The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Hagon Je'wrha of Tulva nervously read the reports that had flooded his desk. He gritted his teeth furiously as he read their contents. It was a nightmare. The slave rebellions shook his kingdom continuously, depleting precious resources he couldn't afford to lose. When he cut his ties with Berna, he had thought about freeing the slaves, but he realised that he needed the work they provided to even hope about establishing a country. He was certain that Dolren would keep opposing Arcadia and his traitorous daughter for months, even years, allowing Tulva to grow and develop itself internally. But that wasn't the case. Dolren died soon after Hagon declared independence and abandoned his duty as one of the Apostles of the True Gods. Speaking about Gods... Kaal'nai and Tuul'kara were the last two Gods of Berna. They were the deities of the sea, and they permanently resided in Tulva, granting their protection to sailors and blessing the entire region. They were also the last hope for Tulva to stay independent.

He looked at the ultimatum he received from Elisabeth Berna. The girl had the audacity to demand his head, along with the release of every single slave in Tulva, and for the country to pay outrageous amounts of reparations. There was no margin for any kind of negotiations. She gave him two weeks to respond. He wasn't sure if his subjects would revolt once they learned about the ultimatum, but so far, Elisabeth has been uninterested in enlightening the masses. Her Legions were constantly reinforced with fresh troops that seemed as experienced as the ones she lost. Hagon would give anything to learn the secret of the Legion's training that created a seemingly inexhaustible army, in which even a freshly joined recruit acted like a grizzled veteran. His only hope to make any impression on her and her fiance was his newly built armoured ships equipped with flawless guns. He sent six of them to attack her camp, hoping to stall the Arcadian army and create ground for peace talks. Right now, Arcadians were looking down on Tulva so he could forget about any kind of negotiations.

Arcadia... That Kingdom was simply impossible. They arose seemingly overnight and overthrew the ruthless and mighty Kingdom of Cridia. He trembled in fear mixed with anger, but he could have been angry only with himself. He ignored the threat while it was content with conquering Cridia. He never learnt anything about Arcadia and its inhabitants, assuming they were simply Cridians with new names. But now, it was too late to infiltrate the enemy structures. Hagon had no idea what could have possibly motivated such a man like Theon Avalon, but he never once bought Jukk'nala's bullshit. Unfortunately, that was a huge gambit on his part; if his iron-clad airships killed the Princess, the King of Arcadia might lose interest in further war or commit even bigger forces to avenge her. The chances were similar either way and without knowing that man, Hagon couldn't have predicted the outcome. Yet, directly attacking her camp was the only way of changing the tide of this war. The war he was losing. The people of Tulva were tired and scared, his army was exhausted, and the incredible wealth of his land was almost spent. It was clear to him that rebellions were going to shake his realm very, very soon. However... There still was hope. His workshops produced magi-cannons as fast as possible, and every fort and city was armed with them. If the ships wouldn’t force the Arcadians to negotiate with him, only the cannons would suffice. Their formidable power should slow down the Legions of Arcadia or, with a bit of luck, stop them entirely.

•••

"Lisa!" Janet grinned towards the awestruck Princess as she descended from Dauntless in one of the small boats stored on the giant battleship's rear deck.

The battleship that dropped its anchor into a nearby river slowly descended to the surface. The silver letters HMS Dauntless shone in the afternoon sun and Elisabeth was sure they were at least as big as she was. The ship itself was so huge that the Princess simply refused to believe her own eyes. It was like looking at a flying fortress. All of the airship's guns reflected the sunbeams, but everyone was focused on the largest guns facing forward and back. When the first shock passed, the people noticed the placement of the vast array of smaller weaponry. The new flagship of Arcadia was impressive and terrifying on all counts.

"Janet?! What in the name of Eriar is that?!" The Princess didn’t even try to hide her shock.

"This is my little boy. Hahaha," the Elf replied with a cordial laugh, standing on the rear deck of the quickly descending small boat.

"Gods..." Elisabeth continued to stare at the enormous airship.

The Admiral's small boat landed near the Princess and both of them exchanged hugs as soon as the Elf's feet touched the ground. Elisabeth looked at the craft that could easily ferry about thirty people, though probably less if they were fully armed Marines. It wasn't like anything she had seen before, but it looked aggressive and fast. It also appeared as if it was lightly armoured. Still, she wouldn't be deceived so easily. Dwarven armoured steel was one of the staple products of Avalon, used everywhere where sturdy and enduring armour was needed, from personal armour to the plating of military carriages. Of course, it had a shield, albeit a far lighter one than she expected. Despite that, the boat provided excellent cover for anyone using it. It was armed with a surprisingly small, but multi-barrelled cannon positioned centrally on the roof just behind a very compact-looking wheelhouse.

"What is that?" She pointed at the boat right behind Janet.

"Another miraculous invention from the King's previous world." The Elf grinned excitedly and tugged Elisabeth into the boat's rear deck. "It's called CB90 Fast Assault Craft. Of course, we have modified it to fit our needs and outfitted it with the top-of-the-line magitech."

The Admiral’s continued explanations began to overwhelm the Princess quickly. However, the young woman’s biggest shock was when Janet showed her that soldiers were carried under the deck in actual combat. The sealed compartment was accessible from the aft and bow of the craft. It was big enough for the soldiers to comfortably embark and disembark the craft to deploy on their missions quickly. Words like radar coverage, cloak capabilities, covert deployment, excellent combat awareness, and unparalleled speed flew over poor Princess's head without engaging with her already overwhelmed brain. Of course, it could have been outfitted with additional magi-cannons on the rear deck. However, Janet assured her that CB90 was not intended to fight against enemy airships directly.

"But it will if it has to," the Admiral concluded with a predatory smile as they exited the boat through the frontal assault ramp. "We have ten of them on Dauntless, but once we get more resources, we should get ten more. Two of them are stored directly on the landing deck on the aft of the battleship and are ready to deploy within five minutes of receiving the order. The rest is stored in special spatial storages and can be deployed within ten to twenty minutes, depending on Dauntless’s status."

"But if that ship had just a bigger gun it could easily fight enemy airships!"

"Well... Technically." Janet hesitated and shrugged after a moment. "Its core is not standard. It's much smaller, but the main difference between CB90 and full-sized ships is its range. As you know, airships gather mana from the environment. CB90's mana-gathering capabilities are very limited, and it is mainly used to power the main gun, shields, stealth systems, and so on. You can charge the mana storage with it but that will take at least the entire day. For the propulsion, the craft uses internal mana storage instead. Thanks to that, it has a range of about four hundred, maybe four hundred and fifty kilometres. Then it has to recharge before being deployed again. Fortunately, the reactors powering Dauntless need less than thirty minutes to charge the assault craft fully."

"I sometimes can't wrap my head around the weapons our King is gradually unleashing..." Elisabeth strolled behind the smiling Elf.

"It's like a continuous visit to a toy factory. I just can't wait for the next thing he will give me to play with." Janet giggled. "Of course, being our enemy must suck big time, but that's not my problem..."

Both of them laughed as they headed towards the Princess's command centre. They entered the command tent and took a seat around the table.

"I'm glad to see you, Janet." Elisabeth beamed a smile.

"Likewise, Lisa. I sailed straight here once the King let me." The Elf picked up a teacup and added sugar to her dark and fragrant drink.

"I heard the rumours about your new flagship, but honestly..." The Princess shook her head. "It's hard to believe the reports that Arcadia faces a major resource shortage crisis."

"But it's true." The Admiral shrugged. "We barely can build anything new and our economy is facing tremendous setbacks... It's not good, so the King wants to end this war as fast as possible."

"I can imagine..." Elizabeth sighed. "Anyway. Any misadventures on your way here?"

"You can say that... We have encountered six ships of Berna's Navy. New models– fully armoured in thick metal plating. They also carried guns far superior to what we previously encountered on their ships, but let's be real, they are still toys compared to the guns of Victory, not to mention Dauntless."

"Oh!"

"Of course, comparing their armour to my Dauntless is rather a fool's errand... They stood no chance. They barely scratched my shields." Janet grinned for a moment, but suddenly she grimaced. "I almost forgot! I will drop you a few prisoners of war."

"If you have to..." Elisabeth sighed. "I will have to send them to some prison camp... How many is 'a few'?"

"Hahaha... About that." The Admiral nervously took a sip of her tea. "Four hundred and seventy-three."

"What?" Elisabeth's voice was dry and empty.

"Two full brigs surrendered immediately! What should I do? Kill them like some barbarian?" Janet opened her arms powerlessly. "We also took prisoners on the remaining ships who initially wanted to fight, but that was just a handful of people."

"Pfffff..." Elisabeth lowered her head and covered her eyes weakly. "Fine. I will send them under guard to Tesalpa. It's just ten kilometres away from here..."

"I can ferry them there. It will be easier than guarding them on the way," Janet offered quickly.

"Excellent! We have almost a thousand soldiers in Tesalpa, so they should be able to manage the prisoners."

The Princess brightened, noticing Janet was looking around. Upon seeing her questioning gaze, the Elf smiled and asked, “By the way, where is Raphael?”

"He is preparing the Guardsmen to embark. We will attack the last Bernan province the day after tomorrow."

"All right... Victory and her strike group are ready. We will assist you."

"Jester was planning to do something but I'm not sure what. Pyonta? Can you guess what he plans?"

"You’re asking me to guess about Jester's plans?" Sitting far off in the corner as she prepared a report, the Bunny woman looked up in amusement at Elisabeth. "You’re joking, right, my Princess?"

"Well... You were working with him." Elisabeth smiled awkwardly.

"*sigh* Half of the time, he doesn't know what he wants to actually do, and the other half, he improvises," Pyonta tried to explain. "But surely enough, we don't have to bother with him or his plans. He will be fine."

The three women looked in silence towards the north and let out a collective sigh, after which they started laughing. After a moment, the Elf took a sip of tea and helped herself to a simple and tasty cookie. She also took out additional maps and placed them before Elisabeth, who studied them with interest.

"Right now, we have unquestionable air superiority." Janet fixed herself in a more comfortable position on the chair. "Dauntless and Victory would be enough for that; however, we have two frigates and five brigs as well. Edward's ships are currently patrolling the western border, and I don't know if I should recall them or not."

"Please, don't. I believe we need them on that flank. Trust me; the concerns are real." The Princess shook her head slightly.

"Fine. Let's hope we won't regret it."

"It's better to be safe than sorry. The Legions under my command are fully replenished." Elisabeth pointed at the elaborate map on her table. "Thanks to Jester, we have very detailed maps of the nearby area. I believe we can demolish their defences in one big assault."

"My Lady, the auxiliary forces are eager to fight." Pyonta straightened and wiggled with her long, white bunny ears. "I know that they are not ready to fight, but we want to help our people and all other slaves."

"You are right. They are not ready." Elisabeth said slowly, and Pyonta lowered her ears in sadness. "However, I know how important this is. I wasn't better than a slave myself not so long ago. That's why I want your people to aid the Guardsmen, Pyonta. They will need all the help they can get."

"With pleasure, my Lady!" Her secretary beamed a wide smile.

"Janet, I want you to spearhead the attack. Even if they muster the courage to fight the Legions, I don't believe they could muster enough courage to face your flagship."

"Dauntless would inevitably gather all their attention." The Admiral smiled, pointing towards the battleship. "Soo, Girls... Do you want to come on a little trip to Tesalpa?"

Elisabeth and Pyonta needed only a second to stand up and head silently toward the still-awaiting assault craft. Janet, laughing, followed them after she finished her tea.

•••

"You want me to destroy the entire dock?" The Orc scratched his head as he looked at Jester.

"Exactly."

"B-but... Why?!"

"The army of King Theon is going to attack the bad guys very soon," Jester explained with a grim smile. "You see that ship? It is going to kill many of our allies before they manage to stop it."

"All right..." Gorrak mumbled and stood up, making Jester panic.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Not now!"

"But you said..."

"I know. You will attack when you see the fire or smoke from that tower." Jester pointed towards the town hall.

"All right..."

Jester left his sidekick with a sigh. While the Orc was undoubtedly full of surprises and provided a never-ending stream of hilarity, he missed Pyonta. She was competent and efficient. While she was far less entertaining, the shipyard would have been already burning with her at his side.