Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 106 - Port of Fall

General Ashy emerged aboard her vessel, The Sea Viper, to the smells of salty air and the sounds of hard work from her fellow Imperials. The dock was in sight, and, better yet, so too was the former Queen of Fiore, Hisui, and one of her chief counterparts, Erza Scarlet.

Ashy's scouts reported as such a few minutes ago when the rebels emerged on the dock, excitedly. The Sea Viper, as Ashy understood, was once a different ship, one that belonged to Crime Sorciere, that renegade group of rebels that'd been causing issues along the coast. No doubt Erza and Hisui thought Crime Sorciere was going to hop off the boat, and they'd be getting a warm welcome.

Well.

Not quite. In fact, they'd be in for two surprises, given who else lingered on the ship. But he was busy taking care of their little catch down below.

The Sea Viper, per Ashy's orders at Ajeel's command, had been better outfitted and prepared for pursuing rebels up and down the coast, eliminating smaller ships with brute, unrivaled force. They found it, along with most of Crime Sorciere, following an exhaustive raid where Ashy was able to take the vessel out of their hands, and where they were able to ultimately thwart the rebel group from getting it back. However, they'd all been severely wounded, and the pursuit after that was far, far easier than before.

Erza was long gone from the group by that point, an unfortunate survivor, but a life that Ashy did not report back to Ajeel or August about.

Ashy folded her hands behind her back as she moved away from the port cannons toward the prow of the ship, where deckhands prepared two of the sails for docking.

Soldiers ran off their stations below to prepare their weapons. Most of the coast was clear, no doubt thanks to Fairy Tail's activity. Ruhan had already called that the rebels were making their way to the island, so the fighting must've started.

The soldiers were equipped with weapons powerful enough to deal with wizards, though perhaps not Fairy Tail wizards. Ashy was, thankfully, not the only powerful member of the Crystal Division, nor even the Empire, aboard the vessel.

Her prime target was Hisui. The others would occupy Erza while Ashy finished the former queen off. Without her, the rebellion would flounder.

Indeed, Hisui managed to scrape a win away from Kyoka, but Ashy had been diligently training beneath Ajeel and August all year long to become the greatest God Slayer in the Empire. That would, surely, be enough to kill Hisui.

The sea breeze ruffled her short mop of hair as she turned to attention. She swore she just heard Ruhan's voice, and indeed, she had, coming from a communication lacrima as brought by one of the deckhands, a little slave boy out of Stella.

"What?" Ashy asked.

"We're in position in the barracks," Ruhan said. His voice was choppy thanks to the open air around Ashy. "How far out are you?"

"We can begin a land assault at any moment," Ashy said. "The ship is ready."

"And the others?"

Ashy glanced back at some of her men. They nodded.

"Ascertained. I believe they are being dealt with down below now. Olympia isn't going anywhere."

"Good. Leave Sorano untouched for me, will you? I can deal with her personally."

"Fine. We'll kill the other one."

"She may have information on the rest of them."

"They're dead men walking."

"Someone needs to finish the job. They may be coming to the island, too, thinking they can mask their weakness behind Fairy Tail."

"I'm handling it, General Ruhan. You take care of the barracks."