Steel and Mana

Chapter 543 – Jinxed

Ignis, visibly angry, flew along the upper swell of the clouds above the forest, her claws sinking into their surface, leaving grooves behind that slowly filled back up as she passed by. Her wings twitched in little jerks, a sure sign she was incensed, just like how a cat would scrunch up its back when getting annoyed, her tail already swinging.

“That was nothing,” she hissed to herself, her tail lashing out, cutting through the clouds. “Nothing! I wasn’t even looking! They cheated… they cheated again! I'm just not... used to it yet...”

Her thoughts came in waves, replaying the incident of the assault that resulted in a spectacular failure and the death of her puppets. The four beasts she had just lost, even though they weren't important, still failed to give her what she wanted... information. They were like... mocking her! The Vasas were not even taking her seriously, which annoyed her and kept coming up in the back of her mind, even when she wanted to ignore it. It stung... And she hated that it felt that way.

“They’re supposed to be mine,” she growled. “They think they can stand up to me? Their mother?! Hmph! I will show it to them... next time... I will send more!”

She puffed out a breath as her wings opened to their full size, only to clamp shut again, sending her into a furious dive, cutting through the clouds and appearing below them, spreading her ash-made wings wide again, slowing her fall. With an accompanying sonic boom and wind bending the trees, snapping many of them, she stopped above the forest, watching the countless beasts scatter as she appeared, her aura pressing down on thousands of fragile minds.

“…No rushing, though,” she muttered, her voice lower now, sounding more controlled. “I learned that... Patience...” She frowned, thinking, feeling that something inside her wanted her to hurry, to rush things, but it felt... like it wasn't her, but something... foreign. ”No rush." She pushed it down again, "I have time, endless time... Let's see what else my rowdy children have in store. I can't risk going back to sleep, not again..."

By then, she was already connecting her mind to the nearby nests, prompting the other, ruling beasts to bend their minds to her and starting to use them to force all the tiny ones into order, preparing them for her next assault.

“That spear of light,” she whispered in the middle of it, tapping a claw against one of the cracks of her scales, covering her neck... That injury had already healed, but it still left behind a scar from her clash against the Camelot. “I will have to force that weird creature out and deal with it first... That thing is dangerous." While thinking, new, simple minds were lighting up in her head, as she had already subjugated almost ten local monsters and was beginning to spread her influence, creating a tidal wave of smaller creatures. When she felt she had enough under her control, she rose slowly, her crimson, massive form stretching across the land, her shadow becoming oppressive to all who had escaped her influence but still quivered under her presence. “No more single beasts,” she said, licking her lips, showing some of her fangs. “No more little tests. I will send many... Enough to make you show every claw you have! Let's see how you fare against this, you rowdy children!”

...

....

.....

Once again, sitting aboard the Camelot, we were returning to the Pride after I had met with my kids, my parents, and some of the other leaders. I even visited Mirian before coming over. I toured her factory and saw that she would have multiple mechs ready soon, ready to be sent not only to the Pride but also to the other two Passes. As for our efforts... we were also doing our best to select future Knights and people for the Subjugator-class variants. For the latter, Lucca had finally narrowed the list, showing me that we would have four such pilots ready... Six, if Kiva and he can pilot one such machine. Which I would of course allow... All that we can have, we will have, as the Prydwen was assigned to be Lucca's machine the next day.

As for the Pride, upon our arrival, I watched as trenches, channels, new foundations, an airfield, and temporary outposts were being established. Both my Avalon, the Vasas, and the Union members were reshaping an entire mountain and the surrounding land by brute force.

But I was afraid that... Even then… it wasn’t enough.

“Welcome back, Sovereign,” came Seltana’s voice through the bridge comms. “We had a probing attack not that long ago, but nothing major.”

"I heard and read the reports," I answered, "Good job in repelling them and even better with the way you did it. I expect nothing less in the future."

"I expect to give nothing less either." She answered, and I could feel she was smiling.

“Good." I chuckled, closing the channel and turning towards Kustov, I continued. "Bring us in,”

The moment I stepped off the ramp, Seltana was already there, waiting, and to my and Sasha's surprise, Sa'Ith wasn't. As for Seltana, she looked tired, but not physically. It was more like the expression of someone who’d been overthinking things, maybe stressing about some issues that weren't really an issue... I could see her as someone running too many scenarios in her head and having the misfortune of being right about most of them.

“You should rest," I said at once, but seeing her gently shake her head, I just nodded back, "I see. Please, report."

“I have analyzed the four controlled beasts that attacked us,” she summarized. “If I assume that our enemy, Ignis, is doing her first round of strategizing, she is better than the usual amateurs. The testing she tried was a good approach; she just lacked the experience to mask it behind another attack, so I managed to notice it early. By keeping an eye on what she will do next, I will know how much she improves from such a loss... and can evaluate her further.”

"Mhm," I nodded, exchanging a quick glance with Sasha, “Any predictions?”

“One.” She stopped, glancing at me, "We will be attacked soon, and probably by a massive horde. I have already ordered the sensors to ping the forest constantly and disallowed our people from strafing far from base, only far enough to lay down mines and return as soon as possible. I also sent a warning message to the other Passes, telling them to be extra ready. If Ignis sends that horde that I am expecting, and..."

"And?" I prompted, seeing her fall silent, her eyes moving back and forth as she thought about it.

"If she is smart enough, she would try the other Passes. But if she isn't, she will focus on us. Which will prove one other point..."

"Which is?" Sasha asked, smiling at her.

"That the beast they fear as the herald of the end times is nothing but a child."

"Still... A powerful child..." I murmured, glancing towards the horizon, "Let's hope it's the truth and she will focus on us. I don't know if we could travel to the other Passes in time. Well... we can hug the mountains and fly, though," I added, an idea coming to me.

“Yes,” she nodded, following my gaze. “You could carry some Vasas if that's the case. They are potent warriors, on par with our mechs if we are looking only at their raw fighting power.”

“Hmm…” I began walking again, thinking on the new idea that kept growing inside me, and it became almost complete as we stepped into the main tower. I walked to the primary table, bringing out the maps we had, marking the three Passes. The mountains dominated most of the map on this end, while I kept looking and tapping on the edge of the table while I was thinking.

"What is it?" Sasha asked.

"We need a better connection," I said, crossing my arms, skimming it, calculating in my head. At the same time, Seltana also walked up to the table, looking at the map and waiting for my explanation, "Oleg had already asked about it... Speaking of Oleg," I shook my head, glancing at Seltana, "He will arrive in a day or two. Don't worry, I am not taking your commanding position away, but he will be your co-commander."

"Understood." Seltana saluted, without flinching.

"You will be responsible for our strategies," I continued, "He will be commanding the airships and the air force. Work together."

"Naturally." She nodded, "Any news of General Lucca?"

"Still working on the recruits, but he should return early summer." I muttered, my eyes back on the map, "But if Ignis adapts and learns, and attacks the other Passes simultaneously... we may be in trouble. We need a quicker connection between them."

“What idea did you come up with?” Sasha asked carefully, her eyes following mine.

“A stupid one,” I said. “Which means it’s probably the right one.”

I traced a line across the mountains, on this side of it, along its feet, hugging its edge, going from the Pride, eastward, toward the Markothian Pass, then further, linking to the Third. One single route, either down at the bottom or up on its edge... later on, if we have time, maybe drill it into the mountain like some subway... but for now, it should be one single railway. Or something like it.

“We need to connect the Passes,” I explained. “We need a fast transport option between the fronts, sending reinforcements that don’t need multiple days to arrive, having to ship them back to Avalon, out towards Markoth, and whatnot. I know it's risky, especially in the winter when the cold comes down from the top…” I tapped the map. “But we could do it high. On the mountain’s side, with elevated tracks. It may also be safe from monsters if they come near the mountain to die before it..."

“You want to build a rail across the entire mountain?” Sasha asked, crossing her arms, thinking about it,

"Something like that," I mused, "Pretty much a straight line, having the trains go full speed, connecting to the others, allowing us to reinforce and regroup if necessary. We can also use armored trains, moving artillery if we need to have one... But, for now, I just think about having a quicker way to move troops across three Passes."

"That won't be easy to pull off..." Sasha added, but she was already holding a little book, scribbling, probably estimating the needed resources.

"If one of the Passes falls, we will have a hard time resisting, and we could be caught with our pants down."

"We are already deep into expanding the Pride," Seltana joined in again, "With all the equipment already here, we can start working on it pretty quickly, and if needed, send word to the other Passes to start from their end. Then meet in the middle..."

"First," I crossed my arms, looking at the map, "I will sit down and go through the details and see what we can do. For now, I can use the Camelot to go back and forth, and soon all the other airships will be here, including the rebuilt Stormbringer."

"What about Ishillia's ships?" Seltana asked, my comment reminding her of our allies' powers.

"They are going to be split and sent to the others," I glanced at her, while explaining, "I am glad I made that call, because listening to you, I do feel that an upcoming attack is inevitable. And I just hope you are right and Ignis will focus on the Pride... If we can keep her attention here, on us, we will have a better chance than having to run back and forth between the other two."

"Our best chance to do that," Sasha offered, "is Sa'Ith and her people. She is most likely obsessed with them, and with the survivors living here, she may well be tunnel-visioned, attacking only this place."

"If she could learn how to feint," Seltana shrugged, "to draw us out from the Pride, by attacking the other Passes and then launch a decisive strike here while many of our forces are away..."

"Don't." I interrupted her, wearing a wry smile, "Don't jinx it, please, Seltana... Just... no. We will capture that stupid little lizard's attention, make sure she looks at us, only at us like Sauron's eye, and miss the big details!"

"Whose eye?" She asked, looking at Sasha, who just shook her head, mouthing it to her to just drop it... and just then, a ping came back, along with the blaring sirens, alerting everybody in the Pass. "Oh..." She flinched, looking at me, "Sorry..."

"I told you..." I chuckled, "You jinxed it..."