That night...
I gazed up at the white dot in the night sky, pockmarked with various craters and mountains yet so blazing in white, covered in stone dust and lifeless soil.
What a perfect place to get away from it all.
And what a perfectly defendable position~
The airlock was finished, and the first portal was placed within. All that was left would be the second portal. One click of the trigger, only a bare second or so of travel time at the speed of light, and it would be done. It all felt a bit too easy, but I didn't care enough to complain.
Beside me, Ruby fidgeted eagerly while Dell stood by with a beer in hand, each eager to watch the event, however underwhelming it was. We stood on a suspended catwalk in front of the open door of the cove, looking out at the white spot in the black sky. Ruby, with her silver eyes, looked to almost be glowing as her irises reflected the moonlight like mirrors, eagerly looking to this world's Luna.
Deciding we'd waited enough, I hefted the portal gun, aiming carefully for one general area of the moon I wanted to build a base on. "Ready to make history here?" I called. Ruby eagerly nodded while Dell gave a thumbs up.
"Hit it, partner! Always wanted to see what it was like on the moon." And with Dell's confirmation, I pulled the trigger.
Thwip...
A few seconds later, a barely noticeable twinkle appeared on the moon's surface, and I looked back into the cove to see the airlock's outer lights turning red, signifying the interior was under a vacuum.
"It worked!" I called, and we all had a cheer. Of course, I knew it would work, Dell knew it would work, but it's still a moment worthy of celebration. Ruby used her semblance to zip across and over to the airlock, pressing herself against the reinforced bulletproof glass I put near the door to see the portal within, and with it a view from reverse as she could gaze back upon the planet itself from the moon's surface.
"Wow..." She breathed out, awestruck. "Is that what the world looks like?"
Dell and I caught up to her, each taking our own time to marvel at the view before I nudged her shoulder. "You want to take the first steps?" I asked, and she gasped in surprise.
"Really?" She asked, gobsmacked. Dell grinned and pulled out a custom black and red astronaut suit from a nearby crate, showing it to her.
"Jeanne and I worked together to make this for you, we wanted to give you a chance at something once in a lifetime." Dell told her, offering the suit. Ruby took it in her hands with care, eyes glistening.
"You guys..." Unable to even find the words, she quickly tackled us into a tight hug, thanking us profusely. A wide grin was on my face as I returned the hug, one I was sure was mirrored on Dell as we enjoyed this happy little moment together.
Unseen by any of us, Antilene looked on from further away, feeling a tight tug in her chest at the scene. She didn't understand what she was feeling, but it felt like... longing...
Brushing at her eyes that were most definitely not watering, she turned and walked away, awash with confusing emotions.
When we finally broke the hug, Ruby gave us a megawatt grin before rushing off with the suit, eager to put it on. Dell chuckled at her enthusiasm.
"Think we should've told her where the instruction book to the suit is?" He asked. I grinned.
"Naaah. Let her figure it out on her own, it'll give you time to put on your suit and me time to send a few drones through to make sure it's safe first." Ruby might've been taking the first steps, but that did not mean I was about to let her run headfirst into danger without checking first.
Dell nodded in agreement before heading off to put on his own suit and assist Ruby, while I astralized and phased through the airlock, sticking my head through the portal to look around at the barren lifeless surface of this world's Luna. Rematerializing, I was struck with the feeling of oddness as even if I wanted to it felt like I couldn't breathe, which was true as there was little to no atmosphere here, reminding me to look into better shielding against radiation, and if radiation had any effects on me.
I didn't think it did since as a mana construct I had no true DNA to be shredded by radiation, but I also wasn't even sure if radiation could interact with the ether that made up my body, so I'd need to experiment.
I took out a few handheld sensors from my inventory and took some preliminary readings before tossing out a small drone that used compressed air to maneuver. It shot high up into the sky, rotating to take a 360 degree shot before the low gravity began dragging it down, letting it slowly fall in a good time to get all the immediate surroundings. Satisfied at the lack of anything in the immediate area, I retrieved it and pulled back from the portal, waiting for the others to join me in the airlock.
A few minutes later, the lights on the airlock cycled and the red reaper and the blue defender walked in, Ruby briefly gasping at my suitlessness before walking over, saying something, but I couldn't hear anything due to the vacuum. I couldn't speak without air either, so I pulled out a tablet and typed up a quick message.
"No air, so I can't hear or speak in a vacuum, but I'm fine. Are you ready?" I typed, handing her the pad. She read then nodded to me, typing out something of her own before returning it.
"Weren't you going to give a speech though?" It read. I quirked an eyebrow at her. I typed again before showing her the screen.
"I'm not the one taking the first steps, that's your job, missy." Ruby pouted at me before miming that I couldn't hear it anyways. I gave a breathless laugh before shrugging.
"It'll be between us three anyways, no need for a grand speech." I typed out, Ruby thought about it, then nodded, a mischievous grin on her face. I looked to Dell and he nodded, ready for the next part.
I offered Ruby a hand, which she took gently. Now that she was in front of it, I assumed she found the portal a lot more intimidating, as she spent a minute just staring out of it before I squeezed her hand to remind her we were here. Dell laid his hand on her shoulder as well, and we gave her encouraging looks.
Ruby looked to us both before resolving herself, taking determined steps towards the portal before carefully climbing through, looking around in awe as both Dell and I joined her, feeling gravity loosen its hold on us greatly. Ruby took a careful, bouncing step as she looked around, wonder filling her eyes as she laid witness to something nobody on Remnant had ever dreamed of doing.
Dell and I stood by, each of us basking in the moment ourselves... until I picked up and tossed a pebble at Ruby's head. Successfully getting her attention, I held up the tablet with the word "Speech?" on it. Ruby huffed at me for ruining the moment before thinking. Snapping her fingers, she turned around with a big grin before saying something that seemed more like a war cry than a speech, shaking a fist in a proud stance.
I gave Dell a questioning look since he was hooked up to her radio only to find him chuckling. He took the tablet and simply wrote out "For cookies!", causing me to chuckle as well. I should've expected that.
Ruby then proceeded to start using the newfound low gravity to her advantage, bouncing like a frog in a mock charge against some imaginary enemy on a nearby hill. Dell took a more sedate pursuit to keep an eye on her, and I finally got down to the real work.
I took long, light steps over to a relatively flat area nearby before pulling a bunch of the prefab structures out from my inventory, calling a number of construction specters from the cove to start work on our new base. Two quick cycles of the airlock later and twelve of them were now swarming the site, bolting foundations and preparing sections as ground was broken on the future main hub of my new base.
I marked an area for the second material harvester to be built on before turning to watch Ruby and Dell, who had gotten into a game of low gravity tag that... actually looked pretty fun, if awkward to play.
...I've got time, might as well enjoy it. Ruby better prepare, cause I can actually give her a challenge on speed.
An hour later...
The game of tag ended in a bit of a landslide between me and Ruby, and after a while Dell couldn't even keep up, so he just sat back and used his rancho relaxo to watch us play. Fun was had, many low gravity maneuvers were pulled, and several times we jumped high enough to have twenty seconds of airtime. By now though, the construction on the new base was finished and I dragged her back so we could go check it out and set the portal up properly.
The new base wasn't actually that impressive yet, about the size of a two story business, but this was just the beginning. Once the material harvester next to it was completed, more and more sections would be added on. New buildings and areas would be created, and this base would become a sprawling facility at some point.
For now though, we went in through the airlock to see the barren interior of the new base, with a second story observation deck set up above that was easily accessed by a simple jump with the low gravity. Ruby, now de-suited since the base was pressurized, eagerly visited the observation area, peering through reinforced plexiglass at the perfect view offered of the world.
I relocated the return portal on the far wall of the new base, causing a brief feeling of wind as the small vacuum in the airlock was replaced. Dell split off to go check some of the equipment we were planning on bringing through while I hopped up and joined Ruby in looking at the world, spending a few quiet moments together.
"Do... do you think Remnant looks like this?" Ruby asked, her voice a bit melancholy. I looked to her, seeing her usual cheerful face missing, instead replaced by a sort of meditative longing. I put an arm around her shoulder, patting her.
"I think it does. The continents will be different, but I think it will." I said. Ruby leaned a little into me, silver eyes still glued to the blue orb.
"Will?" She questioned. I ruffled her hair, causing her to look at me.
"Of course, I'm going to see for myself once we find it. I told you, didn't I? I'll make sure you get back, then you can show Yang and Tai, maybe even your dusty old crow!" I said firmly. Ruby smiled a bit at that. "Zwei would have fun playing around in low gravity, don'tcha think?" That got Ruby to smile more, likely imagining her corgi bouncing off the walls of the base.
Inwardly I sighed, because while I fully intended to bring her back to remnant, I wasn't sure how long that would take, and that worried me. What if by the time we got back there was another Ruby because we took to long? How would Ruby take it, being 'replaced' by the timeline? I didn't want to even really leave it to chance...
Hey, system? I don't suppose I can just ask you to toss me into RWBY next, can I?
[Unfortunately not.]
Figures... still. I'm not going to be the one to tell her she's not going to see her father and sister for years. Is there nothing you can do?
[...Perhaps there is, but it will rely on you.]
Well? Don't keep me waiting!
[Reach level 90 and you'll see.]
Of course, can't have anything be simple. Looks like it's back to the nightly grind soon. I'm almost level 70 but it'll take a lot of work to get to 90 still. Maybe finding and killing the pirates will give me a good boost.
A noise from below shakes me from my musings, causing me to pat Ruby a final time before breaking off, leaning over the edge of the observation deck to see Dell with a few construction specters in tow bringing some things into the base.
Well, looks like it's back to work. I'll need to return to the fleet in a few hours though, I want to be there beforehand if we find the pirates.
The next morning...
The seas were rough and cold as my fleet cut through the waters in search of the pirates. By all estimates we were due to arrive at the fishing island in the next hour, so the fleet was on high alert. I would've had confirmation hours ago but as rough as the weather was I had all our aircraft grounded, as their programming still had kinks and I didn't trust them to land properly in this wind.
Chunks of ice kept giving the radars false positives and blocking signals, so we were forced to search visually, sweeping the high waves and ice for any sign of our targets. Frost coated the front of all my ships, and several specters were on patrol, making sure no ice formed in any inconvenient places on guns or missile hatches. I didn't truly believe any ice buildup would stop anything from firing or moving, but it paid to be ready, and so it was done.
My fleet was spread out in a line as we searched with Northstar in the lead, using the weight of her ship to break any ice in our path. The cracking of ice from beneath the missile cruiser's bow was the only sound that broke the howling winds and splashing waves, making this a somewhat tense but so far boring hunt.
I was currently in the air, using magic to fly in pace with my ships from maybe 3,000 feet above them. The winds howled around me, occasionally peppering me with ice, but my servant armor kept me safe. Flames lightly flicked out at the air as I used my own fire to keep my armor from developing frost, a slight heat haze causing ice and snow to fizzle and evaporate. Wasn't the most pleasant posting but I wanted to help the search.
I peered through a pair of binoculars, trying to find any signs of... well... anything but ice and water. So far the search had not gone well. I should've rigged up a targeting pod from an A10 or something into a shoulder mounted optics system, because binoculars were very limiting. I sigh and shift focus, looking out to the horizon.
Ice, ice, ocean, more ocean, ice... Black smoke?
Feeling a spike in my heart rate I sweep my gaze right onto what appeared to be several large clouds of black smoke in the distance. What on earth is causing that? Is the fishing village on fire? But then why is the smoke so.. organized? I can just barely make out something in the distance but can't quite figure out what it is.
Egh! These binoculars suck! I toss them aside and instead pull a higher zoom telescope out of my inventory, trying to stabilize it as well as I can against this wind. It takes me a second to reacquire what I was looking at, and even longer to stop the view from swinging so much, but soon I can see... several metal warships?
They're small within my view still, like miniature toys, but I can make out their shape fine enough. The black smoke I saw from earlier is trailing out of the middle of each of these ships, and I can see their somewhat primitive design. These ships almost look like they're straight from World War One, maybe a little earlier. Their designs are simple, and they don't really seem to have much, if any, armor.
Their guns are simple too, if I'm seeing it right. It just looks like artillery field pieces bolted to their front deck, very similar to early warship designs. As I watch, I can hardly pick out tiny little movements on the decks, and... a flash of light? Are they firing at something?
Sure enough, I can see the faint shine of the shell they just fired. Tracking it, I'm yet again surprised. It seems I'm not the only one hunting down the pirates- But damn! That's a lot of pirates.
The trajectory of the shell leads me to a massive fleet of wooden ships, probably around 90 strong. A truly massive force for pirates. I watched as the shell managed to hit one of the ships in the stern, not causing that much damage but certainly doing more than the pirates could since they didn't have the range the warships had.
As slow and limited as the pirates were I instantly knew this other group's strategy. Keep firing and keep out of range and they could just ravage the pirates, but the problem was the pirates more than doubled the number of this new fleet. If the pirates decided to capitalize on numbers, more than half of them could escape as they all scattered in different directions like cockroaches.
Well, I couldn't let that happen. We were closing in at decent speed, and the pirates were slow. Another ten minutes and we might be close enough to engage them before the pirates can scatter far enough to matter. I don't know who this other group with the warships is but if they're firing on pirates they can't be that bad, right? Even if they do turn out hostile my ships can still obliterate theirs in one barrage of missiles.
I change out the telescope for a navigational compass and make note of the direction the other fleets are in before racing down to Intrepid, diving straight down before just astralizing through and into the bridge of my carrier. Intrepid gives a sharp salute as I rematerialize, ready for orders.
"Course change, align with bearing 038, Bandit and Bogey fleet spotted. Full speed ahead." I barked out. Intrepid gave an immediate nod, and the deck shifted beneath my feet as the carrier began turning. Out the windows, I could see the rest of the fleet follow suit, with the Johnston breaking away to use its superior speed to forge ahead and spot for the rest of the ships.
"Rules of engagement, Ma'am?" Intrepid asked, moving over to a smart table designed for battlefield overviews and planning.
"Eliminate all the pirates, but stick to guns for now, let's keep the missiles for if we need them later. As for the Bogey fleet, they could be potential friendlies, do not engage them yet. Let's clean up the pirates first and then we can see about contacting them if they decide to play nice." I quickly used the smart table to plot a basic outline of the fleets I saw, and Intrepid began plotting routes of attack for the fleet, undoubtedly communicating with Texas and the others about the plans.
I didn't want to be sitting here watching things from a screen, though. I wanted to be up front and see things happen in person. "Intrepid," I began, getting her attention, "I'm going to trust you with the plan of attack, I'll be on the Johnston to watch in person, maybe meet this other fleet if it comes down to it. You good to run things from here?" I asked.
Intrepid nodded seriously. "Yes Ma'am. You can count on us, I'll let Johnston know you're on your way." I nodded in thanks before walking to a wall where a stationary portal was set up with a dial, allowing access between all my ships. Twisting to the one on Johnston, the portal resolved into a view of that bridge, where I walked out to see Johnston himself with his hands behind his back gazing out in the reported direction of the fleets.
"Welcome aboard, Ma'am." He called out, only sparing a view at me through the reflection of the glass before returning to his vigil. The rough waves made footing on the smaller destroyer a bit more challenging as it rode full speed through the choppy sea, but I managed to walk up and join his watch at the front, straining my gaze for the black smoke of the other fleet.
Ice chunks were brushed aside as we pulled ahead of the others, almost doubling their pace as the fleet's turrets and radars focused on the direction I had spotted the other fleets in.
Several tense minutes went by before Johnston's eyes narrowed. "Targets spotted, range- 143,000 yards. It's them, Ma'am. Permission to engage?"
"We only get one chance to make an impression on these other ships. Let's get a bit closer first, fire at will once we're within 100,000 yards." Johnston smiled a bit at my words.
"Yes, Ma'am, shock and awe then. High explosive rounds loaded, acquiring firing solutions now." Multiple turrets on the deck of the destroyer began swiveling into place as they aimed high, the arc of the shells already plotted and compensated for. Behind us, Texas would also be aligning his guns based on the spotting data Johnston was no doubt sending over. If we had proper weather and some spotting drones, we would no doubt be able to use the battleship's railguns to destroy them all from beyond the horizon, but things were limited today.
At this range, I was able to pick out the white sails of the pirate fleet on the horizon, already in the process of scattering as the black smoke from the other ships chased them. Given another few minutes and the crews of those metal warships might even spot us, but it would be a simple task to stay beyond their range to prevent any stupidity while we pummel the pirates, then maybe if they see us stop firing after the pirates are dealt with they'll be more open to talks.
At the very least, I need to figure out who these people even are! Nothing I had ever read or seen of Overlord had involved factions beyond the one continent, and that opened up a very large amount of territory to check and many more problems I might need to deal with. As advanced as these ships were, (compared to the rest of the world,) they may be a nation or group I should develop ties with. I still had that damn world objective of "giving rise" to a national superpower, and while I had no interest in ruling myself, the objective was only to help create the superpower, not rule it, making things much easier.
I returned my attention back to the seas, though, noting that we were almost in range to begin engaging. "Entering engagement range in 15 seconds, Ma'am." Johnston reported, eyes focused on the enemy fleet. I nodded and gripped a nearby console in preparation as the Destroyer swung in a turn to line up a full broadside. I had never been on one of my ships when it fired its weapons, and I was honestly excited to see it happen. I had always dreamed of seeing a battleship fire its guns in person, and now I owned my own battleships! A grin of both pride and anticipation settled on my face.
"Engaging!"
And with that, the thunder was let loose.
THOOM
THOOM
THOOM
THOOM
THOOM
THOOM
Round after round of six inch shells were fired off in a continuous and staggered barrage from each of the turrets, front to back and then repeating as the vibrations shook the ship and rattled the windows. I hadn't switched my navy from chemical to electric propellant, so plumes of smoke and fire shot from the barrels of Johnston's turrets, creating buffeting pressures that created distortion in the waters off deck. I could feel the vibrations caused by the guns in my bones and in my chest, and a manic grin formed on my face.
This. This... force, this... power, this... presence... It was... amazing. Alucard was right, bitches love cannons, and I can see why.
Tracers from the first volley of shells arced through the air, taking almost twenty seconds to touch down before landing amongst the fleeing pirates, causing considerable explosions and damages. Things didn't stop there though, oh no. The Johnston hadn't stopped firing once, the autoloaders feeding new shells constantly as the literal rain of high explosive rained down upon the pirate fleet.
Behind us there was a terrible crack that resounded through the air, and several pirate vessels outright exploded into sky high shrapnel as Texas's railguns joined the fray, utterly deleting entire ships as several thousand tons of metal were delivered well in excess of mach 5. Shortly after, the battleship's own secondary guns joined the rain of shells upon the helpless pirates, and it became a slaughter.
I watched with fascinated glee as Texas used his railguns to obliterate any fleeing ships while the rain of high explosives continued to pound upon the main force of pirates. Some may wonder why it was taking multiple shells to kill a pirate ship, but I have one thing to say- Wood floats. and so most of these ships needed more holes blown into them or to literally break them apart with enough force.
Luckily some of the ships had secondary explosions as the high explosive shells managed to set off powder barrels, but others required a bit more pummeling to be broken down. However, it was still being made quick work of between the Johnston and Texas, with Northstar chipping in here and there with her secondary armaments. Easily adapting their shells between shared firing solutions and predictive algorithms, they targeted the outside of the group working in, chipping away with ease.
Only about thirty of the original pirate fleet was left by now. Flaming wood and shattered remains of the pirate ships littered the freezing waters, and belatedly I realized the metal warships had stopped firing and were watching us, holding position where they were.
A buzzing in my head stole my attention and I realized I was getting bombarded with XP and level up pings, showing I was now level 78, and considerably richer. I forgot, but killing humans gives you a lot of XP compared to dungeon mobs, it's why I went on bandit hunts as an adventurer. Maybe I should get involved with some wars if this is the kind of gain I can expect?
Either way I was distracted from my musings yet again as Johnston's guns finally fell silent, revealing the entire pirate force had been obliterated. Whatever survivors there were would be freezing to death in the frigid waters, and I wasn't particularly inclined to take prisoners. Maybe I should have Stingray comb the wreckage for some loot but otherwise I don't think the wrecks of the pirates warranted any more attention.
Instead, I looked to the fleet of warships off to the right who hadn't moved since long after we began engaging. Through another pair of binoculars I could see what looked like soldiers moving around on the decks and a few interesting additions to the ships designs I hadn't noticed before. Looks like I wasn't the only fan of clockwork around here, as these ships, who I could now see were flying the same flag, had several almost steampunk looking additions around it. It was toned down by the fact it looked somewhat armored instead of exposed but it was an interesting balance to see, and it made me curious.
Flickering light on the deck of one ship caught my attention and I realized they were trying to contact us through Morse code using an electric lamp of some sort. I didn't actually know Morse code, so I looked to Johnston for a translation. He watched the flickering light for a minute before stringing together their message.
"They are identifying themselves as ships from 'The Roosevelt Federation', and are asking for our identity and affiliation." He reported. I was now very interested in these newcomers. They had to have been the result of a player and their meddling in this world, there is no way an advanced nation with a name from the old world like that came to be here without one.
"Send back that we are an independent mercenary fleet, and that we would like to talk." I responded, and Johnston nodded before using one of the searchlights on deck to send the message back. A few minutes went by with no response, until finally we got a message back.
"They say they are open for talks, and that they want to approach." He reported. That was fine with me, it wouldn't matter if they were closer, it would only become easier to deal with them if they acted out.
"Allow them to approach, I want to meet these people. We might've just found a nation worthy enough for our support." I announced. Johnston signaled back, and soon enough the new fleet began to approach.
I stepped outside into the frigid wind with Johnston following me, a few specter units joining us as guards as I made my way to the main deck. A small change in outfit was required, so I hot swapped back to my steampunk outfit as the ships got close enough to make out some more details.
One ship split off from the rest and continued to approach while the others stayed put at a distance from us. I watched with keen eyes as I could make out several figures on its prow, and I could see all of the soldiers seemed to have furs and heavy coats on against the cold weather.
I stood at the prow of the Johnston, arms folded behind my back as they approached, feeling the icy wind rake through my hair. Johnston himself took up post to my right just behind me, and the two specters that joined us to our sides.
As the newcomers got closer I looked over their ship, realizing with a start they still used some sort of paddle boat variant with what looked like two gigantic steam pistons through the back half of the ship's length, explaining part of the more steampunk style design. Seems the paddles themselves were under the water behind the ship but that seemed like a rather inefficient design unless there was more than I could see going on.
My attention turned to what looked like the captain of the vessel approaching, standing at the head of a small group of his soldiers, dressed in a heavy military style long coat with a peaked cap. He and his men were dressed in a traditional white uniform, if a bit dulled with wear and age, though it seemed the soldiers themselves had a bunch of fur coats and other mismatched wear to protect against the weather, must mean they don't have this kind of weather wherever they're from. Curious.
Even curiouser was the M1 Garand lookalikes the soldiers were armed with.
A pair of steel grey eyes met mine as the other captain scrutinized me and mine in turn, his eyes lingering on the specters to my side and briefly studying the uniform Johnston was wearing. Their ship pulled along next to mine slowly, a bit of a distance always to ensure the waves wouldn't toss us into each other.
Facing them as we were now though I realized with the wind we would have to yell at each other to even speak, and I didn't like having to yell. Luckily, there was a fix. I pulled the Nameless Book of Spells out and quickly flipped to a page with a 'clear weather' spell. It took only a few seconds of study and even less to cast, and with the flash of a blue spell circle the winds died down and the waves began to calm, instantly quieting the area down.
I noticed the captain and his attendants on the other ship look astonished as they watched the very weather change before their eyes, feeling the waves calming down as they lost their main driving force, and the clouds far above beginning to break apart in favor of clear skies. The sun began to shine down, showing it was mid day but still coming far too short of warming the frosty air around us. Nodding in satisfaction, I snapped the book shut in my hand and stowed it again.
With the waves now back to regular levels and the wind gone, I called out to the other captain, my voice carrying much easier. "Permission to come aboard?"
The other captain gathered his wits before responding. "To whom am I speaking? And what are your intentions regarding my fleet?"
I did a little bow before introducing myself. "My name is Jeanne D'Altra, and I just wish to talk. In all of my time here I have never met anyone that has advanced as far as your people seem to have. I have many questions I want to ask."
The captain studied me before looking to my other ships. "And what of your fleet? Do you command them?"
I grinned. "I own them. Designed and built by me and a friend of mine! Rest assured we have no quarrel with you, we were out hunting the pirates ourselves when we stumbled across you and decided to step in." The captains shoulders minutely fell in relief before turning a considering eye to me.
"You claimed to be mercenaries, correct?" At my nod he continued. "I am captain Arthur Wyatt of the Roosevelt Federation. If we can indeed hire your services, I believe my nation has need of someone with your firepower and ability."
I quirked a brow. Not even an hour into it's life and my newly bullshitted mercenary company has a job? "Consider my interest peaked. Would you like to discuss terms on your ship or one of mine?" I asked. The captain turned to have an animated but quiet discussion with his second before coming to a decision.
"We may discuss terms on one of your ships." He announced. My grin widened, and I whistled down at the water. Shouts of surprise quickly followed, however, as the matte black form of Stingray breached the waves between our ships. Water easily sloughed off her sleek form as she came to a rest, sunlight only dimly reflecting off her paint job.
A hatch on top of the conning tower popped open, and an eager young woman in a diving suit appeared, giving me a toothy grin as she waved happily. "Hiya boss! I prepared the meeting room for you!" I smiled at her.
"Thanks, Stingray. Do you mind getting a few specters to set up a gangway for our friends?" I asked, gesturing to the other ship. She nodded quickly and a secondary hatch opened up on the back of the submarine itself, showing a cargo area of sorts where several specters were seen putting together and lifting up a long ramp with a handrail on the side. They hoisted it up straight with their strength before lowering it over to the other ship where several sailors grabbed hold and began fastening it to the ship.
I had no need of such a ramp, and neither did Johnston as we both just climbed over the rails and hopped over a good distance onto Stingray's deck, letting the specters that were guarding us go back to their duties. We walked over as the Captain and his retinue crossed to join us, shaking hands now that we were up close.
"Thank you for having me, I hope this turns into a fruitful discussion." Arthur stated as we shook. I nodded in agreement.
"I hope so too. Let's take this inside, shall we?" I motioned to the door inside the cargo bay and we descended into the ship proper, where Stingray was standing to greet us. She looked cute with one of her fangs hanging snaggletooth over her bottom lip, grinning at us as bright eyes appraised the newcomers with curiosity. I could tell several of Arthur's entourage were taken back by the aquatic tail she sported, but if they held any racist beliefs it wasn't easy to see, as they seemed nothing but curious and alert.
I knew they were only taking the meeting on one of my ships to see what they could learn about my technology but I was glad they had enough trust to risk going into 'possible enemy territory' like this. Stingray gave me a salute while her tail swished behind her, grin never fading as she introduced herself. "Welcome aboard, I'm Stingray, and this is my submarine!" She announced happily.
I smiled and ruffled her brown hair, much to her pleasure. "It's good to see you again, sweetie. We'll be going to the conference room. Are the others here yet?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yep! Northstar, Intrepid, and Texas just sat down! Can I come too?"
"Of course you can, Ray! Now, I'd like you to meet our guests. This is Arthur Wyatt, and his second in command..." I looked to the man in question, grasping for a name that had never been given.
"Clint. Clint Barker." He quickly supplied. I nodded in thanks.
"Right, Clint." No need to introduce his guards, they weren't involved in the discussion. "Anyways, how about you lead us to the conference room? The weather is still pretty chilly outside." Stingray nodded happily before letting us all inside, closing the hatch behind us. The interior was properly air conditioned and heated so it was much nicer than the biting winds on the sea. Several Specters took the furs from Arthur and Clint so that they didn't start sweating, and the better temperatures were almost a visible relief for the two sailors.
As we set down the halls with an almost skipping Stingray in front I decided to espouse a little background on the vessel we were in to our guests, happy to have someone to else to show off to for once. "This is the Stingray, a multirole exploratory and stealth submersible built for just about as many uses as I could think of when designing it. Surgical strikes, exploration and salvage, stealth and reconnaissance, even rescue. Today, we're using it for one of the rarer, but still planned uses- A diplomatic vessel. I have a meeting room set up for dignitaries for events such as this, and we'll finally get to put it to use."
"So is the vessel named after her?" Clint asked, gesturing to the energetic youth in front of us. Stingray looked back and giggled, shaking her head before returning her focus.
"Nope, Stingray is Stingray." I replied, giving a cheeky grin as Clint became even more confused. He was about to ask something else when we arrived at the conference room- a lavishly decorated yet not decadent space. The walls were deep blue and the table made of richly lacquered wood, with leather rolling chairs and a widescreen display against the back wall.
The captain's guards took position outside the doorway in the hall while we went in where Northstar, Intrepid, and Texas were already seated. I joined them, followed by Johnston and Stingray as we all sat down on the left side, leaving the seats on the right open for our new guests, who took the plush seats with pleasant surprise- unable to hide how much they relished being able to sit down for once.
"I guess introductions are in order again, so I'll introduce my companions for this meeting. I have with me Texas, Intrepid, Johnston, Northstar, and Stingray." I announced, pointing at each in turn with their name. "They are all captains in my fleet, and help me run things. Now, you said you had need of my services?"
"Thank you again for agreeing to negotiate with us." Arthur began, his face serious. "As I explained earlier, I represent the Roosevelt federation, and currently we are engaged in a terrible war." I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Must be a strong enemy if they can stand up to the expected technological superiority this Roosevelt federation has.
"Our enemy is the Slyphen, a nation of beastmen who gained the ability to twist the flesh of creatures, creating unholy abominations that they use to wage war against us in the hopes of enslaving our population as a food source. We have been fighting them for almost a year, and despite our technological superiority, we have been losing.
"The beastmen have been throwing every underhanded tactic they can at us, funding pirates to harass our shipping, poisoning our water, burning our cities and crops. The only consolation we have is that they hate water, so we've been able to slow their advance and bottleneck them on a land bridge where our navy can pound them from a distance with impunity. I am aware that you have a massive range advantage over our ships. I want to hire your services to defend our land bridge and flush them out so that our navies can divert their attention elsewhere."
I made a noise of thought. "Well, it sounds like a good cause to me, but I must inform you my mercenary company is capable of far more than just defending the waters. I'll need to get a full grasp of the situation before I can start offering my full services, but we are very capable of delivering strikes over land as well as near the coasts."
Arthur nodded in thought. "Once communication can be established with headquarters, I'm sure my superiors can find more use for your services. I hate to rush things but time is still valuable in the war. Do you need any preparation before you can join us on the trip back to our nation?"
I gave it some thought before shaking my head. "We can leave whenever you wish, and I have my own methods of resupplying should my ships need it. Feel free to go full steam on the way back, my ships can match your pace."
Arthur made a noise. "I'm afraid even if we wanted to we couldn't go full speed. This mission has spread our supplies thin, and we need to conserve our fuel to make it back. The pirates ransacked and burned everything in the fishing village before they left, so we couldn't resupply like we hoped."
"Well that's easy to solve, we can tow several of your ships if needed, and you can consolidate your fuel for several lead ships. Might slow us down a little but we should be able to make a good pace if we spread things out right. Intrepid? Texas? How do you think we could split it?" I turned to look at aforementioned ships.
Texas rubbed his chin before answering. "We can probably chain together about three of their ships behind mine and still keep to about thirty knots, maybe another two behind Intrepid and Northstar. Shouldn't be too hard." Intrepid nodded to his assessment while Northstar only looked mildly interested in the conversation.
Arthur considered the offer. "That may just be feasible, though once we get close I'm going to ask you to unhook us so that all of my ships can escort you in. Morale is an important thing and having several of our ships towed in by unknown craft may adversely affect our people's belief in its military."
I didn't quite agree but I also didn't see the point in arguing, so I shrugged. "If that's what you want, I'm not going to stop you. I'm sure price can also be negotiated when we reach your shores, as I'm not sure how much your currency is worth."
"Our currency has depreciated due to war but it still holds a substantial value compared to the lands around us. I'm sure we can agree to something."
"Certainly. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. Do you have any maps of this land bridge we're going to be defending?"
}x{
It was late that afternoon when everything got sorted and the combined fleet started making its way to the Roosevelt Federation. Everything was sorted and we had spent over an hour discussing the details of our new enemy, and from everything I was hearing I was concerned.
These... "Slyphen"... were dangerous. And dangerously skilled in genetic manipulation if everything I've heard is right. The species themselves were some kind of demonic lookalike to Jackals, and they were apparently in possession of some kind of magic that could alter and change an animal's genetic code to twist them into beasts of war to suit their needs.
Giant bears and even bloodthirsty rabbits, they captured and bred many animals to feed their war machine instead of themselves, twisting them into dangerous and deadly abominations that they pointed in the direction of their enemy and let loose. The beasts weren't very smart, and not useful for capturing objectives, but they were cheap and easy ways for them to wear down defenders and overrun fortresses.
Despite having guns and artillery it had been difficult for the defenders of the Roosevelt federation to fend off hordes of the beasts, as no matter how high the wall they built there were both beasts that could climb them and fly over them, and enormous ones that could break down the gates.
Hearing stories from Clint and Arthur about how they would be forced to bomb cities and towns that were overrun so that the Slyphen couldn't come in and eat the survivors was sobering, as it was considered a mercy compared to getting strung up and gutted like a pig for the Slyphen to eat. Or worse, to be kept as a 'plaything'.
I had already ordered production of White Phosphorus and Napalm in anticipation of the air strikes I was planning to conduct. I had only played along with being a mercenary because I was curious but now that I was learning more about the conflict I was getting invested in the enemy's downfall. Mercenary prices be damned, any species that attacked, enslaved, or ate humans was on my shit list.
Now that negotiations were over and we were on our way, I slipped away and teleported back to the moon base where construction was in full swing. I had been far too lax in my satellite project, and it was high time I set my eyes upon this world properly.
The base's foundations were now set, sprawling skeletal structures and concrete being built with roadways between buildings and facilities, automated trucks and hundreds of construction specters constantly moving and building things. Factories were being built for whatever I could possibly need, processing the ore from the harvesters into everything from ammo to circuitry and fuels. A reactor building was in construction and already functional on the edge of the base, and a number of Railguns were being installed as defense weapons around the perimeter.
One very big rail cannon sat to the right of the base, aimed at the horizon of the world, not as a weapon but as a cargo launcher. And right now it was being used to launch the first set of my satellites over the New World. I watched as sections of the barrel compressed like piano keys before a streaking light and muffled roar exited the barrel, another piece of Project Nailgun soaring off to take it's place watching over the world.
Within the next two days I would finally have a set of satellites I could use to properly map this place and keep an eye on things.
I looked out over the base and smiled in satisfaction. This. All of this, was mine. I would have never dreamed of having so much power but it was absolutely crazy how much you could get done with a shit ton of construction robots and several AI to help you design things.
Automation for the win baby!
Now I could really toy with weapons designs. No space limitations, no resource limitations, this would be a tinkerer's dream.
Dell better not have gotten started without me, because there is work to do.
A/N: I sincerely apologize for the wait but life threw the bullshit switch, and things were pretty busy. Not as long of a chapter as I'd like this time but I wanted to post something soon, remind you guys I'm still here.
In other news, I played Armored Core 6, even beat the true ending with one health left and no deaths on the first try, so feeling good about that and eager to see if people make Armored Core fanfics but there is surprisingly little of them right now.
I'd want to write my own Armored Core 6 crossover but it's a little difficult to find a good universe to mash it with, despite how good of an isekai setup the true ending is. Titanfall 2 would probably work though.
If y'all are interested I might at least do one anyways to get more people inspired to make Armored Core fanfics but it won't be a very long story since I'm still trying to focus on writing this instead.
Onto reviews-
ZeroSpearow- I've already mentioned the Longinus in one of the chapters, and that's exactly why Jeanne will not risk fighting Ainz and his NPCs. You make a good point about trying to tie the dress into something else like armor but that will be a while before I can do that, and it's not the only World Class item she owns. Rest assured I have plans though.
To the guest who keeps asking for updates- Well, here you go, just don't expect very frequent updates. Writing is a hobby for me and mainly done when I have nothing to do at work, which is actually cropping up a lot more recently but I don't see it holding.
To those asking about my other story "Never a Moment in Peace"- It is not a dead story but I've put it on pause to focus on this. If I tried to keep both going it would just make updates for each slower and I've got a lot more ideas for this one. I understand a lot of people still like it though so I will look at getting a chapter done for it if I have the time.
Alright, that wraps it up for now but as always comment if you have ideas or suggestions, follow and fav, all that jazz. Peace!