The Storm King

Ranks and ranks of plate-armored men and women were arrayed before Leon, their auras shining, their weapons gleaming, their kit immaculate. MALLs hovered a few feet off the ground behind them, their weapons deadlier than ever, their engines more powerful, their armor thicker. Thousands of giants had assembled, too, standing alongside fifteen-foot-tall Ulta suits. Many ranks were cast in shadow from the hundreds of arks that floated above, representing the largest concentration of power that Leon’s Kingdom had ever seen.

All of this power had been arrayed in Artorion’s southern mustering ground, located just north of the Southern Talon. The location had been specially chosen since it lay in sight of the guest palaces for visiting dignitaries, whereas the northern mustering ground was more private and secure. This was the last day that Princess Farah would stay in Artorion, and Leon wanted her—and the other visitors who’d come to Artorion to witness her formal vassalization two months ago—to see just what she would’ve had to fight against if war were to ever erupt between Artorion and Queenfall.

She already knew of his military power, of course, but a little reminder was always helpful.

Showing off for his latest vassal, however, was only a side benefit; the real show was the final inspection of the troops before the expedition to the Kesken Cluster. They had been training for months using Anzu’s recon maps, evaluating which of the locals might be more willing to bow before the Thunderbird Clan, and preparing for those that wouldn’t bow no matter what. Just getting to the planar cluster was going to be a chore and a half, let alone deploying from this great armada, which was why after this inspection, the training would continue for a few more weeks.

The expedition was due to launch in barely more than a month, and Leon wanted his people as ready as possible before leading them back into the Void.

Leon strode through the ranks, looking each of his soldiers in the eye—metaphorically, at least—and basking in the shine of their armor. His army numbered almost a hundred thousand strong, but less than half of that were going to be ground combatants. That allowed Leon to cherry-pick a lot of the stronger mages in his army to send without depriving the rest of the army of leadership. As a result, the average power of the humans in his expeditionary force was sixth-tier. He could almost imagine the face that Julius might make if he knew of that kind of power—in Leon’s time, the average power of the Bull Kingdom’s army was second or third-tier at best.

Because of that power, he’d made sure to outfit his troops with the very best gear that he had access to—heavy plate covered every inch of their bodies, leaving not even a visor for their eyes. Instead, the heavy helmets were solid faceplates with light enchantments that projected their surroundings onto the inside surface of the helmets. For those wearing the armor, it was almost as if they weren’t wearing helmets for how much their vision was impaired.

Their armor had been forged to have a light gray with subtle cloud patterns across most of the plates. Blue and silver tabards depicting the Thunderbird were draped over their cuirasses, while similar-styled cloaks hung from their shoulders. Most of his soldiers wielded halberds with thunder wood hafts, crescent-shaped primary blades heavily enchanted to cleave through steel, and robust lightning enchantments to add more power and speed to their strikes.

In the inspection formation, their halberds were held in front of them in their right hands, while the soldiers’ left hands rested on the pommels of swords that hung from their waists. The swords were their secondary weapons, made of the same materials as their halberds, though with more bespoke enchantments for each soldier to aid them in using their chosen magical element. Finally, bows made of thunder wood and silkgrass hung from small hooks on their backs.

Every soldier was further equipped with half a dozen potent healing potions, three mana potions, and an invisibility potion, most of which were courtesy of Helen—or at least, were her recipes even if private alchemists had been contracted for the actual brewing in order to reach the needed scale.

Leon’s army was strong and well-equipped. He could hardly imagine them falling to any threats if the Kesken Cluster’s power scale was similar to that of Aeterna’s—and Anzu had already confirmed that it was. His soldiery alone would easily win the day; the rest of his force would only confirm it.

His MALLs had continued developing, becoming better at almost everything they did over the past hundred and fifty years. Advances in engineering allowed them to not only have thicker armor but also move more quickly even with the added weight. They now also had a main cannon that fired destructive beams of light similar to the cannons on the ancient Thunderbird ark destroyers, while a secondary Lance fired the more conventional metal bolts. The vehicles had a third weapon that was more subtle and defensive in nature, which allowed the MALLs to erupt in fire, consuming anything within ten feet of the MALL that may wish it harm.

Other upgrades were still being tested, such as a MALL with a much smaller crew compartment, but which allowed it to have a larger main cannon and engine. There were also tests being run on a smaller light shield to protect the platforms from damage, similar to what the ancient arks had protecting them. Unfortunately, these newer designs were still years away from being fielded, but Leon was optimistic that MALLs featuring these upgrades would be in full production within a decade.

The giants and Ulta suits, however, each had these upgrades and then some. The Ulta suits Leon had now were about half again as large as they were when he first arrived in the Nexus, that extra size accommodating upgrades across the board. Engines, armor, weaponry, all of it was made deadlier. The planned upgrades for the MALLs, meanwhile, were finished in time for the latest generation Ulta suit and giant frame, allowing the respective battalions to have light shielding.

Above them all, however, were the arks. An armada of five hundred arks had been assembled, with the ancient arks front and center. Silver Spear, Bright Intent, Bolt in Shadow, and most notably, Storm Herald proudly hovered at one end of the mustering ground, the rest of the armada extending out in a tight wedge behind them. Their power needed no review; even now, they remained the strongest arks in Leon’s entire ark fleet.

The rest of his arks, however, had been steadily upgraded over the decades. Nearly all of the arks that Leon had first used to reach the Nexus had been retired or recycled, and those that now hovered over him were of a whole new breed. On average more than a quarter larger than their older counterparts, Leon’s arks had been given every upgrade that he, Nestor, Mari, the Ravens, and any other researcher in his Kingdom could come up with. The arkyards that built them were drilled and monitored, with every minute sign of corruption, laziness, or incompetence punished or corrected. No other industry in Leon’s Kingdom was so heavily controlled.

That left him now with a large and powerful fleet, numbering at one hundred and twenty-five of the new corvettes, one hundred and twenty-five frigates, eighty destroyers, sixty light cruisers, sixty heavy cruisers, thirty carriers, ten new ‘supercarriers’, and ten more dreadnoughts.

Most of these ark classes Leon was well familiar with, though much like the Ulta suits, had most of their functions upgraded and augmented with light shields. The Trajan-class supercarriers and Exallos-class dreadnoughts, however, were new and had yet to be battle-tested.

The former were carriers about half again as large as the ‘regular’ carriers, and that was on top of those being a quarter larger than before—though that still barely made them comparable in size, if not in function, to the Thunderbird supercarrier that had crashed in the Sacred Golden Empire on Aeterna. All of that extra space came with certain upsides, such as a nearly triple complement of fighter arks, Ulta suits, and giants compared to the smaller carriers, but also certain downsides, such as thinner armor and slower overall speed. The lack of armor was compensated for by having the most robust light shields in Leon’s entire fleet.

The latter were the largest weapons that Leon was able to field. They had new cannons the likes of which could only be compared to the ancient destroyers’ main cannons, though based on lightning rather than light. It irked Leon that even now, he required an ark almost four times the size of the ancient destroyers to match them in firepower, but all of that extra space allowed for one hundred and ninety-six Lightning Lance emplacements. The dreadnoughts, contrary to their name, were slow and would require quite a bit of protection to be effective, but in terms of heavy weapons, Leon was betting on few matching these new arks without having the backing of at least an Anax.

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Finally, there were fifty transport arks, lacking in weapons but coming with thick armor and powerful light shields. Comparable in size to the lighter carriers, most of Leon’s army would reach Kesken aboard these arks. Smaller transports that could carry companies of one hundred swarmed around these transports like schools of fish around a shark, showing off their maneuverability for all who beheld the fleet.

As powerful as all of this was, however, Leon knew that an army wasn’t much without its commanders, but in that respect, he had more confidence than he had in anything else. The best that his Kingdom had to offer, whether bearing a bloodline or not, stood in front of their companies, battalions, and legions according to the organization that Leon was most familiar with, and which he’d imposed upon his forces. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Legions numbered twenty-thousand, divided then into twenty battalions of one thousand, which were then further divided into ten companies of one hundred. Leading each legion was an eighth-tier mage, every battalion by a seventh, and every company by a sixth—on paper, at least. In practice, nearly half of Leon’s legions in his Kingdom were led by ninth-tier mages, including the two combat legions assembled before him. Their battalions were, bar one or two, led by eighth-tier mages, and their companies likewise were almost exclusively led by seventh-tier mages.

Standing in front of all of them, meanwhile, were the commanders of the expedition as a whole. Alcander, the commander of the Tempest Knights; the Jaguar as the Marshal; and Clear Day as Leon’s Chief Diplomat. Standing just behind them were five tenth-tier mages, four of whom had been drawn from the Ten Tribes while the fifth was a mage who’d risen in Lancefoot within the past century—the Tribal commanders who’d joined Leon’s army instead of joining the ranks of their Tribe’s elders were a Bear named Red-Knuckle, a Spider named Jagathan, a Hawk named Floats-on-Wind, and a Jaguar named Diomedes, while the Lancefoot native, not even a century old, was quite humbly named Ian. Anzu stood a little farther away in a place of prominence, his connection to Leon keeping him apart from the other commanders, though he was careful not to stand in front of any of them. Finally, Anshu, Leon’s Fleet Admiral, was up in Storm Herald, along with Red. Marcus, several Inspectors, and a thousand bureaucrats would also accompany the force to Kesken.

All of Leon’s friends had reached the tenth-tier or higher in their time in the Nexus. To aid and honor them, Leon had personally sky forged Adamant weapons for them, which they proudly showed off now—Alcander held an enormous ax that radiated heat; Marcus wore a narrow one-handed dueling sword on his hip; Anzu bore a longsword in the same style as Iron Pride; Anshu had a curved saber as his weapon of choice; and Red had snorted derisively whenever Leon suggested making a weapon for her. The Jaguar also held an Adamant weapon: a deadly spear with a broad head suited for slashing as well as thrusting.

“Your army appears well in order,” Iron-Striker observed as he walked alongside Leon, his experienced eyes running over all of the shining metal. “I believe the Kingdom will grow by nine planes within the year.”

“We’ll win the battles to come, for sure,” Leon stated without a shred of doubt. He could see the soldiers who were listening stand straighter in response, their pride evident even beneath all of the armor they wore. “What comes after that will be the hard part.”

Iron-Striker hummed in agreement, though he stated, “Peace has been brought to these long war-ravaged lands thanks to your efforts. Continue ruling with that wisdom, and there will be no problems in Kesken.”

Leon bit back a self-deprecating remark about what he’d done in the past century and a half—it wouldn’t do to be too humble before his troops—but he still gave his Chancellor a look that spoke for him.

Down the rows of soldiers they proceeded—though they hadn’t the time to inspect each and every one of them, they at least made their way through the front battalions—eventually leading to the giants. The new frames were powerful, forged from steel with a heavily enchanted bronze coat. The heaviest of the giants wore large Lances on their shoulders, but most of them only bore the light blades and smaller Lances as the Ulta suits.

Despite his praise before, Iron-Striker remained quiet as they made their way through the ranks, keeping any criticism or further praise to himself. The silence wore on Leon’s patience and hit his eardrums like hammers.

Concentrating his darkness magic, Leon briefly glanced at Iron-Striker in a wordless command, and once he felt his Chancellor’s mental defenses open up for him, he commandingly asked, [Is there something you want to say to me, my friend?]

Iron-Striker’s face remained completely impassive, the very vision of noble detachment. [What would give you the idea that I have something on my mind?]

[We’ve known each other for more than three-quarters of my life,] Leon retorted. [If I hadn’t figured you out by now I’d be utterly useless. You have doubts. Speak them.]

A long silence fell between, filled with continuing to walk down the ranks of giants until they gave way to the front ranks of the Ulta suits, all standing at attention.

[I… struggle to comprehend what we will build,] Iron-Striker finally whispered into Leon’s mind. [Leon… I would not want you to think that I am now having doubts—I have not had any since you proved yourself in our war against the Sunlit Empire. But… What will we become when all this is over? When the Kingdom spread across the universe, how are we to manage that? When our people are so spread out, how are we to remain united?]

[That’s what the arks are for,] Leon said with an almost sarcastic smirk. However, after a moment, he turned serious. [In its heyday, the Thunderbird Clan ruled over thousands of planes. Its vassals ruled over thousands more. Our Empire was one of the largest in the entire universe. Still… for all that we directly ruled over, let alone those planes of our vassals, we apparently didn’t live on very many planes. A few clusters, a few enclaves. We will become the same, I think. Whole planes given over to Tribes, others turned into Exarchates or something similar. All connected by portals and arks.]

[The Void is vast,] Iron-Striker commented. [So vast that even we post-Apotheosis mages struggle to fly between planes within the same clusters, let alone those further out. Arks won’t connect us as we have been for eighty-thousand years. Portals… we simply don’t have. Getting from one place to another in the Nexus is one thing, but between planes is another.]

Iron-Striker sighed, unable to quite contain himself now that he was giving voice to his thoughts.

[All that I have done for you, and even before you, was to unify the Ten Tribes. To make us one people. I… our bloodlines make that an impossibility strictly speaking, but I always dreamed that we would still come together as one for a common purpose. Under you, that dream has long been realized. But now… our people are about to scatter throughout the stars. How unified will we be when so separated?]

[What does it mean to be unified?] Leon asked him as he halted at the end of a rank of Ulta suits. He turned to regard his Chancellor seriously, halting the inspection to give his worries their due weight. [Language? Dress? Veneration of our Ancestors?]

[United in purpose,] Iron-Striker readily said. [Goals and methods. Values.]

[None of that necessarily depends on our place in the universe,] Leon said.

[Where we live has a huge impact on what we do and what we want,] Iron-Striker shot back. [What does a desert nomad value compared to a coastal fisherman?]

[Are you saying that these people wouldn’t love their families and honor their Ancestors?]

[I’m saying that when we spread ourselves throughout the universe, what we want may diverge.]

Leon frowned slightly as he turned his gaze up to the Origin Spark. A destroyer hovered between him and it, though the Origin Spark was so large that the destroyer barely concealed that much of the enormous ball of origin power.

[A member of the Great Black Dragon Clan has twice visited me,] Leon stated. [Not since leaving Aeterna have I seen him, though. Still… both times, he did so with a portal. Such a thing was undoubtedly hard and expensive, but it proves that it can be done. What is the space between us compared to what magic can do? Distance can be bridged. If this is your worry, then I promise you that it will be bridged. My Ancestors held their Empire together with fear and blood. I suppose your concerns are a real reason why it was necessary—little kinship was felt between those in the Empire’s core and those on the fringes. But these places can be made neighbors…]

Iron-Striker quickly adopted a frown to match Leon’s. [Connecting the universe as you might suggest would be an undertaking of colossal proportions. Even the Primal Gods might’ve balked at such a thing.]

[Maybe…] Leon whispered. [But you’ve raised a good point, and the solution is possible. Our Nestorian Drives are proof of that.] Leon turned back to Iron-Striker, his expression serious. [And if we know that it’s possible, then shouldn’t we try to bridge that gap?]

[I’m not so sure that it is possible,] Iron-Striker replied. [This may be too much for a single man. Even for you.]

Leon grinned and clapped Iron-Striker’s shoulder. [Good thing I’m not alone then, isn’t it? Now come on, this inspection won’t finish itself.]

Leon turned and led his Chancellor down another rank of Ulta suits, though the man’s concern rattled around his head for a long time. His Kingdom was about to spread far and wide. Ruling such a place and keeping his people happy would not be easy, and would require more than military might.

But as mighty a problem as this was, confidence bloomed in his chest. He’d overcome this challenge as he had so many others.

Nothing would stop him save for death itself.