I didn't mention it, however. Kira was obviously against letting Brutus and Artemia go free, even if her husband had decided to honour the arrangement I'd made. I didn't want to cause issues by getting into a debate about it, so decided it was best to just ignore it.

  The jeep continued to roll on, its lights turned off, both inside and outside of the vehicle, helping us blend into the darkness. Across the largely open lands that stretched to the south, enemy patrol vehicles, on the other hand, would be easily spotted. Unlike us, they wouldn't be trying to stay hidden, and would be well lit and keeping to the roads. By staying away from any of the official tracks heading south, and with the occupants of the car using their natural gifts - and, in my case, advanced tech - to look for trouble, avoiding detection shouldn't be too difficult.

  Still, we kept to a relatively slow pace, partly due to the uneven and sometimes boggy terrain, partly to give us ample opportunity to detect any incoming threats hidden away over hills and ridges, or emerging from nearby wooded or old urban areas. With a further thirty five miles to cover, and with Ares's assault on Dover set to begin within the hour, we realised there was no chance of us making it there in time. Instead, the hope was that we'd get there for the climax, ideally to watch as the army arrived.

  And if we should arrive to find the base surrounded, swarms of reinforcements coming from the garrisons to try to take it back?

  I put the question to the group, and we entered into a short discussion on it. Kira, naturally, suggested we could attack and draw some attention away from the base, by distracting the enemy soldiers. With only four of us here, however, Harkin swiftly put it down as tantamount to suicide. We'd be dealing with the better trained and armed military custodians and, while we could handle a reasonable batch of them, a force of many dozens might quickly overwhelm us unless we could escape.

  The only sensible option, in fact, seemed to be to stay out of it, observe from afar if we could find a proper vantage, and hope that Ares and his team could hold off the threat until the army arrived. That remained the plan and we had little recourse to alter it or affect the outcome.

  No, our role here was merely observational. And, as we continued south, and the clock signalled the start time of the siege, we had no way of knowing what the outcome would be.

  I tried not to think about it too much, as we ticked off the miles, spotting the distant lights of a few other small convoys heading up from the south. Otherwise, the lands here were almost entirely empty, the few checkpoints and smaller custodian outposts between the city and the coast few and far between. Where once the southern route was scattered with patrols, searching for those trying to escape the city and island, now all was mostly quiet and still. The coming war had driven all of Northbank's military resources to the city and the coast, with a small defensive network established at the northern border, still undergoing heavy construction.

  Have we caught them unprepared? I wondered idly. Have we moved quickly enough to take this chance - this one chance - to invade with our full force?

  This was it, the culmination of weeks of planning and effort. All had led to this assault on Dover, and yet we weren't even there. Sitting in that jeep, carefully crawling south, all we could do was wait and see.

  Wait and see whether this war was still on.

  Wait and see whether our loved ones had survived.

  And, as the sun began to rise, painting the lands in a vibrant red glow, that long, slow wait crept toward its conclusion. We had waited long enough. Now, it was time to see.

  And the sight, when it came into view, was glorious.

  24

  I stood on the cliffside, the English Channel spreading out into the distance, blue waters sparkling under the early dawn sun. The others stood to my sides, smiles upon their faces. I wasn't sure I'd ever witnessed such a wonderful sight.

  Ships dotted the water, quickly speeding in towards the harbour base at Dover, which was quiet down below, no gunfire flashing, no battle raging. The cliffs where we stood, a little east of the base, gave a perfect view of the port and surrounding area, the lands to the north, the seas to south. All were clear of enemies, but for those soldiers killed during the assault, bodies littering the base below. There seemed to be no patrol boats giving chase or attacking the incoming ships. There were no reinforcements surrounding the harbour base, trying to take it back.

  "They did it," I found myself whispering, shaking my head in mild disbelief. "They actually pulled it off."

  My words left behind a short silence, as we continued to search the base below, looking for movement or some sign of our friends. There seemed to be a few soldiers there, though from this distance, I couldn't make out who. They were dressed in black, gathered at the main gate, looking out across the hillside that sloped up a little from the coast.

  "Your father is down there," came the voice of Kira suddenly, staring in that direction. "So is Marcus and a few of the other Imperial Guards." She unthawed, smiled at me, then looked at Harkin. "Seems they're guarding the entrance in case there's a counterattack. But, from the looks of it, the battle ended some time ago."

  Harkin nodded slowly, frowning. He seemed as amazed as the rest of us to have found things as we had, especially given the time. It was nearing 7.30 A.M., suggesting that they'd taken the base quickly, disabled the coastal defences, and given the immediate order for the seafaring convoy to set sail from the mainland coast. That crossing took about an hour and yet, by the looks of the ships, they were only about ten or so minutes away.

  "We should head down and join them," Harkin said. "As fine as the view is up here, there's no point in us speculating when they can give us the answers we need."

  We moved back to the jeep, then, and started driving a little away from the cliffs, down the path that took us inland, before turning down the slope toward the base. It took only a few minutes before the base came back into view, now from a lower vantage, the large gated checkpoint and outer wall waiting ahead.

  There, my father stood alongside a contingent of his guards, Marcus included. They had clearly identified the car as being our own, and so didn't seem overly worried. They were expecting us to arrive at some point, after all.

  I looked at the base and its external defences as we drew near, noting the large structures beyond the checkpoint, the harbour spreading out beyond. To the east, where the cliffs rose up, there was no need for a coastal wall. To the west, however, the coastline was more shallow, and the great palisade loomed high. I could see another, smaller base out that way, a little set back from the wall. There looked to be movement there, a great many soldiers grouping beyond the base.

  "Do you see that?" I asked, staring that way, as we continued down the hill. Within moments, the view west was blocked by a rising bank, cutting off the view. "There are troops out there. Looks like hundreds of them."

  Ford looked back, slightly alarmed. "Custodians?"

  I shook my head. "No, it looked more like..."

  "Neoromans," said Kira immediately. "Their armour is unmistakable."

  "But, how are they here already?" I asked. "The boats are still some way off."

  "They must have used the tunnel," said Harkin. "Clearly, it doesn't exit here, but a little further down the coast. I had a suspicion it might, actually. Historically, the Channel Tunnel exited into Folkestone, not Dover."

  "So they had to take out two bases, not just one?" I asked, incredulous. "That was never part of the plan."

  "Well, to be fair, we haven't exactly been privy to the exact details of the latest plan, Paige," noted Harkin.

  We drew up quickly toward the gate to the main Dover base, passing inside and coming to a stop. Stepping out, I got my best look yet at the base itself, spotting quite a few scorched areas between the buildings, with some of the structures missing chunks, or smouldering lightly from explosive attacks. I guessed at Amber being the culprit, the Fire-Blood being given free reign to do what she did best in her rather less structured, more destructive role.

  "Well, seems we missed the fun," said Kira brightly, as my father marched in to join us, Marcus at his side. Both men were smiling warmly. "Though looks like we were hardly needed." Kira looked around. "Things went well, then?"

  I decided not to give my dad a hug, not here amid the guards. In such a setting, I was a soldier first, and his daughter second, and had to behave accordingly.

  "Very well, Empress," he said. "Better than we can reasonably have expected, actually."

  "Casualties, Max?" came Harkin's voice. He looked toward the central structures, his granddaughter clearly front and centre among his thoughts. "Is Blair OK?"

  "She's fine," nodded my father. "So are the others. We suffered no casualties, only a few minor wounds. It seems the base wasn't as heavily defended as we expected, and the anticipated counterattack never materialised."

  "Did you sever comms?" I asked, looking at Marcus, who was part of the infiltration team.

  "We did, Paige," he said. "Our mission went well, and we got to the control room to disable the coastal defences and communications system easily enough. We also deactivated the failsafe for the tunnel. As we had expected, it was set to blow and flood. Now we control whether that happens or not."

  "Good," said Harkin. "Very well done, all of you." He spoke more loudly, turning to the nearby guards as he did so. "We also noticed that some of the Neoroman soldiers have already arrived. The tunnel exits into that sub-base to the west, presumably?"

  "Yes," answered my father. "Ares went there with a contingent of guards to clear it, so our soldiers could come though safely. The tunnel exit is also heavily defended by a number of fixed gun placements, acting as a second failsafe. Those had to be deactivated from the smaller control room there. We knew all of this from the intelligence that Cash and the others gathered, so nothing came as a great surprise."

  He turned to look into the base, and the harbour beyond, enclosed between the cliffs on one side, and the looming coastal wall on the other. The ships, now, were growing larger on the sea, quickly approaching the calm waters within the dockyard.

  I saw a number of our own people gathering down there now, stepping out of one of the central buildings. Among them I noticed Amber, her unique Fire-Blood armour still glowing with shimmering yellow light. Blair, Cash, Murtagh and Columbus also seemed to be there with her, along with a number of other Imperial Guards. Krista and her other VLA operatives didn't seem to be present. I imagined that they were at the other base with Ares.

  "So, the choice was taken to split the forces, then?" asked Harkin. "Have some take the tunnel, and others take the sea crossing?"

  "Kaiser Konig elected to use his own boats," said my father, "rather than rely on the tunnel. I believe the Olympians are also sailing. The Neoroman and Haven forces, however, are coming through the tunnel as we speak."

  "Do you know if Dom's here yet, Max?" Kira asked.

  "I'm not sure, Empress. He may have come through with the first batch of our troops. If he has, he will be over with Ares at the sub-base."

  "Right. I think I'll go and check in over there," said Kira. "Is there a quick way to get there?"

  Marcus pointed out a route that seemed to lead westward, linking the two bases. "Over that way, my Empress," he said. "I'll lead you, if you'd like?"

  "Of course. Thank you, Marc."

  They moved off at that, Kira evidently eager to see her husband, as the rest of us began moving down towards the docks, leaving the remaining soldiers to guard the gate. As we went, my father gave us a few details of the fight, including his role among the main siege team, tasked with taking out the guards stationed at the gate and around the main base.

  It sounded like a relatively easy fight, especially with Amber's help. Part of that was due to the fact that the main defensive gun positions had been deactivated by the infiltration team. That left only smaller, manned gun positions, which Amber primarily dealt with, judging by their scorched and melted frames.

  "It's surprising, really," noted Ford, as we walked toward the docks, "for such a large base to be so poorly manned. We spoke before about there being up to several hundred here. It sounds like there was hardly more than fifty."

  "I'd say a few more than that," my father said, glancing around at the corpses littering the base, "but you're in the ballpark, Ford."

  "And there were no Reapers here?" asked Harkin. "This really was the sum of the resistance you faced?"

  My father pointed out a few dead custodians. "What you see is what you get, Victor," he said. "I think what we're seeing here is a simple matter of hubris. This base may not be heavily armed with soldiers, but it has an extensive defensive system of automatic gun placements that would be more than enough to stop most attempts to seize it."

  He nodded toward Cash, Murtagh, Blair and Columbus as we walked, gathered ahead and looking out to sea. "It was them who won this battle for us, really, along with Marcus," he went on. "As soon as they got into the control room, it was game over. Northbank clearly didn't imagine anyone was capable of that. That is a symptom of operating here in isolation. They don't really know their enemy, not like we do. It puts them at an enormous disadvantage. And with our invasion all-but complete, it will only be a matter of time before they fall."

  It was hard to deny the logic in that, even though I remained a little uneasy at how simple it all sounded. But, perhaps I was merely giving Northbank too much credit. Perhaps they simply didn't know how to respond to what they were facing. They were a single nation, facing four, out-powered if not outnumbered. They had no real experience of war, where all of the others did. Their custodians were passable soldiers, but couldn't challenge an army of Variants. Their Reapers were highly capable, but seemed hugely limited in number, and their very best could never compete with the heroes the coalition army could call upon.

  Perhaps this really was all they had to offer. They played their hand with the virus in Neorome and failed miserably. Now, the world was bearing down on them and they had no idea how to react.

  Maybe it really was just as simple as that.

  Ahead, the waiting group began to notice our arrival, just as the first ships began to slow their approach for docking. We stepped in towards one another, exchanging greetings like we hadn't seen each other in years, when in reality it had only been days. My embraces with Murtagh, Cash, Blair, Amber, and Columbus were all heartfelt. I even exchanged broad grins with some of the Imperial Guards, waiting nearby, who smiled back with a similar lack of restraint in their expressions. For such men, that was rare. It was a clear sign of just how well everything was progressing.

  As my father stepped over to speak with his men, the rest of us separated into two groups, exchanging a few details on what had been happening over the last couple of days. Harkin, Murtagh, Cash and Ford immediately formed into their small VLA leadership group, discussing next steps. I found myself with Blair, Amber, and Columbus, each of them buzzing with the aftereffects of battle, Amber giving off a pleasant warmth that offset the cool morning air. Of everyone, she looked particularly excited, her eyes moving regularly out toward the boats, eagerly anticipating the arrival of her people. And, of course, her husband, who she hadn't seen in many weeks.

  "So," said Blair, drawing my attention, sly grin quickly building onto her lips, "I hear you're related to the most awful human in history, Paige?"

  I let out a sigh. It didn't take long for that to come up.

  "My dad told you, I'm guessing?" I said.

  "Actually, it was your mum," she said. "And I have to say, she's nothing like you made out. I thought she'd be all introverted and quiet, by the way you spoke about her, but she's been full of energy since she arrived."

  I turned to the others, who nodded.

  "She is something of a dynamo, Paige," Columbus remarked with a grin. "No great surprise, really, for a woman who was once part of the VLA, long ago, and who's spent the last fifteen years keeping a low profile. It's only natural for a part of her old self to quickly break back out within these new, rather more inspiring, circumstances she's found herself in."

  "Hmmm, good insight," I said.

  As always.

  "I do feel sorry for her, though," Blair said, "having to spend all that time with Scissors." She shuddered. "The poor woman clearly has a lot of patience. I mean, I suppose she'll have had plenty of practice, bringing you up, Paige." She smirked at me. "You must have been a nightmare to raise."

  I rolled my eyes at the remark, though smiled all the same. I wouldn't have her any other way.

  Over on the docks, the first ship was creeping into the harbour now, the others lining up behind, much as they had when the Havenite soldiers arrived in Ostia. Its arrival drew our attention, as my father and a number of his guards stepped forward to help fix the ship to the docks. It was large, but not overly so, capable of ferrying several hundred troops at speed.

  "Is that a Neoroman boat, or Steinwanden?" I asked.

  "Steinwanden," said Amber. "The Neoroman ships are sleeker."

  She knew, of course, having crossed the Atlantic several times in Neoroman vessels. Olympus, after all, didn't have a working navy of its own, and so had relied on the use of Neoroman ships to bring them from their homeland, just like the New Haven forces had.

  We watched for a while, as the first figures began to disembark. I was happy for the distraction, turning the attention away from my questionable heritage. It remained a topic that I'd rather avoid, if possible.

  Unsurprisingly, the first figure to appear was that of Kaiser Konig himself, dressed in his solid, stone-like armour, dark grey in colour. He marched heavily down the gangway and onto the docks, leading out General Muller, similarly armoured, and a large contingent of Stone Patriots, the Steinwanden special forces and their equivalent of the Imperial Guard.

  My father stepped to greet him, as Harkin did the same, extricating himself from our assembly waiting nearby. The greeting was more professional than friendly. Of the four nations of our coalition, Steinwand remained very much the outsiders, not included in the longer term alliance that Neorome, Haven, and Olympus shared.

 

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