Chương 78: Chapter 77 - Calm before the Storm.

Two days passed, the docks riling up into a storm as war preparations were made and squads of delvers were assigned to the vessels. The Bombard of Instant Annihilation and Doom was bolted onto the front of a caravel, with several wooden supports coming up from the deck. The entire ship leaned forward from its weight and counterweights had to be placed in the back for balance. Nythera waited on the docks as Aldric's ship arrived. The sun dimmed as the late evening set.

He sauntered down the gangplank, haggard eyes locking onto her in a moment.

"You called me all the way down here, it better be fucking good."

"Don't worry, it will be" Nythera led Aldric to a quiet corner of the docks, empty of any ships and far from prying ears.

"Spit it out, I don't have all day" Aldric scowled. He's insufferable even when I'm trying to help. I am this close to just telling him to fuck off and walking away. But I know better. She breathed in deeply, regulating the rising urge to launch him off the docks. One tug on Authority had it singing in her grasp.

"What dark magic are you up to?" Aldric's eyes cast suspicion and he took several steps back.

"Aldric, you will serve the people of Myrraval in your capacity as the Governor of Rustreach with integrity, truth, and competence, until your role comes to an end. You will never betray Grandport, the people of Myrraval or Nythera vel Aurendor. Serve and serve well so that you can do your station proud." She pushed the authority onto its soul, feeling the shackles settle. His eyes cast hate as he clutched at his chest, stumbling backwards.

"You fucking bitch, trying to use your authority to control me? I should have expected such a ploy!" Aldric whipped his sword of the sheath and pointed it at her, casting fugitive glances around, as if expecting an attack. She held her hands up "Look Aldric, that is, word for word, the exact same contract levied on the other governors, how could I trust you when you were the only governor on Myrraval without such? With it, we can now talk on fair terms, you want in the migrant loop?

Deal, what immigrants are you looking for?" Nythera tried to make herself appear as harmless as possible. His scowl deepened "This is exactly what I was worried about, you enslaving us with authority" he spat into the water "Prove it right now, prove you aren't about to enslave me. One step closer and I will kill you" he brandished the blade, waving it to and fro. I am almost certain I could blast him to bits with a single shot, but that would not be a constructive way to rule.

I use fear with enemies, not allies, unwilling as they might be.

"Half the classed miners, let's say, with the other half going to Waketown. How is that? The factory forge in Waketown is for tools for now, but I intend to convert it to weaponry later, if Rustreach can continue making tools, it can scale industry and eventually monopolize most of the tool trade later. For now we need tools faster than you can make them, there are just too many immigrants. Do we have an understanding?" she held out her hand.

He cautiously sheathed his sword, keeping one hand on the hilt, and reached out a hand. He took her hand, staring into her eyes and shook it slowly "Fine, we have a deal, but why the cannons? Do you need an entire factory just for cannonry? Planning to wage a lot of war around these parts?" Aldric shot off suspicion-loaded questions one after another. She sighed. I'm going to need to prove every single step, aren't I? Very well. Nythera flicked up and shared part of her status.

Domain Edict: Cascading Fire (lvl 1) For every piece of artillery in your domain, launch a projectile equal to the projectile currently loaded in that artillery piece from a point above a designated target anywhere within your domain. Gain 5% explosion area per authority level. Cost: 1000 flux.

"I would like to make use of this in defense of Myrraval, if we can manufacture enough cannonry, this could become as fearsome an ability as any of the Tide Dukes hold" Nythera watched closely for a reaction. Aldric stumbled back "That is a fearsome ability, with enough cannons, any invading force could be wiped out in a single volley" His eyes flicked up to her, now filled with understanding.

Aldric eyes flicked off her, his gaze coming to rest on the waters of the port "Rustreach has it rough due to God's Wrath, we don't have the defense of Grandport and are too close to the coast, nearly a fourth of the farms are wiped out every year. We would like a road built from Quartzwoods to us, so that our delvers may travel safely to the interior, and as a shorter route around the island. If you can provide that… perhaps we can talk" Aldric relented. I had not even considered that…

but passage through the island's interior could be faster than sailing all the way around and up the river. A more connected island could only be good, caravans perhaps? Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"I was not aware God's Wrath was that bad for Rustreach, I will keep that in mind. We can bring up the interior road at a council meeting, perhaps when Waketown is built, we could focus on getting a second route inland constructed" Nythera said.

"Do you know why Rustreach is where it is? It isn't just for the iron" Aldric's gaze turned melancholy.

"Everyone here was misfits at first, and when Grandport was first being built, the people of Rustreach, their ancestors mostly, felt that we were merely recreating the same systems of oppression we had come from, without the cores" Aldric turned to face her, holding her gaze.

"My people are the misfits of the misfits, and we will defend our place on Myrraval to the death." Nythera piped up after a pause "From now on, for any major council meetings, I will try to give both you and Felix more time to arrive before we start. Perhaps in the future we can have a flying-ship ferry that can speed you here within a day. I am not looking to rule with an iron-fist, I would rather have you on my team than against it" she held out her hand. This time he took it with grace.

"I will watch every move you make, as long as my people's independence and place on this island is not threatened, maybe we can come to an agreement." Aldric left Nythera on the dock, disappearing somewhere into Grandport's winding alleys. Well that went far better than expected, I suppose I will need to help Rustreach out a fair bit if I want this support. A happy island is a thriving island, keep all the governors in line and we'll avoid any more Dead Moon incidents.

Nythera strode to the main dockyard, where her three warships were readying for battle. After examining the Bombard of Annihilation's shells resting in the hold, she called forth the party leaders and the captains of the ships for a strategy meeting.

"Alright, let me make it crystal clear, Blune, your ship is running defense for Ret's ship. My ship will serve as the primary decoy, with the main archer squad onboard. Ret, you're to stay back as far as you can while hitting it with every shell you got" Nythera looked for understanding in each man. Blune spoke up "So we are defending Ret from what exactly? Why do you have us all the way back here?"

"The spawn, Obros-Ka has a lot of them, thousands, they will come for my ship, but I'm flying and fast, you are not-flying and slow. When they come for you, if they do, you won't be able to withstand the full swarm. I'm trying to keep most of the spawn and the flying boulders off your ass so they can launch the cannon" Nythera answered. Ret nodded "Stabilizing that cannon is going to be a bitch, I can't guarantee any accuracy."

"That's fine, our target, Obros-Ka, is the size of a small mountain" Nythera slammed her barrel into the barrel in the middle.

"This is Obros-Ka." She pulled a spark out of her bag "Nah this is too big, anyone have any small pebbles? Grains of sands? Can someone get me sand?" Nythera asked the crowds around her.

"I got this" An arm reached between her and Blune and plunked down a little baggie full of sand "It's my lucky sand, I'd appreciate it back when you're done."

"Thank you, now…" Nythera reached in and did her damnedest to pull out just three grains of sand, carefully arranging it so the top of the barrel only had those three pieces.

"This is us, and that is Obros-Ka, if you still miss, I am going to be very disappointed" Ret had gone pale "Blimey it's fucking huge, you sure it can't move?"

"No, it's stuck to the wall, the most it can do is throw some rocks" she replied "Once you are out of rounds, I want both ships to retreat, all the way to Grandport." Blune nodded "Understood, Milady." He bowed lightly.

"Alright men, load the ships and let's be off." He bellowed out.

"Milady, if it throws rocks at us, there is nothing we can do, the cannon you made will end up becoming a shield" Ret said quietly.

"I'm aware, but don't worry about that, I'll keep it focused on my ship right in front of its eyes" her voice betrayed a tinge of worry.

"I hope the spawn taste good, it'll raise morale after we win" Ret muttered, then turned "We don't have all day, squads to my ship, NOW!" Ret shouted his orders. The sound of sloshing waves hitting docks came from behind. She turned to find Leo's ship departing, launching off into the sky, he shouted orders with a ridiculous uniform to match the ridiculous hat.

Oh just you wait, you're lucky I can't get that back without causing a political incident, but I'll eventually have destroyers that make that look like a child's toy.

"Milady, if I might have a moment of your time?" Oswin breathed hard as if he had just run the length of Grandport.

"Yes? Finally found those maps instead of another glass of beer?" Nythera cocked an eyebrow in doubt. He nodded sheepishly "I managed to dig it out of the basement. Harder than you think." He thrust the dusty old parchment into her hands "All of those sites are downright ancient, but some are real dangerous, keep your wits about you if you go" Nythera immediately fed the map to Boxy.

"Thank you, I will take a look through it after I've killed that fucking bastard" Nythera said with a smile. And found her hands full of a heavy tablet "I also got this from one of those sites, buried under half a mountain of rubble, you'll find it marked on the map. I can't read the tablet and over half the sites on the map, I've never really been to, profession skill thing, you know" A glance at the top told her it would be an interesting read.

"Myraval Eastern Aetherite Mine Hostile Report" Nythera struggled to shove it into Boxy, but after she fiddled with the lid it slipped in.

"Have a nice trip, maybe bring some home to cook, I'd like to see what this creature tastes like" Oswin waved as she climbed the gangplank. All three ships departed under the cover of darkness, so that by the time they arrived, they would have a full day's worth of light to fight the beast under. Her vessel coursed ahead, riding winds well above the waves, she kept the jet force low enough that the other two ships could keep sight of her. A beacon in the dark. I suppose now is as good as time as any.

She trembled with anticipation, her hands moving on their own as her mind's thirst for knowledge demanded answers. With one leg thrown over the other, she sat on the upper deck by the console.

"Myraval Eastern Aetherite Mine Hostile Report #417"