As Gao watched the moonlit landscape flying past, he could only conclude that this ‘train’ was a marvel. One that would change the course of military deployments across the Ten Huo province.

Perhaps even the Empire in its entirety – in time.

“Apologies sir,” someone mumbled as he received an elbow to the side.

…That did not mean however that it wasn’t both cramped and uncomfortable, he thought as he grudgingly nodded in the direction of an apologetic ranger.

For as incredible as the train was, the might of the spirit beast at the head of the train was not infinite.

Ten carriages. That was all she’d had hitched for her maiden voyage. Two of which had fortunately been intended for passengers, but eight had been intended for cargo. Worse still, two of them were open topped.

Seven Hundred and Thirty militiamen, packed in like cattle, Gao thought. With four Barrel Crawlers tied down on the open topped sections.

…Naturally, the train was now standing room only, and not even he – as high general - was exempt from the need to share his personal space with others. His command staff and bodyguards were crammed into the frontmost carriage, along with a dozen other soldiers who alternated between being forced to stand or make use of the compartment’s many seats. Which was a luxury not available to the poor souls who had been forced to occupy the carriages intended for cargo.

He dared not imagine what the smell was like back there for it was already bad enough up here, even with the windows open.

It was almost intolerable, which was saying something given that Gao himself was quite inured to cramped spaces and the smells that arose when a great many men and women were forced into them.

The main reason for the worsening ambience was the vomit.

Either as a result of the smell or the rocking of the train, some of the men had reacted… poorly to their new surroundings. Which in turn had made other men react similarly, as they found themselves blasted by their comrade’s breakfast with little room to dodge or even flinch away.

It was not an ideal set of circumstances.

His people were tough, but no man should be forced to stand shoulder to shoulder with his colleagues for hours at a time without so much as the opportunity to rest, defecate or the chance to stretch his legs. To that end he had been cycling people through the passenger carriages – with some difficulty – so that they weren’t forced to stand for the entirety of the nine-hour trip.

And make use of the train’s toileting facilities – a thought that still boggled his mind.

His eyes flitted out, through the crowd around him to the currently closed doors of one of those toilets. The general shuddered to imagine what state those small cubicles were in by now.

Perhaps it would be more merciful to put the things to the flame than charge some poor souls with cleaning them?

Fortunately for his dignity as High-General of Ten Huo, Gao had not been one of the individuals who’d contributed to the growing mess in those toilets. One didn’t spend just under half a year commanding Crawlers without developing an iron stomach. Compared to the rather ungainly beasts, the movement of the train was akin to a mother’s gentle rocking.

Indeed, he could almost imagine that was what he was feeling as he closed his eyes, though the mental image only lasted about as long as it took for the sound of another man hurling up his guts to reach his ears.

Perhaps it’s for the best that the Steel Paw took one look at the men being crammed into the compartments before deciding to abscond to the roof, Gao thought.

Ladies An and Huang – the only ones to join them on this exodus, fortunately - had imitated the women, which Gao was thankful for. He’d hate to have to execute of his people because they accidentally copped a feel of one of the Magistrate’s women. Because as much as Gao believed Jack to be a surprisingly reasonable man, he was still a cultivator.

As evidenced by the casualness with which he’d consigned all the men and women present to the cramped living hell that was this train.

The man himself had flown off well in advance of the train and would likely beat them to Fortress Five even with the detour he was taking.

“How much longer until we arrive?” he asked.

A voice called from across the crowd. “Two hours sir.”

It was so fast…

Another man vomited. Likely in response to the first.

…And so slow.

He shook his head at the thought. Here they were, traveling across a landscape at speeds that made a journey of weeks into one that took less than nine hours, and he thought it was too slow.

Another body was shoved into him as the train hit an incline.

“Sorry sir!” A surprisingly feminine voice squeaked.

It was Shao. Shao Su.

For while Gao couldn’t say with full confidence that he knew the name of every radio operator in his command staff, he could say that he’d become very familiar with the young goat-kin corporal over the past few weeks.

An inevitable side-effect of the woman’s role as liaison to the Steel Paw.

Because while the cultivators had settled down a lot since he’d proverbially laid down the law to them – they were still cultivators.

Even when they were trying to be obedient they were still a bunch of prissy temperamental nobles.

For that reason, Gao spoke with Shao more than most.

“It’s fine, Shao.” He placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her as the train continued to rock and she was inevitably pushed further into him from behind.

“It’s, uh,” she mumbled, eyes averted from his own.

He struggled not to frown. It seemed no matter how much she saw them, she was still discomfited by his scars. While she’d mostly gotten used to them, sometimes he’d catch her staring out the corner of his eye. And when he turned to look at her, she’d invariably flush bright red and turn away – no doubt embarrassed at being caught.

He didn’t mind so much. He was scheduled for another meeting with Doctor Sheng. One that would hopefully see him rid of his… imperfections.

However, even if that weren’t true, he would have been forgiving of the young corporal’s minor flaw. After all, she had become an able subordinate, one who was rapidly growing into her role as liaison to his army’s most troublesome group.

Strict, but not inflexible. Stern, but not unreasonable. Smart enough to know when to drive home a point but wise enough to know when to back off.

She’d make a good mother, he thought, before blinking.

Where the hell had that thought come from!?

He shook his head, focusing on the battle ahead.

…Even as he tried to ignore the slight form that was pressed into his chest by the tight confines of the train.

----------------------

Shi shot up in her bed, throwing aside the scratchy low quality covers as she reached for her sword.

Someone was coming.

Someone strong. They were trying to hide their presence, but they were clearly unpracticed in the art. Their ki blazed from them like heat escaping out from under a blanket.

“Wha-” the sleepy voice of the fool called from the floor.

She ignored him, as she strained her ki to sense the direction from which the new presence was coming from.

Above. In the sky, she thought. A flight technique. A fast one.

A moment later, she realized she needn’t have bothered with trying to sense the newcomer’s direction.

She could hear them.

They were a roar on the wind that grew with each passing moment. And the direction was unmistakable. They were heading directly toward her.

They knew she was here. They knew she was not what she’d pretended to be.

Did they know she was an Imperial Inquisitor? Did they know her purpose here?

“What’s going on? What are you doing?” The fool asked as she strode past him to pull her ironsilk robes from her travel pack, rapidly pulling them on over her sleeping garments. “Actually, what’s that noise?”

She ignored him as she rapidly stashed the disassembled firework weapon into her bag – the only part of the guard’s kit that she had kept after surreptitiously turfing him out onto the street – before running towards the window.

“Where are you-”

The man’s words were lost to the wind as she leapt through the window, the glass and frame proving no obstacle to her as she soared through the air to land on the nearest roof.

The ki-signature overhead changed course a moment later, following after her as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of the fortress’s outer walls.

She was moving quickly, but the foe was quicker still.

In a straight line at least, she thought, glancing up at the clouds overhead in search of her distant foe, only to find nothing. They seem slow to follow my movements when I change direction.

It was a miniscule delay, but a notable one.

Were they having trouble sensing her? They should, given that she was hiding her signature, and had been ever since entering this fortress, but then that begged the question of how they were following her in the first place.

However, even if she made a dozen course changes as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, she rapidly saw that she would not be able to make her escape before they intercepted her.

For a moment, she considered taking flight herself, before dismissing the idea. Given this enemy’s cultivator’s speed, their flight based technique was clearly superior to her own.

Flight might have allowed her to gain more ground towards the town’s outskirts before they clashed, but they would still clash.

And if it came down to blows, Shi would rather do so on the ground with those factors in mind.

The cultivator pursuing her was strong, but so was she. Their level of cultivation felt roughly equal – if not slightly in Shi’s own favor.

A factor that had to be weighed against the fact that this unknown cultivator might well have reinforcements accompanying her.

Actually, even the town guards may prove a hindrance in a drawn out engagement, Shi noted as she soared over the head of one such individual.

She was unaccustomed to taking mortal factors into account at her level of cultivation – at least on a tactical level - but the presence of the town’s firework weapons was forcing her to reconsider that stance.

She frowned, before changing course towards a nearby stone complex – similar to the hotel she’d just vacated - that towered above its nearest ilk. The change in course meant she was no longer making a direct line for the nearest escape route, but by choosing her battleground she’d be able to mitigate the ability of the local guards to intervene if her meeting with her pursuer came to blows.

The building was tall and wide enough that guards on the ground would not be able to see her over the lip of the building.

Roof tiles shattered beneath her feet as she canceled her lightening technique for a single moment to leap directly towards the building’s roof, wind resistance diminishing immediately. Her leap was less an arc, and more of a straight line as she shot through the air toward the lip of the massive building.

With a deft movement of her hand, she gripped the lip of the building, flitting over as her feet made contact with the surprisingly flat roof of the structure.

She skidded to a halt at the centre of the structure just in time for something to slam down into the stone behind her.

Peculiarly though, the shriek of what she had assumed to be the woman’s technique continued overhead, shooting off into the clouds on… flames?

She had no time to focus on it though as the entirety of her gaze was taken up by the rather uncouth looking cultivator across from her.

“Shui, of the Iron Hoof Sect,” Shi greeted.

This… was not good.

Even in the central provinces, Shui of the Diamond Skin was known. Partially for her skills as a commander – but mostly for her deadly talents as duelist.

Suddenly, Shi was a lot less confident of the outcome of a duel between them, despite the small disparity in their degree of cultivation.

The woman in question just grinned widely, exposing more teeth than mirth. “You know me? I’m flattered.”

Powerful musculature rippled across her exposed stomach, as she casually unlimbered a chuí, twirling the oversized mace through the air with practiced ease. “Almost makes it worth being pulled out of bed and flown halfway across the province.”

It was a peculiar choice of weapon, given that the round metal maces were more often deployed in pairs rather than alone.

“The Inquisition keeps track of all who threaten the stability of the empire,” Shi responded, deliberately keeping her sword sheathed.

As much as it galled her at being caught out, it seemed she would be forced to revert to her identity as a diplomat. She also noted that her would-be foe had said that she’d been flown. Not that she flew.

Was that related to the flaming… thing from before? She couldn’t sense it, even now, but she could hear it. It was hovering somewhere in the clouds above. A pinprick in the night sky.

Was it a tool? Akin to the firework thrower?

“Oh, so you are the Inquisition?” The pig-kin grinned. “Well, I’m sure little Huang will be glad to know she was right.”

Little Huang?

Shi had assumed that her sister was dead, slain at the hands of the Outlander when he assumed control over the city.

However, from this pig’s words, it seems that is not the case, Shi thought. Though that begs the question as to whether her aid was provided voluntarily or under duress?

“I must say,” Shui continued. “When my lord received word we had diplomats coming to our little neck of the woods, he didn’t expect them to arrive so soon.” Her eyes flitted to Shi’s ‘mortal’ bed clothes, peeking out from under her robes. “Or to arrive unannounced.”

The dragon-kin huffed. “What obligation have I to announce myself? The Inquisition has free reign to wander where it wills within the borders of the Empire, beholden to no one but the Celestial Throne.”

The bandit-lookalike sneered. “Ah, but that’s the thing. You’re not in the Empire. This is Ten Huo.”

The Inquisitor snarled. She couldn’t help it. Even if she’d known it to be the case, to hear such… heresy from a daughter of the empire rankled.

“So you admit it,” she spat venomously.

The other woman shrugged, grinning widely. “Easily.”

“You court death with your words and actions.”

“And we’d be courting death by remaining a part of the Empire. I mean, honestly, did the Empress actually expect us to abandon our homes? Just to march North to join the girls from our city who are already fighting there? Leaving our sects and our city defenseless?” The pig-kin shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Not when there’s other options on the table.”

Shi frowned. As much as it pained her to admit it, the other woman had a point. The Inquisitor had been against her mother’s blanket demands to strip every city of the North of its defenders in the name of plugging the breach for this very reason. The authority of the Celestial Throne went far, but as much as it rankled her to think, it was not without limit.

And her mother’s ‘all or nothing’ edicts were pushing that authority to the very limit. Honestly, Shi would be surprised if this latest rebellion was the only one she’d be forced to put down this year.

Though hopefully none of those other rebellions are led by a heretofore unknown foreign divinity, the dragon-kin thought grimly.

“And you think this newcomer is any different?” Shi laughed. “They will abandon you the moment they see the enormity of the threat arrayed against them.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Shui twirled her mace. “I’ll take a leader who might abandon us over a leader that already has.”

Flames almost burst from Shi’s mouth at the audacity of those words. “My mother, the Empress, fights for the Empire even now!”

The pig-kin just laughed. “She fights to protect her throne. To protect the Empire. Not its people. Otherwise she would not command us to tithe more blood than we can afford. Not after she has already taken so much.”

Shi knew what the rebel was referring to. And rest assured, she had not forgotten that most of Ten Huo’s cultivators were already at the breach, having left when the initial demands for soldiers were issued forth from the wall.

She’d already given orders to make sure that news of their home’s rebellion didn’t reach those women who were currently fighting to protect the Empire.

To that end, she’d received reports that her people near the breach had already intercepted a few messengers. Messengers she was sure had been sent by the woman opposite her.

“Sacrifices must be made,” Shi grunted through gritted teeth.

Some of the mirth faded from Shui’s smile, leaving behind nothing but deadly seriousness. “Ah, but it never seems to be you and yours doing the sacrificing, does it? Last I heard, the armies of the central provinces hadn’t moved an inch.”

Shi cocked her head in confusion. Of course the armies of the Central Provinces hadn’t moved. They needed to be present to ensure the protection of the Celestial City and her outlying provinces.

For even a single Instinctive tribesman to desecrate that sacred land… it was… unthinkable.

They could not - should not – move.

To that end, the woman across from her was asking the impossible.

“Our reasons are ultimately irrelevant though,” the woman planted her mace on her shoulder. “What is important is that you’re apparently scared enough of Johansen to actually negotiate with him.” The pig-kin eyed the inquisitor. “That is why you’re here, right? To negotiate. Even if you chose to… take in the sights first.”

Shi was about to respond affirmatively, when the other woman continued.

“And can we assume that those other infiltrators are also yours?”

Shi froze. They knew about the others? Had they also been discovered?

It was possible the pig-kin was fishing, trying to force to admit to the presence of her other spies.

The dragon-kin smiled. “Of the latter statement, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I am here alone. And you are correct. I chose to stop to… take in the sights.”

“Really?” Shui scoffed. “You really want to try bluffing us? After we caught you on your first night here?”

Shi couldn’t back down. “As I said, I am alone.”

For some reason, that made the rebel smile. “Alright, if that’s the case, then I guess I’m free to do this.”

She tapped something in her robes and Shi tensed in preparation of… something. Some kind of attack.

A low howl started across the town. High and unnatural, it sounded almost the whirring of an elephant combined with a bird as it rose and lowered in tone.

Some kind of alarm to warn the guard? Shi thought.

That was what it had to be, as in the distance she could see men and women scrambling on the outer walls of the fortress.

“Was that supposed to-” The Inquisitor shouted over the noise, only to be interrupted by a snap.

She felt, rather than heard them.

Several snaps.

Ten.

Blood draining from her face, she opened her robes, eyes not leaving Shui’s own.

Sure enough though, she felt it. Of the many charms she had stitched to the inside layer of her robes, ten had snapped in half.

“What have you done!?” She roared, enraged in the knowledge that ten of her people had just died.

Shui’s smile was remorseless as she shouted over the noise. “What do you mean? I just gave the order for our people to eliminate a number of spies. Personally, I think they might have been instinctive cultists or something. I mean, they were dressed like mortals. Can you imagine?”

Shi wanted to kill her.

To be fair, she’d always wanted to kill the other woman. She was a rebel and a heretic.

But now she needed to kill her.

This was an escalation too far. Shi literally could not come to the negotiating table like this. The Empire could not afford the loss of face.

If they were to cow this foreign entity – and these rebels – they needed to remind them of what they were dealing with.

To that end… Shi found she suddenly didn’t care that there might be enemy reinforcements coming.

She was going to kill this bitch.

So she drew her sword. “You’ll die for that.”

The woman shrugged. “Perhaps. You seem like a tough enough bitch for that. I mean, I might be able to take you, but I’d give it fifty-fifty odds.”

The words were barely audible over the noise.

Shi focused on the other woman’s killing intent as it twisted and roiled, spreading across the rooftop to clash against her own. Through it, Shi could feel the woman’s every move. Every twitch. Even the ones she hadn’t made yet.

There was a reason that blindness was not the impediment to a cultivator it might be to a mortal. Through ki, they could literally feel each other.

Which was why she was taken totally off guard as something slammed into her back with the force of a runaway ox.

And then she was airborne.

“Fortunately, I didn’t come here alone!” A voice cried from below.