The Natural Sons continued to fire, picking off as many soldiers from the final two crashed airships as possible, and making it impossible for the Dagos soldiers to relocate most of their supplies before the airships burned.
That would make it hard for them to hold out for any extended period of ti, especially as they were going to be bombarded for another half hour or more before Dominic relented. Normally, the wall cannons wouldn’t fire for such a small group of enemy soldiers, but when the ammunition was free, and the Royal Advisor was providing it, they weren’t going to complain about a nice long live fire drill to shake the rust off everyone’s skills.
For Half an hour, Dominic continued to reload the cannons as the Princess watched the progression of the cannon teams.
"That’s enough. They’re just going to wear themselves out for their next shift if they keep it up at that pace." She finally ordered.
The guns fell silent, and the riflen followed suit, settling in for dinner against the crenellations of the wall. That way they could be on location if sothing happened, and a short run along the wall to anywhere else that they might be needed over the course of the evening.
The standard rotation would split the Regint into thirds, with one group on duty, one eating and doing maintenance, and one sleeping at any given ti.
That way, they could call up two thirds of the Regint in under a minute, and they would rotate off the wall every few hours, except in the most dire of situations. There weren’t enough of them to cover the whole wall, but there were thousands of city guard archers who could take up their positions.
Princess Alexis gestured for Dominic to get in the car with her, and the driver took them back to the Keep.
"Well, we’ve made progress today. Your initiative to switch the airships to Magitech munitions was a resounding success, and after conferring with the Royal Council, they have approved two Techno Wizards or equivalently equipped magicians to be deployed aboard every trip.
Now, the actual design of the Magitech Orbs will have to be sent back in person, but by morning, I am certain that the Mage Academy will be sending soone here to collect it before anything can happen to it.
Tell , how did you co up with the idea?" She asked as they drove.
Dominic chuckled. "I’m not even sure that I did. The ships didn’t have enough carrying capacity for what the Techno Wizards planned to add to their armants, so I gave them advice on what needed to happen to make their plan viable, and then everyone started working on a new Magitech Orb and a modified cannon carrier."
Alexis laughed. "Well, they forwarded it all as your initiative, presumably so that you would take the fall if it didn’t work. But now that it has worked, you get all the credit."
"Good thing that I kept a spare copy of the magitech orb. But tell , they said that it would have to undergo review by a Royal Auditor or sothing. Should I make another Orb for that?" Dominic asked.
Both the Princess and the Driver laughed a little at his question.
"You are the Royal Auditor. Any advisor appointed by the Royal Family is qualified to hold an audit of resource use for military purposes. What you need to do is make up the report about the event, informing the King and Council how it was done, and that all went well." Alexis replied.
The driver stopped at the main entrance to the Keep, and Dominic couldn’t help but notice that the blood stain from earlier had been immaculately cleaned, but it had left a portion of the driveway cleaner than the rest, which was currently being redied by staff with stiff bristled brooms and soapy water.
"Well, it looks like we’re in for the invasion that everyone feared we would get." Alexis muttered as they walked inside.
"We’ve got a good group here, even if the city is a fire hazard on a good day. Did you have a particular plan in mind for when the enemy arrives, or do we co up with sothing once they are spotted?" Dominic replied.
"We will work it out in the morning. Sleep early because I expect that we’re going to have visitors in the morning, intending to recover their downed airships. There are bound to be plenty of valuable resources on them, and it won’t be possible to recover them in the dark.
Besides, if the Dagos Army isn’t here in the morning, we will send a sortie out to loot them dry.
Our airships should be landing soon to prepare a full crew for tonight’s defence. That will include multiple Techno Wizards, but not all of them.
There are a number of accomplished Witches and Arcanists in the city that can also fill the role, so they will be paired with one of the Techno Wizards to crew the airship. I discussed it with the Marquis while you were on your way to the wall." Alexis explained.
Dominic nodded. "I will be in the tower, but this ti I’m keeping a barrier cast over the room. They’re not likely to try to poison with the one toxin I’m immune to twice in a row."
The Princess laughed gently. "There will be a pair of guards stationed at your door tonight, along with the maid, who should have your dinner ready.
We were originally going to all eat with the Marquis and his family, but now that the battle has officially started, he has far too much to do. We are largely figureheads here, just around to give orders and approve plans.
But once you’ve eaten breakfast, co straight here."
Dominic nodded. "Alright. I will see you first thing in the morning. Is there anything else that you need before I go?"
Alexis shook her head, but Dominic could see that she was nervous. Not that he wasn’t or that it was unreasonable. They had started the day with an assassination attempt, and then followed it up with an invasion by airship.
All in all, it was making a run for the worst days of the year list.
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