Dungeon Robotics 9 - 23

Good Evening Everyone! Sorry for no uploads last two days. First my laptop then there was a snowstorm. Its been a fun week lol.

Chapter 23

Louella

Wiping the blood from my body, I was amazed at the healing of a tier four body. It also brought to mind the fact that I was only tier one less than two years ago. It was scary how fast my fates had changed since meeting Regan.

I knew that I wasn’t unique though. While slower, people in the valley were at all altogether higher level than people outside. The power of knowledge had boosted everyone that took the time to learn more. The last census put the number of tier twos in the valley at a level that was almost unheard of, and that was before all the refugees came to the valley.

A knock came from the door to my bathroom. One of my female assistants called out. “Your majesty. You are needed on the bridge.”

“Thank you. I’ll be there in a moment.”

I went back to cleaning up my body as quickly as I could. If I was any lower tier, I would scared by the sheer amount of blood that I wiped away. The fact that the creature that caused this was communicating through a dream and still was able to hurt me this much just shook me to the core. What kind of monster would have such power at their disposal?

A few minutes later, I was cleaned and dressed on the bridge. “What is the matter?”

The captain… I guess he was the admiral now, saluted as I came over. Our military was being organized literally on the fly at times. He had proven himself over the other captains in Ebonyfalls, and I decided to give him command over the fleet in the event that I was not present. “We’re about six hours from our target, but our advanced scouts reported a fleet of airships ahead.”

“A fleet of airships?” I repeated mainly because I couldn’t believe what I heard.

The admiral shook his head. “Nothing like ours ma’am. It appears they took every commercial vessel they could find and retrofitted them with armor and a few weapons. I’m fairly confident that we could turn them into splinters within a few minutes.”

“Ah. Now that you mention it, I was wondering where all the merchant and private ships had gone. I guess this explains it.” Merchants were resourceful. Just take Skywood for example. Be it luck or cunning, but he made his way to the valley before all this madness started and still managed to make a profit in the process. It wouldn’t surprise me if others of his ilk had stowed their ships away so they weren’t caught up in the war.

“They have blockaded the fastest route to the city, but we could make a detour and barely notice the delay,” the admiral said with a straight face.

“We outmatch them by that much, huh?” I asked with a sigh. Just how far advanced was Regan to have pushed us like this. It was almost scary, well, it had been scary since day one if I was being honest with myself.

“It is sad, but true. The Machine Father’s ships are… a truly powerful weapon.”

“While I want avoid fighting, I feel like avoiding the airships could lead to them going after our rear. It is probably best if we deal with them.”

“It will be extremely hard to fight them without heavy casualties on their side.”

“I am aware.” You don’t blast a ship from the sky and expect the sailors onboard to survive a fall that could be greater than four hundred meters at times. “We will engage the fleet. Prepare the troops. Just because we believe we outmatch them in every aspect doesn’t mean we get sloppy.” I looked at all the gathered members of the bridge crew with a critical eye. “We all know what happens when someone took a battle for granted.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

I nodded then turned to make my way off the bridge. My incident from the morning had drained me more than I expected and I was surprisingly tired. I wanted to return to my quarters to rest until we reached the upcoming battlefield. I was almost back to said quarters when Wrakras caught up to me.

“A word,” he said with a serious tone.

“Sure.”

“Your assistants came to me this morning. Apparently, they found your bed covered in blood.”

I groaned in annoyance. I had forgotten about that with that summons to the bridge. “Yeah.”

“I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to explain,” Wrakras demanded and I thought he sounded almost protective of me. I mean, he had been guarding me for a long time, but this sounded different than the normal.

I nodded slowly. “Alright.”

Back in my quarters, I found my bed had been cleaned and new linens had already been placed. I would need to give my assistants a raise. Hell, everyone that worked for my queendom deserved a raise. I laid on my bed after explaining as best I could about what happened. I almost felt… normal as I did so.

Wrakras looked at me with concern as he contemplated. I could almost see the gears in his head spinning. It felt good to go to someone else other than Regan about a problem. I was sure that we would have to eventually go to him to ultimately solve it, but for now, I enjoyed having someone else to talk to.

He might have once tried to take me hostage, but Wrakras had changed since then. He was fun to be around and it was always fun to watch him enjoy his meal. There were few people that I’d met that could make their food look so delicious. Maybe I should try to get closer to him, Regan was taken by Alara anyway. I quickly looked away as my cheeks flared red. Did I really just think that?

“This sounds dangerous. Please tell me if something happens again. I do want to protect you after all.”

“How am I supposed to tell you if it happens during my sleep?” I asked with a chuckle. I knew what he meant but I wanted to give him a little trouble.

He laughed before he stood up. “Get some rest. I will tell you when we get close to the enemy fleet.”

“Thank you.” He started to leave and I quickly called out. “Wrakras!”

“Yes, my lady?”

I turned and looked at the wall so I couldn’t see his face. “When its just the two of us. Call me Louella. Please.”

“Very well. I shall endeavor to do so, Louella.”

~~~

It might have only been three hours, but they were some of the best sleep I had gotten in a long time. Feeling rested, Wrakras and I were soon on the bridge for the coming conflict. In the distance, just over the horizon the enemy fleet made up of about forty ships formed a blockade.

Using the telescopic ability of our detectors, we were able to examine the enemy ships. There was almost no unity to the shape of the ships. Some were large, some were barely larger than ten meters. While it looked like all of them had been fitted with some amount of armor, almost all of it looked like it would fall off if it was hit. I wasn’t sure what they were expecting to fight, but even our smaller caliber weapons would make mince meat of their ships.

“Its worse than I expected,” I couldn’t help but comment.

“I agree. Have they heard nothing about our capabilities?” asked the admiral with a bit of disbelief. It was a given that information could make or break a war. Maybe the king was truly dealing with some sort of madness. Given what I heard about Izora’s father, there were things in this world that were capable of causing such a change.

“Do you think they will be open to negotiations?” I asked leaning against the rail to take in the multiple ships. If there wasn’t a strong unity among them, maybe we could get a few to break off from the coming conflict and surrender without a fight.

“Normally I would say yes, but… well here,” Wrakras said before he handed my his tablet. I took it and immediately realized what he meant. On the side of the airships, the symbol of Lelune was painted with gusto. Pictures from our scouts that were braving the enemy to get close had also captured a priest or priestess on each ship that was giving off the mana pressure similar to the saintess that we encountered back in the keep.

“Looks like this is going to be a slug fest.” I handed the tablet back to Wrakras. “Ready your men, admiral. We’ll let them make the first move then show them that we’re not to be messed with.” I thought for a second as something came to me. “Make sure you send them a message with our intent. Tell them they are free to unconditionally surrender whenever they feel like it.”

The admiral grinned and saluted. “As you command, your highness.”

Izora

After we spent the day getting everything in order, we had a decision to make. We had free range over our flight plan since we were so far north. There weren’t many cities or towns this way due to the last century of warning with the necromancers. No one wanted to settle this way when they never knew when the dam that was known as Ebony Fort would burst unleashing a tide of undead on them.

Looking at the map, we could head south east and join up with Louella’s forces. Their ships were designed by Lord Regan himself and were a marvel. They likely wouldn’t need the assistance, but it never hurt to have back up. We could also head south along the coast and coordinate a strike from the rear while Louella took the front. It would help to push the kingdom to surrender without a larger scale fight.

“What do you think we should do teacher?”

Tsuzuki looked at the map before he pointed at the coast. “Like you said, it would be best to head south along the coast to render assistance from the rear. No enemy can survive long when a pinched between two forces.”

“There are no other good targets before the capital?”

He shook his head. “We could head past the capital and take Blue Whisper Port, but that is more of a waste. If we take the capital, we shouldn’t have to expend any forces on a fringe city like that. Plus, they are likely already suffering due to Jade Wind’s disappearance. At least seventy percent of their trade came from us.”

“I see. Those were my thoughts as well, but I wanted to be sure.” I turned to the gathered captains. “Leave a suitable guard. We leave in the morning!”

It would take us just over a day to reach the capital. We had to coordinate with Louella’s fleet and the third fleet before we arrived, or it would be meaningless. We didn’t have to rush quite as much this time. I made for my quarters while the officers worked out the details. Even I wanted to help, I would likely just get in the way when working out the finer details. As they said, the chain of command existed for a reason.

Hatsu accompanied me, or more like I dragged her along with me. She was responsible for making me feel the way I did. She was going to have to deal with me from now on. It helped that I was the queen, if anyone had anything to say about our relationship, they could find themselves in a very dangerous situation.

“I’m not sure this is proper, my lady.”

“We’re alone, Hatsu.”

“Sorry.” She blushed and tried to hide her face. “Izora.”

“That’s better.” I pushed her onto the bed and succeeded in getting a squeal from her. I ignored her and dropped onto the bed and put my head in her lap. Once I fell asleep she would be able to slide me to the side to get some sleep herself. “I’m tired. Wake me when its time for us to leave.”

“Y… Yes!”

Her chest eclipsed her face so I couldn’t see it, but I was sure she was even redder than before. I took a deep breath then let my mind wander before I slipped off to sleep. Being queen was stressful on a normal day, when you had to deal with over twenty thousand enemy citizens, it truly was a lot to handle.

“Thank you…” I mumbled as I slipped into the darkness.

~~~

“Izora. Your highness. It is daybreak.”

I blinked the sleep from my eyes as I sat up. I realized that I was laying under the covers. I yawned and placed a hand over my mouth. “Hmm. My lips feel a bit warm. Did you take advantage of me?” I asked jokingly. I was thus surprised when Hatsu turned scarlet and quickly threw the blanket over her head.

“Forgive me! I couldn’t resist. It was the temptation of the demons!”

I laughed finding her reaction cute. It made me want to tease her more. I guess I had a more sadistic side to me than I expected. I reached out and slowly slid the cover off her until her face was visible. “Don’t worry. You’re the only one allowed to touch me when you want. I’ll never be mad at you about that.” Tears sprang to her eyes in I hope was relief and I leaned forward to kiss her. “There. I got my revenge!”

It took a guard knocking at the door to pull us from our own world. Laughing at our recklessness, we quickly got out of bed and dressed. While I personally wouldn’t have minded staying in there all day, I had my duties. As I picked my lance, I realized it was annoyed at something.

“What, you have a problem?”

‘Kill’

“Oh, give it a rest.” Maybe I should have Lord Regan do something about the spirit that resided in the weapon. He could probably snap his fingers and be away with the being in an instant. Still, I was responsible for bringing it into existence. I shouldn’t be so hasty to try and wash away my mistakes.

I sheathed the weapon than made my way to the bridge. Everyone was ready for our departure. Giving the signal, most of our airships rose into the air. We were leaving three behind to hold the city. Since there were so many people, we had taken all their weapons while allowing them to roam free. Even if they went to reinforce the other forces, most were so traumatized by the ion cannon that they would only spark mutiny.

Moving along the coast, we could still see large swaths of land that were devastated from the terra wave a few months back. Anyone on the coast that wasn’t in a city to defend from the initial wave had to have the luck of the old gods to have survived.

“Your highness.”

I looked to see the radar officer staring at her screen with an almost death glare. “What is it?” I asked moving over. Captain Shido joined me.

“I’m… I’m getting strange readings from the Maelstrom.”

“What kind of readings?” The maelstrom was like an old friend to the gnomes. Most gnomes had gone their entire lives with it less than fifty kilometers from their homes. Some of my people claimed to have trouble sleeping without the sound of the storm. For centuries, the storm hadn’t changed.

“The overall mana readings are lower than I’ve ever seen them but…”

“What?”

“There is something wrong with the structure. Its like its reforming.”

Almost as if responding to her words, a section of the storm began to bulge out. The storm expanded rapidly in such a small place that it was unnatural. I’m not sure but my instinct made me shout before I could think. “Shields!”

The officer was just in time. The bulge fired like a gun and a spike of ice the size of a carriage slammed into the side of the airship. The impact was so strong that we were thrown about as we moved at least fifty meters to the side. If we’d been on the ground or even in the ocean, we would have suffered some serious damage.

“Get us over land!” Captain Shido ordered and the helmsman twisted the steering in an almost panic.

Another spike slammed into us and the hexagon that made up that section of the shield of the port side turned orange. That meant it was already at fifty percent. For something to have enough force to rip off that much of the energy was ridiculous. Our escort pulled between us and the maelstrom and took the next strike. Being smaller, her shields suffered more but more of the fleet moved in, trading place to diffuse the incredible energy.

We were nearly three kilometers over land before the ice spikes ceased. “If there had been two more we might have lost one,” one of the officers reported with a sigh. “All ships reporting reduce energy levels. The Kaga is at critical levels.”

The Kaga was the first escort to take the brunt of the assault. She had nearly lost her shields before we left the range of the storm. Glancing at the report, I couldn’t help but groan at the event. Looks like we’ll have to delay our assistance to Louella’s fleet. “Send a report. Get the mana accumulators up.”

The mana engines would recharge the mana in time, but it would take longer than we had if we wanted to help the other fleets. The accumulators were basically solar panels that would take in ambient mana. A fleet like ours would drain the area dry in a few hours but the surroundings would recover easily enough.

I turned to look out the bridge window at the maelstrom. I don’t know if it was just me, but it looked far more sinister than I had ever seen it. I couldn’t believe that we lived next to it for centuries and this was only the first time that we had been attacked by it. Maybe I should just be thankful.

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