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2024-10-29 19:42:56The 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
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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
Kingdom of the Weak 377. Clearing the first floor
Half the first floor was cleared before they stopped for lunch. Based on the increasing strengths of the golems they faced, Darian felt that either the latter half was more securely guarded, or the golems were growing stronger the longer they had access to a steady power supply. Maybe they had been weakened by time and were slowly regenerating and recovering now that the power supply was back on? “Jackpot!” a shout brought Darian’s attention to the door on the left, where the Quarin team had finally unlocked access to a new compartment. “We’ve hit the motherlode!” “What is it?” Darian went over. “It’s the infirmary!” Le’tte informed him. “The medical equipment in here may be old, but they’re worth countless times more than all the office stationery and junk we’ve seen so far!” “Can they be used?” Darian stared. “They might not be fully functional, but their basic uses should still be fine. I mean, a bed is a bed, isn’t it?” Darian nodd
Kingdom of the Weak 378. Autoforge
Meanwhile, Remian called Xiao Yan over to a special hangar in the Starport for a secret discussion. “This is...” Xiao Yan inspected the tree-sized machine in front of her. “A Taurian Autoforge? It looks a bit worn out.” “Yep. It came with the Taurian mercenaries on the Asred.” “What do you intend to do with it?” “What if it were you? What would you do?” Xiao Yan snorted. “First thing I’d make with this is another Autoforge. And then use both to make two more, and then use those four to make four more and so on. Given the materials we have on this planet, I think using basic carbon synthsteel is the best we can hope for, so the new ones couldn’t possibly match up to this old thing, but compared to the machinery in your Industrial District, it would be a leap of several generations.” “Sounds good. Can you do it?” Xiao Yan narrowed her eyes. “If you want me to run it, you’re going to have to compensate me accordingly. I want half
Kingdom of the Weak 379. Another Way
That evening, Ay’eni and Le’tte made another call home and then decided to go find Remian. By then, they had a fourth autoforge ready to work. A third team was being brought in to build components with the refined synth-metals from the first team, most of them being previous magitech engineers from Ecclesia, and Xiao Yan was already talking about taking her tenth of the production to build her own Light Frame design. Ay’eni met Remian at the Starport cafeteria while he was having dinner, interrupting his private meal time with Phoebe. “Our people want to build a Portal.” Ay’eni got straight to the point. “It could take a few months to stabilize, but if we can get it done, your people would have an easy way off this planet straight to Quarin space.” “Quarin space? We were trying to get refugee status with the Tau.” Remian frowned. “Why bother with those low-tech survivalists? Your world is already accustomed to magitech, and wouldn’t take long
Kingdom of the Weak 380. Secrets in the night
That evening, a hooded and cloaked figure crept up to Rune Master Le’tte where he sat alone at a bar. It was a new establishment in Craggy Falls Starport, and one could still vaguely smell the fresh coat of paint. There were a lot of people eager to try out the new place, some of whom preferred not to be seen doing so, therefore a hooded figure like this one did not draw too much attention. Most folks around simply minded their own business out of politeness. That would never have happened in the Dragon Empire since over there, everybody’s spoiled brat and their cousins would be trying to pick a fight and bully any stranger they could and likely get themselves killed by people they couldn’t afford to offend, but Craggy Falls folks were more sensible. The hooded figure didn’t say much. A slender hand simply held out a pouch. Rune Master Le’tte also didn’t say much. He slipped a small package over, and took the pouch. The figure quietly got up and left the bar.
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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
