"Permits?"

"Permits." Handed over.

"Work orders?"

"Work orders." More paperwork slides across the desk.

"Supply requisitions?"

"Supply requisitions." This time a folder containing a sizable amount of documentation inside is pushed forward.

"Labor costs?"

"Labor costs....and insurance." What seems like a small book is placed down.

G'nort grunted at Mai regarding the addition of insurance. "Engineering Judgments?"

"Engineering Judgments are on their way. We're waiting for the fire protection company to finish looking them over and write them out."

"Acceptable. Security?"

"Private Security contract waiting for your signature." Yet another document is presented for perusal and signing. A sigh is heard from the recipiant.

"Have we chosen an Engine" I don't want any of our most up to date trains to be used for this project, we can pick an older model."

"I anticipated that. We have the Dolgoch, The Stirling, A Palisade 4, a a CNJ 592, a Tommolt. the Haydn and an Eddy Tom. Their weight isn't too bad, so shipping any of them from Urnst to Rhydin shouldn't be too costly or difficult. Also, you might want to consider having more than one engine available." Mai scribbled into her notebook, both in anticipation of G'norts agreement, as well as the number of engines he was going to bring over to Rhydin.

"Oh' I'm curious to hear what your reasoning is behind that."

"Well, Mr. Talanador, travel to Yasou normally takes a week. By train, it's considerably less than a day"

"No kidding" Less than a day' Not bad, not bad. Approximately how much less are we talking?"

"Well, sir. It takes seven days, average travel by horse, to get to Yasou. You can ride a horse 60 miles in one day if you push it and are travelling lightly, with enough stops along the way to feed it. Those seven days to Yasou is roughly 420 miles. If you care, the horse would need some serious resting after that."

"I care!" Pause. "Go on."

"If you calculate the average travelling speed of these trains is 50-55 miles per hour, basing my calculations at 50 MPH, you simply divide 420 miles by 50 with the result of 8.4 hours to Yasou. Granted, you must take into account inclines and periods of time where the train would not go the average speed, perhaps stopping for a brief moment along the way. Or not. You can, therefore, estimate the travel time from Rhydin to Yasou by train to be anywhere between 7.5 to 10 hours. Approximately."

Mai had not brought her gaze up from her notepad once during that entire explanation.

"Seven days cut down to just over a third of one. Yes, yes I think that'd be acceptable. Of course, there's no way we're going to be permitted to put the station *in* Yasou or Jenli. So you have to figure an hour or two by horse outside the Mountain's borders." He leaned back in his chair and tapped his chin in deep thought. "I think this is a feasible idea. But you mentioned using more than one Engine. I would assume that would be for multiple trips?"

"In a manner of speaking. Every 5-10 miles, our plans call for a Passing Loop so that trains and/or maintenence vehicles can avoid oncoming traffic. If, every day or so, we have one train going from Rhydin to Yasou, and one train going from Yasou to Rhydin, we can increase trade, commerce, and tourism travellers. This, of course, leads to more profit"

"So, two Engines. I can live with that."

"Actually, you may want at least four."

"Why four" I thought you just said one going each way. That's two."

"And if one train breaks down, depending on the direction it was heading, having a spare train rushing out to meet it would be best. One from each direction."

"Hmm. That makes sense to me. How many of those older model trains were there?"

"Seven, sir."

A long pause of contemplation, he stares out of the window to beyond Rhydin's borders.

"We should bring them all. We'll make use of them one way or another." G nodded a few times.

"Preparations are already underway, sir. I will make the final reports and calculate the remaining figures and this project will be even further along."

"I love this plan. I'm excited to be a part of it!"

"One question, Mr. Talanador. What if the Governor doesn't approve of the railway to Yasou?"

He shrugged and leans back in his chair. "Then I go through with it anyway. I already have some investors interested in making this happen, and it certainly doesn't need the approval of any Government. It's not being placed inside the Rhydin City borders, and it's ending outside of Yasou's dome. Like you said, it opens jobs, trade, public and private commerce, tourism, etc. With the permits and other details, I've got all the permission I'll need. Letting the Governor know is simply a courtesy. Besides, I've had work started on this project earlier this Spring, months ago. We've already cut a couple of days travel out of it, if we had the Engines here."

G smiled and winked to Mai. "Besides, now that I have Seaside, I've got all the Port I need to bring those Engines in. It's done."

"No survivors."

G'nort's own words repeated from Nayun's lips. Four hours, dawn crept up over the horizon. Bringing not only sunlight, but the image of those stacked freshly cut trees that draped over the railway. The Dolgoch forced to stop as it would only prove to be a costly maneuver to simply rush through the many stacked rows of wood. The steam whistle sounding out. Perhaps a warning of the impeding threat that the would be bandits might be facing. The heed not recognized, as Nayun could already see from her hidden glance from side window. A good group of them, twenty - if anything. She could be mistaken, but twenty is a good enough guesstimation.

The conductor was given a look. He appeared to be nervous, but he still offered her a shaken smile. Did he have faith in her" It was something Nayun wondered.

"Keep calm," as she turned away. "stay low." Her orders finished. She left the opened entrance at the side of the locomotive and moved to greet the bandits herself. As expected, the greeting she had been given was one of laughter and mockery.

Nayun stood there. Her red eyes focusing on the small group in front of her. When the train died down, she could hear more coming from the opposite side. So...twenty was not the number, thirty - perhaps. She'd raise a single hand. Not a word said.

"What...Wanna trade yerself for this lil' train, girly' You ain't mucha' a looka'...but we're a lil' lackin' in the women department. You'd make a good toy for us.." That us being his final words as Nayun lowered her hand. The boxcar at both sides opened in that instant. Already knelt and ready would be those trained in the art of gunnery. Aimed, prepared, and soon enough letting loose the sound of thunder.

This wasn't a fight. This wasn't supposed to be fair. G'nort said no survivors, and Nayun took his word as law.

In the first volley of bullets, the bandits size had been cut from the guesstimated thirty to a simple twelve. She knew the numbers well enough when she heard the spotters on both sides, Mio and Maya, speak single digits each.

The second volley sounded then. Twelve turned into a single one. Nayun could hear Maya reprimanding two of the gunners for targeting the same person, yet it did not seem to matter in the end. The final one, the lone straggler, had already begun running away when the gunfire started. Nayun - without care as bullets whizzed past her, followed. Her body kept low as she dashed across the grassy plain. The distance between herself and the escaping bandit cut quickly, and she soon enough found herself within range.

With a flash of steel her katana dug deep within the confines of the mans leg. Ripping into skin and bone. She cleared the first leg, but the second one had stopped her blade and forced her to hurriedly tug it back as the man began to fall onto the blood soaked grass.

He was crying. Pleading. But all of this came to deaf ears. The orders were given, they were to be followed, they are the absolute. The bandits attempt to escape by clawing at the ground became short lived as Nayun gave a downward thrust of the blade to pierce through his right hand.

It was all so quick and calculated. She had no intention of killing him just yet. That is why she grabbed hold of his jacket and began to drag the man behind her; his blood creating a trail that led right back to the train.

Some were busy dealing with bodies. The sound of axes and blades meeting necks echoing throughout the air. Bones cracking along with the death moans of those suffering from their gunshot wounds — yet those would be quieted soon enough by the end of a sword.

Nayun did not need to speak. These were Adennians or girls from RhyDin who were trained by her. They knew what to do.

Peace...is hard fought, her own voice spoke within her thoughts.

The smell of fire filled the air. The fallen trees used to create the final resting place of the bandits as the defenders partnered up to toss the fallen bodies into the inferno.

One would not get peace. The coward who ran and did not die in battle. He had been left behind for the time being — his wounds set ablaze to keep him alive. For now, he had been a twitching mess on the ground; crying and begging.

Nayun looked to the Dolgoch from her rocky perch beside the tearful man. Steam bellowing out...they would be leaving soon. She rose, then stepped over the man. He must have thought this would be her showing mercy. His begging turned into many thanks, but even that would turn into a gurgling moan of pain as Nayun stuck her blade slowly through his stomach.

"Cowards die slow." She said. Leaving the bleeding man behind.

"How many hours?" Nayun questioned the conductor as she stepped back inside the locomotive.

"A few...you'll know when we get there."

Nayun set herself down to rest. Knees drawn to her chest while katana came to rest between her legs. "How so?"

"You'll see the piked heads. The boss isn't as kind as you."

It had been several months since the last update and G'nort had kept things pretty tightly wrapped. There had been no more major incidents since the last one cost him his son. It seemed that Nayun had done a more than satisfactory job with the deterrent system he requested. Namely, punishing everyone who attempted to attack the trains by slaying them to the last man. His own warning of lining portions of the tracks that were attacked with the bandits heads on pikes also seemed to be an excellent form of discouragement to those who might see fit to try and attack parts of his business and plans.

Now that all that has passed. Now that work was complete and a few trial runs of the trains were finished, the Trans-Rhydin RailWay was ready to be opened for business.

Just outside of Rhydin's main city was where the station was located. In fact, if you left through the North Gate in the Seaside District, you could walk there within a half hour to check in and get ready to ride to Mount Yasou at any of the three departures of the day and arrive just outside of the protective magic field of the other city within a days time. There would, depending on business, be an option to increase the amount of departures but for now, three was a good, round number.

There was a grandstand there at the opening, and G'nort stood there with Merci beside him, as well as Mai, Nayun, Ogie Oglethope and a flock of gnomes, even Bae Seul was collecting the trash nearby out of force of habit. G'nort was looking over at the largest of the steam locomotives he had transported over from Urnst through the Dockside district, easier as he is currently the Baron of that area. The inaugural train, which was affectionately known as The Viscountess, was ready to go, steam ejected out through the blast pipes and through the smokestack, hissing as he waited for the word to go. G smiled and squeezed Merci's hand, receiving an encouraging smile in return as he made his way to the microphone. An old fashioned band played a happy tune that came to a stop as he tapped to get the large crowds attention.

"Hello, hello, attention! Ladies and gentlemen." Pause for effect. "Welcome to the grand opening of the new Trans-Rhydin Railway! Rhydin to Yasou in ten hours or less!" He thrust his arms in the air, building the excitement from the crowd of people who have little or no access to the fancy cars or flying machines that make any other travel ridiculously fast. This was for them, and they cheered loudly. They were excited for the opportunity to trade, travel, explore and just ride. G'nort was excited because of the large cut of money that would be coming from all of that and into his pocket. There should have been no surprise over a selfish reason for taking the time and energy to build this railroad system, and he made sure the profit he'd get would be significant. After all, cargo wasn't just for sailing ships, doing it through trains was faster and easier, as well as able to pack in more than you could in a ship.

The band played an enthusiastic number while people started to board the train. Conductors and ticket punchers smiling as they welcomed people onto the Viscountess. G'nort and Merci and the retinue would all be travelling in the first class cabin, of course. But first, there was the media. He silenced the band and nodded, taking a slighting less happy expression as he pointed to the first reporter.

"Hello, Cherry. As always, it's always a pleasure to see you."

"Hey, G'nort. Love talking to you." Cherry cleared her throat, having been promised the first question. She knew what she would ask, but it would be difficult. "Cherry Bomb, Paragon Press. Ahem. Mr. Talanador. There's been rumors floating around for a few months now, I mean, it's hard to silence everyone who worked on this wonderful train system. Umm. The rumors are that there were some brigand raids on a few sections of the line. A few of the ones we've talked to have said that there were some deaths.....and that...well...one of those deaths was someone close to you...your son' Is this true?"

He gave Cherry the initial question because he knew of her wanting to ask about his son, so he was mostly emotionally and psychologically prepared for that. He felt Merci tighten her grip on his arm for support. Merci was so good to him, she knew how this had made him feel and that it had to be answered to the press. The lives of famous people were always spotlighted. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes. it's true. My son, Locke, was an unfortunate victim of a violent and brutal attack by bandits. He was rushed to the closest hospital, as there were no healers nearby, where he eventually succumbed to his wounds. I was there when he passed, there is no need to dwell on it or say sorry. It won't bring him back, and there were several others who also died in the attacks. We mourned, we move on."

"Surely you miss him?"

An incredulous look, he heard a sharp intake of breath from Merci. "Are you serious, Cherry' Of course I miss him. What man can truly get over burying his son' I said I moved on, and that's how it should be."

Cherry bit her lip, she knew she shouldn't have went there. G paused for a few moments, and a couple reporters began to raise their hands to be picked to ask their question. G didn't look at them, only at the podium. Suddenly, all desire to speak in this press conference had disappeared. He looked at Merci, who gave him a sympathetic smile because she knew him well enough to know what was going through his mind and with that encouragement, he looked up and let out a deep breath and threw on a fake smile.

"That'll be all, no more questions. It's now time for the inaugural ride to Yasou! ALL ABOARD!"