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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Sixty Two
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 07:36:30 +0000 UTC“Well, that isn’t ideal,” Yelena grunted as she stared down at the bolt jutting out of her abdomen, ignoring the cries of her guards as they too noticed the wound.
The damn thing had somehow gone right through her steel cuirass and the enchantments layered over that steel.
Kraken-bolts, she thought dimly. Well, that would explain why Meave’s invisibility failed during that first engagement.
Sure, the anti-magic field put out by Kraken scales tended to diminish greatly if one powdered it before applying it to a bolt, but it didn’t disappear entirely. Even a near miss could still disrupt an enemy’s defensive enchantments or their spell casting.
Whoever had shot her hadn’t missed.
Sighing, she slowly allowed herself to slide down the wall she’d been taking cover against, her descent slowed by the hands of one of her guards as they sought to keep her from jostling herself unnecessarily.
The others continued to focus on exchanging fire down the hall with the band of attackers that had cornered them in this collection of rooms.
“I do believe our enemy has rather given up on their plans to take me alive,” she hissed as she looked up at the head of her palace guard – the other woman’s face twisted into a deep frown.
“That does seems to be the case, your majesty,” Meave said as she inspected the wound.
Around them, the sounds of combat continued to ring out as her people continued exchanging spells and bolts with the invaders.
They’d been forced all the way back to the labs, and as such, just about every shot and spell was accompanied by the sound of glass shattering and the acrid stink of spilled chemicals.
A fairly volatile environment to be fighting in to be sure, she thought idly as she wrinkled her nose, before wincing as a strong hand promptly ripped the bolt from her side while another shoved a flask full of something even more foul smelling in front of her lips.
Nonetheless, she drank deeply of the substance, ignoring the foul taste and texture of it as it slid down her throat. Fortunately, the unpleasantness of the experience was at the very least offset by the sudden absence of pain from her side, as the healing drought did its work.
Grunting, she accepted her guard’s outstretched arm as she once more clambered to her feet.
“Any chance of a breakout?” she hissed.
Her and her palace guard had been in the process of evacuating researchers and destroying documents in the Palace’s subterraneans labs when the enemy attacked.
Well, that and setting up her surprise.
Unfortunately, enemy’s invisible troops managed to get the drop on her own – followed immediately after by their kraken bolt wielding companions.
How they’d gotten down here so fast, she didn’t know, but she assumed they’d likely tunneled in using magic ahead of the main force. From there it had been a running battle through the palace’s sub levels. Corridor after corridor. Room after room. Falling back.
All made more difficult by the gaggle of non-combatants we’re being forced to shepherd, she thought as she glanced back at the gaggle of enchanters, alchemists and spell-smiths now cowering in the far corner of the room.
Non-combatants, that by conventional logic, should have already been evacuated… but for the question of where they might have been evacuated to.
This was her palace. Theoretically this was the most secure location on the continent.
At least, until about an hour ago.
Now… well, they’d probably be safer out on the streets – even with half the city on fire and ships raining from the skies. Even the command bunker wasn’t safe, given the last radio message they’d received had reported that they were under siege.
And if those attackers were on the same level as the ones her people were fighting now…
Well, she didn’t hold high hopes for the small contingent of her guard she’d left behind holding out long.
Void, this really was a shitshow.
“Unlikely,” Meave continued, heaping more bad news on her. “Most everyone is out of spells. I’ve only got two people with invisibility still intact because of the kraken rounds they’re using. Plus, we’ve got a lot of minor and major wounds adding up. Against a less competent foe, I’d wager our odds, but not these.”
“Yes, our enemy is annoyingly competent, aren’t they?” Yelena muttered.
If nothing else, the Khanate had invested a lot into this attack. Not just in ships, but in personnel. These were veteran troops who’d likely been plucked right off the front line of the elven war.
…More than a match for her well trained but ultimately relatively green palace guard.
Well, at least now I know who my enemy is, she thought as she regarded a nearby corpse.
The fallen woman was a dark elf, her dark complexion oddly peaceful in death.
Which meant that she likely hailed from the Lunite Khanate.
…Unless the Solites were being clever by trying to make them think that they were Lunites. After all, both the Lunites and Solites had minority populations of high elves and dark elves respectively. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t pull off a false-flag using their minority membership – though Yelena considered it unlikely given the scale of this attack.
Ultimately, she supposed it made no difference right now. The racial makeup of her current foe didn’t really change the fact that they had her and her people cornered.
Well, mostly cornered, she thought as she glanced around the room.
While, she’d not had much choice in being cut off from their escape and cornered down here, she’d still had the initiative to choose where that cornering took place as they fell back from the stairs. And while the testing range was hardly ideal from a defensive point of view, it was built a lot tougher than the rest of the subterraneans labs. More to the point, it had some rather heavy duty metal doors – intended to protect the rest of the labs from any explosions that might occur in the testing area.
Or, theoretically, could serve to protect the contents of the testing area from an explosion occurring outside said set of rooms.
Theoretically.
Because it sure as shit wasn’t designed to contain… however large this explosion is going to be, Yelena thought crassly.
After all, she’d had her people churning out as much Kraken Slayer Powder as they conceivably could down here. So there were a lot of barrels strewn about the place. Barrels she’d had her people, knocking over and spreading out as best they could throughout their fighting retreating.
Void, down the hallway, she could see one of an enemy combatant using one such fallen barrel for cover, as she popped out to fire off a series of bolts, heedless of the black powder that was spilling from it.
The sight was actually a little comical. How close the woman was to death without knowing it.
At any moment, an errant spark could have set it all off, killing them all. Hence her current ban on lightning or fire based spells. A ruling the enemy were unconsciously playing along with. Likely because they were afraid of unduly damaging any documents that had survived her people’s own efforts to deny the enemy information.
As Yelena had hoped they would.
It had been a little reckless of her, but she’d been desperate. And as a certain madman had proven, sometimes a little recklessness could pay dividends.
Still, as she watched another of her personal guard do down, clutching at a bolt in her shoulder, the sovereign sighed.
“I was rather hoping we’d get relieved before I had to resort to this, but I don’t think help will be arriving in time,” she grunted. “Meave, get the girls ready to seal the doors.”
Whatever garrisons had been redirected to the palace had clearly been stymied by their attacker’s compatriots upstairs.
The other woman winced, but didn’t argue as she set about setting up covering fire so that a few of her people could hop out long enough to close the testing area doors.
For her part, Yelena started chanting.
Timing is going to be pretty critical here, she thought.
...She’d really wanted to do this from outside the palace.
-------------
“Move. Move!” Cynthia barked, her voice cutting through the din of thudding boots on stone. The dim glow of her shoulder mounted magelight cast flickering shadows along the brass-riveted walls of the lab there initial tunnel had breached into – and were now returning through.
Stopping in front of the peculiarly organic looking tunnel leading up to the surface, she turned to allow the Kranka siblings to pass. The two orcs thundered past, their massive frames barely squeezing into the confined passage. As they did, one of them - Krog, she thought - misjudged her step, jostling the gagged and blindfolded woman slung over her shoulder.
The researcher’s skull smacked against the tunnel’s low stone entracce with a dull thud.
“Careful with that, you ingrate!” Cynthia snapped, eyes flashing.
Krog merely grunted as he ducked fully into the tunnel. “S’not like we won’t have spares soon. Queen’s cornered.”
The dark elf hissed. This was why she despised mercenaries. No discipline. No sense of duty. Performing the bare minimum to earn their pay.
Unfortunately, even dark elves - superior to all other races in every meaningful way - had their limitations. One of those was when it came to hauling heavy cargo. To that end, if a mission involved a snatch and grab, it paid to have an orc or two on hand.
Their presence would also serve to help obfuscate the task force’s true origins.
“We don’t know that,” Cynthia hissed, her voice echoing up the tunnel the orc had just gone down. “Anything might happen. Which is why we’re taking these ones up in advance.”
After all, according to her ear-orb, the fleet had already faced an unexpected setback since Cynthia and her fellow commandos had tunneled into the Palace’s sub-levels.
A swarm of forty shards had seemingly materialized out of thin air to ambush the fleet. An unwelcome surprise after they had already dealt with the capital’s primary defenses. One compounded by said shards packing weapons apparently capable of crippling an undership in a single volley.
The academy attack was now a wash, with the commandos there left stranded on the ground after the orcish element of the fleet there chose that moment to stab the remaining ships in the back.
No doubt an infuriating state of events for Admiral Korenz, but one that Cynthia was listening to with only half an ear given that it had little do with her own mission. As a woman who was well used to the more cloak and dagger side of war, the dark elf was used to local elements acting out with… unfortunate timing.
Unfortunately, these new shards did affect her mission, given she could hardly evac with the Kraken Slayer’s secrets if the fleet elements over the palace suffered a similar fate to those over the academy.
To that end, she’d been asking for updates from the team’s orb-operator aboard the command ship. The latest of which told her that the current consensus of the surface fleet was that some nearby noble house had been used as a rallying point for a collection of prototype shards – who were then given access to said house’s entire enchanted weapon stockpile.
Cynthia suspected otherwise.
As one of the commandos involved in the palace assault, she knew the true objective of their mission - and its theoretical capabilities.
Whatever those shards had been armed with, it was likely related to the contents of the barrel her people were now dragging towards the tunnel.
How the Black Powder within could be used to destroy a ship in a single volley, she didn’t know, but that wasn’t her job. Her job was to get it back to the Khanate and into the hands of someone who could figure out that process.
“Move it, people!” Cynthia roared at the barrel-hauling quartet, her patience thinning with every sluggish step.
“Bleh, this slag is heavy,” one of the women griped, grunting under the weight. “Why bring orcs if not for this?”
Cynthia opened her mouth to snap a reply - but the words never left her lips.
A roar. Not of mortals, nor beasts, but something far worse. The loudest, most guttural detonation she had ever heard tore through the corridor, shaking the very bones of the palace.
A fireball raced toward them, its heat distorting the air, its light casting jagged shadows across the tunnel walls.
Cynthia didn’t hesitate. Didn’t think.
Her lips moved faster than conscious thought, barking out the syllables of an earth spell chant as she dove back into the tunnel.
The moment she cleared the threshold, she thrust her hands forward - fingers sparking with latent energy - the tunnel collapsed in a roar of pulverized stone and shrieking metal.
Her last sight of her team was them desperately running towards her.
Barely a second later, the explosive force slammed into the newly formed ‘wall’ like a hammer. Dust and heat washed over her, and for a terrible moment, she feared the tunnel would collapse in on her.
But the reinforced enchantments held.
She coughed, rolling onto her side, ignoring the bruises screaming across her ribs. It seemed the Queen had blown herself up, trying to deny her the prize. Cynthia scowled. Likely using the same means as her team had been here to secure.
Still, if nothing else, she could take solace in the fact that the venomous bitch leading the other side had died alongside her companions. Hopefully, taking any knowledge of the means she’d used to so with her.
Because, as she fumbled for her flask, flipping the cap open just enough to check the contents, that would mean the only means of recreating that weapon now lay in the hands of the Lunite Khanate.
The black powder within the flask was intact, almost innocuous in its simplicity.
With a sigh of relief, she pressed two fingers to her ear, where her comms orb had jostled loose in the blast.
A tinny, static-laced voice crackled through: “Lieutenant? Lieutenant!? What in the void is going on down there? Half the palace is just… gone. Collapsed in on itself.”
“This is Sergeant Lamorn. Enemy somehow managed to blow the entire sub-level,” Cynthia rasped, forcing herself to sit up. “Assume the lieutenant and the rest of the strike team is KIA at this time.”
The woman on the other end of the line paused for a second, before speaking. “And the objective?”
“The two researchers we snagged were dispatched in advance. The orcs carrying them should be exiting the tunnel shortly. I’ll be following with a flask-sized sample of the payload.”
A pause. Then, the voice returned, sharper now, urgent. “Confirmed. Hurry. Admiral Kozensky wants to leave now. As of this moment, we have no shard cover and there’s every chance a new wave of prototypes may return with more anti-ship armaments. As it is, we’re being strafed by the enemy elements that remains.”
Cynthia frowned. While Bolt-cannon fire wasn’t particularly effective against airships, it could still punch holes in exterior aether tanks, piping, propellers or members of the crew. More to the point, without friendly air cover, the only threat to said attacking shards would come from the ship’s deck mounted swivel guns.
Which… while better than nothing, were not particularly effective as anti-air weapons.
Cynthia exhaled through her teeth, the taste of blood on her tongue from where she’d bitten her lip.
“Confirmed,” she grunted. “Moving now.”
She staggered upright, she forced herself forward, pain be damned.
There was no time to waste.
------------
William stood at the back of the bridge, determined trying not to fidget as the orb operator relayed the latest reports from the capital.
Things had been going well right up until their link to the palace command center had been cut off, the last transmission drowned out by a thunderous, bone-rattling explosion.
That in itself would have been bad enough, as they’d initially assumed that command bunker had finally been stormed by the attackers.
Unfortunately, the reality was proving to be far worse as the Jellyfish’s radio operator relayed the observations of the shards in the area.
“Observing elements of Wave Two report that… some kind of explosion has destroyed large swathes of the palace grounds and structure and that much of the area has collapsed in on itself.”
The realization of what that meant settled over the bridge like a funeral shroud. The low hum of machinery and the rhythmic ticking of the bridge’s chronometers were the only sounds accompanying the heavy silence.
William took a breath. Even as the captain spoke firmly.
“Keep trying to raise command,” he ordered, forcing his jaw to unclench. “And send a warning to the Academy. The enemy might have deployed some kind of… superweapon. If they used it on the Palace, it’s possible they may attempt the same there.”
William, his fingers drumming the brass surface of the navigation rail, resisted the urge to shake his head even as the Jellyfish’s orb operator moved to obey.
He had a different theory altogether.
This hadn’t been enemy action. At least, likely not intentionally.
If he was right, he had just discovered where she had been developing her own variant of gunpowder. The only question now was whether the detonation had been caused by her or the enemy.
His frown deepened as additional reports filtered in through the orb-linked communicators, chronicling the sheer scale of the destruction the palace had just gone through, each one further darkening the storm brewing in his mind.
What was worse was that there was a decent chance he would never get the answer to who, where or why it happened.
Because there was a decent chance that anyone capable of answering that question was now dead.
Including Yelena herself.
The thought sent a strange, hollow sensation through his chest.
Indeed, the entire mood of the bridge shifted had, the weight of that realization pressing down on everyone.
If Yelena was truly gone, then the civil war had just swung wildly in Blackstone’s favor. Sure, Princess Palmer, at least, was safe. She was far to the South, treating with the Southern Duchies in a vain attempt to mediate the Southshore succession. But once she returned to claim the throne…
The North would be waiting.
They would weaponize everything - the attack on the capital, her tenuous legitimacy as a newly crowned monarch, and the fact that the royal vassal fleet had been all but annihilated by what were outwardly little more than pirates with a clever trick.
And if the North attacked? Well, even if the Royal Navy still remained intact, the fact remained that the loyalists had been dealt a devastating blow to their military capability tonight.
By just ten ships!
He resisted the urge to bite down on his lip.
Because given the right political maneuvering, it was not impossible that either Lady Southshore or the regent of Lady Summerfield could be persuaded to turn coat, siding with the North in a vote of no confidence against the new monarch.
And there’d be sweet fuck all he could do about that…
William exhaled slowly, forcing his thoughts into order.
You better be alive down there Yelena, he thought. I… really can’t do this without you.
It was an uncharacteristic expression of weakness, even within the confines of his own mind, but it was the truth.
He needed Yelena alive!
Then, as if the universe had heard him, the orb operator suddenly straightened.
“Report from Lady Yelena herself!” the operator’s voice was breathless, fingers pressing tightly to the glassy sphere. “She’s buried under a few tons of rubble… but alive.”
A ripple of relief surged through the bridge. Some of the tension lifted.
A few cheers even broke out.
They died just as quickly as the operator continued. “She reports that the enemy may have escaped the palace grounds with classified intel! Orders are that they must be stopped. At all costs. Repeats - at all costs. That intel must not escape.”
The moment those words left her lips, William’s blood ran cold.
They had the Kraken Slayer.
Relief was immediately overshadowed by the sheer gravity of the situation.
The radio officer stiffened. “New report from Wave Two Squadron Leader! Enemy airships are changing course - they’re splitting up!”
William’s jaw tightened.
Damn it.
They were playing a shell game now.
“Did anyone see which ship onloaded troops from the palace?” he snapped, uncaring of the fact that he wasn’t supposed to ‘interrupt’ the operation of the bridge.
The response was immediate anyway. “Negative, Lord Redwater. Too much smoke at low altitude.”
His fingers curled into a fist.
Not that it mattered. Even if they had seen, a mage equipped with a maneuver-suit could have swapped vessels mid-air. And the fleet above the palace had been flying in tight formation to ward against shard strikes.
That meant only one thing.
None of those ships could be allowed to escape. Not if they had the secret of gunpowder on board.
“Any news from the Royal Fleet?” William asked, voice low, uncaring of the glare the captain was sending him.
The second radio officer shook her head. “Still two hours out. Shard elements may arrive in less than an hour though. Though we have no way of communicating with them as they have not had radios installed.”
William exhaled sharply through his nose. Too slow. “Status of Wave One rearmament?”
“Should be combat-ready in under three minutes.”
Three minutes. That was all the enemy needed to break contact and disappear into the darkness beyond the city. And once they cleared visual range, they would submerge, slipping into the inky depths.
Where, by conventional logic, they’d be protected from enemy reprisal as they made the return journey to the continent.
…Fortunately for him and unfortunately for them, Willaim had never much cared for conventional logic.
“Belay the launch order.”
A murmur of confusion swept through the bridge crew.
William didn’t elaborate. He was already turning on his heel, marching toward the hangars.
“Lord Redwater?”
He didn’t stop.
“Get us closer to the city now that the enemy is fleeing. We need to shorten the launch and engagement window.”
Sure, he was taking a bit of a risk if the enemy decided to double back rather than flee, but he could live with that. The Jellyfish might have been a bit lacking in the armament department now that it had been converted into a full carrier rather than a hybrid – but it was still perfectly capable of pulling off a ramming maneuver if need be.
It might not have had the firepower to down one of those underships, but it definitely had the mass.
Comments
Borisoff72
Batbomvs actually were pretty thoroughly tested and found to be more effective than normal incendiaries simply because the fires would start in entirely random and initially unnoticed locations. In fact, at one point the US mistakenly burnt down their own base.
Trevayne
Much easier said than done. Right now, nobody but the readers, New Haven, and the Solites know that New Haven is working for the Solites. The Queen knows that they have allied with Blackstone, supposedly over emancipation. Blackstone doesn't oppose ending orc slavery because of economic reasons, but because they hate orcs.
Trevayne
And there was much rejoicing.
Blue Fishcake
Beta readers have it :D
MS
The queen needs to take new haven off the board. Blackstone can't win without them. Blackstone needs to understand it's a setup and the other elfish houses would turn in them first chance they get. Queen needs to stop the orc and Blackstone war asap. William could help them setup some non military manufacturing in Blackstone to help there coffers and he needs to help with agriculture to increase output. You can't win a war with no food. I'm hoping the Blackstones will see the attack as a threat to them also.
Trevayne
Interesting question, what should Yelena do about this attack? I agree the most satisfying response would be a counter-raid on the Lunite capital, but there are two questions. First, is it a good idea and second, how? I appreciate how satisfying it would be, but does Lindholm want to get into a major war with the Lunites now? They certainly should make sure the Blackstones aren't going to stab them in the back. Maybe have the Blackstones either commit ships to fighting the Lunites or send Tala and the next heir in line to Yelena as hostages? aside from that, if they lose, Lindholm is probably getting conquered. If they win, this might end the standoff between the Solites and Lunites and enable the Solites to fully commit to an attack on Lindholm. They need to think about it hard first. Then they can figure out how next. As amusing as the concepts of bat-bombs or pigeon-guided bombs are, I doubt they are practical, and certainly not in the near term. What they could do is send say ten RN ships to escort the Jellyfish to a point about 300 miles from the Lunite capital, timing their arrival at night. They launch the 40 Corsair-Cs and they fly to the capital at high altitude, so they can't be intercepted even if they are spotted. They then use bombs to destroy as many Lunite airships as they can and immediately break off and head back to the Jellyfish, since all of their bombs will have been expended and the damage from strafing isn't worth the potential loss of a Corsair-C over enemy territory.
Trevayne
Good question. I wonder if the Blackstones have their own private orb link for their spy? They would probably need a few agents whose job is just to serve as relays while apparently working regular jobs. IIRC the Solite empress used a group of merchant ships with orbs to set up a temporary orb link with New Haven. The Blackstones probably have something similar.
MS
If orb communication is still working i bet it's a few hours for news to spread. If it's down I'm guessing the news is critical enough that the ones with means will fly shads back home to inform their respective houses. So my guess is 24 to 36 hours. Wonder if the Blackstone spy in the palace was killed? Also if the fact that William and shown new weapons to the world will be enough to stay blackwaters hand for now.
Trevayne
We know the next chapter, 63, is the final combat chapter, but will 64 be a reaction chapter followed by an epilogue, or will it be the epilogue? We know there are going to be lots of reactions as the news gets out, but how fast will it spread? Will the Blackstones find out about the destruction of the royal vassal airships before or at the same time as they hear about the Jellyfish and her shards? The news about the vassal ships would encourage an attack while the crown is weak. The news about the destruction of the ten attacking ships by the mystery shards would encourage caution. The other players will make similar calculations. Unless somebody does something rash, I think they will all hesitate until they understand the new shards better.
MS
Refresh, refresh, refresh......
O
Slept on my exams and those went away after a few weeks of it
MaybeASquid
Obviously it should be Taranto/Doolittle raid on their capital
MarakEvans
Hope you had a good sleep. Sometimes sleeping on it makes things work better.
Borisoff72
But when you consider that a certain percentage of them are vampires you're doing a lot of good.
Oreo-belt25
I'm exicted to read about the fallout and the local's reactions to the tech.
Trevayne
Thanks for keeping us informed. I am looking forward to seeing how this resolves.
Blue Fishcake
Once more, American Sunday. For now, I sleep. (This is the final combat chapter and I'm so very happy about that! I don't think I've written this many back to back fight scenes... ever.)
ThunderBird Two
That's not very nice for the bats
Hikaraka
Those only work if the enemy uses a lot off wood in their buildings.
andreas
*steps back and tries to hide in a bush. Belly still sticks out*
Blue Fishcake
https://youtu.be/jSlriTo3d2k
MarakEvans
I too second this. Also... hear me out... Pigeon Bombs of DEMOCRACY! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfkymhJyxBM
Ryno Botha
I second this
Borisoff72
So Blue, for retaliation on the Lunnite Capital, hear me out ...Bat Bombs! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_bomb https://youtu.be/0WLBeWf8K_M?si=gRY4fkXe9SOL_Uxh
MarakEvans
Shhh... *looks around* *leans in close to whisper* I'm trying to emotionally manipulate him using, what some would call, "positive reinforcement." He shouldn't figure it out and might even get his work done early. *threateningly pulls out plastic spoon* Unless, you don't keep your mouth shut... *maintains uncomfortable eye contact after farting 3 seconds ago*
andreas
He already said in Friday that it is going to be Sunday. So everything is still on time ;-)
MarakEvans
Hey, Hey. It's Saturday. Whatever you're up to, we appreciate you, Blue.
Trevayne
I agree and am happy that Yelena is alive, although she is buried and not completely out of danger. I think her big problem with working with William is that she sees herself as a decent ruler with years of experience. William is what, 18, maybe 19? Not exactly what a reigning queen would consider as an advisor, at least on non-technical subjects. Granted, he has demonstrated some political/intrigue capability in that he identified the Blackstone marriage gambits for what they were before Yelena did. Still, he has a lot of work to do to persuade her that a radical change to Lindholm society is needed. The thing is, if he tries, he might be able to persuade her. It will take time, but as he just found out with his mother, sometimes talking can work. He can always shift to revolution if talking is not enough. It is a lot harder to start talking after a civil war/revolution has started. We have seen from Yelena's POV sections that she actually does care about the future of Lindholm. She decided on emancipation because she did not think Lindholm could continue to survive in a world with elven empires if it didn't use all the talents of all its people, including the orcs. Given that, I think she might actually consider that a shift away from feudalism would also help Lindholm better use the talents of all its people. She was thinking of ensuring all its mages got to use their talents, but William has just shown that it applies to more than just the mages. William's plebian pilots have demonstrated their worth and he has shown the value of non-magical technology, even if he still uses magic to fabricate it.
MS
Very happy Yelena is alive. I wonder I'd she'll start working with William more on projects as opposed to trying pawn a daughter on him and control him. He and a few others like the twins are her greatest assets. The feudal/cast system had some serious disadvantage for real growth of a country. I also understand William is trying to change the current system, just wondering out loud if this attack will get the queen to start seeing that
Trevayne
Thanks, but no, not yet. I have written a few story posts for group projects on alternatehistory.com.
Isak Mark
Have you written any stories of your own? If not you should give it a try you are very good at theorizing I'd read it!
Trevayne
Since Corsair-Cs have a higher ceiling than normal shards, I wonder if that opens up some psychological warfare opportunities. Imagine the population of the Lunite capital looking up and seeing skywriting saying that any further attacks on Lindholm will mean the destruction of their city. It would be a bluff. It will take William at least a few years to build the resources to actually do it, but I think there would still be an impact from seeing the writing appear in the sky at an altitude that normal shards can't reach.
Trevayne
Well, if you want speed, an SR-71 is only a little bit later than a B-58 and significantly faster. I am not sure how easy it is to find titanium on this world though.
MaybeASquid
Yes those would have more utility. But I want S P E E D
andreas
Thanks for letting us know!
Ollie Fairweather
bit of a fuck you
Blue Fishcake
Sunday again.
Trevayne
The scary thing is he could probably do it. I think he would be better off with a B-36 or B-52. They have larger and more varied bombloads. I think the B-58 was nuclear only. Thinking about it, the B-36 is not that much different from a Corsair. They are both piston-engined monoplanes, although the B-36 is much larger, a generation later and the last US bomber with piston engines (although they did add some jets for extra thrust). The really scary thing is it can fly much higher than any shard, with a ceiling of 43,000 feet.
MaybeASquid
Man this is pretty unrelated from where steam punk is right now but it'd be a hell of a slap to the Solites and Lunites if William built a B-58 Hustler and buzzed the other capitals. But that'd be like 8 books from now
Trevayne
It would be interesting to see the Lunite admiral's viewpoint. She must be thinking "WTF? We had everything under control and then those odd shards showed up and everything went to hell. The orcs stabbing us in the back didn't help, but they never would have tried it without those shards."
Oreo-belt25
I want to read more about the local's reaction to Technology! That's my favorite aspect of any Isekai.
Trevayne
Another thing for Yelena to consider after surviving this night and getting back to the surface is figuring out what happened and how. In particular, her guards were not as effective as the Lunite commandos and her invisible troops lost the fight with the Lunite invisible troops. She might want to ask William about the counter measures he was using against her invisible spies. Also, there appear to have been some intelligence failures. The enemy knew the layout of the sublevels below the palace well enough to use a tunnelling spell from the outside to get in. Her security around the krakenslayer did hold. The Lunites were forced to do this raid to try to get their hands on it. Their spies could find out lots of information, but not that secret.
Trevayne
They can try, but unless things are very time-critical (the target airship is about to disappear into clouds or the Corsair is about to run out of fuel), they are better off just going back for more rockets and/or bombs to finish the job.
DMR1
Some might be able to line up their plane and bail out at the last second or so
andreas
Hey! 7 chapters to go!
Marius Petrauskas
nice
Trevayne
Good question. I think William is more ruthless than most "heroes" but I don't see him as evil. He probably thinks of himself as a somewhat hard man making hard decisions, but I haven't seen much gratuitous cruelty for cruelty's sake.
Trevayne
Agreed. The fact that he never met any of them sort of offset the potential of the Queen offering any or all of them to him.
Trevayne
On a completely different note, assuming they get some Lunite prisoners, what should they do with them? Interrogation followed by execution as pirates or do they publicly accuse the Lunite Empire of terrorism? Do they declare war on the Lunites and ally with the Solites? I don't think they want to do that, but they have to do something. In addition, did they let the pirate fleet go, or did they finish them off first? I assume they didn't have time to take out the 12 faster Lunite airships.
Trevayne
I think it was less his boomer mindset/ harrowing and more his doubts. He had never gotten anything significant out of his mother by arguing previously, so why would talking things out work this time? It has only been about a year and a half since he left his family to go to the academy. He has only been his mother's equal as a count in his own right for about a year. I expect it hasn't fully sunk in yet.
Trevayne
Yes. I think what confused me were the comments about opening barrels and spreading powder around everywhere, without it being clear that everywhere did not include the test range behind those metal doors. If it had included the test range, there is a decent chance it would have gone up from sympathetic detonation even if the doors kept the flash out. They were really very lucky that they didn't blow everybody up by accident when they were doing that.
Morpheus
Anti hero vs Anti villain?
Morpheus
there are a couple places where characters could have been introduced, and indeed seemed like the were going to be, and then just weren't Never really meeting any of the princesses is the big one for me. We got a brief aside form the perspective of one of them, but they are broadly a non entity despite being hinted at multiple times. Arguing about who would run his projects, for instance.
Morpheus
Kinda sounds to me like the lab had a blast door. I suppose the powder was originally INSIDE the blast door, and they moved it to the outside and stored themselves inside.
Househut21
Yeah, he's going to launch his fighters into the opposing ships their teeth
Househut21
It could also be part of his boomer/harrowing mindset of "I know better because experience" and harrowed knowledge wanting him to see all problems as nails. Things actually went better for him when he actually talked things out with his mother.
Trevayne
Probably not, but every combat-experienced pilot is useful. Remember, this is just the beginning of his expansion. He has already lost ten of his forty shards, so 25% shard losses. Granted that is probably only five pilots, but all of them are needed. They will be the future flight and squadron leaders, as well as eventual instructors. As for taking out ballasts, rockets will do it just as well, with the advantage that the Corsair that fired them can go back for another load. Suicide tactics are a desperation measure./ He isn't that desperate yet. The classic example, the Kamikazes, were used because the Japanese could not train enough good pilots to get through late-war USN defenses. The Kamikazes could use barely trained pilots and rely on numbers to try to get through. The US adopted tactics like radar picket destroyers and heavy fighter cover and while a dangerous nuisance, the kamikazes never came close to saving Japan the way their namesake typhoons did against the Mongols.
Trevayne
Another argument that I forgot in the previous post was the succession issue. Yelena is probably even more inclined to think about it now because she just had a great demonstration of how she could suddenly die. Getting nearly killed is generally good motivation for thinking about one's legacy. Monarchy and aristocracy are improvements over autocracy in that they provide a means for the relatively peaceful transfer of power from the monarch/noble to their heir upon the death of the previous monarch/noble. This tends to be a lot less bloody and destabilizing than the free-for-all that can happen after the death of an autocrat. The problem, however, is that an individual inheriting a crown may or may not be a good monarch. If they are a bad monarch, the kingdom could be stuck with them for a very long time. Democracy on the other hand sets up systems for the peaceful transfer of power and provisions for removing rulers who are either actively bad or just ineffective in the job, without killing loots of people. I can just see William discussing this and saying to Yelena, "I think you are a pretty good Queen for Lindholm. That said, you nearly died under your palace. You may think your daughter will also be a good monarch and you may be right. I don't know because I have never met Princess Palmer. However, are you confident her daughter, your granddaughter, will be a good monarch and maintain Lindholm? What about your great-granddaughter, who you are unlikely to ever know?" "There are reasons why most of the advanced countries on the world I came from have adapted various forms of democracy. Government is hard. Democracy is not perfect, but it seems to work better than every other system we have tried." Whether or not Yelena is willing to listen is up to Blue. I certainly hope William has a talk like this with her before he does anything more drastic. He might be surprised, just as he was when his mother finally listened to his arguments and sent Olivia to him. William has undergone a lot of changes in less than two years. His history with his family was that his mother never listened to his arguments and just commanded. She would punish him when he refused. I expect parts of William are still adjusting to the fact that he is a count in his own right and an equal to his mother. Given that, more people will listen to his arguments so he should make them and perhaps gain agreement rather than just acting and letting the chips fall where they may.
O
He has more than enough pilots with some degree of combat experience even with a few suicides. And taking out the ballasts isn't a bad call in order to slow down the fleeing ships. The only real problem to ordering a suicide, would be convincing the pilot. In conclusion, i doubt it would happen but of it does, I see William not really caring as much as one should
Mark
And to be clear I am not an editor for blue, but I edit for others and that type of error is devious to catch.
Mark
Well caught!
Trevayne
Agreed. That is why I stressed getting some shards to shadow all the airships. If two are following each of the five trying to escape, William can just have the remaining 20 go after them one at a time and kill them. Thinking about it, if he sent five or six shards after three, they might not shoot them down, but the odds are they would be seriously damaged, unable to submerge, and slowed or stationary. They can then rearm and deal with the last two. Even if he doesn't have time to destroy them all, they will be dead meat for the returning Royal Navy fleet.
Trevayne
Agreed. We really don't know how deep they can go, but I would assume they can at least submerge the entire hull and get at least 20 feet of water over the top of it. Nobody seems to have spotted any of the Orcish underships while they were hiding. Granted, the Blackstones probably weren't looking out to sea. It depends a lot on the relative water transparency. In the water like the Caribbean, they might see them 50-plus feet down. In water like the North Atlantic, they are probably invisible with anything over twenty feet above the top of the airship.
Trevayne
Bluefishcake said: Her death was seriously considered, but I hate killing characters for little more than shock value. More to the point, I feel Yelena still has plenty of potential as a character. Even more to the point, I haven't fleshed out a hypothetical replacement and it's already quite late in the game. I mean, doable, as I see Steam as being about a five book series, but I... frankly like Yelena too much at this point. I boosted this because because I agree that it is good to keep her alive. William has argued with her, agreed with her, and disagreed with her. He would have to go through that same process with her successor. I don't remember even hearing Princess Palmer's name before this. We have known that Yelena has several daughters, but Admiral Tyana is the only one I recall being named. It isn't like the death of General Hague in B5. Yelena is an ally/rival, not a person who can fix things. Hague was someone expected to take charge and get things done. The story killing him was the universe telling the characters that it is up to them. I am a little curious about her survival. I expect the lab itself had some enchantments to keep the researchers from blowing themselves up. Explosions can only happen in the test cells. Otherwise sympathetic detonation should have set everything off. Alternatively, she had everybody hide in the test cells and use air magic to generate breathable air. We know Yelena is both ruthless and reasonably bright. She was willing to kill William's sister because she was a key part of the conspiracy. However, she was also willing to be persuaded to give William a chance. We know she cares about the future of her kingdom because she decided on emancipation herself. This suggests that she might at least be willing to listen to some of William's longer-term ideas. For example, I agree that she would not go for an independent orcish state. However, she can point out to William that any such state would be a target for the Solites and Lunites trying to get a foothold on Lindholm. They are better off as their own duchy, with autonomy under the Lindholm crown. Similarly, in the long run, William would like to see a democracy. If they win the war, he has a lot of prestige and power that would at least encourage her to give him a hearing. He can point out that unless she wants to condemn her descendants to trying to manage the herd of cats that is the aristocracy, she might be better off with a house of commons as a counterweight. Something like the 18th century British government with a stronger monarchy, a House of Nobles and a House of Commons.
Trevayne
Yes, but that is later. He recognizes he needs her now. Even later, he can at least discuss the orcish problem with her. He might even discuss the idea of becoming a constitutional monarchy, something like 18th century Britain, with a big role for the monarchy. I imagine she is getting tired of herding the nobility and giving the commons some power would decrease that of the nobles. He can talk to Yelena and knows her. He doesn't have nearly the same knowledge of Princess Palmer, the apparent heir. Palmer would also be in a much weaker position if Yelena dies because she doesn't have the recognition, reputation, and prestige. He is not in good shape to directly oppose her at present. He has a better chance if he can get more power, but that will take time. If he had a dozen Jellyfish carriers with 500 Corsairs, he might be able to dictate events. He doesn't have that and he can't get it for several years at his current production rates (two Corsairs a week or 100 or so a year). Right now, he needs to be on the winning side in the civil war. If his side loses, the best he can expect is to disappear into a Blackstone research dungeon, or just be killed because of the way he humiliated Tala.
Jacob
I may have miscounted but the point remains
Jacob
True, but the underships are a multi-day journey from their home port. Depending on their depth limits (undership tech is pretty new and thus immature), they might be visible from the sky on a bright day. Might be hard to cover enough ocean to find them though. Would also be highly dependent on the weather and how calm the seas are.
Gregory Sampson
William's reaction to Yelena's apparent death seems kind of hypocritical or something, given the implication that he plans on fully overthrowing the monarchy later down the line.
Trevayne
I don't know if Blue wants to go there, but one possible side plot would be Cynthia escaping from her crashing airship using a flight suit with the black powder sample. She then has to try to evade capture in Lindholm until she can make contact with Lunite spies who can smuggle her off Lindholm.
Trevayne
Glad to hear she is alive as well. I agree she has a lot to offer as a character. In particular she might moderate some of William's realpolitik tendencies. Especially if he starts to appreciate that assassinating children is wrong and not just when the child is his sister.
Trevayne
Interesting. I am probably one of the few people here that hasn't read Sect, so I am not really familiar with Jack. I will try to fix that. As for William, he doesn't seem that bad. I agree he seems to have become a little more ruthless in general, but that is probably a side effect of actually gaining some real power. You are the author and know your character the best, but that is what I have gotten from his actions. Getting back to the pilots, I think he would have a problem with it. He has spent a lot of time and effort training them. Any that are expended in unnecessary suicide attacks are a wasted asset. Just think of how much more effective his now combat experienced pilots will be as well as how useful they will be as future instructors. He doesn't need to be a good guy to disapprove.
Trevayne
I have mixed feelings about his getting into a Corsair and getting directly involved. This is a risky action, and if he dies, just about everything else he was trying to do dies with him. He shouldn't do it. On the other hand, it would be cool and it could be justified by his wanting to see the situation close up so he can direct attacks on the propellers to ensure the airships don't get away or insure that all the airships are being followed so that they can't escape. Thinking about it, the next stage of the attack might not be that dangerous. All of the enemy shards are gone, so it is William's remaining shards against airships with pivot guns as their only AA weapons. If they can fire rockets from outside pivot gun range, the Lunites are screwed. All they can do is scatter and hope that some can disappear before they are wrecked by the Corsairs and one Basilisk.
Laenthis Tranchesoleil
Happy to hear you say that because she is great and I love the realtionship that is developping between her and William
Larynx Punchworthy
Also, if a random spec ops character can reactively cast a spell that keeps her alive, it doesn’t really make sense that the queen wouldn’t have some (or multiple) magical ways to survive as a contingency
Blue Fishcake
...You make it sound like William would have a problem with that? He'd not order it explicitly, but... He's not Jack. Where Jack was a bad guy who wasn't really a bad guy, William is a 'good guy' who isn't really that good a guy.
Business Casual
I expect he's going to brief the pilots like you said.... I HOPE that he's about to take over flight duty from one of the green horns and lead Tern and the other instructors on a death march.
Blue Fishcake
Her death was seriously considered, but I hate killing characters for little more than shock value. More to the point, I feel Yelena still has plenty of potential as a character. Even more to the point, I haven't fleshed out a hypothetical replacement and it's already quite late in the game. I mean, doable, as I see Steam as being about a five book series, but I... frankly like Yelena too much at this point.
Trevayne
I think the mention of the refit was several months ago. If it was still being refitted, they could not have gotten it into this operation at all. The point is still a good one. They have practiced for running landings in the Corsair-Ms, but this is the first time they have ever flown in Corsair-Cs. Every pilot has done their first takeoff tonight and will be doing their first landing as well. I expect they also did their practicing on a runway that had an area the size of the Jellyfish's flight deck. They don't have to take off using the flight deck, they can use the launch bays and effectively get dropped into the open air, but they have to land on the deck since they can not hover.
22junk
I know William is relying on public perception to protect him from a royal asylum, but the ability to blow shit up is also a pretty important defense. I hope he doesn’t fuck up the Jellyfish. Also really happy the Queen lived. I was afraid the more elitist princess was introduced a few chapters ago so she could replace her mother in the narrative and become a new ally/adversary. Glad to see my hopes of royal milf art is alive and well.
Trevayne
Pretty sure the Jellyfish is slower. I think William wants to personally tell the pilots that it is critical they maintain contact with the airships. Maybe he wants to tell them to focus on the propellers to slow them all down rather than mass attacks on a couple of airships to take them out. If they can be slowed down or stopped, they definitely can't get away.
Mikołaj
William is already extremly lucky that no pilot crashed their plane during landing thus starting a fire and delaying the reloading of other planes. Wasnt that the first time they landed on Jellyfish? It was in a dock being retrofitted to a carrier just prior to attack on capital.
Trevayne
I hope William is careful about how he words his instructions to the pilots. I can just see some really dedicated ones thinking "I will take down that airship if it is the last thing I do" and ramming. If they do a head-on attack at 400 mph against an airship doing 70 the other way, that is a closing speed of 470 mph. A Corsair is much smaller than an airship, but I think the engine would tear its way through much of the airship. It would probably take out enough aether tanks to bring the airship down and it would definitely wreck any chance of submerging.
Trevayne
I expect it depends a lot on if she had the only sample. They probably want to recover one and if she has the only sample, they will wait for her return. I am surprised they sent back the captured researchers without samples. It is a nice depiction of the effects of the fog of war. The Lunites think some noble house used their entire ammo stock, because I expect most of them didn't know the mission objective. I wonder if they will change their minds when they see another load of rockets eviscerate some more airships? William doesn't know that these ships will take time to resubmerge, so he is charging in to get closer. He needs his shards to take out the Lunite airships before they can submerge and get away.
Trevayne
I think William has just demonstrated that the current version of the Krakenslayer is already obsolescent. He has just shown what real chemical explosives can do, not just the version 1.0 that is basic gunpowder/black powder. I am not sure anybody will really get to see the Jellyfish unless it rams at low altitude. I think the real reason he is closing is to reduce the cycle time for his Corsairs by reducing the distance they have to cover to fly back and rearm. The Jellyfish is reasonably fast, so it can probably stay at a kilometer or two while the shards go out, attack, return and rearm to repeat the cycle.
Trevayne
Where does it say three? The Lunites started with ten and had five over the academy. Unless they lost a few they should have at least five over the palace, although without any shards. For that matter, I think they were providing fire support with their guns, so probably still haven't started to reconvert back to undership configuration (sealing the gunports so they can't shoot).
just_some_guy.
It looks like there is some ambiguity on if the Lunites will make it out or not. Airships might be covered, that is the attacking airships might be all destroyed, but it was never explicitly said that Cynthia got on an Airship.
Trevayne
He probably would be able to rig some depth charges. The problem is once the undership is deep enough, he has no way to find it. He can rig up depth charges in a hurry. He is not inventing sonar in a few minutes.
Trevayne
I think William has goofed here. Before he headed for the hangar, he should have told his squadron in contact to maintain contact at all costs. If they keep two shards shadowing each airship, they can prevent them from breaking contact and disappearing into the night. This is especially true for shards without ammunition. They can still shadow fleeing airships, at least until they can go underwater.
Trevayne
Doubtful. The orcs were at the academy. They probably left as soon as they could and disappeared. The krakenslayer information was not at the academy, it was at the palace so the free orcs could not have gotten it.
Trevayne
On second thought, it looks like William doesn't realize that the underships need time to prepare for underwater operations again. There is no reason he should know that, since only the Orcs and the Lunites and the Blackstones could know their capabilities. The Blackstones may not even know that, since they may not have tried out the capabilities of their recaptured underships. They might have just reconverted them to their original configuration figuring the underwater capability was just a gimmick to let them hide better. Given that, I am very curious about why William is going to the hangar. I expect he is going to brief the pilots about the importance of crippling or shooting down all the airships before they get away with the secret of the Krakenslayer. I am pretty sure that the blown-up palace has made the basic secret (that it exists and was being made in the palace) moot. There is a small chance that he has another, even more lethal weapon that he wants to use in this situation. We will see.
Vonbaron
THe most surprising element of the story is that Blue didn't leave us on a cliffhanger with Yelena. So the Solunites are going to get teh secret of gunpowder. Is this an attempt to make the foreign threat into a real threat for William to overcome? The Jellyfish is going to have a rough chapter.
Trevayne
Clearly I went to sleep at the wrong time. Great update. Lots to think about. Glad to see Yelena seems to be still alive although somewhat curious as to how. The labs must have had really thick doors if the attackers detonated lots of black powder underground. For that matter, if she is alive than her researchers are probably alive as well. This has been a really expensive mission for the Lunites. That was a large force of elite commandos that the Lunites are not getting back. As for the ramming, I think William is just trying to get closer to better follow the escaping Lunite airships. All he really needs is for his own Corsairs still out there to maintain contact with the fleeing enemy. Then he sends out the group that is currently rearming to take them down one by one. On the good news side, unless Blue immediately goes to the post battle in an epilogue, I think there should be at least one more regular chapter, especially with this cliffhanger.
Luke Payne
My thoughts exsactly, I love it when my HFY refferences video games (which is a reason why galactic high is amazing lol.)
Jacob
If William has something suitable on board, the Khanate might learn that the "Kraken Slayer" also tends to make a pretty effective "anti-undership" weapon, which should be fairly obvious in hindsight. How fast do we think William can jerry-rig a few depth charges together?
Jacob
He can't ram all three with one ship, so I hope that's William's plan C or D, and not his plan A
Brian Roger
Absolutely, but is the Jellyfish that much faster than the shards, that it’s better to move and not launch in 3 minutes than move and launch?
Allen Mainville
Seriously agree on that point. It’s like waiting for another episode of Solo Leveling.
Horan
Thanks fir the chapter !
Horan
FOR THE GOD EMPEROR. WILLIAM IS GOING TO WK40 THOSES BITCHES
RojaDrifts
I've got this sinking feeling it's not the Khanate that's going to end up with the Kraken Slayer, but the Orcs.
MarakEvans
If you need something done right... I might not have the ordinance...
Christopher Manoff
Oh boy... when the Lord Redwater steps on military command's toes... best believe it ain't good.
MarakEvans
The dim glow of her shoulder mounted magelight cast flickering shadows along the brass-riveted walls of the lab [their] initial tunnel had breached into – and were now returning through.
Alex LordThorsen
I assume he wants to optimize for engagement time in this case. By delaying the distance the shards have to travel they get more time in the air.
MarakEvans
[Edit suggestions] Still, as she watched another of her personal guard [go] down, clutching at a bolt in her shoulder, the sovereign sighed.
Lucas F
Quick little grammar note, early in the chapter: "Her and her palace guard..." should be "She and her palace guard" A couple paragraphs later, "Unfortunately, enemy’s invisible troops managed..." should be "Unfortunately, the enemy's invisible troops had managed..."
Baron Von Mott
Just as we think the day is saved, new stakes shift the balance once more... Although, at least now the queen has lost her stocks of gunpowder, that should help secure William's importance again. And I wonder what kind of reactions we'll get when everyone actually sees the Jellyfish herself going into action!
Footbraclet
"You're on your own Noble, Carter out." Type ending, I love it
22junk
Do you perhaps have a hidden S-tier membership with another chapter available? This is the worst cliffhanger since Will stepped into his mother’s office to confront her over his sister’s engagement. I usually say take your time but I’m feeling nauseous not knowing.
Gjim
What kind of ass pull William conjure up?
Medical-Cyanide
Sometimes thats all you need, the mass. And it seems he is fully ready to use that to his advantage.
DMR1
Perhaps today is a good day to die! PREPARE FOR RAMMING SPEED!
Blue Fishcake
I will fix that now... How I missed it. How the beta readers missed it. I don't know.
Bas van Lissum
Wow!! All ahead flank, Ramming speed!
Andrew
Thank you!
Katz
I had to reread the first and second parts of this chapter because both the queen's bodyguard an the dark elf infiltrators were called Cynthia. This made for a lot of confusing back and forth until I noticed there were 2 of them.
Brian Roger
Looks like we have two Cynthia’s in action right now. Little confusing at first!
Sebas Tian
Kill em all!
Skulldragon7
“Assume the luitenant->“Assure the lieutenant
Brian Roger
Oh man, they really upped the ante here. Bring them all down! But shouldn’t they continue the launch prep as they move closer? Belaying it will just delay the launch time further, even if they’ve got less distance to go.
The Fire Piper
Yay! Barely made U.S. Sunday!
