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Kingdom of the Weak 225. Behind the Scenes (2)
Receiving no less than nine urgent petitions from as many different nations, the Dragon Emperor smiled as he stood upon the observation deck of the most powerful airship in the world. “It’s about time.” Around him, six hundred battle cruisers of the Dragon Empire loaded troops on their decks. Dragon-forged steel rang in the hands of draconian warriors. But rather than inspect his forces, he turned to his aides. “Any movement from Ecclesia?” “They haven’t picked a side, my liege. Our people say they are worried about spending mana.” “What of Libertaria?” “They seem to favor Ashdale.” “Hmm.” The Dragon Emperor tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. The tapping sounded like metal on metal. “Does Libertaria even have enough mana to join the war? I thought they barely had a few million green.” “Most of their vehicles use steam power, my liege.” “Steam power!” the Dragon Emperor snorted. “What good is hot water against magic? They are only good for those trains of theirs and they
Kingdom of the Weak 226. Rumor has it
“They want WHAT?!” Remian coughed into the communications crystal. On the other side, George sighed. “Well, they say they just want to use Kara-Goth as a secure base, and they’re asking for our cooperation and aid, but I think in the end, they just want mana. If we can give them mana, they might just go away.” Remian coughed again. “That’s never going to happen. George, if you give them mana, they’re going to keep coming back for more.” “Really? I mean, we don’t really have much anyway, and we need all we have for our airships. Speaking of which, we might be about to run short… think you could scrounge up another mana mine?” “I haven’t felt any mana around here, or around Kara-Goth. If I had, we’d have dug it up by now.” Remian frowned. “With the war going on, can they even spare an airship to come all this way?” “The Tide has hit the northern continent, I heard. In other words, everyone’s too busy fighting Wilds to fight each other. I think the world war is on hold until the Wild
Kingdom of the Weak 227. Learning Stuff
Mindy and her friends sat in a lounge-like area at the College’s reception hall trying to fill out application forms. A girl with extremely short (almost spiky!) hair pointed out a blank. Back at Fal’Herim, she had been a janitor for the arena and had gotten used to dressing like a thug, leathers, chains and metal studs. “Mindy, it’s asking us for our house address. What should we put?” “House address?” Mindy paused. “21 Emerald Dale Heights, Loredawn, Ashdale.” “Is that even a real place?” Gary asked. Lanky and mischievous faced, rather wide black eyes examined Mindy as if wondering what sort of prank she was pulling this time. Back in Fal’Herim, he’d been enslaved and forced to live as a pickpocket. “That’s my mansion.” Mindy told them. “I own it. There’s a room for each of you once you’re done here.” “And when would that be?” Siti asked. She wore a headscarf that covered her hair and neck from chin downwards with a long gray dress that covered her entire body to her ankles. At
Kingdom of the Weak 228. Clubs
In the Ecclesia College of Magi, whispers ran around the clubs about some of the new students.“Emerald Heights! These guys are Ashdalian nobles! Or at least, upper class!”“Who could have known? Look at that girl! She dresses like a street thug! But what if she’s actually a duchess or something?!”“Never mind her, look at the two at the back! The way they walk… it’s like they came out from a brothel. But that’s what it’s like for ladies-in-waiting in the Royal Court, right? They’re basically fishing for powerful husbands.”“No, wait! I heard they’re actually not from Ashdale! I heard they’re really from the Wildlands!”“The Wildlands?!”“Hush! They heard you! Look at that club-legged guy scowling at us! Oh, scrap! Run! RUN!”***At the clubhouse of the Saturn Club, an esteemed guest came to see the Club President.After the required pleasantries commenced, the guest asked directly, “Have you any readings on these new students?”The Saturn Club President shook his head. “Not much to s
Kingdom of the Weak 229. Answers
As to their answers, well… “The source of magic?” Isabelle repeated, thinking back. Right. Didn’t magic come from mana? What was it Mindy said? Something about a blue mana crystal mine? “It should be somewhere near Kara-Goth.” *** “The source of magic?” Juni frowned. “I haven’t learned that Rune yet. Can you teach me? Where can I learn it?” “It’s not a rune… it’s… um… actually I’m not sure what it is.” The Sacred Sigil guy admitted. “Maybe you might? I mean, you’re from the Wildlands. Surely you should know better than me.” Juni glanced at Siti. Siti thought about it. Something in the Wildlands? Something any kid from there should know about? Perhaps they meant some sort of book Remian used to teach Mindy and the others magic back at Kara-Goth? If there were such books or scrolls, then the place they’d be stored would be… “Maybe it’s kept hidden in the Adventurer’s Guild at Kara-Goth?” *** “You want to know abou
Kingdom of the Weak 230. Leaving things to George
Remian walked the halls of Kara-Goth in quiet contemplation. A whole day had passed since the Beast Tide went through here. The Beast Tide had fallen upon Fal’Herim, La Vive, Itarim, Ashdale, Bellas, Germat and Auria now. Kara-Goth and Three Pines had survived more or less untouched. The resource colonies sent by the warring nations and the Midlands Sea People islands could not say the same. The Tide had pretty much left them in pieces and then plopped down to stay. Also, the Wilds seem to have no plans on returning. Nine new Lords previously from the south now occupied the northern edge bordering the desert. Six new Lords had settled down in the Sea People islands. The Wilds who made it all the way to the northern continent showed no signs of turning around or leaving. Even the Deep Emperor had gone to stay in the Midlands Sea. All told, the Wilds were no longer contained in the Wildlands. On a happier front, Shadowflash had returned and was no longe
Kingdom of the Weak 231. Requirement
“L-leaving? No! You can’t! You can’t just give up and die like this!” George protested. Remian blinked. “Who said anything about dying? I’m just going south.” “What does that mean, exactly?” George demanded. “More time with Phoebe, mainly. We’re going to investigate the Black Ruins all over the Wildlands.” Remian paused. “Don’t worry. We’ll have the Eagle Lord for support.” “Isn’t that… beneath him?” George asked, weakly. “Actually, it’s more like his wife supporting us.” “Ah. That’ll work.” George suddenly thought of something. “This sudden retirement to the south… it wouldn’t have anything to do with Mandy arriving tonight, would it?” Remian froze. “You’re running away!?” George blurted. “I’m not running! It’s just… I’m going south. That’s it. That’s all.” “Who are you trying to kid? You decided to drop everything and run the minute you heard she was coming to town! What are you afraid of? Your girlfri
Kingdom of the Weak 232. One Week
“The target is the Flaming Salamander Lord. He is based in Rocky Thorns, just east of Craggy Falls.” Darian told his brother. “His physical abilities are low for a Class 6, but his psionic abilities are far beyond what most Lords can manage.” “So… I need to defend against Illusions?” Remian asked. “No, you need to watch out for fire. Salamanders have an innate pyrokinetic ability. Or at least that’s what Doom says. Me, I’m not even sure if it’s Psionic or magical, like Draconian bloodlines. Whatever the case, be prepared to face a lot of fire.” “Great. A fire-wielding giant lizard. Why am I fighting him again?” “To challenge a King, you must first qualify as a Lord the proper way, by defeating a Lord. Compared to all the flying types, the heavy hulking types, and basically everything else out there, I felt the Salamander Lord was the easiest target for you to pick on.” Darian shrugged. “Considering that your magic is your strongest point, you should b
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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
- Kingdom of the Weak
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
- Kingdom of the Weak
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
- Kingdom of the Weak
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
