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2024-10-29 19:42:56“What happened? Why didn’t you stop him and all the Tide with your Super Magic?!” Mindy yelled.
“I was trying to be friends with him, not enemies!”
“Friends?! Remian, did not see him destroy our town? He’s already an enemy!”
“He doesn’t have to be! We need to end this amiably if we’re ever going to have a shot at living peacefully in the Wildlands!”
“Peacefully my foot! Now Darrian’s gone, and we’re going to have to hunt all over the Wildlands for him!” Mindy threw her shoe at Remian just to show him how mad she was.
Remian ducked and the shoe went flying overhead, over the edge of the airship, and clear into the deep blue sky.
***
Darian found himself nauseaous and dizzy after all the whizzing and speeding about. He hadn’t quite learned about the concept of motion sickness, but he was quite sure he was about to throw up.
“Ugwuu…” he tried to say something, but his stomach and throat clenched at the same time.
“
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Kingdom of the Weak 117. Argument
That day, a rather queer scene took place at Dragon Lake where a man and a boy were fishing. While the boy was just sitting there fishing quietly, there was a line drawn on the shore, and the man going back and forth over it, arguing first one side, then the other as he crossed the line. “Why did you attack us?” “You were destroying everything! I was basically saving the world!” “You could have just TOLD us!” “I’ve BEEN telling you, all of you, generation after generation, and again and again, you come and exploit the land for greed! You never listen!” “But we never heard anything of that sort! Whoever you spoke to didn’t pass the message!” “That fault is on your side, not mine!” “But to destroy all that we’ve built! All our efforts reduced to nothing! How cruel! And you call yourself a savior? You’re the one who’s the destroyer!” “You are brazenly killing Wilds just to sell pieces of their bodies for money! You are destroying the homes of countless more, wiping out whole fore
Kingdom of the Weak 118. To the South (1)
Note: This is not a poem. Remian dreamed. There were dozens around him, complaining and nagging, but he turned away and walked away from them all. He went south to look for his brother. Because the fear in the voice of his mother overwhelmed All the natter and chatter of the guys’ complaints Because the grief he saw in his father’s eyes Outweighed all the concerns of unsolicited advice Because the trembling query of his youngest sister Held to him a demand as firm as the laws of heaven And the trust in the urging of the oldest of his sisters Held so strong a faith that he would find the lost boy That Remian would not, could not stay And hearing his plans, Asda said, “Leave it to me. The town, and the people, and everything. Leave it to me and my mother. We’ll do what we can, you can go find your brother. So Remian went looking for Darian With Mindy and Tim and ten adventurer teenagers on the Red Fang Twenty boars and one hundred wolfcats on the ground Three hundred ly
Kingdom of the Weak 119. To the South (2)
Remian's face fell. "That's not good. There's no way we can say that we've secured the Fief any more." A pause. "Are you giving up?" "No. We still have the farms and the mines… but… we have to dig in. Song Chen, we need to fortify our territory. Build walls and towers. We don't need the whole forest, just the mines." "What about the farm?" Remian shook his head. "Doom specifically ordered his Wilds not to attack it, so maybe we can just leave it as it is." "We may not need walls, but I would want at least a patrol on it just in case." "Good idea. See if the Iron Legion can help." "The Iron Legion are focusing on the road north, saying that we had best ease the way for reinforcements. Also, construction on the airport has come to a halt. It is repaired only to basic functionality." "They're really going all-out on the road to Fal'Herim now, aren't they?" "They are, indeed. A lot of the Sand People are helping the
Kingdom of the Weak 120. To the north
Meanwhile, Asda held a deeply private conversation with Andros. Following that, Andros spoke with Arnold. “You’re leaving?” Arnold stared. “But… things were finally looking up! We had basic industries going, we were starting to seriously expand…” “And then the Beast Tide came. I don’t know about you, Arnold, but I can’t keep on like this.” Andros shook his head. “I came here to get away from trouble, not get into more, and the Beast Tides are more than I can handle. I have received a good offer from Asda. Fal’Herim will be safe for our people. We should take it.” “But this… behind Remian’s back…” Arnold struggled to find the words. “How could you do this to him?” “What? It’s the Frontier. Every man for himself. You know that. He knows that. That’s how it’s always been.” “No, it hasn’t! Not since Remian!” Arnold protested. “It’s not like that any more! We shouldn’t be like that any more! We can be different! We can be better!” “
Kingdom of the Weak 121. To the East (and South-East)
By the way, some time ago, at Libertaria, a certain letter was received, read, and pondered over day after day by an elderly gentleman. At length, he called, “Jim.” “Yes, father?” “I need you to go to the Wildlands.” “The WILDLANDS?!” all posh and decorum fizzled out like vapor. “You’ve been chafing around at home, wanting to prove your capabilities and independence. So go prove yourself.” “I thought I’d join one of the caravans headed westwards, maybe the Orestomp Trail…” “Bah, there’s no challenge in this frontier any more. Everything’s been tamed since the railroads were built. No, no, your frontier is in another continent entirely, my boy. You should do as I did when I was young and challenge the absolute unknown! Only then can you be called a real man!” “I don’t think the requirements are actually that high for that label…” “Go forth! Bring my inventions to my friend Arnold! And bring your own inventions to
Kingdom of the Weak 122. Offer from Deutero
To be honest, the Deutero rep didn’t plan to stay very long in the Frontier. This gentleman fully planned to get on board the very next flight out. But things didn’t go as planned. For example, the man he was supposed to meet actually wasn’t there at Fort Spoas. “Greetings, good sir. I need to see your leader, Sir Remian Vin.” He told the highest ranking officer at the airport. Markus scratched his head and said, “Sorry, but he’s out right now. Maybe I could get George to pass him a message?” “Ah, yes. Tell him it’s of utmost importance and urgency that we meet. Also, tell him his money is ready.” “Money?” Jane suddenly woke up from her lecture-induced stupor and stared. “What do you mean, money?” “That is confidential.” The Deutero man said. Meanwhile, Markus brightened to see Jane there. “Hey, you’re one of George’s friends, aren’t you? Can’t you send him the message? I have a bunch of new recruits to handle, here.” “
Kingdom of the Weak 123. Trap
When George came to, he found himself in a spacious open ward of the new hospital. Right across from him was Mr. Moda, in bed with a big dark bruise on his face. “What happened to him?” George stared. “Hit by a door.” Sabriane said, from behind him. He turned to see her sitting at the nurse’s station. “Phoebe Effect. Enough said. She went out to help one patient and came back with three.” “Speaking of the one patient… how’s Jane?” “She’s fine. She seems a bit in a daze, might have hit her head a bit hard when she fell, but Phoebe tells me that physically, she’s fine.” Also in bed nearby were two of the new Iron Legion recruits. “What about them?” “Again, Phoebe Effect.” George shook his head. “Some day, if we go to war against anybody else, we could post a picture of Phoebe on an airship and show that to our enemies.” Sabriane let out a laugh. “That might do more damage than the Bellower.” George allowed himself
Kingdom of the Weak 124. Broken Wing
The impasse could have gone on for a long time while Remian and company hazarded guess after guess, but fortunately, someone arrived to speed things right along. [Dear? Are you finished? Can they help us?] another oversized eagle landed in front of them, this one smaller by a head and a neck, her feathers redder where his was browner. [She won’t stop crying.] [Um… negotiations are… proceeding…] the Eagle Lord shifted his feathers a bit uncomfortably. [At a dignified pace.] [You didn’t even ask them?!] [It is… beneath me…] The Eagle Lord said in a harried and frustrated manner. [Fine! I’ll do it, since I’m also beneath you, you big feather-brain!] she scolded. Then, she turned the Remian and Mindy. [We need a splint. And bandages.] “For what? No, actually before that…” Mindy cleared her throat. “How do you even know what those are?” [We have superior eyesight…] The Eagle Lord began. [We spy on everybody when we get bored
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523. Comms
Somewhere along the line, he’d lost consciousness. George only realized it when he woke up to a splitting headache. “Ow.” He groaned. “What... where...?” “We’re on the way back to Sorrel.” Grace told him, appearing by his bedside. And it was a bedside, he realized. He seemed to be in the Kara’s Medical Bay. “I’m sorry. We had to retreat.” “Our... people?” George managed. “The HAC Troopers made it back. The Mechs... did not.” Grace paused. “We have the refugees though. And the Robotic Assembly Plant for Mining Drones. That’s all they managed to grab.” George slurred. “Mech pilots?” “Alive, if battered.” “Good. Alive is good.” George sighed. “This... didn’t go so well.” “Hey, at least we got the guys we were trying to save, and some machinery on top of that. You might say it was a success. A costly one, but a success.” “Casualties?” George asked. “Plenty of injuries to go around, but no deaths. So far.” Grace paused. “Some of the really badly injured might change that before lo
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522. Second Aid Mission
“Were these really the best you could do?” George asked, eyeing the six hulking figures in front of him hesitantly. “Mmm.” Juni grunted. In front of them were six brand new Mechs. 2nd Generation products, they were armored weapons platforms on legs, with jumpjets for the signature ‘jumps’ that earned their generation the nickname, ‘Jumpers’. Or were they? George wasn’t entirely sure. When he looked at them, they really looked more like 1st Generation Walker-types. Those Jump Jets seemed to be an afterthought, an added equipment haphazardly strapped to their backs. “Would they really work right?” Juni shrugged. Given the time and materials he had to work with, George supposed he couldn’t expect better. He had only just received 2nd Gen tech. Until now, he’d been working with 1st Gen expectations and schematics. One of these Mechs seemed a bit worn, evidence that it had been built quite some time ago, and only recently been modified for George’s requests. “Fusion Cell for power, Pu
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521. Next Step
It turned out that they also needed to acquire salvage rights to haul away ‘scrap metal’. Fortunately, that was a simple affair now that they had local currency. 50 USD and the matter was done. Grant, being the nearest specialist on matters of scrap to their location, graciously offered to transport their ‘scrap’ directly to their vessel out of sheer goodwill. Finally Benny and Sam went to try out the barbecued skewers. At Grant’s recommendation, though, they didn’t go to the Starport roadside stall. They ended up at another roadside stall run by a ‘foreign refugee’ someplace downtown not too far from Grant’s workshop. There, each skewer was loaded with rows of thick, juicy beef sausages, and only cost 20 USD for 10. Benny stretched. “Not bad for our first day. We’ve got three days here, don’t we? But we’ve already got half of what we wanted.” “What’s the other half?” Sam asked. “Technical manuals on engineering, power and propulsion. Tech, basically.” Benny yawned. However, whe
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520. Uber States Colony
“Black Fang, you are cleared for docking. Follow the designated path and welcome to Trifer, colony of the Uber States.” Benny stood on the observation deck of the Black Fang below the bridge, listening to the conversation between the comms officer and the dock authorities. He eyed the massive sprawl of structures and smoke emitted below and wondered. “This is what they call a ‘small’ colony?” The colony was bigger than Craggy Falls, Kara-Goth and Nightshade City put together. “Just how many people live here?” Benny asked next. “According to our sensors, about half a million.” The bridge crew told him. Okay, that was less than the human population of the Sorrelian Migration, which, after including the Cumin survivors, was over 800,000. They shared the sensor feed with Benny, Sam and Foxy. Looking at the scope, Benny realized that most of the colony below consisted of machinery and robots. Furthermore, what he saw on the surface wasn’t even half the colony. The entire complex went
- Kingdom of the Weak
519. Scoop
That evening, Benny and Sam left with Tim’s battle group, headed for the nearest Uber States outpost with medicine in the cargo holds. This left only one freight galleon to ferry materials and regretful space miners from the surface to Sky Haven. “It’s going too slow.” Remian decided. “I need to call Raven.” With Mindy busy trading across star systems, Raven had inherited (bought over) her airship fleet and company on the surface. They built more gunships and scout ships than freighters these days, mainly focused on providing recon and fire support to ground forces fighting Undead. But it was those freighters Remian needed now, the bigger the better. “We need them refitted for extreme high altitudes, as high as they can go.” Remian explained. “Also we need them spaceworthy, at least up to low orbit.” “You want our airship freighters to fly into space?!” Raven spluttered. “Yes, but not on their own. I want them to haul cargo and passengers as high up as they can. Around 30km woul
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518. We should call Remian
“Relax, I’m not asking you to build them from scratch. You’ll need to remodel a Galleon and a trio of our current Dropships. We do want proper Mech Carriers in the future, but for now, we need to deploy urgently, so we’ll just remodel what we have.” Ermine brought up some projections. “The Mechs in question are going to be Light Walkers, designed and built by J-Armory. Juni’s had a workable prototype for a long time, but it’s never been needed until now. Live testing is scheduled to start in three days. They’re powered by Fusion Cells, the kind that looks like dustbins, so you won’t need to worry about fuel lines, just cell-swapping. You won’t need to worry about replacing the He3 in the Fusion Cells either; spent cells will be sent back to J-Armory for recycling or refueling or whatever it is they do. Same goes for the weapons; Jamie’s J-Arsenal will handle maintenance and replacement and all that. The ship only needs to carry the Mechs, deploy them, and run basic maintenance. Repai
- Kingdom of the Weak
517. Objectives and Objections
They met online the next day. Remian opted out, letting them handle it. Upon bringing up the subject of the Woofers’ request for more aid across different planets… Ermine snorted. “I refuse.” “What?” George stared. “I refuse to help them.” Ermine said stoutly. “I know that you guys all have some sort of savior syndrome, and it’s something that Remian seemed to have passed down from the very beginning, the sort of meddlesome hero complex that has you all trying to save the world at personal cost, but I’m no hero. I’m Tau, and we’re practical survivalists. We simply can’t afford to go around saving everybody. We need all our strength and resources to save ourselves. As for the Woofers, as a collective, they are a Class 5 Star Civilization, a whole class more advanced and stronger than us. They have their own governments and their own fleets. Let the Woofers help the Woofers.” Xiao Yan cut in. “As you say, they are a Class 5 Star Civilization. Since you’re talking about praticality, t
- Kingdom of the Weak
516. Changing Gear
“Go, go, go!” green light flared in the bay of the Dropship as the floor fell away. George and twelve other figures were unceremoniously dumped on the ground nine feet below. They landed with heavy impacts. George staggered, realizing the gravity on this world was at least twice what he was accumstomed to back home. For a moment, he regretted leaving his Frame back on the ship, but they were here to clear the bandits out from a city center, meaning tight spaces, narrow access points, and needing to take care to avoid civilian casualties. Or at least, that was the plan. George and his squad had been deposited on the outskirts of the city, at the very border of a suburban district. “Incoming!” someone yelled. George crouched as something exploded; the ground shook and chunks of dirt flew through the air. “Get to cover! Return fire!” George called, even though he wasn’t entirely sure where the attackers were, exactly. The guys diving behind nearby garages and a public toilet clued hi
- Kingdom of the Weak
514. Out there
Quite predictably, the first of those calls to reach Sorrel II was from their dear friends, the Woofers. Three Paws explained it. [This is from Kelso III. It’s an agrarian world, roughly eighty hours’ flight from here for our fleet. Local gang bosses have titled themselves warlords and suppressed the citizenry with brute force. They take whatever they want, and demand whatever payment they like, on pain of death or torture. Local law enforcement has been completely overrun and even planetary militia couldn’t save the settlements under their control. The best our local paws could do is contain the situation and prevent it from getting worse.] Remian sipped hot coffee. Eighty hours flight for the Woofers Fleet should mean a bit less than seventy for the Tau fleet. “That’s rough. But what’s the point of calling us here to tell us this?” [We can help them. Just one division of your fleet could make a huge difference against these local gangs.] At the moment, the Sorrelian fleet consist
