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2024-10-29 19:42:56“Alani!” Isabella was half-crying when they found her at the bakery.
Heads turned the moment the locals heard that cry. “Alani? That’s the name that thunder was calling for?!”
Alani half-blushed, half-grimaced and turned to look at the ceiling with an innocent whistle. “I don’t know these people…”
But alas, she could not escape. Jamie jumped on her, grabbed her up and squeezed her so tight she thought she would pop. “I thought you were done for!”
“We came looking for you. Even before the storm properly ended, we were already descending.” Siti told Alani.
“I told you to leave me behind!” Alani protested weakly.
“We had a vote. Your proposal was outvoted five to one.” Gary informed her.
[Six.] Ember added.
[Seven.] Crimson voiced.
[Eight.] Moonlight wagged her tail.
[Nine!] Flare joined in.
[And ten.] Grandpa Reef added, just for good measure.
Alani looked at her friends around her, five hu
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Kingdom of the Weak 333. Remian’s disappearance
Alani was making fast friends with the winged horses in the Neutral Zone. “Ponies!” the little girl was thrilled. “With wings!” “Uh…” the dignified Lord of the Wilds representing the Pegasus King found himself abruptly hugged by a giggling child and fawned over despite his best efforts. She immediately tried to decorate him with a crown of flowers, and then while he was seriously discussing matters of state and territory with the Emperor, she painted his hooves pink. [Where did that nail polish even come from?!] spluttered Summer Rain, Prince of the Pegasi, second son of the Storm Pegasus King, and Lord over the southern region of the Neutral Zone. It was NOT dignified! But what could he do? Standing before the Deep Emperor on behalf of his father, Summer Rain could only bemoan his poor timing and having gained the unfortunate attentions of the Emperor’s new Comrade. [One last thing.] The floating little avatar of the Deep Emperor inst
Kingdom of the Weak 334. Practicing Psionics
In a certain disreputable looking building in the slums of Fal’Herim, a young man lay tied up in bed, with the air shimmering around him. He had been locked into the room by his captors while three of them and Steiner kept dashing out to the toilet and the fourth guy wanted lunch. For the time being at least, Remian was left alone in his little jailroom. Psionic power flared. Anyone with decent psionic senses could point straight at him with their eyes closed, regardless of what walls lay between them. This was the very first thing Psionically-gifted children in the Conglomerate learned, something every Class-1 Psionic began with. Parents had their children practice this so that they could locate them at all times. In the Conglomerate, these things were practices meant for four or five year-olds. It was called the Psionic Beacon. [Here.] Remian told Carrie. [THIS is where I am.] [We’re coming!] Carrie assured him. [We’ll be there in a minute!]
Kingdom of the Weak 335. Silhouette
In Sorrel II, the world Remian was from, Silhouettes were typically formed from a mix of Psionic energy, Magic, and Qi. In many ways, they were customized to fit each person and were frequently unstable, requiring a constant rebalancing and adjusting if any of those three powers were to shift the original balance and essence of their forms. Otherwise, their Silhouettes might fall apart or explode or otherwise not even take form any more. This, predictably, caused no end of troubles for those Temple Knights who used Silhouettes while mana in the world was drying out. They had to adjust their Silhouettes practically every morning before they could use it reliably for that day. But the Conglomerate’s Psionic Training pack taught how to form a Silhouette out of pure Psionic energy. These had a way of shrinking or growing in accordance to the user’s mindset and development, but generally maintain their form and function without breaking apart. On top of that, a skilled Ps
Kingdom of the Weak 336. Bringing in more people
“You have a tail!” It was Tim’s first exclamation upon seeing Remian in wolfcat form and hearing his voice coming from it. “Yes, and apparently it’s a nice one.” Remian said, a bit proudly. “How does it help?” Tim asked, curiously. “Other than helping me lose weight due to involuntary waist exercise, I’m actually not sure.” Remian confessed. “I think it has something to do with balance when running on all fours, though.” “Why don’t you try it? Run around on all fours.” Tim suggested. “I actually think it’s a good idea.” Remian said. “I need time to get accustomed to my Silhouettes and running around with the wolfcats was something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s just that I better set things in order here before I go.” “That sounds like a long trip.” Tim mused dubiously. “Anyway. What needs doing?” “I want to invite the top technology experts in the world to a free conference six months from now.” Remian said. “All expenses paid
Kingdom of the Weak 337. Greener Grass
Ashdale had dark clouds hanging over it. Not stormclouds, though. It was smoke. When Alani and her friends arrived, every city on the great isles was hard at work putting up factories and coal power plants. Entire convoys of the black stuff were being carted around from port to port, supplying every major metropolis with the fuel. The Pegasi escorting Alani and company were particulary irked to see so many horses put to the cart and the whip for the sake of the wagons filled with black. Even as they went looking for their contact, some Deutero officer named Charlie, Alani fell into fits of coughing. “We need to get those face masks the locals use. I’m not sure we’ll survive the trip otherwise.” It had been odd seeing people walking around with cloths tied over their faces and nobody screaming for the police to catch robbers, but with all the smog over the city, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. But while face masks in the smog made sense, the existenc
Kingdom of the Weak 338. New Directives
A dreadful hush had fallen over Ashdale as Mandy boarded Charlie’s Sky Galleon bound for Kara-Goth. A great many people murmured in corners, or in rushed whispers at private tables and side benches. “W-what’s going on?” Mandy asked Charlie, as the airship took on six different families and roughly thirty other people. “They’re headed to the Wildlands. Remian and George put up some paid ads with Deutero inviting skilled farmers, food processors and machinists to join them.” Charlie shrugged. “There’s so many of them going south now, my airship alone can’t manage. That’s why we’re bringing three airships in a convoy. We had to borrow magi from the company to handle all three, what with mana dwindling everywhere.” “Oh.” Mandy turned around and frowned. “Actually, I was talking about the mood in the city. Everything seems to be very hush-hush.” “That?” Charlie hesitated. “I think people are just getting tense. This morning, some of the lower quality magic
Kingdom of the Weak 339. Two Weeks Later
“Yip.” Alani groaned, slowly becoming aware of sunlight and a furry paw nudging her in the shoulder. “Is it morning already?” Not just morning. Based on the heat and she brightness of the sun, Alani realized she’d overslept, but that everyone had simply let her sleep in today. After all, yesterday had a long, hard day. “I’m up.” Alani groggily sat up and patted the wolfcat at her side. This time it was Flare who had woken her. Two weeks had passed since they first landed on this island in the Midlands Sea. True to his word, Darian had put them through a mix of Psionics, martial arts, and weapons training. Juni and Jamie even trained with armor. Despite their earlier expectations, however, they had little part in constructing anything or evacuating any refugees. The Order of Light did that, and they did so in growing numbers. Two hundred knights at the beginning had swelled to more than twice as many by now, with more still on the way. Them, and Alani. Unlike the others, Alani’s tr
Kingdom of the Weak 340. Cold Sweat
At the time, Tim was sneaking through the Dragon Empire. Having reached the capital, he took over an entire warehouse in the name of the Abundant Cheese Company, whose sole proprieter was himself. Using the warehouse as a base, nine clans of lynxmice scouted and stalked the military base from which the red mana crystals emerged. Renovations were ongoing at that base. The structure on top of the red mana site had turned into a fortress. Based on the food supplies entering it every day, at least five thousand soldiers had to be staying there on a constant basis. Furthermore, they weren’t just any normal soldiers. Based on what Tim observed and what the lynxmice reported, only Adept-level Draconians were permitted to enter, and all of them appeared to be part of the First Draconian Royal Legion, the honor guard of the First Prince himself! Tim was scratching his head over how to infiltrate the compound when news arrived from the latest shift of lynxmice.
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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
- 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
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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
- 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
