Intermission: Into the Lions den

In the capital city Of the Kingdom The city of Graceburg one of the biggest citys on in the kingdom, it is located in a huge island the city is large but also extremely well fortified, it has several lines of stone wall mountains protect it from any assault, as well as very good anti-magic protection and sewers, there were caves before which connecting the city to other parts of the island,but due to wanting to ensure better protection to the people those caves were closed down.

In the middle of the city, there was a palace where the king and royal family live, the rest of the staff in the palace includes maids butlers Royal guards.

Royal guards are most often soldiers who served 10 or more years in the navy, and they get additional training and newest weapons and armor it is red and white metal collored the armor, it looks like mix of medival and steampunk style it would consist of red cloath and white mythril bodyarmor, and white mythril chainmail, first layer would be cloath and chainmail, creating a red and white mix bodyarmor would protect all of the most vital areas, and would be helm gauntlets and graves, but due to strenght of the mythril, it offers better physical protection than iron, but its weaker than steel, however it provides great magical attack protection, due to mythrils rarity its not used often another advantege of mythril is that it can be enchanted, hense why all royal guards are skilled at very least with magic most often the most commonly used enchant on their bodyarmor is on helm, which can be taken off split into 2 parts and used as pauldron, which changes enchant and activates enchant that offers better protection against magic, and when you put it on head as helmet visor enchantment activates which gives them better sight and to be able to see creatures or enemys that use magic to make themselfs invisible to the humans naked eye, humans didnt develop such a technology unfortenatly , as for their weaponery they will have basic weaponery and special wepaonery basic weapon, is dagger, swords (longswords and rapiers ), shield, riffle, and special equiptment Cannon and Flame trower compered to weapons of normal navy and millita they would be of far higher quality.

The Royal Palace itself has around small army of royal guards guarding it the commanding officer of royal guard is Captian Alice Smith, she is a new royal guard captain and was formally 2nd in command to the previous captain, that died a few weeks ago she is pretty nervous and excited to take over the place of her mentor, she was also present with his family during the funeral She is muscular , she had long straight red hair, which she has a cute face, which makes her look younger then she looks, like 29 years old and has 58 years old, and she is stronger then she looks which she uses to her advantage quite effectively, while on duty she tied into tail although she puts the tail in armor she always stays Sirius and professional, and she is very loyal to the king she is very respected by some but most doubt if she was the right pick.

Butlers serve the royal family and the guests, they wear white gloves, black coat, black tie, gray vest, gray striped trousers, and cufflinks, other then that they assist the guards from time to time there is group senior butlers which organize all the younger ones.

Maids clean around the Castle and the cloaths castle and are generally in lower position then butlers.

Since the castle is huge sometimes they get assisted from butlers, even tho there are lots of them

people were happy blissfully unaware of the tragedy that happened, however, soldiers knew too well what happened behind the scenes plans are being made how to handle the situation.

2 Soldiers in barrack sit on the chairs while they as they start fixing dishwashing machine the dishes

Soldier on the left side "did you hear what happened to the Kallahan city "

Other Soldier puts the toolbox on the side "yeah scary stuff..."

Soldier on the left beings pulling out the machine "I can believe the entire city got destroyed by them..."

A soldier opens the box and pulls out the wrench "yeah I wonder what will they tell people"

The soldier stops pulling it out "uff probably admiral Stewart will use people being angry and thirsting for revenge, to gain support and pull even more of nations funds into the military"

Soldier gets closer to the back of the machine and starts working on it "I guess but in the end we really need something, I mean we've been trying to push them back, and not to mention we bearly make a dent most of the times..."

A soldier sits back while another one is fixing the machine "yeah well I guess will have to wait and see

do you need any help there"

Soldier "mind lifting it for a bit there's something I need to replace

Soldier "alright the sooner we finish this the better" he lifts up the machine

Soldier "thanks " after which he began taking off the pipe and putting in the new one

Soldier lifting up looks like he's having trouble"uff are you finished yet "

The soldier moves out "yeah put it down now"

The soldier looks tired" finally it was getting really heavy he puts it down"

Soldier gets up and smirks "yeah yeah let's go to report to sarge and then well go get something to drink "

people could notice that something was off soldiers were a bit tenser and uneasy than usual,

but in the end they dicaded enjoy their day in the Graceburgs streets during the founders festival which is dedicated to the day the kingdom was created, everyone was gathering at city center where the open theatre preformance will be held it was made based on historical event to that all lead up to the day of where kingdom was formed the red flag with a crown by looking at it you can see the part of history of its forming, before kingdom there were 4 nations in war fighting for control over the region it was the age of countless wars its unknown how many people exsacly died, but the countless battles and spilled blood is symbolized in the flag as red the color of blood next is the symbol is the crown it was created in honor of king Valerian the founder, aldoth not much is known about the period as information is hidden what is known is that he was prince in 1 of the kingdoms and rallied the people around him and waged the final war, against those who whanted absolute control who did not whant the union to happen, and won after his victory the graceburg was chosen as a site to create brand new capital, as it would be in the heart of the kingdom and would slowly build into magnificent city it is today, at the time there was king and 4 counclers as a ruling systemm but over time that has changed just like many thingsm and so the crown in middle is a symbol of succsess and raising above the difrences to created a new and better tommorow.

Meanwhile while one of the ships in the fleet sent out the small vessel with 5 person crew inside it was Admiral Stewart heading to the port.

Admiral Stewart wore his uniform it was different then Blueworths his uniform had grayish-white pants, and shirt it had 20 medals on it bellow he had black t-shirt and wore snow-white cloak, he looks pretty muscular and looked like he was in his 50s but he was actually around 100 years old, (due to humans here living longer lives than in real life), one interesting thing about him is that his neck was a bit fatter then it would be normally possible, he had mid-length black grayish hair, he has an old scar over his right eye, most of the times he looks Sirius and somewhat intimidating when you're near him you always get a sense his always planing something, on his left arm he is wearing a ring, thoguh that looks like its silver-colored but has certain magic aura about it, he sent silently in white wooden chair holding documents named project Lions Den the surrounding of the room was white there was just a bookshelf and map on board.

A soldier comes into the room where Stewart was sitting.

when the ship docked in the port it was next to other ships.

Soldier "sir we have arrived"

Stewart looks up "then make sure everything is prepared in going directly to the king..."

Soldier "very well I will go prepare the rhino"

Soldier "yes sir" he walks out of the ship into docks and walks over the captain

The soldier saluted "sir admiral Stewart asked for the rhino to be ready for him at once he has an important matter to discuss with the king

Captian "very well go to a garage nearby there should be one rhino on stand by"

Soldier "alright thanks to you sir "

The soldier then walks near the garage it had 4 doors opened up each one having rhino in it

After the recent attacks king ordered a lot more military equipment although people are still more so against it than for it, so there were few protests around the kingdom whenever that happened,

rhino was only available to the army it is basically a well-protected transport with one cannon in front,

which is used to clear the way for troops on the sides it has small holes from which soldiers could shot out, if necessary they can be opened and closed from inside and not from outside it has room for 20 people it is about the size of 3 meters (9.8 feets) and length 6 meters (19.7 feets), it has the capacity to carry 12 people with 1 being at a wheel the truck is protected by black metal alloy from the outside making it very well protected.

A soldier walks over to the table where 3 soldiers played with cards they notice the soldier approaching.

Soldier 2 "let's see what he wants

Soldier " admiral Stewart wants the truck ready as soon as possible "

one of the soldiers puts down the cards

Soldier 2 sigh and looks at other soldiers "welp I guess my break ends sooner then I thought, give me 3 minutes will ya"

Soldier "that should be enough time for the admiral to get here "

Meanwhile in the ship.

Stewart was talking with the cloaked figure.

Cloaked figure "the job is done now wheres the money ?"

Stewart looks at the cloaked figure "meet me after I convince the king and make sure no one recognizes you"

then Stewart turns around and grabs the document and gets up "I can't afford anyone suspecting anything this is too important."

Cloaked figure they hear someone entering "hmph will finish this later "

A soldier opens the door sees only admiral Stewart in there and open window in through "maybe it was in my head ah well doesn't matter, I was sure I heard something..."

Admiral Stewart begins walking forward "is rhino ready?"

A soldier salutes "yes sir"

Admiral Stewart "take me to it then "

The soldier smiles "it's close by and it will be prepared as soon as we arrive "

Admiral Stewart is a controversial figure in the army both in low and high ranks and even among nobles people his very famous for his question and brutal but very effective strategies and he has won many battles and solves many issues but he has also a lot of secrets unknown to the public and connections to the black market

Admiral Stewart took a long route to the palace with the rhino because path through the center of the city was crowded with people and on this rare occasion its much faster though they go around center to the palace then going directly though it on the outer part of the citys there were much more soldiers now than before mostly due to making sure everything stays secure although soldiers who get put there usually get extra payment

When admiral Reaches the Palace we can see how huge the building its mostly covered by the walls, walls had mix btw black silver looking metal and there were few spots that had more reflections than others, however, the material used there was transparent and it is hard to tell what it is from far away.

From the inside Palace had a huge and beautiful garden filled with a huge variety of trees bushes flowers and 2 fountains on the inside that can be seen, there are maids and royal guards around the garden as well as 20 royal guards on the main entrance.

Soldier "sir we have arrived"

Admiral Stewart gets out of rhino and proceeds to the palace withholding document in his hand

Admiral Stewart thinks to himself " this should definitely pass through now..."

Admiral Stewart then smirks "finally the plan can get going"

After Alice waited for Stewart at the front entrance the doors were being around, they have an electricity-based mechanism which opens them and closes them, the door is golden trimmed gray-colored wooden gate with steel reinforcing it in places.

Alice does not show emotions on the outside, however, she was not happy to see Stewart again " kings waiting for you in the guest room admiral ill take you there "

Admiral Stewart nods "very well" then starts following the first part of the castle from inside has red carpet and flags on the walls, it has an upper floor and 4 strait ways and entries both leading up and down they go up the strait case and then north, there plenty of rooms for each royal family member all maintained no matter if they are in castle or in some other city.

The guest room had kingdoms flag in it table chairs red carpet goes through there and whole room, follows red and white theme of the rest of the castle is also a locker with lots of books in there the king was sitting on the chair reading one of the books, behind him was the picture of very old man with a beard and same outfit, other then that room had a phone and a way leading north leading to straits which lead to throne room south leading to entrance, and left which connect to hallway which leads to maids room and kitchen there's phone in every room which he could use to call maids and waiters whenever he needed them.

The king looked like he was in his 30s 60 years old he had medium length wavy blonde hair, he was not muscular, although he wasn't skinny either, he has dreamy look in his eyes, unlike his father, whos the man in picture behind he's more of a diplomat and artist then a soldier, although he liked but didn't really have strong opinion about admiral Stewart, he knows him mostly though Stewart and his father planing together and being in navy together, Stewart though saw the king as unfit for rule and like her betrayed his fathers vision .

He wears kings uniform black shoes white socks black pant white shirt and red coat which both had golden tint however on top right side of coat next to golden tint would the golden decor of the crown king wore it with pride his name was King James Ronald the 3rd

King James smiled "ah Wellcome Stewart please take a seat " :

Admiral Stewart "thank you" Stewart sits then looks at the James " I'm sure you have heard the news..."

King James sighs "yes its unfortunate news I can't believe it, where was the bulk of the navy what happened ?"

Admiral Stewart "most of our forced got pulled away by their secondary force, there were also some pirates causing a ruckus " he then sighs and looks at a king "I know how you feel about this but think of people and their safety, we need to do something to combat this threat "

King James looks at Stewart seriously " still the city went silent for the few days before the attack last we heard was that you're fleet still didn't come back in time than"

Admiral Stewart leans back on chair " not the entirety of my forces were pulled I left some behind but I needed most of the advance and heavy weaponry" sighs "no one could have predicted such an attack there was nothing we could odd unfortunately "

Admiral Stewart then puts the lion's den document on the table.

King James glances at documents and then at Stewart with disapproval " I told you before and I will tell you again people have spoken about this."

After a few moments of silence where Stewart and James were looking at themselves in eyes.

Admiral Stewart "after they hear what happened we will see, and besides for the sake of our kingdom's safety we need to start this project you tried everything else and it didn't work out"

Admiral Stewart gets up "and now it cost us entire city filled with millions of people "

King James sigh " you are a right, I'm not sure how people will react to this"

King James picks it up he seems to regret it a little but then gets up and looks at Stewart "I will make the announcement tomorrow "

Admiral Stewart smiled "you made the right choice "

King James "I hope so.."

Admiral gets up "now then I will release information to the public tomorrow have a day James "

and leaves the room

Alice looked frustrated thinks to herself " what happened in there" she notices loins den documents on table sighs Alice looks sad " I see so there's no other way anymore"

Admiral Stewart leaves the castle and enters the rhino "take me to the command center"

Soldier "yes sir!"

Admiral Stewart goes to back end of rhino uses crystals ill come to port into admiral's office ill meet you there

Assassin "fine make sure payment is ready"

Admiral Stewart closes down crystal and smirks

They were heading from the Royal Castle to the main port building which was essentially command center for the entire fleet, the building has 4 floors it is very heavily defended with combination of alchemy and most modern defensive weaponry, they could get first floor and seconds floor are communications areas 1st, for the ground forces and 2nd, their forces on sea 3rd floor are high officer offices, and 4th floor is the smallest floor which leads to 2 different sides of the roof there's large glowing crystal there which increases the range of smaller crystals .

Admiral Stewart gets out of rhino and immediately went to 3rd floor and heads to his office, after which he sees the assassin he wore the cloak and robe which makes it impossible to tell his age, except that his a very muscular older man he wears brown boots, you can see his rapier tied on his wrist, but from his ice-cold stare its pretty obvious that rapier is not the only weapon he has, he also has a red scarf which has in particular 4 gems of different color on it, and bearly visible hidden devices on his feet and arm which Admiral Stewart only noticed thanks to experiencing against assassins but it is clear guy means business.

Admiral Stewart "hmph confident as always I see "

Assassin "let's get straight to the point I'm the one doing you a favor here", he then leans back and puts his feet on the table "wheres the cash "

Admiral walks to the close to the closet then pulls it away revealing a small safe near the top of the closet he opens it and pulls off a small suitcase and key

Admiral Stewart hands over the case with a key "it has cash and diamonds

Assassin grabs and opens the case it has money and diamonds just as promised

Admiral Stewart "I think that's all we agreed on "

Assassin "alright what about the king ?"

Admiral Stewart "I will deal with him when the time comes for now you know the 2nd part of your contract"

Assassin gets up with suitcase "alright fair enough I guess then ill leave then"

Admiral Stewart "just make sure nobody sees"

Assassin "and you make sure you don't screw up otherwise were both dead"

Admiral Stewart turns around about to say something but assassin vanished "hmph don't worry about me"

Admiral Stewart sighs and looks at the photo of the Previous king "I will make sure was safe from all threats no matter what it takes old friend... "