Admiral Levins surveyed the destruction with disconnected apathy. When his fleet of five had arrived, they found the city under siege from slaves and commoners alike. He had immediately ordered all ships to fire upon the town, not sparing a single thought of innocent casualties.

He did have to court marshall one of his captains when they refused his order but the orders were eventually carried out. The once prosperous port city was a burned-out husk. And he held a scarf over his face so as not to inhale the stench and insanity that had permeated the entire town.

His guards shoved corpses out of the way as he moved down the main avenue. Despite all the destruction, some rebels and their sympathizers had survived. He was here to pass judgment on them so he could move on to the next location. He had also heard rumors of one of the pirate kings' forces moving through the area and hoped for a confrontation.

Although that seemed slim with Prince Lameen ordering him around the area like a trained dog. Searching for the prince’s bastard of a brother was beneath an Admiral. Even if the reports he had read were true. It was one ship and at most a dozen crew. Hardly a worthy target to send five Legion assets after, even if they were responsible for this slave uprising.

Then again, being the commander responsible for taking down the Blademaster might just be enough to earn him a cushy retirement.

Finally, his guards pushed aside the last corpse and Levins stepped into the central square. A group of ragged individuals was tied and kneeling. Levins scoffed at their filthy appearance. They were covered in blood, dust, and ash. He knew the outer islands were less civilized but this was just absurd. A man had to have pride in his appearance in all things. Especially in war.

The admiral snapped his fingers and his aide ran up and held open a scroll for him. Levins didn’t need the scroll but he liked how it made him look regal.

“I, Captain Thadius Levins, am here to pronounce charges on those gathered. The charges are as follows. Insurrection; murder; aiding and abetting runaway slaves; theft of property of said slaves…,” he kept reading off the offenses, not that it mattered. The first offense was a death sentence. “How do you plead?” he had to ask for decorum's sake.

“Fuck you, you pompous sack of shit!” one of the gathered people yelled.

“Well, I never!” Levins bristled, “is simple decorum too much to ask for. I guess I shouldn’t expect more from a bunch of savages.”

There was a clamor from the other subdued captives but Levins ignored it as he slashed his hand downward. Admiral Levins turned and left before the first of the guard put a knife to the prisoner’s throat. It wasn’t that blood bothered him, he just preferred not to have his lunch ruined by the scene.

***

Prince Lameen paced slowly as he examined the territorial map that showed all of the protectorate ships. Anyone with an ounce of tactical sense would see the glaring hole in the coverage that led straight to the capital island.

He did his best to hide the movements of his followers but it would be noticed sooner or later. But he had to keep the path open long enough for that bastard Black Gar to get his fleet through so they could assault the capital and kill the other family heads as per their agreement.

This would leave Lameen as the sole surviving member of the Protectorate Council. Not that he trusted Black Gar at all. He knew if the notorious captain was given the opportunity, he would end Lameen’s life as well. This is why Lameen took great care to hide his current location.

The attack should begin any time now, he thought, as he looked at the clock. A bit of dust rained down from the bunker ceiling and Lameen smiled. Finally, his goals would be realized.

“Jard!”

“Yes, my Liege,” the man said rushing into the room.

“Bring me the communications orbs for the fleet.”

“At once, my Liege,” the man replied quickly before bowing and scurrying off to retrieve the items.

The entire island shook as dozens of cannonballs struck the city and shield. Prince Lameen didn’t have the ability to disable the shield but that was no matter. Over the years he had gutted their funding, leaving the resources to power the shield – which hadn’t been needed in over a hundred years – lacking. At best it would hold up for a few hours. And with the fleets away, there were few ships and even fewer island defenses to deal with a concentrated pirate attack.

Jard rushed back into the room a few minutes later, nearly out of breath but carrying two large boxes containing expensive remote communication crystals. With a grunt of effort, Jard set them on the table that held the map.

Prince Lameen waved the man into the corner, “wait over there and be quiet, I need to contact some of the admirals.” Without waiting for a response, Lameen opened the first box and the melon-sized opal orb began to glow.

The enchantments took a bit to activate so Lameen took one last look at the map. He needed any possible spies of Black Gar’s to be misled by his fleet assets movements before it was too late to pull away from the capital.

There was a popping fuzz sound as the orb finished powering up and a transparent rectangular screen was projected above it.

“Admiral Levins, have you finished your current directives?”

The pinch-faced dandy of a man tsked quietly before replying. “My mission has been a success, my liege,” Lameen heard the disdain in the puffed-up man’s voice but he ignored it for now. The man would do as ordered or the amount of blackmail Lameen had on him would lead to a quick walk off his own ship’s deck.

“I have new orders then. Redirect your forces north along Falrem Island and then head east.”

“Sir, If I may be so bold… I haven’t heard of any disturbances in that area yet. Have there been new reports I am not privy to?” Lameen ground his teeth at the man’s gall. Of course, the man knew there were no new reports.

If the Admiral wasn’t such a spineless twat, Lameen would take the comment personally. “Reports suggest that my brother and that ship may be around that area. I don’t have to remind you… Admiral… that it isn’t your place to question orders, but to follow them.”

“By your word, I will set sail at once.” The Admiral cut the connection on his end, as rude a gesture as he could make in the circumstances. Lameen would deal with him after. Or maybe if he got lucky, the vaunted admiral would die in the engagement. One could only hope.

The second orb connected to another task force of ships. This one, more secretive and with a different mission.

“Captain Adave, tell me we have good news?”

“My Lord,” the man bowed. “We have located the ship but are unable to get close enough to determine if your brother is there.”

While Lameen should reprimand the man for using the wrong title, it secretly made him giddy, for soon it would be his title as sole Lord of the Isles of Mist. He would deal with the remaining pirate kings’ and the upstart Federation in due time.

“It doesn’t matter, give me the location and I will send a task force to deal with him. Just make sure he doesn’t leave.”

“By your orders,” the stoic man clasped his hand across his chest before signing off.

Lameen smiled, everything was coming to fruition. His brother would be dealt with, that annoying elf that touted himself a pirate king would die and Prince Lameen would become Lord Lameen of the greatest kingdom on this new planet.

So lost in his glee, Lameen failed to notice Jard had moved from his corner where Lameen could keep an eye on him. It wasn’t until he felt the searing pain erupt in his back that he realized this mistake.

Lameen tried to scream or yell out to his guards but he found his voice didn’t work. He fumbled a health injector out of his storage ring and through shaky fingers managed to jam it into his chest as he stumbled away from his attacker but it did nothing for the blade still lodged in his kidney. Lameen stumbled again as he felt another blade slide into his back. He finally had the sense to turn and see his attacker.

Jard stood there with a smile on his face and another dagger in his hand. “I had a bet with bossman that you would flee the island before the battle but the boss said you were too vain for that. Now I owe Boss Gar a stack of credits.” The man’s smile turned cruel, “I may be out the credits, but I plan on getting the most out of your hide before I let you die.” Jard waved negligently with his dagger, “run along now, it's no fun if I can’t give chase.”

Lameen knocked over the map table in his panic, sending the expensive orbs crashing to the floor and shattering. Jard’s cruel laughter chased him down the hall as Lameen stumbled past the corpses of his guards. A knife skipped off the wall next to Lameen, slicing into his cheek and causing him to flinch back. He saw a grinning Jard standing in the doorway hefting his other knife to throw. Lameen ran.

***

Black Gar had spent the better part of a century setting this plan into motion. The so-called pirate kings were nothing more than his underlings. Had been since long before they came to the isles. What better way to fool their opposition than to make it look like they were fighting amongst themselves. This way they weren’t perceived as a threat until it was too late to do anything about them. The fighting also made sure all of his crews stayed fresh.

So when he finally convinced that idiot prince to make his move – thanks to a fortunate series of revolts and uprisings – Gar wasted no time. When it came time to assault the capital island, Black Gar didn’t assault the capital with just his fleet. He gathered the entire combined armada of the Pirate King, which was him. The sight of his entire fleet gathered after so long brought a smile to Gar’s face. Well, most of his fleet, Sarvis had his own orders and now they had a location.

All of this was possible thanks to the royal buffoon with eyes of becoming a lord. As if a Lord was mightier than a King. Gar smiled as he sipped his absurdly expensive wine from his plush chair on the command deck. He watched the city shields buckle under his fleet's continued assault. He would strip this kingdom for all it was worth, then move on. This new world was a treasure trove of possibilities and he would not miss out.