Vizeadmiral Thjali Taerfoer scanned the arid expanse of the dead savanna with unblinking, stone-quiet patience, like a reptile in the sun. Dragging a finger across the charblackened earth, she tasted its metallic, sulfur tang: an unmistakable flavor.

  That great, dormant power she sought lay ahead. Finally, it was almost within her grasp.

  And yet, still just out of reach.

  Tiny specks far in the distance trawled the ruined city’s remains like insects over a decaying carcass. Parties of native soldiers conducting search and rescue, she saw in detail through the lens of her spyglass. She scoffed.

  However pointless their efforts, though, it could still be days or weeks before they finally gave up looking for survivors. She needed a diversion to bring them elsewhere, and keep them away from the ruins, at least for a time. Otherwise, approaching herself would be far too risky. If she dispatched even just one squad of roaming native fighters without any sort of official justification, reports alluding to her unauthorized presence in there would certainly make their way to the purview of someone important up the chain of command, be it Oberadmiral Lokkemand or the shogun himself, or both.

  And that could ruin everything, of course.

  She counted her options.

  Those patrols trawling the ruins were most certainly based out of the underground stronghold she’d scouted from afar, earlier that morning. There was nothing else capable of barracking that many soldiers for dozens of miles — nothing else that had been left sufficiently intact by the city's destruction, anyway. And any successful maneuvering around a garrison of that size would require her to expend more capital. So what resources did she have at her disposal to deploy?

  She thought then of the shogun. And of sacrifice.

  Of the last sabbath, she’d attended alongside him.

  Of that little boy’s screams.

  It almost rattled her out of cool, perfect control, interrupting her calculated scheming.

  Almost.

  Refusing to waver, she stared down that oncoming train of thought in defiance, until it wilted in submission, instead. She couldn’t afford the slightest weakness, then.

  She was at the very precipice.

  And the way ahead demanded another sacrifice of her own. That much was clear.

  How unfortunate it was she’d needed to dispense with Roskvir. He would’ve been the perfect combination piece for that final play.

  A constellation of ideas aligned for her at last. The last clues falling into place.

  She smiled, licking her lips as they chapped under that foreign sun.

  Perhaps there was a way Roskvir could still be of use, after all.

  * * *

  “Things are going as well as they might, within reason,” reported Roskvir, just as he’d rehearsed. “But there’s still a way to go. The princess is very aware of the nature of our activities in her land, to a depth far beyond her years. So the simple gifts and lies that might win over a typical foreign princeling won't work. And I’m sure it didn’t help — the impression the vizeadmiral first made on her, during her initial extraction from the library. You know how Thjali is.”

  “Couldn’t an intimidating first impression work to be convincing in its own way?” inquired the shogun. “The carrot and the stick. Is there no way we couldn’t leverage a strategy like that? For example, if you and Ms. Hildr offer the carrot, and I continue presenting a stick. Might she not despise me, but at least in time, warm to you?”

  “Er — perhaps,” said Roskvir.

  The shogun was mistaken, he realized. He misunderstood something fundamental about the princess’ constitution.

  “You don’t agree? Speak up, if so.”

  “Well, I don’t know. ‘The stick’ may just have her dig in her heels. She’s… determined. Stubborn,” said Roskvir. “Perhaps she just doesn’t understand what she stands to lose.”

  Or worse: maybe she does, he thought.

  “Hmm,” the shogun murmured. “Well, either way. You say you are confident that slow but steady progress is being made in some form, at least?”

  “I would say so. Slowly, but certainly. Her decision to learn Albian is a very promising sign, I think.”

  “Well, kapitanleutnant, Ms. Hildr. If you think slow and steady is our best course, then I can attempt patience with this, at least for some time. Not forever. But, for now.”

  “Thank you, your excellency,” Roskvir saluted.

  But the shogun did not immediately dismiss them. Stirring, he stood from his cushioned throne, to near the chamber's great glass window.

  “Ms. Hildr, you may take your leave. But there is another matter I wish to discuss with you, kapitanleutnant.”

  Hildr bowed, shuffling to the door. Soon, Roskvir was left alone with the great robed man on the opulent observation deck.

  “...m’lord?”

  “You mentioned vizeadmiral Taerfoer. Were you her lieutenant for long, before joining my staff?”

  “Almost two years, your excellency.”

  “Hmm. Might you say you served together long enough to gather a perception of her personal character? Her soldering ability, of course, is not in question. Specifically, I mean to ask, who you understand her to personally be.”

  “...I would think so, your excellency. Perhaps.”

  “Mm-hmm. How would you describe her character, then?”

  Roskvir chose his next words with care. There was clearly no love lost between Thjali and the man before him, but the shogun still might grow distrustful if he was quick to volunteer negativity about past superiors.

  “Well, your excellency… that’s a difficult question.”

  The shogun shot back an arch smile.

  “Ah. So I see, we are on the same page, then,” he said. “Well, let me explain. Yesterday, deep within the Setetic heartland, marines of the vizeadmiral’s vanguard reported they'd located certain assets of critical strategic importance to our campaign. By the end of the week, the vizeadmiral and her force will conduct operations to retrieve these assets. I want you to accompany her, kapitanleutnant. This should be a task of no great difficulty for you, but it is vital, nonetheless. You will depart in a few days, taking a platoon and attaching to her unit. Now, in reality, it is unlikely she will need your assistance to achieve her stated objectives. Rather, once you are back in the field with her, all I ask is that you ensure she stays her proper course. In the meantime, before you depart, continue your efforts with the princess.”

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  “'Her proper course,' your excellency?”

  “Only, that she does nothing more than retrieve those assets, and deliver them to me… undamaged. You'll be briefed in greater detail closer to your departure. But hear me well, now. If she does run astray, in this regard... you're authorized to terminate her, and take full command of the mission yourself."

  The shogun shrugged.

  "Not that I expect her betrayal to be more likely than not," he said. "But if it does come to that, kapitanleutnant? Don’t hesitate. Because with the vizeadmiral... you won’t live long enough to hesitate twice.”

  * * *

  Oberadmiral of Naval Intelligence Lokkemand Heward found the shogun in his signature spot at the lavish chamber’s viewport, staring down at something far below.

  A pistol to his head couldn’t convince him the man was half as contemplative as he wished to seem. If it wasn’t mere pretentiousness, it had to be tactical. So Lokkemand wondered what sort of tactic he intended in particular, that day.

  “You requested me, your excellency?”

  “Good evening, Oberadmiral,” said the shogun. All the while, his focus remained undeterred from the window.

  Oh, come on.

  But Lokkemand resisted the urge to roll his eyes, even with the man’s back to him.

  “How did your interviews go?”

  “Taerfoer’s former squad leaders all had the same story,” Lokkemand reported. “Apparently, it was clear to any poor sod under her command, that she and kapitanleutnant Englihavt never got along. Roskvir took it on the chin — it seems he was never anything but the most dutiful of subordinates. But they were far from friends. Closer to the opposite.”

  The shogun nodded.

  “And you isolated them properly between sessions?” he asked.

  Please.

  “Yes, your excellency.”

  “…And the vizeadmiral could’ve had no advance warning you intended to question her former officers?”

  “Of course. With all due respect, your excellency, I’m not an amateur. And she’s more than a hundred miles away… May I ask why you’re so concerned as to the kapitanleutnant’s allegiance in the first place? You aren’t worried the vizeadmiral offered him up as a plant, surely? Taerfoer’s… a wild card. But surely, you don’t have reason to think she’s treasonous… do you?”

  For a long moment, the shogun only stared through the great window.

  “You currently have two scout platoons attached to Taerfoer’s company in the field. Is that right, oberadmiral?” the shogun asked, in place of answering his question.

  “I believe so, yes,” said Lokkemand.

  “Have them recalled.”

  “Ah, sorry. What?”

  “Taefoer is poised to execute a mission for which I require the utmost discretion. So decouple the admiralty-banner scout marines attached to her vanguard,” the shogun said flatly. “Recall them from the front and have them report to a forward base for debriefing.”

  Lokkemand reeled.

  “…Why, your excellency?”

  The shogun swiveled.

  A bath of icewater felt as if poured down the back of his collar, as two pinpoint pupils bored into him.

  “You resist me, oberadmiral.”

  “Your excellency,” croaked Lokkemand, “aside from their importance as auxiliaries in complement to Taerfoer’s main force… the admiralty requires firsthand oversight monitoring certain operations in the field. You’re well aware that the vizeadmiral’s maneuvers deep past our zone of control have been deemed such operations — as the admiralty council’s independent representative, I must—“

  “Obey me, oberadmiral, or I’ll have you hanged for treason, then recall the divisions myself.”

  Lokkemand balked.

  “The admiralty would impeach — you have no pretext—“

  “We’re on campaign, oberadmiral, and things aren’t exactly going poorly. They wouldn’t impeach me if I shoved a hole through your chest and mailed you to the steps of the Riksdaag in a crate.”

  The vivid scene commandeered Lokkemand’s imagination at once. It was all he could do to stop from backing toward the door, even as the shogun stood in place, unmoving.

  “No… no. Internal politics would take precedence over this, for the admiralty council. They’d send warships, even, to arrest you—”

  “Maybe,” said the shogun. “I doubt it, even if my enemies still made up a majority of the council. Tell me, have you read the latest issue of The Times to make the crossing? I receive an advance copy, even before naval intelligence.” He pointed to a folded newspaper on the cushion of one of the low reclined couches lining the chamber. “Read the front-page headline, oberadmiral.”

  It was dated eight days hence. Lokkemand’s office had received the two-week-old issue just that morning.

  LORD OBERSTADTADMIRAL WILHELMN TO RESIGN, it read.

  High King to confer order of Silver Moon before formal retirement. Lord Stadtadmiral Machelroy to assume acting chairmanship in the interim. Third admiralty vacancy in five months. Replacement proceedings stalled.

  Lokkemand looked up. Contempt bled from the shogun’s stare.

  “Count them, oberadmiral. The most unfortunate incident with Tennson last month evened the odds in my favor. Wilhelmn stepping down gives the executive-unitarists a majority. Maybe an ‘incident’ of which you speak would put me beyond the pale even in their eyes. Is that really a wager you’re interested in making?”

  “Only nine on the council isn’t a quorum…” Lokkemand started to protest, before realizing what the shogun was going to say next.

  “Ten days ago, after reviewing the reports your office submitted regarding the threat and complexity of Setetic organization, Wilhelmn’s council upgraded our campaign from its previous status as a pacifying action.”

  And the council doesn’t need a quorum to legislate during times of war.

  Silence again reigned in the shogun’s chamber.

  Lokkemand ran a shaky hand through his hair. Had the winds really been set to blow that way in parliament so soon?

  “So, oberadmiral… the scouts.”

  Lokkemand managed a broken smile.

  “I suppose I value my life.”

  The shogun closed his eyes, exhaled, and nodded.

  “You may go, oberadmiral.”

  A pace before the door, Lokkemand stopped himself.

  Under any other circumstances, he wouldn’t have dared to ask the shogun a question so impertinent. But still invigorated by the high of his near-death experience, his curiosity got the better of him.

  Fuck it.

  “If I may, your excellency—“

  The shogun glowered back, with arms crossed.

  “I’ve received varying reports on this… but there’s this picture being painted that, a few weeks ago, the capital of the natives’ government was somehow… destroyed. As in, leveled. Almost simultaneous with our first landings at Hilomnos. Not by any natural thing. Multiple sources have said… it was as if the whole city was gone, in the blink of an eye.”

  Lokkemand braced himself, but then found he was still alive.

  “I mean, what a freak coincidence… you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  But the shogun’s dry regard was his only answer, before the robed man simply turned back to the great window once more.

  "Without destruction there is no creation... there is no change."

  Oda Nobunaga