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Kingdom of the Weak A2. Side Story Chapter 2
As the days passed, the Bright Lance Mercenaries fought sixteen battles, and retreated sixteen times. The Mitigok swarms drove them back over half the planet, and the forces of the Light Carrier Asred struggled to delay their advance. In these many battles, the mercenaries and the golems of the Asred alike suffered severe losses. More than half his original Company were wrecked beyond salvaging. Two squads were wrecked, but might one day be salvageable. One squad’s worth was in Refit, needing essential parts replaced and undergoing massive overhauls. One more squad was in Repair, and would take a day or so to be properly patched up. This left just six fully operable mechs for deployment. “Bright Scout, Bright Scout, report!” Captain Lance called on the comms. “One Knight to the left, two directly ahead. No movement from the Baroness on the right.” The mech farthest ahead was a Bloodhound, a Light Mech of the second generation specializing in reconnais
Kingdom of the Weak A3. Side Story Chapter 3
With their primary target dead, the Bright Lance mercenaries headed for safety.They were stretched out in a line across three hills, two rivers, a plain and a gorge. At the safest end, the Hedgehog Heavy Mech slowly turned to lunker back towards the Asred patrol zone. Behind it, Captain Lance in the Acrobat quickly caught up to escort it safely. Next in the line was the Goshawk Sniper, which quickly descended on their position and joined up.Farther back, two Skirmishers were still running away from several Pawns. Last of all one Light Scout sneaked through dangerous territory trying its best not to draw attention to itself as it retreated.Beeps announced an incoming transmission. Grand Master Ay’eni was calling. “Captain Lance! That was a job well done! Well done indeed!”Captain Lance went straight to the point. “Did you know it was a Lordling?”“Uh… not exactly. We had suspicions, but it didn’t
Kingdom of the Weak A4. Side Story Chapter 4
This was, of course, the reason why Lance dropped out of the Acrobat some twenty seconds later, and hopped into the cockpit of the Sniper Goshawk while the previous pilot of the Sniper took over the Star Wizard. “Captain…” the previous Sniper was a somewhat foxy girl named Ermine. She was young, hard-bitten and often put on a bitter expression, but right now, that bitterness was nowhere to be seen, and she had on her face an almost regretful look. “Get that Acrobat to safety, Ermine. That’s an order.” Lance said grimly. “Any complaints you have can be submitted in your formal report during debriefing later.” “Yes, sir!” Ermine saluted. “I’ll be sure to include them, sir! So, please be there to read it, sir!” “That will do. All Mechs, get to evac, NOW!” “Sir!” four voices chimed in chorus, accompanied by a sigh from the Artillery Pilot who was sailing away in his ejection pod. Another tremor shook the ground. This time, even the Goshawk
Kingdom of the Weak A5. Side Story End
Acid spit and bone spikes were flying overhead as the Star Wizard ducked and clumsily stumbled toward the rendezvous point. “Artillery, are you still there?” Lance dodged spikes and almost tripped over a boulder. “Ready and waiting, captain!” “Prepare for immediate lift-off! We’re coming in hot!” “Understood! We’ll try to give you some cover fire!” But despite his best efforts, the Star Wizard took hit after hit. By the time he reached the firing range of the Dropship, not only had his armor sustained significant damage, the mech even had some internal damage. “Open fire!” the pilot of the Hedgehog yelled. Scattered bursts of large crackling energy bolts rained down on the pursuing Pawns. Lance ducked, bringing the Star Wizard into a defensive crouch as explosions erupted on every side. “Don’t stop! Lance, the Knight is right behind you!” Captain Lance burst into action, running full-tilt for the Dropship, heedl
Kingdom of the Weak 350. Return to the Wildlands
Back on Sorrel II, when Remian tried to buy supplies in the Dragon Empire, there was an arrogant quartermaster who… Actually, no, forget it. Nobody cares. In the end, the guy was demanding to know “Who let you buy openly in the great and mighty Dragon Empire?!” and Zor’khan showed up and said “I did…” So the guy turned and fell to his knees, his face quite white and Remian smiled. Remian was smiling for roughly three seconds before Nai’khan-dras pounced on him and squealed “Doggie!” That was the end of his smile. Anyway, the important thing was, the partnership between Zor’khan-dras and Remian Vin brought another huge fleet to the Wildlands. Upon seeing it, the Song Clan at the Great Docks cheered, thinking powerful reinforcements had arrived just in time to help them face the Beast Flood. To their amazement, however, the fleet went right past Song Chen’s territory, heading farther west, and stopped at Craggy Falls. “We’ll set up our d
Kingdom of the Weak 351. One girl and a pack of wolfcats
“Alani! I need help!” Remian’s plea came in while Alani was on her way to meet Fel for a Psionics training session. “Whatever’s the matter?” “We need to find a princess a doggie!” “So go to a pet shop.” “She doesn’t want a normal doggie! She’s sticking to my wolfcat Silhouette!” “Then turn it off.” “She’ll throw a tantrum and her grandfather would be mad at me!” “So what?” “Her grandfather is Zor’khan-dras!” There was a short silence. “I’m coming.” Alani sighed, and called Fel to let her know what was up. At least the communication crystals still worked with someone’s personal mana. There was almost no ambient mana left to speak of; the burden of powering magic devices with one’s personal mana was now greater than it had ever been. Even the little communications crystals could now completely exhaust the average mage after just a few uses, depending on how far the call had to reach and how long th
Kingdom of the Weak 352. Ongoing at the Wildlands
That day, calamity befell the Shadowflash Pack. “Doggie!!” Nai’khan-dras leapt onto the back of a yelping wolfcat. “Doggie-ride!” [NOOOOO…!!] the poor wolfcat fled, tail between her legs. Nai’khan-dras gracefully hopped off the fleeing wolfcat and pounced on an even bigger one nearby. “Doggie-ride?!” “Awwoooo!” that wolfcat started running too. This time, she didn’t jump off. She actually tried to hold on… [Help! Somebody help! Mommmmy….!] the second wolfcat panicked and almost ran headlong into the wall. [Roll! Quick! Roll over!] a helpful passer-by suggested. So the panicked second wolfcat rolled over, and Nai’khan-dras hopped lightly out of the way, and then quickly grabbed the neck of the passer-by. “Doggie-ride!!” [Oh fishbones… why me?!] the passer-by wolfcat howled. He started running too. Seeing him coming, with a Little Princess around his neck, all the wolfcats nearby scrambled to get out of the way an
Kingdom of the Weak 353. Girls’ Quarrel
Chubs woke up when Nai’khan started bouncing on his back. At first he was bewildered, until Nai’khan said, “Doggie, bond-bond!” It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she wanted from him. [Uh… how did this happen?] Chubs had to ask. But there was nobody there to answer him. Everyone and everytail had already fled the scene. It was at that time that Alani finally arrived. “There you are!” Chubs finally saw hope of salvation. [Alani… help!] “No!” Nai’khan grabbed on to him with both hands. “Doggie ride! Bond-bond!” Alani shook her head. “That’s not how it works, dear. You have to be nice to them and be friends. They’re not slaves.” “No! Doggie MINE!” Nai’khan shouted, and then fire burst out from her mouth. Alani raised a hand and swatted the head-sized fireball aside. There was a sizzling sound as it sputtered out, leaving a cloud of smoke in its wake. “He doesn’t belong to you. Comrades are no
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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
- 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
- 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
