Octavian:

"Lord Regent, we will leave soon, but beforehand there were some things that I wanted to discuss with you." I stood in Lord Kharon's office. He sat in his chair with a book in his hand and his legs propped up on his desk. His gaze flickered like a gentle flame as he eyed me.

"Octavian." His voice rolled like a gentle wave as he spoke, and his words punctuated the cover of his book slamming shut.

A strange feeling coiled in my chest as I stared at the skeleton. Nostalgia more than anything. How many times in my life did I sit in his office? When he passed, I didn't think I would ever have this chance again. "I have been planning since the day I returned, but fighting undead will be unlike anything we have ever had to do. So I wanted to present to you a way to combat them."

His eyes flickered again, and it sounded like he gave me a pensive sigh. "Oh, Octavian, you haven't changed. Tell me then, what have you figured out?"

"Before I died, we were working on an existing infrastructure plan. However, I would like to transform it into a military project." Years ago, we were working on restoring a failing infrastructure. One that was eroded by nobles sliding extra dollars into their pocket and turning blind eyes to the plights of the civilians.

"Which plan are we talking about? If I remember correctly, there were a few things that we were working on." Kharon nodded, and his eyes flickered as if they were dancing on a soft wind.

"The steam engine project. We need to make sure that we have a way to rapidly move troops around in the coming days. The undead are a far different foe than I have ever fought before. They will not surrender. They will not waiver. We can not siege them, nor break them. The only way that we will win the coming war is to grind them down and chew them out, and to do that, we need to make sure our war machine functions as smoothly as possible." Already I had planned out the first three phases of war. It was going to be some of the most brutal fightings I ever had the misfortune of ever partaking in, but it needed to be done.

"Oh, Octavian, you haven't changed a bit. Logistics has always been your strong suit. Have you informed the mistress of your plan?"

I shook my head. "I have spoken to her very little. I am afraid that our paths have crossed very little since then." It was regrettable, of course, but it was the way. She had an empire to govern, and I was but a blade to carve out the cancer that was running rampant through here.

"That is troublesome. The Empress has deemed it necessary that I take a vacation. However, with that being said, I doubt you will have direct access to her for quite some time. But I will be willing to ensure that you get a hold of all the resources you will need for the endeavor." He pulled his feet away from the desk and pulled himself forward.

"That would be much needed. I need steel, iron, wood, and whatever else you can get a hold of. Thankfully, outside of the mercenaries we now employ, we have little need for food. As long as the war machine can keep turning, we can crush whatever stands in our way." Already I was running through everything that we would need. Steel and iron would need to be a must so we could repair gear and fabricate more armor. While I knew it was in short supply currently, we would raid and pillage what we must from the foe to replace our lost equipment. Not to mention that once we reclaim the city, then we can use it as a staging point to further our crusade.

"I can arrange for that. What would we need for the steam engine?" Kharon reached into his desk, pulled out a notebook, followed by a pen, and quickly jotted everything down.

"Well, I'm not sure. I don't have the exact template in mind for it. The files that we had on it were lost when the capital fell. Perhaps if I give the engineering corp a general idea of it, we can create prototypes for it." It was truly a loss, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

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I felt a cold rage coil around my heart at the thought. I lost so much. No, we lost so much. We were once a burning star, and now, this. A shell of what we once were. I hated it. I hated them. But above all else, I hated myself. We were the thing that we swore to destroy.

"Tell me, Octavian, what are you thinking right now?" Kharon's voice pulled me from the thoughts that haunted me.

"I'm ashamed, old friend. I'm ashamed of what I am. But above all else, I am ashamed of my failure. I lost everything, Kharon. I lost my life, failed my country, and my honor has been destroyed." The words poured out of my mouth as my failure pressed down on me like the weight of the world. "It's all my fault."

"It's not. You did everything right. There was nothing that you could have done differently that could have avoided this. We did everything that we could. But when the angel betrayed us, our hands were tied. We all played our parts."

His words met the thoughts that swirled around my mind. He was right, of course. He always was. But it still didn't change how I felt. The burning rage within slowly boiled into a righteous fury that I held back. I will have my vengeance on those that betrayed us. There will be no mercy. "Thank you, Kharon. Anyway, just gather us everything that you can. This war will be worse than anything we have ever thought, and we will need to be ready."

"Of course, Octavian. Stay safe out there." He stood up, walked over to me, and placed a skeletal hand on my shoulder as we walked from his office. "Also, it's good to see you again."

I stood in the doorway and nodded my head. "That it is. I'm happy that I get to see you again. Though I wish it was on better terms than this."

He clattered his teeth together and nodded his head. "When you return from your crusade, let us get that mead you owe me. It's been far too long, and the last time we tried, it was a rather grave situation."

I bit back a chuckle as I reached my hand out to take his. "Of course, old friend. I'll see you soon." I took his boney hand in mine and shook it. Some of me felt sad that I was leaving him again, but duty came first.

I wandered down to the central part of the stronghold. The troops were already gathering and stowing much of the equipment. Those that haven't been doing repairs and were busy finishing the construction of wagons. I paused in the middle of the courtyard and felt the familiar gaze of hundreds of faces coming to rest on mine.

I felt a sense of disappointment coil in my heart as I gazed up at my army. At one point, I would have commanded a countless number of troops, but now, look at them. They were but a disappointment. They were ragged, and the colors of my nation were sullied. But their sense of duty was to be applauded. Even in their undeath, they served.

I strode through the courtyard, my eyes looking over the faces of my troops. A part of me recoiled at the visage of death that clung to them, yet I could still see the humanity that once graced their being. What have we become?

I bit my tongue as I walked further through the arrayed legion until I arrived at the engineer corp encampment. Much to my dismay, there was only a demi-cohort here. Back in the glory days, I would have an entire legion worth here. But at this point, I would take what I could get.

They were currently working on attaching metal plates to the various wagons already in construction and were stowing equipment within them. I was confused as to why we had wagons, if we had no horses, at least until I saw strange lumbering skeletal abominations that were being attached to the front of them.

Heartbreaking is what that was. But, at least they still kept the creativity they had in life. "Centurion." My voice easily cut through the sound of hammers striking metal. Not a single soldier stopped working, outside of one that appeared from the depths of one wagon.

It was a zombie of average build. His hair was tattered and greased, and his uniform cleaned the best it could be, given the situation. He lept from the wagon, landed, and shambled over to me. "Centurion Ulrich reporting, sir." His voice came in a quiet whisper as he quickly popped a salute.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to fight the disgust that boiled in my chest. "Come, Centurion, let's take a walk. I have a few matters I would like your input in." I gestured for him to join me as I spun on my heel to walk through the stronghold. All that was left was to explain to him the general idea of the steam engine, so hopefully, in the coming weeks, we could have a workable prototype. After all, being able to move resources quickly and effectively was one of the most pivotal parts of this war. It would be the only way we won against a threat like the undead.