Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  On their shoulders they wore various emblems, denoting what type of squad they were currently serving in.

  Damn, there isn’t one regular soldier or sharpshooter among them. The lowest are from the artillery platoons and have completed mage and mortar crew training.

  Kanoa noticed movement on one of the upper balconies. He saw as Commander Glosil and his aides were heading away from the training square.

  “Captain Kanoa?” Rugrat introduced him.

  “Sir,” Kanoa saluted Rugrat who returned it and then faced the lined up formation.

  “At ease!”

  Their movements were precise, their eyes seemed to be unlocked as they looked at Kanoa and Badowska behind him.

  “Under the orders of Commander Glosil there have been some recent changes in military organization. I have been ordered to create Eagle Legion. The purpose for such a Legion is to operate in the air. To lead air assaults on our unsuspecting enemies, inserting and helping in our allied forces in exfiltrating their mission and operational areas.”

  Kanoa let that sink in as he started to walk across in front of the new recruits.

  “In the previous Tiger and Dragon Regiments everything was built upon Combat Companies. Within the Eagles our basic units will be the Air Assault Companies. Air Assault companies will have the same break up as the Combat Companies, but instead of moving by land on panther mounts you will be riding on the Eagle mounts!” Kanoa opened a beast crate on his hip. A massive three meter tall predatory bird appeared next to Kanoa.

  It stretched out its six meter long arms, with a screech, whipping its wings, creating a powerful breeze that rushed over the alarmed recruits. Glorious white runes ran through the bird’s brown and black feathers.

  “You will learn how to use mortars, but you will also be taught how to fly Gliders,” Kanoa opened another crate.

  A pitch black creature made of scales and three times the size of the Eagle turned her head before shifting around under its leathery wings.

  “And become bombers. Mages will not be solely based on the ground, but will fly sparrows.”

  A smaller hyper-looking beast appeared.

  “While you cast, your mount will move across the battlefield making you a hard target to strike.”

  Kanoa looked at the men and women staring at the three beasts.

  “We will also be in charge of training up crews to work with the Kestrel.”

  He released the last beast, it was between the Eagle and Glider in terms of size, it moved its wings and shifted on its feet, calmer than the sparrow and not as dominating as the eagle or cold as the glider.

  “The Kestrel will serve as the workhorse for our aerial forces. Two gunners, one pilot and beasts crates to hold people in and deploy as needed. Eagles will be your personal mounts, allowing each of you to enter and exit the operational space. Gliders will be strategic bombers, from these their pilots will be able to call down supporting mortar fire and correct it, they will be able to drop bombs in close support of our operations. The Sparrows will allow us to control the airspace with mage pilots stirring up trouble in the skies, keeping them clear and supporting operations on the ground as well. First Lieutenant Badowska, what is the purpose of the Eagles?”

  “Arrive undetected at the enemy’s weakness and strike them directly and decisively!”

  “The army charges across the ground, the Navy surges across the seas and we blitz then enemy from the sky. Together we will outflank, out maneuver and destroy any force that dares to challenge Alva,” Kanoa’s voice rose to a roar as he saw the fighting spirit swell within the men and women in front of him.

  “War is on the horizon and we don’t have time to mess around. Officers and Senior Non-commissioned officers up to briefing room Charlie;, those remaining will be under First Lieutenant Badowska’s instruction! Attention!”

  They snapped up to attention.

  “Officers and higher non-commissioned fall out!”

  Kanoa saw the units break, and turned to Badowska and saluted him.

  “You have command.”

  “I have command,” Badowska repeated, Kanoa turned to go and meet with his new leadership.

  He took position at the front of the room and waved the group in.

  They all quickly sat down, the woman that had called everyone to attention came to him and passed him a scroll.

  “Thank you,” Kanoa looked at the scroll, it detailed all of the people and their numbers that had applied to join the Eagles.

  There are holes in the rank structure, but nothing major. While it is not a full company, it is enough to create a badly under strengthened Company. We also have members from the Close Protection Details in large numbers. Most of them are just waiting for their chance to enter the Special teams or gain more experience in the field before they become officers.

  Kanoa’s eyes fell on the leaders of the Close Protection Details, unlike regular units they could be tasked out independently of their units. Most of them supported operations carried out by the Special teams and the intelligence department.

  The way they held themselves, that casual focus in their eyes, as if they were in a constant state of laziness but ready to burst out with their full strength in a moment. How They surveyed the room and positioned themselves.

  Kanoa silently nodded to himself and looked at the other members. They had been training for months and there was an eagerness to their expressions.

  “Over the next couple of weeks me and the other Earth military members that have experience in air assault will be devoting our time to teach you everything we know and adapting that knowledge to operating with beasts instead of technological machines. You have all been training for a number of months and I will not treat you like children. We will be developing together, so any concerns or ideas, pass them up the chain of command.

  First things first we’ll have to organize the chain of command and I will go over any extra duties that you might have in your new roles. With training, everyone will undergo the same basic training, Once completing that training then people will specialize into one branch, army, navy or air force. We want to invite cross training between branches.

  You can apply to do this class training at any time, with the consent of your leadership and when we are not in combat. It is advised that you complete the training once you complete your Engineering class one training, or your close protection Detail. We are one military fighting for Alva, but that doesn’t mean that the air force will be anything but the best branch in Alva’s Military,” Kanoa growled getting grins and nods from the people in the room.

  “Since we need to train all of the troops, it means that you lot are going to have little sleep and a lot of learning in the next couple of weeks. Take these books and start studying. I will have a chain of command and unit organization in two hours.” Kanoa dropped off a pile of books for the group, they were all information books so they could be absorbed in minutes, but the information was dense, so it was liable to leave them with headaches. and Absorbing the information was one thing, Kanoa wanted to go through everything in person as well.

  With the information books, it should make things a lot quicker as we don’t need to spend so much time in the classroom and can spend more time on the gear and birds we’ll be using.

  ***

  Colonel Yui and Lieutenant Colonel Carvallo looked over the new plans in front of them.

  “What do you think?” Shi Wanshu asked after several minutes of silence.

  “Shit,” Carvallo said.

  “Fucking firepower,” Yui agreed.

  “The more the better, at least with these you’ll be able to support beach landings and also hit inland if you need to. Didn’t have nowhere near the fire support we needed back on Earth,” Rugrat muttered.

  “True that,” Miller agreed.

  “What we have here are plans for Frigates, Battleships and kind of Aircraft carriers. For a fleet we were thinking that five to seven Frigates, three to four Battl
eships and one or two aircraft carriers. Your frigates are your smaller more mobile units. They don’t have the range, but they have close range firepower. They can get in close, drop off your marines and support them a limited amount. The Battleships are your real heavies. They have long range weaponry like no one’s business. They moor up and just start firing, tear the crap out of the enemy’s defenses along the shore-line and provide support as your marines push inland. The Aircraft Carrier is your home base. It hosts the air force and their birds, they launch the Air assault companies from there. Medical facilities, crafting workshops, it is a mobile base,” Rugrat said excitedly.

  “You really do love your firepower over everything else bringing back the old battlehip class,” Miller cleared his throat and pulled out a piece of paper on the table.

  “When moving in the water, the Frigates will be your external support, they will be your moving barricade. Your battleships will be your second line of defense and your aircraft carrier will be in the middle. In the Ten Realms you have to worry about the creatures that lieunder the oceans and seas they are the strongest beasts out there as they can fight one another in peace without having to worry about humans. Spell scrolls, under sea bombs, mines, torpedos and formations to enhance the power of your casters will be added to the ships so that you can fight creatures that attack you from below.”

  “What about our current ships?” Yui asked.

  “They will be patrol boats, ships to train people on, once the Water floor is open the you can operate and train in the new fleet of ships,” Rugrat said.

  “How long will it take to build them?”

  Rugrat looked to Taran who was standing next to Shi Wanshu and the last member of the meeting.

  Shi Wanshu was the first to speak up.

  “The overall frame for the ship will be made from growing different Iron wood trees together. This will allow the ship to take impacts better and with growing spells the ships can recover from the damage. We have been working on the idea ever since Tanya talked about Elven homes. It would save a great amount of time if we were able to simply grow buildings. With testing, probably two to three months to get the first tree-structure complete. Once we have the first one, we can easily duplicate it.”

  “Shi Wanshu is being modest. With these grown ships, he can create the interior of a ship in just a week cultivating them in the Wood floor,” Taran bowed his head to Shi Wanshu.

  Shi Wanshu smiled and bowed his head to Taran in thanks.

  “After that, things get a little more complicated. The trees are powerful, they can create the form and they are good at transmitting mana. Their roots are the heart of the ship so with a group of growers and plant growing concoctions we’ll have a rock steady core. Now we don’t want to go in without something a bit more. We can roll Mid Journeyman level armor plates off of the assembly lines and adhere them to the tree structure. The formation masters can add in propulsion units. Then it is on to weapon systems. We have a selection of weapon systems, the rotating gatling guns that are in current production, belt fed grenade launchers. We are working on adjustable mortars, though we think that instead of the mortar systems, the long range artillery cannons would be the best,” Taran pulled our plans and put them on the table.

  Yui looked at the simple looking weapons.

  “Railgun?” Carvallo read out the name of the weapon system.

  “We wanted to use magnets to accelerate a round to a really high speed which would create massive damage on impact. Thought Julilah came up with a series of metal formations and air formations. The impetus is created by air formations releasing a burst of air behind the round and create a psuedo-air barrel while the metal formations pull the round forward at tremendous speeds. We are still testing out different prototypes, but the weapon system should be complete by that time. If not, then we will use artillery shells, think of them as just big damn rounds,” Rugrat said.

  “Isn’t this a bit... much?” Yui asked. Seeing the looks, he quickly corrected himself.” I am not saying that I do not want these items, but won’t the other branches be angry that they are not getting these kinds of resources?”

  “With the Army they can carry everything they need in their storage rings. With the navy you are in the middle of the ocean, if you take out a crafting workshop or a medical ward, it will just sink to the bottom of the ocean. The Army have ranks of crawlers, panthers, Conqueror’s armor, and will be the first to receive the upgraded railguns. The Air force have their specially bred birds, they have their specialized bombs, formations and weapon systems. In a prolonged battle they require the army or the Navy to act as their base of operations. They can fly through the skies and escape quickly. The Army can sneak through the forests and jungles, strike and then flee by themselves or with the air force’s help. The Navy? You have to cross oceans, seas and rivers to close with your enemy, there is no cover to be found, then you attack the enemy and remain there until the objective is taken or shifts away. You can be under threats of super formations, forces in the air, or beasts underneath you. Raising trees and producing formations and armor while technically hard to do in the beginning, once we have the process down, it will accelerate dramatically,” Rugrat said.

  “You want all those ships? It seems like a lot.” Taran said.

  “Every month we have nearly a thousand people that are joining the Alva military. The army is the largest by far. Though if we want to be able to operate near water we will need the navy. It will be no less important than the Army. What we have to think about here is not how big we are right now but how large we will eb by the time we have everyrthing. This is all that we will need fo a rfully functioning Navy.” Yuis said.

  “In Four months, the Navy will have around Ten thousand members, in a year we will have between thirty and forty thousand if we continue on our planned force increase,” Carvallo said.

  “Okay, but what about transportation, moving it from one place to another?”

  “For that the trees wiell cpme into place, there will be trees with each section. You can pull the trees apart, the limbs will come apart and then they will go back together when they are needed. The ships will come out in sections. That is until we can find a storage device large enough to carry them. Thoguh that will be much higher up in the realms ifour previous experience is anything to go on,” Shi Wanshu said.

  “Ah, okay, that makes a lot of sense, though What about all of the connections?”

  “They will have fusing formations on them to make sure that they will line up whenever all the tree limbs do,” Shi Wanshu said.

  “Because we have been an army first we have always looked at our operations based on land. We haven’t looked to exploit the water. YThere are several Willful Instittue locations that are located near the water that we will need to hit with ships if we want o have a chance of winning,” Yui said.

  “We ebuilt up the Navy while we were looking to take the Water floor, we have some boats and they will not be able to support us if we want to take a city controlled by the Institute. Now while we don’t have the ships we have people that have now trained on baots, they have used them in a fight. With the creation of the ANvy we can use that knowledge. Otherwise if we wait too long we will lose it. They’ll all be folded into the Army.” Yui said.

  “We also have some people among the Earthers that served on different warships or know about them. If not now, then when?” Cravallo asked.

  “Okay, that is all fair, but are you all sure?”

  “I’m pretty sure that being on the water is not the last thing these ships are going to do. What I want to look at is creating something similar to submarines. We were getting washed out all over the place and we didn’t have anything to fight underwater. We need to deal with the threats above the water and underneath.”

  Chapter: Cultivation Maniacs

  “You look like shit,” Rugrat said as Erik walked into the office that they shared.

  “Spent too much time seeing your face,” E
rik flipped him the bird absently while he looked at the counter. “Where’s the coffee?”

  “I finished it off. You want to make another pot?”

  “Fill it up when you’re done, will you?”

  “I meant to, just been going over these plans,” Rugrat muttered absently.

  Erik fired up the Ten Realms coffee machine, one of Matt’s greatest inventions. Erik ad Rugrat had bought the very first one and the second one, too.

  Erik rubbed his face, feeling the ache deep in his bones. He looked at his blackened hands the cracked skin. Since he had started tempering his body with the metal element everything below his neck looked the same, and ached all hours of the day. In the last month he had gone from one tempering needle to three tempering needles.

  He sighed to himself and walked over to Rugrat, looking at the plans in front of him.

  “What’s the problem?” Erik asked.

  “The air barrel. If the round touches the barrel then after a few dozen shots the barrel with become usesless, we need the air barrel to protect the round and the barrel.”

  “Sounds complicated.”

  “It is, never thought I wished I learned Aerodynamics.”

  “How is your cultivation going?” Erik continued to study the plans as he talked.

  “Accelerating,” Rugrat grinned as he shifted to let Erik see the plans better while he turned in his chair.

  “I am almost at the mid liquid core level. I heard that you are working on your body cultivation dilligently?”

  “How is your body cultivation?”

  “Avoiding the question,” Rugrat clicked his tongue. “I’ve started to temper my body with the Earth Element. I bet I can reach the peak in just two weeks.”

  “I don’t doubt it, the resources, technologies and processes have been updated and upgraded. Most of the military members are lagging behind as they only get a certain amount of Contribution points that they can put towards their training. As for my body cultivation, I think that I still have some way to go before I can completely temper my body with the Metal element. I am tempering seventy percent of my body currently. Then my vital organs one by one. Slower is better. I have reached mid mist core level. ”