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2024-10-29 19:42:56His name was Arnold. Back at Ashdale Kingdom, he had been framed for the theft of military supplies and thus he was deemed a petty criminal and sentenced to ten years imprisonment minimum. His only out was to join the Legion and waltz off to the Frontier. Many saw this as a suicide option; but Arnold straightened his back, proclaimed his innocence, and rejected jail outright.
A week later, he was at the Legion camp of Frontier Town, building two ballistae.
“So now you know my background.” He grunted, testing the crank of the one on the left. “Why do you ask?”
“Because, well…” Remian scratched his head. “You’re good. Very good.”
The ballistae were easily three meters long, and just as wide. Each was like a crossbow, only much bigger. They used the ‘headless spears’, that is, the simply steel shafts with sharp points for ammunition; Arnold said something about the consistent strength and weight distribution of the spears that made them more suitable and
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Kingdom of the Weak 38. How?
How? That was the question on Remian’s mind more than anything else. How to fend off the Beast Wave, for sure, but even before that… How did the Wilds know that this was the time the town was vulnerable? That the Legion was full-swing in celebrations today? How did they know to rush the Beast Wave a day early, and to hurry over even at the expense of their slower fighters? How did they know now was the time to strike? The fact that they struck now, like this, told Remian two things. First, somebody, somewhere, had told them. There was a traitor in town, probably one of the Wilds, possibly one of the wolfcats in Carrie’s pack. Second, somebody, somewhere, was controlling them. Somebody decided to rush the Wave so that they would attack during this one vulnerable day. It had been a deliberate decision. Similar to Shadowflash, there was another lord of the Wilds out there commanding the Beast Waves. And if the Waves could
Kingdom of the Weak 39. A Long Night
Tim and Silas were in trouble. They were the vanguard of the ammunition convoy, and they had just entered the town center when an immense bull on fire came charging straight at them. “Tier 4!” Silas gasped. “Brace!” Tim crouched, holding out his precious Tier 3 spear, praying against all odds that at least one of them might survive, at least one of the eight young boys behind him who went to get the spears might come out of this alive and finish the mission, because most certainly, he himself wasn’t going to make it… But a miracle occurred. Remian shouted, “Light!” Before Tim could exclaim anything, a wall of light twice his height and much wider rose up in between him and the charging bull. There was a terrible, jarring impact; Tim could feel the ground sake under his boots from the crash. But the Bull was stopped cold. It could not get even an inch past Remian’s light. Silas let out all his breath in relief. “I
Kingdom of the Weak 40. Choosing Runes
“What happened here?” Charlie was astounded when he arrived on the airship the next day. “The Beast Wave hit last night.” Remian summarized. They met at the half-built airport. There was a high deck for mooring airships, currently accessible either via a long ramp or a manually operated lift. At present, four Legion trainees were pushing at the wheel powering the lift which had two injured trainees on stretchers aboard. Next to the lift were eight more injured trainees in a row. Down below were four more and other people queued up with their crates for export, still waiting for their turn to use the lift. “We need more lifts.” Charlie observed. “We need a secure warehouse, so people with goods for export can bring them up here early.” Remian countered. “This airport currently only had three people on staff, and two of them work at the air traffic control lighthouse.” All three were hired by Deutero, so Remian had little say over whether more c
Kingdom of the Weak 41. Increasing Forces
In the end, it was Arnold who really blew Remian’s budget. The things he asked for were estimated to wipe out half of Remian’s earnings all by themselves. “You want that Repeating Scorpion quickly or in a few years? And a moving tower, no less… do you have any idea what it takes to build a decent Siege Tower?” “Not really, no.” Remian confessed. “Neither do I.” Arnold handed Charlie with a list of ordered parts, gears and tools. “Count it as research costs!” “How long do you expect this ‘research’ to go on?” Remian asked, concerned for his wallet. “Without these supplies? A Repeating Scorpion could take me all year. With them? I could have one ready in a week or so.” Arnold clarified. “Putting it on a moving platform would need more work; we’ll have to do a lot of testing and adjustments to fire a Scorpion while the platform is moving. Building an actual siege tower capable of withstanding Tier 3 and 4 Wilds… that’s going to take at lea
Kingdom of the Weak 42. Looking for Answers
Atop Three Pines Peak, the Sun Eagle Lord sought to ensure the future of the Wildlands by cleansing all the Destroyers (humans) from it. From deep beneath the Black Depths Lake, the Deepsilver Lord sought vengeance for his fallen kin. The High Crown Stag Lord of the Speckled Highlands believed destroying humans would save the entire world from eventual destruction. The Golden Lion Lord wished to challenge mankind as a matter of pride. Then, there was the last, mysterious possibility; that the enigmatic Shadowflash himself wanted to rid his territories of these pesky humans. As to why these five were the suspects rather than one of the many other Lords of the Wilds? It was because these five were the five nearest Lords directly south of Frontier Town; the direction the Beast Waves were coming from. Shadowflash’s last known whereabouts was also in that direction. The most suspicious one? Sun Eagle, because up until now, none of the Wilds in the B
Kingdom of the Weak 43. Considerations
They ended up shopping at Burning Steel rather than the airship. Remian ordered Tier 3 weapons and armor in bulk, which he would later donate to the Guild for Points. After all, as Guild Master, he should strive to remain as one of the top Adventurers in his own Guild. They finally spotted the airship in the horizon by lunch time. As Mandy said; they were simply late. The reason for that became apparent as they docked at the still-unfinished airport. The airship had dozens of people on deck, and many crates of cargo to unload. “Workers!!” Remian roared to the sky, exultant. One hundred workers. Forty mercenaries. There weren’t as many mercenaries as Charlie estimated, but for Remian, who had sweated over a lack of manpower until now, forty tier 2 fighters was a godsend. On top of that, there were not ten, but twenty Iron Legion trainees this time around, led by another drill sergeant named Julius. “Orders!” Julius salute
Kingdom of the Weak 44. Smoke
This time, Remian thought, they were going to be ready. This time, for sure, they would stop the Beast Wave entirely. Things had gone well over the week. The dorm and the barracks were built; the Legion got their stone, and Remian got his wall. Four Guard Towers were raised, two to completion with Ballistae and Repeating Scorpions, and two just at Phase 1, but able to shelter archers and crossbowmen. When the day came for the Beast Wave to strike, Remian had a prepared force of forty mercenaries, a dozen Adventurers, and over thirty Legionnaires on guard while he himself went to greet another shipment of reinforcements coming in with the airship at lunch-time. As Charlie promised, they came early. “Any word from the scouts?” he asked Mandy, who stood at his side. “No sign of a signal fire. It seems the scouts haven’t spotted anything coming.” Mandy said. “I thought you said they usually didn’t attack until sunset. It’s high noon out here.” “Best to be wary. You never know, with th
Kingdom of the Weak 45. Unstoppable
The first indication they had that something was coming was when the ground started to shake. The birds began to scatter. Most of them took to the air and fled in every direction, getting away from the scene. But the ravens gathered. They began to stalk a certain figure in the distance. Trees began to fall. A visible column of floral victims trailed all the way from the far horizon. It headed directly toward the Frontier Town known as Fort Spoas. “What is that…?” Kairos asked. He stood on Remian’s left, while Charlie was on Remian’s right. They were atop the rooftop of the Adventurer Guard Tower, behind a fully prepared Ballista with a Steel Stake loaded and ready to fire. “We’ll find out soon. The scouts are almost here.” Remian pointed. There was Carrie, with Candice and Denise on her back. She had gone ahead with them especially to bring these two back quickly. Upon arriving, the twins went straight to Remian to report. “It’
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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
