The Void-Rider descended smoothly, landing with a soft thud on a designated pad within Najjari's primary port. Even from within the ship, the buzzing energy of the port was palpable—the distant clang of metal, the shouts of dockworkers, and the rhythmic lapping of waves against the massive airships berthed nearby.
As the ramp extended, Captain Lockwood led his three young King's Men down onto the solid ground. Waiting for them was another group of King's Men, clearly distinct by their uniforms and a more seasoned bearing. At their head stood a woman with keen, intelligent eyes and a no-nonsense demeanor: Captain Lee. Beside her, a small group of academics, distinguished by their practical but slightly dust-covered attire, huddled together, their faces a mix of excitement and apprehension.
"Lockwood," Captain Lee greeted, offering a brisk nod. "Right on time. These are the archaeologists." She gestured to the group beside her. "And this is my team."
Captain Lockwood returned the nod. "Lee. Good to see you. And excellent work, Doctor…?" He looked to the lead archaeologist, a woman with graying temples and a determined expression.
"Dr. Aris Thorne," she supplied, extending a gloved hand. "The World Map is secure, Captain. For now."
"For now is the key phrase, Doctor," Captain Lee interjected, her gaze sweeping over the surroundings. "Bringing an artifact of this magnitude into a public port, even one as secure as Najjari's, is a calculated risk. How long until we can get it into a more… appropriate facility?"
Dr. Thorne sighed. "We've done our best to disguise its presence, but the longer it's here, the more eyes it attracts. Our team is working on the initial documentation, but the real security measures need to be implemented within a King's Men secure vault."
"And that's precisely why we're here," Captain Lockwood stated, turning to his trio. "Helga, Agravanis, Enn, you'll be assisting Captain Lee's team with the secure transport of the World Map. This isn't a drill."
As Captain Lockwood gave instructions, Helga, Agravanis, and Enn found themselves standing near a few of Captain Lee's older King's Men, who were observing them with a mixture of curiosity and amusement.
One of the veterans, a burly man with a weathered face and a faint scar above his eyebrow, nudged his comrade. "Look at these three. Just out of the academy, aren't they?" he rumbled, loud enough for them to hear.
"Three months, I hear," his companion, a lean woman with an arm-band denoting specialized combat training, replied with a slight smirk. "Barely dry behind the ears."
Helga bristled, but Agravanis placed a calming hand on her arm. Enn, however, stepped forward. "We may be young, sir, but Captain Lockwood wouldn't have assigned us if he didn't believe we were capable."
The burly man chuckled. "Feisty. I like that. Still, in my day, you'd be on latrine duty for another year before seeing anything this important."
"Times change, I suppose," Agravanis said smoothly, a polite smile on his face, though a hint of challenge lay beneath it. "The King's Men adapt."
The woman with the armband narrowed her eyes slightly. "Adaptation is one thing. Experience is another. There are things you only learn when your back's against the wall, kid."
Helga finally couldn't hold back. "And how do we get that experience if we're stuck guarding offices?" she retorted, her ginger hair practically sparking with indignation.
The scarred veteran laughed outright. "Touché, red. Alright, alright. Just don't get in the way. This World Map ain't something you trifle with." He then walked off with his colleague, still muttering good-naturedly.
Captain Lockwood, catching the tail end of the exchange, merely gave a small, almost imperceptible shake of his head before refocusing on the archaeologists. The brief moment of levity dissolved as the gravity of their mission settled back over them. The World Map, carefully encased in reinforced, unassuming crates, awaited its next journey.
Captain Lockwood then turned his attention back to Captain Lee. "So, the plan is to get the World Map to the nearest King's Men base here in Najjari. Commander Cee Convers will meet us there."
Captain Lee frowned slightly, gesturing back towards the parked Void-Rider. "With all due respect, Lockwood, why not just use the Void-Rider to get it back home? It would be far faster and minimize exposure."
Lockwood's expression hardened. "Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with you, Lee. But intelligence reports have been coming in fast and thick over the last few weeks. There's been a significant surge in Void-Pirate activity—entire convoys disappearing, ships captured. The risk is too high right now. It would be in our best interest to not take that chance with the World Map." He glanced briefly towards the crates, a ripple of concern crossing his face. "We transport it by ground from here."
Captain Lee nodded, her expression grim. "Understood, Lockwood. A land transport it is, then." She turned to her own team, her voice dropping to a low, authoritative tone. "You heard the Captain. Double the guard around the city perimeter. We can't afford any suspicious individuals compromising this mission. Be extra vigilant, eyes and ears open for anything unusual. And make sure you don't give away too much. We don't want to attract the eye of civilians."
She then added, "Also, I'll need two of our ground vehicles brought around. Something unassuming, like our standard family-model automobiles. We'll use those to transport the World Map to the King's Men base here in Najjari."
Moments later, two sleek, dark vehicles, resembling commonplace family cars, pulled up to the loading area. The World Map, still in its disguised crates, was carefully loaded into the trunks.
"Alright, here's the breakdown," Captain Lee announced. "Enn, you'll ride with Captain Lockwood in the lead vehicle, along with a couple of my team. Agravanis, Helga, you're with me and two of my people in the second."
As they began to board, Helga found herself next to a burly King's Man from Lee's team, who was adjusting his gear. He eyed her up and down. "So, you're one of the fresh faces? Guess they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel if they're sending cadets on a mission like this."
Helga's jaw tightened. "And you're one of the old timers who thinks he knows everything just because he's got more wrinkles," she shot back, her voice sharper than intended.
The King's Man scoffed. "Wrinkles come with experience, kid. Something you clearly lack."
"That's enough, Miller," Captain Lee's voice cut through the tension, firm but controlled. She gave her subordinate a stern look. "Apologies. He should know better than to speak to a fellow King's Man that way. He's not usually so… prickly."
Agravanis, already settling into the back seat, chuckled softly. "Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Helga."
The two vehicles pulled out of the port, blending seamlessly into the city's afternoon traffic. Inside Captain Lee's car, the initial tension faded into casual conversation.
"So, Helga, Agravanis," Captain Lee began, glancing in the rear-view mirror. "Captain Lockwood tells me you three are quite the prodigies from the academy. What are your specialties?"
Helga, still a little flushed from the earlier exchange, perked up. "I'm best with close-quarters combat, Captain. And demolitions."
"And I excel in tactical analysis and long-range precision," Agravanis added, his tone calm.
Captain Lee nodded thoughtfully. "Good. We'll need all those skills. This isn't a simple escort. The World Map is far too valuable."
Their conversation flowed, touching on academy life, the challenges of being a King's Man, and the sheer unpredictability of their new assignments. But after about ten minutes, the easy chatter was broken by a growing congestion. The lead vehicle, with Lockwood and Enn, had come to a complete stop a few blocks ahead. Their own car soon followed suit. Horns began to blare in the distance, a cacophony of frustrated drivers.
"This is highly unusual for this time of day," Captain Lee murmured, her brow furrowing as she scanned the surrounding streets. "Najjari's traffic flow is usually much better managed." She pressed a button on her dash. "Miller, you're up. Get out there and see what the holdup is. Report back immediately."
Miller, the burly King's Man from earlier, grunted an acknowledgment and exited the vehicle. He weaved through the stopped cars, making his way towards the front of the jam.
Suddenly, a deafening blast ripped through the air. The very ground shuddered, and a wave of raw force slammed into their vehicle, rattling the windows. A collective scream rose from the civilians as, just a few blocks away, a section of a high-rise building seemed to crumble inward, sending a plume of dust and debris spiraling into the sky. More explosions followed, rapid-fire, as adjacent structures began to collapse with groaning, metallic shrieks.
Panic erupted. Drivers abandoned their cars, screaming and scattering in every direction. Pedestrians ran blindly, a chaotic human tide.
"King's Men, out!" Captain Lee roared, her hand already on her sidearm. Agravanis and Helga threw open their doors, their faces grim. From the lead vehicle, Captain Lockwood and Enn were already emerging, weapons drawn, their expressions mirroring Lee's fierce determination.
As the dust began to settle, revealing the gaping wounds in the city's skyline, figures emerged atop the still-standing, yet damaged, buildings overlooking the chaos. They were the masked individuals from the forest, now fully visible. They weren't hiding; they were showcasing themselves, their movements exaggerated and almost taunting. Some brandished strange, archaic weapons, letting out guttural cries that carried over the civilian panic, each wearing a white hood. They were being loud, rowdy, revelling in the destruction they had wrought.
Then, with a sickening crackle, a giant holographic billboard spanning two buildings was compromised. The vibrant advertisement for luxury sky-apartments flickered, glitched, and then dissolved into static. In its place, projected dozens of meters high, appeared the face of the masked man in the black leather jacket. His obsidian mask, with its neon-blue lines, was now displaying a smug, unsettlingly wide grin. The silent emoticon beamed down on the chaotic streets of Najjari.
"Greetings and Salutations, Ladies and Gentleman!" the masked man's voice boomed, amplified and distorted, echoing across the panicked city from hidden speakers. "I apologize for disrupting your daily routines, and indeed, for the rather dramatic entrance. But I bring to you urgent news, news the so-called King's Men wished to keep hidden."
He paused, letting the fear and confusion ripple through the streets below. The neon grin on his mask seemed to widen.
"The World Map that has been sought for many years has finally been found! And with it, the power to unlock the ancient Primordial Scrolls. A power the King's Men intended to harness for their own selfish gain, to bolster their fading authority and secure their dwindling influence! They would ignore the looming threat of the King's Judgment, the true calamity on our horizon, while hoarding this power to control you, to dominate you, to maintain their suffocating peace! We, however, offer a different path. A truer path! I simply ask that you vacate the streets and find some place safe. For your streets are about to become a battleground. Don't say I didn't warn you."
With a final, unsettling flicker of the neon grin, the projection on the billboard died, returning to a fractured display of static. The eerie silence that followed was swiftly shattered by a series of piercing, high-pitched rifts tearing open in the sky above Najjari. Not one, but dozens of spatial portals bloomed into existence, like gaping mouths in the blue daylight.
From each shimmering tear, the sleek, menacing forms of Void-Riders—not just one, but entire fleets—surged forth. Their crustacean-like bodies glinted in the sun, a truly overwhelming sight. They filled the sky, blotting out sections of the bright Najjari sun, casting long, dark shadows over the collapsing buildings and the chaotic streets below.
For the King's Men, who had just been reeling from the explosions and the masked man's declaration, the sheer scale of the airborne armada was a gut punch. Captain Lockwood, Captain Lee, and their young cadets stared upwards, their faces etched with a mixture of shock and grim realization. This wasn't just an ambush; it was an invasion. More masked men descended from the void riders. Their numbers on the ground doubled by the minute.
"This situation is indeed dire, Lockwood," Lee conceded.
"Any report from headquarters, Enn?" Lockwood queried.
"The perpetrators appear to be jamming our signal, Captain," Enn replied, her gaze fixed on her screen. "We have no external communication."
"That complicates matters significantly."
Agravanis, his gaze fixed on the overwhelming fleet of Void-Riders filling the sky, muttered, "I anticipated a small band of thieves, perhaps a few rogue elements looking for a quick score. But this... this number of pirates is more than enough to take over the city."
One of the scarred veterans, Miller, clapped a hand on Agravanis's shoulder. "Easy, kid. Don't let the numbers scare you. Hope isn't lost yet."
Captain Lee, already pulling her focus from the sky to the chaotic streets, nodded. "He's right. It's a setback, but we adapt." Her eyes sharpened, formulating a new strategy. "Alright, listen up! New plan. Captain Lockwood, my remaining King's Men, and I will engage the Void-Pirates. We'll hold them off, buy you some time." She then fixed her gaze on Miller. "Miller, your priority is to ensure Triton Squad—Agravanis, Helga, and Enn—along with the archaeologists, make it back to the King's Men base in Najjari in one piece. That World Map is our absolute priority."
She knelt beside a reinforced case, quickly unlatching it to reveal a small, cube-looking artifact nestled within. She carefully extracted it, its surface oddly smooth and cold, and handed it to Agravanis. "Keep this safe, Agravanis. It's crucial."
Captain Lockwood stepped forward, his expression grim. "Agravanis, if the worst happens, and you need to deploy your ability, make sure you check for civilians first. We don't need any more casualties."
Agravanis tightened his grip on the cube, nodding firmly. "Understood, Captains."
"Alright then," Captain Lee declared, pulling out her sidearm. "Let's move!"
With a shared nod of determination, the King's Men dispersed. Captains Lockwood and Lee, along with their fighting teams, began to advance towards the source of the mayhem, preparing to confront the descending armada. Miller immediately began herding Agravanis, Helga, Enn, and the shaken archaeologists towards a less damaged side street, away from the direct line of fire, their urgent mission clear.
High above the pandemonium, on the rooftop of a still-standing skyscraper, one of the masked perpetrators, clad in a dark, simple robe, knelt before the leader in the black leather jacket. The leader's obsidian mask displayed a smug, unsettling emoticon that seemed to mock the unfolding disaster.
"Report!" the leader's voice, amplified and chillingly calm, boomed from hidden speakers.
"Sir, a portion of the King's Men have broken off," the subordinate reported, his voice a low murmur. "They're attempting to make a run for it. It's highly probable they have the map with them."
The neon grin on the leader's mask seemed to intensify, the blue light pulsing with an almost malevolent glee. "Excellent. Just as anticipated." He turned, his gaze sweeping over the masked figures arrayed on the rooftops. "Find twelve of your best. Track them down. Eliminate anyone who gets in your way. The map is ours." He then looked back towards the unfolding battle between the King's Men and the descending Void-Riders. "I'll handle the captains myself."