Chapter 206 - Running Out Of Time (Patreon)

Chapter 206

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

City of Rebirth

"Well, that was a good first sortie." Said Allya as she looked at the map spread on the council room table, covered in figurines and tokens representing the ever increasing number of armies and fleets in play. One of those, the Republic's main army, was getting dangerously close to Rebirth. "Hopefully it will slow them down enough."

"It should do far more than that. With their supply lines threatened, they'll stop. They have to."

"And if they don't?" Asked Anders.

"Then they'll continue stretching them right as I'm hacking their convoys to pieces, and their logistics fall apart. In which case, we won't even have to worry about them, the wasteland will take care of that."

"A good point." Anders grimaced. "It still bothers me, how they're able to cross the wasteland like that, without even arousing the attention of the sand krakens."

"Maybe they're hibernating too deeply." Ventured Melia, before subsiding under the disbelieving stare of effectively everyone who knew their way aroun the wastelands.

"My money is on some kind of artifact." Said Allya. "There were rumors the Eris Empire had some way to avoid getting attacked by the krakens."

"The Empire I can believe, but the Republic?" Anders shrugged. "This is not the kind of stuff I imagined they'd have. Besides, we all know if they had that kind of thing, they'd have used it a long time ago."

Alexandra and Allya exchanged a look.

They would have. Which meant it was recent. And given everything that had happened…it was almost certainly linked to their little conspiracy.

Another thread to unravel the tapestry.

"It might be worth trying to capture, or at least destroy it then. If we take it out of the picture, the Republic loses its army, and won't be able to threaten us again." Said the dungeon core.

"If they do have something like that, it'll be the most heavily defended piece of equipment in the entire army." Interjected Allya.

"Oh, I'm counting on it." Alexandra smiled at the councilors' confusion. Allya knew her well enough to realize that it wouldn't stop her. "I have the firepower, I just need to know where to shoot. And if they're going to defend it so heavily, why then I believe they'll have done the intelligence legwork for me, wouldn't they?"

That made several of the councilors shiver. Eismi, especially. It seemed the fox eared woman was starting to have something approaching second thoughts about giving her the knowledge of how to make steel.

Not that it would have mattered. Allya had started using her contacts within the forges and the Omega Consortium, and Alexandra's spider golems had begun acquiring a lot of metallurgical data thanks to her. That, combined with her own research, was sending her cost effective material pool into the damned stratosphere.

"I suppose they would, yes." Answered the baroness. "But still, this only solves one of our problems. Even if the Republic's army was to vanish, we'd still have to deal with Sunrise's slave army and the siege of Darthar. The fortresses still hold, but I fear it won't be for much longer."

"Probably not, no." Alexandra shrugged. "Philia's doing her best, I'm sure of that, and given the rumors of her executing traitors ready to hand over the forts, she probably bought us a lot more time than we had any right to ask for. But even she has her limits."

"Yeah. One week, you think?"

"Maybe more. But yes. I expect the rebels to start marching on Darthar by the end of the month, at the latest. And once they do…"

"Our own supply lines will be cut off."

Alexandra nodded….before stopping.

"Not…necessarily."

"What do you mean?" Said Allya, seeing Melia perk up from the corner of her eyes. Being cut off from the Kingdom was the councilor's nightmare.

"My ships are made to traverse the wasteland, back and forth, with little support or resupply."

"Pirate ships can't carry the amount of cargo we need."

"No they can't. But I can set some aside to escort some convoys. What makes them excellent raiders also turns them into pretty good escorts. And I could make some long range cargo ships. They won't be pretty, but they could carry stuff all the way to Sarth."

"That's….one hell of a journey." But one that would be possible, and Alexandra saw Allya realize that. Of course, with the longer travel time before the regular trade network could handle it would mean they would need a lot of ships, and would suffer a staggering loss of efficiency, but still. It might not be commercially viable for normal ship operators and merchants…but Alexandra could take the losses without blinking. Hell, the town could take the losses without blinking, if they were willing to do some subsidies. "But it's also doable. And it would get their majesties, and the duke-" Allya nodded at Willard. "-desperately needed weaponry."

"I'll see what I can come up with, but don't hold your breath. I'm in full swing on integrating lessons learned from the fight into my next batch of airships. It'll take me a bit to pivot to make a cargo hauler, however simple it may be."

"We'll keep that in mind." Said Allya, with a meaningful look at Melia. "Alright, so we may have some solutions to help with our lines being cut. Even if only to allievate the problem. Now, how about reopening them?"

"Lifting the siege on Darthar, once it comes to be?" Allya nodded as Alexandra tapped her cheek, looking precisely as if they hadn't discussed it at length beforehand. "I don't know. Moving an army through the wasteland without the Republic's trick would risk disaster, even with golems. But I'm fairly sure I can harass the slavers like no tomorrow. They'll be close enough to the Kingdom that destroying their logistics will be vastly harder, but Sunrise's air power is non existent. That means we'll have air superiority. I can do a lot with that. It won't lift the siege, but I can be enough of a pain in the ass to force them to dedicate weaponry to keep me off their backs, and I might be able to fly some relief supplies in the city itself."

"Be careful though. With the shield, all of their siege and magical weaponry will be available to strike at you."

Alexandra nodded.

"Of course."

"And now, I'd like to discuss the salvage operations. Melia, Dominique, I'm told you're ready to move onto the ship?" The councilor and the guild representative nodded. "Good! Then give us an overview, if you would."

Allya leaned back into her seat, listening with half an ear as she went over what Alexandra had told her in private. The dungeon core was certainly megalomaniac…but it just might work.

And once it did, she'd have to figure out how to hold onto the entire trade route, and the cities she'd appropriated, including one taken from one of her allies' domain. Accommodating or not, the duke of Sarth wasn't going to take the loss of Darthar lying down. Which meant she'd have to be careful about not arming him too much. Wasn't this going to be a fun time? Trying to fight a war on two fronts, while getting into position for a shadow war with a secret organization, all as she prepared to backstab her own allies. Joy.

*****

"We're running out of time." Said Ellyana as she paced back and forth.

"I know." Answered Eismi, testily.

"Too many slaves are already dying. And if the baroness and Crystal have their way, millions more will-"

"I KNOW!" Yelled out the cyborg twin as she slammed her hands into the tabletop, her artificial arm leaving a noticeable dent.

"...Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Eismi sighed.

"No, no, it's me who should apologize sis. It's just…just that this is making me go crazy. Being unable to do anything."

"We are doing something. Something vital."

"Yeah, but not fast enough! You said it yourself."

Ellyana nodded, before snapping her fingers.

"It's not us who are the problem you know. It's the shipping. We've always had trouble sending what we needed over."

"And? I…" Eismi's face blanched. "No. No no no no. You can't be serious!"

"Oh I am."

"Elly, you know how dangerous she is!"

"I do. But at this point, she's the lesser evil. Let's visit the dungeon. I'm sure she'll be willing to give us some cargo capacity on her new trade ship, if we're providing the right incentive."

*****

Alexandra tilted her head as she looked at the schematics.

"You can't be serious."

"I am." Said the apparition.

"You've had those reactors for less than a month, and you've already built a fusion gun?"

The apparition shrugged, her hologram leaning back against the workshop's wall.

"More like a fusion streamer. It's not a precision weapon. Think a flamethrower."

"Flamethrowers don't fire still fusing plasma."

"True. But my point stands, it has about the same range as a flamethrower. Which means that despite the destructive power…"

"It's not something that'll replace, or hell, even challenge, Seraph's plasma guns."

"Yep. But it sure as hell will solve any boarding issues."

Alexandra nodded.

"If we were making high tech ships."

"We will, eventually. You know that. And I'm sure I'll manage to miniaturize it in the meantime."

Alexandra nodded once more, as she looked at the monstrosity the schematics promises. It was huge, the size of the old Bertha…but it would also vaporize anything it hit with the fury of the stars themselves.

"That would be a terrific infantry weapon."

"Yeah, I'm no miracle worker either. Main weapon for a spider tank, maybe."

"Fair enough. Took a look at the new cannons?"

"Yeah. I did. And I agree with Seraph's assessment. There's no way the hull will take the recoil of something like the Bertha, even with a frigate. Let's not even talk about making it a double barreled turret."

"Damn."

"Yeah. But you could scale it down and still make it work. Two hundred, two hundred and forty millimeters, tops? Should be doable, and still pack one hell of a punch. The recoil systems will be a pain though."

"Alright. Hopefully it will manage to give the bastards' capital ships a run for their money."

The apparition nodded. Commerce raiders or no, her fleet would have to engage the main Republic fleet at some point. Besides, it was only a question of time until they figured out what was going on and started sending the big boys to cover their supply lines.

And that was the whole point of the new Corsair-class. Effectively giant, battlecruiser guns mounted on a frigate hull, serving as the ultimate hammer of escort ships, while still having the capacity of engaging capital ships, although the class would probably be only viable because Alexandra could absorb losses far more easily than the enemy, and thanks to her considerable technological advantage.

"It should. Now, for the next batch of Raider-class, Seraph came up with something we hadn't considered."

"Really? What is it?"

"Casemated guns."

"Casema-" Alexandra hit her forehead with her palm. "Holy shit."

"Yeah."

"We're idiots."

"Agreed."

They both chuckled.

"Of course." Said Alexandra. "We couldn't put in turrets because they'd be too heavy, and we didn't have the recoil systems. But we can encase the guns in armor."

"Yeah. Seraph ran the calculations. We'd still take a hit on weight and top speed, and we'll have to lose a couple of guns on each broadside, but in exchange every gun will be behind armor plating, not to mention the gun crews. We won't lose them to the first broadside to go through the wards."

"Right. Make a note for the Corsair-class as well."

"Seraph is way ahead of us, they've already started the calculations. Won't work for the main gun battery, but it should give the secondary guns some leeway."

"Good. Excellent, even. I assume the casemates haven't been tested yet?"

"Nope."

"Then let's schedule that. And invite that orc, Calder, to watch the proceedings. After the first few tests, of course."

"Uh uh. Wouldn't want a catastrophic failure to tarnish your stellar reputation."

"Shush. He should have some insights into them, and it'll be one more step into both integrating the town, and getting that bitch Sylvia under our thumb."

"Sure." The apparition tilted her head. "And I think our discussion is at an end. Emilia is on her way."

"Alright, talk to you later."

The apparition nodded, and vanished, as Alexandra made sure to adjust her armor, and get her story straight for the new weapons. She heard a mental chuckle, and shushed the apparition.

Then Emilia stepped into the room, and Alexandra realized why her other self was chuckling.

She was holding a shopping bag. The kind the maids got from the store they visited when outside. The one with all the lingerie and marital aids.

"Honey! Look what I found! Didn't have the time to bring this out last night." Alexandra licked her lips. Had she been still made out of flesh and bone, she probably wouldn't have been able to walk straight to the baroness' meeting this morning. "But now that the sun is falling…well…"

The apparition snickered, and Alexandra simply muted her as she nodded.

This…was going to be a long night.