Victory?!" In shock, Amber looked at the enormous ship of the line that was gaining speed as it lifted towards the unblemished blue sky, dripping with water from its shining and pristine hull.
"Now she is ready, my Lady." Ian smiled very proudly.
Bernan ships were smaller, akin to brigs, and carried sixteen magi-cannons each. They were an effective force to be reckoned with, and in every other circumstance, these three ships should have been more than enough to deal with any threat. But HMS Victory was a first-rate ship of the line and carried one hundred and four magi-cannons. The colossal warship dwarfed and outgunned the entire Bernan airship task force combined, which had started changing their course in panic. However, it was all in vain and far too late. HMS Victory had them in her range, which was confirmed moments later when she fired her broadside, shattering one of the Bernan airship hulls. The gravely injured brig started falling, engulfed in flames, while the two remaining airships started firing at Victory. The brig crashed a few hundred meters outside Avalon, and flames soon consumed the crash site. The sheer terror Berna's crews felt as a few lucky shots reached my warship only to splash over its shields harmlessly could be sensed from afar. They tried to break and flee, but my Storm Eagles had flanked them and brought violent winds on them, thwarting their efforts and leaving them at the mercy of Captain Sparrow. To my surprise, however, the Bernans fired their guns with deadly accuracy, killing most of my Eagles, which opened a clear escape path for smaller and faster ships.
It seemed that Ian and even Ragnar wanted to show off. A deafening warhorn blared outside my castle, making every part of my body shake and tremble. The earth shook as the unfinished Avalon's Wrath emerged from its underground shelter, still unarmoured and without one of his arms. The war-titan of Arcadia raised its single weaponized arm and fired at the fleeing airships, cutting one in half using a spell resembling a beam of blue light. The ensuing explosion consumed the wreckage and everyone on board who had survived the previous blast. The remaining airship was showered with debris, which damaged its sails and main mast, considerably slowing down the brig. The titan towered over the defensive walls of my castle, and I was more than sure that the people of Avalon would argue about what was cooler: HMS Victory or Avalon's Wrath. The second warhorn rolled over the plains surrounding the capital of Arcadia like a promise of death for anyone stupid enough to challenge us. The Bernans must have understood that they could only surrender or die by now, and soon after, we saw them drop the damaged sails, waving the white flags to surrender.
"Hmmm... I am sorry, Ian. Please accept my sincere apology for ever doubting you." Amber lowered her head in front of Ian, who kneeled in response.
"You are too kind, my Queen! There is no need to apologize, either! If we had told you the whole truth about our project, you wouldn't have gotten angry like that. But you know us, my Lady..." He grinned and received the eye-rolling he had come to expect.
"Perhaps…" Luna nodded and put on a very predatory smile.
"If you are still clueless, Ian, my wives want more ships like Victory, and I can't agree more. We need an entire Navy." I smiled as I observed Captain Sparrow catching and boarding the last Bernan ship.
•••
Captain Navka was terrified. Since childhood, he had held the absolute conviction that Berna's Navy was the greatest on this side of Nilmerthis. Even the Navy of the Empire of Metaka would greatly struggle to fight the Naval might of Berna. But now, he was defeated, his ship captured, and his crew imprisoned or dead. The monstrous ship that stopped their retaliation strike even before that squalid city came in range of their guns was larger than their Navy's flagship. Only the Gods knew how many ships like this the Arcadians had. Its firepower was absurd; a single broadside was enough to destroy Berna's brig, and on top of that, the monster had shields. But the behemoth that cut the Prophet's Hand in half was even scarier. The captain shook his head and tried to look slightly more dignified. But it was hard when you knew that you were done for. After his ship was captured and deemed in good enough condition to land on the nearby lake safely, it was swiftly grounded, and the crew was put into chains. Everything after that was like a haze. He was interrogated, and he was informed that the King himself wanted to see him. What for? He was a simple soldier, simply following the orders... His captors opened the cell, and two black-clad soldiers took him away. He managed to calm himself enough to notice the details of the corridors he was dragged through as he had refused to walk. They entered an unremarkable room, and he simply knew that the man waiting there was the King of Arcadia.
"What were your orders?" he asked sharply.
"To bombard the city and force you to recall your soldiers from Berna," Navka responded against his will.
"How many airships does Berna have?" the man asked with a voice that would not tolerate disobedience.
"Fifty-seven more... Aaaaaa!" The Captain caught his head and dropped to his knees. "What are you doing to me?!"
"Can't you tell?" He was amused. "We are having a civilized conversation here. I am asking questions, and you are replying truthfully to them. So... Why did you think that attacking my city would make me call off my troops from Berna?"
"I... Don't... Know..." Navka started panting heavily, resting his arms on the cold floor. He felt like something had broken inside of him and wondered for a moment if the slaves he had tortured for information felt the same when they started speaking. His vision blurred, and he realised that he was crying. Large tears dropped to the floor, but there was no mercy. "I beg you... I'm just a soldier... I'm just following orders..."
"So what?" His voice was cold and furious. "You are guilty of planning an attack on a civilian population. Do you think that "following orders" lessens your guilt in any way? No! Captain Pavlan Navka, you are a murderer, a rapist and a slaver. You will die, Captain. You will be hung to death, and the executioner will make sure you will suffer a long, painful, and shameful death. But that is not the worst part yet. You see... We are in a dungeon. Your lifeless body will be buried deep within its grounds, and your soul will be torn away from wherever you hoped to arrive after death. You will be bound forever to this place, Navka, knowing no peace or respite, tormented for all of eternity for all the sins and crimes you have committed."
Navka trembled in fear, feeling his heart pound like crazy. He knew that this man was not lying. But how could this be? He just followed orders... His panic rose, and Navka felt it turn to anger, denial, and desperation. However, he was unable to rise from his knees, finding himself so powerless he couldn’t even scream. He was in the absolute power of the man before him, and it was then he realised the grave mistake of his leaders. He trembled in helpless fear, realizing that he, a Captain of the mighty Bernan Navy, had become nothing more than a common criminal, accused of unspeakable things, and there was nothing and no one to save him. After a moment of torment that felt like ages, the King spoke once again.
"You will die Navka, but..." These words lessened the pressure he felt, and a ray of hope illuminated the inevitable doom waiting for him. "But if you tell us everything, every single bit of knowledge you have, I can rethink my decision. Of course, it may happen that you will die anyway, but remember that there are many ways to go. Less painful, for example. Of course, that would mean that your body would be buried somewhere else, and your soul would be free. But if you turn out to be a very cooperative and talkative source of information... Well... Maybe we can even forget we had to execute you in the first place? It's really up to you..."