Transcendence?

***Norfolk, Northern Ocean***

***Ascathon***

“There are quite a few ships.” I watch the cloud of silver ships on the horizon and their wooden counterparts in the ocean. “Should we pretend that we fell for the trap and attack? But to be honest, after seeing this I would rather wait for reinforcements.”

Den, Fingulf and Jazira are beside me and watch the same scene through the crystal orb between us. Celestial is sitting on the railing with her feet dangling down in the open.

“It's baffling that they are able to conceal themselves to this degree. I would have ordered to charge right in if the orb hadn't uncovered their neat little trick.” Jazira tilts her head while comparing the scene in the orb with her own vision.

“Yes, Lidith's information seems to be correct.” I nod and watch the enemy fleet in my orb. “They are concealing themselves by redirecting the visible light around them. That's surprisingly advanced.”

“We would charge right into their trap, thinking that we got the chance to engage the ships from the Nation of Mist alone.” Den snorts.

“Maybe we can turn this situation to our advantage.” Fingulf points a finger at the enemy. “If that's indeed their plan, then they'll hold their fire for as long as possible to ensure that we are caught between their forces and crushed.”

He starts to pace up and down the deck. “They'll wait until we engage the fleet from the Nation of Mist. They are the bait. When we are busy fighting them, the air ships from Mislow will drop their concealment spells. How far off are your ships, Immortal Empress?”

Jazira shrugs her shoulders. “Two days. Three days at most.”

Fingulf nods. “There are several problems with our current situation. The first is that we are outnumbered. They have about three hundred air ships and four hundred ships at sea. We have just about two hundred air ships here. Five hundred sea ships are on their way from Phenex.”

He points one finger up to the sky. “The problem is that the sea ships cannot be counted in this engagement. They are too slow and even with their new anti air spells, they don't have the reach to hurt us if we just fly high enough. This battle will be decided entirely up in the air.”

I purse my lips. “I still don't feel comfortable going up against their three hundred air ships with our two hundred. On top sixty seven of our ships are just converted vessels or older wooden constructions.”

Fingulf nods. “That's why we'll play along with their plan. This battle field is three dimensional and that works to our advantage. We'll climb to the highest altitude possible. Then we'll start a slow descent while approaching the enemy fleet.”

“They'll see us coming and have more than enough time to position themselves. That's not good.” Jazira folds her arms in front of her chest.

“That's very good!” Fingulf smiles. “If they want to create the perfect killing zone for us, there is only one place where they want to be with their air ships.” He points towards the enemy. “And that's slightly above the reach of their sea ships. They'll wait until they are above us and the sea fleet under us. Then they'll shoot at us from under and above us.”

Fingulf holds one finger up. “But! If we choose our angle of approach correctly. There'll be a point where we'll have the enemy air fleet directly under us while they are holding their fire. That's the moment when we drop our bombs and start to climb again. We'll rig our explosives to go off early.”

He takes a look at me. “And I was told that you made a really big bomb. Can we use that thing too? If we detonate it within them, they should take heavy losses.”

I smirk. “It's unfortunate, but I think that we would be blown out of the sky too. I want to be as far away from that thing as possible. It even has a parachute to slow it's descent and give us more time to leave the blast radius.”

Fingulf folds his fingers together. “And if we drop it from as high as possible without a parachute?”

I smirk. “We'll be roughed up at the very least.”

“By the gods. Did you intend to blow up an island with that thing?” Fingulf shakes his head.

“Almost. I wanted to have something to get rid of sea fleets quickly.” I answer.

Fingulf sighs. “Then we'll have to deal with being roughed up. We need an advantage and if the enemy is closer to it than us, then they'll suffer more.”

I nod and Den starts to give orders to our fleet.

“I still think that it would be better to wait for my ships.” Jazira shakes her head.

Fingulf places his hands behind his back and looks at her. “As much as it pains me, but ships at sea won't decide this fight. If what I was told about the new bombs is true, then the decisive battle is fought up in the air.”

“Air ships can't be engaged by sea ships if they don't want to. And the bombs still enable them to rain death onto the enemy. We have to use the enemy sea fleet while they still think of it as a valuable asset. As soon as they realize that we have no intention to close with their sea ships, we'll be unable to control their movement through them.” Fingulf concentrates on the crystal orb. “I am still curious how they managed to build these air ships in secret. Their capabilities are a mystery too, that's a bad omen. The last time I fought an enemy with unknown abilities, I lost half my fleet.” He throws a bitter smile at Jazira and she grins at him.

Den nods. “I think so too. Even if the odds are against us, if we take this chance we can deal decisive damage to their forces. One thing is for sure. If we wait for our reinforcements they'll change their strategy for sure. They are dangling the bait in front of us because they think that they can take out half of our forces with little risk. When Jazira's ships arrive they can't do that any more. If we fight a conventional battle with them we'll take heavy losses for sure.”

“And what about the Inquisition?” Celestial takes a look down at the ocean.

“Your parents and mine were warned and we left most of our regular troops in Sarn. It'll be hard for them to hurt us much. We went out to intercept the enemy forces for that very reason.” I pull my sword and place it on the deck.

“Let's see what they have up their sleeves!”

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