The Empire of the Sun. Crown’s City. Royal Palace.
The next day.
“Three down. 76 more to go.”
The Empress looked up as Adam walked in. The Empress Guards standing guard at the door permitted him entry without another question.
“I guess I should thank you.”
“That won’t be necessary. If I wanted gratitude, I wouldn’t be here.” Adam replied quietly. “Gratitude is not why I’m doing this. What is the situation?”
The Empress wasn’t insulted by the straightforward tone. If anything, she was impressed by it. She immediately went on to explaining the situation.
“We have three problems. The Empire of the Moon. The beasts. And the Voyager kill teams. We need to focus on solving one of them and try to control the other two in the process. We can’t try to solve all three issues at the same time.”
The two were standing in a war room, along with half a dozen top officials in the Empire. Former Chief Military Officer Frankens, after knowing Lucas was killed, confessed to his crimes in the hope that the medical personnel in the Empire could help come up with an antidote. His position was replaced by his previous lieutenant, General Zach.
A sand model was in the middle of the war room. It demonstrated the terrain of the entire empire and the location of all the important places.
“The Voyager kill teams are too scattered to be dealt with. They have adopted a hit and run strategy. We can’t take them out in a short period of time.” General Zach glanced at the Empress. There was one more reason he didn't say. The kill teams have killed a lot of people, but in most cases they weren’t able to take on large armies. The most they could do was kill some villagers. It was bad, but they weren’t that deadly in the larger picture.
In one sentence, the kill teams were irrelevant. Of course, he was smart enough not to tell the Empress that.
The other two threats were different. The Empire of the Moon, well, was another empire. It had a full army and the ability to take on the military might of the Empire of the Sun. If left untouched, it could wipe them out.
The beasts in the mountains were no different. First of all, their numbers were in the tens of thousands. They were definitely not to be underestimated. Second, unlike the Empire of the Moon, these beasts wouldn’t leave any survivors. They would swarm over the territories of the men and devour anyone in their way. Ignore them for a week and half the Empire might be gone.
“The Red Dragon Corps have been tasked with hunting down the Voyager strike teams.” General Zach went on. “I don’t believe we can spare any more forces on that task.”
The Empress nodded slowly. “But can the Red Dragon Corps really protect the villages?” She asked.
“The Red Dragon Corps have 5,000 calvaries…”
“You didn't answer my question, general.”
General Zach looked up at the Empress, who stared right back at him. Finally, the man lowered his head.
“It’s all we can do, your grace.”
Adam turned to the Empress.
“The only thing we can do now is focus on the other threats. The sooner we finish them off, the sooner we can mass up the forces to deal with the kill teams. When that happens, we will eliminate every single one of the butchers and make them pay for their crimes.”
The answer from the Empress was almost nonexistent.
“As for the other two threats.” Zach continued. “The mountains are rugged and freezing. If the beasts try to go across the mountains, it will take them over a year to move all tens of thousands of them across. But if they don’t go across the mountains, they will have to breach this point.” He tapped on a spot on the model. “The Immortal Fort.”
Adam rose his eyebrows at the unfamiliar name.
The Empress explained, knowing Adam didn't have the knowledge of the Empire’s history as everyone else in the room.
“The Immortal Fort was constructed 80 years ago by my grandfather. At that time, the beasts never ceased to harass the southern borders of the Empire. Whenever the Empire’s forces went there, the beasts fled. When the forces left, the beasts returned. So my grandfather found a spot in the canyon where the beasts must pass to get into the Empire. He spent a decade to build up a nearly impenetrable fort, the Immortal Fort, that completely blocked off the canyon. 8,000 men were positioned there on a daily basis. It is designed so men and resources could be brought into the Fort from the back even when the front of the castle is under siege. A frontal Matrix can be kept on for a year as long as the resources hold. It is a work of miracle.”
“After hearing news of the beasts amassing, I sent half of the men in the city, 15,000 of them, to Immortal Fort. 23,000 men should be more than enough to hold the beasts.”
“Against the beasts, maybe, but against the Voyagers?”
Adam knew all too well how mysterious the Voyagers were. After acquiring the watch of Avatar and seeing the three nukes inside, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Voyagers among the beasts have similar weapons as well.
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“I will send more men…”
“I’m afraid more men won’t cut it.” Adam shook his head. “You will need power entities to counter the Voyagers.”
“Define power entities.”
“At least fighters at my caliber.” The rogue Voyager glanced at Flores. “He’s one, but you’ll need at least a dozen of them.”
“A dozen?” Flores’ strength was acknowledged, but he wasn’t quite satisfied. “I am the Commander to the Empress Guards. I am one of the best fighters in the world. You want a dozen of me? I don’t think there are a dozen people my caliber in the entire world.”
“Then we will need to make up for that with numbers.” Empress suddenly decided something. “Tell me, will 3,000 Empress Guards be enough?”
“Your grace!”
“Your grace! The duty of the Empress Guards is by your side!”
The first was from General Zach and the second was from Flores. Neither of them liked where this was going, but Empress ignored them.
“Tell me. Will that be enough?”
Adam looked into the Empress’s deep, blue eyes. He wanted to say yes, but that would be lying.
“I don’t know.”
“Your grace!”
“We have no other choice!”
“Your grace! Did you forget how you meet him?” Flores pointed at Adam. “The Voyagers have sent someone to assassinate you, and they will do it again if they have to. If they send another assassin, the forces in Crown’s City cannot protect you…”
“They can’t, because I won’t be in Crown’s City.”
“What?”
“The Empress Guards will be with me at all times. They will be at Immortal Fort, and so will I.”
“Your grace!” This time even Adam was unsure. “You are too important to be at the Immortal Fort! It will be a battlefield over there. No one will be safe...”
“Which is why I will be there, in the front.” Empress answered without a sense of doubt, even if everyone in the room was objecting. “If even I won’t die for my empire and my people, then why should my men?”
Adam gulped.
“I admire your courage, but look at the bigger picture: If you die, the Empire will crumble…”
“If Immortal Fort falls and the beasts pour into my realm, the Empire will fall.” Empress was pushing the words through her teeth. “I will not sit in my palace and wait until my men bring me victory. I will be fighting on the front, and if I am to fall, then so be it. This conversation is over.”
Adam nodded slowly. Suddenly, he grinned.
He missed the feeling of being around people who shined of courage and honor.
“Well, if you are willing to risk your life, then what reason do I have to not do the same?” Adam tapped the border between the two empires. “In that case, I will deal with the Empire of the Moon. I will wipe out the Voyagers among them and end their threat.”
Or die trying.
----------------------------------------
Jean slit the throat of the last man.
Around her, a village was burning. At this point, it has already been a familiar sight.
The six Voyagers came together after the slaughter.
“That was the last inhabited area in the proximity.” Violet concluded. “We should decide what we do next, whether if it is keep looting or join the other parties.”
“The others have passed on some interesting information.” Blink said. Before all the Voyagers departed, they exchanged methods of communication. They have never stopped exchanging words. “Druid is in the mountains. He has controlled an army of powerful beasts. It’s just a matter of time before he brings them down into the world of men.”
“Almost 30 Voyagers are working with the Empire of the Moon. They have assassinated all the voices of peace. They even turned the Emperor from an advocate of peace to one of war.”
“How? A political coup?”
“Nope. They killed the Crown Prince, the only son to the aging Emperor, and framed it on the Empire of the Sun.”
Terminate the line of heritage to get the job done. Whoever came up with that idea is a qualified Voyager.
“The Empire of the Moon is readying for war. We can definitely get some job done if we join the invasion forces.”
The Voyagers nodded. Jean was one of them. After acquiring all those runed weapons, she had her Purifiers analyze them. The result was that these runes could be added to the Purifiers, but the current Purifier technology wasn’t capable of doing the replication. They could, however, transport the runes from captured weapons and armors to the Purifier units directly.
By participating in the invasion, Jean could get more runes and attempt to get access to incorporate the rune technology to her own forces. Since her Warden and Purifier forces were appearing to be too weak in the City of the Voyagers, it would be a perfect opportunity, one that is too valuable to waste.
“As for keep looting, one of the other kill teams talked about being hunted down by an army of 5,000 elite calvaries. They almost lost one man to their Assault Formation, which had extremely powerful penetration abilities. If we stay around here, we will have to face the calvary by ourselves eventually.”
None of the Voyagers wanted that. Working to get the job done was good, but working to get the job done while taking fewer risks and getting more profit was even better. It was easy to see how tanking 5,000 horsemen by themselves was more difficult than joining an army and 30 other comrades against a less powerful enemy.
Now the question becomes this: The beasts or the Empire of the Moon?
“The Empire of the Moon.” Violet suddenly declared.
The two factions seemed to be similar in level of power, but there was one thing different with the beasts.
Violet knew Druid, the Voyager who was leading the beasts. Druid was a Voyager who has gone through 3 missions who has the ability to control animals. The weaker the animals, the more he could control. From what she estimated, Druid has at least fifty thousand beasts under his total domination.
If she went to the mountains, there would be very little she could do. She would never remain passive, but if she wanted more profit, she would be taking away profit that belonged to Druid. The Voyager wouldn’t budge, and Violet didn't have the confidence to beat him and his army of beasts.
If it was a group of Voyagers, then she could use some tactics, but even though Druid had some Voyagers with him, he had most of the power.
With the Empire of the Moon, it was completely different. Violet was certain she could manipulate her way through the 30 or so Voyagers. There were more local powers there as well. Things would get a lot easier.
Cassandra was the first to agree. The rest of the Voyagers didn't have any objection either.
Neither of them knew this, but Jean and Adam were heading toward the same location. Only, they were on different sides.
Things were really starting to get interesting...