Blake stared at the plate sized object in his hand. It looked like some old Chinese Fengshui compass except it had multiple needle hands instead and covered with runes and scripts of arcane nature. He turned it left and right, but the compass needles remained unmoving. Finally, unable to decipher the arcane compass, he placed it back down into a foam lined case.
"Did they say anything about this?" Blake asked Trism who carefully secured and closed the case. "Like how to use it?"
Trism shook his head, "The interrogation is still ongoing."
"Already, five of the thirteen had killed themselves," Trism sighed. "There were no signs of poison or anything, but Dr. Sharon's autopsy showed massive internal injuries, their hearts and veins ruptured... Somehow, they could use some kind of magic or ability to self destruct themselves..."
"The remaining eight, we put them on a numbing agent, which keeps them sedated and confused," Trism explained. "While it is slower in extracting information, it at least keeps them alive for now..."
"What we can be sure of, is that they are Suugons," Trism said. "And what little they revealed under interrogation tells us that the Third Prince is their target. As for the reason why, so far, no one is saying anything."
"Keep at it and also find out what you can on this..." Blake gestured to the case. "It might be the key to helping us locate my wife without the need for boots on the ground inside Protectorate territory."
"Yes, Sir!" Trism nodded before he added. "Sir, is it wise to reveal our hand to the Third Prince so early?"
"He is the fastest way into that restricted area inside the Grand Library of theirs," Blake said. "And with a formal alliance, we can move openly within the Iron Kingdom."
"Only if he survives and becomes the Crown Prince..." Trism shook his head. "We still don't even know who the major players of this plot are."
"It doesn't really matter," Blake smiled coldly as he quoted, "In face of superior firepower... All plots and schemes are moot!"
-----
The Old World, Capital of the Iron Kingdom,
"Lord Uncle!" The chubby faced elf with a large potbelly greeted the new arrival when the doors opened. The fat elf was dressed in soft rich clothes and jewellery that showed off his wealth. His elegant long golden hair bounded up with a golden clasp did not match the folds of fat around his round face and small beady eyes.
"Prince Najja!" An tall elf with a dignified bearing strolled through the opened doors had greying hair and despite the wrinkles on his face and hands, each step he took was full of vigor. "How is my royal nephew doing?"
The Second Prince of the Iron Kingdom beamed happily until his eyes were nearly covered by the fats on his face. He patted his belly and laughed, "Lord Uncle, I am doing well as you can see!"
Lord Sincia shook his head at the sight of his nephew's body shape and turned to greet the rest of the nobles in the chamber one by one. After the traditional greetings were completed, he sat down on the head of the table with the Second Prince on his right.
"Now, as you all know... The Third Prince has either gone into hiding or someone got to him before us," Lord Sincia's earlier jovial countenance has changed. Now he was all business like as he addressed the nobles around the table. "Now, we need to ensure two things."
"First, we need to find out who made the move against the Third Prince," Lord Sincia stated. "And secondly, if the Third Prince has gone into hiding, we must find him first before his own people find him."
"But if he could be hiding anywhere!" One of the nobles pointed out. "And if we move our forces, the other side will surely know something is up!"
"Blah!" The Second Prince sneered as he stuffed some sweet nuts into his mouth. "That is easy, just let the word out about our royal father's current condition. He will surely rush to return to the Iron Palace to see him!"
Lord Sincia nodded and said, "That is one method to get him out of hiding."
"I will spread the word out," One of the nobles quickly volunteered. "As long as he is alive and in a city or town, he will surely hear of the Iron King is ill!"
"We will post our people around the Gates and the Iron Palace to watch for the Third Prince," The other nobles quickly promised. "He will not slip in without us not knowing!"
"Make sure you intercept him before he gets into the Iron Palace!" Second Prince Najja added. "There must be no witnesses too! Handle this well... And when I sit upon the Iron Throne, all of you shall be greatly rewarded!"
"Yes, your majesty!" The nobles bowed and saluted. "By your Iron Will, we obey!"
"Go! Your future Iron King has spoken," Lord Sincia waved his fellow conspirators away. "Prince Herod must die!"
-----
The Eastern Border between the Iron Kingdom and the Tri State
Silver glittered under the moonlight as ship after ship floated silently towards the forts lining the border of the Iron Kingdom. The airships artistically built and shaped like ornate swords, made use of the wind to silently approach the border under the moonlight.
As the fleet of airships approached the forts, just barely ten ship lengths to the nearest watchtower, there was a sudden flash as an illumination ballista was fired into the night skies. The fuzzing glow of the burning ballista bolt illuminated a pair of Tri State airships as the bolt passed between them.
Almost instantly, bells started ringing and the alarm was passed down the border. The Tri State fleet as if angered by the discovery, let out a series of loud hiss cracks and the sides of the airships were immediately covered by a large of white puffy clouds as steam cannons were discharged.
Unlike convention gunpowder cannons, the steam cannons when discharging released no flames, making it hard for the gunners on the watchtower to return fire. Instead, the lamps and torches of the watchtowers were like beacons for the Tri State airships, giving them a point of reference to fire on.
Steam heated projectiles slammed through wood and shattering into deadly shrapnel against stone and metal. The Iron Kingdom border guards were mostly unprepared for the sudden invasion and years of peace between the Tri State and the Iron Kingdom further made the guards complacent.
Ballista towers were systemically demolished one by one, most of them not even fully manned. The squadron of Iron Kingdom airships barely even put up a fight, with most of the Commodore ordering the ships to scatter and bring word of the treacherous attack to the other garrisons. Many of the guards fled in panic from the aerial bombardment and just two turns of the sand glass, an entire twenty kilometre stretch of defences was shattered and broken.
Like a broken dam, airships from the Tri State 18th Fleet and 22nd Fleet burst through the border, the 18th wheeling left while the 22nd wheeled right to widen the gap. By the time dawn broke, the breach in the defence line extended until fifty kilometres, with only nine ships out of eighteen of the 18th and seven ships out of seventeen of the 22nd falling out due to heavy battle damages.
On the Iron Kingdom side, a gap of fifty kilometres laid wide open, with over five hundred dead and three thousand soldiers in retreat. Over a hundred ballista towers were destroyed, thousands of stores and supplies were captured or destroyed including seven airships captured on the ground intact, eleven disabled and two destroyed during take off. Over sixteen IK airships had shattered, bringing word about the invasion, but the lightning fast attacks of the Tri State had forced the Iron Kingdom commanders to respond too late.
Tri State ground forces swept in after the breach was made, capturing supplies and taking prisoners. Workers swarmed over the captured bases and repairs were made to damaged or destroyed infrastructure, to be used by the Tri State forces. The captured airships were repainted and reserve manpower used to crew them, while the damaged and repairable ships underwent repairs. Those captured IK ships would later be used to defend the captured bases.
Furthermore, the captured supplies would be used to supplement their own, reducing the strain on their own supply lines. The Tri State's 25th, 28th and 31st Fleet, each with a size of sixteen to eighteen fast attack sky cruisers, became the main thrust into the Iron Kingdom, aiming straight for the location where the Duchess of Thunderbolt and her people was being held.
The sky generals of the Tri State knew that the rescue of the Duchess was secondary and just a cover for the Emperor to expand into the Iron Kingdom. The main objective was to grab as much land as possible and hold it before suing for peace!
-----
News of the invasion spread rapidly through networks of fast courier airships. Despite the Iron King being bedridden and ill, the top commanders and the Chancellor of the Iron Kingdom quickly deployed their forces to counter the Tri State. Some of the nobles argued amongst themselves, pushing blame of the invasion onto one another while some called for the release of the Duchess of Thunderbolt to appease the Tri State's Emperor.
Others were baffled by the speed and quietness of the preparations made by the Tri State as none of the spies nor were there even rumors of the massing of supplies, troops and ships of the Tri State. Normally, any movement of any one of these items would send trigger merchants and rumors flying faster than a steam projectile. Yet, all was quiet and the invasion took them by surprise.
The Iron Kingdom shared its borders with four nations, The Protectorate to the North West, the Domain of Dragon on the North, the Tri State on the West, and the Cartel to the South. Due to this, its defences had to split into four major areas, with the majority of the Iron Kingdom's forces allocated against the Protectorate.
The defence strategy of the Iron Kingdom is simple, the border defence lines were not designed to stop an invasion, merely to slow the invasion. It also served to deter illegal migrants during peacetime. In theory, should the line come under attack, relief forces will be activated behind the lines, and reinforce the border defences where they were needed.
In practice, it did not work as planned. Years of peace, friendly relations with the Tri State and rising maintenance costs had the commanders rebased the airships and their crews together with the border defence's troops, to cut costs. Common operating procedure was to have ready boilers on a third of the fleet, but further cost cutting measures brought that number down to just a pitiful two ships.
And with the border guards turning slack over the years, even standing watch duties were reduced. Not only that, with the Protectorate constant skirmishes on the North Western borders, more and more troops and materials were diverted away towards the more troubled border.
Now dozens and dozens were airships stored in hangars of regional Lords were towed out and the militia hastily assembled. Merchant crews were also conscripted directly to crew the airships while the call of arms for troops was being sounded throughout the kingdom. In the days to come, the price of food and other necessities immediately rose and royal highways became clogged with both fleeing people and the military.
In the skies, airships formed into formations and sped off towards the east to block the invasion. And in the midst of all these events, an old and gaudy painted airship was heading to the Capital of the Iron Kingdom, still blissfully unaware of the war.