Dom sat under a large canopy that had been erected above a large meeting space that had been prepared by Leotychides's men. Xanthippus was sat to one side, a collection of his own fellow Captains surrounding him, with a small guard behind them. Leotychides sat opposite with his own matching entourage, whilst food was handed out to those who was seated by a group of younger men from the Isle of Delos itself.
These young men wore simple toga's and were part of the wider priesthood that lived on the island and prayed to the many Greek Gods. Dom looked over them and saw how whilst they were extremely polite to the King of Sparta and one of the key Leaders of Athens, they seemed to be almost aloof of the situation.
Dom was welcomed warmly by Leotychides, almost like a long lost friend as he was directed to an area that had been set up for himself, his delegation slightly smaller than yesterday this time. Xanthippus had nodded in his direction, an unsure look on his face as he looked at the masked guards behind Dom, as well as the veiled woman beside him.
"So, we gather here as our esteemed friend Spyros requested our presence to free his home of Chios from their tyrant Strattis of Chios." Leotychides welcomed, a tone of ridicule in his voice as he looked towards a rugged man that was sat further down his own entourage. "As already discussed, I am not keen to head any further east than Delos."
"King Leotychides, our people are willing to revolt against the Persians and join the." Spyros began in response, but was quickly interrupted.
"Yes, you will revolt against the Persians and join the alliance of the Greeks against them. In turn the Ionian's will join your revolt and slowly we can rid the coast of the Persians." Leotychides replied with a wave of his hand and a yawn. "I agreed to help, as alongside our other Greek allies here, we want rid of the Persians from our waters. Before today I would have said no, we have come far enough and shouldn't push further. However, you are lucky that Admiral Lazarus had arrived with some positive news."
The man from Chios looked in Dom's direction with some form of hope in his eyes at the words. Dom had been told about how a small delegation had escaped from Chios and persuaded the Spartans to move in the first place, but they became a footnote in history once those from Samos arrived with better information. Dom did feel a bit of pity for them, but at the same time knew that they would probably switch back to the Persian's side if the Persian's had offered them the leadership of their home instead.
"The Persian fleet should be near Samos from our recent information, an island that isn't far from here and whilst we can not fully confirm their numbers, we are in a much better state of preparation with a stronger military force." Dom explained to Spyros, who turned to look at Leotychides in hope.
"What Admiral Lazarus says is valid, however there is still a lot at risk." Leotychides explained, "I think we should wait here for a couple of days first before progressing forwards with a decision."
"I would have to agree, Admiral Lazarus had scouts in the area who are monitoring the situation. We can agree once their full report is back." Xanthippus stated, with a look of disappointment on Spyros of Chios's face. Xanthippus then turned to Dom, allowing him to speak.
"With the Persians at Samos with additional allies, I have decided to dispatch a small detachment to scout our surroundings and to make sure they do not get any ideas of their own." Dom explained, "Three of my Trireme will depart, alongside a group of our smaller warships."
"That is a prudent decision, I will dispatch Eudoxus and another with their ships as support." Xanthippus agreed with a nod of his head as he turned to the Captain Dom had spoken with the night previously, "They can be ready immediately."
"I had the same thought as Admiral Lazarus, we will send three ships as additional security if you come across any enemies and are unable to flee." Leotychides added, a simple response would have also worked Dom thought to himself.
"Send order for Gan Ning to get the ships out to sea and wait for our allies." Dom whispered to one of his guards behind him, who left the meeting area and headed back towards their own fleet with speed. Xanthippus and Leotychides following suit like it was a competition between the three of them to see whose ships would be in the water first.
They continued talking about other things as the ships began to depart, with Dom having to listen to Artemisia and his guards whispers every now and then as they discussed culture, laws and other parts of what made the Greeks, Greek.
Every now and then a question would come up about Dom's own home, with him taking the lead to talk loosely about Riverside, whilst the other Captains beside him kept quiet but were secretly amazed at some of the things that they heard. Especially when Crassus joined the conversation and spoke about Dom's Egyptian Princess bride.
Eventually Dom could see the small fleet of eight Trireme, two Bireme and two Liburna heading off in the distance towards the north east, where they hoped the delegation from Samos would soon reach them.
...
"It's nice being surrounded by Trireme's again." Centurion Elon said to Gan Ning as they lead the small fleet with the Sibylla at the front, the Sibylla was the most advanced Trireme in the fleet and her Ballista was directed forwards as they reached open sea, the sight of surrounding islands turning in to smaller dots on the horizon.
"I would prefer they were our own Trireme and not new allies." Gan Ning replied seriously as he looked at the other player ships, as well as those of the Spartans and Athenians. Gan Ning that both of the Greek Allies would report back everything they saw, be it the strengths or weaknesses. Anything that showed as weakness would be picked upon to lower Dom's standing at the table, where as any strengths could be seen as a long term threat.
"After they see the performance of our ships, they will be glad to have us as allies." Centurion Elon nodded along, understanding Gan Ning's thoughts. Centurion Elon had joined them early in Riverside's development under the first batch of Bireme that Crassus had been able to persuade to join them.
They continued travelling for over an hour, with Centurion Elon's crew mapping their route as they travelled on a map that each ship had been given to them. Samos wasn't far from them and they didn't want to approach the island to close. Centurion Elon pointed towards a smaller uninhabited island that was more of a rock formation in the sea, where they could hold the small fleet for a while to see if anyone travelled past.
"The two Liburna have headed to the other side of the rock formation to keep their eyes around us, Captain Wine Wind has moved her Trireme between us so she can pass on any messages." Centurion Octavian reported, after exchanging some messages with their allied ships. The others stayed behind the Bellona, ready to pounce if they were needed.
"Very well, have the crew rest for a while, with our look outs to be spread across the ship." Gan Ning ordered, before turning towards his new allies behind him. "I trust the Athenian's more than I trust the Spartans, keep an eye on the later as well."
"As you order General." Centurion Elon replied as he began to pass the order around the ship, whilst Gan Ning rested his elbows on the wooden side and looked out across the clear open sea, the sun now showing it was nearing lunch. Shoals of fish could be seen swimming nearby, whilst larger long finned creatures followed them closely.
"It's beautiful here isn't it." Gan Ning expressed to himself out loud, as some of the nearby crew heard him and nodded in agreement, many from the Aegean or Mediterranean sea themselves.
Gan Ning rested himself for a while, stretching his arms or chatting to different members of the crew, spirits seemed to be high on the first expedition for some of them as the last expedition's ships were mainly sailors with marines, rather than mainly warriors. Gan Ning thought back to his old life, realising that part of him missed his family and his own young son's. He saw Dom almost like a son himself, much younger than him and easy to nurture in to a capable warrior and leader. As he thought, he was suddenly interrupted.
"Message from Captain Wine Wind, ships approaching!" Centurion Octavian bellowed from nearby, as Gan Ning turned towards him.
"How many and how far?" Gan Ning shouted back, his crew rousing from their rest and preparing themselves to depart.
"Three Ships." Centurion Octavian responded, as the signalman next to him moved some flags around. There was a short pause as they waited for a response to travel from Captain Wine Wind to the Liburna that spotted them. "Should be past us in twenty minutes at the most at this pace."
"Pass a message to our allies, if all three ships are from Samos then I will be surprised. They are only supposed to send one." Gan Ning explained, some excitement entering his voice. "We can take three ships easy enough, but I want to know who they are first."
Gan Ning had the fleet move in to a long line, their sight hidden mainly from the small island they hid behind. His ship was at the front, with the others further back. Once the Liburna signalled they were in range, they would all move forwards, creating a blockade that the approaching ships would have to pass through. Gan Ning had been surprised at how easily the Spartans and Athenian's had agreed to his plan, realising that anything that went wrong would be fully his responsibility.
"Prepare the Ballista, someone let me know if any of them are from Samos before we fire the thing!" Gan Ning shouted, temptation to light the bolt on fire was with him, but that was a tactic they wanted to keep hidden until Samos itself.
"Archers, target their deck crew, I want us ready for boarding if needed. We need the ships!" Centurion Octavian then shouted, following Gan Ning. The crew began to run around and get themselves in to position as Gan Ning looked across to the second Liburna that had taken the place of Captain Wine Wind's ship as a middle messenger. A Flag was shaken, signalling that they should move. Gan Ning took a deep breath, trusting his own decision over his allies.
"Forward!" He ordered as the ship came to life as the rowers began to move, with deep and meaningful pushes of their oars in the sea.
The other ships followed the Sibylla's movement, with Captain Wine Wind and Captain Wang to his direct side, followed by the Athenian's and the Spartans at the far end to close the blockade.
They soon came round the bend of the island, with three ships clearly in sight. One was further ahead of the other two, it's crew working extremely hard as they seemed to be running from the others. Gan Ning could tell straight away that it was those from Samos running from their enemy.
"Those aren't Persian colours following them!" One of the Greek Hoplite explained nearby, as Gan Ning had the Ballista target the following ships.
"Signal for the fleet to let the lead ship through, then let's crush the others so they can't return home and let the enemies know we were here!" Gan Ning bellowed excitedly, as the whole ship shook as the Ballista was loosened, it's bolt flying high and crashing in to the side of one of the following Trireme.