Chapter 2 Part 2 of 4 (Patreon)

He slowed upon reaching the large main road that cut through Alva, all the way to Alva’s gate—wide open to the first realm. It had come to replace the tunnel bored through the hidden nation’s mountain.

The Sha ship hulls had been transformed and landed along the main road outside. A testament to Alva’s power and a warning to their would-be enemies. The ships cores removed for Delfina and the air-force’s newest project.

Statues lined the median in the road, wearing clothes from all walks of life, they each captured the determination of Alvans, stepping forward towards the tunnel entrance.

Erik saw the Alvans that had risen from the destruction of the outer mountain wall, rising to meet the sects that attacked their home. Gardeners, alchemists, teachers, medics, soldiers, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. It was not their duty, but they stood and rose to defend Alva, to defend their home.

Erik cleared his throat, tightening with memories, the noise gruff to his ears. He glanced around, checking if anyone had noticed him pausing. Pulling his shoulders back he stepped forward, his footsteps regaining their speed.

“Doesn’t feel like the same city it did on that day,” Rugrat said.

Erik rubbed his chest, phantom pain. “Alva certainly knows how to make a statement.”

Rugrat snorted. “You can say that again. Though getting turned into dungeon core shrapnel catchers wasn’t too fun.” His voice dipped. “But we learned a lot from it.”

Erik caught his eyes, sharing a look that connected the two of them, deeper than many blood brothers.

He patted Rugrat’s shoulder and nodded. “Fuck we’ve been through a lot together.”

“Known you too damn long.”

They chuckled. Erik shook his head and turned to the main road, and the carriages entering and exiting the gates. Towers reached up to the ceiling, while skylights cut through the mountain above to let in sunlight between the crystalline web of the mana storage formation.

He looked around at the buildings that had been replaced or repaired, the rubble and debris long-since cleared, and the roads smoothed from the impacts and craters that had been there before.

“Erik, it’s Elan, we’ve just received a report from our operators in the field. We found the Black Phoenix Clan’s fleet. I contacted Brigadier General Kanoa, Admiral Dujardin, and Commander Glosil, they’re on their way, as well as our agent on the ground.”

Erik and Rugrat looked at one another then looked up.

“Egbert!”

Light surrounded them.

***

Erik, Rugrat, Major General Kanoa of the combat wings, Commander Glosil of Alva’s military, Admiral Dujardin of the Air fleets, and Director Elan of Alva’s Intelligence Department blinked the light out of their eyes.

Aureus, one of Elan’s intelligence officers, and Earthers appeared in the meeting room. “Sir.” He nodded to Elan, raising an eyebrow in question.

“At ease, treat this as your de-briefing.”

“Yes, sir.” Aureus gathered himself quickly as the others took their seats. “Approximately three days ago, me and my partner Agent Sage were following up on a lead in the seventh real—a group purchasing supplies in bulk and picking them up from a smaller materials trader. It seemed normal but several traders were selling a small but steady stream of goods. We noticed a pattern, every two days a group would gather supplies from several traders and disappear out into the volcanic wastes of Kriva. They were different groups each time, but it was constant and the materials when added together were a lot.” Aureus coughed and pulled out a water bottle, drinking from it.

“We called in the support of some other agents and watched the traders that had done deals with the group before. The group showed up yesterday, and they were actively trying to hide their appearances, too hard for it to be normal and they were on alert, using several detection and stealth spells. We followed them out into the wastes. They were using trap and alarm spells that made it impossible to follow them without being detected.

“We swept the area instead, looking for signs of ships. The area is filled with fire, earth and water attributed mana.” Aureus shook his head. “We couldn’t find any traces, but Sage came up with the idea to talk to people at the local mission hall. While the wastes are inhospitable, there are several areas where people might be able to stay comfortably. Three of them are large enough to house several ships.” Aureus looked at the men in the room and tried to hide his grin as he pulled out an observation formation and placed it on the table.

The runes glowed, revealing a picture of a lake with a small island off to one side with several warships docked nose first.

“One Cruiser, five destroyers, seven Frigates and fifteen corvettes, each of the Black Phoenix Clan design. This is the Yori Caldera, deep in the Kriva range.” Aureus tapped the formation and it changed to show a topographical map.

“Mountains create a rugged landscape around the Caldera as the mana in the area create a chaotic fog through the range. Corvettes patrol the Caldera and there were several forces on flying mounts patrolling further afield and holding position in observation posts.”

“What’s a Caldera?” Rugrat asked.

“A volcano that erupted so fast and hard that the top of it collapsed into its magma chamber, leaving a sizable crater,” Kanoa said. “Growing up on a Archipelago made from or are volcanoes you learn a thing or two.” He shrugged.

“Where is your partner and the other agents?”

“They’ve taken up positions around the Caldera as best as possible and created a network of sound transmission devices to communicate with our people in Kriva city. The Black Phoenix Clan ships remain inside the Caldera.”

Erik leaned forward on the desk. “I’ll be the first to say that you and your people have done some damn good work. Now we just need to kick these bastards out of the air.” He shifted his gaze to the leaders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

“It’s a sizable force. If we want to cut them off, we’ll have to field our own fleet,” Edmond said.

“The agents that are on the ground, they know how to do a call-in for fire?” Kanoa asked.

Aureus stood at parade rest. “Yes, sir.”

“Good, then we can pound them from a distance. If I was them, I would have spies watching every totem around the range. As soon as we show up, they’re going to know we’re there.”

“We can teleport into the area, then accelerate at best speed for the Caldera, deploy the air wings for long range bombing and put our rail cannons to use, hitting the ships that are docked within the Caldera at range before they even see us.” Edmond said, mirroring Kanoa’s thoughts.

“Right.” Glosil’s brows pinched together. “How long until you’re ready to move? Every minute our agents are watching them is a minute that they could find them.”

“Forty minutes, all ships are loaded with munitions.” Edmond grimaced, his eyes sliding to Erik and Rugrat. “Though we have another problem.”

“Captains,” Erik said.

“We’re training people to control the dungeon cores, but right now, well, there’s about forty undergoing training. The ex-sha captains were trained to fight with the old ship design with broadsides and sails, not wings, turrets and missiles. The Alvan captains are just learning how to use the dungeon cores."

“Do you have a solution?”

“Erik and Rugrat have the ability to do both. I suggest we have them as our Cruiser Captains, then we can have the chief designer Delfina, Egbert, formations masters Qin Silaz and Julilah and myself manning our Destroyers. The Frigates are easier, being missile boats, and smaller, so they’re much more manageable. I would suggest sending the Corvettes in with the fighters and bombers to add to their punch, they’re the fastest warships we have.”

Glosil looked over to Erik and Rugrat.

“Just tell us where you need us.”

“If the airships a-rockin’ don’t come a-knockin’!” Rugrat grinned.

“Admiral Edmond, I will leave this under your command. Kanoa, support him as required. Aureus, you will go with the fleet to act as our liason with your agents on the ground.” Glosil rose amongst the nods.

“We have work to be done, all leave is now cancelled. Let’s be done with the Black Phoenix Clan once and for all.”

The others rose from their seats.

“Yes, sir,” Kanoa and Edmond acknowledged, saluting and turning to one another.

“Looks like we’re invading the seventh realm. Change of pace,” Rugrat said as he followed Erik to the door.

***