As Victoria and her squadron moved out to intercept the Kartnod fleet, the naval base in Portland had descended into complete chaos. The alarms would not stop blaring; the ships and hangars struck by the missiles were burning, while the survivors struggled to contain the fires.
Admiral Smith was trying to contact other bases, but communications had been cut off.
"They're coming back," said the radar officer.
"If they hit us again, the ship won't hold. What should we do, sir?" asked the rear admiral.
"All weapons still operational are to open fire. We are not going to let them defeat us this easily."
"Sir, we are detecting multiple signals from the southwest. More attackers."
"How many?"
"We don't know. All I can say is that they're even faster than the ones currently attacking us."
"Damn it… what are we going to do?"
Inside the hangars and along the docks, everyone rushed to their stations, trying to solve the mounting problems. In the energy chamber, where the generators were located, engineer Michael was doing everything possible to restore power.
"Damn it, that electromagnetic pulse fried almost every circuit."
"Let me help you," a voice said behind him. "I know how to repair all of this."
When he turned around, he thought he was seeing an angel. A young woman with black hair, brown eyes, and dark skin stood before him.
"She's beautiful," was the first thing that crossed his mind.
At that moment, an explosion snapped him back to reality.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Crystal. I'm a magical engineer. I'll explain the details later; right now we need to get this system running again."
"It's heavily damaged. Almost all the circuit boards were destroyed. We don't have time to replace them all."
"I already know that. I designed this entire system myself, and I know its structure better than anyone. Because of that, I created an emergency system that isn't directly connected to the main network. We just need to disconnect the damaged lines so they won't interfere. Help me encode the new instructions. Follow this map; my assistants are already reconnecting everything along with the crew. We have to finish this in less than fifteen minutes."
While the technicians rushed to restore power, the battle continued.
"Sir, we're under attack again! The destroyers' deck cannons are managing to repel them, but they won't survive if one of those missiles hits them."
"We must hold the line."
Suddenly, all communications came back online.
"Report!" the admiral shouted.
"Sir, the systems are starting to come back online! The magical weapon systems are charging."
"Tell everyone to get ready. We're going to give those bastards what they deserve."
Lefebvre Family Main Base — Victoria City, Canada — 07:33
"Hangar C, Lissa, is my ship ready yet?"
"Yes, boss. You can take off right now."
Aiden turned to Keeve one last time.
"I'm leaving command to you. Take care of those bastards."
"Of course. You just focus on coming back alive."
The hangar doors opened, and the magical engines began powering up. Lissa and her team ran from ship to ship. Within minutes, twenty ships were ready for launch.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted outside the hangar. Several agents were firing at a group trying to reach the ships.
"Keeve!" someone shouted. "Don't let them get close or block the exit! The ships have to take off!"
Keeve charged forward with his magical weapon, firing while issuing orders and covering his comrades' departure.
A group of around fifteen men tried to stop the ships from leaving the hangar, but Keeve and his team managed to hold them back.
As the ships launched and moved to intercept the enemy fleet, Valerius, Markus, and Iara watched the battle footage from a secret base located in Wales, United Kingdom.
"This turned out even better than we planned."
Without the support of the naval fleet of one of the North American families and the air force of the Lefebvre family, the energy base in Mexico will soon be ours
"No matter how many defenses the Aguilar family mansion has, they won't survive a direct assault from our lord's armada: the original Kartnod."
"After seeing how they destroyed the Sevianko family base, there's no doubt they are far superior. The defeat in the Yellow Sea happened because they underestimated the strength of their first opponent, and because reinforcements arrived earlier than expected. I never thought that old wolf, Ciara, would decide to deactivate the magical veil so quickly."
"Attacking the closest bases in Canada and North America will prevent anyone from helping them. Once the base falls under Commander Ilyn Sereth's control…"
"Lord Valerius, we've received an encrypted message. The codes are extremely strange; we've never seen anything like them before, but they managed to infiltrate our communication network."
"Show it to me."
"Just as I expected. Immediately integrate these characters into our communication code. I have waited for this moment my entire life."
Ten minutes later—
"Sir, everything is ready. Awaiting your orders."
"Establish a communication link immediately."
"Message sent. We are receiving a response. They are requesting permission to connect."
"Granted."
Suddenly, an image projected itself into the air in the middle of the room.
"I assume you are the ones who left that message in your communication network."
"Yes, sir. We are the ones who have been assisting you with communications. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Valerius… Insdramir Valerius Kartnod…"