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2024-10-29 19:42:56But 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
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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
Kingdom of the Weak 370. Lunch with
They added a medical emergency signal to the Beacon, hoping someone would come and pick up Art in time. Meanwhile, they salvaged a few cryo-pods from the Asred and froze him, along with sixteen of the Quarin who would die without more advanced medical facilities. Of the surviving Quarin crew, nine woke up not long after Captain Lance, and the other forty or so were likely to wake up soon. Among the survivors were Grand Master Ay’eni and Rune Master Le’tte. The rest of the Quarin Masters did not make it, especially Golem Master Je’vakai, who had fought bravely in the very front... A lot of their equipment could be repaired and reactivated with sufficient mana. Some nice, juicy red crystals would do the trick. Actually affording those red crystals, of course, was going to cost them an arm and a leg. Zor’khan-dras and Grand Master Ay’eni almost came to blows as they haggled over lunch. Ay’eni merely wanted to borrow crystals, promising a high interest pay-back scheme. Z
Kingdom of the Weak 371. Aliens have landed!!
Other people did not take word of the arrivals quite so peacefully. “An armored airship from beyond the atmospere?!” this was the best description Charlie could come up with. “And people from other worlds?!” “Yes.” Mandy nodded, face pale. “You mean... like Xiao Yan?” Charlie mused. “Or the Undead? Or the Spectres?” “Apparently... they’re from the Black Ruins Civilization.” Mandy said. “The ones who abandoned this world long ago. The ones who made the Wilds.” “Then...” Charlie gulped. “Are they coming back? Are they going to try to take over the world again?” “I don’t know! Nobody knows anything! Remian’s not telling anyone anything!” Mandy said in a flurry. “Most of them are still unconscious, except for a few, and he’s eating with them and talking with them, but no matter how I ask, nobody will tell me anything!” That last came out in a shriek. Of course, they sent word to Ashdale, and within an hour, diplomatic envoys were s
Kingdom of the Weak 372. Reasons for Recall
The reason why Darian suddenly had to return to the Wildlands was because yesterday, Remian called him on crystal. “There are three reasons why we need you back here.” Remian began. Darian half-sighed. He could already think of three right off the top of his head. First was probably dad and mom getting worried about him after not hearing from him for so long. Second was likely to hunt down Eriane and find out what the jeepers she had been up to all this time, maybe force her to study and do homework. Third, maybe to ask another favor from the Church of Light, or Doom specifically... “First, a magitech technician turned a switch on.” Remian began. Darian blinked. “Huh?” “Well... there’s nothing particularly wrong, dangerous, or even inherently significant about such an action, but the results...” Remian scratched his head and then explained. Basically, the Quarin woke up to find themselves shipwrecked on a primitive world, but then were
Kingdom of the Weak 373. Adventurers and Quarin
Putting the Wind Emperor aside, Darian had a dungeon raid on his hands. “First of all, there are people you are required to bring into the Three Pines Underground Ruins.” Remian listed them out. “Grand Master Ay’eni, Rune Master Le’tte, and the four mages escorting them. Ay’eni assures me that they are all highly competent elites, veterans of many battles, and would be able to hold their own in battle. “For a bonus, Zor’khan-dras has also expressed an interest in the Ruins. If you’re willing, he’s going to send a team led by Sior’khan-dras to join your expedition. In order to match the Quarin group, this team is limited to six persons also. He will form his own team and handle his own security, but I still have to ask you to keep an eye on them if you bring them along. “Second, your first task is to explore and map out as much of the Ruins as are accessible. Third, to clear at least the top floor of the Underground Ruins of threats to make it safe for scholar
Kingdom of the Weak 374. Raiding the Underground Ruins
“I have three rules!” Darian addressed the crowd just before launching the raid. “First, no fighting among ourselves! Anyone who breaks that, dies! This includes Draconians and our offworld guests!” “I accept those conditions.” Ay’eni said slowly. “Second, whoever disobeys my direct command, dies!” Darian went on. A few frowns appeared, especially on the faces of a few good-looking females. Or at least, they looked like frowns. It was a little tricky to tell sometimes, with Draconians who had scales on their faces. “Third, no looting! This is an archaelogical site, we’re here to clear it for study, not to plunder everything that isn’t nailed down! Anyone who loots, dies!” A few dubious looks emerged. “If you think I wouldn’t know, try it and see. But you better prepare your grave first.” Darian warned. By now, there were a lot of uncomfortable faces, except for one group who took it all in stride. This group were the Tier 5’s f
Kingdom of the Weak 375. Battle Tactics
Defender Crag and Priest Jabez were busy saving the Sand Band crew when the golem decided to take a swing at one of them. Crag braced himself with his shield, taking the full impact with the support of his Armored Frame, then automatically countered with his hammer. CRACK! That hit scored fissures all across the golem’s arm. “Use hammers! Crushing attacks!” Crag roared. “Blunt weapons and kinetic force!” Jabez offered another interpretation. Sal didn’t care either way. He was using sand to entangle the golem’s legs and arms, trying to get some into its joints so as to slow it down and hamper its movement. Lily though, put aside her bow and picked up a flail dropped by one of the Sand Band guys they were helping. Whirling it in a tight circle, she whipped it into the Golem, hoping to do better damage that way, but the golem moved to catch it, and then tugged it, and her, into a high arc, sending her flying merrily overhead... Darian lea
Kingdom of the Weak 376. Evasion
Darian called the Adventurer teams back to report, reorganize, resupply and rest. In five minutes, every team confirmed that the only active high-level enemies they faced below were golems. As far as they could tell, all the rest were incidental creatures who found their way through the cracks over time and nested in some corner and never left. Almost two thirds of the crew went to a workshop for Frame upgrades or adjustments. Weapons were swapped, and the demand for hammers, mauls and flails skyrocketed. Even some Adventurers were switched, favoring heavier fighters instead of lighter skirmishers. The Draconians, likewise, made some adjustments before going back in. The only team that didn’t was the Quarin team. Darian made a quick report that was sent on to Remian, and went back in to continue. *** “One quarter of the floor, he estimates.” Ruth said, reporting to Remian with Darian’s note in hand. “At this rate, they’re going to take all day
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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
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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
- 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
