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2024-10-29 19:42:56A lot could be said about regrets.
Some of it had to do with finger-pointing. It could be blamed upon reckless spies trying to find the source of the Empire’s mana. It could be blamed on corrupted officials allowing them through.
It could be even be blamed on an issue of disbelief on the part of various officials as to whether there was any actual need to ‘decontaminate’ people who come through the Portal with fire. There was a prevailing opinion even among officials that the whole fire-decontamination system was just another control method to raise the importance and prestige of Draconians to give their particular race more advantages. Part of that could even be blamed on the people actively and obviously attempting to raise the privileges of Draconians (please don’t stare at Rou’khan, she’s already very sorry for being too open about it). Those parties advocating racial equality saw the fire-decontamination system as an unnecessary barrier and a mere excuse to prev
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Kingdom of the Weak 362. Beacon On
While Zor'khan-dras might not have shown much of his stress and grief over the Undead Infestation of his Capital, Remian was very much showing his. "What happened?" Phoebe asked, as they met for dinner that night. "The Dragon Empire has been infested with Necromancy. It's spreading through the Capital." "I heard about it. But Zor'khan-dras doesn't seem too upset about it. Why do you?" "Because the Quarantine forces everyone who wants to leave to become a Draconian. Then they have to grow for about a year before their Fire Resistance is high enough to survive the fiery Decontamination." "That can't be good for the economy. But what does any of it have to do with you?" "It has to do with me because they become Draconians!" Remian groaned. "When I made the deal with Zor'khan-dras, I promised to build him a space fleet capable of bringing his Draconians with him when he leaves. Back then, I was only planning to ship a million Draconians, m
Kingdom of the Weak 363. Guild Receptionist
After a quick check up from his concerned girlfriend, Remian went on to inspect the Adventurers Guild. The Guild Hall had currently taken over the entire building. Apartments were rented by Adventurers. Shops were opened by retired Adventurers and people catering to Adventurers’ needs. Outside, the street had carts and rides available to several well-known Adventurer destinations, including three ruins, one giant spider’s nest, a Wyrm-infested mine, and oddly enough, Dragon Lake. Inside, the Adventurers Guild Reception had flat out taken the front desk of the entire building, and was in charge of everything from accommodations, points redemption, missions and bounties, promotions and trials. There was another front desk at the railway section that involved railway-specific issues, but more and more the building that was originally the railway depot had become increasingly utilized and occupied by Adventurer needs. Was that a problem? Should Remian do something to ret
Kingdom of the Weak 364. Adventurers Guild Matters
During this time, Libertaria was in an all-time high. Their adoption of steam technology gave their people great hope for the future, and people were flocking to jump on board this new direction. Ashdale was seen as their only viable competitor, but matching the industrial capacity of Libertaria with only the landmass of their kingdom basically left the Ashdalians coughing on high density air pollution. As for rumors about great technological advances in the Wildlands... Pah! What did those uncultured monkeys living in the Wild know about technology? To them, a wind-up music box must be a miracle from God! Truth be told, Ivy’s assignment in the Wildlands was to keep an eye on the Beast Floods in case they went overseas again. It was a low value, out-of-the-way assignment akin to exile for past mistakes, even if those mistakes were her director’s, and not hers, and the assigner was the director’s jealous wife... Given the high Libertaria was experiencing, asking them
Kingdom of the Weak 365. Next
“Are... are you sure?” Phoebe asked as the seven representatives left the office. “I’d rather not.” Remian admitted. “But time is short, and we don’t even know how the Undead Infestation will turn out. Taking control of the Wildlands is only the first step. It won’t be enough by itself.” “You want more?” Phoebe gaped. “I want everything. The entire world would be good.” Remian rubbed his head. “But that’s not likely. The Dras Clan members who rule the western continents aren’t cooperative sorts. The best I can do is claim the Midlands and the Wildlands while working with the Dragon Empire. This is especially because in fifty or sixty years, the Dras Clan should arrive to pick up their kids.” “What does that mean?” Phoebe asked. “In the immediate term? The world will suddenly be facing power that couldn’t possibly be challenged, dragons compared to which Zor’khan-dras is merely a child. But they won’t care about this measly little planet at the
Kingdom of the Weak 366. Kara-Goth 3.0
Saying so was one thing. Actually managing to do it was something else. Since Shadowflash limited them in terms of industry, George was doubtful that increasing the earnings of the poorest in Kara-Goth was something that could be deliberately done. If they were allowed to wantonly mine everywhere and quarry every hill for stone, and turn the whole horizon into farmland and pasture, then it was a reasonable possibility, but since they had to tiptoe around Shadowflash’s environmentalist policies, rampant exploitation of the land was not an option. If even the basic industries like mining, farming, ranching and manufacturing were impossible, turning impoverished refugees into productive, wage-earning workers was going to be a long, uphill struggle. Already George could see himself inventing fake jobs just to have an excuse to pay them enough to keep them fed... But Remian said, “Kara-Goth needs to change. You already have outlying villages and towns for farms and mines. Heavy i
Kingdom of the Weak 367. From out of the blue sky
On the day that a starship fell from the heavens, Darian and Mindy were up to their necks in Undead. “Why do I get the feeling that these guys were waiting for us?” Mindy asked, swiping three skeletal forms into halves with his Psi Blade. “The minute we got out of the Portal, the whole fortress gets swamped...” “I think they can sense the mana. There must be a reason why some Undead are stronger than others, and the stronger ones always have better crystals.” Darian said. “The Draconians think that whoever made the Undead used the stronger crystals to power the stonger troops, but what if it was the other way around?” “What do you mean?” “What if it was the mana crystals that determined how strong the Undead were able to grow? So these walking corpses coming after us are really trying to get a crystal for themselves so that they could develop and advance...” “Are you telling me these guys are hungry?!” “Mana-hungry, yes...” [I
Kingdom of the Weak 368. A fourth generation Acrobat?!
But this...! “No way.” Remian couldn’t believe it. They dragged it out of the wreck and into broad daylight and he still couldn’t believe what he was looking at. “A fourth generation Acrobat?!” He glanced over at the survivors again. Their clothing and equipment were mostly Southern Quarin, except for a trio over there who looked grungy enough to fit the Tau. The Quarin wouldn’t use a technological mech like this; they’d use golems or shikigami or summoned beasts or elementals or something magical. The Tau didn’t have the technology for something this advanced; Remian had paid special attention to Sorrel II’s neighbors, so he was quite sure of it. The Tau Confederacy couldn’t build this. Who, then, did this Acrobat belong to? Was there someone from the Uber States or Kanonasia who left it on the ship? But no, that was most unlikely. Ubermen or Kanonai would treasure these advanced mechs more than their lives. Someone from an even more advanced civilization, t
Kingdom of the Weak 369. Not Quite Side Story 6
When Captain Lance opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a bare white ceiling.Faded white powdery concrete. Not polished runesteel. This wasn’t a room in the Asred.“Where... am I...?” he croaked, suddenly finding his throat tight and dry and practically non-functional.“He’s awake!” some girl yelled on the far right, and then there was a short ruckus as people dashed about and charged into sight...Lance’s heart fell as he saw them arrive. Standing over him were a couple of teenagers in matching leather outfits.[Just how primitive a world did we land on? Leather armor like this... it’s positively medieval!]With that single thought, all Lance’s hopes of rescue, sanctuary, and finding his way home were instantly shattered, the bits dropping onto the floor and rolling around in gloomy circles.But out of the blue, he received a Psionic reply to his thoughts. [It’s true
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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
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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
