Chapter 42: "Priority: The Messenger"
-World building fact-
I got a lot of questions about UNE technology, so I hope to answer most of them with this explanation. Firstly, the universe of math that the UNE is using is the same as our timeline, it is the Zermelo Fraenkel's set theory. Using this mathematical universe, they've proven String Theory and are able to develop technology based on that knowledge.
Next is to understand String Theory. Now, pick up something and look at it, have you ever wondered what is it made of? To know the answer, we need to magnify it again and again and again until, eventually, we start to see molecules. So, what are these molecules made of? The answer is atoms, but atom isn't the end. We have electrons that orbit a nucleus to create an atom. The nucleus itself is made of particles neutrons and protons, and when we look inside a neutron, we see smaller tiny particle quarks inside. Now, that's where the conventional idea of what we know in today's world stop. However, String Theory suggests that inside those particles is something else even smaller. If you take one of those particle quarks and look inside it, you'll find a tiny, tiny string-like filament of energy that is vibrating like a violent string but instead of producing musical notes, it produces the particle itself. Different vibrating patterns produce different kinds of particles, an electron is a string vibrating in a pattern, a neutrino is a different string vibrating a different pattern and so on. When you take all of these and put them together, you have the object you're looking at, or anything in the universe, it's a dancing vibrating cosmic symphony of strings. In addition, according to String Theory, the universe operates with 10 dimensions and has infinite alternate realities (Yes, you read that right, dimension and alternate reality are 2 completely different thing).
Understanding String Theory and how to manipulate it is like understand how to code a program. You want an orange? Take the best, most delicious orange in the world and see what is its combination of strings and patterns, save the "blueprint" and just print out as many as you want as long as you have the material. Have spare material and do not know what to do? Break it down into neutrons and protons and store them as "mass" until you need them to build something. What combination of vibrating patterns allows wormholes or blackholes to form? What combination of vibrating patterns that could resist the heat of the hottest star? What combination of vibrating patterns that allow energy to be stored most efficiently? Etc.
You see, the UNE understands the code of the universe, they could look into infinite alternate realities. They could explore and harness energy safely from a few out 10 dimensions, but they can't cross into them yet. It is because of this they are the most powerful nation in the entire galaxy despite having a relatively small territory (like Vietnam to the world or England to the world in size).
After the fall of Sadera and the death of Emperor Molt, Pina recognized the vassal kingdoms as free nations as part of the surrender agreement. The kingdom of Elbe and Alguna relationship with the UNE reduced from strategic defense partnership to economic partnership since a military alliance with these kingdoms no longer beneficial. After a short exchange of diplomatic communication, they realized that the UNE has no interested in interfering with the native geopolitics as there is no gain in doing so for them.
Despite substantially weakened, the empire is still possessing the military capability far superior to any other kingdom on Falmart. Without the UNE on their side, there is no guarantee that the empire will not conquer them again once the treaty duration ends. Their only chance is to stand together as one, thus they decided to come together and form a new nation. The United Kingdom of Elbe is ruled by a council of kings and the name of Elbe is kept because they have the closest relation with the UNE and the strongest military.
Each king would rule their land the way they see fit while adhering to a set of common laws created by the council. Half of their military was combined and put under the command of a supreme general who was picked by the council and they only mobilized when more than half of the council allow it.
Although the newly formed nation is fragile, many celebrate it as it was the first time for hundreds of years that the people of these kingdoms are free from the empire's cruelty.
-Alnus HQ, Fort Alnus, Falmart-
General Nguyen gives out a small chuckle "Yes, commander, I am serious".
"But, sir, are they qualified to operate in a SIF unit?" Ava asks.
"Physically, yes they're more than qualified. We've been putting them through training and they learned pretty fast, every exercise was executed flawlessly" general Nguyen replies.
"What about discipline training, sir?" Ava asks.
"There wasn't a lot of time for that, they received some but I'm still not comfortable with sending them out in the field yet, not with a SIF unit. However, Terra Sphere insisted" general Nguyen says then look at them "They also promised me to behave, so, consider this a test run. It'll decide if they stay or go right back to boot camp, are we clear?".
"Sir, yes sir!" both Rory and Kaian reply.
"Ahhh, I'm impressed" Ava says with a little bit of sarcastic.
"Do you have any questions, commander?" general Nguyen chuckles.
"Actually, yes, sir. May I talk to you alone?" Ava asks.
"Alright" he replies then dismisses Rory and Kaian. They both salute and then leave. He continues "So what is it, commander".
"A diplomatic mission, sir? With all due respect, sir, we should be on the frontline killing reapers, not playing politics" Ava says "I know Rondel is important and we need it for the war effort, but…"
General Nguyen cut in before she could finish the sentence "It's out of the question, we can't risk losing you on the frontline".
"Sir, it's what we signed up for, we know the risk and are willing to take it" Ava replies.
"Haven't you heard?" he says then stands up and walks to the center of the office and brings up a large holoscreen and then turns and faces Ava "You're the hero of the galaxy!".
Behind him, the holoscreen displays hundreds of smaller windows showing all the posts on social media praising Ava, kids cosplaying as her, news networks talk about her, and short clips of the troops on the frontline talking and looking up to her. Even alien nations use Ava as their propaganda to prove that the reaper can be beaten and to keep the morale up.
"Morale skyrocket whenever your name or the 5th SIF is mentioned, we got lines after lines of people trying to enlist to fight the reapers. Do you have any idea what's gonna happen if you die? Like it or not you've become the very icon of this war against extinction, an invincible figure" general Nguyen continues as the screen behind him continues to show how important Ava is as a hero.
"Sir…" Ava doesn't know how to reply.
"Me and admiral Ruby been busting our asses trying to keep them from bringing you and your unit on a propaganda tour. Hell, even admiral Hackett himself put in a word for you" he says as he walks towards the sofa and sit back down "Rondel is the most exciting option, for now".
"I…Thank you sir" Ava is still not happy about the whole thing, but she appreciates what the general just said "Rondel it is, then, sir".
They both stand up as the brief is concluded "You're dismissed" general Nguyen says.
-Rondel Inn, Rondel-
In front of the inn, right out of the gate, is a busy t-section. The street going straight from the inn's gate is a busy, bustling way that stretches all the way to the center fountain of the city. Along the sides are various vendors setting up food stands, drink bars and shops selling all kind of exotic goods. At a busy bar not far from the inn, there's a man sitting alone at one of the tables. This man is wearing a brown tunic with a pair of black pants, the beard on his face is obviously not well cared for. The tan on his skin indicates hardship under the sun of his daily life struggle to earn a living. He looks just like any normal commoner that toils away, hoping for a better life in the grand city of Rondel. From where he's sitting, he has a clear view of the entire gate are of the inn, no one come in or out without him seeing.
"Target is on the move, I repeat target is on the move, blue tunic, white pants, white cap. He's carrying the package. Over" the man whispers as he see the messenger of Diabo and Pina leaving the inn to deliver their messages to the guild leaders.
Having the entire inn bugged, all conversation between Pina and everyone within the inn is recorded. Outside of the inn, a spy drone will follow both of them and record everything then the recording will be processed by an AI to isolate and remove background noises leaving only the important information in place. Therefore, the GIA is well aware of the content of the messages, it would make the UNE's effort to annex Rondel harder by undermining the creditability of the UNE's diplomats.
"Target is in sight, drone is following" GIA drone operator replies via the radio "target is tagged, Shelly, he's approaching your position".
"Roger that, moving in to intercept" another GIA agent, Shelly, undercover says.
The spy drone is quiet and cloaked but it still makes noise, so they keep it higher up to avoid being detected. Its job is to follow and highlight the target and keep eye on the surrounding situation while relaying information via TACNet to the agents' contact lens.
As the messenger is walking pass a brothel, one of the girls approach him and put her arms around his neck. She's tall, beautiful and is wearing some kind of charming perfume. He's pretty sure that's the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. The girl smiles at him then gives him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Want to have some fun, handsome?" Shelly asks, trying to get him into the brothel where she can take him out and obtain the messages. In the meantime, she's also scanning his brainwave using similar tech found in the TAC suit to figure out his delivery path.
The messenger can't keep his eyes off Shelly, like all UNE women, she's incredibly beautiful. Although the testosterone level in him is spiking, giving him an almost irresistible urge to follow her, he is more afraid for his life. Failing to deliver these important messages would most likely be the end of him. Empress Pina might not excuse him but Diabo is a different story.
"I…I…I would love to, but I have important task to complete. I will be back to look for you" he says.
"Where are you going that is so hurry?" Shelly asks in a flirty tone. The point of the question is to trigger him to think about his mission which allow the scanner to scan his brainwave for the path he would take.
"I cannot tell you my love, for your safety and for mine" he replies.
Shelly's contact lens indicate that the scan is complete "Off you go then" she says then smile and just before she turns away give him a wink.
"Oh, you can't help it can ya?" the drone operator says.
"Can't the girl have a little bit of fun at work?" Shelly replies.
The messenger walks away but keep looking back a few times.
"Target's path projected, no viable intercept location. We need to redirect his path" the drone operator says.
"I got an idea, standby" a GIA agent speaks over the radio.
The agent walks to the middle of the street, because of his disguise, everyone just sees him as a poor, drunk beggar. As a wagon is passing by, seemingly overloaded with its cargo stacked high with only 2 robes to keep them from falling, the agent pretends that he's too drunk to stand properly and fall onto the side of the wagon. In a swift move, with his extremely sharp knife, he cuts both robes causing the entire cargo to fall and tip the wagon over on its side. The incident causes the horses to panic and run into the pillars that is supporting a bar's balcony, causing it to collapse. With the wagon on its side, the collapsed balcony and the cargo on the street, it is now effectively blocked.
"Huh, subtle" the drone operator comments then continues "but it worked, the target is heading into an alley. It's our chance now".
"Following him now, someone get to the other side" the GIA agent says.
"I'm on it" another agent replies.
He pushes through the crowd and follows the messenger into the alley. In order to keep his cover and not spooking the target, he keeps on acting drunk and stumble into the alley behind the target. As his contact lens show him that his fellow agent is about to intercept the target at the other end of the valley, he straighten back and starts walking faster.
The other agent block the alley's exit as the messenger is about to reach it "Oi!" he says.
The messenger starts showing sign of panicking and turn around but he sees another man is approaching "What do you want? I don't have money for you!" he says.
"Don't you see? You're being robbed. Now give us that bag of yours and you might just leave here alive" the GIA agent says.
"I told you, I don't have any money on me. Please, let me go!" the messenger says as he looks at both men "D..D…Do you know who's my lord? He'll have your heads if you touch me!" he shouts.
"What are you guys doing? Just grab the package and get out of there before anyone spot you" the drone operator says.
"You think you can scare us? Give us the bag now or we kill you and take the bag ourselves!" one of the agents says.
The 2 agents move faster to close in on the messenger. Just as they are about to reach him, a woman steps out of her house to see what are all the noises about. The messenger grabs the woman and cast a spell attacking the GIA agent that was acting drunk earlier. A bolt of purple fire hit the agent and knock him down, thanks to the shield he is unharmed. The messenger then cast the same spell again but still unable to kill the agent. He then turns to the other agent and cast the same spell again to knock him down. At this point the woman's life force is completely drained as her dried corpse drops to the ground.
Seeing that both agents are still on the ground, he tries to make a run for it. The agents' cover at this point is blown so they take out their gun with the intention of shooting the target.
"Don't shoot! I'm in coming!" Shelly says over the radio.
Just as the messenger exits the alley, he is hit by a horse running at high speed and is knocked unconscious. Shelly just arrives on a horse while pulling along another horse for the 2 agents.
Shelly jumps off the horse and rush over to the messenger on the ground "Oh dear! I'm terribly sorry mister. Don't you worry, I will take you to a healer!" she says trying to sound as sincere as possible. She then waves the 2 agents to her "Can you 2 gentlemen help me get this man on the horse?".
"The corpse" one of the agents says.
"Cleaner team is on the way, now get the fuck out of there. You guys made too much noise already" the drone operator says.
"Fuck, did you see what he did?" one of the agents says.
"Yea that's Topaz dark magic, he's the empress's messenger which means that Topaz mages have infiltrated their ranks" the other agent says.
"Question is, what are they doing here? And how many of them are here?" Shelly says.
-DS-20 enroute to Rondel-
The DS-20 carrying Ava, Rory and Kaian just took off from Fort Alnus for Rondel. Rory and Kaian are sitting on one side while Ava is sitting on the opposite side facing them. The three are just looking at each other without saying anything. It is awkward.
"So…" Ava is breaking the silence "they let you keep your weapons?".
"These are apostle weapons, commander, they're not only powerful but they also enhance our power" Kaian replies.
"How come they didn't give you a TAC suit? Both of you" Ava asks.
"They tried, but your 'powered armor' could not keep up with our max speed and was slowing us down considerably" Rory answers as she uses the air quote while saying powered armor, then she continues "Considering we have super healing they decided that we don't need the suit…until they can create a new one that can actually improve our ability anyways".
"But they gave us this" Kaian hold his right hand out and the glove, which is made of the same nanite of the TAC suit, transform into a pistol.
"Ahhh, that's what the ammo belt for, was wondering" Ava says, she thinks about something for a short moment then continues asking "Say, we get swarmed by a whole city of mage, how reliable would you 2 be?".
"Lower mages would not be a problem, it's the master mages that would be a threat to us. One of us could deal with a few of them no problem, but against an army of them we would be incapacitated pretty quickly" Kaian says.
"Then what stopped them to turn against you and stop believing in the gods, the ascended Imarians" Ava asks.
"I don't know where are the other apostles, they might be killed trying to reach the Valley of the Gods when their voices went silence, but there were more of us. For how many gods there were, there were as many of us and no army of mortals could hope to even hurt us when we stood together" Rory replies.
"Plus, the gods would've punished them if they tried" Kai adds in.
"Ah, good to know your limits" Ava replies then asks "On a different topic, why join us?".
"The only purpose of our existence is to serve our gods, with them gone, so was our purpose. So, when general Nguyen approached us and showed us what is happening in the…erm…galaxy, we figured that by joining you, we again have a purpose, something to keep fighting for" Rory replies "Plus, you people are fun to be around" she giggles at Ava.
Ava rolls her eyes "That's not how you talk to your commanding officer".
"Sorry, ma'am" Rory replies half serious half-jokingly.
"Anyway, Rory, I get it she been living for almost a thousand years. Everyone she once knew are gone, but you Kaian? What about your father? Don't you want to return to him and help him rule the kingdom?" Ava asks.
Kaian leans forward and rests his forehead on the handle of his spear. He thinks for a moment then replies "When Minerva took me and made me apostle, she also changed me. I am Kaian still, but in a way I'm not him. I have his memories, yet I do not possess any of his feelings. I know Duran, I recognize his face and I remember the feeling Kaian…I…once had for him but now he is just another mortal. So, commander, I do not wish or have the urge to return to him".
"I saw you hesitated when facing him in Icia, why?" Ava keeps asking.
"It was the first time I saw him again since I was brought to Minerva to be turned into an apostle. All the memories of him just came back, he caught me off guard. Next time I face him and the situation demand me to kill him, I won't hesitate" Kaian says firmly.
"They changed you to make you compliance, without any feeling for your old lives, you're more susceptible to their will. That's messed up" Ava comments on Kaian story "In any case, I'm glad to have you 2 under my command. Welcome to the team".