“…And we shall march upon the Dune’s Diamond, and we shall demand justice for our people, justice for Necrovia! I ask that you all stand with me, and march onto the future together!”

Uncle Zhad and Tonya shared a nervous glance before they looked away from the projection Cast of Mila's speech and towards the rest of the Dune’s Diamond outside their window. The businesses of their city were finally booming again after Wu had revitalized and kick-started a few new industries relating to Cast making and general upgrades of the city.

“This was going to happen sooner or later…” Tonya lowered her head when uncle Zhad placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She was not only doing this to rile up the people at the capital, but also to rile you up.” He said with a steadying tone, “Don’t let that get to you, and know that the whole of western Necrovia will stand behind you, and I…will certainly stand behind you.”

“Whether or not she saw me as a threat to her throne...I do not want a war…” Tonya shook her head, “The people must not pay for what we've done and what she's planned..”

“Regardless of what your intentions are, someone like her will take advantage of all the circumstances and developments.” Uncle Zhad reminded, “We should gather your friends and plan.”

The gathering was swift, and Ver was the one to whirlpool everyone from what they were in the midst of doing. Augen was recovering and resting by the ocean where the fuel rocks were supposed to be recharged, and Wu and Lera were tinkering with something else in their labs downstairs.

Once the messages delivered by the traders that they sent to the capital were replayed, the room fell into silence with Wu being the first one to lean forward.

“So the time has come…” Wu said slowly, looking at Tonya, “You alright?”

“Well, since Wu’s the one that poisoned the river, perhaps we could settle this all with a little…peace offering.” Augen joked when Lera slapped him on the shoulder, “Hey! I was just joking!”

“None of us wanted war, but Mila planned to use the threat of war to draw us out…” Uncle Zhad explained, “We must stand strong, if not for Tonya, it’s for the regions around the Dune’s Diamond. However, even with our recent advances, I don’t think that we can handle the full might of the capital’s army…”

“Especially if they had PORA agents among them, bolstering their strengths more than you can imagine.” Wu crossed his arms and looked straight at uncle Zhad who maintained his gaze at him, “Seeing how easily they moved through the capital during the night of the insurrection, if they wanted to usurp the stability here...Us before would be in trouble.”

“But now, we are stronger.” Tonya nodded, “Wu, what can you do with the new Wave technologies?”

“Oh ho ho…” Wu chuckled like Santa Claus about to drop gifts on the whole western side of Necrovia, “So much…so so much…If you want the strongest defenses this world’s ever seen, we have enough of the Wave to do so.”

“But that wouldn’t be enough, right?” Lera asked, “The Dune’s Hive, and the rest of the towns. They will also be caught in the middle of it all, especially as most of those were located next to the main desert trails.”

“We can relocate them when given enough time if we know a credible threat is imminent.” Uncle Zhad said confidently before he looked towards Tonya, “We should prepare an address to the people, and thanks to Wu’s…landline phone Cast, we will be able to do so easily.”

“What about the Dune’s Hive?” Lera asked, “All of this…it’s not going to be easy to get them moving, especially after what happened to the town earlier...”

“But they won't be without our help. With armies of chariot Casts powered by the Wave, their relocation should be a temporary but swift measure.” Wu smiled, “We will just shift the attention of our Cast making industry over to making chariot Casts and inserting the packets of the inert river water to power them. Those Casts don’t need to be perfect, but just good enough to sustain through the journey.”

“I can help you with that.” Lera nodded when Ver also chimed in.

“With the fuel rocks powering me, I can speed things up too,” Ver added, and uncle Zhad smiled before standing.

“Thank you all for your support,” He said as his tummy pressed into the edge of the table, “And I am afraid that in the coming months, we will have to keep asking you all for it. We will get to the preparations, and...we will leave the rest to you all.”

As Tonya was led away by uncle Zhad to deliver her speech with the help of the Scribe and Augen, Wu, Ver, and Lera were taken to the armory by the chief commander.

The majority of Necrovian soldiers still use conventional weaponry even as the rest of the world had relied on the Wave in their combat, though with a few extremely simple incorporations of Casts, the attacking and defending powers of the weapons and shields can be vastly improved.

“You may open the recruitments of more helpers in the Cast factories.” Wu said, “And place a small proportion of the people, around 10%, on manufacturing the strengthening Casts. Those should be easy to make compared to chariot Casts…”

“I will make sure that they are.” Lera nodded.

“The guards will also need to learn how to use weapons strengthened by the Wave.” Ver added, “I will train them personally.”

“The guards had all been extensively trained by me.” The chief replied proudly as he looked Ver straight in the eye, “This is not a job for a woman.”

When Ver flipped him over with the Sky Splitting Sword and planted his face into the dirt with the rest of the guards watching, the expressions quickly changed, “This is indeed a job for an especially strong woman.”

With all of the preparation underway, the first batch of the chariot Casts was completed before words of the impending war spread through the towns. The groups of citizens were initially worried about the conflict, though when they learned that those capital bastards were coming after Tonya that had been aiding them ever since they got here, the support then became unanimous.

The Dune’s Hive was even more riled up, and countless people that were impacted by the aftermaths of Zmey’s attacks signed up to help with the defense of western Necrovia. It was a strange sight to behold as the group of fighters from the Dune’s Hive met up with those from the Dune’s diamond, though under the strict training of Ver, they quickly bonded, instead regarding the busty, beautiful, yet brutal trainer as their common enemy.

Ver hadn’t expected to return to a training job so soon, as her past experiences tutoring at House Vaughan had come to be helpful at the most surprising of circumstances, with Tonya joining Wu, Augen, and Lera for a special training of their very own.

“Ah, you are here.” Wu said, quickly putting away a single piece of the armor that he was working on when Tonya walked into his workshop with Augen, “Has Augen told you what we are planning to do with you yet?”

“Me…?” Tonya looked toward Augen, who kept his lips sealed and waited for Wu to go ahead first.

“Your King’s Eye ability.” Wu said, “It’s a powerful tool that we would like to have on our side, and in order for you to utilize that tool effectively during combat, we need to train it.”

“But…I have only been able to activate that ability in…really specific circumstances…” Tonya said, her eyes evading the contact as she started fidgeting with her hands.

“It also hurts her eyes.” Augen added, “It’s not as straightforward as training a muscle...but I agree that we should unlock as much of that ability as we can, while we can.”

“Especially since not everyone relishes pain like you, my man.” Wu stood up and looked at Tonya briefly as she gave him a forced smile, “I...don't exactly know how we should approach this... Can Ver help? She used to struggle with the Kraken too.”

“I could never tell...” Tonya remarked, “She’s making it seem so natural with...everything she's doing. What did you do?”

“I just…made her an eye patch…” Wu explained, “It helped her manage her pain a little, but she didn’t truly become a master of those abilities until she confronted the source of her issues…as dramatic as it sounded, when you link trauma and pain with specific aspects of your being, be it your body, mind, or an ability, it will be hard for you to use those things properly without untangling those things first.”

“I…” Tonya looked toward Augen, and she found herself unable to speak. Her heart raced, and flashes of dark memories came rushing back as she pressed her mouth together.

“I think I am being too direct...” Wu took half a step back when Tonya shook her head and turned herself around.

“You are fine…” Tonya said, her voice lightly trembling when Augen came next to her, “I…I don’t feel too well. I will go help at other places. I think….I think uncle needed me for something.”

Wu looked towards Augen as Tonya started to walk out alone, and the green-haired boy took a few steps toward Wu before stopping.

“I’ve got this,” Augen said, “everyone handles these things differently."

“You’ve been with her for the longest here.” Wu said, standing up and placing a hand on his shoulder, "Let me know if there's something you need."

Augen nodded before smiling back at Wu’s voice and squeezing his hand lightly.

“Thanks for being a good friend to me, Wu.” Augen kept his hands there for a moment before letting go and turning around, “Despite all that I’ve been through, you know, I am lucky that you were the one to come into my destiny.”

“Go ahead before this gets any cheesier.” Wu laughed when Augen also chuckled and chased after Tonya. Then, Wu turned and pressed into a landline from his workshop back to Lera’s office in their bedroom, “Hey babe, can you help me with something? I am trying to get this remote-controlled suit going…”

He looked down at the intricate sets of logic gates and control Casts woven into the backside of the forearm armor piece before tapping a wrist strap he wore on his hand as lines of Cast became activated and started to glow.

Then, a corresponding set of lines within the forearm armor piece also glowed before it levitated off the table and shot towards Wu, nearly clipping his ear and taking it as a souvenir.

As the piece slammed into the wooden wall behind Wu, he poked his head from behind the table and finally realized how realistic the iron man movies were.

“That thing coulda killed me…” Wu murmured, when suddenly, a light bulb materialized beside his head, “No way…That’s ridiculous…Stopping thinking about how cool it will be…god damn it, Wu.”