The sabotage of the northern peat bogs had precisely the effect Kael's models predicted: it induced a state of metabolic panic in the Eastern Variable. Sulfur sublimation requires a constant, high-intensity thermal output—something the dry scrub of the Salt-Spurs could not provide. Two weeks after the flooding of the primary bogs, the Gray Fang telegraphers signaled a rapid mobilization. A force of nearly eighty penal-conscripts, led by a small core of the Duke's remaining professional men-at-arms, was moving toward Ashfall's secondary fuel-drying ricks. They weren't coming to conquer; they were coming to steal the energy they needed to survive.
Kael did not meet them with a wall of pikes. To do so would risk his precious specialized labor in a traditional attrition battle. Instead, he treated the incoming raid as a problem of Thermodynamic Management. The peat ricks—thousands of stacked, air-dried bricks of compressed organic matter—were highly flammable but difficult to ignite quickly due to their density. Kael decided to turn the fuel itself into a tactical barrier.
The engagement took place at the "Logistics Neck," a narrow corridor where the Iron Road passed between the northern marsh and a steep limestone ridge. Kael had the "Heavy Engineering" squad—his former mercenaries—reconfigure the drying ricks into a series of staggered, hollow chimneys. Inside these chimneys, he placed "Accelerant Vials"—byproducts of the aquaculture nutrient pits that had been distilled into a rudimentary, high-alcohol spirit.
"They're hungry and cold, Baron," Rylen reported from the ridge, observing the approaching penal units. "They're moving with more desperation than discipline. They've brought heavy sleds to haul the peat. They aren't planning on a long fight."
As the raiders entered the Logistics Neck, they found the peat ricks apparently unguarded. The penal-conscripts, many of whom were shivering in rags, broke formation and surged toward the fuel. This was the point of no return. Kael, positioned on the Gray Fang tower, signaled the command.
The "Igniters"—Aspirants equipped with long-range fire-arrows—struck the base of the ricks. The alcohol-based accelerant vaporized instantly, creating a flash-fire that roared upward through the hollow chimneys. Because of the "Chimney Effect," the fire didn't just burn; it sucked air in from the bottom with a deafening, rhythmic howl, creating a wall of intense radiant heat that made the Logistics Neck impassable.
The penal units were trapped between the boiling marsh on one side and the roaring peat-wall on the other. But the goal was not slaughter. Kael utilized the Acoustic Disruption Protocol. He had Hektor mount three large iron "Vibration Plates" on the limestone ridge. By striking these plates in a specific, disharmonious rhythm, the sound echoed and amplified within the narrow corridor, creating a physical sensation of nausea and disorientation in the raiders.
The grit of the battle was the psychological collapse of the Duke's forces. Blinded by the thick, sweet-smelling peat smoke and battered by the resonant vibration of the iron plates, the penal-conscripts dropped their weapons and sleds. The Duke's men-at-arms tried to rally them, but they were fighting against a sensory environment they couldn't understand. To them, it wasn't a battle; it was a localized apocalypse of heat and sound.
Kael ordered the vibration to cease. The smoke began to clear, revealing forty of the raiders huddled on the ground, their hands over their ears. The Duke's professional soldiers had retreated back toward the Salt-Spurs, leaving their conscripts behind.
"The fuel is gone," Drax, the Tier 0 lead, said as he surveyed the charred remains of the ricks. "We lost three weeks of winter heating in that fire, my lord."
"We lost the material, but we gained the variable," Kael replied. He looked at the forty prisoners. "We now have forty more bodies for the northern mines. And more importantly, we have the first 'Chemical Sample' from the enemy."
Among the abandoned sleds, Rylen's team found several iron canisters marked with the Duke's seal. They weren't empty. They contained "Sublimated Sulfur Flour"—the first raw material from the Eastern Variable.
The prisoners marched toward the Triage Camp. Kael stood over one of the captured sulfur canisters in his workshop. He picked up a pinch of the yellow powder, feeling its gritty texture. The Duke was building explosives, but Kael now had the same ingredient.
"The peat fire was a defensive trade, Elms," Kael said, his eyes reflecting the glow of his drafting lamp. "But the sulfur... the sulfur is a catalyst. If they want to play with the chemistry of the frontier, we will show them what a balanced equation looks like. Start the Nitrate Extraction from the aquaculture waste. I want a prototype of our own accelerant by the next moon."