Three work cycles hence, Nimrod resolved to unleash a fresh offensive.
Thierry and Szczesny required time to muster their regiments, while Bukayo's preparations were still nascent.
Nimrod elected to lead solely the First Regiment to conquer Szczecin and Mazov.
Clasping his newly repaired power halberd, he led the departure, leaving Wojciech behind to continue developing waterproof weaponry.
Yelena hastened to join the ranks, marveling that King Nimrod had subdued the formidable Lukov hive in so brief a span.
In Mazov's Upper Hive, within a ventilation duct, Maria Kornikova, standing two meters and one centimeter tall, anointed her curved blade with tubular machine oil.
Another woman, her head shorn bald, meticulously maintained a lasrifle, glancing at her tactical chrono before speaking in a hushed tone.
"Maria, the rendezvous time has exceeded thirteen standard minutes. Pironkova is likely dead."
The six assassins, divided into two teams, had infiltrated the hive to execute their missions, dispersing to hunt their targets.
"Tsvetana, she won't come. She assassinated Baron Bereszynski, triggering a manhunt by the garrison. Her abilities could not secure her escape."
"So it was her handiwork. I thought it might have been yours."
Tsvetana marveled, noting that among the six, the other five each excelled in specific domains, but Maria surpassed them in every facet.
"My target is the garrison captain. Pironkova's sacrifice has created my opportunity."
Maria, wiping her blade with a yellow silk cloth, spoke with cold precision.
"Follow me."
Tsvetana hesitated for several seconds. Were it anyone else attempting an assassination amidst heightened vigilance, she would deem them mad, but Maria possessed the prowess to seize any opening.
In Mazov, Garrison Captain Walukiewicz felt on the brink of madness, his vox-receiver incessantly blaring with beeping alerts. He recoiled from checking the incoming messages.
"Walukiewicz, two work cycles have passed since the heir of House Skorupski perished. Have you yet apprehended the culprit?"
"Walukiewicz, I am the new patriarch of House Drongowski. My father, Bereszynski, fell last work cycle. You must deliver the assassin to me."
"…"
His receding hairline a testament to his weariness, Walukiewicz, after fending off the noble houses' demands, resolved to vent his fury upon his subordinates.
Switching to the command channel, he roared with incandescent rage at his squad leaders.
"You useless curs, unable to pinpoint even a single assassin's location!"
"By the Throne, if you don't find her today, don't dare return to barracks!"
Slamming the vox shut, he gulped a cup of water, feeling a fleeting respite.
The vox beeped again, and Walukiewicz's body shuddered. With listless resignation, he activated it.
"Captain, we've found her! The assassin is holed up in B-118 Chem-Foundry!"
Walukiewicz's spirit surged, and he bellowed with renewed vigor.
"Keep eyes on her! I'm coming!"
The garrison captain sprang to his feet, rallying his nearby troops.
"Follow me! Today, we seize the fool who's plagued me!"
He boarded an open-top command vehicle, its engine roaring as it sped through the streets.
Two kilometers from the target, a blinding flash of light struck the vehicle's wheel at high speed.
The command car lost balance, spinning and crashing into a wall.
"Assassin!"
Walukiewicz drew his laspistol, stunned by the assassin's audacity and bewildered that an attack struck before reaching the foundry zone.
[My incompetent subordinates failed to report a breakout. Could there be more than one assassin?]
Refraining from vocal commands to avoid becoming a target, he crouched and scurried to the cover of a building's wall, scanning his surroundings.
He noted the lasfire was silenced, emitting no sound upon discharge.
The assassin's marksmanship was unerring, each shot felling one of his men.
After observing for a dozen seconds, he traced the beams to pinpoint the assassin's position atop a water tower.
[A seasoned killer. That tower supplies fifteen nearby manufactorums, with too many escape routes.]
Clutching his vox, he contacted his squad leaders, whispering urgently.
"You fools…"
Mid-sentence, he failed to notice a figure stealthily emerging from the shadows, closing swiftly.
"B-138 Water Tower, repeat…"
"B…", a glint of steel flashed, the curved blade slicing through, and his head tumbled to the ground.
Blood splattered across her face, yet Maria's heart remained unshaken, devoid of even a flicker of triumph for completing her task.
After Nimrod conquered Szczecin, he dispatched the Seventh Company to seize the starport's destroyer, the Termalica. Another destroyer, the Nowy Sącz, was committed to the war against xenos pirates.
Within the royal palace, beyond securing materials for a Sequence 9 "Reader" Beyonder potion, he unearthed the primary component for a Sequence 8 "Midnight Poet" Beyonder potion, corresponding to the Sequence 9 "Sleepless"—an ancient anthology of poetry, preserved for millennia.
The Magdanese, the most ostracized of Vostonians by mainstream culture, revered knowledge—culture—that tech-priests scorned.
Szczecin's palace housed two collections of ancient Terran poets: Musa Jalil's Nightingale and Spring and Herbert's Harmony of Light.
Leaving the Third and Ninth Companies to garrison, Nimrod promptly led his forces to assault Mazov.
Upon breaching the Upper Hive, he immediately noted an anomaly: unlike the prior three hives, where garrison forces swiftly mobilized, Mazov's garrison was absent.
The resistance Nimrod faced stemmed from Mazov's regular army, which he shattered with devastating ease. Thereafter, Yelena presented two assassins for an audience.
As he received their report, Nimrod recalled that Maria, among the six, was the sole individual to withstand his gaze, if only briefly.
[Her will surpasses mortal limits.]
He evaluated her inwardly, while Maria's frigid voice concluded her report.
"As I anticipated, the garrison captain's death plunged the noble houses into a scramble for his position, wholly neglecting the hunt for assassins. They bickered until your forces stormed the hive."
Nimrod nodded, commending her with genuine admiration.
"Excellently done, exceeding my expectations."
To Yelena, he added, "The three who survived have passed my trial."
Beyond Maria and Tsvetana of Mazov, one assassin from Szczecin, with lesser achievements, also endured.
"Mazov and Szczecin are entrusted to you. Accelerate their reconstruction per Tetzvok's model."
In Mazov's palace, Nimrod similarly secured materials for another "Reader" Beyonder potion, alongside two more components—again, ancient Terran poetry collections.
One was Anna Akhmatova's Twilight, the other Adam Zagajewski's Astonishment.
Nimrod dispatched the First Company to raid the starport, capturing the destroyer Wisła.
Returning to Tetzvok, he met Sage Kaminski, only then grasping the depth of the Magdanese's ostracism.
The Sage, upon seeing him, spoke at once.
"King Nimrod, your punishment of the Magdanese delights the Machine God. Before my arrival, the Omnissiah's Great Bell tolled thrice."
Nimrod offered no reply, believing art held intrinsic value.
The Sage continued.
"Rosicky has crafted your armor. Fulfill our accord swiftly and eliminate the xenos pirates."
"Sage, I shall depart before the Night Kaiban shift. The next work cycle, I will ascend to the starport."
"Bring Rosicky. His expertise will aid you."