Mature Content Warning: None Really.

Author's Notes: Short chapter that more or less finishes up the main city building portion. Wednesday or Thursday the next one will be released. :)

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The work shop was well lit but still seemed to have a sense of shrouded mystery about it. What else would be expected from the center of the town's mystical defense corps?

"So you see the wards are in place around the castle. We are beginning the next phase of the town’s defense." stated Alanera to Aaron and Ashe. Pirouette was currently going over a spreadsheet in her office next door and would be joining them shortly.

Ashe nodded at her then glanced over at Kaina Harm. "Have you had any luck in finding mounts for yourself and the others?"

Kaina shook her head and replied to her mistress, "No, these demi-humans are sturdy enough, but well..."

"Not used to riding mounts that can talk and argue?" asked the thunder empress. She had found out that demi-humans were not the best mount choice a long while back. She had acquired the services of one early on, but when she learned that the method of keeping them tame would not work for her she had ended up trading the girl off for some coin and supplies. Apparently the half of her that was human was not the half that could keep a demi-human tame.

"It takes getting used to, yes? There are interesting creatures in the woods north of here that my squad is looking into, though."

Alanera glanced over at Aaron and gestured toward the designs for magical armor and clothing she had been working on with the enchantresses and other magic type demi-human in her care. They were incredibly talented creatures. A few of them were able to do in only twenty years of life what some of her colleagues would not have even have attempted at five or six hundred years of age.

"Hmm, these look very promising and I can see why they would be a top priority, but there are no counter-magic armor pieces here? We need the anti-drain and anti-dark magic equipment first and foremost." admitted Aaron while Ashe and Kaina continued to discuss the creatures in the woods.

"We are having difficulty crafting wearable items strong enough to be of use in that regard. The castle walls can sustain an anti-assault field and draining attack resistance high enough to defeat the Dark Empire's energy siphoning ability. Their assault strength is too high to completely negate it with any item that we can create readily."

"So, our troops will continue to be easy targets then?" asked Aaron.

Alanera shook her head. "We can't completely defeat their life force draining effect but there are items we can easily craft that will slow the process and allow a bit of resistance. It might grant our forces a few more moments to work or to cast anti-draining spells. That will most assuredly be our best method of defeating their draining attacks."

The older gentleman nodded at what the drow reported. Normal energy draining attacks could be defeated easily enough. Unfortunately, even powerful dark type demi-humans were not immune to the effect. At present only Scott or the Girl in their official Selenites guises could withstand the draining effect. He and Ashe were able to resist it for various reasons but even they would falter in time.

Aaron considered her information for a moment then inquired, "When will we have enough of them made to begin outfitting the elite guard?"

The elite guard was the handpicked Anti-Empire forces they were training. They would get the best equipment as they counted as the shock troops and front line assault fighters in the coming battles.

"We'll have thirty bracers ready by the end of the week. If we had a few more magic type demi-humans the work would go much faster."

Aaron considered her words. The current elite guard numbered a little over a hundred members. They had to be completely outfitted with the best equipment they could buy or make within as little an amount of time as possible. Outside of the bracers there were still weapons systems, armor, and restorative items to deal with. Outfitting even a small army was proving to be quite expensive and time consuming.

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...Six weeks after the founding of the new as yet nameless frontier city...

Jaedu gazed out at the fallen city and considered his plans. The youma he was crafting back at his current lair were coming along nicely. It was time to move his plans along and this place seemed to do nicely. It had that ominous appearance and tumbled down sprawl that would work very well for his new pets.

He turned to continue surveying the location where his last chance would take place. Queen Pheare had been a bitch on wheels, as they say, when it came to convincing her of allowing him one final chance. This fallen city and the Neighboring airport seemed to provide the exact setting he desired.

He had used his powers to locate the 'knight' that had thwarted his plans on occasion and found that he had managed to begin drawing together forces of his own. There was a begrudging level of respect in the dark general for this nuisance now. It was laughable that the foolish human thought he could actually fight back against the Empire. Yet, somehow Jaedu could not force himself to laugh. Things were far too serious for him right now.

His musing was cut short a moment later when an arcing beam of energy lanced off of his energy barrier. He staggered under the surprisingly potent assault before turning in annoyance to view the image of the foolish creature that would dare to attack him.

He took in the sight of one of this world's demi-human and quirked a well sculpted eyebrow. The creature attacking him seemed to be some sort of human and bird hybrid. From the look of her she was part hawk, or perhaps part falcon. Where they the same thing? He could not remember.

The demi-human screeched at him in outrage then decided to dive toward him directly. Her speed and instinctual angle of descent were incredible for a mortal creature. However, the general was not particularly impressed. The foolish chicken girl, or whatever, was in possession of a ranged attack that was powerful enough to actually cause his barrier to shudder slightly. Yet, she chose to dive headlong toward him.

"Foolish..." he muttered with a sigh before raising his hand to the swiftly diving creature. As she neared him he simply measured the distance and raised his hand. The girl slammed head first into a field of raw telekinetic force that stopped her cold, like she had hit an invisible brick wall. The demi-human squawked out in sickening agony then slid liquidly down the wall of force for a brief moment and fell to the ground in a loud bloody heap. Several of her bones were severely broken and blood flowed freely from her mouth and nose.

As the general took in the sight of the dying demi-human, he considered his plans. He turned away from her as she squawked her last and grew terribly still. There was work to be done and no chicken girl would stop him from taking both his revenge and his rightful place as master of this world... just underneath Pheare and the alien intelligence from the sun Queen Mettalica... Of course.

----

Scott gazed out across the expanse of the Nameless River and considered the last two months. His city had grown greatly in such a short time. It had grown impossibly fast by the standards of his home world. In truth, it was nowhere near minimal completion but some of the populace had moved out of their tents and into their new homes.

The primary irrigation, water works, and sewage treatment facilities had been built. The walls were coming up nicely. The castle was largely done. He even had a hundred hand-picked professional soldiers in his elite guard. A scant few were blood-gifted humans. Those mostly had dark type ancestry which allowed them some minor resistance to draining attacks. Even the full blooded demi-humans were not completely immune to the dark kingdom's assaults. Still, it meant that his troops would not drop like flies the moment that a fiend showed its face.

His elite guard was separated into mobile squads. There were eight of his ten person combat groups. There were twenty officers and support personnel. Two combat groups to a platoon, five dedicated officers and support personnel added to that. He had four platoons total. Surprisingly, it worked out.

He intended to actively upgrade their numbers soon. He wanted to try and have enough of his groups so that an entire platoon could be stationed in every major city in the country. The dark empire seemed to want to attack there the most often. Large towns and cities drew them.

The only problem with outfitting these groups was the cost of their upkeep. Weapons, provisions, sleeping quarters, pay... Soon to be upgraded to combat pay, all played a role. These platoons often sent squads out to handle menaces and collect bounties across the continent. However, this did not completely cover costs.

He and his immediate group was the command hub. They acted as a headquarters unit. Ashe Naile was placed in charge of training the elite guard unit. She kept Kaina Harm on as a personal lieutenant since she knew she could count on her in a battle. Aaron maintained control of internal security and the bulk militia. He seemed to be a cross between a police commissioner and a national guard general in this respect. Pirouette continued her duties as defacto leader of the dimensionally relocated elves and their demi-human charges.

Nina maintained her position of Alpha of the harem, but each of the girls respected the fact that Cerene was the Selenite Princess. In this respect she was required to take on a lot of leadership responsibilities when they were necessary. As the future queen she had to know how to win the hearts and minds of the people as well as defend her queendom. This lead to a sort of weird co-alpha status at home, but it reverted to battlefield conditions with Nina as sole alpha in combat at present.

As for Scott... he was somewhat like the big daddy of the family. Despite his best efforts, people in the city either referred to him as the master or his lordship. Then again a few of the people he had turned away due to undesirable actions referred to him as 'that bastard!'

It was strange for the man to have so many people looking to him for guidance and leadership. He never really wanted such a thing in his old life. There were day dreams he might have had where he was an important figure. He was beloved and well respected. However, none of those were quite like this.

He looked out at the river and contemplated the growing sense of unease in the pit of his stomach as well. He could not put his finger on it but somehow he doubted these easy days would continue much longer. Something was coming.

He looked up and noticed the sky becoming over cast and his sharp, crisp, vision noticed rain in the far distance. A flash of lightning that he could barely see was followed by a soft quiet crackle of distant thunder.

It was incredibly cliché but he nodded to himself, took a deep breath, and then said it anyway, "There's a storm coming..."