[06.42 Bargained well and done]
[First class passengers do sometimes talk to the captain]
Sleep had been welcome. Sleep had also been necessary. Even if a bit short as I got of the shower and once again began to dress in my 'formalwear', which mean business wear really. The SLDF uniform really wouldn't help with dealing with the various sorts I had to, and as Captain I did have some privileges, just like Kara and Quinn. So, suit and tie, hat and cane, and out the door I went, off to talk to yet more crazy people. Kara remained behind, earning her own well-deserved rest, and at least we were getting those rest periods, all things considered.
Barbara was on the conn, for both ships, with the massive carrier slaved to the Chance's controls, even if we maintained shifts over on the carrier's bridge. Escaping the dimension…well, we were alive, and a riot had not started in the half-a-day of leaving said broken dimension. Things weren't exactly ideal either, as we'd rushed the evacuation, prioritising people over all the little, like clothes, food, and such that all those people clogging up the decks of the barely salvaged vessel we were docked within. But we had enough for the moment, and the refugees were, supposedly, making efforts to organise themselves at least. Considering the numbers…there was no way we could do it for them in the end.
"Hello Jenny"
…which brought me to my first meeting of the day, and the last for her, hopefully, as she best be of to bed after this. Asa was with her, looking…Asa-like, even if the dominatrix nurse look was almost respectable today. I'd assume for the girl's mental health rather than ours. Lucy Chen also sat with them, having a girl talk…apparently over cookies and hot milk. So, I gave her a nod, a genuine smile on my face, tiredness mostly gone "A pleasure to meet you at long last"
Nodded at the two ladies "Asa, Lucy, sorry, apparently I'm late…or early, points of view dependent"
"Who're you? The fucking Milky Bar Kid?" the girl huffed, in an odd accent to say the least, American, but with Britishness muddled in "You come ta give me candy?"
I blinked, paused "That was always more twentieth century and regional in my experience"
"Well, aren't so fucking smart"
I sighed, walking over and sitting across from her in the canteen, Asa smirking, while Lucy merely resisted sighing, subtly reaching out to the reality warper as I sat "Hmm, I dunno, but it got me to captaining the ship at least. And now, how are we today?"
"How do you think?" she snapped at me, though there wasn't any rearing up of powers or the like, nor did she look about to cry. I suspected she had been, judging from those eyes, and with how she seemed to grip her jeans didn't indicate positive thoughts "I…died, and…its…fuck you"
"Fair enough" I admitted, getting a nod from Asa that indicated the girl was safe enough, and a look from Doctor Chen indicating my presence wasn't helping matters "Look, if you need anything, and if it's within my power to give, just ask"
"I just want to go to bed" she whispered after a moment's silence, and I gave a nod, moving to stand up and get out of the way.
"Then I shall get out of the way, my apologies for disturbing you, Jenny" was my response, trying to be polite, but feeling awkward. Teenage girls had been a problem to deal with when I was Sean and a teenage boy, and that didn't get any easier now I was older either apparently, especially emotionally stunted and traumatized ones like Jenny Quantum "Sweet dreams my dear, and if you need anything, just ask"
'Well, that went…well. I suppose. Nothing's on fire at least' I mused to myself as I beat a hasty retreat, meeting up with Apprentice a little earlier than plan. See, Azula was a teenage girl I could deal with, though she was near adult now I'll admit, and I'd helped her get over an emotional breakdown. Sensible, once you got over the killing people thing, but that was just normal for the business we were in. She was a bit extreme sure, but we were polishing those rough edges off…and Boss only knew how I'd handle the reality warper whose whole dimension, let along family, had died.
…so, it was one emotionally unstable teenage girl with dangerous powers to another, though we had time to prepare this time, setting up in one of the 'meeting rooms' and ordering food off Chao. Breakfast was needed as I was hungry, and the coffee didn't go amiss either as Azula sat to my right after we'd eaten, discussing this meeting, and then politely greeting the duo that arrived. My guards escorted them in, then left, and the girl was holding the maybe sapient Planeswalking device. Mister Emiya and Miss Tohsaka, and thankfully no others of the Clocktower, nor the Servant either – I'd been quite clear I did not want a horde of them traipsing about the Chance.
"Hello Miss Tohsaka, Mister Emiya!" I greeted, gesturing at the seats, at the refreshments and little snacky cakes "Have a seat, as well as some coffee, tea, and cake, if you wish"
Then frowned "I'm not sure about your wand…Ruby isn't it?"
"Yes!" the arcane device responded 'flying' in and out of the grasping hands of its owner "Magical Wonder Wand Ruby at your service!"
"Yeah" I drawled politely "Nice to meet you Ruby, so you are self-aware?"
"Oh yes, yes, the awarest of the aware! The Awesome! The Magical!" the device responded in a mildly grating albeit cheerful girl's voice "Magical Girl Creator! Rubbbbyyyyyy!"
The Tohsaka girl emitted a low, unhappy, growl "Please…don't encourage her"
"Well, one is here to discuss matters with Ruby here, as with yourselves, being that she is a device for walking the planes, is that not so Ruby?"
"Ohhh Yessssss! Ruby is BURSTING with dimension travelling love! To spread love and happiness everywhere!"
The girl paused as the Wand squealed in reply…or more froze, and I could almost hear the creaking noise as her neck slowly rotated to look at the hovering wand near her. Emiya merely looked befuddled, taking a little snack cake thing into hand and eating as the Tohsaka girl's face went through a variety of emotions, before settling on what might be very heavily restrained anger "SHE. WHAT?"
"Travels between dimensions" I clarified "You weren't aware?"
"Master is very slow" the wand bounced about in the air, twist in a way unnatural to wood or metal devices, even arcane ones of its structure "Master NEVER ASKED"
"YOU…..YOU…..YOU….WE COULD HAVE….WHY….YOU…"
The wand bounced about out of the grabbing range of the positively seething mage girl "Master locked me in a box"
'Yes. Yes. Self-aware and sadistic, and wilfully disobedient within the letter of the rules. Great. A Lawful Evil arcane device with a personality. Fucking Joy' were my thoughts on the matter as I felt this was going to be a somewhat long, and annoying, meeting as the girl snapped and attempted to try strange the device to death…
Albeit to no available. Powerful magical device in the hands of a hormonal teenager, raised in a culture of magical sociopaths, and with a device that was clearly problematic…
I could work with this. Somehow.
--
[06.43 Bargained well and done]
[Sometimes it's a buyer's market, sometimes a seller's…]
Miss Tohsaka's negotiating position had collapsed before she'd even started, and all for allowing them some room to hang themselves on my part. Oh, that Sentient Wand was going to be a problem, but this was no united block to negotiate, what with the 'owner' of said wand currently trying to strangle it, and the boy, Emiya, looking confused. Combat wise it was logical bring him here with her, and it likely played into the girl's control issues as she was clearly 'in charge' of the negotiations on their side…or likely had been in her own head till the magical wand started talking. Something that clearly should have been done before hand, especially with evil minded creations like this…
I could work with this.
"Ehmm" I cleared with my throat, still with a smile on my face, cup of coffee on the table. Miss Tohsaka….seemed realise what the situation looked like as she was off the chair, trying to strangle the animated magical wand "Would you like some time alone, or do you wish to continue our talks"
…and then she went as red as her clothing, looking at me like a deer in the headlights, frozen mid-murder attempt on her wand "Uhmmm…."
Then I saw the mental trigger being pulled, the girl forcing herself into another state of mind, rising back up to sit down, trying to look calm and collected. Azula beside me was studying her and the boy like they insane, and the wand like the dangerous irritant that it was as Tohsaka found words, still blushing crimson and fidgeting, but voice calm and collect "Ah, my apologies, certain facts were upsetting. It shall not happen again Sir"
"Master will behave!" the wand announced in that chirping tone of its, wings flapping as it rose "Magical Girls don't try to murder their wonderful, super-awesome, wands! No!"
"Are they always like this?" I politely inquired of Emiya at the twitch out of the girl in response to the hovering device that nominal served. While I wasn't one to drive wedges between people, this little band was in truth only loosely united as best I could tell. Emiya nodded, largely without thinking, and only catching himself and blushing in embarrassment after he'd spoken and Tohsaka give him a look.
"Yes…well since Ruby appeared"
"Ah, well, such is the nature of arcane relationships I suppose" I replied with a nod, glancing at the hovering wand and then to the girl "Though, now that we're all aware of Ruby here being as independent minded as she appears to be, I do believe it best if she has input on her own negotiations. It is her powers one is asking to discuss in depth"
"We…"
…and then 'Master' was overridden by its Device "Oh that is NICE! Master you should take lessons! He's NICE! But he has boy parts, he can't be a Magical Girl. Lucky for you Master!"
"Yes, very" I drawled hands together on the table, getting ahead of both Emiya and Tohsaka responding "But, your abilities are something to be discussed my dear Ruby. In part because I'm sure you're aware of dangers of trying to activate such powers within another vessel travelling within the Bleed"
…then its voice was more serious, a little bit, the annoying cheer faded just a little, as the Wand responded to my statement "Oh Ruby's Creator made her very smart to such things! Even down to how Captain-san's ship is blocking Ruby's powers"
I nodded, seeing, yet again the wand's Master had not known what it's so-called servant had known "Well, of course we are my dear, this spelljammer is mine, and we have quite the crew. Safety is a priority for me, especially when much of this vessel serves as my mobile Sanctum Sanctorum. I'd rather people didn't use certain, dangerous, spellcraft near my workshop or library. Especially guests, who do not have the same rights as crew in regards such matters"
Which was quite true, and also a firm reminder on the current status of things in relation to the carrier, and the extended journey ahead for all involved…
"Booo!" the wand whined, then perked up "But Ruby is a super-duper force of Justice and Love! She will help all that need help! Good for Good! Yay!"
Tohsaka was less cheerful "What do you want?"
"Well, it's more a question of what Ruby here can do for us" I responded kindly, reaching down and taking up my cup of coffee, taking a sip. Then sighing "Largely because we managed to evacuate everyone, human and human-blooded at least, but not the extra days intended for food collection. On a simple matter of your people, I would be asking would Ruby here know of any anyway to…send them back home would perhaps be the question at hand?"
"Nooooo!" happy cheerful and possibly evil wand replied in a sing-song way "Noooo wayyyy homeee! Sorrieeee!"
I sighed, glancing at Azula who rolled her eyes, clearly loathing this thing. But it was good training for her, as she likely wanted, badly, to start incinerating the thing "As I'd thought, but there are other options at hand thankfully. But, it does lead into the obvious question of would you be interested in working in the dimensional travel business?"
Tohsaka wasn't quite trembling, or maybe quivering, with rage "Your…your…talking only about Ruby…"
"No, girl" Azula interrupted with a sniff "You are all included, even if you are merely excess baggage in the opinion of some"
"Now, now, Azula, that's hardly fair" I answered my 'bad cop' apprentice with a smile a Rin and Shirou "Both of our guests here could contribute much to crew, and we could bring much to the table for you and comrades as well if you so wish"
"You have a whole ship full of more experienced magus to…."
I smiled wanly "Yes, sadly your arcane culture is rather sociopathic and elitist my dear Rin. By our standards anyway, and that means all those established mage bloodlines are a more difficult proposition to handle when several of my crew are of the more heroic proposition"
She gave me a hard look "You have demons, and are a necromancer. Morals seem…an odd subject to bring up"
"Goblins technically, and yes, they have different moral concerns I'll admit, but their desires are easier to supply than those seeking something like the Root of Knowledge or whatever your culture seeks" I pointed out "A subject of limited interest to most associated arcane cultures we are aligned with, so, while I can offer such deals, it's far more beneficial to aspiring magus such as yourselves than your older peers. Ruby's planeswalking abilities here, and your Servant bond too, also add to your standout nature. Hence why we have already recruited Servant Caster and her Master along a mutually beneficial deal"
Then paused, shrugged "And, yes, I have completed studies into necromancy. It is useful at times. It doesn't mean I don't have morals. So, let's start with dear Ruby here. What, my dear Magical Ruby, is it that you want?"
"Magical Girls! I bring Truth, Justice, and Love to the World!"
I nodded, slowly "Well, that's something we can do, albeit not now…but there places that wouldn't be adverse…"
"You are not stealing my Wand!" Tohsaka snapped "No, she's…"
"Master!" the wand grumped back in interruption, the lines cracking between them "Master locks me in a box! Master won't wield me! Master is a bad Magical Girl"
"I'll…" it was clearly painful for the girl as her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. But her negotiating position was dissolving before her eyes, and I was probably, to her, looking like a much better bet than the pack of hyenas that were her people "I'll….may….I'll….wield…okay! I'll use your power and…"
"Be a Magical Girl!"
…so that's what she look's like when about to shrivel up and die. A piteous look at the boy for support, before the girl lowered her head "Be a magical girl…once or twice. Just…once or twice"
"That's, well, for your little group to think on, but as I said Ruby that should be something to deliver on, and we have a decent database of magical girl related literature I suspect with some of my crew's interests" I continued on, but the wand was clearly in 'yes, yes' mode now, Mister Emiya had simple interests in saving those around him, and Tohsaka was breaking, deflated where she sat as I continued "Now to you Miss Tohsaka, I'll admit your gemcraft does interest me, as I do similar effects with cards, though the methods may be different, and we have a full library and access to a workshop if you be interested…"
This would take some more hours I reckoned, but the answer was likely to be Yes I judged…
--
[06.44 Bargained well and done]
[A city that sails the waves]
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 2237]
[Current Dimension]
The Bleed 'DCverses'
[Current Location]
Fortune's Chance, docked to our still as unnamed Carrier
[Trading Report]
Not truly applicable, is it?
Though we now have 364,814 survivors aboard our salvaged titan of an interdimensional supply ship. What the exact breakdown of that is we're not sure of yet, beyond its sixty-two-point four percent female to thirty-seven-point six percent male. Which is strange based on what I thought I'd seen in survivors being mainly military and law enforcement, but apparently that was just my immediate viewpoint. Surviving the initial 'explosion' of magics and spirits likely meant having a lot of luck, weapons, or simply put arcane traditions that meant you could defend yourselves.
So, yeah, I'm pretty sure numbers skew very heavily into latent and blatant powers, abilities, or some tradition that evened out the score at the start. Or you had people who had them, or lots of guns. Maybe that's what the gender imbalance is from? Immediate fighting after initial higher survival rates? Maybe there's a Korean/Japanese/American split?
Something we need to figure out as we need them to self-organise and police on the ship, including the magi, because even if we've tracing on them everywhere on the carrier, the truth is we don't have the time or ability to run it for them. Luckily, for the non-mage side, we have lots of soldiers and cops to try and do that, though the Americans are heavily there with soldiers as the JSDF are mostly dead, though there's plenty of Koreans – it's just a concern once the shock wears off I fear. That's without the whole magus and magical people lurking about in their ranks.
[Diary Entry]
Well, we're alive, and we've been recruiting and we've lots, and lots, and lots, of refugees that we have to try feed and water and shelter for an extended period. We are not ready to do that, but we'll have to try, and we have a super high-tech alien spaceship to try help us in that task. Before we left, well, we filled entire holds of this city sized monster with small lakes of fresh water, and whole warehouses worth of MREs and any other foods that were canned, sealed, or survived the apocalypse(s) intact. Also, a whole nuclear attack submarine and a number of fishing boats now in one of the holds, because why not?
This, well, this is going to be an issue. We are relying on them to self-organise, even if we can monitor everything, and I suspect we don't have enough food for the whole trip – assuming we can go back the way we came. Because we might now as cargo ship sized Fortune's Chance versus city-sized Carrier which that ship is now docked in. Oh, and we're transmitting what the fuck happened to the Monitor Destroyer so it can rely the message back through the Bleed for us to the Monitor. That and it'll obliterate that coming breach for the sake of everyone's sanity and safety. Just in case any of those things try to break out and follow, as there's no guarantee they couldn't survive, a time, in the Bleed.
Our primary push has been recruitment – in which we've recruited TWO Servants of the Holy Grail, an Evil Magical Wand that can Planeswalk, a magical-sword chef, and his harem of magical, traumatised ladies. Yeah, because everyone is fucking traumatised, obviously. Oh, yeah, and about two dozen students/old people/teachers/mafia from a place called Fuyuki that that Rin and Shirou brought with them, Well, we have room for workers, and at least they'll have access to traumatized people who have shrinks in us, unlike the hundreds of thousand suffering people on the carrier they won't – not till we can get somewhere many weeks, likely months, away from here. Yup, city's worth of people, several of which either hate each other in the Japanese and Koreans, mixed with Americans, and most of the non-military survivors leaning towards some sort of benefit that's in the blood I suspect.
And then there is Jenny, poor, traumatised, upset, Jenny. Her problems aren't a problem, thankfully, as I know how to shut down a reality warper aboard my own spelljammer, but the girl is upset, and powerful. I hope not suicidal considering she's nothing left, but between her and the other new crew I'm glad Lucy Chen has assistants this time around. I really don't want to 'raise' a teenage girl with reality warping powers, but I'm of those that'll have to if she's to ever leave the ship. Largely due to power reasons, and she deserves a chance, I can relate. So can many others on the crew, my Kara included, along with Quinn and M'gann. Yes, because we're a recovering trauma ward as well as trade ship!
Damn, but I've trouble enough with training Azula and helping M'gann without this being added on!
So, yeah, crew expansion and training, and another ship stuffed with refugees. One that's not exactly armed, nor easy to sail in relation to the converted warship that is my Chance. Sailing it is very different than our ship, and that's with slaving controls to the Fortune's Chance mostly – and the fact the Carrier doesn't have the dimensional-tech of the Chance means it's manoeuvring is much, much, less than desired, and much, much, more sluggish with the people aboard. No insanely fast combat manoeuvres in gravity or lots of injuries amongst the people aboard.
--
[Trader's Journal: Day 2239]
[Current Dimension]
The Bleed 'DCverses'
[Current Location]
Fortune's Chance, Carrier, The Bleed
[Trading Report]
Death Report really.
3 suicides
1 murder (magus done, dealt with 'internally')
4 deaths from 'laying down the law' amongst the Magus according to the Magi themselves.
Since we have sensors and cameras from the Carrier, that is true. I haven't spoke to them yet about it, because they are still self-organising. Barely two days since departure and it's a gods-damned nightmare. There's space, but organising 'camps' is not easy, nor is establishing distribution systems from scratch, even when you have food to give out, and a transport system to drop food into spots.
[Diary Entry]
I'd say we're just over a day in and the deaths have started. Brief conversation with 'Director' Barthomelloi, or, well, her 'aide' or 'translator' Lord El-Melloi II, that, yes, a magus went crazy and killed someone. Internal troubles, and it's being dealt with – which meant more deaths. Also, three civies killed themselves after reality sunk in. I'll do the funerals later, and probably burn the bodies, then dump the ashes into the Bleed. It is concerning let us say, so soon in that its started. Sure, we can taper down any 'big problems' that look like group violence, but the numbers are just ridiculous. Things are still shaking out even Babs and Burt are concerned, and I agree, but there's limited things we can do beyond enforce basic rules we agreed and give food over to survivors. It's multiple groups under little dictatorships basically.
Away from the problem – we have done 'training' with our new crew. I'm concerned that Lucy considers Shirou Emiya within the 'typical' range of 'heroes', but otherwise they're all within 'acceptable' levels of crazy at least. Medea has been very happy with our planned arrangement, with the only proviso now that she wants a nice, big, fancy, wedding in time. I should not have let whichever mage crewmember told her, tell her, that I was a priest. Oh, yeah, and she has gone 'cute' instead of 'evil witch' look with most of them after the first introduction. It's weird to see.
Otherwise, I've moved the Emiya-Tohsaka harem into quarters, and they are settling in, with only him quasi-demanding to 'start working' in the kitchen. He and Chao hit it off. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Bright side Wand Ruby is under control now, and the two mages, Rin and Ilya, appear to be lusting after access the ship's library and mage members of the crew. That's all without the mentally traumatised entourage we've put in a dozen of the guest rooms. They bargain hard let's say, so, yay, more people who've watched their world, and loved ones, die all around. Some of school age.
Oh, yeah, and our dear magus band on the Carrier are less than happy we've swiped one of their big sticks in Rider and Shirou Emiya. I actually think getting him aboard was for HIS safety based on the way I'm guessing at the way that group interacts. Maybe I should have pushed harder? Too late now. I'll have to deal with them in a few days when they recover enough to try interacting properly with the rest of the crew, and we've interviewed all the 'helpers' brought along as part of the deal. Not me, I've many other things to do, as does Kara and Quinn. Most of the crew too. That Destroyer is going to fire off, and we need to make ground – and are slow going relative to our arrival.
Officer meeting later on to discuss during shift change. I've concerns, along with needing Kara to let me and Azula respond to the likely provocation from the Magus. Unfortunate, but laws need to be laid down if they're already a problem so soon in. Maybe. We'll see. Slan.
--
[06.45 Bargained well and done]
[Sailing the far distant shores]
The other officers were assembled in the conference room, both those coming on duty like myself, and those getting a much-needed rest. But we had to get a handle on the situation, so myself and Kara entered the room after we'd managed to have some private time during our rest break. With everything as it was…well, the stress relief had been needed, for both of us. Though right now the coffee and small sandwiches assembled on the tables were calling me as I made a plate, took a mug, and then moved to sit at the table as Quinn came in with Doctor Stone and Chief Sanchez, talking over a data-pad.
All to do with the refugees and the giant ship they were aboard I imagine, along with the problems that we now had to deal with because of them. Problems that were going to both persist for the medium term, along with scuppering planned sailing routes too it seemed. Now we had the long road home to go, and perhaps no Suez equivalent to make use this time around it appeared. I took a sip of the coffee, Kara chatting to Barbara as we all slowly meandered our way towards the staff meeting starting. Oh, I doubted it'd fly with our more serious-minded allies, like Admiral Hata, but we were at best a quasi-military organisation at best, and armed merchants in truth, so easing into things was normal I felt.
Barbara, of course, was our immediate 'herder' of the others into the seats, even if we weren't quite at meeting start on the clock yet. Typical of a Bat-clan girls really. Thankfully I'd already gone through my notes beforehand, as had Kara, even if the details back weren't exactly ideal in the greater scheme of our operational plans. Not as we sailed closer to the universe destroying 'border fort' as I liked to think of it, nor when we'd 'signal flared' said border fort and now had our guidance plan updated. Which was what I brought up first and foremost after everyone was ready, and I activated the holographic display of our approach to the Destroyer-class Shiftship from the destroyed/being-destroyed multiversal breach dimension 'behind' us.
"Right, we all ready? Good" I began after another sip, then motion at the 'map', largely as actual images were really gods-damned disturbing to look at "Because we've a lot to get through, but we best start with the larger picture"
I brought up a 'layered' image of our 'route' here….though it was a bit disjointed and odd looking as translating higher dimensional space into a three dimensional image was not easy "Which the is the issue of this being how we got here…"
Then other lines and symbols popped up "…and here is why we can't go back that way with the Carrier anywhere near as quickly. Which is a problem"
"We don't have the food supply" Barbara clarified "For more than two or maybe three months at a stretch, and this is more than that?"
"In essence, yes" I agreed with a nod, sitting back in the chair and motioning at the various 'route displays' on the holograms before us "These are updates from the Monitor Destroyer in response to our data-packets since we've escaped the last dimension. Long story made short, the Carrier can't do the exact same route as us, and even the fastest route looks to be over five to six months Earth standard. With no stops. Which, considering our refugee situation…"
I raised my hand, motioning at the scene "Isn't very viable after what we just mentioned about food, and that's without water supplies and other things like needing clothing and bedding, or day to day things"
"That is a problematic equation" Quinn stated blandly "So, we have to find another route back then?"
"One where we can resupply and then get unto this part of the Bleed, or a completely different route to get back either" Kara agreed, because there was no way she'd abide us abandoning anyone, nor would a large chunk of my crew "So, we're into the delayed return part of our contracts I'm sorry to say"
Anna Sanchez frowned "There's no way to restock at the Monitors great big space station?"
I shook my head "No, the Monitors weren't exactly human, and these things were never intended for long term living, so there's maybe a few months' worth of supplies for sole Monitor….so nothing useful for our purposes, even should we be able to access those stores. Which we don't have. So, that means we're going to have to…scout and scavenge, plus trade ideally if we can find a place to trade with, to solve that problem"
Nathan Anderson shook his head "This is not going to be easy Captain…nor pleasant. We have limited ways to control so many people with our numbers and the magic users scattered amongst them if they object…." Beyond killing them all outright my Security Chief didn't state, though the contingency was there should there be a vampire outbreak or other horror "…and an extend voyage, well, as I said…that's not going to be pleasant"
"What do you expect" Azula 'offered' coldly "They are to control themselves and if they revert to barbarian beasts then it is hardly our fault"
I shrugged, motioning with my hand to let me reply to Kara, who, like Babs, didn't overly agree with that pragmaticism…of sorts "Yes, and we do have to rely on them to self-police unfortunately, but we do need to make efforts to ensure they don't devolve into chaos. Largely as that'd be bad for us and might damage our newly salvaged prize, so that's stay on the agenda"
Nathan gave a nod, sighed "So, what is the plan Sir? Are we continuing our approach vector to the Destroyer base?"
I glanced to Quinn, who nodded, and I tapped the displays, showing us and the distant 'lighthouse' horror that was the Destroyer Shiftship, along with 'nearer' other devices "For the moment we are head here, nearby to that dimensional terror as it destroys the breach, and we recharge all our batteries and engines, the Carrier's mostly, and see can it repair anything if need be. We estimate about a week, and we'll need it as the Bleed looks to be getting very upset as the systems of the Destroyer engage. We do want to be sheltered from that particular storm while it is ongoing"
"That means losing another week of travel time, along whatever few days going the wrong direction, so-to-speak, to get there" Chao, our head chef, who normally stayed quiet stated in her cheerful tone "You should do something about making people happy about that Captain-san, even if they shouldn't be happy about it"
"I assume you mean our guests aboard the carrier?" I murmured, and then continued at her nod "Well, I'm meeting with what counts as their leaders later, but I am open to suggestions on how to do that, though I think we'll focus this meeting on the potential routes, and generally working out what we need to handle all those refugees over this extended time period. I want to present a plan to them, rather than having them try give one to us"
Quinn frowned "The carrier has a large database of what used to nearby dimensions, but it's virtually worthless now as those dimensions have moved relative to where it was. Silas and I have being comparing what the Carrier has, versus what we've seen, and what the base we're going to sent by data-packet, and there are options in that timeframe, plenty…but we've no idea what's going to there Callum. And are there a lot of closed of dimensions in this pocket, and we'd be blind to what's on the other side"
Nathan nodded "Which means scouting them out in case we get more of what we just got"
"It's our best bet for supplies unfortunately" I pointed out, Kara nodding, having discussed it briefly before the meeting "When we do leave the…port I suppose, in a week or so we need to have a list of ones we can look towards to scan in a general zone of investigation. So apart from standard duties we need to decide upon what route to take to do that scouting in the most efficient manner possible"
It was like having a highly detailed map of earth to sail with….except that the map was two or three thousand years old, and there'd been an ice-age or asteroid strike in the meantime. The Monitor had all this information…and most of it was badly wrong now, and out here it was especially wrong as these were 'fringe' universes that were barely maintained even at the height of their power. 'Variant' universes didn't even begin to describe this region of dimensions, ranging from shattered dimensions drifting 'out' of the DC reality, to dimensions that were fanfiction/variants/aberrations or a host of other things.
Now we had to try and find a dimension where we could find enough food to store away for a few more months voyaging back home. So, we talked about our various possibilities, and what 'regions' in the Bleed we should investigate based on wild guesses drawn from out-of-date knowledge. With the big, bulky, space oil tanker that was the carrier-class Shiftship our plans had to be firmer than with the Chance, which was a fast-moving Hunter Killer in design. Unfortunately, we had a long road home, and ensuring we did it in an orderly and efficient a manner as possible started here and now….
--
End: Chapter 06 – Bargained well and done
Next: Chapter 07 – Where the Shadows Lie
--
[Interlude – The First Secret War]
[Excerpt from: - Birth of the League: - Trade, Blood, Knowledge, and Wars by Breylna Whitmore, of the August and Blessed House Telvanni-Lingshen, Scholar of the College of Winterhold (Mundus), Graduate of the Blade in the Shadows Academy-Ark (Multi), Rtd. Admiral, League of Aquitaine Navy. Pbl.- Year 456 PF]
…success of Operation Épervier. Too much success several sources from the time would argue, as the sudden capture of an entire space fleet by nations that till that point were essentially planet bound. Yes, the spelljammer vessels of the Monitor species in operation existed, but these were largely independent of any one world, and heavily influenced by the reliance on Trade proto-Houses, primarily what was Outis Import/Export. Post Épervier the loosely allied worlds and nations that constituted the League of Aquitaine governing council found themselves in possession of a space fleet, but no technical skills to truly utilise it, and great technical databases, but no industry at the level to utilise them.
While a great number of the crews of the former 'Jolly Roger Fleet' had been captured, and then resettled in the following moths, only a smaller number were felt to be trustworthy enough to retain for operation of the new fleet. None of these being trusted to be allowed operate the vessels within their home dimension of course, which laid down the questions of what, exactly, was to be done next in response to this. Some at the time, in the vast minority, argued for the abandonment of the operations in that dimension and attempting to utilise the vessels and large quantities of Mechs acquired internally. While the 'less risky' option, this was deemed in several studies to be unable to achieve creation of a force sufficient to defend vulnerable League Worlds from potential invaders within a reasonable period.
The primary underlying reasoning for this was that the dimension [BT-Y4562] itself possessed the manufacturing and technical skills that the League members simply did not possess for the ideal maintenance and usage of the acquired assets. Secondly that the divided and 'fallen' nature of the interstellar civilization within the dimension meant it remained the best chance for the League membership to acquire such resources while remaining undetected. Or, to be more accurate based on the documentation from the time, for in-dimension assets to be represented as a in-dimension power structures and individuals seeking development in the so-called Deep Periphery.
This viewpoint was strongly supported by what can be considered to the proto–Trade Houses, general mercantile interests, and the rising demands of Bastion-Earth as its Unification Wars began to occur. Technical skills as such were a much-desired resource, as well as the clear capacity to acquire space capable vessels where otherwise the opportunity did not exist. Operation Épervier had proven the limited military assets available at the time to the loosely defined League military were clearly sufficient to engage and acquire such vessels from what were deemed acceptable targets; - space pirates. Not only would capture of these vessels allow a nascent space industry to be created, which was desperately needed by all member dimensions, but it would enable safer trade routes in-dimension to build the skills and training needed to unlock the Memory Cores to their full potential.
From a military standpoint the foremost promoters of a unified military, or at least of a defensive pact between worlds, were strongly in favour of increasing activity within the dimension. Led by Acting Fire Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation of the Elemental Nations, and President Laroche of the French Republic of Bastion-Earth, this faction was highly focused on the rapid Mechwarrior training, and thereby usage, of the acquired Assault and Heavy SLDF Mechs in the League's possession. With the ever-looming threat of the Kromagg Imperium to Bastion-Earth, and its Reunification Wars, and the self-feared defencelessness of the Elemental Nations of the Avatar Alliance, this is not unsurprising in a thrust for a military defence capacity. From this viewpoint it was a simple matter of needing more combat power, as well as experience in utilising it, something further reinforced later with short, brutal, savagery of the First League-Imperium War.
Despite these often differing reasons, the overall goals of the factions were remarkable simple; - get more ships, get more mechs, and get more training.
Unfortunately, these simple goals meant establishing a long-term presence in-dimension, as well as dealing with forces deemed hostile to the League's presence, but also its very existence should discoveries be made, and forces brought to bear. Even during Operation Épervier the response capacity of in-dimension polity known as Comstar was made apparent, along with the understanding of mutual incompatibility of the goals of the League members and the forces of this Earth based organisation. Owing to this hostility, the sheer ability of Comstar to collate information, and possessing assets secret from in-dimension polities, Comstar was deemed the greatest short- and medium-term threat to League operations and existence in-dimension.
While all the in-dimension polities, the Successor States and Periphery Powers, were deemed threats to varying levels, it was clear Comstar with it's HPG network, secret space fleet, and aggressive data collation abilities, would be the primary threat to the League's goals. New Dallas had proven this in the eyes of the nascent League military, and as such the League forces in-dimension considered themselves to be de-facto at war with the forces of the Comguard, and Comstar as a whole. As such efforts would be made to either degrade the capacity of Comstar's intelligence services, both the ROM and it's rank and file in the HPG network, to crack what would be called The Onion in time.
Secondly, the so-called Clans, formerly the Star League Defence Forces, with their extensive space fleet, martial culture, and viewed as insane political leadership, were also viewed as a major threat to the League of Aquitaine should they begin to move. With [BT-Y4562] revealed to be Variant dimension from known dimensional packets, this possibility was viewed as a major threat, and much like with Comstar the Clans were viewed as a hostile power by the League members from the start. While a Clan invasion was deemed unlikely, it was not discounted with the possession of a full pre-Star League technical Core and WarShip in the hands of the in-dimension Taurian Concordat. Owing to this the various members of the Planning Committee, agreed upon a number of necessary measures, though active 'Pirate Hunting' would begin within mere months.
Firstly, was the creation of The Onion as it was known. While the primary Breach in-dimension was Cailleach, a former Star League military research colony and base, an actual colony system was deemed necessary, classified as Winterfell, to operate as the 'true' colony in-dimension. This colony was intended to serve as in-dimension focal point for attention from local powers as a 'last resort' before Cailleach, along with being a base of operations to quasi-unify the surrounding region of space in a either a defensive alliance, or simply as a trade league. While this would lead to some inadvertently lead to various factors in the future, such as the creation of House Stark and its development into a significant Trade House within the League, this world was intended as a lynchpin of The Onion Strategy.
From this base it was intended by the League to attempt to unify the small number of underdeveloped systems with their new trade fleet, and from there operate into the in-dimension Periphery and Inner Sphere. This was seen as a medium-term development, and it is true that League forces had already moved to the following steps even before this colony was established – trade with the Taurian Concordat and Magistracy of Canopus. In part this was due to the lack of resources available to the League to maintain and train its new acquisitions, and both of these powers were deemed best to engage with to address the current shortfall. Beyond that reasoning it was very much desired by the League in-dimension forces to strengthen these 'buffers' between the Deep Periphery region they were located within, and the Inner Sphere. Also, because it served to increase hostility between the Taurians and Comstar, which was also deemed a benefit, even if matters would rapidly spiral beyond desired outcomes.
This is in large part due to the creation, and introduction, of the Mk.04R92 Barbarossa Power Armour, partly as a 'trade item' to the Taurians and Canopians. Though, in truth, the item was intended as mass production Bastion-Earth combat asset to work in combination with salvaged, and vastly superior, Power Armour suits like the T-45, T-52, and T-60 from Fallout-Earth. From the view of most within the League this Power Armour is barely a blip in the history books, seeing service in the Bastion-Earth Reunification Wars, before being discontinued in the aftermath in the wake of the First Kromagg War. This was mostly due to the model being, largely, an ad-hoc, thrown together, piece of equipment utilising what limited manufacturing was available within the League at the time. Rapidly replaced as T-45 and T-60 Power Armour factory machinery was salvaged, and the new Avenger internally developed model came online.
Despite this occurring with the League members, the model would caused a number of very much unintended consequences withing dimension [BT-Y4562, including the near total collapse of a Successor State within a decade. Though we would not that this matter is still debated owing to the Variant nature of the dimension, with other factors at play beyond League interference into the local power structures. No matter that debate, the fact remains that the Mk.04R92 Barbarossa was a cheap, crude, but functional Armour set that sold far more than originally intended by the League as it was both cheap, functional, and largely impervious to infantry grade weaponry. This would be made disturbingly apparent within a year of the trade deal with Taurus during what was known as Operation Rat in-dimension….
--
[Interlude – New Alexandria]
[The man that works within the letter of the law]
Metropolis was a city of progress, of science and invention, and Alexander Luthor was intent upon not only keeping it that way but expanding upon that and make it the premier city upon this earth. Indeed, there was an unfortunate need behind that drive, as the truth of the universe…of the multiverse, had been less than pleasant to say the least. Even now, many months later, as he watched the new model combat aircraft, the world's first monoplane, displaying its qualities for the militaries of his home nation, and those of the Austrian, British, French, and German Empires. He would have included the Russians and Japanese, but the first would be unable to adequately build and maintain the Luthor Aeronautical Industries AV-09B, and the second had been most disrespectful in response to his invitation to the Technology Fair.
In truth the display did no interest Alexander overly much, for it was inferior to what he would wished to build and supply….but it was at the absolute technical edge of what current industry could produce. Therefore, it was the most efficient model to supply within the strictures of the current agreements between himself, his world, and the Monitor. Decades ahead of what had been possible mere years ago…but now it seemed woefully flimsy in comparison to what he had seen upon worlds without the great powers or aliens upon them. It was as such mildly grating to be so limited when knowing of the horrors that lurked beyond the veil….
But Alexander kept a firm rein upon such emotions, for he had seen how such a path could lead to foolishness and poor decision-making. Patience and planning, not falling to crude emotions such as envy or vanity were put him above the lesser versions of himself – those that had so sullied his trustworthiness in the eyes of those his world needed as allies now. He had seen the levels of lunacy certain versions of he could fall too, so he had learned from such mistakes, even when that learning had been in the form of crude drawings and writings of seers of another earth. It was merely another problem to be solved and solve it he would. The world itself depended upon his efforts after all.
"Sir" his Mercy stated ,the sound of a watch chain in motion to his side as she spoke "It is almost time to depart"
"Indeed, one would call this event a success, and Mr. Lichfield will prove himself able to complete the remaining minor paperwork" Alexander replied to her, eyes still upon the sky, hand upon the disguised sword-cane in his hands. Magical too, and a useful tool copied from the dimension travelling Captain Outis as it was easily brought into more polite company where added protection might be required "Are all matter arranged as desired"
"Yessir"
"Excellent, then we shall depart" he told her with a nod, turning and walking towards the automobile waiting, guarded by two of his security, both veterans, one from the Civil War, and the other the Crimean War. Another waited within the second automobile, and there weapons at least were superior than any other allowed created upon this earth, just as Mercy's were. While he was restricted in what was made public, some acquisitions had been allowed after reasonable points had been made to the Monitor in relation to personal security in the face of the mysterious foe that had attacked dimensions.
Neither of the guards joined him in his automobile as he took the rear seat, Mercy the driver's, and instead entered the automobile that followed behind. It was not a long drive, not with his personally designed automobiles and upon the secure road of this facility, but it did give some moments to think, and to review certain reports. Comics, such as they were called by other dimensions, had been a most useful, if less accurate than desired, source of information. One he had actively sought out once aware of them, primarily from his allied trading partners, as they reflected an odd multiversal overlap within his 'local' multiverse.
Now, of course, his own duplicates and doppelgangers, were largely inferior, and often lunatics, but there had been much commonality too at times in terms of natural aptitude for invention, regardless of era. That he had known of certain 'overlaps' already existing, such as Catwoman who he had fought the alien foe with, and a variant of other worlds, The Batman, arising within Gotham. Let alone problem of Atlantis and King Orin, The Aquaman, who he was yet engaged in diplomacy with to fight any invaders from beyond the void. It had also show several unfortunate differences too of course, even within Gotham;- the normally 'heroic' minded, per the documents, Commissioner Gordon had been a serial killer, Jack the Ripper, along with being the Commissioner prior to his defeat. Let alone that his wife, Barbara Gordon, had also been insane, and other variants normally skewed towards being a daughter of the man rather than a wife.
Still, it seemed investigations based upon the knowledge acquired had yielded some results; - it appeared the variant of the Black Canary, one Dinah Lance, existed. Existed and had powers in line what were outlined in his portfolio. Alexander nodded to himself at that, signing his approval to make an approach and supply funds if need be. So far that would be variations of The Batman, Catwoman, Green Arrow, The Vixen, and Etrigan the Demon Knight to support a formation of a Justice League. It was unfortunate Atlantis and the Hawks remained mildly hostile, but their tension had been steadily decreasing over recent months…
Placing the documents into an envelope as the automobile stopped upon arriving at it's destination, Alexander stepped out after Mercy had opened the door, before finally stamping the envelope with his seal and handing it to a waiting flunky "Ensure this is completed in my absence"
…then walked past the man as Mercy fell in behind him. Before him lay the fortified building containing one of the two 'doorways' from his home earth to destinations beyond, and the soldiers here salute him as he walked by them, then through the steel doors. Here at least he had been allowed access to decently powerful weapons, even four suits of 'Power Armour' for those guarding the inner sections, despite decorations and pleasant design of the workspace. Very London gentleman's club design, but the presence of the two girls in chauffeurs clothing modelled on his Mercy's certainly wouldn't have been allowed in such locations.
"Welcome Mister Luthor Sir!" both managed to get out awkwardly, posture not the best, but they both handled it far better than when pretending to be maids several days ago. Something to be worked on, but hardly a concern as he didn't seek them out for their abilities to act as servants after all. The first girl, with black hair hidden under the peaked cap, was of European extraction and tone, and the one had actively looked for having met several of her variants already and seen their power. Best of all Miss Zatara had the same potential as her counterparts, save she'd seemed headed for a life of petty crime, and such based on what he'd read in the report of his hired Pinkerton Detectives. Much like the second girl, and Indian, of the Native American variety, with an odd skin and hair condition, likely related to her abilities judging by the materials he had that called her Jinx.
"Good, you are prepared. Collect the bags and follow" he instructed, and both hopped too it, grabbing the prepared bags and following Mercy's directions as he made for the Gateway. With a simple motion of his hand in command the soldiery opened the great steel gates established over it, as well as for the machineguns to be aimed not at them as they entered through it. It would not do for his investments to be damaged just when he was about to bring them to their training after all. Unfortunate really that only The Vixen and Etrigan the Demon Knight possessed Otherworld Powers, and that the Superman and Supergirl did not seem to exist, nor one of the Green Lanterns. So, if these ones were young, then Alexander would ensure they would be trained to best of their abilities to protect the world in the future…
Once they got beyond the shock of stepping through the Gateway at least, as they gawped like slack jawed yokels at the county fair when they stepped into the brightly lit and colourful space station. Alexander tolerated such behaviour from a first arrival, even if Mercy was inclined towards whispered reprimands as they waited to be scanned, and the guided through the waiting hallway. Beyond would be the Monitor and representatives of the forming League of Aquitaine, just as he'd arranged. Ideally, he would be able to bring his world into that body, but such as a step too far for the Monitor, and was therefore not viable as that being's support was vital for the defence of Alexander's home.
But there were other means to manage such; - as while the Monitor had placed vast restrictions upon designs and items coming into Alexander's earth, the reverse was not true. Therefore, Alexander had built support a new colony, a new world, one that would one day join the League of Aquitaine and serve as a place of last resort for Alexander's world should the worst occur. So, Alexander had bought a world, an Earth where mankind had not developed, and it now would become New Alexandria in years to come. Unsurprisingly the Monitor was being difficult on the matter, but Alexander was prepared for that, and the first settlers were already to depart for their new home. Properly prepared he strode forward with his staff at his heels as he prepared for yet another battle, albeit one of the mind and quill…
--
[Interlude – The Princess that sings under a red sky]
[League of Aquitaine Alpha Site, Deseado Crater, Mars]
"There aren't any ruins present, and we have done all the scans. Nor are there any Martians. Mars is, to put it crudely, a dead and empty world as best we can tell" astronaut, well former astronaut turned space naval officer, James Austin said into the camera, looking at those on screen all the way back on Earth "Our rachni advisors also stated they did not detect any Element Zero in the regions stated in the databases. I'm afraid our mission has been a bust from that point of view Sirs"
The New United Nations were rapidly coming to power back on Earth, and James had managed to get his family, extended family with his wife's doppelganger needing saving too, under their protection soon after they'd overrun the so-called Virginia Republic. They had food at least under the Euro-Koreans, and they at least hadn't shot his Other Self after The Doubling neither, leaving him with two families effectively where there had been one before. Nor did they forbid Samantha, either of them, from working in some insane 'workers utopia' neither….it was almost like the Times Before…
Save with Aliens and Inter-dimensional travel, and a lot more military government. After nearly starving to death and facing the chaos of The Doubling James could care less about that, or the fact they might be foreign invaders. Now he was one of the first men on Mars, and his wife, and wife, and daughters, had jobs as well as full bellies…things could be worse he felt. It had brought with it a new uniform, as well as many more things to worry about, but it was a step forward, and his skills now were relevant again. It'd even brought a promotion in the ranks even, as mentioned by the Mission Chief on the screen, a German.
"Thank you, Colonel, we had expected as much, but there was some speculation that a Prothean beacon may have been there, or perhaps the Martian species"
"Is that welcome or unwelcome Sir?" James asked back politely "Signals have been…conflicting on the matter"
"Considering that this Mars is the Rachni's intended new homeworld, then the lack of presence of a native species is a significant positive, though an alliance if such had existed would have also been welcome for all our species" Mr. Ekhart Hammerfelt answered in his unusual harsh, no nonsense, tone, hands together on his desk on the screen "As you said Captain, the desired outcomes has fluctuated even here at Mission Command. Much like as if the ruins were present; - a great boon, but one that would indicate greater threats than we would want. For our position it is somewhat of a relief that it was not where it was indicated to be"
James resisted a wan smile, though maintained an amused tone "Ah…we failed to find things, mission succeeded?"
"It would be considered a success either way Colonel Austin, in that you have successfully navigated and safely landed the Dropship" Ekhart replied simply "The data we have received is vital to the success of our future efforts. You appear to be working well with our allies"
"Yessir, they have been most helpful in achieving mission success, though I would note, somewhat unhappily, that their grasp of the vessels and travelling through space has been superior to our own"
Which James hated saying as the Dropships had been built by humans, for humans, albeit humans in a different future dimension, and it was mildly embarrassing to have the rachni 'princess' and her workers achieve superior performance considering those facts. Of course, they had made modifications to the Fortress-class Dropship they now owned, but that didn't change the matter in his mind. Mission Command had been unbothered by that, as was Ekhart on the screen, making a 'waving it off' motion with his right hand in response to James's noting the unspoken competition.
"They are a more experienced species with space travel than us, their aid is much needed, but, beyond such, there have been no difficulties?"
"No Sir, Princess Sydney…" because of course the Alien Insect Queen had chosen to name her 'matriarch' children after the abandoned cities they had repopulated upon empty earth. Though he suspected the concept of 'Princess' was a crudely interpreted cultural conversation based on his discovery that the insect 'girl' like Disney stories just like his own daughters "…has cooperated every step of the way, at least once we got an understanding of sleep cycles and physical limitations on both sides. She has currently begun scouting of a potential site for settlement nearby"
"Excellent, are you ready to begin the agreed upon military training programme?"
James "Yessir, we are currently on schedule for joint manoeuvres on the Martian surface with supplied suits and vehicles. All initial testing has shown the suits to be…well, I'd prefer to be here in peace like with the Moon mission, but, well, they are more than capable of the purpose at hand. I can assure you that we will learn what needs to be learned for combat operations outside of Earth's biosphere"
It was mildly depressing in truth;- they had spacecraft, it turned out superheroes were real, as were alien, and a host of other things…
And here they were, setting foot on Mars to begin training a mixture of former astronauts, soldiers, and a few engineers, into a combat force capable of fighting, and killing, on alien worlds. Sadly, or thankfully, they had been supplied with documentation to develop a training programme from. One from the Rachni's home dimension from a human polity called the System's Alliance, albeit historical rather than what their 'modern' forces did. Still, it was far more than James would have had, and when combined with what had been the training manual of the 'United Nations Marine Corps' taken from a dead species called the Androsynth, and manuals from the defunct Star League Defence Force, they had a starting point at the very least.
"That is good to hear Colonel, complete your data upload and we shall speak again at the next check in time"
"Sir" he gave a salute, and then ended the 'call' before activating the transmission of the various reports and sensor feeds made over the last few hours. The computers aboard the Dropship were strangely old-fashioned and underpowered, but also stunningly powerful in their own ways, so they had installed a number of 'normal' computers from home and their allied earths for secondary studies. It gave them far greater ability to do their jobs…albeit the systems were confusing at times, and prone to constant technical resets and maintenance at the interface point.
'Marine, to Astronaut, to Marine in Space….great career choice James' he mused to himself as he confirmed the upload had been completed, and then locked the station before grabbing an energy drink as he opened up the next set of plans he'd have to report. Training on Mars was not going to be easy, and it worried him that 'losses' were built into the 'expected outcome'. Yes, he'd learned life was cheap in the Days of Horror after The Doubling, but it bothered him when it applied to men under his command. Unfortunately, the world needed such forces yesterday and that meant time was to be bought with their lives, if necessary, as long as that cost was 'within acceptable limits' as it was phrased.
The worst part was that this was 'easy' part, for it was in conjunction with Rachni who could survive on the Martian surface, for a time at least, and were 'experienced' in such combat. As such they had a training partner and source of medivac if need be. Unlike when the 'in space' combat training had to be done in the months that came after all this. By that stage the Rachni would likely be starting their first colony settlement effort here on the survive, and it would only be the Dropships and other marines to serve as rescue…
James pushed such thoughts away as he signed his approval for Phase Three training operations. While they hadn't even named what his forces were yet, beyond 'Non-Earth Biosphere Training Force Alpha', he knew they were to be Marines in Space and he'd drawn what he could to achieve that from the manuals. Between those, the mission reports of the 'Ship Security' aboard the inter-dimensional spaceships, and his Rachni allies he should, God Willing, be able to get his men into shape without any of the 'acceptable loss ratios' laid out in his mission briefing. So, he finished that task and prepared to contact the psionic alien Princess so she could get around to kicking his ass most likely…
--
[Interlude – Wanted! Dead or Alive! (But preferable dead)]
[Washington DC, United States of America, formerly known as Fraternity-Earth/JA001/FD-Prime]
Deborah Delphi, the Crimson Crow, heroine of the Justice Alliance, sat waiting for her two companions for the night after another long, dreary, day on this terrible mirror of her home dimension. Yet again she could see why her counterpart had left here for good to serve aboard the dimension travelling spaceship of young Outis and Supergirl. Even down to the fact she was in disguise now, so that she could have a pleasant night, as appearing in persona would bring attention. And not the 'Oh can I have your autograph!' attention of her home dimension, but the 'Oh God is this demon woman going to try murder us?' response of this Earth. Hatred and fear were the response of the ordinary man and woman on the street to those with powers…
And she had no reason to blame them for that response. Every month had brought more and more revelations as the Fraternity's files were steadily exposed, and their crimes judged. Violently judged in ways they would never have been at home…men and women who had been good and decent folk at home, who had been the biggest supporters of the Justice Alliance and Reform – here they bayed for blood. Assuming they were alive and not mentally destroyed in previous years of course. Trust, it was such a strange word, a thing she'd taken so very much for granted till she'd spent nearly a year in this broken mirror of a dimension on a regular basis. At home it was plentiful, here there was none.
'Though the looks are still there' she thought to herself as Zara Zane sauntered into the restaurant, in a tasteful short skirt and business shirt, but simply trying to show off as usual. Mystichick just liked to Mystichick it seemed to Deborah, even when she'd been the one who'd talked about a 'low profile' with them all being in disguise. Not that she could complain with her own Crimson Crow costume being as it was, but Zara really needed to tone down the desire to be the centre of attention sometimes, even if she looked a decade younger than her near forty-six years. And that was without the minor glamour Deborah saw on Zara turning her hear to a flaming red instead of her golden blonde.
"Quiet night with the girls Zara?" she muttered immediately as her friend sashayed over to the private booth in the hotel restaurant "Remember?"
"And I will be quiet. Like a church mouse!"
"Hmm" Deborah answered in a bemused tone, shaking her head in exasperation "Let me guess, a bad day?"
Zara sighed as she sat, looking at the menu, drinks first it looked like "Every day's a bad day in bizzarro world, but it was a busy one, with failed results. Neither of them had any interest…in fact they immediately went to Aquitaine Consulate after I contacted them. Found that out only today"
The sigh was weary, and Deborah could relate. With the breaking of the 'Masquerade' that the Fraternity upon reality…well, those with powers were creeping through. Or perhaps it was more accurate to saw that those held down as potential young heroes were finally getting their powers where in the past only villains, or at least more neutral minded people, truly could 'breakthrough'. Unfortunately, the general response amongst young magic users was a mixture of horror, fear, and confusion, all with an understanding that they would be hated for what they now had. Most of them just wanted to have it go away, and when that wasn't possible, they sought out some means of escape.
It was….depressing to say the least, even when they persuaded them to come and train with the Justice Alliance on their Earth, or even one of the other JAs they had contacted. Even the Justice League dimension. Some did, but most seemed inclined towards moving to one of the Earths of the League of Aquitaine alliance where Hero culture just wasn't present. It was the culture most like their own some said, except their governments weren't tainted by collaborators…and they were creating soldiers to keep 'ordinary people' 'safe' from what had happened here…
"It is the same with the governments" Deborah admitted once the server had taken their drinks orders and then walked away from the table "The new ones I mean. They've been less than helpful…" despite being glad for our help, and that of the Justice League "…at times, and they are starting to become determined to get into the other alliance rather than ours"
"What about their Fallout, and…"
Deborah shook her head "He's…not opposed to it. Not after our efforts with a reformed Justice Alliance currently stalled. Not even our Fallout, or our Justice League friends Superman could change his mind"
More than stalled outside American as several nations had taken a 'shoot first, find out of hero or villain later' approach with anyone playing costumed vigilante. Worse they had a small supply of weapons enabling that attitude after purchases of plasma and laser weapons off the 'divided Earth' in exchange for a large supply of food. Cheap purchases in truth considering what had happened to a few surviving members of the Fraternity that had tried to blend into the populace, but then gotten caught. Deborah didn't disapprove of that, not having read and seen directly what those monsters had done, but two of the deaths had been of what could have been heroes given time.
The cruel truth was those duplicates of herself, of her friends and closest allies…were traumatized and broken, no longer feeling capable of the task. Her own self HAD RUN from this dimension with their versions of Burt and S'tella, never to return most likely. Just like Bart and a dozen others. All wanting to help, but knowing in their hearts and souls that they couldn't do what they'd done before, not without bloodshed and a burning rage in their hearts. Where she, the Justice Alliance, and the Justice League, had tried, and were still trying, to reform that dream…the world was drifting towards some multi-national military force to combat muta-human and trans-human crime and threats. She looked up as their final member came into view, nodding that direction of the conservatively clad woman.
"Speaking of, see, fashionable but not overly revealing"
Zara sniffed as the suit clad, but still very attractive figure of the Justice League's 'delegate/ambassador' Vixen strode towards them "I'm not overly revealing. It's exactly as revealing as I want to be"
"She says" Deborah murmured back, then smiling at Mari as she arrived "Greetings Mari, and how are you?"
"Oh, the usual, trying to convince little children I'm not going to bite. Big ones too" the woman from the other dimension replied sitting down and looking around "It's a very nice hotel, but I'll be glad to get home you know?"
"So say we all I do believe" Zara replied sitting back into her chair "I'm going to do a show when I get back, a big one, super flashy, with cheering crowds"
Deborah's raised an eyebrow at that "I do believe you were going to keep seeking out your duplicate?"
"I have" her friend replied after a moment of thought, sad thought, frowning before shaking her head "I don't think, she, *I, want to be found…"
Then gave her a hard look "And if you make a Tiberius joke Deborah, I swear…"
Deborah smiled, holding up her hands "Now, now, not a word! But why do you say that?"
"I know *his* haunts, and his ways, and his dupl….our Tiberius helped me" Zara murmured unhappily, then shook her head again "But when we got to the Nowhere here…it was clear *I, she, was awake. Herself. Helping him. The spell traces…I'm getting very sure the other me just wants to forget about this and get away from it all. It's been months and that was our last trail…"
Her friend gave a wan smile "And I so many questions to ask her too, ya'know?"
'Honestly, ones you DON'T want answered based on every other heroines defeat story' Deborah thought, thinking of her own alternate's depressing story, and they'd been the Youth Alliance then. Teenagers too dumb to understand and had gotten off 'lightly' compared to the likes of Power Woman and Eaglewoman, and then brave men like Fallout and Detective Dark. The sheer horror of that, and the worse aftermath, had hardened hearts back home against the worst of the criminals, and made securer prisons more than a priority. Ones where they couldn't ever concoct such a plan. But she didn't say that to Zara, who's other self seemed to have gotten off 'lightly' compared to many others thanks to her terrible, occasionally helpful, but terrible ex-boyfriend turning villain to save her.
Mari gave a half-smile, half-awkward wince "Well, probably best they aren't found if you're feeling sympathetic to them. The new authorities aren't going to"
"No, but at least they are having actual trials now I suppose" Deborah said after the server had dropped off their drinks and then walked way "Now, no more depressing talk. I want to order a nice meal and actually relax for one night…."
--
[Interlude – College Days]
[A tale of two centres of education]
Savos Aren found 'the walk' from the College to another dimension, and then another Arcane University in yet another dimension, to be somewhat jarring at the best of times. Yes, indeed it was, even if the underground cave/dungeon structure in the 'in-between' world did help somewhat in preparing one for the differences, it wasn't that good. No, one did not easily go from a bitter freezing winter in Winterhold to a summer not out of place in Cryodiil, even if there was a 'cold, but not too cold' hidden underground base one waited for a few hours in-between.
Nor did it help with the very bizarre, and oft dull, architecture of the race of Men that inhabited this particular realm of Beyond Mundus.Still…bizarreness aside, as it always must be, there was respectful treatment here of his position as Archmage of the College of Winterhold. That was a rare thing in Skyrim, so Savos supposed he should be content with that in exchange for all other troubles, and far greater efforts required of him of late. Of course…that effort would serve to keep him alive, as he had seen the end result of certain prophesies – him dead, new Dragonborn Archmage, general chaos.
No thank you to that; - Savos Aren very much liked being alive, even if the Dragonborn, and Dragons, had made their unfortunate appearance. Oh, to live in simpler times where such discoveries and hidden gems as these works of Conjuration to other Planes Beyond Oblivion would be the greatest secret and concern.But sadly, where matters normally would themselves out in other times, Savos found himself living through interesting times instead.
Which was why was now being guided through a still half-ruined city of Men, one beyond anything in Skyrim, through to the bustling and active version of the Arcane University rising in its midst. Plenty of warriors surrounding it too, and merchants in bizarre shops, and he only half listened as the female Not-Nord, even if she looked like a Nord, yapped on excitedly about everything. No wonder as he saw the tell-tale signs of past hunger, but now regular full bellies, that such changes had likely wrought. He had seen as such in Morrowwind after everything went to Oblivion.
It was not a long walk though from the warrior guarded 'Gate' to where another guarded entrance to the new college awaited, and Savos made 'polite' with those he'd been burdened with as he was led to where Mirabelle should wait. Thankful for having shed the heavy robes for lighter ones in the 'Fallout Relay Base' as the Men of this realm called it, as the weather here was quite warm compared to the days of Skyrim. Even if the sun seemed less bright, or perhaps as warm to the soul perhaps, the physical warmth it brought would have made the heavy robes quite unwelcome.
Much like the underlying pressures that all the benefits accrued from this great discovery, and secrets, had brought unto his shoulders. That and the civil war consuming Skyrim, one whose side he was being largely forced to take sides in stay alive…or to ensure the safety and prosperity of the College as he'd explained it to the others. One had to explain such things to them in that manner, as, sadly, they could not be relied upon to value his health and safety in such scenarios. Life had taught him that lesson, as it had many others, and even with those lessons it felt like more and more dangers appeared with each passing season. Indeed, these few days here, on this alien world, would be almost a restful and peaceful matter in comparison.
'Perhaps we should find some excuse to increase the stay' he mused as he, finally, lost the annoying young blonde not-Nord after being escorted to where Mirabelle waited. In robes at least rather local clothing, but robes clearly made and in the fashion of the locals, along with the mechanical devices that the races of Men of these lands seemed so enraptured by. Oh, they were interesting devices, yes, but Savos was unsure of the actual benefits of such things when ink and quill were available for such simple tasks as summarising experiments, and magicka could do the rest. Mirabelle seriously disagreed for some reason, demanding such devices for her to be able to 'run the college without dying under mountains of badly written scrolls' as she put it him.
"Archmage" she greeted as they were left alone "I trust all was well on your trip"
"As dreary and dull as prior times" he droned back taking a seat across from here, before casting a ward spell against any who would listen in. It was always harder here to do so. Some found that a challenge, Savos found it annoying "They have hidden their dungeon better I believe, though I saw little beyond the room they had us wait in. Now. How have matters progressed?"
"Quite well I think, in that our students have learned much from Tessa, and the locals have taken quite well to Tolfdir's lesson plan" Mirabelle's lips quirked "Indeed, even Collette has proven quite popular"
"Not for her personality I imagine"
"No Archmage, but Restoration is a very much desired school, as is Alchemy"
Savos made a face at that, resisting sighing in frustration. Alchemy was just a waste of teaching material and resources in his mind, the domain of thieves and riffraff, and filled with hassle and unplanned explosions above the average. Mirabelle and Tolfdir had been pushing him hard now to follow through on his 'debate' to finally rehire or at least seek out a new Master Alchemist to teach. Much as he wanted to tell them to be done with their irritants it was likely a subject he'd have to indulge…perhaps banished to this world so it was not in his face at least. Idly he wondered if it was just the nature of the races of Man over Mer, as the locals seemed enamoured of magicka-less alchemy as well.
"The subject will be dealt with in time Mirabelle, we have enough difficulties to deal with sadly" he explained as he took out a bottle of waiting mead, shaking his head "Matters are growing more problematic in Skyrim…and in Morrowind"
"Telvanni?"
Savos made a humming noise, an unhappy one "Aye, indeed, our dear student at work, and she far from these planes. Her House, distant as it were, grows interested in many things now that they know. Two young students, eager and learned have arrived knowing she shan't return for several seasons from her…voyages"
Mirabelle frowned, then shook her head "Took her long enough I suppose"
"Indeed, but it is a further headache, as the Dragonborn arrived…and departed for several days to hunt trolls"
That, of course, caused his subordinate's head to snap up from her device "They have, are they…"
Savos took a drink, then sat back in the chair "As Nord as Nord can be, wearing the amulet of Talos and a Stormcloak cloak. The only unexpected point is that he is a mage, a battlemage that likes axes, but still, he did somewhat listen to certain advice"
"That…is good is not?" Mirabelle queried "We have been forced to cleave in…that direction of late"
Politely put of course, but they had been forced to push in that direction after the 'sudden disappearance', likely via 'bandits', of Ancano and his entire guard detachment after departing the College. Then the second band that had arrived months later when they'd arrived with blades drawn, and arrests of students as punishment in mind of course. With five students from this plane…well, at that point Savos felt it was better to confirm enmity than allow secrets to be discovered. Reaching out, in the shadows, to certain factions had been the only real response to that…especially with The Synod and College of Whispers turning in their direction.
"Soon in the eyes of the Nords and the remnant Empire I fear" he told her, though the Dragonborn was…odd, based upon the Prophecies they had seen and 'lived/played'. Largely in that he had wiped out the Dark Brotherhood by all tales, but had now sided against the Empire fully and firmly. Clearly he hated assassins more than the Empire…but it did confuse matters "The dragons return has brought a stalemate they call a truce, but in some years the Dragonborn will be ready and…the Imperial authorities are being less than helpful of late"
…because 'let the Thalmor in and then the Synod/College maybe too' was never going to work in Savos mind, largely as it would get him killed. And they would be opposed to his desire of not dying. He shook his head "I have…spoken to a certain would be High King. We have an agreement of sorts, though the Jarl of Winterhold will be less than pleased when Dunmer arrive and begin to settle with Stormcloak warriors to enforce such a migration"
"That's asking for trouble Savos"
"Oh, yes, very much so, but certain parties outside of our control know some things, and both Empire and Thalmor will not let us keep our secrets or our lives I imagine" he clarified blandly "Our agreements here are clawing the College back to where it should be, and soon we shall have others to discuss our findings with….and the laws of the Empire would doom us as they are"
Time was something they needed, to make new learnings and restore some degree of wealth…along with strengthening wards and building up outside 'allies'. Or at least outside shields and associates that allow them to maintain their independence, along with ensuring the Dragons and the Thalmor did not manage to destroy all of Mundus in the years to come. All of Savos Aren's nice things were there after all, and he would hate to lose if managed to escape here from the end of the kalpa as the Redguards saw it. No, this new 'associate College' was beginning to show results, even if minor ones, so perhaps things would work out in the end. That would be much more agreeable than things not working out...
--
[07.01: Where the Shadows Lie]
[Storm warning while in docked in port]
"There is bad weather in the space between dimensions?"
It was a partly disbelieving statement from the 'delegate' from our magical refugees, and in theory the refugees as a whole, in this case being Lord El Melloi II as he took a drag on his cigarette. I didn't mind the smoking much, as we were likely going to run shortly in his case, and the environmental filters aboard Carrier's bridge were designed for Golden Age era superheroes. Including the hard smoking variety, so this barely even registered with them, and it helped keep him calm as the screens displayed our approach into the titanic machine that served as a port.
Well, into 'wake' of the monstrously large Destroyer-class Shiftship, or maybe a 'safe zone' where vessels like this were intended to dock and get repairs/maintenance, or other things maybe. For us it was to recharge our batteries and ensure the carrier was intact…and that was what the last lot had called it. The Carrier. Because not only were the authoritarian, but they were also clearly unimaginative in their naming conventions too. Jenny wasn't exactly forthcoming, but the databases did have info, and we were finally getting a handle on them thanks to Quinn.
So, I nodded, hands on my walking cane as we watched the display on the bridge "Indeed, though 'weather' is more our minds finding a way to categorise something that is unnatural to our comprehension. Same as when we say we are 'sailing' the Bleed…it's the closest approximation for our minds to grasp the basic concept. So, currently, we are recharging our engines and preparing to move through a targeted layer of Bleed-space in search of resources that we all, as in your people primarily, need to complete the voyage to return League-space"
My left hand rose up, moving through the simulation of the local multiverse, tracing a route out of 'harbour' and through 'local' multiversal clusters "With this being our planned course into one of the larger universal clusters, where we stand the greatest chance of finding a safe harbour to trade for such things"
"You mean food and clothing and other amenities"
"Yes. We are currently fine for such, but we'd never voyage back the way we came with the current situation at hand" I said studying the various clusters shown on the sensors. Tens of thousand of dimensions just there alone, and so many dead ones in between "My ship was intended for such time-consuming journeys, with adequate food supplies for my crew for over a year…not the current situation. As such we'll be lengthening our journey time to ensure that we can ensure everyone makes it safely to the end destination"
He studied me as much the display, glancing about the bridge as well, though the Fortune's Chance was really the main bridge and this the secondary in many ways "I would assume then, that something is wanted from those of us you are aiding?"
"Potentially" I relied with hand going back down to the cane hilt as I sighed "At this time I need you to convey to Lady Barthomelloi the need for a peaceful and stable situation amongst the populations aboard the carrier at current times to continue for such a voyage. Secondly…the carrier is not exactly armed unlike the Chance, but it does have capacity to transmit spells and energies in an offensive manner if needed"
Lord El-Melloi II gave a faint nod "Truly?"
"Yes, not a major defence mechanism, but considering the nature of the Bleed I would prefer for you to prepare a number of magus that might be trusted to serve in a…militia of sorts shall we call it? In case we need to deploy the Chance in the face of the local wildlife?"
"Wildlife?"
I shrugged "Dimensional horrors, eldritch beings, random creatures capable of surviving their dimension's destruction…things like that. The carrier was never really intended for combat. It's a glorified transport and haulier, even if the previous owners used as it a cudgel we believe. But in the Bleed, especially an active area such as this"
"Yes, I do believe I gather your points" the magus stated politely "And I expect the next request will be to aid in supplying something to earn our keep"
"Potentially, but we may be able to scavenge along the way. I'm pointing this out because we do not know this region of the multiverse. Our mission here was very much to scout out a problem…" I gestured with my cane to the spectacular, and terrifying, 'storm' where the dimension we had just been in underwent destruction and whatever had been entering was thrust out once more. Then trace along the area with the end of the cane, taking in the clusters "…which was where we all met up. Unfortunately, that means we need to scout out these clusters, and that, in of itself, is dangerous with the carrier instead of our usual vessel"
"Exploring the New World, save it might be filled with Beasts rather than men?" he murmured after a moment's consideration "I do suspect Lady Barthomelloi will understand such concerns, though must also say your, ah, poaching of certain individuals…"
"Yes, recruitment is a thing vital to any vessel, even our kind you must understand" I replied simply "Especially when we take such risks as this. That and I suspect the likes of Mister Emiya and his party are both safer aboard the Chance, as well not serving as a source of…conflict aboard the carrier"
It'd been clear even to us, with bare monitoring, that assassination or attempts to 'claim' them was very likely even now before the extend of knowledge of the man spread. Most magus aboard knew the man could become a Hero thanks to the knowledge of the Servant Archer, so even of he hadn't been as worth recruiting as they were…well, removing that problem was essential as well. Now I'd reduced the firepower of certain problem parties, and potentially increased my own as well to put it crudely, and that might be hopefully enough to keep the peace.
The other man gave a curt nod "Potentially perhaps"
"Yes, potentially, but…" I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a USB key for the laptops supplied to our 'guests' aboard the carrier's. Or at least the handful we'd given to those in nominal charge to try help organise the distraught and chaotic horde we needed them to self-regulate "…here are some proposals to you and your council to peruse. These are merely suggestions, and we are open to any counter-proposals as long as they maintain the stability and safety of all parties involved"
"Of course, I shall discuss this with Lady Barthomelloi, and my Lady Reines, along with the non-magus groupings" he replied after a moment, taking the small item into hand, and then storing it away "I shall take my leave then, unless there is more to discuss Captain?"
"No, I do believe that is all Lord El-Melloi" I politely inclined my head, motioning with a free hand for one of the guards to escort him out of the bridge area. It had been a pleasantly brief and concise meeting, and finishing on the plans had been Barbara's idea, who now sauntered over to me now the magus was brought out of the bridge.
"Went well?"
I shrugged "Seemed to, but it is always hard to know with Waver, especially since he'll not be making the decisions in the end"
Babs gave a sigh "Good point. And how are you feeling on things Boss man?"
"Concerned" I answered honestly looking at the displays "Many options, but it's different with this big bulk carrier meandering about than normal. The supply situation is probably less the danger than the dangers of trying to get those supplies…we'll have to do a good bit of scouting. But very rapidly as well"
"Not the best combination"
"No, it's not" I agreed tapping the region "And it's dimensional active too according to long range sensors on the Destroyer"
Which was good and bad. Good in that it meant we had a window to bring through the carrier shiftship without issue, but bad in that was dimensional active, and that was usually high energy and problem related. We'd have to hit the cluster in a short few weeks, once we started 'sailing', and then try investigate to seek out a potential target that wasn't too hostile or too alien. This far out in the realms of DC…well, no 'standard' out here I suspected…
Shook my head "So, let's finish with the recharge and hope we can keep things calm with our passengers"
--
