Chapter 13: The Great Northern Ocean

The day the Pashwater cast off was the day that the other nations began to move. The news of the Pashwater spread like wildfire and soon almost every nation knew about the expedition mission. They knew something was up, as such a big project was hard to conceal from the other nations' spies.

The Trigartas in Gartum, the three that ruled the country, sat in a small cozy room lit by ever-burn torches. They sat in front of a circular dark oak table. In front of each of them is a small pile of documents.

"So Chronoguard finally made the big move?" spoke an elegant woman in a fluffy black fur dress.

"We have long expected that, I have already sent some men to try to delay it on the open sea." the rough bulky man spoke up.

"Hmmm, have we got any news on our human wave tactic? Did even one of the thousands of ships make it?" The old man looked toward the two in the room and sipped his tea.

"Well, it is still too early to receive any news. And I doubt it will be anytime soon that the first wave set up the communication device." Said the gruff man.

The woman sighed and shuffled some papers around."Hmmm, the people aren't happy that we sent so many on a secret mission. The turmoil is brewing and small protests have sprung up here and there, nothing to be worried about. For now at least."

The man wrinkled his forehead and spoke with venom in his voice, "I will put more guards on the street to deter those pesky protesters. They should just stay put and let us lead them like good little zarbats."

"Good good, now how is the research going primal mage Osrat?"

The old man stoke his beard and contemplated for a moment. "The research is slow but we had a small breakthrough on the runes. Nothing major but still quite significant of how the artifact works. We managed to power the thing up, but nothing happened. I will need another few months to years to fully crack it. Whoever crafted this thing must be very well attuned to the gods or is just that much smarter than me. Their technology and magic arts are far more advanced than I anticipated."

"Large words from one of the strongest mages on the continent. But sadly we don't have months or years. Chronoguards ship will eventually reach the continent. Estimated in less than 7 months if the wind is with them." The man was dissatisfied with his reply.

The elderly man calmly smiled at the man. "Marhak, just ensure that the ship is delayed as much as possible and I will continue to provide all the gear you need. You are too young to truly understand how dangerous the artifact is, and rushing the research won't be any good."

The room was silent for a moment as the air began to get tense.

*Clap*

"Let us take a quick breather and resume the meeting in an hour. Calm your heads, gentlemen."

With those words, the woman stood up and left the room.

Marhak slammed his hands on the table and stormed out, leaving the old man who was content on drinking his brew.

...

A fist landed on a wooden table inside the captain's quarters.

"This is complete karoot shit! What are the Trigartas thinking of sending so many men on this suicide mission." The man was in his late forties but his body showed many signs of hardship.

"In only 5 months our numbers dwindled to 300 from the original 2500. The sea drakes are taking us apart and eating us by the dozens every day!" The man took a large swig from a bottle of alcohol. In front of him are the names of thousands of lost men.

*knock* *knock*

The tired man put the papers away and sat down. "Come in."

A tall man with the stature of a bear walked in.

"Captain, the winds are picking up again. If our calculations are right we should see land in 2-3 weeks from now."

The captain took another large swig of the liquor and laughed. "Hahahaha, "if our calculations are right." How many times have I heard that already? Our ammunition is almost completely used up, morale is on the lowest low, and the booze is nonexisting, except for this bottle here. But well, we will see this to the end, my first mate. Gather the crew together and tell the other captains to relay my message. I will try to light some fire in their sober asses again. We will survive this hell, may Falna give us a calm current. Hahahaha."

"Ay, captain. I will see it done."

...

Meanwhile on the Pashwater.

"Fire the canons, use the chain guns to destroy their mast. And don't stop fulling the engines." Commands fly around as the large swimming fortress sinks one ship after the other. The ship was in turmoil as men and women, kept on working on the double. The assault from mercenaries and pirates has become an almost daily occurrence.

The Pashwater easily shrugged off the canons and other projectiles, but some used mana cutters, a tool used in cutting pure crystalized mana from stone.

"Ts, those Gartums really armed those dry daruks with mana cutters. Their underhanded tactics never cease to amaze me. Heh, but this will only let some of our greenhorns get some experience from what is coming once we are far from the mainland. Then the real pain begins." A sadistic smile formed on Captain Bartus Chrom's face. His vice commander just sighed and continued issuing orders.

The Pashwater's armor seem to shrug off the high concentrated beams of pure energy as the runes on the haul lit up and dispersed or absorbed the energy. The two reactors were working overtime to move the giant ship into waters no man has ever returned from.

The giant ship sank one mercenary vessel after the other.

Liam was positioned on one of the masts where he was aiming a mounted sniper rifle.

*Booom*

The whole mast shook from the recoil but Liam calmly gazed through the scope seeing his target's head blown off.

"All units switch to high explosives, send those mercs to Falna's Embrace." shouted a commander from below.

The crew clamored with an "Ay!"

Liam grinned as he took the red-tipped bullet from the ammunition stash behind him and loaded the gun.

Looking through the scope and calming his breathing he waited for the perfect time to shoot a mana cutter.

*Booom*

The shot hit the target and it exploded in a pretty blue flame that quickly spread throughout the whole mercenary ship.

Similar sights occurred throughout the whole fleet. Mercs ran around like headless chicks and tried to douse the mana flames. Their effort is commendable, but the result was abysmal.

They soon retreated having lost more than half their ships and most of their crew. Liam watched them sail away into the horizon as he wiped his forehead. Sitting down he took a water pouch from his hip and took a few large swigs.

"Hope you didn't waste too many rounds Liam." Hearing the familiar voice of his friend he looked down to see Bruce climbing up the ladder.

Putting away the pouch he let out a satisfied sigh. "Yes yes, why are you here? Shouldn't you be down there and haul some crates or something, at least put those muscles to use if you aren't using your head."

"Heh, I will have you know that we will be having a 30 minutes break while the repair and maintenance team checks all the equipment. So come down and get some rest."

Not waiting for Liam's response he climbed back down. Liam sighed at the good news and followed him shortly.

After climbing down and following Bruce to the dining hall, he was dodging and weaving through the maintenance grew running around the ship, checking every nook and cranny.

The dining room was already packed full of marines that were idly chatting about the "short scuffle" they just had. The mood was joyous as only a few minor injuries occur and they overwhelmingly repelled the pirates.

Getting in line and waiting for some grub he was not disappointed. The food smelled delicious, and the chefs and cooks are masters of their craft. Something about a good diet makes a good marine. Liam surely wasn't complaining.

Looking around for a seating place he was flagged down by a tall man with horns, "Over here Bruce, Liam."

Seeing the man that was with them in the marine training camp. They quickly joined his group.

"Kafra! Good to see you are still alive and kicking after they hauled your ass to the borders." sitting down Liam fist-bumped his comrade.

"It wasn't so bad, a few battles here and there but otherwise harmless. Chronoguard and Gartum are focusing their military on the exploration so both sides are on relatively peaceful terms right now. But the war will start again once both parties discover the new continent or when they give up trying. But let's not talk about politics right now. Instead, let me introduce you to my friends."

Gesturing towards the three other people on the table Liam saw a slender woman with pitch black hair, a woman with red eyes and a scar on her cheek, and a bispectral young man with messy hair.

"The noble-looking lady is Ava. The fierce one is Scarlett, and the one almost falling asleep is Henry."

Before Liam or Bruce could introduce themselves Henry's head slammed on the table.

Scarlett sighed and stood up, "I will bring him to his room. I will see you around." Picking up the sleeping Henry like a sack of potatoes she walked out of the dining room with a few people turning their heads.

"What happened to him?" asked Liam seeing them disappear into the crowd.

"Ah Henry is a rune maker, so he had to refresh and top off all the runes during the fight."

Liam smiled wryly and responded with a silent "oh."

Bruce coughed getting their attention. "Anyway, my name is Bruce nice to meet you, Ava. I am a heavy shooter, so if you need some heavy lifting done don't hesitate to call me." Ending his introduction with a large smile and a wink.

Seeing the over-eager smile and outstretched hand, she hesitantly shook his hand with an awkward smile, "Nice to meet you."

The short break quickly ended as they got back to work, Liam and Bruce said a quick goodbye and got back to their post.