The Argonauts, a squad of three ships made out of a mixture of all the races in the Storm Kings Army, have had a singular objective since their founding nearly a month prior.
The Location and Extraction of Magical Artifacts, or LEMA if you wish to shorten it.
And their first LEMA was nearly concluded.
After weeks of searching the swamps of the jungle, they have finally located one of the three shrines holding King Twiga's ancient artifacts.
With the help of the local Crocodile population, a job that would have taken months was shortened to just close to three weeks.
They have already sent a small team of two hedgehogs, two storm creatures, a turtle, and a croc into the shrine, and are awaiting their return.
"So, Your royal majesty, what will we do in the meantime?" A Storm-creature asked The Storm King, waiting for his orders now that the Hippo village was under their control.
"Now? Now I want you to get the captains of any squadrons of soldiers onto a conference call in one hour's time. If I enter the communications hub and even a single one of them is late you can tell them that a replacement will soon be found. I want my soldiers on time." He told him, his eyes staring northeast, in the direction of the capital of Abyssinia, and the servant ran to pass the order around.
The Storm King changed his clothing once he fully integrated the hippo town into the Storm Empire™.
Replacing his dark cuirass and pauldrons with an elegant silk robe woven by the hippos as a gift to their new leader, Around his neck he wore a necklace of seashells that was gifted to him by some children who were enamored by his airships, on his wrists he wore bracelets of ivory and gold, while he still kept his small crown on his head.
For all intents and purposes, The King looked ridiculous. The elegance of the finely woven robe was hidden with the amateur craftsmanship of the childish necklace, the bracelets were barely noticeable on his white fur, only when they moved and shined the sunlight reflected in them or slid against his dark grey skin, did any notice go to the bracelets. And the Storm Kingdom Crown was still too small, some people thought it was another set of horns on his head, for how small and unnoticeable the crown was.
But it looked like the King didn't care, He was gifted with these clothes and so he would show the proper respect and wear them.
Even if some may think him a fool.
Yet the Storm King would not care, For he is not just a King who rules a Storm.
He is a King who IS a Storm.
"Does that sound poetic enough? It doesn't, does it? Oh, I knew I should have taken more Improv classes." The King thought to himself, a small frown appearing on his chiseled face.
"How stupid," He muttered under his breath, if he was talking of his lack of foresight in regards to improving his acting capabilities, or at the stupidity of those around him for not realizing he was simply an actor in the skin of a King, even he was unsure.
But what he was sure of, is that taking over Abyssinia will be one of the hardest tasks for him since he snatched the crown, the kingdom, and the body that wore the crown.
Ever since he became The Storm King, that is.
"Sir, the package is secured, get the airships ready, and let us get out of this swamp." a smirking turtle told a Storm-creature, Jason nodded his head and started ordering the three LEMA ships of The Argonauts.
"Get the ships ready, The package has been secured, I repeat, The package has been secured," He yelled, and movement started all across the ships docked near the unnamed crocodile village.
"You have done well, Jason, as expected of you." The Storm King sat on his modified throne, the one he took from his castle and on to his flagship in the second chapter, and looked at the lead members of The Argonauts, and a few crocodiles who joined them.
"The Crown of King Twiga has been acquired, and his collection of treasures will soon follow. You may take the rest of the week off, Your next mission will be sent at the start of next week." He said as he took the Gold and Ruby crown off the case it was placed in for safekeeping.
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Imperial Greatness," Jason said as he deepened his bow, followed closely by the rest of the Argonauts.
"Of course, good workers get good payment, do not let it be said that I am an ungrateful King. Your group went above and beyond in your mission," The Storm King told him, "Not only did you acquire the crown with minimal to no issues, you even managed to recruit the crocodiles to our cause, and for that you have my sincerest thanks," He smiled, Jason couldn't believe that he, some no-name soldier managed o not only get this lucrative of a position in the fleet, but also made THE STORM KING SMILE!!!
He could die happy now, but he can't.
There is more work to be done.
Everything for The Storm King.
The Storm King was walking in circles in his room aboard the Royal Flagship.
He can't delay it any longer.
Abyssinia could notice what's going on at any point now and send an army to stop him.
He must start his invasion in earnest.
The Argonauts have been sent on their second mission, to retrieve the Orisa Eye, and will rejoin the fleet when they're able.
A battle plan was thought of and the orders were sent to the captains of his army.
The first shipment of food from the Turtle and Hedgehog villages is already on its way and will feed the people stationed in our newly built Storm Base outside of the Hippo village.
All the cards were stacked in his favor lately, he had no setbacks.
Something awful will definitely happen when he fully starts the attack.
"I need to start taking Abyssinia now," He whispered to himself resolutely.
And doing so will be the hardest part of his role as The Storm King so far.
"We Surrender, You can have Abyssinia! We are yours to command!" King Meowmere cried as he bowed on the floor of the palace, his wife Queen Mittens looked in shock as the Menace that was the creature who invaded their land slowly picked up the crown her coward of a husband threw at his feet.
The White-haired Monster took a long look at the crown and at the scene around him, his eyes wide in disbelief, likely not believing that the King of the richest kingdom in The Afcari continent was such a crybaby coward.
If only she could read the thoughts of such a vile invader.
If only she knew the horrors he was planning on subjecting her people to.
"How did I get here? Was this a comedic cutaway? How did the- oh Flashback time." The Storm King thought to himself and slowly relaxed when the flashback that will show him what happened during the time between when he seemingly blinked, and successfully took over what was going to be his biggest obstacle in the continent, started playing in front of him.
...
Are you expecting something special to happen now?
Don't you realize that the flashback is in the next chapter obviously?
"I mean, I'm the main character of this story and even I don't know what happened yet. I mean, How did I get here?" *laugh track ensues*