Eighteen days after departing the Imperial Capital, the skies above the central basin of Cloud-Mist Province gleamed with the golden-red banners of the Imperial Clan Registry.
Fifty thousand elite armored soldiers of the Capital Reserve Legion pitched their fortified camp across the open plains five miles west of Cloud-Mist City's outer walls, while an ornate royal procession of nine-horse dragon carriages and flying spirit-chariots rolled straight through the city's Western Vermilion Gate toward the central command compound of the Wartime Logistics Directorate.
Riding at the head of the column in gilded armor was Second Prince Huang Xuan, his handsome face glowing with triumphant self-importance as the city garrison soldiers saluted along the avenues.
