Matt looked around his small home in the Landis Capital's South Industrial district. Or should he say former capital? Since the chaos started, it wasn't clear who was in charge, or where anything was being run from.
He was a carnival worker on that fateful day that the Liberation Front and their traitor Senators made their move. At first, he had hoped for a quick resolution, and when the Senators lost he thought it was over. At least for a few days until the King and most of the Royal Family were assassinated.
Hopefully Prices Gurda was still alive, he's put in a lot of work using his skills as a Shadow Lurker to eliminate those who were trying to track down her whereabouts. Matt knows for sure that she'd escaped the city, he'd seen that himself, but the Rebels still mostly believed that was a double and she was in hiding somewhere inside the capital.
That was a blessing to Matt, if they were looking for her in the city they weren't going to find her, and it brought them into many dangerous and secluded areas where they could be ambushed.
He wasn't alone in his work either. There were no fewer than five former palace employees in hiding pretending to be her right now, and the resistance was working hard to eliminate any rebel who got close to discovering the truth.
The Liberation Front's grip on the city was loosening, they'd sacrificed too many in the south fighting the Elves, and now that the Orcs had attacked they were pulling guards from everywhere to defend the western regions.
But that was a secondary concern, today he had to get into the ocean. The resistance mages had created underwater breathing scrolls for him and a Wave Rider vessel had dropped a parcel for the resistance just offshore.
He had the location tagged and could get to it quickly, he just had to get in and out of the ocean undetected, as the shore was completely off limits to civilians.
Food was getting scarce for everyone, and what was rumored to be a large sea monster had been blocking all rebel attempts to get it shipped in, so it wasn't just the civilians that were on reduced rations.
The old docks by the Fairgrounds were his best bet, the whole area had been heavily damaged in the fighting and fallen into disrepair. Shipments these days went to the new docks on the other side of town next to the rebel training camp.
That way they had full control over distribution, and could "tax" the things they wanted for themselves.
Matt sneaks carefully through the rubble of the dock district, looking at the destruction that the holy light of the Seraphim attack left. He was just glad that they'd decided to leave afterwards and not stick around to level the city. Against such overwhelming force, neither the Rebels nor the loyalists would have stood a chance, and Matt wasn't convinced that the Heavenly Host cared about the difference after the humans attacked them.
They had helped all the merchants escape though, and not just the non human ones, so maybe it would have been better if they'd stayed, even if it destroyed a large portion of the city.
As usual, nobody was around the old docks, so Matt equipped his wetsuit and dove into the water, activating the [Dolphin Speed] swimming skill he'd managed to purchase for exactly this purpose.
If he's not noticed, he will continue out to the drop site, surfacing every few minutes for air and saving the underwater breathing scrolls for emergencies.
As he gets out of sight of shore and closer to the drop, Matt sees a number of ships incoming on the area, flying the colors of the Rebels. They don't look like military vessels, but they've commandeered a number of merchant ships with the help of foreign allies, so they might be part of the fleet.
The chance they'll see him is low, but Matt dives anyhow, hoping to make the pickup before running out of air. He's really starting to feel the pressure of the increasing depth, but the locator the resistance was given says he's very close to the drop before he reaches his limits.
They kindly left it in a large net for him, and he gathered everything in only a few seconds, lungs burning as he comes back to the surface.
The rebel ships are still in sight, near the horizon, but they're no longer alone. A flotilla of black sailed ships with red hulls is racing in on their position with all sails filled and their guns run out.
Matt isn't sure what they've done to anger the Wave Riders enough to send a raiding fleet to destroy their Navy, but it's working in his favor today. They're far too busy to notice him making his way back to shore with a load of food and weapons.
The sounds of battle are audible even from shore by the time he arrives, lightning crackling in the sky to accompany the booming Cannons of the Wave Rider fleet.
The fleet at the south docks heads out to intercept the moment they get the notice of an attack, convincing Matt that those weren't military ships, but allied merchants. It's far too little too late though, and the ships are looted dry and burning by the time they arrive, the Wave Rider flotilla already underway with their loot.
The defense Admiral curses under his breath at the sounds of Elven laughter carrying across the waves. They haven't received a shipment in an entire week and the food stores are basically empty. This shipment would have lasted the city most of a month.
Back in Skyview, Earl Mills sits with his head in his hands, devastated by the news he just received. He dumped a huge amount of money into fifteen ships of supplies to the Landis Liberation Front, who promised top dollar for them and desperately needed the assistance. But with the four just reported looted and sunk by Wave Riders, nine were now lost to the waves, and the rest had docked at safe ports to wait.
If none of them could deliver their goods and manage to deliver him his payment, he would be financially ruined. It had to be Duke Cain and that Elven trollop of his. Who else would be so ruthless?
His last thought as he drank himself into a stupor was that he would make that wretched man pay for what he'd done.
