Red entered a large conference room. It was a combination of military and Valencian simplicity. In the end, it was simply big, with a massive central table surrounded by chairs. On the table lay a series of maps. The first one depicted the entire sea of Valencia.
He eyed this one with interest. It was his first time seeing a proper map of the whole sea. In the center, prominently shown were the Fallen Isles. There were seven smaller islands or cities that surrounded the Fallen Isles. They were each of different sizes and at different distances. Wale Port was one of them. The seven locations circled the central capital almost uniformly except for one area that was much more open than the rest.
It took him only a moment to find their island. It was far to the west of the Fallen Isles. Not as far as Wale Port, but still many miles. There was nothing to the south of them. However, to the north east was a large group of farming islands. If one continued even further north east, there was the academy and its surrounding islands. He lingered there for a moment. That area was even more populated than the Fallen Isles.
He turned to the next map. This one depicted the island where they were currently located. It didn't necessarily have a name, but Zara referred to it as the Edge of the Rim. Red decided to simply call the island Rim.
The map depicted much of what they had seen from the jungle. However, looking down from above provided a far more detailed view than being in the depths. The fort was located at the northern tip of the island, on a massive cliff overlooking the sea. There didn't appear to really be a center point of the island, but a series of plateaus ringed it.
To Red's astonishment, there were six plateaus surrounding the center and seven if one counted the cliff they were on. The map of Rim was almost identical to that of Valencia proper. It even included the massive gap between the westernmost island and the one to the southeast.
"The maps look almost the same," Red pointed out.
"Nothing special about it," Zara said tightly, "It's simply normal Valencia nature. You'll find it in many places. The recurring nature from the whole sea on a smaller scale"
She still seemed a bit on edge about their earlier argument. However, she was no fool and understood that, as an engineer, Red provided a value that she didn't normally have. Zara had agreed to let them all get a better idea of what the island had to offer.
Red glanced past the second map to the final, most important one. This was similar to the previous one, but it was newer. All the natural features were the same, but they revealed the known locations of the pirates. It was rough, and Red could tell a few inaccuracies from their time in the jungle.
Derrin leaned over the final map and asked, "Do you want me to add to this?'
Zara nodded, "Yes. I have detailed information for the camps surrounding this part of the island, but I know next to nothing about the far side where you arrived."
Red leaned back and glanced at Vizim. He was intently focused on the pair of maps as well. Red was very glad to see his friend up and about. The jungle had put quite the strain on him, along with the loss of his companions. However, Zara had rekindled a bit of hope in Vizim. He was just as eager to do something as Red, maybe even more so in his own kind of way.
"What do you know about their leader?" Red asked.
This question had been plaguing his mind for days now.
"He's strong. Probably has as many layers as I do, so not some simple kill. I could take him down easily enough with a sniper, but he's aware of my capabilities and has remained hidden. As for his own powers, I am not totally sure myself. I've never seen him in action before, but if he's passed that many trials, then he is no slouch."
That was far less information than he would have liked, but that seemed to be going around. It was hard to make decisions when you only knew a little, but he was used to it. Oftentimes, that was the only way forward while engineering. At least, that is what it was like for him on Wale Port. He knew out in the real world there were plenty of places to go for inspiration.
Red focused his attention on the camps that were nearby. They hadn't seen most of them, but Zara had investigated them extensively. From her perch in the trees, she had gathered numbers and positioned about half a dozen camps. She had even learned the location of her captured soldiers.
Derrin began to draw out locations on the map from where they had arrived. It wasn't detailed because they had mostly avoided camps. However, Derrin had the patrol routes memorized. Red was shocked he could point out the specific locations, but then again, he'd spent far more time in the trees than they had.
He eyed a spot on the distant plateaus. It was the likely location of the pirates' hidden cannons. The same cannons they had used to sink Cairen's ship. Red couldn't be certain where they were exactly located, but he could guess. He pointed this out to Derrin, who nodded and marked a large location on the map for potential targets.
"There is one thing this map doesn't accurately represent," Zara pointed out, "The caves are left out."
"Caves?" They said at once.
"Yes, there is an entire network of underground tunnels that lead throughout the island. The pirates likely are using that to hold the bulk of their troops," She pointed to a spot on a nearby cliff. "There is a massive cave here. It leads all the way down to the sea. It's large enough to fit a ship inside. That is where their vessel is being held."
"All of the pirates came with one?" Derrin asked.
"No. They came on a few, I believe, but most of them have since left. While the island itself is defensible, ships are much harder to defend if you have the Valencian military bearing down on you."
"If a lot of the pirates are hiding in caves, doesn't that make our job much easier?"
"No. The rock in those caves is nearly unbreakable. You couldn't close them off if you tried, at least not by blowing them up."
"Unfortunate," Red said, looking at Vizim.
He just shook his head. Derrin finished sketching the parts of the islands they had arrived at. Most of the island was still unknown, including the center. However, the surrounding areas they had been to, and the regions Zara had investigated, made up over half the map if not more. That was good enough to make a plan or the semblance of one at least.