Since the battle was to take place either over the seas or along the coast, the Turannians had moved their headquarters to the port city constructed by Governor Aemilia. Uscfrea had brought the former Northern Fleet, whose ships now filled the port. The allied forces had taken over a large market structure to serve as their temporary base of operations.

And now, Governor Aemilia stood just outside the base, her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Princess Caecila sat on the ground just in front of her.

Governor Aemilia resisted the urge to grin. Finally, after all this time, the girl who had ruined her life was now at her mercy, a scenario she had dreamt about more than she would care to admit.

Well, Her Majesty Seero and Magister Canus would likely object to anything too heinous, but still, the others were mostly busy with the war preparations, so it was up to the Governor to decide the fate of the now traitorous princess requesting asylum.

She could have her revenge, if she so chose.

But Governor Aemilia took a deep breath, and kept a neutral expression. Giving in to her vindictive impulses was what landed her here, in the first place, so she intended to think this through. And in doing so, she turned her mind to the recent events.

She…now had a province she could call her own. It wasn’t the richest or the most powerful, but she could say she had a hand in every bit of prosperity it now experienced. She merely had to glance around to see this new port city, something that she had conceived and built.

She had subordinates and subjects who respected her, not merely for her family name but for her own efforts. She had people she could trust and rely on, even through the most dangerous of situations. She had troops who had not abandoned her even now that the Southern Court was on its way to remove her.

And, perhaps most of all, she had learned that her father cared for her more than he had ever admitted.

And she had gained an alliance with Her Majesty Seero, the most powerful woman Governor Aemilia knew. A woman Governor Aemilia could not imagine losing a fight, even if she challenged the entire Empire alone.

And all this…had happened because she had been exiled to the frontier.

She imagined what might have happened had she not. If she had married Prince Octavianus and all her and her family’s dreams had come true.

She would have gained a spot in the Imperial family, and the status of the future Emperor’s wife.

And…that was it.

Any authority or resources she had would be merely what her father or father-in-law permitted her to have. Any respect would be solely for her family name, whether her father’s or her husband’s. She would possess the highest status…in a Court that was increasingly less effective, ruling an Empire steadily breaking down due to incursions and rebellions and cult schemes.

She would still be desperately trying to prove herself to her cold father, even as the situation she found herself in grew ever worse.

She looked down at Princess Caecila. The girl kept a remorseful but resolute face, seemingly accepting her fate. But Governor Aemilia was the daughter of a Consul, trained from birth for politics and diplomacy. Princess Caecila could not hide the slight quiver in her eyes.

Governor Aemilia heaved a sigh.

Had this girl not done what she had done…Governor Aemilia and her family would likely have found themselves in her place.

No…knowing her father and herself at the time, they likely would not have welcomed Her Majesty Seero in with open arms. They would have seen her as an unwelcome new player, someone who could overturn the status quo they had built.

And that…would not have ended well.

Governor Aemila scoffed.

“So are you just going to sit on the ground like some helpless maiden, or are you going to make yourself useful? If there’s anything useful you can even do, that is.”

Princess Caecila’s face shot up, blinking in surprise. But Governor Aemilia had already turned away from her, walking back to resume her work.

She…did not forgive, or forget their animosity just yet. But…Governor Aemilia acknowledged that the way things had turned out as a result was not so bad.

And if they lived through the Southern Court’s attack…well she might even admit that she preferred things the way they were.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Seero had returned to the Turannians’ port headquarters. The Turannians were still hard at work arranging their defenses, and doing everything they could to fortify the coastline. The headquarters was full of people running about, speaking quickly and curtly and occasionally shouting a question across the room. Scrolls and books and papers were strewn across desks as Magister Canus, Uscfrea, Miallói, and Dux Augustalis pored over a map of the province.

Seero, on the other hand, was munching on a sweet roll while monitoring the sensor scans from the drone network. Ateia and Taog stood next to her. Ateia was frowning.

“Seero…are you sure we shouldn’t be helping?”

“Affirmative.”

Ateia furrowed her brow.

“It just…feels weird for us not to be doing anything.”

“Explanation: Turannian command staff are working to prepare the likely battlefields in order to provide friendly forces with maximum advantage. On the other hand, the…”

Seero was about to say NSLICE network when she ran into an exception. She no longer considered herself a Non-Standard Leashed-Intelligence Cybernetic Enforcer. As a result, it was no longer accurate to call the network an ‘NSLICE network,’ seeing as no units other than her had been designed by Dr. Ottosen and so no units within the network could accurately be called 'NSLICE.'

“...designation determined. Informing all units of network designation update. Continuation: On the other hand, the CELIU network represents the primary combat unit for the upcoming operation. All CELIU units must therefore maintain high readiness as the hostiles may arrive at any time. Getting involved in the current management operations would result in increased fatigue, as well as complicating deployment due to a need to hand off ongoing tasks. So friend Ateia should remain at rest and prepare to deploy in order to provide friendly forces with maximum advantage in the upcoming battle.”

With that, Seero’s robotic eye began to flicker. If she wanted friends Ateia and Taog to remain at maximum readiness…then it made sense to ensure their nutritional reserves were fully stocked.

So…she should share the sweet rolls.

Seero created two more, and handed them to Ateia and Taog.

“Statement: Friends Ateia and Taog should join this unit in stockpiling nutrition to ensure maximum biological endurance.”

Ateia looked conflicted but Taog just made a wry smile.

“Thanks Seero.”

Ateia glanced at him as he took a roll. Taog just shrugged.

“I mean, Seero’s probably right?”

Magister Canus happened to pass by and patted Ateia on the shoulder.

“She is. In my experience, resting when you can is a soldier’s duty as well.”

Ateia watched him walk off, then turned back to Seero. She sighed, and took the sweet roll.

“Thanks Seero.”

She thought as she took a bite.

“But, what about your monsters? Couldn't you summon some more to help out?”

“Analysis: The complexity of logistics and command means the simple addition of more units will not necessarily improve efficiency. Personnel would need to be diverted to instruct and train the new units, which would still perform less effectively than existing personnel, decreasing the organization’s overall effectiveness and efficiency in the short term. Given the short time frame until the hostiles' arrival, this unit predicts such an option would be counterproductive. It would be more efficient for the allied command personnel to request reinforcements that are already familiar with the organization.”

Ateia blinked.

“Oh. Um…maybe some golems could help with the labor?”

“Reminder: This unit has already discussed the sale of golem units to allied factions, which will take place in the future. In the short term, integrating golem units into existing structures would require a period of planning, training, transportation, and deployment to ensure existing units are able to make use of them. Given the short time available to prepare, it was concluded that such an integration is not practical prior to the upcoming battle. Friend Ateia was present for the conversation and should have a record in her memory storage.”

Ateia tilted her head.

“Eh, really?”

Taog shook his head and leaned over to her in-between sweet roll bites.

“You fell asleep at that point.”

Ateia glared at him. But as she did, her cybernetic components scanned her memory and helpfully brought up the recorded conversation logs. Ateia’s organic component status was listed as standby-sentry mode while her cybernetic components continued to observe and log the conversation.

She flushed and looked away, before sighing.

“This is all a lot more complicated than I thought.”

Every officer, official, and clerk in hearing distance nodded to themselves at that.

It was at that moment that the projector drone began sounding an alarm. Dozens of dots began to appear on the map it was displaying, setting out from Utrad into the sea. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared for a moment.

“Alert: Visual confirmation is pending but analysis of radar signatures indicates multiple airship-sized vessel on approach via air. This unit predicts with 87.61% probability that this represents the hostile force. All CELIU units will prepare to deploy, pending visual confirmation.”

Magister Canus nodded at that and turned to look around at his staff.

“You heard Her Majesty, prepare for battle.”

At Magister Canus’s calm words the Legion staff sprang into action. Communication artifacts lit up as orders were passed out. Alarms went off inside Legion barracks and temporary camps set up along the Turannian coastline. Legionnaires gathered their weapons and strapped on their armor. At other sites, the robotic eyes of cyber-otters began to flicker as orders passed through Uscfrea’s forces. Dobhar and former rebel forces began to prepare, loading anti-aircraft artillery and preparing surface-to-air missile sites for launch. In the port city, legionnaires, Selkies, and Dobhar all loaded onto the ships of Uscfrea’s fleet, which set off and took up a formation by the sea.

And in dungeon-linked bases, Seero’s own forces began to deploy.

Aerial combat drones hummed to life. Jet engines and repulsors began to fire. The skies began to fill with formations of flying machines.

Seero herself stepped outside, followed by her friends and allies. Uscfrea smirked.

“It’s an honor to go into battle alongside you, My Queen. I look forward to fighting on your side this time.”

Miallói made a small smirk at that.

“Acknowledged. Command: Visual confirmation confirmed, hostile air forces on approach. All units, deploy.”