Beyond?

“If you want to trick your enemy, it's best to show him what he wants to see.”

-Knowledge.

***Stiran Archipelago, Southern Ocean, The Shield of the Emperor***

***Azir***

“Mmmh! Mmmmh!” Jeremiah Draco writhes in a corner of the control room, bound and gagged. His presence is a security risk and a nuisance, but I may need him if the ship has any additional hidden safety mechanisms.

Using him to gain access to the Shield's security functions was relatively easy. After we placed him in the command chair I simply hacked the control panel with Ivy's help. With the two of us it was just a matter of minutes to have all the rights transferred to me.

I massage my temples, taking another look at the mess of cables and magical circuits which is hanging out of the chair's controls. “Can't someone shut him up? Nine hours of flight time and he is still making a fuss! I would like to put everything back together before the enemy finds us.”

“Any more gags and he might suffocate.” One of the guards at Jeremiah's side looks at their prisoner with concern. The way they are treating Jeremiah is certainly violating some of Nict's basic human rights. How lucky that the founders of the Free City States excluded certain individuals from their treaties. Including mass murderers of innocents, check, enemies of the state, check, and people who assaulted the royal family, check!

“Bah, Ivy. So far you are the only one who didn't try to shut him up. How about silencing him for a few minutes?”

My maid bows and walks over to Jeremiah. She will surely find a way to deal with him.

I return my attention to the satellite images. If everything runs according to plan the enemy should spot the Shield of the Emperor any minute now. Our only hope is that they really recognize it, which would support our theory that the Master is really the second Draco brother.

Luckily the Shield is faster than any of our fortresses, so we arrived with plenty of time to spare. This ship was truly created by a high-tech civilisation. It pains me when I think about how far they fell after having achieved so much. I almost wish that we could find a way to preserve this ship instead of using it as bait.

The archipelago under us is a group of twelve islands. Quinn's three inhibitors are well hidden on three of them and the Shield is hovering comfortably in the middle of the triangle which is encased by them.

To make the whole trap even more believable we positioned ourselves above an island which we filled with fake facilities. Barracks, hangars, watchtowers, we thought of everything. The only thing that's real are the starting ramps for our drones and the barriers which shield the island.

To someone who takes a look from far away this island looks like a huge unfinished military base. The eleven flying fortresses, which are hovering around us, are here to substantiate that assumption. But even the fortresses are just improvisations. We created them on-site, since the other assets would never reach the scene in time. Though we have nineteen complete ones inbound on this position. They'll arrive just in time to mop up the remaining enemies, should they fall into our trap. Or they'll get simply annihilated by the full force of the enemy fleet should we fail.

At least the fortresses aren't a pure piece of scenery. They all have offensive and defensive capabilities. We just saved our time in the engine department and crew quarters. The gravitational generators which we installed are barely enough to keep them floating.

My stomach cringes when I think about such a hasty job. The fortresses up until now were patchwork solutions, horrible abominations, but at least we put some thought into them.

The things which are floating around us are just big rocks with tons of barrier spells and offensive weaponry which we teleported in from Quinn and Dwem.

But we don't expect them to survive our trap anyway. The discussion between us and the strategic command was long and nerve-racking. The whole issue was about whether we should keep them in the air until the last moment, or if we should try to land them before the inhibitors activate.

Even if the fortresses are just improvised, unfinished versions, they still pose a huge investment of resources and manpower.

In the end we decided to keep them floating with a skeleton crew until Quinn activates their inhibitors. The enemy ships are smaller and more manoeuvrable, so it's very likely that they will manage to land faster than the fortresses. But we want them to fall out of the air and shatter to a thousand pieces. That's the whole point of the operation.

Bringing in the workers and mages to build everything and pulling them out in time was a logistical masterpiece by our military.

The worst case scenario would've been if the enemy had seen us working hastily at the structures of hollow buildings. Everyone gets suspicious when your adversary builds a barrack with only four thin walls and a hastily attached roof.

That's why we had to finish the construction works before the enemy scouts arrive. But I am pleased with the looks of our Potemkin base. It really looks like an unfinished, large scale bridgehead for future operations against the second continent.

I sigh and try to think of something else. The worst thing about this whole plan is the damned waiting. My thoughts wander to this morning's conversation with Stella.

We are still lying in our bed, hugging each other when Stella asks me a question. “Do you know what happened to my contraceptives?”

“No. Why should I?” I stir in my sleep, still not completely awake.

Stella shrugs her shoulders. “It's just that they are gone... and they were replaced by some chocolate candies instead. It was strange, so I thought that maybe you had taken them?”

“Why should I switch your contraceptives for chocolate candies? That's a bad trade for me.” I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling. “But now that you mention it... someone put needles into my condoms!”

“Really? Aren't you always using them to silence the screeching lath under our bed's mattress? You should really repair the bed properly when you have time. Get some oil or something.” Stella snuggles closer to me. “Luckily we aren't using them for obviation. If we do it with defective goods...”

“Oil doesn't work with wood. No, you don't understand.” I reach for my bedside locker. “The needles are still stuck inside the condoms! Whoever did it didn't bother with removing them.” I pull a condom out to show her. “I poked myself when I reached for one last evening! Someone mistook them for pincushions! It's good that you invented a contraceptive spell. My whole stock got perforated.”

“Now that's really strange.” She takes the condom with three needles stuck through it. “Do you think it's related to the kids? They wanted a sibling.”

“Who else?” I grumble.

“I told you that explaining it in such detail isn't good.” She snorts and drops the rubber back into my locker.

I raise one finger. “It's better than inventing stories about flowers and bees. A kid has to know how the world works and a parent has the responsibility to educate their offspring. A child has to know where the meat on the plate is coming from and why it's not allowed to do certain things. Knowledge can't harm you, the more blunt you are about the reality of things, the better. It's ignorance that causes problems.”

Stella kisses my cheek and slides on top of me to whisper into my ear. “Though you certainly understated the ~feel good~ part.”

“Ahaha! You are her! You are my beloved- Mmm!”

I return to reality... just when it got to the feeling good part! Turning around I glare at Jeremiah, who is in the process of being gagged again by Ivy. “Why is the gag not in his mouth?”

Ivy shrugs her shoulders. “I just wanted to confirm something since it seemed like he was trying to get my attention, but it turned out that he just mistook me for someone from his past. He went on and on about eternal love and being soulmates.”

She taps her index finger against her forehead. “Valda is right. Erasing his memories and letting him start anew is probably the most humane option.” The soldiers who are guarding Jeremiah nod.

I raise one eyebrow, looking down at Jeremiah. After a moment of contemplation I use the mana net to send Ivy a secret message. Such things don't have to be discussed where others can hear them. Even if the personnel in the room is military.

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