—~~—~~—1 week Time skip—~~—~~—
—Rost, United Kingdom of Pluvimia, Capital City, Royal Mansion—
"What has become of the continent..." A girl in a royal dress whispers under her breath as she observes the city from her window.
Everything remained silent as she walked away from the window and towards a mirror, she looked at herself as she raised her hands, and looked at her own palms.
"If this war keeps going... Everything & Everyone... Will only be..." She said before she clenched her hands into fists, and her expression showed anger.
"Left as... ASH!" She eventually screamed while her teeth were clenched and balled her fists driving them into the mirror, The mirror cracked& fractured, several glass fragments migrate off the mirror and scatter into the floor, strewn across like Pebbles.
The girl's expression eventually shattered itself, from angered to depression. She removed her fist from the broken mirror, shards of its remains pierce through the skin of her hand and blood droplets fall to the floor, as the girl eventually fell The the floor while she opened her fist, blood still forming.
"What am I doing... What can I do, to prevent my people from suffering... The empire... They will... *cough* *depressed sigh* My part-time persona is not what a princess should have... Desperation got the best of me... I can't do anything... I can't do-..."
"Your highness, I have brought your breakfast-! W-W-Wha!? Y-Your highness!"
A maid wearing a dress overall similar to Victorian-era maids of France, entered the room holding a tray, She skilfully three the tray onto a nearby side-table landing it perfectly as none of the utensils or food fell or tipped over, and she rushed towards the downed Girl.
"Good morning, Telia." She let out a wry smile.
"Don't good morning me, your highness! Why do you keep harming yourself, and at extreme levels such as this!?"
"I'm not in a good mood..."
"Your highness..." she said, before she continued to assist the princess up and treated the wounds.
A few minutes until she managed to remove all shards, and cover up her right arm with bandages, before applying Anti-bacterial Solutions.
(Lynette POV)
"Princess Lynette..." the maid Telia said.
"I'm sorry... I just... Everything is falling apart."
"Your highness, I too feel the same, but this is a war with the empire, nobody can assure victory without many losses."
"I just... Don't want my friends, family, or people to suffer... They have already suffered enough to monsters, bandits, and minor troubles... and they are being harassed by Nobles... as a princess I can't do anything about that." I partly lied, as a princess I can't do anything for the nobles have their own specific power and are essential for the territory of the United Kingdom, but As a hunter, I can do something but... I have always experienced a feeling of guilt despite my efforts. I'm just a weakling aren't I?
"Your highness... Even though none of us can assure victory, we must be optimistic..."
"You try to cheer me up, even at times like this..."
"Your highness, I'm your personal Maid and old friend. I'm always here to assist you."
I smiled, but I still had pessimism in my mind, but I didn't want to trouble anyone.
"Weren't we going to be on a convoy to the Fortified City?"
"Indeed."
—~~—~~—~~—5 day Timeskip—~~—~~—~~—
Everything is going slowly, but smoothly... To the general public outside of the nomadic regions are under Oblivion to My Technology Advancements, I have been keeping operations, tests, and other events to a bear minimum as to prevent any information to spread...
But rumours are something that can spread sporadically, while rumours are technically myths and Half-truths, meaning they are entirely inaccurate at-most, there are chances of some people, piecing the puzzle together. Right now I'm praying it remains undisclosed and debunked.
As for my Newly developed defence force, the technology level has been remained at a Cold War Era and somewhat limited, the standard main battle tank for the Ground Defence Force were Leopard 1's developed by West Germany. And the navy was more akin to that of a coast guard, Only having fast attack craft and patrol vessels, however the Air Force was more underdeveloped, having only WW2 Era propeller-driven aircraft such as the Supermarine Spitfire, and the Messerschmitt Bf-109.
I was in my specified office, I was simply staring off into the distance of the Vertically-shaped Windows facing towards the Great Blue Sea from this Crescent-shaped Bay.
"Director, a simple report; The development of the Turbine Engine for the helicopters are completed, personnel are now in the vehicle completion phase for the chassis'" Kara informed me
"Yes, Thank you Kara, Our Air & Ground Defence Force will be needing Those helicopters for efficient operations."
Director, that is my current title and role, I have decided to turn my group into a more feasible organization, Simply as 'The Directorate'.
I was even wearing my uniform, which consists of a Semi-Formal Grey Jacket that reaches to an area below my waist, a Light-grey Long-sleeved Inner-shirt, and Bluish Dark-grey Pants, My jacket in question was actually heavily inspired by the Uniform worn by Connor (RK800) from the video game Detroit: Become Human, only it lacks the markings or labels for an Android, apart from an upside down triangle on the right chest-area, with a word above it spelling 'Director'.
The Directorate's personnel count is 1200 so far, which are balanced, 600 utility personnel, and 600 Military Personnel
"You seem... Preoccupied Kara, is there something wrong?"
"H-Huh? No, I just-"
"Are you perhaps... I little gloomy, because of my punishment? Well... You are the Head of defence, So I could just give you back your Uzi Subm-"
"No- No... It's not that, I-... Why are you being so kind and humble to... All Personnel? I mean you even went out of your way to create the chassis for the helicopters in one piece including Electrical equipment."
"Why wouldn't I? A Narcissistic Leader who only uses his people as cannon-fodder, is something that is against my philosophy, Moral standards, and personality. To my eyes, everyone here is like a friend, and I try my best to not cause tension with them, Like you Kara."
"Is that so... *laugh* That is essentially a more detailed but either way same reason as last time. Do you truly, think that way?"
"Yes, of course, But still it's not like I'm foolish in any way, My paranoia and intelligence has remained unchanged, and I'am relatively self-aware and I think two to three times, before conducting an action it's just my reaction speed is fast."
"*faint laugh* Well... I'm glad... to be serving by your side, Director"
"The feeling's mutual, you are a very adaptable and precise individual yourself."
"A-Ahem... Y-Yes... I-Umm I don't think I need these warm compliments for now."
"Hmm? Tsun Tsun is it?" I said, to which she kicked me in the stomach.
"*cough* O-Okay, Okay! I'm sorry."
"There are always those times where you are verbally 'tenacious', Director..."
"Lieutenant Colonel?" Esther eventually walked up to us, from the other end of the corridor. I promoted Kara to lieutenant Colonel, which is so far the highest position for now & I'm not too informed about military structuring. The proportion was due to the Ground Defence Force consisting of 300 personnel, A Battalion (Battalions are usually Lead by a Lieutenant Colonel)
"Yes, Esther?"
"It's about the Collected Objects we have in storage."
"What about it?"
"We should should probably sell them. Like you said, Director, 'we don't really need them for anything, The scales, despite being strong as, Umm... 'Titan-eyum' we have no use for them since everyone here doesn't need armour and we can't exactly weld them onto the tanks." She suggested
"Y-Yes... Yes, I Did say that, but... We are under an Oblivious Status, we have no reason to sell them, or dispose of them."
"A-Uhh... Well Director, that's the second thing I wanted to report to you...|"
"What... Is it?"
"A group of about 3 individuals, most likely 'Adventurers' Discovered our whereabouts." She reluctantly forced a wry smile
"...Heh?"
"Well... not exactly our specific location, but they managed to get a full view of two of our Leopard 1 MBTs, during Monster skirmish, And they got away with minor injuries."
"I-I... A- *sigh* Well there goes our cover, we will most likely be the subject of conspiracies..."
"I-I'm sorry D-Director..."
"No, it's not exactly your fault. I should've been more precarious in terms of the use of our technology, A Tank is all it will take to cause an uproar, Remember when Britain drafted them into the battlefield in the First World War?"
"Actually... Director, I don't think this will be a major impact at-least by my common sense." Esther eventually blurred out, both of us reactively look at her.
"Hm? May you explain?"
"I know you have this incredibly high-amounts of paranoia, but... I Don't think, most people would believe 'A powerful Iron Elephant' or 'A Horseless Carriage made of Pure Iron' managed to kill three monsters in a matter of seconds, with no magic in use."
"Wait... How would they assume magic is not in influence on something that has never existed in this world?"
"One of the Individuals held a staff and wore a Robe correct?" She asked Facing Kara.
"Uhh... Yes, one of them did." She responded
"Was it a female?" She once again asked
"Yeah?" Kara said with wonder.
"A Mage... most Female mages are extremely proficient at Magic detection, capable of identifying magic & their level. A tank doesn't use any magic, and magic is so far the only source I know for carriage self-propulsion. Nobody can believe it if there is no magic."
"Well then... If those individuals will be simply disbelieved ...And I'm actually very sorry for them If they were to be ridiculed or mocked, I wish that would never happen... Then why would we, need to take this counterintuitive precaution?"
"I'm not entirely sure, Luck is something that is unpredictable. They might actually spread the conspiracy, and we might get involved in affairs with outside individuals, we may need currency to assist us in bribery."
"Esther...! B-Bribery? Even at your age, why would even resort to that?"
"I said I'm '16', despite my appearance. And secondly I'm just... I'm also very cautious, I know you don't want to kill any individuals, and you don't want the existence of this location being leaked... but I wanted to take some chances and sell these scales and other trinkets, I'm sorry..." she replied
"Director?" Kara said trying to get confirmation.
"*sigh*... I too cannot think of any other way... I never thought would've come to this... But if it's for the sake of personnel, I'll do it, I should be the one apologizing for going with this act."
"I know an old family friend living in the port city of Albatros somewhat far from here who buys at a great price, we can sell them there." Esther explained
"Port City, those are usually Locations where overseas trading and other businesses are occurring, it will cause even more attention, if we have our vehicles." Kara said
"Tanks are out of the question, those three individuals can easily identify them, Our normal light-Armoured Vehicles are not. And I'm a Mage, we can easily say they are carriages being propelled by my magic."
"Well... Okay, that seems about right."
"So should we proceed Director?"
"Yes... I'll be preparing a dispatch, I hope this will go smoothly."