The orders went out before the morning tea had finished steaming.
Across the Star-Fall Archipelago, the five hundred thousand warriors of the Central Continent Alliance moved with disciplined, thunderous precision.
For three days, the narrow sea straits churned with white foam as transport galleys and supply barges shuttled back and forth.
Armored regiments marched up the broad obsidian causeways of Void Lotus Isle, their banners snapping in the ocean wind.
Pikes gleamed in the afternoon sun as soldiers garrisoned the outer battlements, the sea walls, and the high cliff watchtowers.
Down in the deep-water harbor, the twenty allied Star-Iron warships, including four newly captured vessels, were thoroughly refitted.
Allied crews scrubbed the Sanctuary insignia from the iron hulls, replacing them with the golden tree crest of the alliance.
Elder Sterling stood on the harbor quay, barking commands as crane winches lowered heavy ballistas onto the foredecks.
