Chapter 82 - Return To Base

Notes : Chapters 84, 85 and 86 have been written and added to the queue !

I'm really driving hard for that reunion. I...might take a break after I write it, I'm afraid of burning out honestly.

I also might have to make an NSFW special for this story, since I can't get Sapphiria and Kalia's...reunion out of my mind.

Also, the review copies for Book 1 are out ! Do check out the announcement !

I hope you'll enjoy the chapter !

Chapter 82

Icerend Borderlands

Great Pine Forest, Riverbed Crystal Field

"All done?" Asked Sapphiria, the miner gave her a thumbs up.

"We got it boss lady! Errr, Ancestor. Err, your div-"

Sapphiria held a hand up, stopping the stocky woman in her tracks.

"Ma'am will do."

"Right, ma'am. It's all done, ma'am."

"Good. Let's mount up then. We have a valley to save!"

A cheer sounded throughout the former crystal field.

'Former', because the squishies had just picked it clean. Understandably, given the urgency of the situation, and the fact that their cargo might be the difference between the life and death of their loved ones, the crystal gatherers had gone with far less exaggerated caution. Sapphiria even had to rein them in a little and keep them from getting over from 'properly cautious' to 'slightly reckless', but despite their worry, they clearly respected the stuff they were handling. The stevedores, especially, transported the crates like they were filled with antimatter warheads.

Everyone piled into the snowpiercer with alacrity, and the AI kept watch, entering last, making sure everyone was well and safely seated, before getting into the cockpit.

"How much?" She asked as she seated herself. She already knew, thanks to Cia keeping a tally, but it was good to keep the squishies feeling useful.

"Half of our total cargo load." Answered Ramina, clearly giddy with finally having mana to play with.

Sapphiria nodded, though the exact number was fifty five point three percent. They'd used a fair amount of the metal she'd filled the cargo compartment with fixing the hull, but most of the space she'd had to make by taking out ingots. Waste not, want not however, so she'd buried and tagged it as an emergency cache.

Also Ramina had taken a couple of ingots for her own personal projects. Given the way she'd asked, it was clear that normally she probably wouldn't have bothered to ask to borrow excess materials, but she was still in utter awe of Sapphiria, and probably wouldn't be able to take a single cookie from the galley without her written authorization.

If they had cookies. Or a galley.

...She'd spent too long in the navy. And too little time with squishies outside of it. When was the last time she'd even worn real civilian clothing? Not the 'totally not a soldier' getup she used in bars. An actual dress, or one of those caftans in vogue in the Core Worlds.

"Excellent." The AI quickly ran through the checklist, before throwing the snowpiercer forward. It had already been turned around, it was just a matter of following back their tracks. Not physically, of course, the manastorm had obliterated those that existed to begin with, but through her navigation software.

She steadily accelerated, going far faster than she had coming in, Ramina peering ahead intensely. There was no time to waste. Who knew how long they had before the Hand was overrun?

*****

As usual, night fell early in the pass. Or rather, it'd be more accurate to say that the light reflections from either of its end paled beyond the level necessary to illuminate it.

It both was, and wasn't a hindrance for the Bane. They could fight in absolute darkness, but their vision was limited, dissolving into a formless mass in the distance.

The Hand waited. And waited. It was a testament to how tense they were that their coin was held firmly in hand, and not rolling across their knuckles.

No trumpets. No massive, headlong charge. Nothing but the whistling of the wind, and-

Wait. There was something out there.

The Hand titled their head.

Scraping. Muffled movement. Infiltrators?

Then they heard it. Dirt, falling down a hole.

They smiled.

Not infiltrators. Sappers. Filling in the trench before the first abattis. Trying to use what little cover they had to smooth the way for the coming assaults.

The Hand weighed their options.

Attacking the sappers was probably the right move. But that would require moving forces forward, and court a counter-attack.

It just wasn't worth the risk. Especially when the first line was just completely shattered. The abattis was just a mound of dirt with shattered spikes and splinters at this point. There wasn't really any point in keeping it protected, when it would be obliterated tomorrow, and the risk was great. Especially given how thin their forces were stretched. Barely a line of legionnaires defended the second line and its barricade, while the rest were clustered on the third, manning the wall.

Better to let them busy themselves filling a small trench and taking down a few tiny, half obliterated obstacles. Use the time to further the construction of the wall, and prepare for what they were paving the way for. Siege engines, maybe?

No. Too soon. They wouldn't have been able to drag artillery all this way this quickly. Any siege weapons they brought to bear would be built on site, from a stockpile of specialized parts and treated wood, or even made from the nearby forest. That meant it would take them a few days at least.

Eventually though, they would bring some in. Try to knock a hole in the wall. Maybe sweep the parapets to allow for a conventional infantry assault.

The Hand stayed, hearing the muffled sound of what would have been backbreaking labor had it been done by the living, and felt a pang.

In the old days of when they had still breathed, there would have been living people in that work party. Not many, and most would be covered by Risen. But there would be muffled swearing and the occasional oath squeaking out.

Unfortunately, times had changed.

The so called 'Crusaders' had wiped out the Empire's homeland. And now they were going to pay for the consequences of their atrocities. When the Empire was whole again, and a true ruler on the Throne, not that abomination they currently called an Imperatrix, they would marshall the legions as one, under a unified banner, and visit bloody vengeance upon the continents that had spawned the scum.

Retribution would come...and the living would once again prosper under the Throne.

Hopefully under the leadership of a ruler who shared the wisdom of the Age of Prosperity, and not the frenetic madness of the Age of Expansion.

*****

"Welcome back ma'am." Said Cia as Sapphiria popped into the simulation.

"Heya C." The simulacrum tilted her head at the nickname, and Sapphiria smiled. "Status report?"

"We are proceeding on schedule for howitzer part production. The first few shells, after...some issues were ironed out, are being rolled out."

"Good." Sapphiria tried not to wince. The 'issues' were not of the explosive kind, but rather the simple fact that these demanded a lot more handling than just having the chemical synthesizers make a firearm propellant pack and then slapping the actual metal bullet on top of it. It was, after all, caseless ammunition.

Here they had to make a multi-stage munition that had to be fabricated, filled and shipped, alongside a complicated fuse and various other components like the primer and other crap an artillery shell needed.

It had created a lot more headaches than she'd bargained for, and Cia had to build a bit of infrastructure in a hurry.

"Ammunition production is still proceeding on schedule. Astralis perimeter is over halfway to completion. Should we still continue to use resources for it?"

Sapphiria hesitated, then nodded.

"No point protecting the squishies from the Bane if they're down a monster's gullet. And if nothing else, we can probably relocate some of the turrets once we have a place to put the artillery. Speaking of..."

"I have marked potential sites and their firing angles. However I do not know if they will prove practical."

Sapphiria nodded. That would require a ground survey. They had maps of the valley, supplemented by the footage of the drone she'd used to scout the pass, but like orbital reconnaissance, it could never equal having boots on the ground actually taking a close look at the place. Even survey scanners were more accurate when down low, though she wasn't about to use the ones they had for now.

"Okay. And the blast door?"

"Mapping is mostly complete. Digging it out for full scans is complicated, but work is advancing."

Sapphiria nodded. Perhaps her orders were a bit too comprehensive, asking for every centimeter of the UIS blast door they'd found to be scanned before it was taken apart for lab analysis, but...better be thorough. Especially when this could yield so much.

Knowledge of magic, for starters. But also some hints as to how it had gotten there and why it was so damned old.

Temporal distortion was her working hypothesis for now, but she'd really like to know for sure.

Of course, there was a great deal she would like to know. Like what the fuck she had stumbled into, why there were fortresses guarding the entrance...gates? And what the hell magic was, and-

There was a lot. She'd need to make a list of it to keep it all straight.

TO-DO LIST UPDATED

That still worked at least.

"Okay, good." She cracked her knuckles. "We should be back in a couple of days, I think." Which would include a full night rolling towards the town, bypassing a recharge cycle. "Better get everything ready for when we get there."

"Of course. Should I warn the mage-magistrate of your ETA? Precisely, once you are on your final approach."

Sapphiria snuck a glance at the simulacrum. As usual she had a poker face to make a stone statue blush with envy. It could be a simple 'let them know so everything can be unloaded as quickly as possible', but...

She had mentioned the mage-magistrate directly.

"...Yes." Finally said the AI. The last thing she needed was her simulacrum trying to be a wingwoman. Though she could use some...time with Kalia.

"I will schedule some messages."

"Any news on the mining front?"

"Industrial expansion bar smelters has been stopped, as per your instructions. Mining is continuing as expected however."

"Still running a surplus then."

"Hence your exception for the smelters?" The simulacrum tilted her head. "Are you okay ma'am?"

"Yeah, yeah, just..." Sapphiria squeezed the bridge of her nose. "A bit jumpy, that's all."

The simulacrum hesitated, then softened her tone.

"You'll make it, admiral. You'll be back in time."

The AI chuckled.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." She shook herself. "I think I'll need to take a break, after..." She gestured vaguely around them. "Europa, maybe. Auntie said she'd love to take me to Crystal Park, in the last ice valleys."

"If I may ma'am, you may need a break before all this is over. Running continuously without leave is hazardous." The simulacrum hesitated again. "Especially since you already took...so few of them."

"This isn't exactly the place for vacation. But if you have an idea, I'd love to see it."

The simulacrum stared at the AI, and Sapphiria started to feel awkward. Cia seemed so much like a person, it was hard to remember she could be as single-minded as a monotask bot sometimes. It probably didn't help that her aunt had instructed her to take care of her superior. Damn it auntie!

"There's no need to focus on that right now though." Hastily added the AI.

"Of course." Smoothly said the simulacrum.

"Any news from topside?" She said...failing to realize she hadn't directly countermanded her previous instructions.

"Standard status report. The Bane...the Hand's faction that is, is still trying to complete the stone wall. No idea what the other side is up to. There was some brief fighting earlier. Analysis from the colonists is that it was a short probing attack."

"I agree." Sapphiria grimaced. "We need to get eyes in there. Start taking a look at their heavy infantry, gauge their intentions."

"Ma'am?"

"First rule of strategic reconnaissance. Look at the capital ships." The simulacrum just looked confused, and Sapphiria sighed. "Something my aunt taught me. In space warfare, capital ships are always the deciding element. They're the core of the wall of battle and what anchors the front line. If you want to know that the enemy is thinking, you look for their capital ships. Analyze how they're positioned. It tells you a lot." Her aunt had actually used that before the battle of Massilia, to gauge if the Theocracy would take the bait or not.

"And their heavy infantry is their capital ships? That..." The simulacrum tilted her head. "...makes sense."

"I mean, we don't know what their composition is, but in this particular case, yeah." Sapphiria pulled up a hologram of the pass, staring at it intensely. Almost as if willing the estimates to change. "I'm no medieval warfare expert, but catapults aren't going to hammer this place into submission. Neither are archers. They'll probably wear the Hand down, open breaches in the wall, but eventually? They'll have to take it the old fashioned way. Which means heavy infantry. Something that can survive making it to contact and still have the strength to push through, take ground."

This kind of task was exactly the reason why power armor and heavy combat androids existed. There were places tanks and mechs couldn't get into, and that you didn't want to just glass from orbit.

"I understand. Do you intend to run a drone reconnaissance mission?"

"As soon as I'm there." Admitted Sapphiria. "We need intel, badly. Once we have it, we can set up the guns and decide how best to use them."

The simulacrum looked vaguely displeased for a reason, but she nodded.

"Understood. Should I run scenarios on probable enemy strategies and tactics?"

"Yes. Start from Gregor's estimates. I'll review the howitzer production, then I'll join you."

Cia nodded.

"Of course. I will get everything ready."

And make some plans of her own...