-ON THE BACKS OF DRAGONS-
-Never trust an Emperor-
Word of victory traveled fast by messenger, reports and accounts were brought home in bulk as where the warriors who ended the Legion's advance. It was a cause of celebration, the homecoming of many warriors and the personnel that supported them. Families were reunited, hugs were shared, and tears were shed in happiness.
But not everyone was so cheerful, deep inside the bowls of the flagship Adventure; the human Alpha studied the map ever so intently under the red lantern light. Sure news that his warriors had survived and did their mission was great, but why did they even fight?
The Romans had begun to act strange; all resent engagements with the Empire had been poor choices. Sending their prized Legion, unaccompanied by any form of support, to take territory that would put them in an even worse tactical position. The Empire had strategists and had manage to create the Empire through military strategy so it wasn't a question of did they have smarts, it was why wasn't the Empire using them?
The latest battle was the same story as several others on the front, but what could they be after? The Empire was too cheap to waste its champions probing a defense, which was a job for auxiliary troops. People that were meant to be disposable.
What was the Empire up to? What were they withholding their men and supplies for?
Maybe the agents operating inside the Empire heard a rumor about the nature of Roman plans. He has dispatched several small teams of saboteurs and assassins to disrupt the Empire from the inside a few months ago, but the operation was so effective, the men stayed behind Roman lines and take out targets like military curriers and slave coffles.
Halldon walked over to a nearby bookshelf and picked out a rather large book, opening it up to read the latest reports. Economy failing, a few small short lived uprisings, a notable drop in the slave trade due to a lack of "exotic goods" but a sudden increase in spices and silk from trade with the Chinese to the east, at least for a period of time. After a certain point the Chinese banned all trade with the "western world." No doubt they caught Roman traders taking more then they bargained for, smuggling a trade secret out.
So what didn't the Chinese want to share? Well, they were highly protective of the origin of Silk and spices, but neither of those have much military value unless the Emperor commission a pepper gas bomb, which of course was unlikely. No, the Romans would try to steal something of military value before something comfortable, like a weapon.
Like an explosive,
Like Black powder.
After Drago's death at the Battle of Berk, his army mostly disbanded or split into fractions. A few of those fractions defected to the Romans, and gave them the secret behind all of Drago's traps and special weapons as a peace offering. The Emperor, being the forgiving ruler he was, took the deal, and promptly had the defectors executed. But thankfully, the backstabber failed to realize that even though he had the weapons, he still needed ammunition and a propellant to load them with. Ammunition was easy to figure out, but without enslaved dragons to provide the key ingredients, the Romans failed to perfect a formula for an explosive.
So they stole the Chinese's formula.
So with black powder at their disposal as well as mathematicians and inventers with skills equal if not superior to his own, the Roman Empire now had the potential to win the war.
Logically, the only practical means to transport that much firepower would be by ship, it would be ineffective to try and move that much artillery overland by horse drawn wagons. So it was safe to assume that the Romans were building a navy to destroy the Corps, and the next major battles would be ship to ship.
The Human Alpha was confident in his own ships sailing abilities and firepower, but the lack of armor on most of them was cause for concern, especially with the smaller ships like the destroyers. He had neglected armor in designing the ships in an effort to make the ship faster and more maneuverable and cheaper to build.
And with his opponents being built on the concept of strong defense, the Empire was certain to heavily armor their ships. Thankfully such armor would make a ship heavy and unresponsive, difficult to navigate.
Now there were plans to eventually invade the Empire rather then keeping them contained, but it would be at least a few seasons yet before the plans could be put into action. A few seasons he didn't know if he still had or not.
"Well bud, ready to go spit plasma into Death's face?" The human asked his other half. The night fury rose to his feet from his nap, and with courage burning in his eyes threw his head back, and roared.
It was an order for everyone to return to their stations and units and prepare for battle. And soon enough, crew members returned to the waiting fleet in force. This morning they were all on shore leave, vacation, but now they answer the call as strong, courageous, and unrelenting soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
-On the Backs of Dragons-
Day Four since departure from Thopan's capital, the Adventure and its fleet had been sailing south, towards Roman waters in hope of finding the Roman super weapon. The flagship had joined up with several other ships in order to create an impressive fleet. It was the largest fleet in the world, made up of more then over thirty ships.
The flagship Adventure was flanked by the battle cruisers Courage, Justice, Exploration, Freedom, and Protector, in a cruising wedge formation, two short columns, almost crossing but able to fold open and form a line against an enemy.
At least a dozen light cruisers followed behind the initial wedge in short parallel lines and several carriers and transports stayed tucked behind that. As an additional measure, the entire fleet was surrounded in a protective ring made up of Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts.
A massive fog bank had rolled in on top of the fleet, causing them to lose sight of the mainland, but they continued to push on.
One crack in the air however, and the entire fleet was petrified.
They could hear the rumble, and make out the fiery glow of what appeared to be a star falling from the sky. The sheer size of the missile was beyond comprehension as it sailed over the fleet and splashed down behind them. The impact created a small tidal wave, to small to reach the main fleet, but just close enough to swallow a Destroyer Escort whole, trapping all thirty men and all twenty dragons underneath the waves.
Despite the horror of witnessing brave warriors meet their end too early, the fleet looked forward, only to watch something's shadow appear in the fog.
Something big.
