215 Tide Day One

Days since the Beast Wave Began: 1. Current Kill Count: 374.

In the north, the world war raged. Germat and Auria invaded La Vive with impunity, but as they ventured deeper into La Vive territory, their supply lines began to report having odd, unexpected problems. At that time, the Midlands Sea People began to evacuate La Vive refugees en masse.

Bulrak tried to catch up and rushed into Bellas territory, actually bypassing the fortifications and defense towers trying to stop them. Three Bellas towns were overrun, plundered and reduced to rubble in a day, but the Bellas fortifications made them pay for each one dearly.

Otta and Ira meanwhile were in a standoff with the Nine Mountains, having overwhelmed their ground forces in the Neutral Zone, but unable to advance into their highland territories. The brave Red Mountain clan held them at bay, utterly denying them the gains of even an inch of their mountain.

Kuasa Besar attempted to help them, but simply couldn't squeeze their forces through their hordes, and besides, they weren't very keen on cold mountain weather in the first place. Neither were they keen on fighting naval battles with the Sea People. They wanted plunder, they wanted slaves, and there was little or nothing left in the Neutral Zone to provide either, and they didn't want to step on Germat's toes as Germat and Auria ransacked La Vive. There was a thought, a brief idea, of invading Ashdale, but Ashdale was the farthest country from their forces, and were already in high alert and full defense preparation. After consideration, they decided to just sit around, wait and see.

As for Ashdale, they were busy building Type-A Wasps, Extra-Range Longbow Cannons, and trying to design a new, heavier armored carriage to stand up to Germat's. Little did they know that the armored carriages Germat fielded were already practically obsolete in Germat's own eyes. A full column of a hundred new tanks were already rolling westward in Ashdale's direction.

While all that was going on, the Deep Emperor was already halfway across the Midlands Sea. The Storm Pegasus King was almost caught up with him, and they were right on the verge of reaching the Midlands Sea People's islands.

As for the South Tide, the forward party had already reached Craggy Peak. The human settlement there had been completely abandoned, but they still decided to stomp it into wreckage, just as a matter of principle. The main bulk of the South Tide meanwhile passed Dragon Lake with the Bone King in the lead and a dozen full grown adult dragons idly decided to join the fun.

While that went on, the West Tide, having already utterly crushed the western colonies, decided to head north toward Fal'Herim.

***

In Fal'Herim, Mindy took a break from training her new old crew.

"How are they?" Tim asked, coming alongside her with a cup of water.

"It's slow going, but I think they'll be okay. What about you? How are things going on your end?" Mindy asked.

Tim shook his head. "We're trying to bring as much of the equipment underground as possible, but most of the space has already been taken up by housing. It's all we can do to fit the people below. The Lynxmice are tunneling and expanding new caverns, but there's just not enough time."

"Is there really any point to tunneling more at this time?" Mindy squinted. "Just how many Lynxmice do you have working for you down there?"

"On the tunneling job? Fifty thousand." Tim figured.

"Pffft!" Mindy spluttered, spraying water all over Tim's face then went into coughing. "S-sorry…"

"That's all we could spare!" Tim protested, wiping his face. "The rest are too far away, and they also have to take care of their own needs, food foraging, baby care, their own nests…"

"That's all? Fifty thousand is just part of your forces? Just how many Lynxmice clans have joined you?" Mindy gaped.

"Uh… all of them?" Tim scratched his head. "As far as I can tell, there's only sixty three."

"Sixty three north of Kara-Goth?"

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"Sixty three in the whole world."

"You took control of all the lynxmice in the whole world?!"

"All those who are in the sixty three known clans, yes. It's not that hard. Mainly, they're quite willing to cooperate with each other to ultimately get more food."

"Just how much food are they getting?! Can our farms even support that much consumption?"

"Our farms? No way. But we have forage teams as far as Paleres, Ira and Kuasa Besar."

"You've got operatives in other countries?!"

"All over the world. I mean, you can't beat the cheese in La Vive, you know? And the sausages in Germat are really something else!"

"How did you even cross the Midlands sea?"

"Uh… there are six clans of lynxmice native to the sea. They're all water-type breeds that can swim."

"Variant breeds of lynxmice now?!"

"They're not variant breeds! They just… evolved."

"Lynxmice can evolve?!"

"Most Wilds can, given the right food and conditions. Plus, they can pass their traits on to their children. It's actually all very interesting." Tim said. "It's incredibly helpful to have whole clans of lynxmice evolve rock-digging abilities overnight. Half of them fail and need a few tries, but we couldn't have expanded the Fal'Herim underground to such extents as to accommodate all of Remian's people and mine at the same time."

A thought struck Mindy then. "When you said accommodate, are we talking about crowds of people standing shoulder to shoulder, or…"

"Multi-storied dorms with individual beds. Everyone has their own space to sleep, though I can't say much for privacy. Also, toilets on every floor are shared between roughly twenty people. It could get messy." Tim grimaced. "Not something we want to keep up for long, but I think we can hold out for a few hours, or a day."

Mindy gulped. "You really managed to find space for everyone?"

"Temporarily, yes. Some of my people have to put up strangers in their own homes, but I'll pay them extra this month. We'll manage."

"When you say 'your people' do you mean humans? As in, people who live underground?"

"Well, yes. Didn't you know? The title of 'Underground King' isn't for show."

Mindy blinked. "Who's the Underground King?"

"Right now? I am." Tim shrugged.

Mindy nearly spluttered water over his face again.

***

Word came from the south. Mindy lowered her communication crystal and exchanged grim looks with Tim.

"Two different groups? And the second one is stretched out over a long distance? In other words… this isn't going to be over in a day." Tim grimaced. "This could be bad. We can hold out for a few hours, but a few days? And it's likely that Fal'Herim would be flattened afterwards. This could be really bad. Can we evacuate? Get people to safety elsewhere?"

"With what? I have only these two airships. I can bring out maybe a hundred people at a time. How many people does Remian have here? How many people do you have?"

"Remian? About six thousand. Me? Just two."

"Two people?"

"Two thousand."

Mindy shook her head. "Even if we picked the nearest foreign country, there's no way I can make eighty trips to Paleres and back in time. The West Tide is already crossing the desert. At most, I can make three trips, and I'm inclined to pick up the people on the surface, not those who already have shelter underground. People who aren't part of Remian's industrial district or your underground. People who would be willing to pay a lot."

"That sounds profitable. Just bring back more food, will you? That should help ease the burdens of our foragers."

"That's all we need? Food? What about bedding and clothing and all that?"

"Uh… I guess? We could just raid the bazaar and warehouses for those after the first Tide passes, though."

Mindy's eyes narrowed. "Just how long have you been planning to plunder Fal'Herim in between the Beast Tides?"

"The moment I heard there would be several waves?" Tim grinned.

"You're totally corrupted." Mindy fumed.

"What's the matter?"

"You're stealing! After all the hard work of traders and merchants, in the end…" Mindy shook her head.

Tim just shrugged. "Don't worry. It's not your stuff."

"But it's still dishonest!"

Tim smile slipped. He looked at Mindy and suddenly looked sad. "Yes. It is. But it's what we need. It's how the underground survives."

Mindy looked back at him from mere feet away and for some reason, she felt as though they were suddenly miles and miles apart.