“Ah, Vance, good you’re here.” Franz said, his voice as professional and cool as always.

Turning to face the young general for a second to give him his regards, he promptly waved for Vance to take a seat while he closed the book he was reading and gently slid it back into its place on the book shelf he had near his desk.

"I wanted to give you the update to let you know I’m heading back to Luna for a few days just to take care of a couple of things regarding my recent placement as the region’s lord.” Vance said as he took the offered seat.

Franz nodded, “That’s fine, but before you head out, I have new orders for you.”

Tilting his head, Vance paused, “New orders?”

“Yes,” Franz remarked, “This shouldn’t be a surprise, Wolfram. Remember, you achieved something no one has in half a century.” He noted, pointing to the new medals that hung over the Dragon Marine’s left breast.

“Ah. Well, I expected something like this would happen, but not so soon to be honest. I’d have thought the King would’ve wanted to try and force Askal to the table?” Vance queried.

Still standing, the Marshal moved to look out the window behind his chair, “He did, but his Ministers talked him out of it, as they believe that we’d be fools not to capitalize on the hole you created.” Turning to face Vance again, “and I happen to agree with them.”

“Sir?”

“I’m going to be honest with you Wolfram.” He started, his tone sounding a little pained, “I don’t want to issue these orders to you.” Franz paused, letting the statement hang in the air.

Vance remained silent, knowing there was more to what the Marshal was saying beyond just putting him down.

“You’re too young. When I gave you your commission to Lieutenant Colonel, I had no way of knowing you’d quickly rise to the rank of Brigadier General, much less want to see you in that role.” Franz continued, a heavy sigh escaping past his lips, “Truthfully, I had expected something like a few years before your first real promotion, not seven months!” Pausing, he cast his gaze to the floor, “Too young— you’re too young for such responsibilities, but you’re the best damn officer we’ve ever fielded in half a century.”

“Sir, it was only one campaign, that’s hardly-”

Raising his hand, Franz quickly added, “I know, but, this kingdom needs you Vance. This army needs you. So, while I may not agree with elevating you to the rank you currently hold, you shall hold it and carry out the duties associated with it. As such—” walking back to his desk, he leaned down and pulled out a scroll, much like the one he had received his orders from Anderson, “you are being given command of the vanguard of the Southern Army.”

Vance grabbed the scroll and pulled free the red string keeping it rolled up before he scanned the contents, “The vanguard?”

“Yes. You’ll be tasked with pushing through into Askal to take Fort Gulrn, named in honour of the Orcish Champion of the first Emperor.” Franz explained.

“I’ll do what I can.” Vance paused a moment at the start, unsure how to really go about assaulting a fort he had yet to see with his own eyes.

Still, an order was an order, and he had little choice but to accept it as it was and move on from there. To make it easier on himself, he was already thinking about sending in a squadron of riders to reconnoitere the land and the fort itself. He hoped there wouldn’t be anything strange or absurd about the enemy defenses, but one could never know for sure with how quickly the battlefields were starting to change. Vance was sure his victories at the border were pure chance and luck based due to poor leadership and intelligence on the part of the enemy. If they had known about the Dragon Marines and their equipment, they’d likely have launched a smaller more concentrated assault sooner. Yet they focused on mustering up a large invasion army instead of sending in a small raiding force. Strategically, it was all luck and that’s how he was going to view it no matter what anyone told him.

“Good. Major General Anderson will be right behind you with the rest of the Southern Army. Once you take the force, she’ll take over command and you’ll be stationed with her. Until then, you’re expected to take and hold the fort until her arrival.” Franz explained.

Vance raised a brow, “Why is there such a long wait? We suffered minimal casualties during the two battles.”

Franz pointed to the map showing the northern and western fronts. “The Minister of War wants to shuffle troops from these two fronts to help shore up the numbers in the Southern Army. Idea is to send a large enough force to not only defeat a determined Askalian counter attack, but also occupy it—if all goes according to plan.”

At that, Vance smirked, “It never does.”

“No, no it does not,” Franz agreed, “But, such isn’t for us to decide. Instead, your main focus will be on taking that fort. Worry about nothing else save that fort. If we capture Fort Gulrn, we’ll control the entrance and exit of the Askalian northern border, and with it, block off any potential invasions into the kingdom should we fail in our offensive.” Franz highlighted.

Given it’s placement on map, it seemed like a highly valuable strategic asset, and one that would not be lightly guarded. Vance frowned as he thought on the potential defenses he’d be up against. There wasn’t a lot of wiggle room with this one, and they only had a few months of summer left before the autumn came in. While the rest of Askal was desert and wasteland, the northernmost border of the kingdom was just as green and temperate as the country of Kendirewen.

“Mmm. I might have something that should make for a faster siege.” Vance mumbled.

Franz raised a brow this time, his interest piqued, “Go on?” He had no reason to doubt the young general either given the new rifles and equipment he had produced.

“New cannons that would operate on the same principal as the Luna Rifles, in that they’re breach loaded. Faster loading times, and we can fire more explosive rounds at a greater range. Only trouble is getting the materials to make them.” Vance explained while he studied the map.

At that, Franz promptly stepped up, “Leave that part to me. I’ll work with your head engineer, Captain Mountainhelm, to start work on your new suggestion. Knowing her, she’ll likely understand what it is I want done.” Franz laughed while writing up a few notes for himself.

“Yeah. There’s little doubt of that. Hell, she even went so far as to improve upon the original designs I drew up of the rifle.” Vance remarked.

At that Franz nodded with astonishment, “Well, then. Seems she’ll not waste a moment in getting started then.”

Vance smiled, “Indeed. She’ll be quick. Very quick. Though, there is one other matter I want to bring up before I leave.”

Franz raised a brow, “And, what is it?”

“The POW we brought back. The one I asked to leave unbound or imprisoned.” Vance answered.

“What about him? From what I understand, he seems to be doing well here, unless you have something you wish to share with me?”

“No, no, nothing like that. Rather, I’d like to ask if you might put him under my custody.” He asked.

At that, Franz paused, a small chortle erupted from between chapped lips, “You never cease to surprise me Vance.” Letting out a small sigh, he looked up and into the blonde officer's eyes, “Very well. I won’t bother asking why, as I can clearly see you’ve got some idea for him, and from what the Grenadiers watching him have told me, he seems to trust you.” Pausing he looked outside once more, “Normally, I’d frown upon such requests, but I’ve trusted you before, and you’ve not let me down yet. So, see this as another token of my trust.” At that, Vance stood and opened his mouth to speak, before suddenly, Franz added, “But be warned General. The more favours I and General Anderson do for you, the more likely you are to come under the scope of the Ministers, and they are a greedy arrogant bunch that will stop at nothing to crush those they view as upstarts—heroes or not.”

With that Vance bowed his head, “Sir.”

“See to your things General, but I want you ready to match south as soon as you’re good and ready.” Franz then dismissed Vance with a curt nod as he began to look for another book to read from his shelf.

“Thank you sir.” Snapping off a salute to the Marshal, Vance did as instructed and left the musty offices of Kendirewen Square and made for the main gate.

After a quick trip through the city, Vance made his way to the gate where he met with Ami and Estrid who stood nearby Magic, both talking about some subject he couldn’t quite make out.

“Ready to leave?” Vance asked as he walked up.

Both turned to regard him with a greeting, Estrid being first to speak up, “Ready and waiting. Gave orders for the regiment to head back some time ago, but also kept a troop of Wyvern Riders here to carry dispatches as requested.” She reported.

Vance nodded in acknowledgement of the order, “Good. With the regiment on the move back home, it’ll make it easier to spend some time to getting the land in order.” Vance noted.

Ami tilted his head, “Land in order? What do you mean?”

“I was made lord of Luna and its surroundings as a reward for my part in the defense of the south. It was… rather surprising to say the least to get named the lord, but with the title secured we can start moving some supplies around more effectively.” He answered while climbing up onto Magic.

The Japanese man paused, still unsure what he had planned for the small mountain town, or its surroundings, but relented with a shrug, “Well, either way. I’m in this for the long haul, seeing how my friends from before left me in the care of your beauty of a marine here.” Ami stated before shooting a wink in Estrid’s direction.

Estrid ignored the attempt at flattery as she mounted her own wyvern, clearly not interested in the man. Ami flinched at the cold shoulder he got, but couldn’t help but laugh in defeat.

“She’s a tough one,” Ami whistled.

“And that surprises you? She is my second in command for a reason you know.”

At hearing that Ami nodded impressed, “Is she now? Well, I’m looking forward to seeing what she can do on the battlefield then!”

Offering his fellow earthling a hand up onto Magic, Vance shook his head, “I wouldn’t worry about that for now. We still need to get you situated and I still have something I need to show you before the week is up.”

Ami grabbed hold of Vance’s hand as he climbed up Magic, looking somewhat puzzled, “Oh? Something cool I hope?”

“Heh, something like that. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s what you sought since coming here.” Vance replied.

“Well, that wasn’t vague or anything?”

“Just—wait, you’ll see soon of what I’m talking about. In the meantime, tell me about your own plans while we fly back.”

“My plans? You mean besides trying to find a roof here in this country?”

“Actually, I’d say that part is taken care of.” Vance said.

“Wait, really?!” Ami said quizzically.

“Yeah. It’s all part of what I want to show you when we get back to Luna,” Vance replied.

“Okay, see, that’s what I’m talking about! You and this weird vague shit, just tell me!”

Vance began to laugh, and shook his head. It was going to be a long flight, but a good one with Ami. Estrid meanwhile just rolled her eyes as she listened in. Spotting her, Vance shot her a smile that quickly saw her turn away, caught off guard. Vance looked surprised to see her react like that, but pushed the question aside for now as he spurred Magic on to Luna. He had a lot of work to do, and once again, very little time to do it all in.