48 Devices (1/2)
Frustrated, Nikolai tore through the semi-refined magical devices he ordered brought to his office, muttering incoherently and searching for something usable. Natalia's interruption while annoying wasn't as irritating as her desire to stay and chat over drinks. The woman's presence would have been a damper on any sort of romantic mood with her off colour jokes and a penchant for violence of the cane variety. But Elya was terrified of her great aunt's judging gaze and being scrutinised in her revealing clothing had her dashing away with mumbled apologies for her attire, leaving Nikolai alone to endure Natalia's knowing smile and pointed remarks.
Another magical artefact was tossed into the increasing pile of incomplete devices when Nikolai saw the stress fractures in its spell structure. Over the last year, he began many projects to refine artefacts and weapons for himself, the Ministry of War and the Emperor based on their varying needs.
Ancient fragments dissected for investigation, prototypes of massive spell constructs, staves of power for Mages, he had it all. Unfortunately his procrastination and desire to study all the projects at the same time meant there was nothing he could immediately bring to bear on his problem. Unlike the earlier battle, a Disintegrator wouldn't serve much of a purpose.
Petrov's tentative plans called for concurrent strikes against numerous buildings across the town. Any place identified as a potential warehouse, a hiding place or even indirectly associated with Stardust trade was marked for attacks. Unfortunately the number of targets was far greater than the number of soldiers presently under his command even if you included the Knights of Chernigov stationed within the town. Dozens of minor Houses and merchant families were implicated, and the possibility existed that their attack would lead to a minor rebellion.
Nikolai had swallowed his pride and sent a letter to the Arkh fortress. Its commander, General Valda Orlov, was a strict man who'd fought his way up the ranks of the Imperial army on his own merit rather than relying on his Houses name. A difficult task especially when he was treated as an outcast for becoming a common soldier, instead of gaining a key position in Court as was expected of the Orlov second degree branch family descendants. The Emperor himself had bestowed the critical post after they took back the town of Konstanz during the war.
Despite their overt allegiance to the Son of Heaven, Nikolai and Valda fought constantly. Arguing over resources and funds, the Emperor sent many letters through his Hands to maintain the peace. Nikolai was irked by Valda's superior attitude. The man only believed a true soldiers words were worth anything, and since Nikolai had only been attached to the army, he didn't qualify. On the other hand, he was sure Valda's dislike stemmed from Nikolai's position as Count of Volhiniya. Coupled with the Emperor's secret orders, Valda's forces fell nominally under Nikolai's control. Which the General detested.
Still, his grudging response allowed for a half Legion to surround the town to free up more of the guard. That was another fifteen hundred troops in place to be called upon in the event of an emergency.
Muttering at a faulty focus crystal, Nikolai placed the spell construct he was studying aside. This particular piece had been unearthed in some ancient ruin and kept within the Emperor's vault with a small note describing the sensation of drowsiness one felt if energy was passed through it.
Nikolai had stumbled across the construct in one of his sweeps through the vault and pulled it out for research. He'd discovered the construct generated a field which, if fully powered could force people to fall asleep. Poor Jarek had lost consciousness too many times to count until even the normally cheerful and inquisitive boy outright demanded to be notified so he wouldn't have to face Nikolai's random experiments with the device.
It would have been useful in suppressing their enemies. Unlike the previous battle where they had to purge their enemies to make a statement in the face of Dark Magic and slavery, the drug dealers simply had to be apprehended.
He toyed with the idea of jury-rigging a few of the spare unattuned crystals he kept to provide a proper energy source, but the construct could react disastrously and create all sorts of terrifying side effects. If it even worked at all. It wasn't worth the trouble.
He set everything aside for a moment and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples to soothe the throbbing pain which threatened to explode into a powerful headache. There were people like Suri and Chen who lived without any worries even if they hadn't slept for a few days, acting as if everything was alright, only to sleep for days once they were able to.
He wasn't that sort of person. Changes to his sleep schedule would make him suffer from terrible headaches as the day progressed. Casting a spell through the pulsing in his temples, Nikolai created a few chunks of ice which he promptly tied up with a handkerchief.
A makeshift icepack.