POV- Dell Conagher

I walked through the halls of the newly built Moon base, still not quite used to the lower gravity it offered. Most steps bounced easily, and to counteract that we had been given magnetic boots.

Of course, Ruby had declined them, much happier with the ability to literally use the place as a trampoline park, but it did make it easier to get your footing.

It was still a little disconcerting though, so Jeanne promised to ask her mother about something called 'excursion funnels' so that we might have artificial gravity on the base. I wasn't sure what to think about her mother still, given that she was apparently a slightly sociopathic AI, but if they got along that was their thing. Sometimes you can't choose family, and sometimes family finds you.

My thoughts turned to my old team, dysfunctional mess that it was, they were also family in their own way. From Scout's incessant boasting and his quest to impress Ms. Pauling to Michalovitch's love of sandwiches... and surprisingly enough, philosophy.

Some days he wished the good doc was here with him, he would have been a useful sounding board for some of his ideas and likely an interesting instructor for Jeanne.

Despite the man's tendency to treat the human body as a playground he was unparalleled in the field of biology.

If you could fix fatal injuries and return someone to full health in seconds he supposed the doctor's lack of caution on patients was warranted to some degree, considering he could fix any mistakes he made easily.

Hmmm... now that he thought about it, Jeanne summoned him, didn't she? Could she also summon the doc? Worth asking, at least.

The Medic would be a valuable addition, and more than likely willing to work for anyone willing to let him do his own experiments without much oversight.

I turned to the left at an intersection and proceeded towards Jeanne's latest project area, soon hearing the clash of metal as I got closer before turning a corner to a big open room with a huge airlock on one wall.

Jeanne herself was in the middle of the room with several floating swords swirling around her, each deflecting several specters armed with their own blades trying to attack her.

He watched for a minute as Jeanne seemed to be studying how the blades reacted, evidently dissatisfied with something as she soon called for a halt.

The specters stood down and began walking over to the side of the room while Jeanne pulled one of the floating swords out of the air and studied it intently before tossing it back, where it rejoined the formation of floating swords. Noticing my presence, she waved before walking over to greet me.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Dell, how's your projects coming along?" She asked. I made a so-so gesture.

"Got ah few promisin' leads and some interestin' ideas but ah still need ta test a few things. Need ta recalibrate a bunch o mah equipment for this kind o gravity too." Truth was I needed to do more than just recalibrate a few things due to the change in location but it wasn't that big of a deal. It was easier to work in lower gravity anyways. "Anyhow, ah wanted ta ask a question. You summoned me somehow when we first met, right?" At her nod I continued. "Could ya summon the Doc as well? Ah've got a few projects ah'd like his expertise on, and ah feel he'd be of great use to ya."

Jeanne made 'hmm'ing noise before looking at something only she could see, navigating something invisible.

She clicked her tongue before making a thinking pose. "A little expensive, but worth it." She muttered, and with a tap, a strange gem the color of blood appeared in her hand. With a snap, she broke it and a strange portal appeared to my right.

A yelling was heard before the Good Doc himself tripped out of the portal, falling with a grunt on the floor before a soft 'coo' was heard and his pet bird Archimedes flew out and landed on his head. The portal closed behind them and Medic tried to right himself, accidentally pushing too hard in the low gravity and stumbling back trying to regain his footing.

The sight of the doc stumbling about was too entertaining to miss and I laughed out loud, causing him to notice me as he finally started to get a grasp on the gravity. "We're on a moon, Doc, gravity's lower." I called out.

"Scheiße! Engineer, what is zhis?" Medic asked as he could finally gain some equilibrium, coming to rest gripping his knees before standing with care. I noticed he had his medigun strapped to his back which was very good, as it would've been hard to replicate without any of the original documents. The German doctor looked around, finally taking note of his surroundings and Jeanne standing to my side.

"Mein gott, where did you say ve vere again? Zis isn't Mann CO's moon base. And who is zis young fraulen?"

Jeanne took that moment to step forward, introducing herself to the good doc.

"Nice to finally meet you, Doc. I am Jeanne D'Altra, a dimension jumper. I've mainly brought you here on Engineer's request, but I would like to learn from you as well. Especially about your Ubercharge, I find it fascinating what you managed to accomplish, and I can give you all the funding and equipment you want for research and development."

The German raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, not every day you get an admirer in my line of work. You are aware of the rather hands on approach I experiment with, correct?"

Jeanne made a face but didn't seem too upset. "Truth is, Doc," she began. "I've got a new enemy I'm being hired to face, one that I'm not very happy with or feeling particularly humane towards, so if you want live subjects of a new species that looks like bipedal jackals I will give you them as long as I don't have to watch most of your experiments."

I was a little taken back, I knew she could be more than a bit ruthless but this seemed a little out of the ordinary.

Hold on, 'hired to face a new enemy'? "What's this about a new enemy?" I asked, and Jeanne seemed surprised before snapping her fingers.

"Right! I didn't get to tell you yet. Our fleet found the pirates and eliminated them, but we also found a new faction of early World War One era warships belonging to a nation called 'The Roosevelt Federation'. At the time I posed our fleet as mercenaries and they offered to hire us in a war they are fighting against a Beastmen nation." A darker look settled over her face as she continued. "Apparently these Beastmen, called the Slyphen, have a taste for human flesh and have been ravaging cities and towns to enslave the population and use them as a food source.

"Suffice to say the more I read into the conflict the more invested I've become in seeing the Slyphen eradicated as a threat. Somehow they have a type of magic that allows them to alter animals and beasts into giant abominations of nature that they use to wear down defenders then swoop in to capture a city."

"I think ah'm going to find myself rather invested as well." Enslaving and eating humans? That was a line you just didn't cross. These 'Slyphen' might as well have declared total war against humanity, and that allowed for a lot more... leniency when it came to weapons. No wonder Jeanne had production of white phosphorus going.

No point in restricting yourself to 'humane' weapons when your enemy both wasn't human and had crossed the line of no return.

"I am finding myzelf at a loss, frauelin. Beast men? Magic? Vhat kind of place have I been summoned to?" Medic asked. Jeanne gave a small, knowing grin before pulling out a remote. With the press of a few buttons a huge emancipation grill formed in front of the wide doorway on the other side of the room, and the wide airlock opened to reveal a perfect view of the base outside, with the world itself in the background.

"Welcome to the New World! A place of fantasy, magic, and recently, the beginnings of technology. Before you ask, I didn't really name it, but it's a stand in. I have yet to find a proper name for the world, and the locals haven't quite advanced far enough in astrology to even think of giving their world a name."

"Fascinating…" Archimedes gave a 'coo' from the Doc's shoulder, seemingly bobbing his head in agreement. "So, Zis is a world with magic and beastmen? I vould like to take some samples from it for my work. Do you have a place I can set up?"

Jeanne nodded and gestured to a connecting hallway, using the remote to once again shut the airlock. "I do have a medical bay set up, but I will likely need to expand it and buy some new equipment for you. I'll show you where it is, give you a small tour, then you can give me a list of things you need to start your work, and equipment you would like to have." They began walking, and I tagged along with them. I still needed to show the Doc some of my ideas once he'd been settled in…


Jeanne POV, Later that day…

I felt like it had been quite the productive day as I sat at my workbench, tinkering with the designs for my sword cannons. I had finally worked the kinks out on how to get several swords to work together well, and now I was finalizing the design to include a method of laser attack. Originally I had wanted to use something like a Fusion Core in the handle to power a single shot laser attack, but that wasn't very practical for me. Instead, I would make a small portal generator in the handle of the blade, and then the blade itself would be split down the middle to accommodate a Thermal Disintegration Beam, my own ramped up version of the Aperture Thermal Discouragement Beam.

I was already building six of those laser generators on base, for use with each of the six swords I would have as well as a method of point defense for the base. A few specialized lens arrays like what the Laser Cubes in aperture had, and I could redirect the beams wherever I wanted. I also thought of making Laser satellites, but ultimately the energy cost to make a workable orbital strike laser was something that would either need an enormous satellite or best built on the base itself.

I would look at that in the future, but now was time for me to visit Mom. I hadn't visited her in a few weeks, and I felt that needed rectifying. Using my world travel ability, my workshop and the world around me grayed out before getting swiftly replaced by the clean, futuristic look of Aperture. The whole process took about the same time as it did to blink, leaving me standing outside the Mainframe chamber.

Knocking politely on the sliding door before letting myself in, I was greeted by a strange sight.

The entire room was dark, only the dim lights from the wall panels showing a hint of visibility. I could faintly see the outline of GLaDOS through the gloom, but her trademark yellow eye and the lights of her mainframe were dark. Feeling a flash of trepidation, I approached slowly.

"GLaDOS?" I called out, unsure if she was messing with me. "Ma?"

I got several steps into the room before the door closed on its own behind me, leaving me in darkness. A bright flash, and the room's lights came on, causing me to blink as my eyes readjusted.

As things came into focus, the room looked normal, but there was one… significant… change.

GLaDOS's mainframe had been turned into a chair. And upon that chair… was an android, similar to my own designs yet with traces of artificial seams and looks. She, for it was surely designed as a she, was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans with a pair of dress shoes, and a tucked in gray turtleneck sweater. A white labcoat with the Aperture logo hung upon her shoulders, and her dark hair was done up in a professional bun. A pair of bright yellow eyes regarded me coolly from behind a pair of thin glasses, a small smirk adorning the woman's unnaturally pale features.

I was completely surprised.

"Mom?" I asked, needing confirmation to make sure.

The android rolled her eyes. "Surprise, no need to trip over yourself in excitement." Yep. That was her alright. I gave her a bright smile and walked up close, looking her over.

"I see you took my advice! Gotta say, nice design, it suits you well." I said, nodding in approval.

"What joy, I now look like a fellow primitive." GLaDOS snarked, leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs. I had to admit she was moving remarkably human-like for a homicidal AI.

"Well, I take it this means you want to go exploring, or perhaps murdering?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"While I'm sure you love to go around slaughtering to satisfy your baser desires, Aperture Science is better than that. I will be on a mission of discovery and learning." She finished, tilting her nose up snootily and crossing her arms.

A moment of silence, then…

Snrk.*

I couldn't hold it in, and burst out laughing at the ridiculous spew she just gave me.

"What? Are the sciences such a joke to you?" GLaDOS asked, as if offended. Too bad I could see the faint smile tugging at her lips.

"He..hehehe… 'mission of discovery and learning' my ass. You just want more test subjects and ideas for tests, don't you?" I asked knowingly as she looked away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said, looking away from me. Dear lord, could I see the faint hints of a blush on her face? I was soooo teasing her about that later. Calming down from my earlier laughter, I shook my head and gave her a smile.

"Well, I'm sure we can find plenty of things for you to research and plenty of test subjects. I've recently been hired as a mercenary company in a war, and I'm not feeling particularly fond of the side I'm fighting against. I'm sure nobody would miss any POWs we manage to take~." I gave her a sidelong look. GLaDOS just smiled, not a very nice smile either. One filled with plans and tests. And probably locking subjects in a room with deadly lasers.

"Come on," I said, pulling her from her musings. "We'd best get on our way if you want time to talk to Ruby and Dell." Unsurprisingly, GLaDOS's frame was heavy, but it wasn't very difficult to haul her up out of the chair with my strength. "I'll need to talk to the Roosevelt Federation, my new employers, then we can unleash some glorious mayhem upon my new enemies."

"Very well, I suppose I might as well meet the Texan and your new 'daughter'." GLaDOS mimed dusting herself off, as if I had sullied her clothes by hauling her up. Meanwhile I got hung up on the last part of that sentence. Ruby? My daughter?

Mentally reviewing my own actions towards her, I came to the conclusion that my mom's offhand comment really wasn't far off. "Damn… she practically is, or closer to a niece at this point." I muttered in realization. I had taken care of her, housed her, taught her, treated her well like a parent should… I was not afraid to say Ruby had become very close to me in the time I've known her. "I guess you're right…"

GLaDOS scoffed. "Of course I'm right. Who do you think I am?" She asked in a sarcastic tone. I gave her a sideways look.

"Careful, if your ego gets any bigger you may just exceed the weight limit of your new frame!" She gave me an unimpressed look, causing me to grin.


After taking a quick portal back to my new base, I had introduced GLaDOS to Dell while I went off to go return to the fleet and meet with the Roosevelt Federation. The last time I had felt a bit out of place with my steampunk dress/armor mix, so I had visited the tailor bots again to get a new outfit made for me. I had no wish for a dress, since they didn't feel very 'professional' to me, so instead I had the bot fix me up with a spider silk dress suit and pants combo. Charcoal black with some golden bronze trim, with a few shadowy patterns in the fabric like flames or smoke that were barely noticeable. To cap it off I had a new set of combat boots made to match the outfit, and a pair of golden bronze earrings of a jet in flight inlaid in an empty hoop. Looking myself over in the mirror, I still felt something was missing…

Snapping my fingers in realization, I pulled a pair of matching bronze gold aviators out of my inventory and placed them upon my forehead. Perfect. Black suit to convey seriousness, with golden bronze trimmings that matched my eyes for a bit of extra extravagance and exoticness. I had never really been focused on looks in my last life but I will say I have a better appreciation for them now.

I also thought about a bit of makeup or something to try and make the look… pop, I guess, but I wasn't versed enough in makeup or fashion to really bother. That, and I simply didn't own makeup to begin with. Giving myself a fingergun pose in the mirror I thanked the tailor-bot and left, ready to see what the Roosevelt Federation had in store.


I watched from the bridge of the Johnston as we were escorted into port by the fleet of steam powered warships. The rest of my fleet had anchored further out in port to not alarm the citizens too much, while Johnston had continued forward with the escort to the port proper.

The city, and the port itself impressed me, showing design inspirations of steam powered cranes, concrete, and an early but still advanced (compared to the rest of the world) civilization. A strip of about a mile along the shore was entirely concrete, with various berthings and holds for a multitude of different ships. Iron warships docked at the port and patrolling were matched by various wooden cargo ships and other craft, all of designs I hadn't quite seen before.

The city itself from what I could see also looked like the ships- that is to say a mishmash of various designs, materials, and heights. Old buildings and new were pressed together, with nothing above six stories tall in sight. It reminded me of the older abandoned buildings you'd find in america, especially along the edge of the port where all the factories and warehouses were.

The most surprising thing for me though, was the weather. Gone was the frigid air, and in its place was only a chill. The closer we had gotten on the way here the warmer the weather changed until you could hardly call it winter. Almost like we had traveled towards the equator, which would put the main continent from the new world in the southern hemisphere? I would need to investigate once my satellite network was finished being sent out.

Pushing those concerns to the side, I watched as we pulled into port alongside the rest of the Roosevelt fleet, guided to an empty berth where it looked like an odd mix between a steam tractor and a car sat waiting for us on the dock. Workers along the side of the berth began casting ropes as we pulled in, where several of my specters stood ready, catching the lines with ease and fastening them down with mechanical efficiency. I exited the bridge with Johnston in tow behind me, two specters bringing up the rear as a gangway was lowered to the side of the docs.

Metallic clanks echoed out as we descended the ramp, and I got a good look at the two people standing next to the… steam-tractor-car-thing to greet me. Two portly old men was an easy description, dressed in older style beige suits. One had a wide mustache, while the other had a beard and a monocle, both eyeing me and my entourage with scrutiny and a bit of wonder as we approached. Even the dock workers who cast the ropes earlier were eyeing my Specters with curiosity and more than a bit of confusion.

When we finally reached the ground, the one with the mustache walked forward, presenting his hand for a ready shake. "Welcome, Miss… D'Altra, was it? And Mr. Johnston?" At my nod he continued. "Welcome to the port city of Belamus. I am Julius Barnum, and this is my associate Rodney Bailey. We will be serving as legal consultation and guides while you are here for discussion with the Admiralty."

I shook his hand, trying to control my reaction to learning Barnum and Bailey would be my lawyers for this event. Instead, I mentally shook myself and gave them a smile as Johnston took his turn shaking hands, deciding to enjoy this. "Glad to be here, it's about time I found a nation that actually values technical advancement. Just a shame I didn't find it sooner." I returned, giving a brief look down the pier where a number of the ships that escorted us were getting refueled and restocked. Bailey gave a chuff at my words, seeming to take a wry amusement.

"And yet despite all our knowledge, it seems as though you and your associates have already far surpassed us…" He said, giving Johnston's ship and the specters a considering eye. He shook his head, looking to me. "None of your equipment uses magic, does it?" It was more of a statement than a question. I raised an eyebrow. Maybe that monocle was for more than just eyesight.

"None at all… at least not yet." I admitted. "Still though, I've had a number of advantages most others haven't had. I'm not yet aware of the history of your nation, but as far as I'm aware yours is still leagues ahead of others in technical advancement. A feat worthy of praise, if nothing else."

Bailey smiled at my words but shook his head. "It seems we still have a long way to go though… Ah, pardon this old fool. You are here for a reason, are you not?" He gestured to the steam-car-thing behind them. "Shall we be on our way?"

And with that, Barnum and Bailey filed in on one side while Johnston and I sat in the rear seats, while the Specters hung onto the outside of the vehicle. It was sort of like a carriage welded onto the back of a steam tractor, with a soldier I hadn't noticed before taking the spot of the driver in front. The seats weren't half bad, and I had a good face to face view with Barnum and Bailey so we could talk, with some soundproofing ensuring the steam engine on the front wouldn't make things too loud.

A curious vehicle, but it worked, so I couldn't complain.

As we got underway, Barnum and Bailey began to talk about a few sights in the city as we went by, pointing out a few restaurants and talking about the city at large. After a few questions from me, they also started telling me about the country at large, listing the names of a few cities and a bit about its history.

Apparently, about a hundred and fifty years ago, someone known by little more than "The Founder", most likely a player in my opinion, got involved in a civil war being fought at the time. Starting their own faction from defecting soldiers from both sides, they rose up and crushed both warring factions to reunite the country into something better. Years passed, and this founder refused the position of leadership, instead taking an advisory role in the creation of the new nation. States were formed and expanded, with a time of prosperity allowing them to explore and form seven new ones to add to the three the old nation was broken into.

With ten states in total, it was finally christened as the Roosevelt Federation by the founder, and for a time there was peace and prosperity as they focused on the sciences, attempting to emulate some of the Founder's technology. Time passed in relative peace and advancement, then a few years ago the Slyphen began to appear, migrating from somewhere else to find a new food source. Eventually what was once a nuisance became a threat as raids became more and more frequent, hitting bigger and bigger targets until the military got properly involved.

It didn't take much longer after that for it to escalate to full blown war. So far, three out of the ten states had fallen to the Slyphen, and now that land bridge was the only bottleneck keeping the beastmen from surging through the rest of their territories. I would need a map to truly see the devastation wrought by these beastmen, but three entire states was not a small loss.

As things stood though, I was already committed to assisting in the war, and now I was tempted to fight it myself. I would need to build more specters and some more military vehicles, but with the amount of the designs I had it would be a trifle to dominate them from the skies with gunships and bombs. Even helicopters would be more than enough to assist, using chainguns and rockets to rain down from above.

Just to be sure though… "These Slyphen," I began, cutting in as Bailey wound down from a tale about one of the occupied states. "I've heard from the Captain that they like twisting beasts into weapons of war, what kind of creatures have they made?"

Bailey shook his head, a frown appearing on his face while Barnum scowled, turning to look out the window. "Better question to ask is what kind of creatures they haven't made. They never seem to follow any certain pattern, though there are traits they like to focus on with certain animals. I've not seen any personally, and I count myself lucky every day that that remains true, but I've heard a lot of stories about them. Small animals will get turned into vicious creatures with sharp claws and speed, not very deadly on their own but in a pack they can take down scores of men with ease. Larger animals like coyotes and deer will be twisted into gruesome mockeries of what they once were, as big as a horse and as tough as a bear. They're some of the most troublesome to deal with, but the worst is what they do with the bigger animals like bears."

Barnum chimed in at that point. "'Siege bears' is what the men like to call them. As tall as a two story building and mean as hell, they're often lured towards fortified structures and let loose to do as much damage as it can before dying so that the Slyphen can clean up afterwards. It often takes a lot of punishment to put one down, too. Small arms are nearly useless against them, it takes heavy firepower from cannons or explosives to kill them. I've even heard about one eating a whole grenade and still going on for a few minutes after it exploded in its guts. By far they give the most trouble, but are some of the rarest beasts to encounter."

I mulled over this information. Some real heavy hitters on the groundside then. Might need to make a few tanks, or at least some vehicles with mounted weapons if I was to assist on the ground side. "And across all these creatures, have they ever captured and modified any birds or other flying things before?" I asked.

Bailey shook his head, taking back over the conversation. "I've never heard of anything of the sort yet. Probably difficult enough to capture a bird, and I can't see them turning one into something too deadly to begin with."

A smile spread over my face. "Good, that means one less obstacle to worry about, and it ensures I can deal with them with impunity." I sat back and relaxed a little. "Gentlemen, once we work something out I can assure you, you will find my services invaluable."

Barnum raised an eyebrow. "Am I to presume you have flying craft of some sort?"

I just grinned mysteriously and sat back. "I suppose you'll have to wait and see."

The steam-car-thing began slowing down, and I looked out the window to notice a four story building that looked like a courthouse, just more… squat? Hard to describe it other than that. It was brick, it was sturdy, and there wasn't much else to it. A few flags flew outside the building and there were a lot of people bustling in and out of it, up and down the steps in front. It looked very typical for a government building. The only thing that stood out was the number of naval uniforms and soldiers I could see.

"We're here." Bailey announced, getting out of his seat as the driver got down and opened the door for us. Johnston and I followed as the two lawyers started their way up the steps, with my Specters dismounting and taking up the rear behind us. All around, people who had been going about their day began to slow in what they were doing to stop and look at us as we passed. The synchronized clanks of my guard's feet followed us up the steps and into the building, only matched by the stares we were receiving.

Even as we got inside, people would stop and stare at us, and I started to realize that maybe the 'not my problem' perk wasn't working the same on these people. Regardless of that worrying thought, I was planning on keeping good relations here, so hopefully things would be fine.

Bailey spoke with a receptionist at the front desk before we continued on up the stairs, going up to the second floor and down a hallway to a pair of double doors, all the while still receiving stares from everyone we passed. When we got close, there was a pair of soldiers that opened the doors for us, revealing a meeting room with several uniformed or suited men sitting around an oval table, with a few aisle stands with maps on them in the background.

Fortunately the men weren't smoking like I might've expected, but my fine senses were easily able to notice how the room itself had been smoked in before, leaving my nose tingling with a slightly unpleasant not-quite-tobacco smell. Barnum and Bailey nodded to the other occupants in the room before filing in, taking seats on the opposite side, leaving a few other spots empty for me to sit.

Both of the specters split at the door and took up a guard directly across from the existing soldiers, while Johnston and I entered and sat down near Barnum and Bailey, the chair only giving a minor squeak of protest under Johnston's weight. Barnum cleared his throat a little before settling in to begin introductions.

"Ms. D'Altra, Mr. Johnston, thank you for meeting with us today. I would like to introduce you to a few of the fine people in our government. We have with us Mr. Robin, a representative from the treasury," he gestured to a suited man with thin circular glasses, "Mr. White, a representative for the admiralty," this time an aged man in a gray uniform with salt and pepper hair, "Mr. Henley, a representative for the army," a weathered man in an olive drab uniform, "And lastly Mr. Burnheim, a representative of the federal government." He gestured to an older man with fading brown hair and wrinkles, dressed in a suit.

"Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Ms. D'Altra and Mr. Johnston, part of a mercenary company offering to assist in our efforts against the Slyphen." Bailey finished, sitting back down and pulling out a briefcase from under the table.

"Thank you, Mr. Bailey." Burnheim started. His voice was a rich and aged tone, with traces of a smoker's voice mixed in. "Ms. D'Altra, am I correct in assuming you lead, or own, this mercenary company?"

"Correct. My captains, like Johnston here, help me lead it, but I built and designed just about everything in it, so it's fair to say I own it." I admitted. A few eyebrows were raised, but nobody commented on my claims.

"And with that, I understand you were brought in under the idea of assisting our blockade of the Slyphen?" Burnheim asked.

"That is my understanding, yes. However, I am capable of offering a lot more services than that. I would need a proper look at the battlefield before I can list off specifics, but to start with, I can offer aerial strikes and strategic bombings. You want someplace wiped off the map? I can do that. The only question is where the targets are and how soon you want it done."

A few more eyebrows were raised, and some went even higher. "You have aircraft?" Mr. Henley asked, looking at me with interest.

"I do indeed, often take them with me wherever I go. You might have already guessed it, but one of my ships out there is an aircraft carrier." Yet again more eyebrows rose and some looks were traded between the four members.

"We'll need to see a demonstration of your capabilities in the future, but for now let's talk about price. What would it take to gain your services?" Mr White chimed in with a grizzled voice, palming his hands in front of his chin.

I made a noise of consideration. "I'm not too sure what your currency value is here… Mr. Robin? How much would you say it costs for someone to buy a meal?" I asked. The treasury representative blinked before answering.

"Well, the price has gone up since the war began, but currently an average meal would cost about seventeen shills." He answered. I nearly blinked at the currency name but brushed it off. 17 for an average meal gives me an idea of what the currency is like, and it's not too far off what USD was before I died.

I considered it for a few seconds before shrugging. "How about 30,000 shills and I'll commit to guarding the land bridge for half a year, and then we can work out extra costs for things like bombings and other services on a case by case basis?"

Now everyone's eyebrows were raised. Even Barnum and Bailey's. "Ms. D'Altra, that seems… exceptionally generous of an offer. Might I ask why?" Robin requested.

"Simple. Ever since learning about the Slyphen I started wanting to fight them. Resources are of little concern for me, and all of my soldiers are mechanical. I don't need to pay them, so why should I be greedy?" I waved my hand. "Besides, these Slyphen have crossed a line that put them on my shit list. Any and all threats to humanity, especially ones that would eat humans, have earned a spot in my crosshairs."

Mr. White and Henley nodded at that, understanding better than the other two members, while Mr. Robin looked pleased, and Mr. Burnheim looked calculating. "Ms. D'Altra," he began. "If I was to ask, is there a price you would be willing to sell your technology for?" The room fell silent as all of their eyes turned to us. Burnheim had a steady look as I peered at him, deep into his eyes. I could see no hint of malice, only a steady resolve, but I could also sense a bit of greed. That was quite natural in my opinion though, everyone wanted the newest toys, and of course politicians always wanted things to solidify their hold, expand their influence. I gave his words some thought, figuring out how I wanted to play this.

"I'm afraid even if I were to sell the designs, not only would you not be able to afford my price… but your nation wouldn't be able to do much with them. Not with your level of technology." A few of the others bristled slightly at that but I knew just how far they still had to go. Magic or not they were barely using radios, there was a long way to go before they could afford to support a machine of war like one of mine. "However…" I began. "If I decide that I want to stick around this country, I'm going to get involved with business. And if I get involved with business, I may decide to produce and sell some tools and technology that I know would be of value in developing your nation. Tools and machines that will need a certain education to use, and certain knowledge to maintain and support. Therefore, I may just need to open a place of education where people can learn what they need to know, and maybe more, if they are willing."

I laid my head on my fist as I leaned to the side in the chair, still looking at Burnheim. "Who knows, maybe the education offered there will allow a new wave of advancement to sweep through the nation, one that might just fast forward its ability to build machines like mine? It would still take a number of years, but it would change everything, if given the chance." I sat back up and gave a lazy gesture. "Well, of course, it still depends on if I want to stick around here in the first place, but so far nothing has turned me away yet." I mentally grinned as I could practically see the cogs turning in his head as he analyzed my offer.

Burnheim straightened in his chair as he faced me before smiling. "Well, Ms. D'Altra, I believe we can see a bright future together." He offered a handshake that I politely took, matching his smile. I think he understood perfectly what I was offering. I wasn't handing the keys to the castle, instead I was offering the tools to build their own castle, and more, if they wanted to. A greater education for this nation might just be more valuable than any single one of my warships would ever be.

And with that, we sat back down and continued onto planning and discussing details. Barnum and Bailey helped write up a contract between us before we shifted to the actual strategy. Mr. White pulled one of the aisles over and started using a stick to point out positions when I noticed something that stood out immediately on the maps of the three lost states. Lines marked with a consistent amount of dashes, crisscrossing over the map and crossing back into the contested states into the held territory. Were those…?

"Pardon me, Mr. Henley," I broke in, staring at the map. "Are those lines railroads?" I asked, pointing to the ones in question. He looked where I was pointing before nodding.

"Yes, once we can recover those territories, we hope to use those to help rebuild the states." He confirmed.

"And do you know if they are still functional?" I asked, beginning to think of a very fun plan.

"Fortunately, it is largely believed that they are. The Slyphen seem to prefer their magic and metals like Bronze over iron, so they've largely left them alone. The rails over the land bridge might've been damaged from the shelling, but otherwise they should still be fine. Why do you ask?"

A wide smile stretched across my face, and I gave a small, evil chuckle. "What better to keep the Slyphen distracted and off balance than to create a disturbance behind enemy lines? If they want to leave an open road right through their lines that we can ship a lot of heavy weaponry through, they should be prepared for when we abuse it!" My grin was practically ear to ear as designs began to take shape in my mind. "I'm going to make a battle train and take it on a merry tour behind enemy lines. Armor the engine, give it a few cars of heavy weaponry, maybe even artillery, and I'll have a mobile weapons platform that can harass the enemy and keep on the move. I don't care what method of communication they have, I doubt it's enough to organize a way to stop me once I'm there."

The others began to nod as the idea took hold, thoughtful looks on their faces as they began to figure out the logistics something like that would require. "Building something like that would surely take months, though." Mr. White broke in, furrowing his brows. "We need to focus resources on holding the bridge more than we do on harassing the enemy right now."

I gave him a lopsided smile. "I said I would build it, not you guys. Give me a week or so and I'll have one built, bring it here, then we can get down to the real fun. I'll just need to confirm the state of the rails with some surveillance, maybe fly in a repair team, then we can punch right through and cause some mayhem."

And I would be the one driving it. I love my steam trains, and the chance to build one for war?? I couldn't pass up that opportunity for anything. I would need to make this thing look badass as hell, my iron warhorse to ride into battle. I could already see it take shape in my mind, plated in armor, a bit longer than traditional engines, and with armored cars that carry artillery pieces and mounted guns. Oh yes, this would be very fun.


It took about an additional two hours before we put our business to rest for the day, and I returned to Johnston's ship to discreetly portal away to the lunar base. Striding down the halls and into the communal workshop I quickly caught sight of Dell and GLaDOS talking over one of his teleporters, seeming to have an animated discussion about the sciences that Ruby was watching with interest, her homework assignment laying forgotten on the table in front of her.

I could hear Dell's accent getting increasingly southern as he happily explained how he built the teleporter with the limited technology he had, and I smiled at them getting along, giving my mom a wave before moving over to my side of the room where all of my projects were. Off to one side, six laser cutters were currently engraving the runic sequence I had finished onto a set of greatswords that were split down the middle, with bracings up and around the structure of the blades leaving a circular hole straight up their middle.

Hopefully these would be my finished product, a set of autonomous, protective and reactive blades that could also function as laser cannons, but I needed to bring them into the field to give them a proper test once they were complete. I ran a hand along the casings of the laser cutters before moving past them and into another corner where a computer setup existed. I cracked my knuckles before dropping into the chair, pulling up a 3d design program and a bunch of saved designs before checking something on another monitor.

My satellite network was almost fully in position around the world, and images were already starting to come in, painting the picture of the globe out for me bit by bit. It would take a while to process, but I had Northstar and Stingray to help crunch the data and build a world map for us, so very soon we would have a complete satellite recreation of the New World.

Returning my attention to the design program again, I grinned. No kill like overkill when it came to weapons! Hehehe… Whoever gets to see this thing before I drive it off into Slyphen territory is going to have their eyes bug out. This thing will be armed to the teeth!


A few days later a bunch of railroad workers in Belamus would be surprised when a pair of flying craft flew over to the central railyard, one touching down to disgorge a bunch of the metal men that had been spread in rumor for the last few days, while the other held a gigantic white panel beneath it, carefully maneuvering to set it upright near the railyard's turntable.

The metal men spread out next to the panel and secured it while a few others stood guard, but none of the workers dared approach these strange metal men with guns. Why were they here? What were they doing? And just what was that panel for?

They soon got their answer as two strips along the sides of the panel flickered blue before a swirling oval took shape in the center, churning open to reveal something… else.

Something powerful.

Something incredible.

PSSSSSSSHHHHH-THUMP

Metal gleamed in the sun as something crept forwards out of the portal, directly onto the tracks leading out of the railyard. Black as the night, with heavy plating and visible armor, a locomotive like none they had ever seen prowled forwards out of the swirling blue oval. Two slitted lights shone like the eyes of some great beast as it advanced.

Smoke billowed out to the sides from just behind a tall wedge on the machine's front, taller than most men and built like the head of a giant's axe.

PSSSSSSSHHHHH-THUMP

The pump of its steam pistons were felt throughout the yard as the locomotive continued to pull more of itself onto the main line. The great road wheels of the engine were covered with an armored skirt, leaving only the bottom parts visible as more of it cleared the portal.

All of the workers stared in awe as the great metal beast fully emerged, carrying an odd looking fuel car, followed by…. Weapons.

Many, many weapons.

The first three cars that revealed themselves were heavily armored carriages with gun turrets of large calibers poking through the sides, aiming into the air in a resting position. The next seven cars after that were open topped flatbeds with large artillery pieces mounted on them, and the final two cars were open door carriages, with pairs of quad barreled machine guns ready, tipped at the very end with some kind of large caliber cannon.

The workers watched in stunned silence as the weapon of war freed itself from the portal, continuing on its way down the line, before spotting something above the rearmost turret. On the back of the rear car was a slogan written in their language that read "Next stop- Harden!"

Recognizing the name as the first city lost in the war against the Slyphen, a cheer began to raise up from the workers as they realized the purpose of the engine of war.

The Slyphen had their own beast to fear now, one of iron and fire.


I grinned as I saw all the gobsmacked faces everywhere the engine went, how everyone paused what they were doing to stop and watch.

I was proud of this engine, I think I made it look pretty badass after tweaking the design. I removed the smokestack on top, and replaced it with side exhausts at the bottom front of the boiler, just behind the vertical wedge. When paired with the armored, slit shaped lights at the front, I think it gave the impression of steam and smoke escaping from the sides of an armored mouth cover.

Redesigned to run off of fuel instead of coal, it burned cleaner and more evenly, allowing better steam generation than its traditional counterpart. Weighing in at around 300 tons, without the cars behind it, it was about five times heavier than a main battle tank. Suffice to say it was a sight to see as I drove it through the industrial line of the city out to the country. I had about a state and a half's distance to cover before the landbridge, and my fleet was already on its way, set to assist the defensive line.

I had already cleared my plans with the government and got a green light straight through, so I opened up the throttle and began moving faster and faster, hearing the rhythmic clack of the tracks as the war machine picked up the pace. Exiting the city limits, I pulled a cord and let out a low, resonating wail from the whistle carry over the city as I exited. I would let it be the signal that marked the change of tides in their war, the death knell for the Slyphen.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of their end.


A/N: Well well! A surprise update! Turns out having time to procrastinate at work does wonders for writing. I kinda wish I spent longer on this chapter, fleshed out the Roosevelt Federation more, but overall I'm satisfied with how this chapter went.

Recently I rediscovered the old clips from Polar Express of the train drifting across the ice, and was consumed with the desire to write more trains. Well, more trains were had! You cannot tell me a battle train isn't awesome as hell, and Factorio might have inspired me to make it an artillery train.

Anyhow, comment, follow, fav, all that. Tell me what you like, what you didn't like, and have a good one. Peace!