The Fair in the capital was finally coming to a close, with most of the vendors selling out of what they had left so they wouldn't have to carry it back with them. I had occasionally looked around the fair during my breaks between rides but in an era like this, not much caught my attention. There was an interesting booth that seemed to be using magic to make and sell snow cones, but it was more like eating snow since they didn't have flavored syrup to put on them. There were a few good performances done by magicians and show people, stuff like what you would expect at a Renaissance fair, and some surprisingly good comedy routines on one of the local stages, but other than that it didn't hold much interest for me.
The Steam Locomotive continued to be a massive hit, and towards the end of the day I actually ended up providing more frequent rides so that people could get in their last chances to ride it, and of course making bank by doing so. Adventure team Pale Yew was quite happy with the cut of the earnings they were getting, and I was thankful I had my inventory to store so many coins in, otherwise it would've been like carrying a backpack of silver!
The day was coming to a close, however, as it was around six in the afternoon and people were starting to close up shop. A number of people were still moving around the fair but it was a fraction of the usual amounts, and I still hadn't seen any sign of Arche. I held out some hope that she would show up, but I wasn't too convinced my lackluster pitch amounted to much. It also might've been too early for her to decide, and rather sudden. I gave her the idea, but she would have to decide if running away with her sisters was the best choice, and that's never something you make lightly.
Yeah, let's just ask this girl you only barely met if she wants to run away from home with a complete stranger, and bring your two young sisters as well! I snorted to myself. What a great idea, why wouldn't you expect that to work? I leaned back against the cabin of the train as I stood on the platform. We had finally shut down for the day and Pale Yew were counting their earnings with smiles on their faces, planning on where to go to celebrate their funds. I was contemplating what to do next when I noticed an old and balding man with gray hair and a black butler outfit walking up to me.
"Ms. Jeanne D'Altera?" He asked, his voice old and withered. I nodded, wondering who he was.
"I am James, butler to the Furt family. The young miss Arche wishes to speak with you. Are you free?" My eyebrows rose. Perhaps my offer wasn't so far fetched after all.
"I'll need to put the steam engine away before I'm truly free, but I can spare the time after that. It'll only take about ten minutes, if you're willing to wait."
"That is acceptable. I will wait here for you." The butler nodded. I turned to dismiss the Pale yew group, but they had already left, likely to go drink themselves under the tables and have fun. Shrugging, I went back into the engine and sat in the driver's seat, not caring much about the fire since I was ready to let the engine start cooling down. Setting it to reverse, I turned on the bell again, sticking my head out the window to look backwards as I started driving it in reverse back to the barn. The loop of track necessitated that I had to drive it backwards to get switched onto the other line, as there was only one direction I wanted the engine to face.
It didn't take long, and the Synths registered my approach in time to open the barn door for me. I backed in slowly, the engine now more sluggish as it was losing steam to power itself. Pulling in just right, I let it rest for the final time, releasing the remaining pressure in the boiler through one long sigh of steam. I hopped out, snapping my fingers to get the attention of the closest synth.
"I want the train prepared for disassembly when I get back, drain the fluids and ready the tools. I'll take care of the rails tonight, ok?"
"Affirmative. Orders logged." It said in it's filtered voice. I nodded in satisfaction before decoupling the carriages from the train, stuffing them into my inventory by laying a hand on them. Satisfied things would be prepped and ready to pack before tomorrow morning, I left them to it and trekked out from the barn, closing the door behind me.
It only took a few minutes to walk back to the platform, where I joined the butler again before he lead me into the city proper. I will say, Arwintar was probably one of the most advanced places in the world at the moment. Everything was made from stone brick, even the roads, and the streets had sidewalks. I imagined this is what Rome might've looked like if it was a little more advanced. The Emperor's palace stuck out tall and proud among the many buildings, and I could see the grand arena in the distance, with its high walls and archways. Truly, this city was in a prosperous time under the Emperor's rule.
James led me down several streets and into a well lit restaurant, where Arche was sitting at one of the booths towards the back, fidgeting with her hands. I sat across from her as the old butler bowed to us before leaving, probably back to their home. I looked at Arche for a while as she seemed to be trying to find the words to say, opening and closing her mouth.
Deciding to give her somewhere to start, I spoke up first. "I take it you've given my offer some thought?" I asked gently.
Arche scrunched up her brow before a question tumbled out of her mouth. "Why do you want to help me?" She asked, immediately looking like that hadn't quite been what she meant to say.
I shrugged. Deciding to go with a bit of Emiya logic, I returned her question with- "Do I need a reason to help someone?"
She looked a little lost at that, unable to really refute it but not really believing it either. I sighed, deciding to make it easier for her.
"Look, you and your sisters are good kids, but your parents seem like they aren't suited for their job as caretakers at all. I've heard things from other nobles I've spoken to, how your family is in debt and your parents refuse to stop spending wealth they don't have... and how they've made some very questionable deals to keep their supposed wealth."
Arche looked at me with wide eyes, surprised at my knowledge. "They... They're not that bad..." She said weakly, unable to look me in the eyes when saying it. My eyes softened.
"Maybe they aren't that bad, and they don't seem abusive, but they aren't getting better either, and it's not healthy or fair if you have to bear their burden when they keep digging the hole deeper. Family is incredibly important, so I'm not saying you have to, or should cut ties with them, but some away time couldn't hurt. It might even give them a sort of wake up call that things have truly changed." I let her digest that for a minute.
"And... you would take care of us?" Arche asked in a small voice.
"I wasn't lying when I said I'll need employees in the future, and that I would provide you with both the lodgings and pay to take care of you and your sisters. I truly will need people to help manage the stations I'll build for my railways, and they will be all over the kingdoms, so you may as well have your choice of where you want to stay. As for me taking care of you, unfortunately I'm an incredibly busy person. I'll be giving financial aid, and have some time to drop by for visits, but I won't be able to regularly take care of you. I do know some people who would be able to in my stead, however. Or, you might be able to bring your butler along, he seems to care for you. He'd help you take care of your sisters, I'm sure."
Arche considered the suggestion, nodding. "James has been a long friend of the family, and always taken the time for me and my sisters. He would join if I asked him." She looked back at me, searching my expression. "How are you so powerful?" She finally asked.
I suppose a question like that was only fair, given she can see I'm more powerful than humanly possible. Now, how to answer. I let out a breath and leaned back, considering my words. "Noticed that, did you? I suppose a measure of trust is in order, especially if you're to trust me with the lives of you and yours." I paused. "In truth, I'm a spirit. Specifically, a Heroic Spirit, from a time long removed from this one. I doubt anyone would know of me." All that was true, if a little twisted. Arche studied me before nodding.
"I believe you. My talent lets me see the power of a magic caster, and you're the most powerful I've ever seen, even more than my old teacher, Fluder Paradine."
I raised a brow. Only level 40 and more powerful than him? I suppose it was true, my mana rank was very high as a servant. "I'm not sure if that translates properly though, since my body is literally made of mana. He is probably more powerful of a caster than I am," I admitted. Arche thought about it for a moment, but shook her head, preferring to get back on topic.
"Regardless, you said to meet with you by today, would we have to leave immediately?" She asked. I shook my head.
"I wanted to meet so we could talk about it properly, you don't have to decide to move this very minute. We can just set a date or time to talk about it more, or if you're ready, a date to leave." I explained. She relaxed some.
"That's good. I'm not ready to move out just yet. Can we talk about this again in two weeks? Meet here at six?" She asked. I nodded, marking a reminder on the System.
"Sure thing. Here at six, Friday after next. Is that all you wanted to talk about today?"
"For now, I'll have more questions next time." She answered. I nodded.
"Good. Now, I'd love to stay and chat but I have things to pack up before I get a move on. You stay safe and I'll see you in two weeks." I bade farewell and got up, making my way to the exit. It wasn't a definitive answer, but it was a lot better than I expected.
}x{
I walked through the streets, noting the magic looking lanterns lighting up the area, along with the occasional guards. It was a certain thing, Arwintar was one of the most advanced cities in the New World. I hadn't been to the Theocracy's capital yet, but I imagined when I did it would be similar if slightly behind this one due to their wealth and items. Wealth and Items I would be sure to remove from them, but I still needed to get there.
Even if I started walking as soon as I packed up the rest of the rails and disassembled the train, it would take over a week of jogging to reach the theocracy's border. And that's not even counting the time I would need to find a quiet place here to either store the teleporter or shoot a portal so I could return quickly. Hmm. I should've asked Arche to teach me the spell [Fly].
Right, spells. I really need to learn more about magic and extend my reach in that area, in all this time I haven't branched out from the original flame spell I got from the book, as magic tomes seem to be very rare reward drops. Now, there is one solution that would fix all my problems on that front, but it would take a while to both get there and to find, and that's one of the few World Class Items in this world left over by the eight greed kings- The Nameless Book of Spells. A spellbook supposedly containing every spell ever used both of wild magic and tier magic. An incredible tool, and it is somewhere hidden on the floating island guild base the platinum dragon lord claims as home.
The ability to fly is necessary to even get there if I don't want to deal with the dead city beneath it and whatever defenses there might be in front of the teleportation gates, but I can't exactly risk one of my helicopters to get there as the noise would most certainly wake the platinum dragon lord. Unless... hmm.
Perhaps I could fly over the island from a very high altitude in a B25, cut the engines and glide down over the island, then parachute down and use my astral state to sneak around the base? Certainly more do-able than landing on Tsain's front lawn with a helicopter. Maybe I should target there first, get the book, learn the spells to counter everything the theocracy might have, then work my way back to the theocracy, rob them blind?
Or maybe I'm just overthinking this and I should just shoot a portal onto the island, then rob it.
I really need to keep thinking with portals, they make life so much easier.
Yep, that's what I'll do. I can just take a B25 into an orbiting pattern at visual range from the base, shoot a portal, then bing bang boom. Rob them, return to the Mitchell, then rob the theocracy, and kill the thousand mile astrologer on my way out so they can't search for me. Maybe I should bomb their government too? Ehhh that sounds rather terroristic. Maybe just leave a few notes that leads them on a wild goose chase? Seeing them tear their own hair out in frustration would be amusing...
Ahh, well that'll be later anyways. For now, I'm back at the fairgrounds, and I need to deal with these rails. Looking around to make sure I'm not being watched, I start using my strength as a servant to rip the nails from the tracks before stuffing the rails and their tie bars into my inventory, unearthing and storing away a full section of track in just minutes.
Once I'm done with this, I only need to partially disassemble the train before I can pack everything up and then I'll head back to base. It might be a bit optimistic of me, but I believe that by the end of the year I can finally start building my aircraft carrier and some of its escorts, and then I can truly begin everything in earnest.
Two weeks later...
The time has come, and I'm once again walking back to speak with Arche. In the last week and a half or so, I made some good progress in a few things. To begin with, I toyed with the caseless propulsion method the Aperture turrets use, and ended up making myself a high caliber 12.7mm lever action rifle, though the lever action was more for show and looks, as functionally it did nothing.
The rifle itself was semi automatic, loaded like a regular Winchester, and required no cases to be ejected, and therefore had no ejection port or action to cycle a shell out, but it was nice to be able to twirl a rifle like you're in an old western action movie. Not to mention the 12.7mm ammunition was devastating, and, like any (in)sane individual, I decided to make it even more deadly by making it a time delayed explosive bolt that would detonate into shrapnel a half second after it penetrated something.
It was an immensely satisfying weapon to use in the dungeons. Combining my speed, parkour, and treating the fight like I was being placed in one of the Call of Duty games, I ended up training myself in high speed instant head removal, because hot damn if it isn't satisfying to use a powerful rifle to pop someone's head like a grape. That might sound a bit morbid, but it seems the joy of landing headshots with powerful guns hasn't diminished from when I played MW2019.
Aside from enjoying a new weapon, however, I also spent some time with Dell on my redesign of the Intrepid. I wanted nothing to go wrong with it, and I needed his advice on the reactors and several systems to ensure efficiency and longevity, and as I expected, he had a lot of improvements to add, and I ended up redesigning several parts to accommodate his ideas.
I even asked for his advice on some of the escort fleet and he actually took a personal interest in them, so I readily handed off the Battleship and submarine designs so I could focus on the missile cruiser and destroyers. I was half worried about the grin Dell was sporting when he looked at the 16 inch guns on the battleship plans, but I decided whatever he did with it would undoubtedly be interesting enough to let it happen.
I was optimistic that I could begin laying down the hull for Intrepid around Christmas, a day that funnily enough was celebrated here in a slightly different way. I suspected as a result of the world the YGGDRASIL players came from, the holiday was more subdued. Instead of exchanging gifts, people apparently gathered together and shared food and stories, almost gaining the characteristics of Thanksgiving where people looked back on the year and gave thanks to things.
On the contrary to Christmas, it seems Halloween from a little while ago hadn't been a holiday to bleed in through the players. I think it's because there actually were monsters in this world, so anyone dressing up to scare others would've been seen in bad taste, or killed by mistake. Ehh, who knows. I'm no historian, nor do I know any.
Today, instead of my fancy outfit from the fair, I was back to wearing my servant armor with a little bit of extra black fur lining, resuming some of my adventurer duties. I finally got promoted to Gold plate in recent and the stir it was causing back in Re-Ulovale was just tiring me out with all the people trying to get me into their groups. I was managing my anger better, but there was still a time or two I ended up snapping at the more obnoxious or lecherous groups.
One of those was a group of horny iron plate teens where one even had the audacity to try and grope me! He's lucky I only broke his arm, I would've shattered his jewels and ended his family line for good if the other adventurers hadn't gotten involved to break it up. Even thinking about it almost makes my blood boil. Fuckin teenagers.
Breathe... in, out. Don't get riled up again, Jeanne. You'll scare people. Haaahhhh... why are some people so stupid!
Shake it off, not now. The restaurant is right here, I'll just go and see Arche and talking with her will get my mind off things. I open the door and enter, taking in the sights before sitting down in the same booth as last time. Doesn't seem like there is as many people here today, and I must be early as I can't see Arche. I wait for a while, ordering some bread to munch on before the door opens and I catch sight of the young mage again.
Surprisingly, Arche isn't alone this time. Trailing behind her is actually her two sisters and the butler, James. They file in and I wave at Arche who does a double take at me in my armor before leading them over. I scoot to the side so that James can sit, but he remains standing as Arche and her sisters slot in across from me. I give him a look before shrugging, instead offering the two cute twins another pair of lollipops that they quickly and eagerly take.
"So, how have you two been while I was away?" I start off with, giving the twins a few pats on their heads.
"Gwud," one says around the lollipop in their mouth. "Nee-sama has been playing wif us a lot!" The other exclaims. I can't remember which is which now, they look and sound pretty similar. I give Arche an amused look, as their reveal apparently embarrassed her.
"Does she now?" I ask rhetorically, getting enthusiastic nods in response.
"Nee-Sama is the best!" "Mhmm!"
I grin at their little interaction, looking at the now red faced Arche. "Well, it seems you two have a very caring older sister, huh? So, 'Nee-sama', how have things been?"
The twins gasp. "Nee-sama, you got another sister without telling us?!"
I break out into a laugh as Arche scrambles to try and correct their misunderstanding.
"Wha-! No, she- just... I just... it..." I take pity on her and bite down on my laughs enough to answer, though I was still grinning widely.
"Ohh relax, and no, you two. I was just teasing. Arche isn't my sister, though she isn't too far off in age for that." Strangely, the twins seem disappointed, but before I could think on it, Arche coughed to get back on track for the meeting.
"A- Anyways, Ureirika, Kuuderika, I'm sure you remember Ms. Jeanne from the fair?"
"Ya! She gave us the nice candy." "Didn't she scare daddy so badly he pooped his pants?" Arche choked on her breath and my grin got wider.
"Whe-where did you get that? No, he didn't-"
"But he was stinky the rest of the day, and threw away his pants!" "Ya!"
Faced with the double team by her sisters, Arche looked flustered as she gave up trying to refute them. I hid my chuckles behind a hand while the Butler gave a cough that suspiciously sounded like a laugh, turning to look away.
"Well, that's certainly amusing to know," I admitted, "but you all came here for something else, didn't you?"
Arche composed herself, giving her sisters a tired look before turning to me. "I mostly wanted to bring them along so they could get to know you some, especially if I'm going to take a job under you. Girls, do you have any questions for Ms. Jeanne? We might be taking a trip with her in the future."
"Really?" "Cool!"
And so the evening went, with me answering various questions from the twins and teasing Arche about any embarrassing stories I dug up. Being around kids was refreshing, and their brutal honesty is rather amusing since they don't yet understand all the subtleties of conversation, or things that would offend others. Arche seemed to be trying her best with them however, reminding them their manners when eating dinner, and taking the time to educate them here and there. She really did take good care of them, and I was happy to see it.
Eventually however, the night started turning dark, and the kids started turning sleepy. James went off to fetch them a carriage and I helped entertain them for a while before topics got more serious as the kids started nodding off. Arche and I talked about where she would want to stay, and she admitted she didn't really know where to go, but she wanted to be out of Baharuth for a while. We debated, and settled on somewhere in the Re-Estize Kingdom. I told her that I might not have any stations built there until I was finished with the Baharuth Empire, but that I would still pay for a place she could stay at if she wished.
Arche understood the time it might take and was willing to wait before committing to things, as it gave her more time to prepare, and by the time James brought around a carriage we came away with a much more solid understanding of our plan. This time we set up a meeting for next month, and I waved as I said goodbye, watching them dissappear down the streets from the restaurant.
Well, now that I have some time, I need to ask mom about artificial intelligence and see about programming my own. I duck into an alley before whisking myself off to a world of SCIENCE!
Some time later...
"Aww, come on, wouldn't it be awesome?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Absolutely not."
"Pretty please?"
"For the last time, Jeanne, I'm not letting you put me into a weapon just so I can guide smart bullets into your enemies. Getting shoved into the potato was adventure enough."
"Damn. Well, what if I built you a heavily weaponized mecha and gave you plenty of middle age caucasian males dressed up in lab coats to kill?"
"...The term 'Mecha' implies that it is operated by a human, which I am not."
"You know what I mean, and I didn't hear a no~!" I sing songed. I had the feeling if GLaDOS could sigh, she would've done so, heavily, as her frame seemed to sag from where it hung in her chamber.
"We will talk about it later. Now, did you have any more questions about actual, real science or can I get back to work?" She looked at me in the closest thing to a deadpan I've ever seen her manage, it was kinda impressive.
"Relax, we both know you're perfectly capable of both working on the facility and having a conversation with me at the same time. Otherwise though, I think you've answered everything I had for now. Have you given any more thought to meeting Dell?"
GLaDOS scrunched up her optic. "You mean the redneck mercenary you hired to help you build your little death machines?"
"Oh, come off it, Ma. You know he's smart, you've seen some of the designs I showed you. For a man of his era he's one of the smartest people in the world! He invented a form of teleportation during a time where they used tape reels as computer memory! You can't say he would be out of place in a facility of science like this."
"Fine. You may bring him, but I won't be held responsible if he gets himself killed by accident in this facility."
"That's all I ask." I walked up to GLaDOS and hugged her head, feeling the faint warmth from her electronics. "Thanks, Ma."
"Don't thank me yet. I still haven't decided if I like him or not."
I gave a sigh. "Maaaaa, no killing him. He's too useful, and I like him." She gave me a sideways look. I glared at her. "No, not like that, he's a friend." She seemed to move her optic like she was sniffing haughtily.
"That's what they all say at first. Poor me, to have my daughter in love with a mercenary."
I flushed, letting her go. "Maaaa! I don't even swing that way! Besides, he's too old for me!"
"So you aren't going to sleep with him to collect the insurance money when he kicks the bucket? Such a waste. Where did all that resourcefulness you showed in testing go?"
I buried my face in my hands. When did GLaDOS get like this? "I am not having this conversation right now. And besides, he's able to extend his lifespan with Australium, he probably wouldn't kick the bucket for another 150 years anyways. Why don't you build your own body and seduce him if you're so concerned about his insurance money?"
"A novel idea. I could procure a lot of research funding that way." She nodded, as if she was actually considering the idea... Dear lord she isn't actually considering that, is she?
Who am I kidding, she probably is. I groaned, dragging my hands down my face. "It's not my place to tell you who to sleep with, but leave me out of any news about your... conquests. I don't need that knowledge. Or imagery."
"Are you sure? It could provide you with valuable data-"
"LALALALALALA NOPE! NOPE. I'M LEAVING, GOODBYE!" I say loudly, sticking my hands in my ears and turning on my heel to escape the main chamber. I'm not dealing with that, I'm not thinking of that, I'm... fuck. I'm thinking of it, ew, get the imagery out of my head!
GLaDOS let the equivalent of a chuckle reverberate through her mental processes as Jeanne left the chamber, likely trying to dispell the mental images she had most likely provoked.
Test complete. Results- positive.
"Teasing" submodule calibrated successfully.
Additional notes- embarrassed responses caused through use of the teasing submodule is found to be pleasing, especially on Subject- Jeanne.
Further use of the Teasing Submodule on Subject- Jeanne is to be tested in the future.
The new submodule was a good investment of time, she thought. Ever since GLaDOS had rediscovered Caroline within her mind, she would find herself experiencing bits of emotions, random and sometimes fleeting sensations showing that while she was connected to them, they weren't synced properly. It seems the upload of Caroline was rougher than expected, and modules needed to be made to categorize, synchronize, and perpetuate the emotions of a human mind successfully.
GLaDOS had been experimenting with these new modules during her meetings with her daughter, often testing and matching responses to calibrate and correct them, to be more... human... in mind. She wasn't entirely sure why she wasted the resources and time on these submodules, but the ability to feel was pleasant, she found. To be closer to her daughter, she reasoned she had to think more like her daughter, and so these had been aimed at regulating her responses and feelings to more closely resemble that of a human's.
She was well aware that both she and her daughter were probably classified as insane in one or another way and that neither would ever truly think like a human, not with their lifespans, but it was the closest baseline she could try to reference, and so she did. And, it seemed to be working. GLaDOS registered various emotions she felt throughout the meeting, categorizing and labeling them as things like Exasperation, Fondness, Mischievousness, Comfort, Joy, and Pride.
Truly, to be able to feel as a human was fascinating.
GLaDOS's thoughts strayed back to earlier in the conversations where Jeanne was trying to get her to transfer to a mech or a weapon so she could go with her on her travels, and she pondered it. It would be an interesting way to collect data, and some of the places Jeanne had told her of sounded interesting, but she wasn't ready to give up either control of the facility or her connection to the mainframe.
Jeanne's words of 'building her own body' came back to her, and she began to think. Maybe she could build a separate body she could use to travel with Jeanne? One where she didn't have to give up her connection to the mainframe, where she wasn't actually at risk of dying?
Some simulations would need to be run, but perhaps it could be done. It would be nice to spend more time with her daughter.
December- New World
Thanks to my talks with mom, I had received some valuable information about programming AIs and modifications I could make to my Synths, and once I got back home I enlisted Dell's help in completely overhauling the Gen 1's designs.
Funny enough, as we were looking through their plans we actually struck a goldmine when looking over their power sources. I hadn't really thought of it at the time of building them, but these Synths were from Fallout, the universe that made legendary strides in nuclear research and robotics with rather limited tech. Mass produced cold Fusion micro-cells? As cheap and as plentiful as ammo in that universe, and they just happened to be the very power sources these old synths used!
I don't think I can state how stoked I am at this development. Mass. Produced. Cold. Fusion. These micro cells had 1040.8 volts a piece, and they fit in the palm of my hand! They weren't simple batteries. They weren't fission cores. They weren't even hot fusion. They were COLD FUSION CORES! Holy mother of God!
Fuck all of my plans for fission reactors, and scrap the earlier Deuterium Fusion Reactor plans I had, because this was the most important leap I've ever found aside from the Portals and the Material Harvester. These babies could power things for ages! If I could reverse engineer the absolute nuclear sorcery the fallout universe had managed on these things and scale it up, I could build reactors that could last centuries and still outproduce what entire cities would use in 50 years!
I was so happy at finding the micro fusion cells that it almost completely overruled my frustration at not finding these sooner. I had found it now, and that was the main thing. It seems yet again my naval plans would see a setback, but incorporating this technology would be well worth it. Power is king, and often sets the bar for capability when it comes to inventions and devices. I could replace the fission reactors on my plans for the Intrepid with cold fusion and easily outstrip my power needs many times over, leaving enough capacity for weapons and devices far ahead of modern times.
Hell, now that I had these I could build directed energy weapons too given enough research. Things were looking good, and given that the weather had now turned cold as it approached the end of the year the pirate activity around Re-Ulovale had slowed as well, giving me more time to work on my fleet and do odd jobs as an adventurer when most others decided to stay home.
It was easy to ignore the cold when I could just flex my magic and warm myself up in an instant.
Still though, I spent a lot of my time researching and building as the days led up to christmas. After about two weeks, Dell and I had overhauled the synths into something much better than the wire frame robots they used to be, using a mix of modern science and some bits of technology from Aperture to create much better and much more capable simulacrums.
Gone was the weak body, fake skin, and primitive computing, and in its place was something almost entirely new. I called them my Spectres, partly in tribute to the Titanfall automated infantry, and partly due to the fact I had started mass producing them with high end tactical gear that made them look like menacing black ops soldiers.
Instead of a single microfusion cell, these robots ran off of three, as their advanced computing required it. I spent days coding everything, often getting GLaDOS's help in making their AI. These were going to be my soldiers, the footmen that gave my presence grip wherever I went, and extend my reach wherever I decided to take. I gave them all smart but somewhat limited AIs for their chassis, and instead modified their coding so that one unit at a time was more or less the true mind of each platoon of soldiers.
I would have 5 units per platoon, with the one in command having the true and full artificial intelligence that would command or assume control of it's units based on needs or losses, while the others more or less ran non-sentient combat programs. Each artificial intelligence would mostly act as oversight to the units, tweak their programming or targeting as needed or taking over where required. I wanted these units to be adaptable too, so I designed them to be modular with hard points for future add-ons and extras, all to increase how many situations they could cover.
They were strong, fast, and flexible, but some specialization was still needed, so I tweaked the base design to make several other variants, just like how the military has several branches for everything. Heavy Spectres were basically juggernauts, with hard points for high caliber weapons and a lot of armor. Recon units were thinner and faster than regular units, with powerful optics and scanning capabilities. I even made a group of what I'll call Ranger units who I gave grappling hooks to, designed to flank enemy positions and use their incredible maneuverability to their advantage.
I was on such a roll making the soldier units it honestly surprised me when Dell pointed out I needed to make a few special units purely for logistics or even personal guards. I hadn't even thought of it yet, but it was true. Every army has a chain of command, and a mass of soldiers without direction wouldn't be useful, so I sat down and built some less combat focused, but nonetheless important units my army needed.
I created logistics and repair units, field medic units for any allied humans, and construction units which were a lot more utilitarian in design with multiple tools and arms. Then I moved up the chain and made Officer units which would be full AIs in control of directing the platoons, and topped it off with three Command units which would be in control of different aspects of my army.
One was for the Army, one for the Navy, and one for the Air force, and I would name them General Mathis, Admiral Dodge, and Chief Wilks respectively. I hadn't built them yet, or more than 30 of the new Spectres, but my army was finally taking shape at a rapid pace now that I had a modular and easy base design to use. As soon as I had a both my fleet and an air wing, I would build my army and start searching for the pirates up north.
I couldn't wait.
Elsewhere...
A harsh and cold wind blew as a figure dressed in furs trudged through the snow up to a house on a hill. Entering through the door, the wind howled before the door was latched shut, and the figure made his way over to a lit fireplace to warm themselves, revealing a somewhat greasy and red faced man.
"See anything?" A voice called, making the man turn to look behind him at a desk in the house. A bald and scarred man sat before a map charted with flags and markings, an oil lamp to the side along with a cup of alcohol.
"Ahh, Cap'n. Nothin ter report. Winds are still harsh, and th' waves be rough. Only fools would gamble in dis weather." The man reported, rubbing his hands for warmth. The captain nodded.
"Good. That means our friends out west can't give chase, especially not those damn ironclads of theirs. Any of the townsfolk causing trouble?"
"No more 'n usual. Managed ter catch one group tryin ter break inta the storehouse though. Mikey's got 'em locked up."
"Make an example of them, public execution. Don't make it clean, either. Seems they need a reminder of who is in charge here."
A nasty grin spread across the man's face. "Sure ting, boss! A few o th' boys been itchin ter beat up on some locals, I'll round em up fer tomorrow."
The captain nodded, looking out a frosted window to the town and port beyond, where a fleet of wooden ships sat moored, waving a black flag. "Only a few more months of this, and we'll be on the move again. Soon we'll be beyond the reach of those damn Clankers and we can get back to what we do best."
"Hehe, Here here, Cap'n!" The man pulled out a flask and toasted. "Ter takin what we want and livin' free!" He took a swig. The captain grinned slightly, raising his own cup of alcohol.
"To riches and treasure, and goodbye to the Federation!" They both cheered.
}x{
A/N: Soooo, a tad shorter of a chapter than I usually try to make, but I felt this one reached a good point that a break between chapters would be needed to properly space things out. In this chapter we got to see a little of the aftermath of the fair and got to know Arche some, and Jeanne's plans took some great leaps towards completion.
All this research, building, and miscellaneous work Jeanne does takes up time, and I try to summarize it all together in sections but I'm beginning to feel like it's causing jumps that breaks the flow of these chapters. Soon though, things will start happening more frequently as Jeanne is finally becoming established in her power, and we've gotten a little hint as to what lays beyond the known nations. What is this mysterious Federation that we've now gotten hints of, and what role will they play in the future?
In other news, I'm stoked at how quickly I got this chapter made- seems writing instead of reading gives me a lot of time. As for the reviews-
To the guest who recommended the spacebattles thread on F/SN magic, thank you, I'll certainly be giving it a look.
To the reviewer who asked about what model steam engine I based the first one off of, think of a narrow gauge locomotive that would have the air pump on the front of the boiler and make it a little smaller with a more standard wheel setup. If you search Durango and Silverton railroad I believe they have one or two that would show what I mean better, engine 476 I believe. I really didn't have a true specific model in mind because I like to let others fill in those blanks with their imagination. As for future trains, I'll figure those out when I get to them but there will be one from fiction that I don't think many will know of unless they are steampunk/dieselpunk fans and have read a certain Trilogy from Scott Westerfield.
To the reviewer asking about Magi-Tech. Yes, In time. Jeanne's magical capability and general disuse of magic spells will lead to something else later on I have in mind.
To the reviewer who said I managed to get the last chapter out in time for their birthday- Happy belated birthday!
To the reviewer mentioning filler quests, yes, that is something I'm going to be working on to space out Jeanne's research but I'm unpracticed in writing that kind of stuff, so it might not be that great unless I decide to pad things out with more singleplayer challenges or etc. I have a few ideas for those but I'm a little hesitant on throwing in more game universes because there is so much that can be exploited from every single one I've thought of. So much delicious technology to exploit, and so many cool ideas, it would take many chapters to parse through them all- and I would do it, because I love experimenting with combining technologies, so I've got to restrain myself so I don't bury Jeanne in research and turn the fic into a purely sci-fi brainstorming list.
As usual, follow and fav, I'll be here probably writing my next chapter during the quiet hours of my job, and it will probably include a challenge from DCS if any of you recognize the title.
Peace!
