As Khisa pushed the limits of innovation on the docks of Assab, overseeing the expansion of Nuri's naval forces, storms brewed quietly in distant corners of the region. While he charted blueprints and supervised the fitting of steel-hardened hulls, the enemies of progress began stirring, blind to the force that now gathered against them.
Back at the Massawa Port
Ottoman General Qasim, known among his ranks as The Iron-Hand, scowled at the parchment clenched in his grip. His weathered fingers tightened with frustration. The letter was stamped with urgency, ink smudged by hasty hands—details of a missing Ottoman war vessel bound for Massawa. It had vanished without trace, carrying both weapons and slaves meant to fuel the coming invasion.
