Today, I must present us with concerning news from Epa. Prince Malphus’ strategic acumen and caution must be noted and emphasized in this regard, for he did foresee this situation and placed us in a position to seize the initiative. That is pre-emptive though, firstly, I would like to present the new findings from our infiltrators in Epa. We currently struggle to push beyond forty members. There has been some success in land routes as well as infiltration along the western coast of Esberia that sits upon the Alanktyda, rather than the Eparika. As long as reinforcement vessels are avoided, the coast is relatively easy and the Imperial populace is trusting to those that look like them.

  The Empire proclaims objective strategic reality openly, much like us. I do not think they have stolen the idea, but I do think it is an adaptation to their old rulership. They are very well aware that the Eparika will be closed this week by Ashen Skies and they state that they have a dozen different projects running to try and counter the Ashfront. Whether this is true or propaganda is unknown, but I would prefer to err on the side of caution and assume it is. The port-city of Arseille is being expanded into the “Western Eparika Headquarters”, Atny in Gracya is becoming the Eastern Port. As things stand now, it is impossible for us to reach these ports unless we plan to go on a multi-year project of filling in the Eparika. Nevertheless, the information is useful to know.

  The magic striking us in the Southern Front is a spell, or a ritual, called Sokolowski’s Sledgehammer. The Empire has published video of it wiping away the Ashfront, it is obviously a grand incantation of Ardan Aeromancy. We can confirm that the southern front is managed by two Generals called Zalewski and Sokolowski. In this regard, Sokolowski seems to be in charge of the rear and the magic, Zalewski is in charge of the front. Success here is difficult, these Arikan Ashlands, as they are called, possess their own dangerous weather patterns that make it impossible for human civilians to survive in for long periods of times. Zalewski operates on a “No questions” policy, his forces are sparse, but they form a barrier which is impossible to cross. I have reduced the numbers of succubi being sent through that area, as they are shot on sight, no matter who they are disguised by.

  However, that was just the status update. The most troubling part of our report is a discovery made in Rancais. Communication through Mammon has been facilitated and the Prince himself reports that what he saw was true: We have concrete evidence of Fortia and Maisara conspiring with Arascus to use Khmet as a staging ground into the Sassara.

  I would advise the High Councils and Princes to consider the Ashfront as temporal already. Sokolowski’s Sledgehammer has been fired eleven times over the past week. It is obvious that they are refining the magic, yesterday, three separate locations were hit almost simultaneously. Whereas advancement in Kirinyaa and in the Eparika, if we consider just the local area of the Arikan Ashlands, we have lost cloud coverage. I would not be surprised if the Empire orders to start reclaiming the Arika not from the North, but from the South at this rate. Even if that does not happen, then the collapse of that front could threaten the supplies of the army dealing with the wall that is Kirinyaa’s Central Mountains.

  One thing we can deduce about Sokolowski’s Sledgehammer is that it requires flatlands. This is my own personal theory as to why we have not seen it across the sea or the mountains. And it is why I now worry about Malphus’ prediction which has been made truth.

  We can work with the perception that Sokolowski’s Sledgehammer is channeled by a Divine, although the name is that of a human general. We know Ardan Divines here, I do not think any of them would allow that if so much as their finger was involved. If it is truly done entirely by humans, then it can be replicated. Khmet will serve as the staging ground. What happens when they deploy one? Two? What happens if they manage to channel this spell a dozen times over from that border? We would not be talking about a collapse of the Eastern Ashfront, we would be discussing a collapse of it in its entirety.

  Prince Malphus is correct. Khmet must be invaded.

  - To Back Malphus: Written by Prince Aldron, assigned with managing the espionage campaign into Epa.

  Admiral Callaghan stood directly at the glass windows of the INS Kassandora as he silently readjusted battleplans and how the fleet should be managed. Up until now, it was only frigates that worked in pairs. Tartarus had no navy nor long-distance artillery to shell the ships. It had been assumed that vessels could be rearranged as they were needed. A light cruiser or anything larger could be assumed to be safe alone, even if it was travelling along the Ashfront simply to monitor its advance.

  Two hours ago, the INS Essei, a light cruiser with a single turret and useless helicopter pads on its rear, had reported that its radar picked up a swarm above the Ashfront. Callaghan had proceeded to engage simply because there was nothing for the main fleet to do. If he had not given that order, they would be searching for a wreckage at this point. The Essei’s anti-air had been overwhelmed by a swarm of smaller demons, video from the ship’s own cameras had confirmed pillars of flame slamming into the main gun and its scouring the deck of defenders. The heat had warped the barrels, it cooked the fuel and the engine, the Essei managed to get off a final mayday before its radars went off too.

  The crew had barricaded the doors and were engaged in close-quarters combat by the time the Kassandora got close enough to provide relief. The smaller calibres that couldn’t penetrate the Essei’s hull rolled a wave of lead along the ship. Small arms fire picked off who remained. The Essei’s captain had spoken with so much relief Callaghan wouldn’t be surprised if the man suddenly offered his daughter to the admiral.

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  Men cheered for the victory and the fact they managed to save a ship from sinking. Tug boats had arrived ten minutes ago, they had finished fixing ropes to the Essei after its engine had overheated and blown. The INS Zawitz provided fire extinguishers, everyone was happy. The bridge of the Kassandora were exceptionally ecstatic, even the sailors on the deck were singing some tune, uncaring the Ashfront was rumbling mere miles away to the south in these dark waters. A huge wall that rumbled with lightning which crashed upwards as often as it did down. Winds and flames spiralled along it, as if the whole thing was one huge hurricane which stretched like an endless wall, from the horizon to the west to the horizon in the east.

  Admiral Callaghan was the one man who did not feel the joy happening below him. He stood in his dark uniform, over his hair a headset that obscured on only one ear, the microphone folded up. They had saved a ship.

  They had saved a ship.

  Since when did Imperial ships need saving?

  True, the Essei did not have the magical shields of the Kassandora or larger vessels, but the Essei had been fast. It wasn’t a problem of the leadership either. Protocol had been followed to the letter, the ship’s captain went the further mile even by burning solid fuel at levels above regulation. He had managed to push it a further ten knots than what it was should supposedly be able to do. Same with the fact he told his men to grab their small arms when sailors were only barely trained for it.

  Callaghan did not like it. Disaster had been averted this time but he had been authority over the fleet precisely because Iliyal had seen this facet within him. The order had already been sent out. Ships were to operate in pairs by the end of today, in packs of three by the time three days had passed. It didn’t matter if they covered less of an area. The Imperial Navy was not the massive land forces, it could not afford attritional warfare. Especially not with the fact that soon, the Eparika would be closed off by the Ashfront.

  With his hands clasped behind his back, Callaghan looked up at the dark sky. A parody of suffering daytime. A cloudless sky discoloured by the amount of ash in the air. The First Fleet of the IN, with its heavy cruisers and battleships, began to sail further east. Two ships would be left behind to escort the Essei. The Rillian landbridge would split them apart once again. Another man would have to be chosen to manage the half that Callaghan would not be on. Maybe a channel could be cut through Rilia. Callaghan had already forwarded the idea of using Elassa to cut a new river that would join the Alanktyda to the Eparika through Rancais. Strategic Command had not rejected it yet.

  A voice came over the Admiral’s headset, another one he did not recognise. The fleet was getting too big to manage. “Sir, Marshal Tremali is coming through!” Callaghan rolled his eyes. Of all the things he needed right now, a conversation with the elf was the last of them. Callaghan readjusted his microphone as he watched the INS Essei slowly be pulled north by tugs. The last traces of its smoke were being blown away into nothingness in the grey sky.

  Callaghan lowered the microphone over his mouth. “Patch him through.” He listened to clicking, then the small of brass singing the Imperial Anthem. Someone in Strategic Command had made that change recently, for some reason. Bureaucrats that had nothing to do. It lasted for a maybe a second, maybe two, cutting off suddenly before the tune began in earnest. Callaghan heard breathing through the other side. “Iliyal, to what do I have pleasure?”

  “I have a new plan.” Iliyal said. “But you will have to tell me of its feasibility.” Callaghan knew it was bad news immediately. If the elf was delaying and not just issuing a command, then that meant he wasn’t sure of himself. And if Iliyal Tremali of all people wasn’t sure of himself… Callaghan’s mind went to the worst case scenario immediately. He turned right, to the south and stared through the glass of the Kassandora’s bridge at the Ashfront over the Eparika. The battleships guns were all pointed towards it as the ships patrolled east. Waves crashed onwards, splashing grey foam that looked more like industrial refuse rather than ocean water. Immediately, he could pick out seven different tornadoes that were rolling along the edge. Fires danced sideways along the edge, the burned in purple and white and red and orange. The immediate waters were black with soot. The sky above it was not much better.

  “If it’s what I think it is, then it’s impassable.” Callaghan replied immediately.

  “We can try with Elassa or Anassa to open the Ashfront temporarily but we need confirmation on conditions within.” That confirmed they were both talking about the same thing, Iliyal had just not said it yet. “It will be good data for the rest of the projects for the Ashjets. Arcadia has already finished on new shields to protect you from the weather. I would prefer to use a method we can scale and not rely on Divinity.”

  “Are we doing it for data?” Callaghan asked. “I want your word on it. Half the fleet will mutiny. I won’t blame them.”

  “We’re not.” Iliyal answered.

  “What for then?”

  “Olonia, Tanit and the One-Seventeenth are still alive. They’re in Anghazi.” Callaghan saw the thought process. He hated that he couldn’t even disagree. There was logic in that. Olonia’s presence did change things. The INS Zawitz, sailing behind the Kassandora, bore the name of the capital that Olonia was the incarnation of after all. Its entire crew was Lubskan, they would do it certainly. And if one ship did it…

  “To save a Goddess then?”

  “To save a Goddess.” Iliyal said. “Sail to Atny’s ports, Elassa will install the shielding. Then find the shortest straight line. She’s confirmed there’s no light inside.”

  “Anything else?”

  “The fact we got a connection in the first place is a miracle.” Iliyal replied. “It took us six hours for that. She knows more though.” There was a moment of pause. “It has to be done eventually. Olonia is the justification. Your ships will sail through it sooner or later, this is the best justification we have.”

  Callaghan sighed, the waves outside crashed against the Kassandora. They crashed into the INS Zawitz in front of it. They crashed into the Hallin behind it. The long chain of Imperial ships rocked from side to side, but it kept on sailing east. And to its south, hell that had come to their precious Arda, hell that was turning its seas black and tarring its skies. And Iliyal was correct. If they would not do it for a Goddess, when would they do it? “Give the order.” Callaghan said. “Give the order and I will follow through.”

  Iliyal gave the order. “Head to Atny, load up and then prepare to sail through the Ashfront.” And then, Admiral Callaghan heard Iliyal say something he thought that the elf would never say. Something that the ancients, who had memories of battling against Leona, were downright allergic to. “Good luck Admiral.”