After the relief airs.h.i.+ps dropped them and the casualties of Remian's crew off at Fal'Herim, Charlie brought these few farther north, across the Midlands Sea, past the peninsula where the Iron Legion first rose up, to a particular city in the southern regions of Ashdale Kingdom. With the help of Deutero services, they were bundled into carriages and delivered safely to his family's front door.

"Charlie… this is the fifth girl you've brought home, but I've never seen one so badly beaten up before…" his mom noted as the servants wheeled Mandy in. "What did you do to her?"

"It wasn't me!" Charlie protested. "The town was attacked by Wilds. These are just some of the survivors."

Charlie's family lived in a hilltop villa. Among their neighbors, theirs was the very highest on the hill. It wasn't overly large, or anything; it was simply where Charlie, his parents, siblings, grandfather, and his brother's wife and children stayed, with just a few servants and a nanny. The structures of the villa formed a square around an inner courtyard which was half a rock-garden, half a mini-waterfall. The outer courtyard had flowering trees, elegant plants, and in the case of the front yard, a whole bunch of vehicles. Two white dogs ran around the yard, kept away from the front yard by a waist-high fence; their names were Snow and Frost, and Charlie had spent many hours in his younger days in their loyal company roaming his own back yard and enjoying the dazzling view of the town and the airport from there with them at his side.

They put Mandy and the kids up at the guest wing, which was the right side of the villa from the front entrance. Charlie's own room was at the far back, overlooking the back yard, along with his parents, grandfather and sisters. His brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephews stayed in the front house. The servants and nanny stayed in the left wing.

Having ensured the care of his wards, Charlie went about looking for a new airs.h.i.+p, or rather, an old, second-hand one he could buy over for cheap.

It would be different, this time. The Deutero company wouldn't own this new airs.h.i.+p; all the profits, and all the cost and responsibility was going to be solely on Charlie's shoulders. Remian would own a share, of course, but he wouldn't be the one plotting its course, or directing its operations or powering its engines. He just put in some money and took a cut of the profits.

Charlie approached his father about it. "Dad? I think it's time I bought my own s.h.i.+p."

"Finally!" Dad rolled his eyes. "Aurora s.h.i.+pyards just released their new Wind Voyager series. They currently have a special discount offer. I'll put in half the amount."

"Dad, no, I can't afford that." Charlie grimaced. He'd seen advertis.e.m.e.nts for the Wind Voyager before. The price range was around 40 million. It was a hybrid airs.h.i.+p, a combination of turbine-drive and magic-drive, capable of either or both at the same time. Roughly the size of a Sky Galleon, the Tier 5.2 airs.h.i.+p was more of a luxury yacht for holiday cruises rather than a cargo hauler. It was the kind of airs.h.i.+p that served kings and high level businesses with grace and dignity, not the kind you'd bring to the Frontier to tangle with Wilds. "I was actually thinking of something hardier, something that could stand up in a fight."

Dad glanced about furtively, then lowered his voice. "Libertaria has this new spy-s.h.i.+p out. They're calling it the Raven. It's a stealth-s.h.i.+p made of pure black t.i.tan-steel, runic-drive and equipped with an Invisibility Runic Formation. It's a single-plane airs.h.i.+p, no gondola, and it's crazy fast. Rumor has it, the Raven is the fastest airs.h.i.+p ever built."

"No, Dad, I need a cargo-hauler capable of ground support." Charlie grimaced. "And I need it cheap. I was thinking of some old second-hand junker."

Dad stared at him for a moment. "Why? We could easily afford something much better. If you just want any old cargo hauler, you can take one of mine…"

"No, Dad, I want to do this on my own, using my own money, partnering with my own friend." Charlie tried to explain. "It's not the same if you're giving it to me."

"You want to buy it from me? What's the point of me paying half, then?"

"I don't want you to pay half! And I don't want to buy it from you at super-discounts. I want to do it on my own for real."

Dad shook his head with a sigh. "How stubborn."

"Sorry." Charlie shrugged. "It's just… call it a quirk of mine."

"So why come to me, then?" Dad asked.

"Just wanted to know if you had some suggestions, or could point me out to a good dealer."

Dad thought about that. "Damien's sc.r.a.p yard. There's been a few new additions there. Last I heard, he was feeling reluctant about sc.r.a.pping some of the old airs.h.i.+ps because they could still fly and function. It would be a shame to scuttle them, he said."

"Perfect!" Charlie lit up. "Where is it?"

"It's the junk pile over there." Dad pointed at a spot beside the airport.

Charlie was there an hour later, looking through the list and descriptions Damien showed him.

Dad's advice was spot-on. Damien really hadn't the heart to sc.r.a.p any of the old cla.s.sics, as he called them. He was actually selling them off whole, at discounted prices.

20 million Lir bought him a bulk freighter in good shape. It was small, smaller than the Deutero frigate-cla.s.s airs.h.i.+ps Charlie had flown for so long. This was a Tier 4.4 corvette that had been refitted with a new magic-drive engine not that long ago. It only had two old magic cannons on board, and the firepower of those two were so dismal, Charlie would do better using a Fire Ball wand. The cargo s.p.a.ce was good, though; they could stuff in four industry-standard (20 ft) containers easily, and fit two more externally onto the specially prepared frame. Heck, they might even be able to double up the frames to fit four externally; the engine was overpowered for a corvette this small.

Or they could mount more cannons on board, preferably new, powerful ones. Even if they used the old stuff like the old Deutero frigate used, they could fit six, maybe eight of them on board the corvette and rain down just as much firepower. Come to think of it, that old airs.h.i.+p could have carried a good deal more firepower if they had wanted…

Charlie fantasized for a moment of mounting a quad of brand new Storm G.o.d Thunderbolt Cannons on board this little corvette. Firepower like that could have killed Spike before he could have retaliated.

Of course, for the price of that kind of weaponry, he could have bought a much, much bigger s.h.i.+p.

The name of the airs.h.i.+p was the Roving Albatross. Charlie took out a loan from the bank to pay for the airs.h.i.+p first, then over the next couple days, he patched up and painted the s.h.i.+p, then loaded the four crates with cargo; tools, cloth, steel and seed. He went around looking for old friends and old colleagues to put together a new crew. Speaking of crews, forty new workers had signed up for construction work; those boarded the s.h.i.+p the morning they set out. Also, he managed to pull the Iron Legion transport duty from Deutero, so that it would be him who delivered their trainees to the Frontier Training Camp from one of three different pick-up locations.

Having acquired a whole lot of debt, a new (old) airs.h.i.+p loaded with cargo and pa.s.sengers, a new crew, and ten Legionnaire trainees picked up from the Iron Legion HQ, Charlie headed back to the Frontier.

***

The journey took two days from Ashdale, starting with a pick-up of the Iron Legion trainees at their HQ. The service was a well-paid one; 500 Lir for each person and their luggage, 5 for every additional kilogram of cargo. They brought a whole ton of supplies; including the pa.s.senger fees, that was 10,000 Lir right there. Charlie felt it was well worth the pick-up.

Aside from them and Remian's workers, there was one pa.s.senger headed for the Frontier. Deutero still sold tickets for the Frontier, simply replacing the old airs.h.i.+p with Charlie's 'new' one on the register, and someone actually bought one. He, too, boarded the s.h.i.+p at the Iron Legion HQ. Strangely enough, he appeared to be one of the Sea People.

Upon coming aboard, he asked, "Have you seen my brother?" he pointed to a figure in what looked like a family portrait.

"I'm not sure, but I think I saw one of the sea people headed for the Frontier some weeks ago." Charlie thought back. There had been one in the same batch as Remian and Markus and Kairos, wasn't there? Whatever happened to that guy. "You can ask around the Frontier. Try the captain of the Iron Legion, or the Priest named Kairos."

"Thank you, captain." The guy said appreciatively.

Captain. Right. Charlie was the captain now, and this s.h.i.+p was entirely his own. It wasn't given to him by his father, or a.s.signed by a company he worked for. This s.h.i.+p was HIS. He was now truly the Captain.

Captain Charlie. He liked the sound of it.

Whistling, Charlie went about his work plotting a course through the winds and the forecasted clouds with the help of air traffic control towers all the way to the Frontier.