Chapter 50: Conclusion

Valerius slumped forward against the steel frame of the chair, his breath rattling in his throat. The arrogance that had defined every line of his face just thirty minutes ago was completely gone.

Seeing John turn toward the heavy steel door, the broken Inquisitor forced his swollen, bleeding mouth open.

"Wait..." Valerius wheezed, his bloodshot eyes staring desperately at the floor. "What... what will become of us? You have our confessions. You have our routes, our maps, our timelines. What are you going to do with us?"

John stopped at the threshold and looked back over his shoulder.

"You’re going to face a military tribunal," John replied, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "And once the proceedings are documented, you and Father Corvin are going to be executed by firing squad for war crimes."

Valerius stiffened as if struck by lightning. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"E-Executed?!" Valerius sputtered, coughing up spit as sheer panic seized his chest once more. "I am a high nobleman of House Valerius! I am an ordained Grand Inquisitor of the Sun! In the civilized laws of warfare, noble officers are held for ransom! You can demand thousands of gold suns for my release! My house will pay any sum!"

"You’re not in the civilized world anymore, Valerius," John said coldly. "And you didn’t conduct warfare. You commanded a scorched-earth raid against an unprovoked coastal settlement. You slaughtered women, children, and unarmed elders. You burned homes and enslaved non-combatants."

"Those were sub-human beasts!" Valerius shrieked desperately, straining against his restraints until the metal clinked against the concrete. "They have no rights under imperial law! There is no law in this world that condemns the cleansing of demi-human filth!"

"There wasn’t one," John agreed, leaning slightly against the doorway. "The Geneva Conventions don’t exist in this world. But I’m writing the new rules around here. Under United States military law and the laws of armed conflict, indiscriminate slaughter of non-combatants is a capital war crime. You don’t get ransomed, and you don’t get an exchange. You get a trial, a blindfold, and a volley of lead."

"Please! No!" Valerius began to weep hysterically, the proud nobleman reduced to a groveling mess. "I will serve you! I will renounce the church! I will give you access to my family’s secret vaults in the capital! Commander Smith, please—have mercy!"

"Save your prayers for whatever god takes you," John said.

He stepped out into the hallway.

"Seal the door," John ordered.

The pneumatic locks hissed shut with a heavy, final thud, cutting off the Inquisitor’s desperate wailing mid-sentence.

John and Captain Hayes took the express elevator straight to the island’s primary Tactical Operations Center on the surface.

When the metal doors slid open, the contrast to the subterranean prison was striking.

The TOC was a massive, dimly lit command hub dominated by a colossal multi-display main video wall. Dozens of uniform-clad personnel sat before glowing workstations, monitoring radar tracks, radio frequencies, thermal satellite feeds, and perimeter defense grids. Blue and amber tracks flickered across holographic tactical plots, showing the real-time status of their island airspace and the distant beachhead at the Ironclaw settlement.

Sergeant First Class Ritcher was already standing near the central planning table with a fresh mug of black coffee in hand. He looked up as John entered.

"How did the high-and-mighty inquisitor hold up, boss?" Ritcher asked with a dry grin.

"Broke in under two minutes once the electricity hit," Hayes answered, setting his digital tablet onto the central table. "He verified everything Corvin gave us. Naval transit vectors, imperial mobilization timelines, fleet strengths, and the current operational status of the summoned heroes."

Ritcher whistled softly. "So we’re looking at a five to six-month window before an imperial armada shows up on our scopes."

"On paper, yes," John said, leaning his hands against the edge of the holographic map table. "But I never make tactical decisions based purely on the confessions of two tortured prisoners. Corvin and Valerius might believe what they told us, but feudal kingdoms are notorious for chaotic timelines, unexpected reinforcements, or hidden staging bases. We need empirical verification."

"We need broad-spectrum ISR," Hayes agreed, tapping the terminal. "Our current land-based radar arrays on this island have a clean three-hundred-mile line of sight across the sea, but the Endless Azure Ocean spans thousands of nautical leagues. If we want eyes on the Eastern Continent, Port Solis, and the Abyssian gateway, our current surface assets won’t cut it. We can’t fly standard Black Hawks or Apaches across an entire ocean."

John nodded. "Which is why we’re expanding our aerial inventory right now."

He opened the system and navigated straight to the High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Strategic Reconnaissance roster.

To dominate this theater, he needed total information dominance. He needed eyes across the ocean to map the Eastern Continent, track fleet movements, and monitor the Abyssian perimeter.

And there were some options.

RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 40 HALE UAV x 2 Units

Ground Control & Sensor Operators: 6 Souls

MQ-9A Reaper Extended Range (ER) UAV Squadron x 4 Units

Pilots & Sensor Operators: 8 Souls

E-3G Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) x 1 UnitFlight Crew & Mission Specialists: 20 Souls

P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol & Reconnaissance Aircraft x 1 Unit

Flight & Tactical Crew: 9 Souls

Ground Support, Avionics Techs & Specialized Intel Analysts

- Maintenance & Intelligence Personnel: 120 Souls

[Total Hardware Cost: 0 SP]

[Total Souls Consumed: 163 Souls]

[Remaining Balance: 1,650,550 SP | Remaining Souls: 1,325 Souls]

[Confirm Summoning? Y/N]

Confirm, John commanded mentally, and the hardware and personnel were summoned in their respective stations.

"Okay, that should do it. We start the operation tomorrow. I’m going to take a rest. Have the flight crews run full diagnostics and set Global Hawk One for an early morning launch," John instructed, stretching his tense shoulders. "I want the initial sweep data on my desk at zero-six-hundred."

"Understood, Commander," Hayes replied, snapping a crisp salute alongside Ritcher. "Get some sleep, sir. We’ll keep the watch."

Reconnaissance in the skies was only the first phase. If the Holy Solarian Empire intended to send hundreds of galleons and magical dreadnoughts across the sea, air power alone wouldn’t secure absolute maritime dominance.

Tomorrow, John resolved quietly, his eyes narrowing as he turned toward the corridor. I’ll tap into my system and summon a modern naval strike group. Guided-missile destroyers, attack submarines, and carrier strike assets to turn this entire ocean into an impassable graveyard for the Solarian Navy.