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2024-10-29 19:42:56It was a visit from a person she never thought she’d see again.
“George?! What brings you here?” Asda gaped.
George looked at her coldly, saying nothing for a long moment. Asda felt a chill rise up her back, but stubbornly fought off her uneasiness and said, “What? Remember this is Fal’Herim, you can’t just do anything you like here! There are security guards around, you know? Plus, this is my house!”
How long had it been since she’d left the ruins of Fort Spoas? A week? Something like that?
“Oh, I know.” George said, glancing at the armored men on every side. Asda had ten of them around the porch of her new house alone. “Actually, I came to offer you a deal.”
“A deal?” Asda’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t be emotionally blackmailed into charity!”
“Nobody asked you for charity.” George’s lips narrowed. “I’m asking you for gunships.”
“Gunships?” Asda blinked.
“Like the Foresight, but with their own engines. Mindy wanted to des
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Kingdom of the Weak 128. Three Pines Ruins
Honestly speaking, the Black Ruins weren’t entirely black. A lot of them were. Many buildings were made of some strange smooth black material. Even after time and weather had taken their tolls on them, roughly half the town remained intact. Walking into the nearest little hut-like structure at the gate, Remian found the insides dry and almost dusty. In other words, the roof didn’t even leak. There was a good bit of broken furniture, though. Twisted metal and old wood chips hinted at a desk by the large window. Was this some sort of guard house or inspection booth? Meanwhile, the floor, rather than black, held broken white tiles. The roads outside were gray stone. The trees and bushes around were a mix of greens and reds. There were flowers and creepers growing wildly everywhere. Some small critters even made their homes in the ruins, and they too added color to the scene. Mindy touched the black wall, sniffed, and said, “You know, now that I t
Kingdom of the Weak 129. Learning Things
As for Darian, well… He was learning many things from Doom. For example, the different kinds of bait you use for catching different kinds of fish. For example, how long to wait for one side of a fish to cook over a campfire before turning the spit. For example, how to find really good spots to set up a hammock. Also, that afternoon naps were a priceless luxury. Also, that it took six hours to charbroil a Royal Snapper Redfin, which was actually five times bigger than Doom himself. Charbroiled RSR happened to be Har’es-dras’ favorite snack. Mikai found him first. [Darian! You’re here! And you have grilled fish!] “Want some?” Darian offered. Mikai hopped up to the campfire and nibbled. [Nice! What fish is this?] “This is just a Mini Snapper Redfin. You should see the Royal ones. They’re huge.” Darian advised him. [Just a second.] Mikai turned north, and concentrated. A pulse of psionic energy flick
Kingdom of the Weak 130. George’s Day (1)
Sweat slowly dripped down his forehead. His eyes narrowed, his hands clenched around the hilt of his sword. George drew in deep breaths, trying to slow his breathing, all too aware of how heavily his heart pounded. This wasn’t good. His strength was waning, while in front of him, his opponent moved easily, lifting his heavier blade like it was nothing, not missing a beat in his movements. Cautiously, George defended. Bracing both his legs, he tried to save some strength and went for a block instead of trying to dodge or parry the next obvious blow. If he could engage the other guy in a blade lock, throw in his weight at the right angle, so long as the other guy was caught off-guard, he could buy himself a moment or two to catch his breath, regain his balance… Fat chance. The other guy’s weight and momentum far superceded his own. There was a jarring sock and on top of that, George felt like he’d run into one of DD’s herd charging ahead at full speed. “OOF!”
Kingdom of the Weak 131. George’s Day (2)
George met with Song Chen for lunch. “So, you wanted to talk about how we can improve the FDF and make it stronger?” Song Chen asked. “Actually, before that…” George cleared his throat. “There’s something in the FDF accounts that I wanted to ask you about.” “There it is.” Song Chen sighed. “All right. Ask.” “Is your pay insufficient?” George asked directly. “For my physical, every day needs, it is enough.” Song Chen said, heavily. “Then why did you use FDF funds for yourself? Apparently you bought some strange herbs…” George frowned. “Now, I’ve bought quite a few herb seeds for the herb farm, and I don’t recognize this herb. Song Chen, are you… using recreative herbs…?” “I’m not a drug addict, if that’s what you’re asking.” Song Chen shook his head. “No, George, spending that money to buy the Red Yang Lotus was actually a way to improve our overall strength. I needed that herb for my cultivation. If I could break through to the
Kingdom of the Weak 132. George’s Day (3)
Arnold, it should be noted, didn’t actually care very much about shops or houses or balconies or anything of that sort. “Pillars.” He said straight out as soon as they met. “We need solid steel pillars reaching up from twenty feet underground all the way to the ceiling. On top of that, let’s put on these antennae.” “Antannae? I thought they were fishing rods.” George squinted at Arnold’s drawing. “Actually, they’re there to catch lightning, not fish.” “Lightning? You want to catch lightning?” “Jim does. We can’t catch all of it, but what we can catch can be converted into either mana or electricity. He’s not good with mana conversion, but he has this way of storing electricity in these little canisters…” “What about what we can’t catch?” “That goes into the ground. That’s why these pillars need to go all the way down… oh, and we need to wrap them in something that prevents people from getting zapped if they step too close.”
Kingdom of the Weak 133. The Fate of a Boy
“So, Crazy Fisher, I have to ask… did you know we were already making friends with the Wilds?” “Friends? You enslave them with your bribes and you call them friends?!” “It’s not enslavement. We’re really good friends!” Remian tried. “We treat them the same as our own people.” “Oh, really? So where are the houses you built to accommodate them? What are the opportunities and facilities they have to increase their abilities and their pay? Do they have voting rights? How many of them have leadership roles that directly decide the welfare of humans in your administration?” “Uh…” Remian spluttered. “Is that why you attacked us? Wilds civil rights?” “No. The reason the Beast Tide came calling was really a number, and it’s the same for everyone who has come before, the same as it’s always been. That number is ten thousand.” “What’s that about?” “Ten thousand dead.” Doom told him grimly. “That is the number of Wilds you and your people
Kingdom of the Weak 134. Mindy and the Wasp
Days since last Beast Tide: 9. Current Kill Count: 209 (18 since yesterday). Location: Red Fang, six hours out from Dragon Lake, en route to Three Pines Peak and Kara-Goth. Mindy sat back, dropping her pencil in satisfaction. There it was. The design for the new Wasp class Patrol Boat. It was a single-gun corvette, similar to the Foresight, but unlike the Foresight, the Wasp was built for speed and maneuverability. Most especially, the ability for sideways movements; there was a reason why it had two main thrusters split between the left and right sides. They could be turned to the rear for forward propulsion, or they could be turned sideways for quick movements to either side. In other words, the Wasp was an airship that could dodge. Admittedly, it used quite a bit of power, but a skilled pilot should be able to go up against a flying Wild and still stand a chance of surviving. It was also a bit queer in that the gun could not fire forward. N
Kingdom of the Weak 135. Stopping by Three Pines Peak
Three Pines Peak looked a little different when the Red Fang made a stop there. Particularly the branch on which they docked once more. This branch now sported a treehouse. It was a big one, comparable to the Guild Hall. It fit snugly onto that branch, surrounded by plank-and-netting walls and floors similar in style to the original Sky Barge. There was no question in either Remian’s or Mindy’s mind that this treehouse was built by their people. “What happened here?” they went over to investigate. Inside were stacks of supplies. Food supplies, tools, camping equipment… “Aren’t these the things we offloaded and left for the adventurers to set up the excavation camp?” Remian asked. “Why are they still on the branch? And why is there now a treehouse over them?” “You took the airship and almost all the wolfcats. How were we supposed to get them down from the branch?!” someone yelled from the treehouse’s second floor above. A carrot-head of
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- Kingdom of the Weak
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
- Kingdom of the Weak
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
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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
