Surface- Lost Islands Region

Empire of Night- Island of Andport

"How long until everyone and everything is settled again?" Jacob asked as he walked the streets of the town that was still reeling from the Empires' assault.

"If they had the resources, we could repair the Keep within two weeks. They don't have a quarry or stone to make the repairs to the Keep or the fortifications at the mouth of the harbor. We are going to have to ship everything in if the main island does not have a quarry. The palisade wall can be repaired within three days, it suffered minimal damage. The Legionnaires are already looking to enhance the defenses on the outer wall of the town. The fortifications at the mouth of the harbor have been completely decimated and need to be rebuilt from the ground up according to our Engineers." Brox reported.

"Both the First and Second Legions are disembarked, supplies are still be unloaded but everything should be unloaded and stored within the next twenty-four hours. The shipwrecks have been pulled from the docks and beached to be salvaged if they cannot be repaired." General Ironbark reported as they walked along.

"Ok, what about any other coves the Pirate Lord could use to land troops on the island?" Jacob asked and Brox immediately replied.

"We have found two more coves that could be used as such, both are being watched by scouts. If the Pirate Lord moves troops onto the island we will know within minutes." Brox reported.

"How are we at putting any scouts on the other two islands?" Jacob asked Darren.

"Once everything is consolidated here, I already have volunteers. With the fall of Andport, the pirates are going to be watching every inch of the other two islands, we won't capture either one as easily as we did Andport." Darren informed Jacob who snorted in amusement.

"You think this was easy...It was planning and a lot of luck. Casualties?" Jacob asked as he helped a local move a palm tree off a building.

"The locals lost twenty-three civilians dead and another one hundred and forty-three wounded to a various degree. We lost eight-six Legionnaires and another two hundred thirty-six wounded to various degrees. The pirates lost just over five hundred and have nearly double that in wounded." Brox stated causing Jacob to consider his options.

"Task the Bloodforged and her group to escort the dead and critically wounded back to the mainland. They will leave in two days, Commander Renee will have priority on ship repairs. After that, priority will go to the most heavily damaged ships first.' Jacob informed them. Stacy, the pirate that had shown to have a brain at the parley, was taking notes. 'How are the locals doing?" Jacob asked her.

Stacy looked nervously at Lilly before responding, "Shock for the most part. They are used to dealing with the pirates, so they are used to some...trouble. They never expected an all-out invasion though. Give them time and they will recover." Stacy replied.

"Will the accept Imperial rule or will they try to rebel?" Jacob asked her.

Stacy bit her lip, "Pirate roots run deep here. The local population can trace their roots back to pirates and slaves imported here hundreds of years ago. Everything revolves around the Pirate Lord and those ship captains that have sworn to follow him. They have never had a stabilizing force like the Empire before. I have no idea how they will react long term or short term. The Pirates will not accept Imperial rule easily, you will have to plan to deal with them one way or another."

Surface- Lost Islands Region

Free Lands- Island of Ordstead

Fortress of Vremburn- Command Room

The Pirate Lord looked at the Strategic display and the information it displayed. "How many men have they landed?"

"Initial count is ten thousand soldiers at least. The defenders of Andport Island bled them a little bit, but nothing substantial. Imperial ships have surrounded the island and all approaches are monitored constantly. We cannot sneak a force onto the island without them knowing. The locals actually like the Imperial occupation, they are treating them well. They are not extorting money, food, or abusing anyone. The Imperials are in fact assisting in repairs of both the town and the port facilities as well. All of our assets on the island have been compromised by the local population. They know who our spies are and they gladly told the Imperials." the Old man informed the Pirate Lord.

"How did they get on the island?" the Pirate Lord asked.

"They used a small cove on the south side of the island to sneak some of their troops onto the island and the launched a simultaneous assault from both land and sea that split the defenders. Casualties among our people were extensive and very few got away." the old man replied as the Pirate Lord.

"Get some of our assassins onto the island of Andport, I want their leadership targeted and killed. It will slow them down." The Pirate Lord commanded as he strode from the room. The older man shook his head in frustration...their time was coming to an end. Even if their assassins succeeded, the Empire was not going away.

Surface- Lost Islands Region

Empire of Night- Island of Andport

"What's your concern Thorgron?" Jacob asked the Duergar.

"My concern is that we are two weeks from the Empire. We are close to a powerful enemy and you landed with the Legionnaires that assaulted this town. You put yourself in unnecessary danger. I want your word that you won't do it again." Thorgron stated.

Jacob put aside the report he was reading, "I understand. You have my word I will do my best not to put myself in unnecessary danger again. Where I go, the Dawn Guard will follow. Now, what other concerns you have?" Jacob prodded.

"You are in a vulnerable position. If Chaos strikes or any of the gods...you are cut off from your power base and vulnerable." Thorgron pointed out.

"The Pirate Lord and the Lost Islands needed to be dealt with. Chaos and the gods are not going to keep me from dealing with my responsibilities. Now, do you have something to say concerning the campaign or a viable threat." Jacob asked the Duergar who gritted his teeth before bowing and leaving.

"You should not chastise him like that. He is tasked with ensuring your safety he is only doing his job." Rose pointed out.

"That is his responsibility, the Empire as a whole is mine. I have to keep everyone safe if I can." Jacob told her.

"That's the way you see it?" Lilly asked as she entered the tent and sat down in one of the chairs Jacob had.

Jacob looked at the Demoness, "Yes I do. They follow me and it's my responsibility to protect them if I can. These men and women of the First and Second Legions here are the very first slaves I freed from the Sisters of the Damned and I am not going to send them to face death and destruction without me. Now if you will excuse me, I have reports to read and orders to approve and sign off on." Jacob told the two Celestials before he went back to ignoring them.

Grurd walked through the sparse foliage of the Island. He and two others had been dispatched to kill any Imperial leadership. However, they had to swim the last half mile to the island to avoid the Imperial patrols. Being a Goblin, Grurd hated water, but he had gotten on the bad side of the Assassins Guild so he had fled to the Lost Islands and beyond their reach.

The pirates that had brought him over had given him a choice of going in of his own free will or dying right there. Grurd had put everything in his inventory and jumped in. Damned pirates should have brought them all the way, but apparently, the cove they planned to land at, was being patrolled by Imperials so Grurd had to get wet and swim. Now he was tired, hungry, and still had to avoid all the patrols and kill his targets. Suddenly screams and the clash of weapons pierced the night, Grurd froze wondering if anyone would find him but just as suddenly it was dead silent again. Grurd wondered if it had been the Beast Kin or the Human assassin that had been caught by a roving patrol. It didn't matter, all that mattered was that he was undiscovered currently. However, the Imperials would be on their guard now and it would make infiltrating their camp that much harder.

Shouts of other roving soldiers started to fill the night as more troops filling the surrounding area. Grurd downed a potion of Silent Stalking and made sure his Stealth was active before slowly pushing forward. Time to earn his money the Goblin thought as he ghosted through the trees. Jacob looked up as the alarm bells sounded, Thorgron and Brox entered the tent soon after. "Report?!?!" Jacob commanded.

"Assassins have landed on the island. Scouts found the tracks of three, we managed to kill one so far. We don't know where the other two are located yet." Brox replied immediately causing Jacob to consider the options from the Pirate Lord view.

"More then likely they are targeting any command-level officer. They probably have no idea I am here so I am not a target, yet. Generals Brox and Ironbark would be perfect for them. It would delay us and demoralize the troops. Thas what I would do if I was in their shoes. Shut down the town, no one in or out. Only Legionnaires in groups of four or more. MOVE!!" Jacob barked out as he started to equip his armor. They had a few hours before dawn, then he would be vulnerable to attack.

"What's going on?" Rose asked as she entered the tent.

Jacob continued to equip his armor, "Assassins are on the island. They managed to kill one, but two more are out there."

Rose nodded in acknowledgment, "Where do you think you are going?"

Jacob ground his teeth together in frustration, "To help out with the hunt."

"If you want to help, let your people do their jobs. This is what you trained them for and pay them for. If you go out, you will disrupt the search and maybe put more of your troops in danger because they will be worried about keeping you safe out there instead of hunting the two assassins." Rose pointed out.

Jacob glared at the Seraphim, before nodding. Before she could leave he stopped her. "Nope, if I am stuck here, then so are you. Guess what, you just became my drinking buddy. Lilly, I am sure you are outside the tent, get your ass in here, your drinking too." Jacob hollered towards the tent entrance. The Succubus sauntered in and shrugged her shoulders but plopped down on the nearest seat.

"You know I have a high tolerance and even though the Angel has probably never drunk a drop of alcohol in her life, has a higher tolerance than you," Lilly stated with a smug grin.

Jacob returned the smile, "Then you should be able to drink me under the table in the next hour." Jacob pulled out a one-hundred-year-old Dwarven Extra Dry a couple of cups and a container of water. Jacob then sent a quick message to Thorgron that he would be staying out of the way of the search.