The Legendary Junkmaster

The atmosphere became tense in the middle of the night for Jason's group. The guards on watch had to wake everyone up as they spotted lights moving in the ruined city below. Jason peeked from between the waggons and ruined vehicles to get a better look. He could see separate beams of light crossing paths as some of them disappeared inside the buildings.

'It took them a lot longer than I thought to get here... Did something happen?' Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched the scene below. 'They're being careful to check the buildings even if it is slowing them down....' Jason frowned as he wondered if they would be as thorough about searching the bridge. 

"What do you think?" Zach asked as he stared at the beams of light crossing each other in the dark. 

"Hm, we can only wait for the time being. Moving now will only draw attention but we should be prepared in case they head this way." Jason whispered back as he glanced at the nervous faces around them. 

Zach nodded solemnly as he turned away to speak with the commander of the caravan's guards. Jason, on the other hand, kept his attention focused on the group below. Soon, his eyes went wide as a figure appeared in the sky from over one of the buildings. 'Damn! They've got a flier!'

Jason quickly glanced around and realised that they had no way to hide themselves, the beasts and the waggons from anyone looking down from above. His body began to tremble and nervous sweat slowly began to soak into his clothing. He could not take his eyes off of the soldier in the sky. 'Please don't come this way!'

The others noticed how stiff Jason had become as he watched the figure, causing them to worry about the situation. When Zach returned and spotted what Jason was staring at, a low hiss escaped from his mouth. Not long after, the figure landed amongst the crowd on the ground.

"Do you think they saw us?" Zach asked with a worried voice, as the lights began to head in their direction. 

"I'm not sure... It could be a coincidence that they're headed this way. The flier might just be tired or he might be too lazy to properly check here. We'll have to wait and see." Jason slowly shook his head as he felt his tension rising...

Meanwhile, the alliance soldiers were carefully combing the area when they spotted their comrade landing from above. The man with short dark hair and icy blue eyes nodded towards the others before walking towards Captain Lowes. 

"Sargeant Morris! Give me some good news!" Lowes frowned when he saw the look on the Sargeant's face. 

"Nothing to report, Sir. I flew to the edge of the city and circled over a few streets. But there's no trace of them. If I had to guess I'd say they're holed up in one of the buildings waiting for their chance to escape." Morris replied with a grim tone as he glanced at the tired soldiers around them. "Sir, we can't keep this up. It will take too long to search every building. That alone could give them the time to escape once the sun rises if they ran far enough before holing up."

Lowes rubbed the bridge of his nose as he let out a low groan. The Sargeant was right, of course. He knew fine well that they were unlikely to find a lead on the caravan before they had to retreat to a safer area. Personally, he was worried about the Empire's pillars showing up. There had been no sign of them yet, but the Empire had always seemed to detect their side's expeditionary forces in the past, no matter where they entered the Empire's borders from.

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-Antihero]

'Are they toying with us or is there something holding them up?' Lowes began to wonder as he remembered the horrors he had seen during his service. 'That fellow Sentinel is usually the one to deal with large forces, but who would they send for our group?' He did not even dare to dream that their group had gone completely unnoticed. They could only get what they could and make a quick escape.

Lowes was trying to decide how much more time they could put into this endeavour before giving up. So far, they had only sustained losses and not gained anything from this journey. Eventually, a deep frown crossed his face before he let out a long sigh. 

"Sargeant, gather the men. We're heading back to that town called Murk Point... If we can't have the man who helped to create that machine... We'll just take the item itself. Hopefully, our people can make something of it." Lowes's voice was tinged with regret. But Sargeant Morris thought that he had made the right call.

"It's better than nothing, Sir. I'll get right on it..."

A sigh of relief escaped from Jason's mouth as the lights that had been getting closer suddenly stopped and turned around. 'Have they given up?' He thought that this was likely the case. But he still watched until the lights vanished before felt secure enough to catch up on some sleep. The group from the caravan was celebrating in hushed voices lest they draw unwanted attention. A small smile escaped onto Jason's lips as he got comfortable on the back of a waggon and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the far North of the Empire...

"Hmph, told you this was a waste of time..." Sentinel grumbled as he stared at the Lord of this region.

The Lord shifted uncomfortably beneath Sentinel's gaze as he turned his head to look at Rust. "Lady Rust, please understand that I'm only following the laws of the Empire. My invasion of Lady Donnel's territory is completely justified. I have not taken part in any invasion of my neighbour's territories for three years. So I am entitled to invoke my right for a territory dispute."

"Of course, that is in line with Empire's laws. All the Emperor is asking is that you abstain from this for a while longer." Rust nodded as if she were empathetic to the situation. 

"That'll only allow Lady Donnel to prepare. I'm afraid I can't do that." The Lord shook his head with a sigh. "Three years ago she took almost a quarter of my territories. I've saved my strength and waited for an opportunity like this. I can't pass it up or what will my people think of me?"

"Listen here, you little shit!" Sentinel growled as he fixed the Lord with his cybernetic eye. "We've received word of raids along the coast from an unknown force. It's not Alliance or the other nearby countries. The Emperor is concerned that these are mere probes. A large part of your territory is on the coastline. You'll need everyone you have to defend it!"

The Lord frowned as he glanced at his advisors. They had not heard anything about these supposed raids from the other Lords, but sometimes word would travel slow. Usually, this was so that the other Lords would not receive the information in time, so that they would take a hit as well. After all, nobody wanted to be the only losing party or let the other Lords and Ladies know that they had been weakened.

"What if you're wrong? What if it's just opportunistic bandits and nothing to be concerned about?" The Lord replied slowly as he weighed his options.

Sentinel was about to explode. He felt like it would be quicker to just evaporate the Lord and see how quickly his replacement would agree. However, Rust cut in before he could get another word out. 

"The Emperor asked us to let you know that if he is wrong about this, then you will be well compensated for your potential losses in gaining territory. You should think of it this way. If you hold off your invasion and focus on the coastline, if nothing happens then you have a lot to gain at no cost. However, taking territories from Lady Donnel will certainly cost you manpower. A few of your neighbours have not invoked their rights this year either..."

The Lord squinted at Rust as he silently cursed her in his mind. It was clearly a veiled threat that they would let his other neighbours know about the results of his invasion in time for them to take advantage of him. They had backed him into a corner and this was not a choice at all!

"Fine! Tell the Emperor I'll be glad to follow his advice..." The Lord hissed between gritted teeth.

'Finally!' Sentinel groaned as he rolled his eye. 'Now we can go take care of that force that snuck in while we were away dealing with this clown...'