Chapter 17: Welcome Party

The midday sun shone down on them harshly as Laura and Zenesha watched as their war ships fired upon one of the White Ashes ships. They bombarded the smaller vessels over the invisible line that was their border, watching them sink with little effort. They were nothing more than modified civilian ships made for combat.

"A poor attempt to keep us from encroaching into their territory." Zenesha muttered.

She had given an order to avoid attacking actual civilian vessels of cours. She was trying to occupy their lands, it would be a bad idea to kill civilians. It'll be harder to make them accept her rule if they thought she was some ruthless monster. If there was still civil unrest she'll just "cause" an accident and blame it on one of the other countries later.

However she wasn't firing on civilian ships, but armed vessels meant to keep her out. It was staffed by soldiers on the opposite side of a conflict and Zenesha wasn't going to show any mercy. Well that wasn't completely true. If they surrender she'll take them prisoner.

"Let's continue." Zenesha ordered as the last ship sank to the river floor.

"Yes Ma'am."

The large ship that would've long since run aground on a smaller river moved forward. It wasn't as large as the true royal flagship back at the capital, but it was still impressive. The vast river spread out before them, not just ahead, but on either side. Once they cross the invisible marker, no one would be able to cross without her permission.

Zenesha looked towards the ship's starboard side, where she saw the shore a long distance from where they were located. Soon they would engage in a ground battle in the coming days on that side of the river. They should be able to win with the help of New Veroso.

Plus, the White Ash wouldn't be able to send reinforcements past her blockade of naval ships. Once they occupied the eastern part of the White Ash they'll continue their assault west, all the way until they reach the capitol. It sounded easy on paper when presented like this.

Zenesha and Laura stayed on the bridge of the ship, watching as they moved through the river, taking down the occasional modified civilian ship transformed for military use. They had also captured any civilian ships as they moved. They didn't expect their actions to be a secret, it was hard to hide such a large military action, but the less it was spoken about the better.

By the time they could see the edge of the lake several kilometers from their position, it was already night with several stars high in the sky. She and Xavier contacted all the ships in the newly created blockade to make sure they were all in place properly. They would do one more check tomorrow by going down the river and back one more time.

For now, they would call it a day and head to bed for rest.

"Good night, Captain Xavier."

"Have a good night, Ma'am." The elf responded to Zenesha, before giving a small nod towards Laura who nodded back.

The two of them walked back to their room in silence. They were both tired and ready to sleep again for the second time that day.

=======

"Looks like they're ready for us." Laura commented as she and Zenesha rode within one of the many landing ships heading towards shore.

This was expected. While they did take civilian ships prisoner, it wasn't like the towns and cities along the river couldn't see their actions. The only good that really came from such actions was the possibility of winning some favor with the citizens later when they realize she didn't ruthlessly kill innocents. Though that'll have to wait until after they occupy this city.

"This is fine." Zenesha said. "Let's focus on capturing this city for now."

They weren't the only ones on landing ships heading towards the shore. All the way down the river, along the entire blockade her soldiers were heading towards shore to start their invasion. Around this time New Veroso and Iris should be starting their attack at the same time.

The city Laura and Zenesha were heading towards was going to become their base of operations as they captured the eastern front. Overhead jets flew above them. She didn't have a lot of aircraft compared to the air force of Old Veroso, but she had enough to fill several aircraft carriers.

"We should expect to face pushback from local law enforcement." Zenesha said calmly.

"We should be able to take care of them fairly easily." Laura said with a smile. "If the person that made the deal with my kind wasn't specific enough, then it's possible only the soldiers were granted power…."

Laura paused as a thought came to her.

"Unless the White Ash is like you, and the law enforcement used is just military police."

"I don't think so." Zenesha said. "The Zari region was very militarized even before the split compared to other areas. At least from the reports I got, the local police don't seem to be military."

"Still armed and dangerous though?"

"Still armed and dangerous." Zenesha confirmed.

Military or not, the police were still trained and dangerous. The only difference was that they probably didn't get to see much combat for the most part. Eventually their landing ship reached the shore and the two of them watched as their soldiers marched off the ship.

The chaos was immediate. The armed officers were waiting for them, and opened fire the moment her soldiers came into view. A few officers tried shooting at them as well, but the bullets couldn't get past the protective glass.

"Laura, if you could please help them." Zenesha spoke.

"Your wish is my command." The wolf answered before teleporting away.

Moments later the fox watched as the careful formation of the officers was disturbed. Several of them were pierced by stone spikes rising into the sky, as if to present them to the Gods above. With this momentary lapse of the enemy as they tried to process what just happened, her soldiers used this opportunity to gain ground.

She watched as her soldiers shot down the opposing force, with cold efficiency.

"I should make my way off the ship myself now." She muttered. "Staying here any longer won't do me any good."

Zenesha strolled off the ship while the fire fight was still on going and quickly took cover. She was armed with nothing, but her own pistol meant to enhance her powers. Peaking over the edge of her cover she focused on the area she wanted to attack.

She aimed her weapon and fired. Without delay. The Air itself froze, and a spear of ice flew forward piercing two officers before embedding itself and its victims into a nearby building. She quickly ducked behind cover again as her soldiers cheered around her.

"Nice shot." Laura commented, suddenly appearing behind her.

"Thank you. I might need to freeze the area, just to drop the temperature and slow down their movements." Zenesha said, speaking at the enemy again.

"Go for it, I'll put a barrier around you, so you won't get hurt." Laura said in a low voice.

It was time to make Zenesha appear invisible to her soldiers. Raise her reputation from respected Queen to mythological Goddess. Zenesha didn't know this of course, but Laura wanted to make sure people thought of her as more than mortal.

"Alright, thanks Laura." Focusing her power through her gun she took aim and pulled the trigger.

This time several small shards of ice shot towards the officer's direction. They were located on a higher level compared to the, so she couldn't aim for the ground directly beneath their feet. However, wherever the shards touched, the area around it started to freeze solid.

Zenesha's tail flicked in satisfaction. Her ice creeped over the wall's edge and across the ground the officers stood on. The sudden drop in temperature caused cold water vapor to build up and drop down the wall like an airy waterfall.

"I'll help." Laura said once again teleporting.

Soon Zenesha and her soldiers witness a wolf woman systematically tearing through officers with a sword. Zenesha sighed in exasperation as she ran out of cover to follow her lead. Her soldiers called out to her in panic, but the fox was confident Laura was protecting her from bullet fire.

Laura was keeping those near the steps up busy anyway, but a few still noticed her approach and fired at her. She rolled out the way for show, despite the bullets not being able to reach her. She then fired her gun at them, shards of ice hitting the officers and freezing their bodies wherever they were pierced.

The combination of the frozen ground making them lose their footing, the lower temperature slowing down their movements, and Laura's very presence throwing them off. Zenesha and her soldiers very quickly wiped out the welcome party.

"We'll split into two groups." Zenesha said after they killed everyone in the area. "One going north, the other south to assist the other landing parties. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Only a small number of ships landed here and several more landed in different areas along the city's coastline. She was worried about them since it would be harder to invade if they ended up with far more casualties than planned.

"Move out, we'll regroup in the city center."

"Yes Ma'am."

With those final words they split off to gather the rest of their people.