Kazimiera. She was a lovely thing, sleek hulled and weighing 650 tonnes and with a steam engine as strong as five hundred horses. She had sailed out of the Drydocks in 31 IA and he had hopes about acquiring another like her in the next few years. All five ships in his fleet. He had over three hundred men in his employ. This was leaving aside investments, there were men who would pay to cover the expenses of sending out one of his ships in return for a share of the profits on it's return. Even if that investment often came in Credits, but even so there was use for credits. He had gone from being just one of many merchant captains to become one of the richest men in Borogskov.



That said, he had his worries about the Dark Elves now that war had begun. One of his old friends, Armas Jolegvik had his ship taken by Dark Elf raider a year after the Infrastructural Army marched in. Other ships had disapered under similar circumstances. With the onset of War, the Dark Elves had returned in force. His son Olon had sighted a Dark Elvish raider yesterday. This was to say nothing about the risk of an assault by a Drow Army. The Infrastructural Navy announced every time they managed to sink one of their ships, but even so he was still worried.



These worries were made more urgent when he got a summons from the Infrastructural Navy. It was vague in what it meant, but he could imagine what it would involve. In times of war, the old Kings of Borogskov would press merchant ships and their crews into service as warships. He took a glass of wine to calm his nerves while he made his way down to the Admiralty. He was soon met by a young Lieutenant.



"Welcome Mr. Velconikivic, I'm Liuentant Korvosleb, Infrastructural Navy."



"Charmed, why have I been summoned."



"That I will show you." He was soon led through a courtyard to a warehouse. As they walked the Lieutenant was quiet, which made him nervous. Once they entered the warehouse he still had a bit of apprehension. Never the less he kept up his poker face. What he saw was eighteen cannons.



"As you know we are currently at war with a foe which poses a threat to Infrastructure in many way, none the least of which is that it poses a threat to Infrastructure's commerce." The last line caught him a bit by surprise. "To protect civilian traffic, the Infrastructural Navy is issuing your fleet these cannons for self defense, as well as ammunition and powder as well as training. They are 10cm caliber rifled muzzleloaders with an effective range of two kilometers. Your ships are equipped with cannon?"



"Yes." Aslog said, shocked. His ships did have a few second hand cannons, but he did not bother with them much. They were low caliber second hand things and powder was expensive. He also made it look like he had more cannons than he actually did by having a couple of black painted logs. "You are not going to press my fleet into service?"



"No. There would not be much point in that. Your ships and their crews are of much more use to the navy by supplying the shipyards with raw materials than they would be engaging faster and better armed Drow warships."

All in all Aslog Velconikivic had done pretty well in the years after the Infrastructural takeover. A few of his rivals had been removed from the equation and there was always plenty of business. The Committee was most interested in coal and iron, but their hunger for those two things was insatiable. This was for his return voyages, however. Pelts, Jemstones, grain and potatoes were available to be sold in increased amounts. But more importantly than that was the products of the factories of Dalatyr, which men of the west were keen to buy. In addition to his old caravel the Zolwie, he managed to buy up three more ships, as well as commissioning from the infrastructural shipyards two more ships. The first was a new style sailing ship and the other was theAslog let out a sigh of relief. "Anything else.""We are also prepared to issue you forty five Type-3R Rifles for similar purposes, as well as training in their use. If you have any obsolete cannons aboard your ship, the foundries could use them. Other than that, I am ready to transfer the cannons to your ships as soon as possible.""Very good. I have four ships at sea, but I will let you know when they return." Due to this pleasant suprise, Aslog simply did not feel like putting an 'if' into that last sentence.Previous- imperator-zor.deviantart.com/a… Next- imperator-zor.deviantart.com/a…