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"Well, you can go as a viper wolf and raid the Tyramonian transports. You'll be leading some other viper wolves we have. It'll save us having to train them."
"I suppose it could help, but last I checked humanity has guns now and flying machines and...big metal boxes that make their own roads...I think they're called tanks...wouldn't they be there with them? I can't do much against them."
"Those things aren't everywhere, you know."
Kressidia scratched the back of her neck, to Henrin, it sounded like hands being dragged across a small washboard.
"Thats odd...why wouldn't everyone ride around in a flying machine or a tank...seems strange to keep everyone running about...ah well, as the old saying goes; "Betrauere nicht die Fehler deines Feindes". If I can raid them I shall."
******
"He certainly thinks so; despite the fact he isn't the best statesman or politician, or even the best general despite his still impressive skill...he seems to be the best person to be a figurehead; the gung-ho, fearless hero who seemingly time and time again pulls of great feats of daring-do that saves the unsavable."
He shrugged.
"I would argue he is somehow the most important Aerlanican; he psychologically conditioned most Aerlanicans to believe they can succeed no matter what happens...he is the reason these Aerlanicans still fight."
"I would believe to say he is equal to any other Aerlanican is fallacious. Equal before the eyes of the law? yes. But to say he is worth the same as a common soldier as cruel and crass as it may sound would be fallacious."
******
It was a full day before they saw a different wizard approach the hut.
"Ah, you are still here. We received word of your request. We would like to help you with the Sorcerer of Life, but the fact remains that there is little we can do to help. What sort of help would you require?"
******
Nelly looked at the scientist with a withering glare.
"Well then," she said passive aggressively, successfully, but barely, hiding her relief, "I suppose I won't be teleporting to the planet now, will I?"
She brushed down her dress and huffed.
"I suppose I will be telling the Royal Emperor of this...disappointment."
******
"Oh really? yeah, like you'll believe it," Iblion said firmly, "you're already too set in your ways to even begin believing us. Hell, we could show you how the Aerlanicans burned their skies, scorched their valleys, poisoned their fields in their drive of senseless violence and you'd still say we were lying."
******
The COURIER reply that to have them enter the black site, they must officially be employees in the beurocratic sense. Sure, they aren't, but officially to get past innumerable amounts of beurocratic nonsense they are arbitrarily called "employees" just to make it easier for them to enter and exit the black sites.
If they didn't like that, they could "go back to Tyramon and mope about it".
“A little humor rarely hurts anyway, and I suppose if it gave a moments respite.”
Ooanim turned towards the helmsman, “You heard him, slow and steady. Last thing we need is to get shot after making it this far.”
The Soundwave was slowly directed towards what appeared to be a space elevator, at the top of which was a space-station esque structure. Most of the plating and structure was placed in a functional utilitarian pattern maximising functionality at as little a cost that could be managed. Soon, what appeared to be some sort of freighter was moved in transit towards the Soundwave, flanked by two smaller military craft.
"This is the Ticon, preparing to dock and take aboard the diplomats, over...uh...where do I dock; everything's flatter than an Empress'...it's flat."
"Gonna be a little hard to get Jonathan Blinds on account of half the universe trying to kill him but...Bamber...who is Bamber."
She shook her head.
"Alright, let's start with baby steps; let's go warn Yune to get the hell out of dodge, ok?"
******************
Enri nodded.
"Yeah...yeah I could..."
Lily-Rose raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"They got any positions open for freelance fighter pilots?"
"You aren't a fighter pilot." Ysali commented.
"Yeah? Well...how different can a SA-H* Fighter be to a propeller plane-don't answer that."
*(SA-H being "Space-Atmospheric - Hybrid." basically, aeronautical craft are designated three designations in the Aerlanican military; S = Space (I.e. SF= Space Fighter), A = Atmospheric (I.e. AB = Atmospheric Bomber) and SA-H. Almost all items are made to be Hybrids, save for the big vessels of the navy which are too heavy to fly in atmosphere or in gravity wells.)
(Groovy!)
******************
She motioned back to the camp.
"Let's head back, I'll tap the stuff into my computer."
******************
"And the books...and the bookshelves." Hogan said. "Oh, and do try to avoid loud vacuums; it disturbs the silence."
Kania smiled and curtseyed.
"Thank you, I will keep that in mind."
~~~~~~~
One soldier spoke up.
"Yeah, I got one. What if we can't read?"
Some mumbling and nods among the group suggested that there were quite a few soldiers who had such a problem.
"Yeah...see it's the whole 'die' possibility of that that really makes me not want to go along. I don't like the odds, and I really don't think the military is gonna let you go through with this."
Henrin nodded.
"Of course. And while some transports do have escorts, some are minimally protected. Protecting every transport is expensive, so there are plenty that a coordinated wolfpack should be able to take on."
He paused.
"Just curious, what language was that? Some old...Aerlanican dialect?"
******
Vara nodded.
"On that we are in full agreement."
As they finished their meals, Vara looked to Erwin.
"What shall we do now?"
******
It was a full day before they saw a different wizard approach the hut.
"Ah, you are still here. We received word of your request. We would like to help you with the Sorcerer of Life, but the fact remains that there is little we can do to help. What sort of help would you require?"
******
The scientist swallowed nervously.
"Not too worry! A much larger and more powerful telescope shall be constructed without delay!"
******
"Oh really? yeah, like you'll believe it," Iblion said firmly, "you're already too set in your ways to even begin believing us. Hell, we could show you how the Aerlanicans burned their skies, scorched their valleys, poisoned their fields in their drive of senseless violence and you'd still say we were lying."
******
The witches asserted that as they are not employees of COURIER, there was no agreement stopping the witches from doing tests on the suaven.
(Yeah, I think the way I’d been thinking about it was that the hurricane already existed, and someone would’ve redirected and/or strengthened it to use as a distraction. Doesn’t particularly matter either way.)
Carissa sits on the pier of the capital city, staring out at the turbulent ocean. A faint glow surrounds her small ghostly body, though her darkened gaze gives away a state of mind that resembles the roiling clouds gathering on the horizon. Her feet dangle over the edge of the aging wooden pier, just barely kicking at the surface of the water below.
Kiki closely watches the steady rise and fall of her son’s chest as he sleeps. “I hope so. He’s so young and he’s already been through so much…” she shakes her head, her fingers brushing against the faded, pale scar upon her cheek.
“What’s wrong?” William asks, sensing the change in the Queen’s composure.
“Sorry…” Kiki sighs. “Tomorrow’s the day that most of the people who were lost in the storm are officially considered to be lost. And it’s… familiar. It’s reminding me of how he and I came together. And as much as I love him, it still hurts to think about it.”
As she stands over the twins’ crib, they sleep peacefully, undisturbed by her stealthy approach.
She watches them for a long moment…
And then Eliza sneezes, her eyes opening abruptly and a startled frown spreading across her face.
Kiki gives a soft smile. “It’s alright. I am, as you’d say, too trusting. Much to the annoyance of my security team.” She gestures to a pair of Kansan guards behind her. “Of course, in a pacifist nation, it’s a bit less of a concern. There’s always something to worry about, I suppose.”
She shrugs. “Anyways… what’s your name? And where are we going next?”
Wendy’s grip on his hand unconsciously tightens as Brian tries to move away. She mumbles something in her sleep and then finally rolls back over and let’s go if his hand.
A young man with electric pink hair gets off the plane, one Jayden Cole. He carries a small backpack and wears a nice button-down shirt with slacks. He finds his way over to the diplomat and the driver. “Hey. You must be the delegate I’m supposed to meet with.”
"It's Grendel...Standardised Grendel. By the sounds of things from my conversations with other Grendels it hasn't changed in quite some time."
She shrugged.
"I suppose we thought it was good enough and stuck with it."
She stretched.
"Will they have any body armour? Also what's this fabric armour you have now? it's like this tough fabric that is both thinner and stronger than a Gamberson, what's with that? You went from armour, to no armour, back to armour; how incredibly fickle...but I digress, will they have such equipment? it's hard on my teeth and tastes terrible."
******
"Apologise," Erwin said bluntly, "do you wish for me to do the talking exclusively? or do you wish to chat as well?"
******
"Well I mean I could just teleport us all over there now but that would most likely be foolish." Spencer commented. "But ultimately we could do with some allies...are...are you up to date with current affairs?"
******
"Don't bother," Nelly hissed, "If you're foolish enough to not recognise the statement 'I need to see the planet' then you probably will bungle the job with the telescope."
She pressed firmly on his chest with a very long, and perhaps slightly sharp, nail.
"You are very lucky I am in a merciful mood today, otherwise I will have ordered a rather severe punishment. Take this as a warning."
******
"Oh really? yeah, like you'll believe it," Iblion said firmly, "you're already too set in your ways to even begin believing us. Hell, we could show you how the Aerlanicans burned their skies, scorched their valleys, poisoned their fields in their drive of senseless violence and you'd still say we were lying."
******
(We having the witches "research" the suaven? You do realise that Iblion making them immutable means the Suaven won't be affected by the parasite, just the soldiers in the carrier.)
"Hey, don't give up hope." William said firmly. "I'm holding out hope for my pals doing their own independent searches. At the very least people won't have to bury empty caskets."
He sighed and pulled her closer to him.
"He's a tough kid...he'll...grow up fine...ok? No one said the world was kind, but no one said we should give up hope either. Life will get better. Think of it this way; we found a lot of people, a lot of people still alive...a lot more than we would've expected from a storm that bad...at least we managed to save that many folk."
******
Tsarina gave a small smile and gently reached over, delicately giving some comforting touches to Eliza.
"Hey there gorgeous...mummy's here...keeping you safe...please avoid screaming and crying."
Kiki leans against William. “I know, I know. I’m trying to stay hopeful, but… it’s… as my therapist would say, it’s very difficult to separate my own trauma from my reaction to the current event. Even though there’s millions of citizens who need me to keep a level head.” She hides her face into Will’s shirt. “I just can’t stop thinking about the bombing, the whole thing keeps replaying in my head and being around Nate makes it worse. But I can’t just avoid him because that makes me a bad mom… but I have to put my country first. I don’t know what to do…”
Eliza gives her a look somewhere along the lines of “you can’t make me” and then lets out a loud scream. Ella awakens abruptly and starts screaming along angrily with her sister.
A moment later Connie comes stumbling into the room. “What’s wrong now?” She makes her way through the dark room to Ella’s crib and gently picks her up.
A man in dark blue robes approaches, walking down the pier towards the ghostly girl. He has several golden rings on his fingers, and he wears a wizard's hat. His hat and robes have muted stars and crescent moon shapes embroidered throughout.
"Hello, young one," he says with a strange foreign accent as he gets close, "do you mind if I sit with you?"
(Fun fact: the first mention of standard-issue body armour for Tyramonian soldiers was in the factbook entry on command pistols that were designed to penetrate said armour to kill disobedient soldiers.)
"They might, but Tyramonian body armour is generally limited to vest and helmet. Legs, arms, and neck will generally be exposed, so you shouldn't have much of an issue."
******
"I shall as well. And I suppose you are right: best not to delay it."
******
"We are aware of the Tyramonian alliance with the entity Iblion and the Sorcerer of Mind. We are also aware that the seven generals previously subservient to the Royal Emperor of Tyramon have broken their ties and are now in opposition to the Royal Emperor, but they remain in hiding. We know little of the state of the Aerlanican empire, though we have seen that little remains of their territory, and the Tyramonian armies march freely in their lands."
******
"B-but, as I understand it, the alternative is quite unattractive...I'm sure the Royal Emperor would prefer us to build a better telescope over sending so many soldiers to a senseless death in the vacuum of space."
******
"Well...I'm more likely to believe any sort of proof than just you saying stuff."
******
(Oh, I figured that it probably would work on the suaven, given that previous psychic objects created by Delegata had an effect, such as the temptation boxes she handed out a while back. Regardless, the "research" is simply an excuse to go to a planet where they know there are a lot of people, as opposed to some blacksite that could very well be on an isolated asteroid or something.)
"Of course, that is why we created the senate after all. Iblion didn't like it, but we assured him it was just to make the people happy. Of course, that's part of it. But hopefully the senate will become far more than that."
At the report of the flatness of the ship, Ooanim gave the signal to open one of the hangars. At that moment, the smooth, featureless section of metal plating cracked open as light poured out of the now open hanger. The doors slid open cleanly, giving the Ticon an open invitation to enter the ship.
Oanim turned to Johnathan, "Do your ships just have open, easy to access airlocks or hangars? Seems awfully unnecessary if you ask me."
Lucius smiled a toothy grin before turning away from Kania, "Dje my friend, do you know where those treasonous soldiers are moving my treasure?" He called out to seemingly nothing.
~~~~~~~
Dr. Peartongue seemed shocked at the soldier's question. "You can't read? Give me a moment to confer with my colleagues, we hadn't planned on this possibility."
The three doctors began quickly talking amongst themselves, "Illiteracy? This widespread in the army?"
"What are we supposed to do with that?"
"We'll have to replan much of the curriculum."
"Would it be feasible to simply teach them all to read?"
"No, this batch is too early. We need to get results not go off on tangents. If this works we can try to teach future groups of soldiers."
"Well then what do we do?"
"The textbooks we brought will be absolutely useless."
"We'll have to try and redesign as many of the pamphlets and lessons to be more visual."
"Still distribute the pamphlets, let those who can read get a head start."
"Yes, we should also have one of us available to read things to them at any time they may need it."
"I'm happy to do that."
The three turned back towards the soldiers, "After talking, we've come up with a temporary solution. We'll still distribute the pamphlets, those of you who can read may get a head start. In the meantime, we'll work on redesigning the pamphlets to be more visual. In 1 hour Dr. Grayclaw will be here in this room to read out the pamphlets to anyone who would like the assistance. And, in the future Dr. Grayclaw will always be available to read anything you need him to, assuming it isn't the middle of the night and he's sleeping."
Brian smiles sadly before going to his room and going to sleep. In the morning, he wakes up and begins making breakfast early in the morning while Wendy sleeps.
~~~~~~~
Francis extends his hand for Jayden to shake, "Indeed I am sir, Francis Nighteye at your service. Welcome to the serene islands of Fivalia. I hope you're able to think of this as a vacation. We shouldn't have anything too dramatic to take care of, these negotiations should be quick. Would you like to come with me to the private car?"
No'akly examined the agents with interest, "You'd like to... apologize? Interesting. Perhaps you all will live after all. I hadn't expected that. If you want my aid you've gone about it in a terrible way. We're still on Augusta? Then I admire your anti-magic technology. Quite impressive. But unfortunately, it may be a bit too effective. You needn't worry about me destroying this submarine, although be aware, I happily would. But I'm afraid I'm too close to death as it is, and I must maintain my current magic stores, lest I drop dead in front of you. I believe I know the "threat" you speak of. I'm curious how you managed to learn of him, your espionage is truly remarkable. I'd love to study you more thoroughly, instead of this crude interrogation. Well, get on with it. You clearly have some proposition for me."
"Democracy is a non-negotiable. If Iblion disagrees he can look down the wrong end of an Oaterian galactic battleship. He'd probably tear it apart, but there's no chance in hell we're giving up on you guys. We lost brothers in Hadrox. We've lost brothers in Aerlanica. We've lost...we lost a couple hundred people in 2020. Authoritarians, autocrats, cronies...The one thing I eternally hope for is to be sent to hell so I can violently attack the people who ruined the lives of Oaterians."
"Darko Virinic. The itenerary is currently for you to follow to Kassel Banderviss to meet with His Grace. Would you wish for this to happen, he specifically requested you be given agency within when you arrive to the Jarden Bedgervusk."
(Jarden Badgervusk is a Metonym for Oaterian bureaucracy and specifically the Oaterian Royal Family, from the courtyard of the castle, whose name in common is roughly "The Garden of all Badgers".)
"Koros van Bamber...the president of Oateria...we need to warn him..." She says, her eyes changing slightly, to a deadly determination. "I need to save people...and the cosites..."
******************
"Oh, yeah, Lily-Rose-" He said, looking over to her. "I read somewhere about the Oaterian military looking for Aerlanicans, Drachmans, in general just foreigners to help advise a revitalization in weapons. Worth a shot, at least. I mean, you seem to know a lot about starfighters, and the government is trying to actually work with the planets they have, I've heard. I mean aside from the small port on Vaelicia."
******************
"That would be much appreciated. Thank you for staying with me in any event. My path is arduous, and I don't wish to bring my burdens onto you, as I know you suffer from your own, but...I think you'd make a good birch. I can just...feel it."
******************
"Not like I can figure the damned things out anyways. Thanks for the heads up."
"Well, here's how I see it. One, we die. Two, I make you wish you were dead, or three, the Twelfs have magnificent power over a new lower Fort Domination. Why be a street gang when you can live forever as the fathers of a new way for the world. A fascist unity."
Hrodel smiled warmly, “Thank you so much for this opportunity’s of course. Though, we’ll have to be somewhat subtle about this. Iblion doesn’t have complete control of our foreign affairs, but if we sign agreements with the explicit intent of attacking him things may get… complicated. As for a journey to hell, I’m not sure if you can kill the dead.”
Some random patch of the western Kando Ocean, Planet Augusta, Solar System Amaterasu-Gamma 3, Roxium Galactic District Volkron, Solania Galaxy, Galactic Union Sector Trigon
"Again, our suspicion that that threat infiltrated 
Fivalia is why we resorted to these methods. As for those 'Propositions', the Op-CO has been working on a project..." says the agent.
In a hidden control room, the power level setting for the magika dampener field emitters is adjusted, with the only possible adjustment being to lower it. (The control was cranked as high as it could physically go.) No'akly could feel some relief from the magika dampener field, but not a lot, just enough to keep her magic levels high enough to stay alive with no effort, but still massively limiting her offensive magic capabilities.
"Due to the nature of the project, divulging any details while we're still on Augusta is considered 'Risky' by the Op-CO. All I can say at the moment is that the Op-CO specifically requested a Fivalia dragon for it." continues the agent.
Some chatter in that foreign/alien language is heard, with the only bits No'akly can understand being something about "ESSC Vesper Bay", "Oldoa Sea", and "Kando Ocean".
"Also, I would strongly advise that you refrain from 'studying' us, unless you want our Rangti-Jo to paint a target on your back."
As soon as the magika dampening field was lowered, even just slightly, No’akly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Ahhhh, thank you. Once again you show just how impressive your technology is. You specifically wanted one of us? I can’t say I’m surprised. You generally don’t assault a Fivalian dragon unless you need to, and you’re confident you can win.” Her eyes flicked open and she stared directly at the Cicada agent. “Or if you’re stupid, but you don’t strike me as the stupid type. I suppose if you must take me off world there is little I can do to stop you, but I assure you it will likely invoke greater retribution from my kind when they find us. Your stealth technology is impressive, I can attest to that, but I’m nonetheless confident that I will be located eventually.”
No’akly shrugged, “From my perspective I have a target on my back either way. I don’t see why threat from these ‘Rangti-Jo’ would alter my actions.”
"Getting on the Rangti-Jo's bad side is a fast track to being disappeared... As I've mentioned before, our organization is tasked with monitoring and eliminating high-priority threats." says the agent, with heavy emphasis on "Eliminating". This is basically a warning to No'akly that trying to study Cicada will likely lead to the number of living Fivalian dragons being reduced by one.
"The mere existence of our organization can be considered something of a state-secret. We only reveal ourselves when absolutely necessary, and most of the time when we reveal ourselves to someone, it is because that person has been deemed a threat to national security and must be eliminated by any means necessary. Consider yourself lucky that our objective was to 'acquire' you instead of killing you."
The agent pauses for a moment to let No'akly process that info.
"It is also unlikely that your peers will be able to locate us before we're on our way out of this solar system."
Moments after the agent finishes speaking, the room shudders slightly as the kiwsub starts steaming east. No'akly may or may not be sensing the stream of mana coming from the kiwsub's main prograde engine/thruster blocks that are propelling it forward. Come to think of it, magic seems to be permeating all their tech, and there's a particularly... "Intense" magic source somewhere outside the room she's in.
(That "Intense" magic source is the kiwsub's "Slow-Burn" arcane fission reactor, basically a nuclear reactor that uses volatile (and often "Radioactive") magic crystals instead of uranium. Those crystals are considered "Very Dangerous" due to their tendency to react violently with stuff like carbon dioxide and the skin/hair/fur/scales/exoskeletons of most lifeforms (Having one of these crystals touch exposed skin will cause near-instant blistering/first-degree burns). Being in the same room without proper radiation/hazmat gear with certain variants of those crystals is a very bad idea, unless you're looking for a slow, painful/agonizing death, and needing your body to be buried in the magic equivalent of a lead-lined coffin. "Slow-Burn" arcane fission reactors are optimized to be as efficient as possible, with the trade-off being a reduced power output. They're also smaller than the arcane fission reactors used in Roxium power plants. "Slow-Burn" arcane fission reactors are of similar size to a typical bedroom, while the arcane fission reactors used in power plants are the size of a small building.)
The girl nods slightly. "Go ahead."
Brian is about halfway done with breakfast when Wendy pads her way out of her bedroom. She comes down the hall wearing an adult-sized t-shirt that reaches down to her ankles, dragging a stuffed bunny by the ear and sleepily rubbing her eyes. "Good morning," she mumbles, coming to sit at the counter in the small kitchen of their suite.
Jayden shakes Francis' hand. "Yeah, that sounds great." His sharp grey eyes carefully scan his surroundings as they walk towards the car.
"Oh, I've heard about the Jarden! I was hoping I'd get the chance to go see it, after I meet with the King." Kiki smiles, adjusting the infant in her arms.
(That's a cool bit of lore. And if it's not some kind of cool tourist spot or something like that feel free to correct me. I do think the queen would be the type to do research like that and find cool cultural places to explore when she goes to a new place, so if it's remotely famous or well-known she would've known about it.)
((Reposting bc the ping didn’t work for Kansas))
“You’d be surprised.” He said, simply. “Even if Iblion is immortal there are two laws of the universe. Don’t poke a dragon…and do not underestimate the defense, persistence, and power of a badger.”
He nods. “Yes, Ma’am! We-ah.” He says, suddenly reaching for a pager, typing into it. “Child care to the castle will be ensured. I assume you want to watch over the young one but if not we can allow them into the nursery with the rest of the Castle Staff requiring childcare. As for the Jarden in particular His Grace is often there tending to the flowers if he’s not at his office or…rarely, in the actual throne room. To the limousine then?”
((Yeah, Banderviss is the Philadelphia of Oateria and the Castle of Oateria is its Liberty Bell/Independence Hall. It’s free and is highly recommended for anyone in the city but because it’s such a clearly respected and important monument there are a set amount of reservations throughout the day, and while the inside of the castle and the Jarden are very, very “please don’t touch anything or the actual military will escort you out” if you’re causing too much of a fuss but in some “newer” (read: 200 years old) areas of the castle security is a lot more lax.))
Kiki smiles softly. “Wonderful! I should be fine taking care of the Princess, though before I meet with the King I’ll probably need a place to feed and change her.” She follows him out towards the limousine.
(That is so cool :D I really need to develop some tourist sites in Kansas too. But I am really loving the lore with this, this is fun so thanks for sharing!)
(I'll respond to Kansas and Oateria later today)
No'akly growled quietly, "Fine, let us dispense with the thinly vieled threats. What do you want with me anyway? I can't imagine you specifically wanted me, there were too many variables at play for that. But why a Fivalian dragon? You're clearly quite powerful, but clashing with Fivalian dragons is a risky action. That means whatever my capture offers you is well worth the risk."
At mention of leaving the planet, No'akly froze for a few moments. "You... what? We're leaving Augusta?" She attempted to stand up (assuming she's chained down, if she's not she just stands up), looking around the room in wild panic. "You can't. No, no, no, NO! Get me out of here now!" No'akly screamed in panic for a brief moment, before taking a deep breath and trying to regain control of her fear. "Ok, ok, it might not be so bad," she muttered to herself. She looked in the general direction of where she could sense the reactor, "You clearly have a lot of Magitech. How do you power it? Do you use Arcazide or something else? Whatever that is," she gestured towards the reactor, "It doesn't feel quite like Arcazide, but it feels... similar."
(Arcazide is the magic crystal that Fivalian dragons use to power their own magitech, it's also sort of a life crystal for them. Arcazide is a rainbow colored crystal that acts sort of like a net for magic. It catches the ambient magical energy of the universe and then pours it out into the world as a specific kind of radiation that dragons need to survive. No'akly is freaking out because she's worried that by leaving Augusta -- which has a lot of Arcazide in Fivalia, enough that dragons can passively survive anywhere on the planet -- she won't be able to regenerate any magic no matter how low the magic dampeners are set. Based on your description of the crystals it seems like they're generally similar to Arcazide, only way more volatile. So I imagine she'll be fine, but she doesn't know that.)
Brian smiles towards Wendy, briefly looking up from the breakfast he’s cooking, Wendy’s favorite breakfast as a matter of fact. “Good morning, how’d you sleep?”
~~~~~~~
Francis guides Jayden through the airport. It seems peaceful enough. A tad quiet for an international airport, but that’s not all that surprising given Fivalia’s limited interaction with the outside world. And besides, the tourists — the majority of people ever using the airport — entered through a separate section of the airport. There were a number of shops throughout the airport, and magic was flitting about everywhere. Most of the spells were simple, ferrying information around in little small containers, large crystals displaying maps, somewhat obnoxious advertisements, and so on. As they walk they gently drift towards less and less busy areas until they’re the only ones in the airport. Around this time all advertisements stop as well, clearly indicating this part of the airport isn’t for public use.
As they walk Francis engages in polite small talk, asking Jayden how Kansas has been recovering, if the nation uses magic, and how much, how Jayden’s been these past few months.
Hrodel laughed gently, “Ah, true, very true. Although poking a dragon is not as consequence free as you might think. If the dragon believes it has gotten the better deal you may poke a dragon as much as you like. But still, I appreciate the joke, there haven’t been many chances for laughter recently.”
"You more-or-less hit the nail on the head in regards to why we chose you. You unironically made our job go by far quicker than originally anticipated. We were expecting the whole operation to take upwards of a week, not a few hours." says the agent before pausing for a moment.
"As I've said earlier, the Op-CO doesn't want use divulging any details of the project until we are no longer on Augusta. While I can't say what the project entails at the moment, I can say the end goal will be well worth all this effort, assuming everything goes to plan. Let's just say this project is a means to secure our universe's continued existence."
"As for our magitek, information on most of the stuff used by our organization is highly-classified information. The only unclassified information I can provide is that this vessel is powered by an arcane fission reactor fueled with arcanium-235 fuel rods." says the agent.
(The magic crystals I described in the previous post are known to the Roxium Federation as Arcane-type Magika Crystals, though they're more commonly called arcane crystals (And sometimes Mineralized Arcane). The defining characteristics of an arcane crystal are its glowing green appearance and the sunshine-like "Warmth"/"Heat" it gives off. All arcane crystals are hazardous (and radioactive), with some being more hazardous than others. The most dangerous arcane crystals can kill you from a distance fairly quickly due to their very intense radiation of both the nuclear and magic varieties. Arcanium-235 is a member of the Arcanium family of arcane crystals, one of the two arcane crystal families most suited for use as arcane fission reactor fuel. The other family is Arcanite. Arcanium is best suited for "Slow-Burn" reactors while Arcanite is the go-to fuel for the majority of reactors connected to the Roxium power grid.
Of course, it is perfectly possible to weaponize arcane crystals. A great example would be arcane fission weapons, which are basically magitek nukes. Arcane fission reactors work by having arcanium or arcanite crystals undergo what is basically the magic equivalent of a controlled nuclear fission reaction, keyword being controlled. Arcane fission weapons work in much the same way, but the reaction is uncontrolled, allowed to progress unhindered and at its "natural" speed/intensity. The end result of an uncontrolled arcane fission reaction: The magic equivalent of a nuclear explosion, and with similarly destructive results. Arcane fission explosions have a greenish-blue fireball.)
"The women's and men's rooms in the castle are equipped with changing tables." He nodded, putting the sign at his side and looking to another royal guardsman, speaking to him in very fast, and fairly casual Oaterian-something about getting a limo around the airport. "Are you equipped with a car seat for the young princess, ma'am?"
The other guardsman was at the ready, prepared to grab the seat at any moment.
"...When Vaelic stood at Nejiri and watched the Mongolyn advance he did not frown. Nor did he scream, or beg for his life. He laughed at them, and went for Banderviss. If we're at hell's gate then we will put the fear of Maufonia in the devil. Come hell or high water, justice will prevail."
“I slept pretty good, I did have some weird dreams though,” Wendy says.
Jay describes the little bits of magic that exist in Kansas. He tries to describe the monarchy, an Avatar-the-Last-Airbender-esque reincarnation cycle in which the monarch’s spirit is born into a new, random person in Kansas when the previous king or queen dies. There’s also a magic healing waterfall in the indigenous region of Waffle Valley, and a tribe of mermaids living near the underwater international research facility. (Side note, if you’ve got any science-y people, they can come do research in my underwater international research facility if you want ;P). Jay also describes a ghost he once met.
The conversation continues as they get into the more private part of the airport.
“I haven’t been back to Kansas in a little while, though if the news reports are anything to go by recovery’s been slow at best. The Queen said that they’re doing their best over there and they’ll get through it, but we need all the help we can get,” Jayden explains.
“Oh, so where have you been the last few months?” Francis asks.
“I was assigned in SDNP for a while,” Jayden tells him with a bittersweet smile. “But, between my girlfriend Jordia breaking up with me and the storm in Kansas, it was time for me to move on and start an assignment somewhere new. Things have been quiet in SDNP lately so most of us who were stationed over there have been moving on and going to new places.”
“I see.”
“I know Fivalia doesn’t have very many allies, you’ve been somewhat isolationist. Kansas was the same way for a while, it definitely took some time for us to come out of our shell. Do you get a lot of diplomats around here?” Jayden asks him.
“I do have one, thank you.”
Kiki nods, pulling an attachment off the top of her luggage which unfolds into a car seat for Blue. Blue claps excitedly at the display.
(I think the quote got messed up on the first half of this, all I’m seeing is my last post on Kiki and William.)
“…Huh.” Connie tilts her head. “I guess I never really thought about it…” she strokes Ella’s hair and the girl finally starts to settle down. “Honestly, the thought of our children having psychic powers is kinda terrifying. Like, if they don’t want to eat their vegetables, they could just convince us that vegetables don’t exist. Or imagine a babysitter who they manipulate into lighting the neighbors’ house on fire… Do you know if there’s any information on that? I’m sure COURIER would’ve done some research on it or something, right? They wouldn’t want children running around with psychic powers that they didn’t know about.”
Dje walked out from behind some corner. He sighed and shook his head.
"Afraid not. If you want to secure the treasure, I would recommend that we act before any sort of action on the soldiers' part."
~~~~~~~
The soldiers followed along with this plan. Those who coud read did so, while those who were illiterate simply looked at the pictures for a minute before putting down the pamphlets.
"Look, it sounds great, but I just don't believe that you could do it. Neither will the leaders of the Twelfs. And I'd recommend that you not threaten me - we don't take kindly to that, and it really doesn't do much. I am, in a sense, merely a messenger informing you that the Twelfs will never go along with your idea."
The man sits beside her.
"My name is Joshwa, what is your name?"
Henrin nodded.
"Of course."
He paused.
"Do you...need a place to sleep?"
******
With a deep breath, Vara stepped up to the door.
"I'm here, Harmony."
She looked to Erwin, and then looked down.
"I am sorry for lying to you. I was wrong, I was a fool for trying to deceive you. I'm sorry, Harmony. Will you let me explain myself?"
******
"Oh, not to worry. We have no intention of substantially assisting Iblion. It remains to be seen if and to what degree we shall assist those in open opposition to Iblion, however. If you believe the Sorcerer of Life to be of great strategic importance in this struggle, we shall assist you with retrieving her. Until then, rest assurred that any critical intelligence was thoroughly removed from her mind before we brought her here. In particular, we were sure to remove the locations of the Aerlanican empire or the Aerlanican empire by any other name - 'federation' or
repbulic' or whatever you may call it. We did so back when we anticipated trading her directly to Sorcerer Delegata."
******
"No Ma'am! The specifications were based on guesses of your abilities, and the budget was limited. We built the best we could with what we were given! But if a better telescope is needed, I'm sure the Royal Emperor will approve of a greater budget!"
******
Ameli was horrified by the sight. She looked around at the destruction for several seconds before turning back to Iblion.
"What do you intend to do to them?"
******
(I'm flexible on the severity. The damage that is done is up to you of course, and if you want to limit it to just a small handful of victims that is fine. Aerlanica has already been damaged a lot, so I can understand if you want to limit further damage. There are ways to make it work, such as if it is discovered very quickly.)
“I‘m Carissa,” the girl introduces herself.
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