Kassandora looked Nanbasa. In one week, she had managed to re-arrange the city. Through sorcery and through technology, it was tiring affair. The east side of the ring, the city’s industrial district, had been cannibalized. All the expensive machinery moved to the city’s west. Now those empty factories and warehouses were being converted into bunkers and castles. Tunnels were being excavated to connect them, and more were being built under the giant animal reserve.

Iniri and Fer had taken it upon themselves to find some place for the lions and elephants and lions to be safely taken too, and now Nanbasa’s zoo sat with only half the animals it once did. In a few days, it would be all empty. Then Kassandora would start driving artillery into the outcroppings of trees.

Not Arika, but Epa. It was almost offensive on one hand, as if Allasaria was telling Fortia the woman was simply not good enough to try and fight on behalf of the White Pantheon against Arascus. But then Fortia had tried once. She had tried with Maisara, and Elassa, and her own orders when they were at their peak. She had tried when Arascus did not even control Kirinyaa’s government yet. And she had failed. There was no way to re-frame the situation, there was no pretending to be done. She had gone in, and she had failed. “Waeh was the biggest loss.” Maisara said as she looked over the map of Epa.

It was Fortia, Maisara, Theosius and Tasaidien. The two Goddesses in their armour, Maisara’s great-axe leant against the wall next to Fortia’s spear. Theosius had come with his muscled chest exposed, although the whole man was covered in a layer of soot. He had been working on new weaponry for the countless invention Divines since Allasaria made the call that Pantheon Peace was no longer to be abided by. And Tasaidien, he stood there, on the other side of the table, looking up at Fortia, at Maisara and back down at the map. He hadn’t said anything yet, but then he wasn’t here because Fortia wanted him here, he was here because Allasaria had assigned him to Fortia’s front, and there had been no argument about it.

Fortia caught her line of thought, and realised Allasaria only been back for a few days, and that already she was starting to grind on Fortia’s nerves. Not her fault, she thought. That much was true, if Fortia had won in Kirinyaa, then Allasaria would have lost her position in the Pantheon. If Fortia had won in Kirinyaa, then it would be Allasaria who was agonizing over this Epan situation.

Fortia sighed. But she had not won, so it was her job to agonize over, and not Allasaria’s. She looked up at Maisara and Tasaidien. They had stared long enough, now was time to get to work. “Maisara, how quickly can your orders be mobilized?” Fortia asked.

The Goddess of Order pointed to where Olympiada sat on the map, in the country of Gracya. “Everyone is here already.” Maisara said as she blew a lock of silver-grey hair back out of her face. “Some of my members were arrested in Lubska, I know I took a few fatalities in Rancais too, we’re still counting but there won’t be more than a hundred who have gone missing. It’s a drop in the bucket.

“And the fortresses?” Fortia asked. Unlike the Guardians, who largely worked with offices in cities, the Paladins still carried on the tradition of having castle-towns. Small forts scattered across the landscape to keep order. Drayim fortress was one example. It was a shame that Waramunt had died, although Fortia had assumed so when she heard that Iliyal had led the assault. A man didn’t get to that age only to die to an Invention-tier Divine.

“Still operational, I’ve told the people who are there to stay there.” Maisara said. Much like Drayim, most of the fortresses had their own deities protecting them. They would hold. They should hold. Both Maisara and Fortia here had seen Olonia fight. A Goddess like that was nothing to worry about, and apparently, she was one of the better warriors of the group.

“Are any near airports? Or can they be resupplied?” Fortia asked. Maisara started to quickly place pins on the maps to mark the airports.

“You can see for yourself. I wouldn’t try and engage an airport though. It’s too close to cities to take down effectively.”

“But we can shut them down.” Fortia said, she looked over to the God of the Forge, he straightened his back and flexed his muscles. Fortia did not know if it was working from the forge all those years, or if the man had just naturally developed into such a monster. His arm was as thick as her thigh. Whatever, it time for the first job. “Theosius.” Fortia said. “We need a modern catapult. Something like a mortar. Long range and accurate, it doesn’t have to be too powerful.”

Theosius nodded with every word and then answered with his own. It rumbled like the beginnings of a huge avalanche. “So small then?”

“I’d prefer for it to be carried by an unblessed man. If that’s impossible, then a Paladin or a Guardian has to be able to lift it.” Fortia replied and the man nodded.

“What for?” He asked. Fortia raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. She wondered if Kassandora ever got backtalk like this as the God shrugged. “If I know what for, then I’ll know what we’re aiming for.” He explained in an exhausted tone.

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“To cause holes in roads and runways. Something to simply lob explosives over a distance.” Theosius nodded.

“See?” He said. “Now I know explosive ammunition is involved.”

“That was a given.” Fortia quickly replied, the God shook his head and sighed.

“It will be done.” He said. There, that was an answer she could appreciate.

“We such down the airports with the new weapon, simply blast holes in the runway. A team in a car will be able to get it done quickly.”

“What about mages?” Maisara asked. Fortia only smiled back at her friend.

“Do you want to use them?”

“Not really.”

“Agreed.” That simple, there was nothing to argue about when it was dealing with just Maisara. They both knew precisely why, the answer was that no one wanted to be held in Elassa’s debt. If they relied on that woman’s power, it was one thing, but Fortia assumed Epa would have rifles. And if they had rifles, then it would only be a matter of time before magician’s blood was spilled. It was one thing if mages died at Elassa’s behest, but it would be the headache of a generation if Fortia ended up killing one of Elassa’s favourite mages.

“We should circle around Erdely.” Maisara said as she traced a line with her finger. Up north, through Dakia, into Lubska, then Doschia, then Rancais. “Make a circle like that.”

Fortia shook her head. “I don’t see why we extend the war that much.” She explained. “This is not Kassandora we’re fighting. It’s just mortals. Do you think they know anything of battle doctrine? Of logistics? Even if we assume that Kassandora sends Iliyal or some other general.” Fortia imagined the Goddess of War wouldn’t, not when Uriamel was breathing down their neck. “Then do you think the Epans will just surrender all authority to him? They call themselves a Coalition, but it’s just five upstarts.”

Fortia knew very well how quickly coalitions of that nature started to succumb to internal strife. The White Pantheon had been formed as an anti-Arascus coalition after all. “I push into Rilia.” Fortia said. “This will be the southern front, with my Guardians for support. I’ll take some minor deities, but Rilia has too long of a coastline to defend it.” There was that, and there was the fact that explaining such tactical minutiae to Maisara and Tasaidien was not important. What she did on the Southern Front would not be important, as long as Rilia fell. “Maisara, you go down your route, as you pointed out. Secure Dakia first though.”

“Secure them?” Maisara asked, there was an inch too much glee in her tone though.

“They’ve not declared for the Coalition, but they’ve not explicitly allied with the Pantheon either.” Fortia said. Sending Maisara in that way may be a bad call actually, but most of Maisara’s fortresses were in central or northern Epa. The Goddess of Order would simply do better in that region, so there was no reason for Fortia to try and overstep.

“So?” Maisara asked. Fortia sighed. But if Maisara was actually going to keep acting this way, then maybe Fortia should take over that front, for the beginning of the war.

“You go in, you give them the rundown, you don’t do any massacres.” There, even Maisara should be able to understand that.

“No massacres.” Maisara said. “But force?”

“If they’re not with the Pantheon, they’re with the Coalition Maisara.” Fortia said harder this time. Maisara nodded with a knowing smile.

“That I understand.” She said as Fortia looked up.

“Tasaidien, you will have two roles.” The God of Alanktyda made a grim face, although he didn’t argue back. He only stood there, looking at Fortia, as she started to explain the orders. There was something annoying about the man, the fact he used a trident and that it was so similar to her spear. The fact he wore a crown. What sort of Divine needed to wear a crown? Even Arascus had never worn one. Divines were Divines, that should be all that was needed to be said about them. “Firstly, I expect Allia to be sending supplies to the other countries. If not, then they’ll act as some logistician or supplier. Maybe they plan to open a trade route to Ausa. Or around all Arika and dock in Kirinyaa.” That last option, she doubted, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Arascus and Richard VI to have set up some scheming plan on how to get artillery out of Arika and into Epa. “I want a full blockade on Allia.”

The God looked at the map. “Everything?” He asked.

Fortia knew what he meant. “Even the civilian goods. Even the granary ships. Everything. Not a single ship leaves that port. This is akin to the Great War.” Tasaidien didn’t look like he was impressed with the idea, but neither did he look horrified by it.

“Not a single ship will leave then.” Fortia smiled to herself as the God of Alanktyda spoke again. “And the second?”

“I assume you can create some sort of naval invasion force for us?” It most likely wouldn’t be needed, but after seeing the situation in Kirinyaa, she wasn’t going to simply walk into Rilia. No. It would be an invasion, just as they deserved.

“To support your troops? We can have transports. Sea-splitters can be used too.”

“That would be perfect.” Fortia replied, smiling. Why bother with ships? It wasn’t a large sea, a few days march and the distance would be covered on foot. “How long would it take you to prepare everything?” Tasaidien shrugged.

“A week from now, I can have the Allian blockade running. Two, and your naval invasion of Rilia can begin.”

“And you Maisara?”

“Most of my Paladins are here already, it’s just a case of marshalling the forces.” Fortia smiled. It was the same with her.

“Then use these two weeks to secure Dakia. Then we both move onto the Coalition.”

So it was done. The Epan Coalition thought it would be a bonfire? What were they even thinking? They weren’t even a spark, and Fortia was coming in to drown them in their own blood.

Olonia readjusted her armour and drew her straight sword as she looked at Zamek Ksios. An ancient fortress, built before the Great War. A Paladin stronghold, not the headquarters, but a recruiting grounds none the less. It was in the south west of the country, close to a major highway which served as a vital artery for the connection between Doschia and Lubska. Their shared blood flow of weapons shipments could not be slowed down by such a large clot.

So Zamek Ksios had to go. Those two battles with Iliyal had been with training wheels. Now it was time to see how much the training had really given her. Olonia drew her straight-sword and heard the two hundred men behind her flick the safety of their guns off.