"I see…
Your father… is the… Grand Duke Morbarth…?" Esmond expected to hear that Angela was the daughter of the Emperor of the Trika Empire.
He thought Angela might request some action from Esmond that wasn't too aggressive to the Empire, but to his surprise, she came to ask for his help.
"My father is the current Grand Duke and cousin to the current Emperor.
When… we were banished and our rank was reduced, my father implored the Emperor, even gifting some land to Emperor, but it wasn't enough to sway his hand.
Since then, my father withdrew as the right hand of the Emperor and returned back to his fiefdom."
Because of the proximity of the Grand Dukes lands to the Deep North, Angela knew her father would race to throw his people behind the Emperor if it meant saving his daughter.
"What do you want me to do, Angela?"
"Please tell him we are fine, and he shouldn't worry…" Angela didn't want her father to be involved in the war that was bound to occur, so she hoped Esmond would be merciful enough to spare her father.
"Ahhh…hm… *Sigh* you didn't need to be so dramatic about this Angela… jeez.
I have no issues with your family, and I was always planning to get your input about the people currently in charge of the Empire.
Regardless, you can tell Isabelle what you wish to send to your father, and it'll happen with no problems."
Esmond had no plans to use the Grand Duke in his plans but knowing that the region he ruled was west of the Deep North.
A valley of mountains, deep caverns, and a Marquis connected deeply with the Imperial Royal Family, Esmond didn't think it would be too much of a challenge for his forces to sweep through.
.
Angela decided to call for Isabelle and left the office once Rahzil arrived with the food she ordered from the kitchen.
Leaving the kids in Rahzils care, who started examining the two children while they ate their food silently, every so often asking for Rahzils hand with the water.
Julius on the other hand was in deep talks with Esmond who wanted to know his thoughts on what had happened till now.
"… To be fair, you've definitely ruffled the feathers of the Empire, but there is no point dragged those in that won't be protected by the mountains that seal away Vaadan.
In the case of my father-in-law, the Grand Duke Morbarth, he wouldn't needlessly join the war unless it was evident that if people invaded their way of live would change for the worst.
… My thoughts would be to get in touch with the Grand Duke and organise a trade relationship that would benefit Vaadans growth and help prepare for the future battle."
Julius had seen his fair share of combat as a Knight for the Trika Empire, but it wasn't in comparison to the warfare Esmond was conducting.
Having overseen the takeover of the whole Vaadan Region, Julius knew the powers and strength within Esmonds hand was far beyond anything he had first imagined.
.
Esmond and Julius were overlooking the map of the Empire and the area closest to the Deep North.
Looking down south in the direction of the capital, to the west was the land of the Marquis Iwla.
It happened to be the land between Grand Duke Morbarth, but the overall distance wasn't as simple as being 'just past the Marquis'.
There was roughly 1600kms between the proposed Landport leading into the Vaadan Region and the border of the Grand Duke Morbarths land.
Julius strategised the importance of fighting with the Marquis Iwla, who was known for his slave miners and harsh treatment of his people that lived within his lands.
To the east there was an Earl Rutherdows who was known for his Knight peerage system within their lands that was designed to improve the lives of those with the worst conditions in life.
Julius thought it would be a good idea to get in touch with the Earl, but Esmond warned him against that.
"He will be the first to arrive at our walls and try to fight us to death if I am correct…
I could be wrong, and he might not be what it seems like but hearing that his lands focus on Knighthood while they have mountains upon mountains filled with resources of all kinds in their surrounding…
These guys might just be some of the strongest warriors of the empire."
"Your right…
Eerily so…
*Sigh* Anyway, the Earl Rutherdows would have to be the biggest problem we face right now if we go by what you've said…" Julius wanted to trust the Earl to do the right thing and not fight against Esmond, but everything he knew about the Earl was exactly as Esmond said.
He was devoted to the Empire, through and through… the Earl loved the Trika Empire, and it came down to his family of knights that continued to defy the nobles of old that were given their titles and that was it.
The Earls family had risen from their Knight rank to a Baron and then continued over the generations till they became Earls.
While the land in the Earls control wasn't the most fertile land and had mountains that were filled with mines full of expensive resources, the Earl family focused greatly on training their people to become warriors, whether it was a Knight, Mage, Archer, or something else completely.
They continued their conversation until Rahzil called out to the two once the food was beginning to cool down.
.
Back in the Spatial Ark Star World, at the Military Training Facility, a group of special force soldiers from earth were going through Virtual Training through the Military Pods.
One of the soldiers, Thomas Wilfort, a former British SAS operative was linked up with the Pod and currently in the Virtual World.
"Alright shitbags, you've been informed about the plan and are more than ready for this first operation.
Good luck and don't disappoint me!
Time to get up!" Thomas jumped from his seat in the back of a unique aircraft.
For a while now, he was learning at the Academy within the Virtual World and heard about the Raven Class dropships which would be a vital aircraft within the Tertius Fleet.
They could easily seat 40 people with armour and weapons equipped, while spare room to load two pallets worth of ammunition and explosives.
Two pilots fly and control the Raven aircraft with the addition of a Tractor Beam which could carry a vehicle below by locking onto to object at a microscopic level.
It could even fly into space if required, however certain procedures needed to be taken before that became possible.
Thomas had found it all unbelievable since he'd been part of the British Armed Forces and worked in the Research and Development section of the army.
Seeing the level of technologic difference between the British Army and what was within the space, Thomas knew the Empires Army was no joke.
Apparently, they were supposed to be deployed during the first wave, however they were now going to be working with the 01As, the code names the soldiers gave to the Phantom Droids.
They saw them as one whole unit of armed soldiers, with the commanders getting their own little nickname as well which quickly became part of the Armed Forces culture.
Esmond wanted the soldiers' part of his army to understand the meaning of disciple and command but creating a friendly culture was just as important.
It was already prevalent in the Armed Forces that customisation would be allowed, and it could be seen in the Virtual World.
As Thomas got up, he looked over and saw another member of the large group from Thailand that came over to the Hidden World, which became the name of the Spatial Ark Star World for the residents from Earth.
His name was Dylan Scott and was a former American Delta Force operative who came over to the Hidden World with his family.
It turned out he was a big fan of video games such as Halo and so forth, so he'd asked to have his helmet similarly designed to match Masterchief.
Thomas hadn't done anything to his armour yet, keeping it pretty simple till now, however he had some ideas.
For now, Thomas had to push that aside as the doors opened up at the back of the dropship aircraft which was going to let them out at 10,000 feet in the air.
.
"Go! Go! Go!" shouted the commanding officer whose voice entered their ears through the helmet of the soldiers who started to dive out the dropship, two at a time.
Thomas and Dylan were the last to jump out together as the HUD system directed them to the air they were landing and when to activate the parachutes which would retract into the full body armour suit.
As they landed in the open meadow where they could see the other members that dived out of the dropship, everyone's HUD systems displayed the direction of their objective, including what they had to do.
.
{Gulf of Mexico}
{Landing outside of Riviera, Texas}
{Seize Corpus Christi of Texas and Port Aransas for arrival of Empire Fleet}
.
"Let's get to work, Wolves!!" Thomas shouted over his mic that was connected with the rest in the squad.
'"AWOO!!"' they shouted over the mic, before equipping their main weapon and activated their cloaking system.