Steel and Mana

The first week of travel passed in complete calmness, with the sea remaining smooth and blessing them with warm weather. The wind kept blowing in the right direction, too, allowing the convoy to keep up a steady pace, both day and night. From the shoreline, the sight of them passing by was unlike anything anyone would have seen before. Yes, a dozen or so sailing ships were not weird, but the two destroyers stood out in sharp contrast to the other vessels.

The first stop they made was at one of the ports, east of the Theocracy, within a country called the Republic of Wrogia. Although in size it matched the Theocracy, being their eastern neighbor, in actuality, it was only the collection of six city-states in a mostly forested, humid land. The fleet didn't spend too much time here; it was simply an opportunity to show the people that the Union they had been hearing about was not only a myth, and Pion used the opportunity to spread its influence further out. Just like at their second stop, at the Principality of Torda, they gathered information about the middle of the continent through rumors and news while making sure the Union's tale and influence could spread further.

It was evident that the winter put a sizeable pressure on the countries between the Union and Khulman. Still, thanks to Autiva's constantly expanding trade caravans, they had already heard about Avalon and the Union. Some even knew about steam engines, realizing what could drive the sail-less ships. Yet, the further they headed east, the more alienated responses the fleet got, passing by the coastal cities.

When they finally passed the supposed latitude where the Khulman Empire was on the map, from the small nations at the southern edge of the continent, a handful of patrol cutters had been sent out, their soldiers eager to identify the strangers... Right until they got close and realized what kind of alien-looking ship they were trying to sail towards. The moment it happened, they usually returned to their port in silence, unable to comprehend the towering, human-like machines standing on ships... Especially when they learned that they could even speak, warning them in a deep, growling voice to turn back or get sent down into the depths of the ocean.

In Alcia, the local prince ordered his flagship to sail out and intercept the convoy, flying the gold-and-green of his house proudly, unafraid of the warnings they were given. To his horror, the Dawn at the front slowed for no one... and when the foolish prince came within a dangerous range, the Rook, standing on the Authority at the back, turned its weapons, shooting a single salvo booming like thunder. It made the water ripple around the destroyer, even pushing its body a bit deeper into the waves before bobbing back up into position. The explosion which followed its magical missiles missed the Alcia ship, but only by a hair's breadth, which was precisely what Polo had wanted. The splashing water and the rocking boat, which nearly capsized, sent the foreign crew scrambling to batten down their sails and try to retreat... After that, no further attempts were made as the convoy continued its journey.

By the time they reached the neighboring country, word of the fleet had raced ahead of their appearance. The people were wary but at least not foolish like the prince, so their ships stayed in port, their people watching the convoy with simple awe and curiosity. Noticing that if nobody tried to do anything to them, their caution was overcome with curiosity. Nearing the south-east bottom edge of the continent, a cluster of brightly painted trading cogs sailed out from a harbor, their decks loaded with people and wooden boxes, mainly spices, citrus fruits, and barrels of alcohol.

When they hailed the convoy, offering trade, it turned out they were more than five small countries' collective representatives, hoping to greet the strange visitors. To learn more about the situation, Pion, of course, authorized an exchange, sending a sailship to parley while the destroyers kept their distance, wary of others and whether it was a trap or not.

It wasn't.

Soon, beside the barrels of rum and dried fish changing hands, Pion also learned about the local circumstances. There were no monsters here... not yet, that is. Thanks to the Khulman Empire, the beasts didn't come through from their end... as for another local power, the Patriarchate of Bythia, further up north... that was a different story. The long winter, which crippled a lot of the local powers, affected Bythia the most. Although the country still stood, as far as the others were concerned, the rumors of monsters ravaging their northern provinces were spreading throughout the winter. There were even stories passed down about the beasts learning to swim and cross over... which made Pion stiffen when they set sails one more time.

Turning east, passing way into their journey's second half, sailing next to Bythia, the chaos that monsters can cause was finally apparent to the naked eye. This was no longer any kind of kingdom, but a wild land, forgoing all sorts of order after a winter that had stripped their people of their humanity. Their navy, or apparently what remained of it, consisting of a dozen war sloops, moved to block the convoy's path, intending to raid them for any and all goods they had. This time, there were no warning shots, not after burning arrows were sent forth from the enemy, falling way short in range.

It was time to test the destroyers' own weaponry, which, with only one, sequential salvo, had left behind a floating wreckage of their tightly packed sloops. When they tried to break for it, on Pion's order, the Seeker activated its own weapon, making sure no ship would return to the shore, sniping them one by one, leaving their crew to sink down into the depths of the black ocean.

Maybe others witnessed the utter destruction, perhaps it was because they no longer had any ship to man... but nobody came to bother them after that, allowing them to keep going north. Or... no more people were living up north as everything became... silent. The more they traveled north, the days blurred into one another thanks to the eerie silence and empty coastal towns.

Then, as they neared the gap between two parts of the continent, where the biggest gulf of the world was located, they finally saw something that made even Pion's blood freeze.

There was a narrow passage within the gulf, where the continent's two halves almost met... As far as the old documents went, there was a bridge built across it, a wonder, really... Well, it was still there, but this time, it was just like the hive city with the worm they slain, reinforced by the monsters, widened, and even now, hundreds of small variants were scurrying over it, heading down towards the South....

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.....

The convoy slowed to a crawl when the deformed, grotesque bridge came into full view. The gulf's narrowest part was now being choked by an organic-looking growth, akin to a visible cancer. Across it, hundreds of the smaller four-legged beasts were swarming southward, vanishing into the ruined city that once stood there, probably a sister pair of the ruins on the other edge up north... Now both were destroyed and became a nest to the beasts, allowing them to cross without the need to go through Khulman and its long Wall.

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"This has to be destroyed..." Pion grunted as he watched the image projected by the Seeker and its Imaginary system. "What's the actual range?" he asked.

"A kilometer and two hundred meters, give or take," Nathel answered after a brief moment, "Within firing range for me and the Rook. I can easily mark the hives on both ends of the bridge, but besides us, the ships are not equipped to receive the same marking. I also sense a magical interference... but I can't pinpoint it yet."

"It has to be a big one... No matter, it is good enough. We are far enough to bomb them." Pion snorted, still watching the distant monstrosity, "They are already spreading... If we can cut them off here we can confine them to the eastern quadrant and clean the land... We can't let this thing stay! Destroy it. Captains!" he called out with clear authority, standing on the Dawn, "Order the ships to take up battle formations! Get ready for the monster's retaliation!"

The moment the ships took their spots, readying for whatever may come next, Nathel's mech had begun feeding the proper coordinates to Polo.

"Got it.... Will you take the bridge?"

"Yes," Nathel nodded, arming his own weaponry, "I will shoot through its ends, making it fall into the water."

"I will bombard and burn the hives, if the smoke is thick enough, may the blinded bastards run into the water, off the cliffs."

"That would be the best." Pion's voice joined them. "Fire when ready."

The opening attack was the Seeker's, as a pair of piercing rounds cut through the air and shattered into the bridge's supports, going through it without stopping, hitting the cliffside further behind, smashing the rocks into the gulf with a loud crash. The Rook's broadside followed from its shoulder-mounted cannons, sounding much heavier, as a cluster of fire spells arced towards the two ends, engulfing the hives in a firestorm. When they landed, Nathel had already shot through the other end of the bridge, cutting it clean off, which brought forth a satisfying collapse. The stone beneath the monsters' mucus gave way quickly, crumbling into dust in a grinding echo, like a wounded animal, as the middle snapped into multiple pieces from the shockwave, tumbling into the churning water below. The beasts that had been halfway across plunged with it, and when falling into the water, they visibly flailed, claws slashing uselessly at the surface… then they sank. It seemed they knew not how to swim.

"Look at them drown," muttered one of the sailors standing beside Pion, which was followed by a cheer rippling across the nearest sailships. They were being destroyed, drowned, and the hives were being set aflame. They could even see creatures trying to take to the sky, but they were caught ablaze, only to fall down, creating a cloud of jetstreams as their bodies plummeted into the ocean.

"Something is not right..." Pion grunted, "If there is a hive, where is the monster controlling its minions to gather food for it?"

As if answering his question, the sea under the bridge began to churn as if something had finally been woken up.

"Hold positions! Prepare for battle!" Pion ordered as bubbles broke the surface, first a few, but it quickly turned into a frothing whirlpool as the monster he was looking for finally emerged from underwater.

The first thing they saw was its shell, black and green, ridged with barnacle-crusted plates the size of the platings on the side of their destroyers. It was like a dome of a... turtle. Then, its head bobbed out from under its shell. It was wedge-shaped and had eyes that glowed in an orange hue. Without hesitation, opening its mouth, a hiss came from it, gulping down the sea, followed by a jet of water aiming directly at the fleet. It was so forceful that it passed the distance between them in a flash, striking one of the sailing ships dead on. In a loud crash, men were flung from the deck while the mast groaned before snapping, rocking the ship back and forth.

"Kill it!" Pion barked into the radio, "All weapons, target that beast! Keep it off the convoy!"

By then, the Rook's shoulder cannons, along with all the cannons the ships had, fired, the impacts splashing harmlessly against the thick plating of the beast that shimmered from the reinforcement of some kind of magical barrier. Seeing the head of it turn towards the Rook on the Authority's deck, Polo's mech suddenly silenced its weapons. Instead of attacking, it began projecting a shimmering bubble of magical shielding that enveloped the Rook and two adjacent sailships. It was up just in time as the second water jet slammed into it, sending ripples of light racing across the barrier.

"Shield holding!" Polo reported in a hurry, "But I can't cover all of them!"

Another geyser struck a ship beyond the shield's reach, faster than sound could travel, hitting the same boat that already had its mast broken off. With it being hit again, it capsized in less than a minute, the men leaping into the gulf as the hull rolled over and vanished beneath the waves, sinking.

"Keep firing!" Pion's jaw tightened. "Seeker, harass its body with everything you got! Rook, drop the shield, and hit it when you can. Make it unable to shoot back at us!"

The next thirty seconds were a blur of precision and timing. Polo would drop the shield just long enough to swing the Rook's torso and fire a punishing volley at the beast's exposed head, only to then snap the barrier back up as the turtle inhaled for another jet, wanting to hit Polo's mech.

In sync with the Rook, Nathel kept aiming for the part where the beast's head was coming out of its shell, his primary weapon punching armor-piercing rounds, trying to drill it into its neck. In the end, one found its mark, no longer deflected by the bobbing body of that bastard, and a burst of dark blood spurted high into the sky. It had to hurt as the beast bellowed angrily and began swimming, surprisingly fast, heading straight towards the Dawn and the Seeker.

Although the Authority was hurtling forward at maximum speed, the turtle was faster, and its head slammed into the Dawn's, so far, pristine hull. Yet... unlike a ship that was made of wood, the effect it had was much more diminished. Yes, it dented the sides; everyone heard the groaning of the metal and the frame behind it. The crew, including Pion, had to grab onto the railings or anything strong enough to keep them on their feet, which included the Seeker, too, as it almost fell into the ocean.

But the ship held. It was just an injury and not a deadly one... But the sound coming from the beast showed that even this thing didn't expect it and managed to hurt itself in the anger-induced attack, taking the ship to be made from flesh or bones, something he could deal with.

By then, the Authority arrived, and Polo's hand-mounted weapon, the rotating, six-barreled 'cannon,' began whining as it started spinning, letting loose only a second-long droning salvo of physical rounds, straight into the creature's head. Once again, blood was spraying everywhere, and they could see as the beast gave up, beginning to sink down, wanting to escape.

"Drop the charges! Now!" Pion ordered at once, not wanting it to swim away and come back after it healed.

Immediately, the two destroyers dropped their newest weapons, which were really nothing more than a mix between a sea mine and deep charges, sealed and filled with gunpowder. They couldn't help but just watch as they fell after the monster... The silence felt eternal before they finally detonated directly beneath the fleet, causing massive waves to come up and rock all the boats.

But it wasn't just them. The underwater explosion lifted the massive beast from the water, allowing them to see it roll over its back and show its soft underside, open and splitting apart underneath, its innards falling out. The turtle-like creature spasmed, growling a few more times before its body went limp and began to sink one more time, turning the water red. It seemed the charges fell faster than the beast did... exploding directly underneath its stomach.

Yet, nobody celebrated; most of them just waited.

"I think it's dead..." Nathel reported about a minute later as his mech's sensors were sweeping the area at their full strength. "Its magical signal is gone... along with the interference."

"Begin recovering the survivors." Pion mumbled, watching the red waves and bubbles coming from the sinking corpse, "I want a full report in an hour..."