Freshly appointed, Admiral James Wildhoff was sitting in his cabin onboard the Red Phoenix in silence. He was a son of Admiral Wilfred Wildhoff who had retired after Emperor Guad assumed the throne. Contrary to his father, James was loyal to Metaka and, arguably, neglected his duties to his house. However, his loyalty allowed him to get closer to the future Emperor as one of the few Navy officers who supported Guad during the succession coin flip. He liked the humour behind it. Right now, he was on the rise as one of the few people who could say they befriended the Emperor. He was proud to be appointed as the Admiral of the new Fifth Fleet of Metaka. However, when he was assigned the frigate named Red Phoenix as his new flagship, he was shocked. It was just a frigate! While he was upset and felt slightly humiliated, he kept his opinion to himself. He trusted Emperor Guad but a flagship was the most important symbol of status for the entire fleet.

All his silent complaints vanished the moment he saw the ship itself. Just one glance was enough for him to realise this wasn't just a frigate. It was, most probably, one of the deadliest ships in the entirety of the Imperial Navy. It also wasn't made in Metaka. That ship was, without a doubt, made in Arcadia. Every single detail was perfect and crisp. The ship was not only a work of art, but also easily outgunned the galleons which served as flagships of other fleets. Red Phoenix was faster, nimbler, and more resilient than any ship of the Imperial Navy. The Fifth Fleet consisted of three frigates, twelve brigs, and supported by ten sloops of war of various sizes. After James familiarised himself with the fleet under his command, he was summoned by the Emperor. Guad Darius Metaka only needed five minutes to explain what was expected of him. So now, after a full presentation, he was absolutely sure that he wanted to lead the first in history, Metakan Quick Response Team.

He would be stupid to decline...

So, he was now sitting in his absurdly comfortable cabin and preparing himself to review the Fifth Fleet's capabilities. His staff officers had prepared extensive reports but, judging by the Phoenix alone, Metaka had gained impressive ships. He did not really need one but he used the reports as an excuse to check his officers. All his ships were made or improved in Arcadia, gaining new guns, shields, layout, and countless quality-of-life improvements. Even their sails were significantly better. Whatever that meant, Phoenix was called 'Constitution class' by Arcadians and that was tricky. As far as James could tell, Arcadians had used this ship's class system as a base blueprint for the entire line of ships with the first of the ships obtaining the class name. Like HMS Victory was the first of the Victory class, HMS Sabre was the first of the Sabre class destroyers, and HMS Hunter was the first of the Hunter class multi-purpose heavy frigates. Annnnd, finally, there was the Iowa class battleship with the first one was undoubtedly, HMS Dauntless, while the Constitution class with the first ship of its class was HMS Heralds. Arcadians…

His thoughts were interrupted by the buzzer on his desk. Another wondrous magitech that was sold to them by Arcadians. He picked up the intercom and pressed a button as he was instructed.

"Admiral Thomas Wildhoff." He simply said and shook his head. Even this procedure was borrowed from Arcadians. Identifying himself to the caller was the quickest way to clear any confusion if the call was a simple mistake and the person on the other side wanted to contact someone else.

"Admiral, this is the bridge, Captain Ponar speaking. Our rangers detected unidentified ships two kilometres away. They are most probably Ebrusians. What are your orders, Sir?"

"Keep the course, Captain but I want them identified as soon as possible. I will be on the bridge in a moment." He quickly stood up and left his cabin.

The bridge was also a novelty and one unexpected at all. The ships received it as a result of some mistake on the Arcadian's part. However, once Emperor Guad saw it, he decided to keep it. It was a dedicated space where the officers responsible for various ship sections had a junior officer assigned to report everything important to the ship Captain and Fleet Admiral immediately. The system was ingenious and, basically, revolutionised the way the Metakan Fifth Fleet operated. His entire fleet reaction time shortened so drastically that it almost looked like magic. However, Metakan bridges weren't even close to being the advanced and heavily protected Arcadian bridges. Instead of occupying a dedicated room, Metakan bridges were magic barrier-reinforced spaces near the helm of the vessel. Slightly recessed under the rear observation deck, the Metakan bridge was half open space but well protected and far more intuitive for traditionalists in the Navy.

"Status?" Thomas asked as he looked at the magi-glass slab where the situation was sketched on a simplified map.

"We are at least twice as fast as they are." Captain Ponar saluted. "However, we are still too far away to visually confirm their banners. They are en route to the rendezvous point, sir!"

"They should be detecting us as well..." Thomas hummed as he sat down in his command chair.

He still felt awkward sitting in situations like this and even more so during combat training. However, it proved superior to the previous way of commanding not only a single ship but the entire battle group.

"They've seen us." The officer in charge of communication reported. "They kept their course!"

"We should be able to confirm their affiliation in twenty minutes, sir!"

Thomas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The fact that they had not expected to stumble upon any enemy and that those ships shouldn't pose any significant threat to his fleet, shouldn't be a reason to ignore them. "Warn the fleet about a possible hostile encounter, keep formation."

"Aye, aye!"

The ships continued their journey in silence with the crew attending their duties. Thomas was paying very close attention to the dots on the magi-glass but they seemed to ignore his fleet.

"Sir! We are in communication range with the Arcadians and Iceleonians! They are already waiting at the rendezvous point!"

"So fast..." He shook his head in disbelief. "Let them know that we will arrive in six hours."

"Unidentified ships are flying under the banner of Ebrus. We will keep observing them and update their status as we approach them."

The next few hours passed without any incidents. As they closed the gap to the presumed Ebrusian fleet, their Goddess, Arletta, manifested on Red Phoenix and confirmed that those ships indeed belonged to Ebrus.

"Red Phoenix, this is Iceleon Carrier Spirit of Lion; we see your approach. However, only the Fifth Fleet of Metaka was recognised. Have you confirmed the identity of the presumed Ebrusian forces?"

"Spirit of Lion, this is Red Phoenix. The second group belongs to Ebrusians. Goddess Arletta confirmed their identity." Thomas heard his communication officer talking with Iceleonians.

Thomas quietly approached the communication officer and nodded at him to open the channel. "Spirit of Lion, this is Admiral Thomas Wildhoff. We note three friendly ships but only you and Lion's Pride are fully identified. The third one is only identified as Arcadian. What ship is that?"

"Admiral Thomas Wildhoff, this is Rear Admiral Christian Volke speaking." Another voice replied through the radio. It was deeper, friendlier but also amused. "About that... You won't believe it. It's HMS Victory!"

Thomas opened and closed his mouth. He expected Arcadians to send a destroyer, maybe one of their rumoured new corvette class ships. But not Victory. By all Arcadian standards, that ship was antiquated and should have been retired once the Second Fleet of Arcadia received its next-generation ships... However... He took a deep breath. They were talking about Arcadians here. HMS Victory might have been upgraded.

"Affirmative, Admiral Volke." Thomas finally replied and heard the other admiral's laughter.

"I know, right?!" He chuckled. "But I'm willing to bet a few coins that she still outguns us all."

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"That's a loser's bet." Thomas chuckled.

•••

Thomas pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to figure a way out of this unexpected political nightmare. Of course, he should have expected the Arcadians would leave the Navy operations to the alliance during this particular mission. Emperor Guad also was sure of it and suspected that Iceleonians would also like to keep a low profile since their Navy was still very green. So, while Captain Fiona Ravenna was sipping her tea, chatting with Rear Admiral Christian Volke, and pretending not to care, he was left alone, staring at Prince Islur Tawal Ebrus. The young Bearkin was so green but stalwart in his conviction that he should be chosen as the commander of the allied forces. Thomas even entertained that thought for a moment but expending anything more than perishable supplies wasn't an option during this mission. And it was clear to him that this hot-blooded kid would be the reason for many deaths. Unfortunately, he was a royal, and what's worse, the crown prince, so Thomas had no idea how to proceed.

"You are not qualified to be the commodore of this fleet." An annoyed, female voice declared somewhere from the table surface.

Thomas, shocked, looked down to note a small, Elf-like doll wearing the Arcadian uniform. She was standing in front of Prince Ebrus with her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?! What kind of joke is this? What is this thing?!" The Prince yelled in outrage pointing his finger at the doll.

"My name is Victory, Prince Islur Tawal Ebrus." She declared in a cold voice and Thomas instantly looked at the Arcadian vessel as it slowly turned to a better angle, presenting its figurehead. Even at this angle, Thomas knew that the doll was exactly the same as the female figure on HMS Victory's bow. His eyes narrowed as he realised that HMS Victory was, indeed, upgraded. He had no idea how much but his intuition told him that, once again, Arcadia gained some unimaginable advantage.

"Victory? Never heard of anyone with that name." The Prince huffed, clearly oblivious to the fact that the giant warship with large, golden letters, HMS Victory, painted on its magnificent bow, gently drifted right behind him. "You know who I am and you still defy me?"

"Nothing has changed in your behaviour since you disgraced yourself before Emperor Theon Avalon." The doll shook her head with a sigh and raised and dropped her hands in disappointment. "Should I summon Tuul'kara or are you going to swallow your pride and allow the adults to do their job?"

"How dare- ugh!" The Prince turned red but swallowed whatever he was about to say as Goddess Arletta manifested behind him and smacked him on the head with a thick paper tube.

"That's enough, Islur! I knew it! I can't leave you for five minutes and expect you to behave rationally!" She screamed at the suddenly mellow noble. "Victory is right! Leave this to professionals and learn! How do you expect to be a wise ruler if you don't want to learn?!"

"But our fleet is the biggest!"

"But not the strongest! Metakans..."

"We don't have the biggest firepower in the fleet." Thomas interrupted her with an amused smile.

"Then this carrier ship..." Arletta looked at the Spirit of Lion but Admiral Volke laughed and pointed at the doll on the table in front of the Prince.

"If I'm not wrong, even if we combine the firepower of this expedition force, we are still out gunned by Victory." Volke laughed while Captain Ravenna pretended to look at the Red Phoenix's sails.

"That's almost correct, Admiral Volke." The doll answered and slowly nodded at the black-haired Human with a soft smile.

"So you want Captain Ravenna to lead the fleet?" Prince Islur asked, ignoring the previous exchange.

"By the Empress, no!" Victory looked at the young man as if he lost his mind. "Captain Fiona Ravenna is an excellent officer but, among the gathered officers, only Admiral Wildhoff has the required experience to lead the battle group!"

"Excellent choice." Admiral Volke nodded with a soft smile. "So Admiral Wildhoff it is!"

"I must agree with my ship." Captain Ravenna confirmed as well, making all the men look at her awkwardly. She just smiled mysteriously at them in response.

"Then it's decided!" Goddess Arletta nodded. "Forces of Ebrus will be in your care, Admiral Thomas Wildhoff!"

With that, she looked at the young noble who dropped his head and bowed towards the allied officers. It was a stiff bow but one that communicated, clearly, that he was going to follow his Goddess' order.

"I will prepare the communication protocols and send them to the flagship, Red Phoenix, as fast as possible." the Prince added with his still lowered head.

"With all due respect, Prince Ebrus, we don't have time to wait for you to prepare the communication protocols." Captain Ravenna furrowed her brows and her ears flicked impatiently. "We will use standard, international protocol light and flag signals to communicate with your vessels. We will also use the messenger eagles if necessary. The remaining ships of NATO will be using other means of communication. Unfortunately, your country has not developed any equivalent."

"Indeed." Wildhoff nodded upon seeing Ravenna's slight nod that it was his time to speak. "We are already behind schedule and our ground forces are advancing toward the Cursed Land as we speak. I plan to split our forces. Ebrusian forces will take the role of strategic reinforcements because your ships won't be able to keep pace with the rest of the battle group. However, once we learn the situation on-site, we will, most probably, fuse the fleet and follow the ground forces. However, there is a small possibility that we will have to split our forces even further to make a quick, full sweep of the area. You must arrive on time, Prince Ebrus, because I suspect the battle to take a foothold will be exhausting."

"I..." The Prince lowered his head but clenched his fists and straightened himself as he pressed his fist to his heart in a knightly salute. "Very well, Admiral. Ebrusian fleet is at your command. I will follow your orders, Admiral!"

"Thank you, Prince Ebrus." Wildhoff nodded in relief. He wasn't feeling as comfortable as Captain Ravenna at dismissing the Noble but he was glad that the power struggle ended so quickly.

He left towards his flagship while Arletta stayed behind for a moment.

"I really have to find a God of Wisdom or at least Patience, because that kid is so resistant to knowledge it is painful to watch! Please, don't be angry with him. The concept of honour and pride is so strong in his people and they have tunnel vision sometimes... Well... Most of the time. I will do everything in my power to keep their antics on reins but it's a full-time job." She slightly bowed to them, shocking the gathered officers. "I will make sure he won't make another scene like this. He needs to learn but I'm afraid patience and humility is not their national virtue..."

She smiled and vanished. Thomas looked at the remaining officers and a talking doll that, somehow, was the voice of the Arcadian ship. Fortunately, long ago, he decided that the words comprehensible or reasonable weren't exactly in the Arcadian dictionary so he wasn't going to present an improbable observation. Curiosity remained but he just knew he would live a far more sane life not knowing the recent history of these issues in case Captain Ravenna decided to answer.

"Let's get to work." He smiled at the officers who supported him without hesitation.

This assignment was going to be fun...

•••

Freya sighed as she received the first reports from her invasion forces. She had prepared a far larger army than usual, consisting of nearly fifty thousand denizens of eleven Dungeons. The core of her army were denizens of Ceallach, Bob, Talla, and herself. Normally, she would use just fifteen thousand denizens but, this time, she wasn't attacking a single Dungeon. While that was the overall plan, getting to it wasn't as easy as usual. She expected the entire country to be under the influence of the enemy Dungeon. Mindful of the experience of the fortress system she wasn't going to risk underestimating the enemy. During the war against Cridia, Theon discovered that he could capture and use the structures made by mortals, making them work as garrisons for his denizens. While Theon's skills made his expenses keeping his denizens outside Dungeons or fortresses relatively cheap, he wasn't paying that much attention to the forts. However, for everyone else, they were invaluable. She suspected that the Dungeon who ruled the Cursed Land made extensive use of forts and outposts.

She appreciated that Theon let her use Thor, whose presence was going to make everything much easier. Freya could trust him to covertly gather information about enemy locations and discover all the key regions they needed to capture before they could attack the enemy Dungeon directly. The Dwarvess rested more comfortably in her hanging chair and, as it lightly swung under her movement, she smiled. The enemy Dungeon stood no chance in this battle. It wasn't a particularly big discovery or a breakthrough thought, just a simple truth. Theon, practically, was snowballing his land acquisition ever since Demesne joined him and he subsumed Bob basically in the same day. Now, having fifteen Vassals, not including her and his own power, he was nigh unstoppable.

Or... He would have been, if not for the Mortals he protected. Freya knew it wasn't a weakness but his strength.

The Mortals that survived in the Cursed Land were the reason why such a huge army was necessary. They had to be rescued and it would take time for them to... Hah... To what? To accept the existence of forces that wiped out the chains that held them bound for centuries? To accommodate to their new lives? She had no idea what those people felt since they couldn't waste time infiltrating their surviving cities during the initial sweep. However, that would be a good exercise for the allied Navy. She looked at the war table and nodded to herself. Freya still had a long way before she could become even half as good as Tia and she doubted she would ever reach Theon's strategic acumen but...

Everything was set.

It was time for the show.

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