《Celestial Empire》 Stranded Victor turned around for one more look at what had been his childhood home. It was a three bedroom apartment on the four hundred thirty third floor in the Manchester district of the hive city New Avalon. It did at least have one window facing the outside of the hive, which made it an instant selling point. For which he was glad, it was part of his new inheritance from his parents who had recently died in the latest rounds of terrorist bombings against Canary Corps headquarters, which they both were middle management. His military leave was coming to an end, his amassed two week respite was only due to his twenty years of service in the imperial guard. As a Captain and veteran of the Emperors many campaigns, he could pull rank when needed. In five short years he would be able to retire a full citizen. Something his father scoffed at, but that was nothing new, his father scoffed at everything he had ever done. His everything ached, as he turned his back on his former home and made his way towards the transmat pad. Selling the apartment and consolidating his assets weren¡¯t the only thing he was doing on Terra. He spent those two weeks getting augments that would have been out of reach to a lowly Captain of the Imperial guard. Gene-mods were common throughout the Empire, but there were gene-mods, and then there were gene-mods. His were now top of the line, far beyond the mil-spec given to him in officer school. That combined with his new dimensional storage add-on allowed him to purchase and store massive amounts of goods for his upcoming retirement. Some things you could only get on Holy Terra, a nano-forge capable of making anything you have a SBC to construct could be found on most technological worlds. A nano-foundry to make the nanites the nano-forge uses can only be purchased on select worlds of the Empire. But SBCs can only be found on Terra, and are heavily restricted. But some connections in Imperial Guard logistics pointed him to some people who might have some SBCs that may or may not be considered illegal to own. That combined with raw materials, a habitat module, weapons, food, mining drones, security drones, and forge spiders now filled his dimensional storage. ¡°Next!¡± Shouted a bored looking transmat officer in front of Victor. To which he sighed and presented his Imperial Guard ID and his permissions to be transported to Andosious Prime. The officer looked him over in his Imperial Guard Armor, a bit battle worn, but impeccably maintained. It felt much lighter with the upgrades, which was the point. Two hundred kilos of light power armor is still heavy even with the minor gene-mods of the guard. Now he barely felt it as he stood before the officer. ¡°No baggage Captain Cane?¡± He asked looking down at this console. Victor kept his face emotionless, something driven into him by officer training. ¡°The guard provides me with all I need officer. No baggage today.¡± He lied through his teeth. The officer nodded, that was the proper response, ¡°Thank you for your service Captain, next stop, Andosious Prime!¡± He said with a flourish as he pressed a button on his panel. The universe went white, time fell away, then he felt like he was falling. This wasn¡¯t what normally happened on a transmat. Suddenly the world came back into focus, blue sky followed by a green forest followed by a brown ground coming up fast. His mental commands screamed through the interface nodes imbedded all over his body into the scout armor. Retro-rockets fired as he made a hard landing in the clearing of a forest. Two weeks earlier something like that would have hurt bad, if not caused serious injury. Now it just added to his aches. He looked around, his heads-up display noting the fauna, surprisingly it came back as all Terra based equivalents. Well, they would have been if most of them didn¡¯t say EXTINCT beside their classification in red. ¡°Captain Cane to Guard unit 117154, please respond.¡± The hud responded with something he had never seen before. NO SIGNAL. ¡°What the hell?¡± He asked himself. He had never been without a signal. ¡°Computer, run diagnostics, maybe the transmat damaged something.¡± He watched as the diagnostic finished running, no errors, no signal. He looked up, the sun would be going down in a few hours, he could use the celestial navigation software in his armor to find his location anywhere in the galaxy. Emperor above, he hoped the transmat hadn¡¯t put him on a Xeno world. He activated his jump pack to launch himself up for a better view of the land. About a thousand meters up he saw smoke coming from a medium sized village¡­ maybe? He could work with that, maybe he was in a non-technological world of the Empire, even those had outposts to get a signal out from. The jump pack¡¯s capacitors would need to recharge before he could use it again. Nothing to do but start walking towards the village. With any luck he would reach it before nightfall, from there he¡¯d get some answers. He did not get to the village before nightfall. The terrain made going slow, the ground was soft and muddy, the forest was densely packed with oak trees and rocks. He had to use his jump pack to clear a particularly deep gully and it was slowly recharging. As he looked down on the village he remembered his navigation software, he looked up to the sky and let the computer gather data. Location confirmed, Holy Terra, New Avalon, District 334. He sighed and looked back down to the village, ¡°Either my suit is borked, or I¡¯m back in the distant past.¡± He muttered. His armors¡¯ limited AI printed something new on his hud. CONSTELLATIONS OUT OF SYNC BY 4271 YEARS. Victor froze at the revelation. All the physics classes he took in his youth stated going back in time was impossible, something about paradoxes prevented it. ¡°Computer, do you have any information on transmat failures?¡± The AI showed it was indexing before coming back with an answer, LOST MATTER IN TRANSMAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN PUSHED PAST THE FINITE CURVE OF THE UNIVERSE. NO FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE. Victor sat on a tree stump taking in the information. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not in the Empire anymore, even if the computer thinks I am. Nothing to do but head down to the village.¡± He pushed up from the stump and made his way in the dark towards the oddly ancient eastern looking village. There was a road leading into the village, a sign stood crookedly at the crossroads, his AI translated it as Wuzhen, with other arrows pointing to Tongxian, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Wujiang. ¡°Computer, what language is this?¡± IT IS A DIALECT OF ANCIENT CHINESE, ADJUSTING GENE-MODS TO FOR TRANSLATION. His vocal cords did that weird thing that happened whenever the AI needed to translate from Terran to another language or dialect. How the gene-mods did it was beyond his pay grade, but everyone always complimented him on his accent, so apparently the technology was sound. He saw figures up ahead with a ox and wagon. His enhanced vision showed him about what he expected, peasants bringing their wares to town for sale. That was, until he saw the woman had goats eyes. The man had goats horns curling from his forehead but in all other aspects looked Human. ¡°Emperor above, what is going on?¡± He thought to himself as he decided he may not want to walk into town in green and black scout armor. He reached into dimensional storage and found a large trench coat that would fit over his armor. He pulled it out and put it on, then sent a mental command to retract his helmet as it whooshed back into the backpack portion of his armor. As he walked up to the gates he was met with a solitary guard, this man had human features but a monkey¡¯s tail. ¡°Hurry up and get in, we¡¯re about to close the gate house.¡± Victor pointed a thumb backwards, ¡°There are two people behind me on a wagon coming.¡± The monkey guard yelled out as Victor stepped into the village past the walls. ¡°Hurry up you dumb turtles, instinctive are on the prowl and won¡¯t think twice about making a meal of the lot of you!¡± The guard yelled. This seemed to put some fire under them, as they cracked their whip on the ox yelling for it to move. He sub-vocalized to his AI, ¡°Does the term instinctual in reference to ancient china mean anything?¡± The computer spoke back in his inner ear, CHINESE MYSTICISM STATES PRACTICERS OF INSTINCTIVE CULTIVATION BECAME ANIMAL LIKE AND OFTEN CANNIBALISTIC. Victor looked around at the village, seeing the sign for what must be an inn, he made his way across the street narrowly avoiding a steaming pile or horse manure. The inn was bustling, barmaids with cats ears or pigs snouts served drinks and food to tables and people seemed to huddle close to the strange hearth like fireplace of the inn. It wasn¡¯t like any fireplace he had ever seen. He sub-vocalized the question to his AI and it responded with the word ¡°KANG¡±. He found a chair near the front of the inn, far away from the kang and watched the locals. It appeared that coinage was copper discs. He turned his head from the inn and ducked down to bring his helmet back up, ¡°Computer, replicate those discs in the nano-forge from copper ingots, have them ready for me to pull out of dimensional storage, we¡¯ll need currency.¡± His helmet slid back into his backpack and he raised his head and turned around just as a barmaid noticed he had no food or drink. ¡°We have veil or pork, beer or wine. What can I get you?¡± Victor kept his face neutral, something that would have been impossible before his training with the Guard, she looked Xeno after all, the snout was all that was out of place on an otherwise attractive woman. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I¡¯ll have the veil and wine. Also, who do I see about a room?¡± He asked. The boar-kin woman turned her head towards the bar, ¡°Old man Huang would be the one to check with, don¡¯t know if we have any open tonight. We have a lot of refugees from Huzhou after all.¡± Victor raised an eyebrow, usually refugees meant something bad, ¡°Refugees you say? I¡¯m new to these parts, what happened?¡± The barmaid snorted, which was ironic considering she was a boar-kin. ¡°You must be new, Huzhou was raised to the ground by the instinctives, the Empress has sent a small contingency of the sect of the Iron Paw to defend Wuzhen, as we are a central transport hub.¡± The barmaid then looked over to a table of women in much more elaborate dress than the commoners, each with a jade talisman on their wrist. Without another word she brought more drinks to their table, on it stacked plate after plate, bowl after bowl of food. After setting down the drinks she bowed until her snout almost touched the table before hastily retreating from their prescence. Victor¡¯s AI chimed in his ear that fabrication was complete and he reached under the table to access his dimensional storage, grabbing two handfuls of copper coins he put them in his trench coat pockets. He noted that although the inn was crowded, everyone else avoided the table with the sect women. It was almost as if others had moved their tables and chairs away, as if there were danger near them. The women didn¡¯t look especially tough, they were armed with swords, but mostly dressed in robes of fine silk, no armor to be found. He also noted they all had traits of tiger in them. Some had tails, some had the ears, some had the eyes. He supposed that was why they were called the Iron Paw sect, not very creative, but he doubted he could do better. The barmaid came back with a plate of veil, steamed vegetables, and a large cup of wine. As she sat it down she said quietly, ¡°Stop staring at the cultivators, do not draw their notice or they will decide they need make an example of an upstart mortal.¡± Victor kept his face stoney as he accepted the meal and looked elsewhere while he ate. The food was quite good although he didn¡¯t like the turnips. The wine was made from rice, and quite strong. He was about to wave the barmaid back over when a bell started ringing. Everyone in the inn froze, well all but the cultivators. They pushed their plates to the center of the table, stood as one, and marched out of the inn. As they reached the door conversations started up, with Victor¡¯s enhanced hearing he heard variations of ¡®They must have spotted instinctuals¡¯, or ¡®I hope the iron paw is as fierce as they are rumored to be.¡¯ Victor stood up, asked the barmaid for the tab, placed some copper on the table and raised his collar as he walked out of the inn. He noticed none of the other patrons followed him out, if anything they huddled away from the door. Seeing no-one was around he jumped using the armors powerful servo motors to propel him onto the roof of a two-story store. He almost didn¡¯t clear the roof, landing with a slight thud and breaking roofing tiles as he made his way to the peek of the roof. He watched as the women of the sect bounced almost weightlessly off of the rooftops reaching the guard tower at the east gate. Bringing his helmet back up his hud instantly targeted over 30 creatures rushing the east gate at monstrous speed. 160 KM/HR, ETA 45 SECONDS his AI helpfully informed him. The creatures were vaguely humanoid, they resembled ware-wolves, and ran on all fours. He watched as the cultivators drew their weapons as one, the human guards dropped from the wall and grabbed long pike-like weapons. WAR MODE ENGAGED, EVASIVE ACTION REQUIRED fired through his ears as his armor spun from a crouching position and narrowly avoided a sword that stabbed through the ceramic tile of the roof to nearly the hilt. Before him stood a woman with the ears of a tiger in a blue silk dress. His AI relinquished emergency control of the armor back to Victor as she spoke. ¡°You are fast for a male. Surrender to this Mei, and I will make sure your execution is quick.¡± Victor cocked his head to the side before partially raising a hand. The bolter pistol appeared in his hand from dimensional storage as he pulled the trigger. Mei¡¯s eyes were round as the roof beneath her feet vanished in a hail of ceramic and wood, a noise as if a volcano had exploded right next to her severely stunned her more sensitive cultivator ears as she fell through to the second floor. Victor turned to the east wall in time to see a mass of bodies, all female it appeared, leap the ten meters or so to the top of the wall. Howls pierced the night air as some were impaled on swords, others lashed out with razor sharp claws tearing into members of the Iron Paw sect. It was obvious they would not hold that position. If they didn¡¯t retreat they would all be lost, some of the smarter or luckier of the sect began to tactically retreat, fending off claws and teeth with their swords. Victor turned and saw the highest structure in town, a bell tower that stood about five stories high. That must have been where the warning came from, he could get a better vantage point from there. Suddenly he heard a growl and the woman he had unceremoniously dropped through the roof jumped through the opening and landed as if gravity held no sway over her. ¡°You have made a grave mistake instinctual, for this Mei will end you this¡­¡± ____________________ She didn¡¯t get to finish her sentence as she watched the black armored figure with a strange brown robe suddenly launch himself on wings of fire from the roof to the top of the bell tower. ¡°Mei, Mei! Where are you, we are being overrun!¡± She heard from the east wall as her sect sisters were back pedaling as the mass of instinctuals climbed over both their own dead and her sisters. She turned away from the strange male and leaped from rooftop to rooftop to aid her sisters in battle. She landed next to Xiang, who now had a gash across her cheek from combat, ¡°There is someone else here, a male!¡± She shouted as she drove her sword into one of the wolf-kin that came too close. It howled in pain and retreated, but she knew it was not a fatal blow. Xiang parried a high swipe of a claw and with a spin kick sent the instinctual she was fighting flying backwards only for it to catch itself with its claws and grind to a crouching halt. ¡°Who? We are in the backlands of the Empire, and why would they send a male, he would surely be courting death against foes such as these!¡± Mei blocked a razor sharp claw with the blunt edge of her sword before parrying backwards, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, our orders are to protect this town at all costs, don¡¯t let them push us into a blind ally or somewhere we can¡¯t defend ourselves.¡± ___________________ Victor watched as the tiger ladies tried desperately to fend off the ware-wolf ladies. It was not going well for the tigers, it seemed that although the instinctuals didn¡¯t use weapons, they were faster, bigger, stronger, and meaner on average. His hud counted six cultivators down, two of which were being eaten by the ware-wolf women, the remaining five were being pushed towards center square. What they couldn¡¯t see was a group of four cultivators coming up on their flank from the south. It seems that even though these sect ladies seem haughty at best, they are the closest thing to the good guys in this fight. Victor cursed as he reached into his dimensional storage, a mark 8 flamer wrapped itself lovingly around his scout armor, as his hands wrapped around the handle and nozzle. He leaped from the bell tower, shattering roofing tiles and bricks as he dropped the five stories to the ground before firing the retro-rockets in his boots, hitting the ground behind the Iron Paw sect before pouring withering fire from the flamer into the four instinctualists rushing from the south. They howled in agony as napalm lapped at their fur and burned them as they wallowed on the dirt road of the town square trying to quench the fire. Victor turned around as the women of the Iron Paw were forced back to his position, which worked out fine, now they weren¡¯t in the way. He poured burning liquid napalm into the ranks of the instinctuals. Those that could turned on claws and ran, those that didn¡¯t burned in the street. He turned around and ordered his helmet to retract, the four standing sisters of the Iron Paw leaped a step back bringing up their battered swords. He allowed his flamer to dissolve back into this dimensional storage. ¡°Stand down ladies, the threat is over.¡± If anything this made them bring their swords up more. Mei was the first to find her voice, ¡°You are obviously a master of fire to dispatch so many of the betrayers instinctuals. Who sent you?¡± Victor¡¯s face remained impassive, this was new information, the instinctuals betrayed the Empire in some way. ¡°No one sent me, I was in the area, and you apparently needed aid.¡± Let them decide with that what they will. Mei slowly lowered her sword, before starting to laugh without much mirth, ¡°In our darkest hour a hidden master appears and saves us from death. You would think we were part of a play or poets story.¡± The other women lowered what was left of their weapons as well. Xiang looked Victor up and down, ¡°I have never heard of male becoming a cultivator of war, that is usually the domain of females. I have also never seen clothing or armor like you wear, are you from the Empire?¡± Victor sighed, well, here goes. ¡°I am not from the Empire, I am from a far away land called Terra, and at the moment, I am merely passing through.¡± The smaller one known as Li spoke up, ¡°One does not simply pass through the Celestial Empire! The wall has stood for millennia untold, only the immortal Empress remembers when it was built. How did you cross it?¡± Victor only shrugged, ¡°Who said I crossed the wall?¡± As he turned around and walked to the inn he only recently left. The crowd of people parted as he walked in. _____________________ Xiang turned to Mei, ¡°He is a foreigner wandering our land, Shihan must be informed of his presence and bring it before the court.¡± Mei nodded her head turning to the final woman left standing, ¡°Hua, travel to Wujiang, let our sisters know what has transpired here and have a message sent back to the Imperial Palace about this newcomer and what we should do.¡± Li spoke, ¡°Should we not attempt to capture him ourselves? After all, a male cultivator is a rarity indeed.¡± Mei looked over to the smaller Li, ¡°He burned down instinctuals with what appeared to be the forgotten Concept of Fire, for that was the Sixth Level Yang Fire, something we females who cultivate yin are incapable of. No, we would court death trying to capture a hidden master of his power. Did any of you even feel his Chi?¡± They all shook their heads. Mei continued, ¡°Then he is hiding his true power from us. When I first saw him leap from the ground to the rooftop I thought him a spy for the instinctuals. When I tried to attack he moved with a speed even I could not match. When I threatened him he simply ignored me, and throughout that I never once felt his Chi. This is a male we must be careful around sisters, now go Hua.¡± _____________________ Victor watched as the people in the inn parted before him. He noticed many of them bowing as though he were part of the Imperial family of Terra. He reached the bar where the innkeeper, what was his name again? HUANG his AI chimed in. ¡°Huang, I require lodgings for the night. Do you have a room available?¡± The Ox-Kin bowed so low as to touch the bar, ¡°This lowly one will gladly provide you with a room hidden master.¡± He raised his head and waved the boar-kin barmaid over to him in a frenzy, ¡°Chun, find the hidden master a room.¡± Chun rushed over and bowed before Victor, ¡°Please follow me hidden master?¡± ¡°Victor, my name is Victor Cane. Please, lead the way Chun.¡± As he followed Chun upstairs to an empty room Victor closed and locked the door, if they want to think he is a hidden master then let them. In the meantime he needed sleep. He reached one more time into his dimensional storage and pulled four small security drones and paired them to his armor¡¯s AI. One flew out the open window to watch from outside, one crawled under the door to watch the inn, the other two sat inside the room. Once he felt all was secured he settled into the not so great bed and closed his helmet. He¡¯d worry about everything else tomorrow. Start-Up Chun shuffled in her chair, she was only a mortal boar-kin, why did she have the misfortune of taking the hidden master up to his room. Now this Mei of the Iron Paw sect had cornered her in the Inn when she arrived for the morning shift. Mei shoveled rice into her mouth from an oversized bowl as she spoke, ¡°Tell me exactly what happened last night when you led the hidden master to his room. I want to know everything you know about him.¡± Again Chun shuffled, ¡°I actually met him before that, he was alone at the table near the exit. It was odd because everyone tries to move to the kang to keep warm, but this man simply sat at his table as though the cold meant nothing to him.¡± Mei stopped eating, ¡°He was here while we were eating? What was he doing?¡± She demanded. Chun recoiled a bit, ¡°He just seemed to be watching everyone, including your table. When I brought him his food and drink I warned him to stop staring or he would draw someone¡¯s wrath upon him.¡± Mei nodded, if she couldn¡¯t sense him, she obviously couldn¡¯t expect a mere mortal to know what they were dealing with. ¡°What did he do after that?¡± Chun took a deep breath, ¡°He seemed to just sit there and eat his meal until the warning bell sounded. When you and your sisters left he asked me how much he owed, dropped coins on the table and left the inn. I didn¡¯t see him again until after the battle.¡± Mei sat back and thought, ¡°He paid for his meal you say?¡± Chun nodded, ¡°He didn¡¯t even complain or haggle, he simply dropped the coins as if they were nothing and walked out. Huang has told me not to accept payment if he asks when he comes down this morning.¡± Mei nodded, ¡°A wise choice, now that he is no longer hidden he may decide to toy with you, it is best for you to play along.¡± Chun looked around the inn as customers started to come in for breakfast, it was still early, the sun had barely breached the horizon. Mei sighed, ¡°Bring me another bowl of porridge, I will await the hidden master, his name was Cain, correct.¡± Chun stood quickly before bowing, ¡°He stated his name was Victor Cane, Mistress Mei.¡± Mei sat back in her chair and shoo¡¯ed the boar-kin mortal away. Her sisters had taken shifts to ensure from a distance the hidden master had not left.More information on this male was needed, and she expected to gather it for her sect. She would already be renown for the twenty two instinctual cultivators slain here yesterday, particularly as she had only lost 7 sisters. Three to one was not a feat to be trifled with when it came to instinctuals. The problem was, at least ten of those were from this hidden master that she knew next to nothing about. She would await him here, and eat her fill to replace her spent energies. _________________________ DAILY MAINTENANCE COMPLETE ALL SYSTEMS FUNCTIONAL SUBSPACE LINK : NO CONNECTION RADIO LINK : NO CONNECTION POWER CORE : 100% CAPACITOR CORE : 100% TIME 0700 ACTIVATE WAKE UP ALARM Victor slowly regained consciousness after sleeping like the dead. New gene-mod updates, transmat accident, small firefight with ware-wolves and one cute tiger lady had really kicked his ass. ¡°Computer, turn off that damn alarm.¡± He opened his helmet as he sat up from the horrible bed. He had never seen a mirror as poorly made as the one in front of him, maybe it was tarnished bronze? He recalled his scout drones and sent them to storage before reaching in and pulling out his overnight bag. After washing his face in the not-too-clean sink and brushing his teeth he made his way to the chamber pot by the bed. After relieving himself he decided breakfast was in order. He put his overnight bag into dimensional storage and made his way downstairs to the inn proper. As he slowly walked down the stairs, hoping the wood could hold his three hundred kilo weight a second time he noticed Mei sitting at the same table as the night before. As usual, the patrons around them gave her a wide berth. Well, judging by the way Mei¡¯s eyes never left him he assumed she wanted to talk to him. ¡°Hello Mei, how are you doing this morning? He asked innocently enough. She looked at him stone faced, ¡°I spent most of the night burying my sect sisters, then caught a few hours sleep while we waited for you to wake up.¡± She stated as she crossed her arms. Well, this was more new information, evidently there was some camaraderie within the sects. He wasn¡¯t sure of that until now. Evidently cultivators do care for each other, if they care little or nothing for the average peasant. Victor decided it was best to seem the aloof master rather than the bumbling fool he obviously was and change course, ¡°Chun, could you bring me whatever you have for breakfast, oh, and some more of that wine!¡± Mei¡¯s eyes flared at Victor, if looks could kill he¡¯d be scorched right now, ¡°Who are you? I just reminded you that 7 of my sect sisters were buried last night and you call to a mortal for food?¡± Victor turned back to her, his officer face was back on again, ¡°Is this your first war Mei?¡± Mei sat back and batted her cup back and forth in her hands as she looked down at the table, ¡°Yes, while I¡¯m older than some of my sisters, war hasn¡¯t visited the Celestial Empire in decades, if not centuries.¡± Victor reached out a hand and placed it over one of Mei¡¯s. She froze at his touch, a male cultivator touched her, a lowly cultivator of the second tier. ¡°This is not mine, I have lost count of the small fire-fights and battles I¡¯ve been a part of of my last twenty years. Or how many soldiers I have lost.¡± Mei blinked, fire-fights, like what he did last night was considered small, she had never seen creatures burn like that, wait, did he say the last twenty years. She cleared her throat, ¡°Um, please excuse this lower cultivators curiosity, but you have been in battles for the last twenty years? You look no older than I at twenty eight seasons, how is that possible?¡± Victor removed his hand as Chun brought him a huge portion of porridge, rice, pork sausage, eggs and wine. He looked up to her as she bowed down, ¡°Thank you Chun, you are dismissed. Yeah, I don¡¯t age like other people. Actually, I don¡¯t age at all.¡± Chun turned on her heels and nearly sprinted back to the kitchen. She had gotten a small taste of Mei¡¯s killing intent when she glared at the hidden master, while she nearly dropped to her knees, the master didn¡¯t even seem to notice. Victor popped one of the sausages into his mouth as he watched Mei nearly drop her jaw in astonishment. Victor pointed to his plate, ¡°Would you like one? They are quite good.¡± Mei shook her head, ¡°You¡¯re an immortal and you thanked that peasant? Do you care nothing for face?¡± Victor looked back as he chewed, ¡°Chun? Yeah, she works hard, least I can do is thank her for her efforts. Someone should do something about the turnips though, they are horrible.¡± Mei crossed her arms, ¡°I cannot tell if you are toying with me or not. You have an Imperial accent, one that requires training from birth, you fight as if you are a divinity, and you show appreciation to mortals?¡± Victor shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not a complicated man, I¡¯m just passing through the Empire looking for a way home. Speaking of which, you mentioned the Eternal Empress, would you say she is the most powerful person in the land?¡± Mei uncrossed her arms before leaning in, ¡°You mean to tell me you don¡¯t know about the Eternal Empress yet you are hundreds of li into her Empire?¡± Victor mixed his eggs and sausage into his rice bowl and then looked despairingly down at the chop sticks. He reached into his dimensional storage and produced a spoon, which to Mei seemed to appear from nowhere and scooped out a portion before taking a bite and pointing at Mei with his spoon. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not grits, but it will do in a pinch. No, I don¡¯t know about the Empress, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you, if anyone knows how to get me home it might be your Eternal Empress, so how do I get an audience with her?¡± Mei sat back in her chair once more, holding the hand Victor had recently touched under the table, ¡°That might be easier than you think, but you may not like the outcome. I sent ahead to my sect leader one town over and she will be using a calling stone to reach the Imperial Palace, I¡¯m sure they will have questions about the foreigner who is also a hidden master.¡± Victor stopped eating and sat back in his own chair, ¡°Ah, you say I may not like the outcome, why is that?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Mei shrugged, if he didn¡¯t know how things worked she didn¡¯t see the harm in telling him. ¡°The Eternal Empress has been said to be a bit temperamental, particularly to foreigners entering her lands. Yes, she is said to be the wisest in the land, and many millennia old. Her magic defends this land and its people.¡± Victor took another slow bite with his spoon, ¡°So she may know how to get me home, or she may try to have me killed. No way to know until I meet her eh?¡± Mei nodded before stopping, ¡°Wait, you said she may try to have you killed, not that she would have you killed or kill you.¡± Victor grinned at her, ¡°Well, I¡¯m not about to make it easy on her if she tries. Listen, I¡¯ve got some things to get done, so in the mean time, here.¡± He then presented her with a silver bauble with a red gem in the center that dropped from nothingness into his hand. ¡°Take this with you, and give it to the Empress, it will allow her to communicate with me no matter where I go.¡± Mei stared at the piece of exquisite jewelry, it would be worth many fortunes over in the Celestial city, and he just handed it to her? ¡°Wait, I can¡¯t just let you leave, you are a foreigner in our lands, it is my duty to keep a watchful eye on you.¡± Victor walked over to the bar where Huang looked nervous and dropped a large pile of copper coins before walking to the door. Mei stood, kicking the chair behind her and stomped towards the exit only to see the hidden master take flight again on wings of fire. This time he did not stop at the bell tower, but continued to fly towards the mountains. ¡°Damn that man to the divinities she shouted as even she lost sight of him in the clouds.¡± ______________________ ¡°Activate camouflage mode.¡± Victor spoke into his helmet as his armor took on the the colors surrounding him. It wouldn¡¯t fool anyone close up, but from the distance he was from the village now he doubted even the cultivators could make him out from the sky. With any luck, Mei would get that communicator back to the Empress, who might know how to get him home. In the mean time though, he reached into his dimensional storage and brought out a satellite probe. He had used the full capacitor load on his jump jets and was still eighteen thousand meters up, more than enough for the probe to reach geosynchronous orbit. After launching it he looked for a good patch of ground to land. He found one at the base of a mountain range, it even came with a mountain stream. Firing his retro-rockets he landed soft enough and sat on a particularly smooth boulder. His heads up display showed him his probe had reached geosynchronous orbit and was gathering data. ¡°Well, this is going to take some time.¡± He thought to himself as he ordered his AI to split his armor. To anyone else watching this would have probably been horrifying as the scout armor appeared to break apart and separate into two halves joined together by a hinge. Victor took a sniff of himself and groaned, ¡°Good thing the suit is sealed, being in that thing for almost two days and I am ripe!¡± He thought as he found a nice place in the woods to relieve himself in a way he couldn¡¯t with his armor on. After that he removed the boxers he wore in his scout armor and placed them on the boulder and stepped across the pebbled beach into the stream. He instantly regretted it, gene-mods or not, a mountain stream in the fall is still cold! After washing as best he could he walked back to his armor, reached into his dimensional storage, produced a towel and fresh boxers and dried off while sunning himself on his rock. His AI sounded in his inner ear. IMMEDIATE AREA SURVEY COMPLETE. He kicked off his boulder and climbed back into his now somewhat aired out armor and checked out the results. A mountain in this range was nearly perfect for his needs, abundant metal and mineral deposits, and a valley with a small but very useful petroleum reserve, as well as some natural gas deposits, although those were less than 6% on the scan. Victor checked that his jump jets capacitor were sufficiently charged and set his jump vector for a somewhat flat ridge three quarters of the way up the mountain, just below the snow caps. Four minutes later, he landed, staring at a nearly sheer cliff face that raised up the mountain another 20 meters above him. He reached into dimensional storage and retrieved a mining laser. These were a bit expensive, but necessary to start any good mining operation. Mining drones were not good at starting a mining shaft. Oh, it could be done, but it was usually done slowly and crudely. Best to set the aperture to four meters square and crank up the power. The laser had a magazine of some miracle crystal that put out about ten seconds of power before it was exhausted and was then discarded. He squeezed the trigger and watched as the sheer rock face before him seemed to literally disintegrate as the shaft began to deepen to a depth of about four meters in. The laser chimed and ejected the magazine as the barrel smoked from the immense heat it had just endured. Victor carefully sat down the mining laser and opened his dimensional storage once more to bring out four mining drones, two forge spiders, and four scout drones. He set the mining drones to work digging into the mine shaft with gusto the seven dwarfs could never match. Then turned his attention to the scout drones, he sent them off in a patrol pattern to watch over the mountain for any sign of trespassers. Then he remembered the satellite and set it to watch over his piece of paradise as well. He also thought about retracing his helmet but the temperature outside was just above freezing and decided it best to have a seat and wait a bit for the mining drones to get some work done. On a whim he checked his database, yup, there were 86 different versions of Snow White, might as well pick the Disney one from antiquity, he¡¯d never seen it anyways. One hour and twenty three minutes later the film was over, and his mining drones and forge spiders had deepened the shaft another five meters. A small pile of ingots had been dropped off by the spiders, the air around them giving off a small mirage effect from the heat they radiated. ¡°Computer, have the nano-forge produce proper steel doors, tracts, motors, and security to cover the dimensions of this shaft.¡± The AI took measurements, produced the adjusted prints, sent them to Victor for approval, then started crafting the necessary materials. Then Victor¡¯s stomach growled. Sighing, he went over to the pile of fresh ingots, some iron, some copper, others tin and silver. Retracing his helm he found that although the temperature hovered around 2 degrees celsius, near the ingots it was quite a bit warmer, if you didn¡¯t mind the metallic smell, which it didn¡¯t. Reaching into dimensional storage he found his ration stash, while he had hoped this would be what he would use to fashion himself a life after he left the Imperial Guard, there was a chance he would never get home. ¡°Resources are there to be used.¡± He quoted to himself as he took a bite from a bar he hoped wasn¡¯t made from corpo-starch, but as it had no ingredient list he had no way of knowing. Finishing his ration bar, the densely caloric and extremely nutrient bar would play havoc with his bowels later. He noted getting living quarters up soon would be a really good idea. He slid his helm back into place, ¡°Computer, have the mining drones level off and begin to dig a cavern to fit the small hab module in dimensional storage, have them oversize it by a meter on all sides, I want some clearance when I bring this out of storage.¡± The AI complied and he watched his mini-map on his hud as the drones turned ninety degrees and started opening up a new cavern. A few minutes later, the computer chimed to let him know the doors were complete and ready for installation. A good thing he had his scout armor, these doors were five centimeters thick and three meters high and wide. They weighed almost four tons a piece, which was right at the limit of what his power armor was capable of. Pulling out the necessary tools he installed the tracts above and below, then setup the motor controls before pulling the doors out of storage and setting them into the tracks. After testing and adjustment he was satisfied that not only were they very secure, they even seemed to blend in well with the sheer cliff wall. ¡°Not a bad job if I do say so myself.¡± Victor said as he began setting up production orders for ventilation, water drainage, and lighting with his AI to start construction while he waited for the chamber to be completed. A full six hours later and several movies of varying degrees of watchfulness, his computer chimed letting him know the new cavern was complete and the mining drones were continuing their downward path towards the more dense metal reserves deeper in the mountain. He stood, stretched his back, and ordered the massive steel doors to open, walking the gently sloping shaft down the ten meters to the new cavern. The walls were smooth and the entrance seemed just about right for the habitats air lock door to fit flush with the mining shaft. A few minutes later and a loud bang as the habitat module appeared from dimensional space and then found that gravity existed again, slamming it the few centimeters to the floor of the cavern. ¡°Oops!¡± Victor said to himself hoping he didn¡¯t break anything. Nothing appeared to be damaged, after all, these habs were basically mini-bunkers designed for anything from death worlds to deep space mining. Fifteen meters on each side and four meters high, it gave him an excellent respite from the world around him. Indoor plumbing, central heating and air, entertainment center, kitchen, bath, and a bed. He entered the habitat and sealed the airlock to the mine shaft. The internal temperature of the hab read twenty one degrees celsius, so he shed his armor, placed it in the airlock rack and connected it to the habitat¡¯s power and computer system before opening the inner airlock. ¡°Home sweet home, at least until I find a way back. Then he thought about it, would the Guard blame him for the transmat accident? Sure he lied about having anything on him in dimensional storage but he knew guys who smuggled things around all the time and something like this never happened to them. Hope I don¡¯t look at a court martial if I ever to get back home for going AWOL or some such bullshit.¡± He muttered as he headed for the shower. That mountain stream was freezing! ______________________ ¡°What to you mean he flew away?¡± Shihan looked at Mei from across her desk. Mei shifted uncomfortably in the rickety chair that sat across from the elder cultivator in front of her. The room was also cold, and Shihan had set the desk low so that she could sit on the kang and keep warm while others had to endure. ¡°He said he had important matters to attend to and flew away on wings of fire.¡± Shihan shook her head, ¡°Lazy eggs, all of you. We lost seven Iron Paw warriors in your battle three days ago, and probably would have lost you all if not for this hidden master. I have reached out to the the sect mistress who will be informing the royal court at this weeks meeting with the Empress. Do you have anything else to report?¡± Mei nodded and set the jeweled bauble on the desk in front of the elder sect leader, ¡°The hidden master, Victor Cane presented me with this. He stated to give it to the Empress and they would be able to communicate no matter the distance.¡± The older lady stared at the priceless looking item before slowly looking back up to Mei, ¡°I feel no chi coming from this item, how could it possibly do what he says. Even our best calling stones can barely reach three hundred li, how could this tiny broach communicate anywhere?¡± Mei had thought long on this, ¡°I do not know mistress, however, I do know that not once did I feel any chi from this hidden master either. I believe it is his cultivation technique, as he must use near perfect yang energy to power his creations. Can you detect pure yang, head mistress?¡± Shihan shook her head, ¡°I cannot my student, for that is only in the realm of the highest levels of male cultivation, and to my knowledge, no male alive can use pure yang energy, hence why they are inherently weaker as they cultivate some yang and some yin, their meridians are out of balance.¡± Mei nodded, this was the same conclusion she had reached as well, ¡°I watched him create multiple items from thin air, some for weapons, one was a simple soup spoon, we know most men use their cultivation for crafting, perhaps this hidden master is so adept at it he uses pure yang energy that we simply cannot sense.¡± Shihan¡¯s eyes widened with the implications, ¡°That means he would appear as just a normal mortal until he decided to act, just as he did in your report.¡± She then looked down at the silver jeweled broach that sat on the desk. ¡°The craftsmanship of this object is superb, its gem is absolutely flawless, I have never seen silversmithing so pure. Were this not to be sent to the Empress its sale would keep the Iron Paw clans coffers full for seasons on end.¡± She sighed, ¡°No, we cannot abandon our duty, I will send this item to the Empress herself, and as this Victor Cane had entrusted you with it, I feel that you should be the one to deliver it to her yourself.¡± Mei gasped before bowing, ¡°I will not fail you head mistress.¡± Shihan sat back on her cushions enjoying the warmth of the kang under her, ¡°See to it that you do not, for the Empress does not take kindly to fools who waste her time.¡± INTRUDER Victor sat at his kitchen table and stared at the tablet in his hand as he blew on his morning coffee. It had been a busy week, setting up areas for construction with enough room for the nano-forge, then using it to build auto-factories to build more mining drones and more forge spiders to gather more resources and clear out more areas. Thus far he had Ingot Storage 1 complete and the forge spiders pathed to bring back and sort them. Then Hydroponics 1 was complete, the auto-farmers were programmed and with any luck in about six weeks he¡¯d have wheat, oats, barley, corn, beans, rice, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, okra, mushrooms, squash, and many more fruits and vegetables. Today he was working on Meat Lab 1. Set up was pretty straight forward, the equipment and power were in place, and the specimens were brought from dimensional storage to the grow labs, it was just the pathing necessary to cultivate, harvest and can the meats. His budget was limited here, he had chicken, beef, and pork cultures, and that was it. Who would have thought his life savings, his parents life savings, and the sale of his ancestral home still couldn¡¯t get him everything he wanted to start a new life on a colony world? He tapped his tablet a few more times before he was satisfied with the pathing, he pretty much copied it over from Hydro 1, they both canned the food in the end anyways. He then checked on his mining drones, they were busy little beavers, and had found a remarkable amount of usable materials. More than even the satellite estimated for this location, he sent a few of them two days ago to cut a shaft down to the petroleum reserves, it appears that they had indeed succeeded in locating it. He brought up the auto-factories that he had built from the nano-forge, numbers three and seven were idle, so he started constructing hauler drones to pump the raw petroleum into their internal tanks and then bring them up to Storage 1, where they can unload into new tanks. This will solve my plastics issue¡­ I hope. Yup, everything was going smoothly. Even if he never made it back to the empire, at least here he could have a little piece of it, with all the modern conveniences he was used to. ¡°Screw living in places like Wuzhen. They didn¡¯t even have indoor plumbing!¡± He muttered as his attention was brought to a notification on his tablet. INTRUDER ALERT. ____________ Pan ran as though her life depended on it. Well, actually it did, for the instinctive Ox-Kin that were chasing her would kill and eat her if she were caught. Being Rabbit-Kin her small and agile frame allowed her speed and maneuverability, but the Ox-Kin instinctuals didn¡¯t have to run around trees, they could just push them aside! Her wagon and all her goods were lost, she was dirty and scared. There was a clearing up ahead and her heart dropped, nowhere to hide, and the stream would slow her down, she was trapped now! She frantically looked from left to right as she continued to run, looking for some way out as the Ox-Kin roared behind her tearing up the ground as their razor sharp hoofs slammed into the ground. She heard a sound as if there were thunderstorm raging, but it did not end, it simply got louder. She looked up in time to see a black figure on wings of fire plunge towards the ground. She didn¡¯t stop, if it would distract the instinctuals then she would use it to her advantage and hopefully escape this terrible fate. Suddenly she heard a sound as if someone were rubbing the rim of a meditation bowl, only hundreds of times louder, then screams of pain, several thuds, and then silence. She turned her head to see the black figure stand upright and to her astonishment, all the Ox-Kin were down. No, not down, dead. Cut in half, obviously in mid gallop for the halves of their bodies were separated by meters. She slowed to take in the strange figure, its helmet magically disappeared behind him, showing a foreign face with short cropped black hair and eyes she had only seen on portraits of the Eternal Empress. _____________ ¡°It¡¯s ok, they¡¯re all dead now. Waste of good beef if you ask me, but it¡¯s a little too close to cannibalism for me. Had enough corpo-starch in the guard to last me a lifetime.¡± He said as she stopped to take a breath. He slowly started walking over to her. Pan backed up, rather involuntarily, as this man had just slaughtered half a dozen instinctual Ox-Kin in the blink of an eye. ¡°Whoa, calm down, not gonna hurt you. Just want to ask you a few questions, I¡¯m Victor by the way, what¡¯s your name?¡± He asked, hands out to show he meant no harm. Pan finally caught enough wind to take her hands off her thighs and straighten up, one of her bunny ears fell across her face, a sign of how exhausted she truly was. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Pan¡­ Sorry, still trying to catch my breath.¡± The strange man cocked his head to the side and she noticed it wasn¡¯t just a helm he had been wearing, At first she thought he was wearing all black, but it was actually armor, very intricate armor. ¡°Are you a cultivator? I¡¯ve never seen a male cultivator before.¡± Victor chuckled, ¡°I¡¯ve been getting that a lot lately. The answer is¡­ complicated. Now, about those questions. Shall we walk back to your home while I ask?¡± Pan shook her head, ¡°The only home I had was my wagon. I was a trader who bought and sold goods. The instinctuals destroyed it while I was gathering water. I heard my Ox bellow and when I came up from the stream it was being eaten, the wagon destroyed, my wares nothing more than shredded trash.¡± She looked down and started to cry as the realization that she had just lost everything took hold. Victor put on his officers face, oh boy. Here come the water works. ¡°Shh, calm down, it¡¯s only a wagon. It¡¯s a thing, and things can be replaced.¡± She looked up to him and lowered her hands, ¡°Perhaps to a powerful cultivator, but I am but a lowly peasant girl. I will have to sell my self on the streets to eat now!¡± She buried her face back into her hands and wailed. ¡°Oh for Emperors sakes!¡± Victor thought as he scooped the small woman up in his arms. This prompted a sharp ¡°Eeek!¡± From her as he activated his jump jets. _____________ Pan was terrified. Rabbit-Kin were not made for flying. The strange cultivator had scooped her up in his arms as though she were a small child and launched them into the air. She tried to scream, but the air screeching by her face seemed to carry the noise away. Though she doubted anyone could have heard over fire erupting from his wings. Suddenly they landed and she was set down. She looked around and saw they were on a ledge, far up the mountain where the Ox-Kin had chased her. The ledge had a metal rail all the way around it but she saw no way to reach it other than flight. The strange man must have brought his helmet back up before they launched into the air, because he had it up now. He turned to the mountain and it split open before him! After retracting his helm he simply said, ¡°Follow me, since you don¡¯t have a home, I¡¯ll bring you to mine.¡± She followed him into the mountain, expecting it to be dark and cold, but to her surprise it was warm and light shown down from the ceiling as if it were daylight! The walls were smooth stone, and after a few meters in the mountain closed behind them, only it seemed to do it twice, once inside and once outside. She continued to walk until they came to a strange door with a wheel in the center. The cultivator spun the wheel and opened the metal door. She had never seen so much worked metal in all her days. Even the blacksmith shops lacked the amount, or skill she saw here. After she entered into a small chamber, Victor closed the door behind them and walked to a strange outcropping on the wall and turned around. The armor up close was neither new nor perfect, she saw dints and dings, and scorch marks in places. Then she jumped back as it split in half and Victor stepped out in nothing more than short pants covering his man-hood. She blushed and diverted her eyes, but not before noticing the rippling muscles, scar tissue, and little round metal discs at regular intervals all over his body. He covered himself with a very plush white robe and slippers before opening another door that was identical to the first. ¡°Should I wear slippers as well, Master Cultivator?¡± Victor looked back, ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, the cleaning drones will handle any mess we cause.¡± Pan pondered on what a drone was. A servant perhaps? Was that why he brought me here, to be one of his servants? Or was it something else? Oh no, she mentioned having to sell herself, did he expect her to be one of his mistresses? She wouldn¡¯t be opposed, for he was a handsome man, but what kin was he? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. She almost missed what was said next. ¡°This is my humble abode, you¡¯re welcome to stay here for a time while I get my bearings on this land.¡± Victor said as he walked over to the table and picked up a piece of see-through glass. Magical runes and pictures flared into existence as he tapped at it before setting it back down. Pan could barely speak. This place was what she would expect in the Imperial palace. There was no kang, or open fire, but it was the perfect temperature and humidity. She saw a large couch, tables, chairs, cabinets of wood, a countertop with a strange steel bowl and what looked as if it were a well pump above it. The back wall had multiple doors, the two that were open showed one to be a bed room, with a huge bed, the other was tiled with a white chair, it almost looked like a throne? How strange she thought as she peered into the room to see a chamber of fogged glass also inside the room. Victor noticed her curiosity, ¡°That is the bathroom. Come here, I¡¯ll show you.¡± Pan followed Victor into the bathroom as he demonstrated the toilet, explaining rather embarrassingly how it worked and how to use it, he then showed her the glass chamber with the odd steel handles. ¡°This one is hot, and this one is cold, you turn them both on until you get the temperature just right to clean yourself. On the wall there is liquid soap, shampoo, and conditioner, though I keep my hair close, so the conditioner wouldn¡¯t be as necessary as say someone with your long hair.¡± He explained. Pan was shocked as the saw the stream of water pouring from the wall. What manner of magic was this? ¡°I have never seen a male cultivator, but it is known they are master craftsmen, can you all create such magical wonders?¡± Victor shrugged, ¡°No idea, I¡¯ve never met another, uh, male cultivator.¡± Pan considered, ¡°Could I, maybe use this chamber to clean up? This mornings activities have left me a little soiled.¡± Victor nodded, ¡°Of course.¡± He reached into a small cabinet and produced a large piece of fluffy cloth and placed it on another steel rail outside the chamber. Before placing a smaller version of it inside the chamber on a rack. Finally he reached back into the cabinet and produced a robe much like he was wearing and placed it on a hook behind the door. He then pointed to the small one inside the chamber, ¡°That is a wash cloth to clean yourself with the soap, use the shampoo here on your hair, and then after rinsing it out, rub the conditioner in and let it sit a bit before finally rinsing it out. Then dry yourself off with this towel, and put on the robe I placed on the door.¡± Pan nodded, ¡°What will you do with my clothes after I remove them?¡± Victor sniffed ¡°Probably burn them.¡± He thought to himself. ¡°I will provide you with clothes to lounge around the house.¡± He turned around and closed the door behind him. Pan used the ¡®toilet¡¯ surprised at its efficiency to clean itself with water before turning on the water stream and adjusting the knobs until it was pleasant. She took to cleaning herself with gusto, for she had never had such luxury. Even the tubs at the inns she could sometimes visit were not this nice. She heard the door open, and through the smoked glass she could see that Victor seemed to be gathering her things from the floor and leaving behind something on the ¡®toilet¡¯. After getting herself more clean that she thought she ever had in her entire life she sighed and decided she needed to get out. After fiddling with the knobs and nearly freezing herself before turning them the proper way she reached out and grabbed the ¡®towel¡¯ and found it did an amazing job of drying her. Afterwards she tied the cloth up in her hair, careful not to get her ears and examined the clothes he brought her. There was an article of clothing like what he wore, the short pants, but smaller, and tighter. She assumed it was for the same purpose and put it on, then she found a soft pair of pants, like men would wear, but of much finer and softer material. Finally, there was a form fitting shirt that she found left little to the imagination, but she had little choice to but to put it on. Finally there were thick, luxurious slippers on the floor and the robe on the back of the door. She came out of the bathroom to find him at the strange counter, cooking. ¡°A man who cooks for a woman? I know he is a foreigner, but I have never heard of this happening.¡± She thought as he waved her to the large table. ¡°I missed breakfast this morning, your little tussle with the Ox-Kin ladies kind of put it on hold, have you eaten?¡± He asked. Pan felt the hunger pains when he asked as she shook her head. He chuckled as he continued his work, ¡°No, I guess you didn¡¯t get a chance to eat this morning either. How do you like your eggs?¡± Pan was confused, ¡°Um, I prefer them cooked?¡± Victor looked back before saying, ¡°Scrambled it is then.¡± After a few minutes and some toiling around the cupboards he dropped off a huge plate in front of her. ¡°Normally I¡¯d let the auto-cook prepare the food, but since I¡¯m getting everything up and running at the moment it¡¯s missing a lot of ingredients. So, I worked with what I had, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, and toast.¡± She stared down at her plate, it mostly looked familiar, but the white porridge was a bit different. He handed her strange utensils before pushing two strange bottles with seasonings in them with holes punched in the top.She watched as he used the utensils to eat, and attempted to do the same. The spoon was easy, she had used those for soup, but the tiny pitch fork and knife were difficult. Victor noticed this and stood up, went to a cabinet and pulled out a drawer and brought back metal chop sticks. Pan stared at them, they were perhaps brass, possibly even gold, her mouth dropped, these utensils would have been worth more than her wagon! Victor looked up from his food, ¡°Is everything ok? Is there something wrong with the chopsticks?¡± Pan hurriedly put the chopsticks to work grabbing up the slivers of pork. ¡°No, no. This lowly peasant girl was merely in amazement at the quality of the utensils.¡± Victor nodded as he watched her eyes go round with amazement after chewing on the bacon. Before she dug into the eggs and tried the grits, deciding they needed the seasonings, which she found was salt and a form of pepper, she nodded before cleaning her plate. Victor sat back, his own plate clean, ¡°Now that¡¯s a healthy appetite, I wasn¡¯t sure a girl your size could finish a plate like that.¡± Pan flushed, a bit embarrassed, ¡°It was no doubt due to your cooking expertise. But I still don¡¯t know why you brought me here.¡± Victor stood and took her plate and utensils and opened a strange metal door under the counter and placed them into a metal chamber before closing it back. ¡°You said you were a traveling merchant, which means you go places and hear things. I¡¯m new here and have questions. Therefore we can help each other.¡± He ushered Pan to the plush couch and sat down, she took the time to pull her hair out of the towel and he took it from her and went into the ¡®bathroom¡¯ a strange name as there was no bathtub inside it and returned to sit at the opposite side of the couch. Pan let him sit before asking, ¡°Ok, you have questions, what do you want to know?¡± Victor took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking, ¡°Why do you have rabbit ears? Why do people in the villages have monkey tails or goats eyes? And what the hell is up with these instinctuals that are more animal that people?¡± _______________ It had been hours and Pan was actually feeling mentally drained. The man before her was not a cultivator. Whatever he was, she doubted many cultivators except the Empress could hope to match him. The more he showed her, the more she was certain his powers were unlimited. She didn¡¯t know whether to bow in awe, or run in terror. Not from this plane of existence is how he put it. Meaning from the realm of the divinities maybe? She didn¡¯t know for sure. ¡°So, this Eternal Empress came along a few thousand years ago, united the lands, built a wall and a government, and now uses her armies and cultivator sects to maintain law and order across her lands?¡± He asked. Pan nodded, ¡°Yes, before her we were broken into tribes that warred against one another constantly.¡± Victor paced in front of her, ¡°So she is immortal, like me. That¡¯s good and bad, good in that she may have the knowledge to get me home. Bad, that she could see me as a threat and has tons of resources.¡± He suddenly stopped pacing. ¡°I¡¯m hungry, are you hungry?¡± Pan was not going to say no to a free meal, as she literally had nothing to her name now. Not even her clothes. ¡°I could eat master¡­ er Victor.¡± He started off to the ¡®kitchen¡¯ and opened the top to the large metal door and produced a round item wrapped in flexible glass? Or was it cloth that looked like glass? ¡°Victor is fine, I¡¯m going to make a Pizza, I doubt you¡¯ve ever had one, but trust me, they¡¯re great.¡± As he worked they continued the questions, ¡°So cultivators are broken up into sects, each one with its own goals and agendas, but all loyal to the Empress?¡± Pan nodded, ¡°Yes, and then the Iron Legions are armored mortals who keep the peace throughout the empire, although none of the towns around here are large enough to boast a garrison.¡± The metal and glass hinged door was opened and the round cake like object that was placed on a pan was put into it and the door closed. ¡°Ok, twenty minutes and we eat. So tell me, what kin is the Empress?¡± Pan looked confused, ¡°The Empress is the Empress, she has no kin.¡± Victor wiped his hands on a small dish towel, ¡°So you are rabbit-kin, I¡¯ve met tiger-kin and boar-kin, and others, but she has no kin?¡± Pan made a sudden connection, ¡°No, she is like you. She has no kin.¡± Victor dropped the dish towel on the counter, ¡°So she¡¯s human.¡± ________________ ¡°Curse that damnable Victor Cane!¡± Mei swore as she and Xiang pushed the wagon to free it from the mud once more as the Ox pulling it simply lacked the strength to free it. Xiang looked to her sect sister, ¡°My my, Mei.¡± She chuckled at her own word play. ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better I¡¯d say you were getting fixated on the male.¡± Mei stared daggers at her companion, she knew she could feel the killing intent, but as they were both second tier, it did little. ¡°The male was aloof, arrogant, cared nothing for face, and ignored me on the battlefield!¡± Xiang grinned even more as she climbed aboard the wagon and took the reins. ¡°Don¡¯t think the rest of your sisters haven¡¯t noticed the way you talk about him, you cover your interest with complaint, but it is a thin sheet.¡± Mei reached down to her left hand, ¡°He put his hand on mine in the Inn before he flew away on wings of fire. He was trying to comfort me on the loss of our sisters.¡± Xiang turned her head sharply, ¡°You didn¡¯t put that in your report, this is the first any of us have heard of it.¡± Mei sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to think of it. Male cultivators are so rare, just seeing one outside of the the sect inner circles is a rarity. Most of us never get to even speak to a male cultivator unless we ascend to a high tier within the sect, making us worthy of being in their presence. I wanted to cherish it.¡± Xiang smiled as she looked back to the ox before snapping the reins, ¡°I would cherish it too, this is a hard life, mortal men would break in our embrace, but a cultivator male would not. He was a good looking man for a foreigner too.¡± Mei shuddered, ¡°That he is, even if a bit rugged, he is evidently a soldier after all.¡± Xiangs mischievous grin was back, ¡°I knew it, you were pining over this Victor!¡± Mei¡¯s killing intent was definitely felt by Xiang this time as she laughed uproariously at her friends discomfort. ¡°Fear not my OLDER sister, for in one passing of the moon we will be in the Celestial City and you can deliver your prize to the Empress. I am sure after this you will get to see your handsome soldier again. That is, if the Empress doesn¡¯t take him as her own.¡± Xiang sang the last part with glee. Mei stopped glaring, ¡°You don¡¯t think she would do that do you?¡± She asked Xiang laughed so hard she almost fell off the wagon. Betrayer ¡°Petro 1 online!¡± Victor said to no one in particular as he stared at the small refineries in the new cavern. He watched as his larger hauler drones continued to fill the large hoppers as the machine chugged away at turning raw petroleum into naphtha. From there he would convert it into the polymers he needed. Checking his tablet he left the cavern and walked to Manufacturing to check in on his auto factories. He couldn¡¯t expect to keep using his jump jets to get around. Something would eventually go wrong with them in the field and he would be stuck Emperor only knows how far away from home base. The factories churned out pre-fabricated parts, as they were completed, drones took them to their proper storage location until he was ready to finish construction. In a few days or so everything would be ready for the nano-forge to finish construction of his personal shuttle. ¡°Thank the Emperor that I was able to make those connections with Imperial Logistics.¡± He thought, something like this is highly illegal for non-citizens to own. The added weaponry was also highly illegal, even for a Citizen. He continued his morning inspections, it calmed him, like his routine in the guard of checking on his men and equipment. Heading back up the shaft he stopped by the meat labs. Peering into the inspection window he saw the dishes that was to be his primary protein resource were currently being grown inside. Looking over to the progress bar it showed the first of this batch to be ready in fifty two hours. He turned and walked over to Hydro 1 for inspection. He knew he had a few more weeks before it bore fruit, quite literally. But it was much larger, and would supply far more of his, and now Pan¡¯s food source. The last couple of days had been nice. Once she understood he was not a cultivator, or even from this world she had endless questions. Some about him, but mostly about his wondrous machines. The idea that she could cook without fire, or let a machine clean the dishes, the clothing, or even the Habitat was near divine level power in her eyes. Well, this was all he was getting accomplished for now, Petro 2 wouldn¡¯t have a space available until tomorrow. He¡¯d have the Nano-Forge start spitting out refineries in the morning and have the hauler drones move them there before setup for the natural gas. He tapped a few more times on his tablet before turning around and heading for the Hab. ___________________ Pan was sure she had died and gone to the heavens, yes, those Ox-Kin must have killed her and this was her afterlife. She must have lived a good life, for she had magical devices that now allowed her to live in luxury. Not to mention a strong and powerful man to spend her time with. She hadn¡¯t quite figured out how to bed him yet, he didn¡¯t seem to catch on to subtile hints, perhaps that was from his life in his army with an Emperor? She finished pulling out one of those fabulous ¡®Pizzas¡¯ from the fireless ¡®oven¡¯ and placed it on the glass top ¡®stove¡¯ that also cooked without fire. She was learning the language Victor used to explain his magical devices. She did love his accent, it seemed so regal. She heard the outer door slam and looked over to see Victor coming into the ¡®Habitat¡¯. He closed the door behind him and turned to see what she was up to. ¡°I think you may be addicted to those.¡± He said as he looked over to pizza pan. Pan picked up the pizza cutter, an amazing wheeled knife and started to work making the slices that would allow for easier consumption. ¡°I have never had anything so complex before. It seems to have all the flavors at once!¡± She stated as she finished and ran her finger over the cutter to get the sauce before walking over to Victor to offer him to taste it. Maybe that will give him the hint. Victor looked a bit surprised before licking the sauce from her fingers, she turned and sauntered away, dropping the cutter in the sink before sucking the remainder off her fingers and pulling a few plates out of the cupboards. She waved Victor to the table, another amazing piece of furniture that seemed to be without flaw as she brought two plates over before turning around and reaching into the ¡®fridge¡¯ to get out two beers. She struggled to twist the sharp metal tops off so she gave them to Victor, who seemed to be able to twist a mountain top off if he willed it. He removed them and sat them in the center of the table as he watched her sit. ¡°So, how did your¡­ what do you call them? Oh yes, ¡®equipment inspections¡¯ go?¡± Victor set down his slice of pizza that he had brought up to blow on to cool. ¡°Not bad, I got the refineries up and running for Petroleum 1. That means I can make more things like this.¡± He pointed to the salt and pepper shakers. ¡°That¡¯s not glass, like you would expect here, that is a type of clear plastic called acrylic.¡± Pan marveled, not just at the fact he could make clear things like glass, but that he could make them in such abundance as to create frivolous things like the salt and pepper shakers. Victor continued, ¡°The auto factories are hard at work creating the parts for a shuttle craft. This is a small aircraft usually meant to carry up to six people long distances across a planetary surface. After the parts are completed, some of which will need the plastics from Petro 1 that just came online this morning I will use the Nano-Forge to complete the construction.¡± Pan chewed her pizza as she thought about what he said. ¡°So with this ¡®shuttle¡¯ we could visit anywhere we wanted, anywhere in the world?¡± Victor nodded, ¡°Yes, a world is a very big place, and I have no idea how far away this Celestial City is. I need a way to get there, and if necessary, get away from there. I may be stuck in magical not-china, but I doubt there is very much here that can get through even a shuttle crafts¡¯ shields.¡± As if that sparked something in his head he reached for his tablet and had it display a hologram above it. Pan stopped eating as she saw it was a globe with water and land, and the land to the west seemed to go around the globe and were not displayed, he had outlined the centermost area in red. ¡°This is the Celestial Empire as near as I can tell from orbit. There is a continuous wall all the way around it anyways, which is what I have been told. We are here.¡± He gestured and a little flag appeared. ¡°Now, can you give me some idea of where the major cities are?¡± Pan slid her chair over, ¡°Well, everyone knows where the Celestial City is located, she pointed to a location.¡± Victor nodded and did that pinching thing he did with the tablet that seemed to bring everything in much closer. She stared in amazement, there was the city, from above, li upon li of it. Victor reversed his pinching motion and brought it back to the overhead view of the Empire, ¡°Ok, assuming Mei gets my communicator to the Empress, we have a destination. According to the ping she is still a few weeks out from the city, which gives me time to plan. If the Empress is human, she may be like me and have technology at her disposal, as well as plenty of subjects with magic.¡± Victor sighed, ¡°I hope I don¡¯t have to travel there. With any luck the Empress will simply want me gone and tell me if she knows a way back to Terra, if that is where she is really from she will tell me via communicator and I can be on my way.¡± This got all of Pan¡¯s attention. She knew he was trying to get back to where he came from, but this time it really hit her that he would leave. She had to ask, ¡°Victor, if she does just give you the magical spell or send you a magical object to get home, what will happen to me?¡± Victor finished chewing his pizza and taking a deep swallow before answering, ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure yet. There are a few problems with bringing you with me. Your ears are not human, and anything not human in the Empire is Xenos. Which would be bad for you, really bad.¡± He then took a pull of his beer before setting it down, ¡°You also don¡¯t speak our language, and I doubt you ever would without gene-mod translation. Which is something I don¡¯t have the SBC¡¯s for, and finally, I¡¯m a soldier in the Imperial Guard, which means I cannot fraternize until my discharge from the corp.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Pan looked down at her plate, her vision started to blur, she stopped herself, she didn¡¯t want to start crying again like the first day she met him. ¡°So you will leave me here because going with you would be dangerous or deadly to me? You truly come from a dark place Victor.¡± Victor looked over to her before putting a large calloused hand on her shoulder, ¡°My galaxy is a brutal one, mankind stands alone against an uncaring universe that would like nothing more than for us to all to meet our end. The Emperor protects, and with his legions he keeps the light of Humanity going. I am part of that legion, and I have sworn a duty to keep all of mankind from being wiped out.¡± Victor then sighed, ¡°That being said, I cannot see being able to bring you back with me safely, my people simply will not understand. However, before I go I will setup everything here to ensure that you will be able to live out your life here in comfort and safety.¡± Pan dabbed at her eyes with her napkin, ¡°You will leave behind all these fabulous items for me, someone you only met a few days ago?¡± Victor nodded, he could use the Nano-Forge to build another hab, gather most of the raw materials his drones had mined and smelted into his Dimensional Storage and still probably come out ahead. ¡°Yes, everything but the Nano-Forge and Nano-Foundry, well, and some of the raw materials, I¡¯ll need those after I retire. Of course, if the way back is easy enough, I can come back for you after my time is up with the Corp and established on a colony world or asteroid somewhere.¡± He then picked up another slice of pizza, ¡°Of course, this conversation means nothing if the Empress has no idea how to get me back. If she does not, well, then I guess I will be stuck here forever.¡± He said as he took a huge bite out of his pizza. ____________________ ¡°Where did they all come from?¡± Xiang shouted to Mei as they bounced from tree branch to tree branch making their escape far faster than the instinctual bear-kin could run through the dense underbrush of the forest. Mei clutched the amulet tightly as she concentrated on escape. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but they seemed to know we were there. If not for their smell we would have met the same fate as our wagon and ox.¡± Now they were on foot, and they had lost the cart full of supplies. They were at least a day away from the nearest village they could use a calling stone from. This meant staying at a farm house or small hovel they found along the way for the night. The instinctuals would not stop coming once they had their scent, and the two of them were no match for the eight that she counted. ¡°We have to keep moving and hope that we find somewhere to rest for the night or horses to extend our lead.¡± Xiang nodded as they focused on escape. Behind them the bear-kin roared as they tore through the underbrush after their prey. After finding a small spring, they crossed halfway and headed upstream a few li. They then continued traveling southwest towards their destination. As luck would have it they found a small farming collective. The family matriarch welcomed them in, bowing deeply. ¡°We welcome you into our modest home, oh powerful cultivators.¡± Mei kept her face placid as she and Xiang entered the small farmstead. It astonished Mei how some of these backwater peasants lived. While clean enough, it was small, cramped, and hot. The matriarch of the family was up there in age, and had herself a prominent place on the kang, to which one of her many prodigy kept stoked. ¡°We will only be here for the night. As I told you earlier, instinctuals are prowling in the forest to the northwest and in great numbers. We must get to the nearest town to call for more Imperial presence here to cull them.¡± The matriarch nodded as she used her cane to climb back onto her mountain of pillows and stuffings. ¡°Forgive this old lady mighty cultivators, but my bones ache and I must sit back down again. The village of Weishun is a few hours travel to the east, it has a small number of the Jade Consortium make their home there to trade goods all over the Empire. They would have a calling stone. Xiang sniffed as she turned to Mei, ¡°The Jade Consortium cares more for wealth than the defense of our lands. They will not deal with the instinctuals, but maybe we can call out for more aid before continuing our journey.¡± Mei nodded, ¡°Very well matriarch, we will leave for Weishun in the morning, we require food and a place to rest for the evening.¡± The matriarch gestured to a woman who seemed as if she were a younger version of the goat-kin elder. ¡°Allow me to serve you mighty cultivators.¡± The lady said as she bowed deeply and lead them to a not too stable table with a few chairs in even worse condition. After they ate their fill and drank the quite good beer the younger male brought to them, grinning stupidly at the two tiger-kin and bowing deeply he left. Mei looked over to Xiang, ¡°I believe you have an admirer.¡± Xiang waved her away, ¡°He is but a mortal, and if he somehow got what he wanted, during the throes of passion he would either be injured or killed. Now your Victor on the other hand, he would not suffer such a fate.¡± She stated as she grinned to her sect sister. Mei sighed, this again? ¡°You know as well as I do that Victor is not mine. He did intrust me with this item to take to the Empress, but that does not mean he wishes to make me one of his mistresses.¡± Xiang sat back in the rickety chair, ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. He placed his hands on you already, perhaps he will put more on you when you next meet.¡± Mei blushed, ¡°You are horrible Xiang, come on, we must rest for the morning will be coming early.¡± __________________ Shihan cursed quietly as she placed the calling stone back in her desk drawer. ¡°Damn that Mei and Xiang! And damn those stupid turtles of Bear-Kin filth!¡± They had but one job, eliminate the two cultivators and take the jeweled amulet. Nothing more! She sighed and ran her hands through her graying hair, the betrayer would not take the news of this lightly. If this hidden master was as powerful as he was reported, and he joined forces with the Empress, this rebellion was lost. There was nothing else for it, she would need to reach out to her contacts to once more track down and eliminate the two cultivators that had become a thorn in her side. She drank from her lukewarm tea before gathering her thoughts. Other reports were coming back promising, the northeastern portion of the Empire was firmly in the hands of the rebellion. Imperial forces and their damnable iron legion were defeated at Ho-Jiang. That will sting the Empress, for her forces haven¡¯t felt loss in millennia. Oh, it wasn¡¯t a complete victory, the iron legion showed they were not to be underestimated, even though outflanked, outmaneuvered, and outnumbered, they still did serious damage to the rebel army. But that legion no longer existed, fighting to the last man rather than admit to defeat. She reached into the lower drawer of her desk and with a slight bit of chi revealed the hidden compartment within. She pulled out another calling stone, this one darker than the one she received the report from Mei from earlier. With another small amount of instinctive chi she activated the stone. A strangely gravely voice answered on the other end. ¡°What have you to report Shihan?¡± It asked. Shihan had never met who was on the other end of the stone, for all she knew it was the betrayer herself, but she doubted it. This rebellion had been in the works for decades, and spread across the Celestial Empire so deep even if it failed, it would never be completely removed. ¡°The Bear-Kin failed at their task. They have even lost the scent of their prey. Other means must be brought to bare against these two cultivators. The object they carry must not reach the Empress.¡± The voice on the other end said nothing, as though taking in what she said. ¡°That is unfortunate, perhaps you should have taken the object yourself and disposed of it. No, that would not have worked, the Iron Paw sect would have been suspicious and this hidden master may have come looking for it and uncovered the truth.¡± The voice continued, ¡°Even the destruction of the jewel will only delay this hidden master from contacting the Empress, do we have any idea of his location now?¡± Shihan shook her head, even though she knew that the figure on the other side could not see it, ¡°No, I fear even the rooster-kin we sent in the general area he flew to on wings of fire could find no trace of him. There is nothing but mountains and beyond that the Great Wall. I doubt even this hidden master could pass it.¡± She continued, ¡°There was however, a group of Ox-Kin instinctives slain at the base of the mountain range, I believe them to be part of Lao¡¯s brood. They were all cut in half, as though they were charging something and a giant wheat scythe cut them all down. Strangely there was no blood, the wounds were cauterized as though they were subjected to intense heat.¡± The voice was silent a bit longer before continuing, ¡°That would be in line with the hidden masters known fire talents. Perhaps he is leaving the Empire via the Great Wall in that area. You said he had foreign features, perhaps he can leave this prison of an Empire at will? Oh how the great betrayer would love to know the means by which one could do that!¡± Shihan said nothing, noting that this was not in fact the betrayer speaking to her, but some underling. The voice continued, ¡°Very well, we will send another contingent to deal with these two cultivators, but perhaps we should take their amulet for the betrayer. Surely there is something we have that he wants?¡± Shihan did speak up now, ¡°He stated to Mei in her report that he was looking for a way home, which does seem to imply he has breached the wall somehow, but does not know how to get back. I do not know if that means he his trapped like us, or if he simply needs directions. The voice spoke back. ¡°The betrayer took with her vast quantities of knowledge from the Imperial Palace, perhaps in it is the knowledge he needs, and we can trade it for him to not join sides with the Empress. Yes, this is a sound plan, we will use this amulet to our advantage!¡± The calling stone went black once more, indicating the call was completed. Shihan did not know if they could turn this hidden master to their side, but she did not wish to see this Victor Cane join sides with the Empress. She already had many powerful cultivators on her side, some far stronger than herself. She would wait in hiding until she was needed, until then, she had the minutia of paperwork it takes to keep a small region under the control of a sect to complete. With any luck, once the rebellion defeats the Empress there will be no more paperwork. Arrival Pan sat up in the luxurious bed and stretched, arching her back and putting her arms above her head. Last night was everything she hoped it would be. Victor finally bedded her, she was a little shocked at how gentle he was. Someone as strong as her soldier should have been far rougher with her, but he treated her as if she were made of the finest porcelain. This morning he had already gotten up, climbed into the shower, and was now making something he called ¡®pancakes¡¯. They smelled amazing, and curiosity was getting the better of her as she lay on the fluffy pillows. Being rabbit-kin gave her enhanced hearing, she had four ears after all. She smiled as she heard Victor humming happily while he worked in the kitchen. She slid out of bed and grabbed the amazingly soft robe and covered herself, then slid her feet into equally soft slippers as the white floor was cool to the touch. As she slipped out of the bedroom Victor spoke, ¡°Ah, you¡¯re finally up.¡± ¡°Damn, how could he hear me from here with these slippers on with such tiny ears?¡± She thought to herself. She wanted to sneak up on him and put her arms around him while he cooked. Instead she sauntered over to the table and sat down in one of the chairs. ¡°So, what are these ¡®Pancakes¡¯ that you keep talking about?¡± Victor turned around with a plate stacked high with saucer shaped disks of some kind of bread? ¡°Well, he did say cakes.¡± She thought. He then dished out three of the large ¡®pancakes¡¯ on to her plate and then summoned a bottle of a thick brown liquid. ¡°And this, is the syrup to cover the pancakes.¡± He then covered the bread disks in the syrup and handed her a fork. Yet another of his strange eating utensils. Pan watched as he made his own plate and cut the pancakes into small triangles with this fork before spearing it and taking a bite. She decided to give it a try and cut her own smaller triangle, making sure to get the sweet smelling syrup on the piece she cut. Her ears raised straight up as the flavor hit her tongue. Victor smiled wide, ¡°Good aren¡¯t they? Nothing better to recover your energies after a vigorous night.¡± Pan couldn¡¯t disagree, this was nothing like anything she had ever tasted. This would be something only the wealthy could afford. Victor swallowed again before speaking. ¡°So, would you like to go with me today for my equipment inspections?¡± She wasn¡¯t sure what Victor had on his mind, but this was not what she expected. She was being offered a chance to see how a virtual god built his magical devices. How could she say no? She finished chewing and swallowed, ¡°I¡¯d love to see how you make such miraculous devices, let¡¯s finish eating and I¡¯ll get dressed.¡± After dressing she met Victor in the airlock as he readied his ¡®tablet¡¯. He then opened the extremely thick door into the cavern. The cavern looked different than it did the last time she left the habitat. It suddenly hit her as to the difference, the walls and floors were now painted white, and the magical light disks on the ceiling reflected far more light. She followed behind Victor as he tapped on his tablet with his fingers. He turned his head back to her, ¡°We¡¯re coming up on resource storage, this won¡¯t take long.¡± She followed him into a huge cavern that reached far above her head. Metal shelves held large cages filled with ingots of various metals. Each had Victor¡¯s strange rune like symbols and strange squares with black and white squares in them. ¡°I usually randomly scan the codes and verify there are roughly the amount of ingots in the bins that my inventory control computer says there is. Can¡¯t go running out of copper or silver, both are necessary for the next stage in construction.¡± Pan looked up in amazement, ¡°All these bins are silver?¡± Victor turned back, ¡°Yes, those six are silver, the ones beside it are aluminum, these two here are gold. The tanks over there are petroleum for plastics.¡± Pan tried to keep her jaw from dropping even more, ¡°There is more wealth in this room than in most of the province!¡± Victor continued his ¡®scans¡¯ as they walked back and forth across the huge shelves, dodging a cargo drone as it stored more ingots in their proper place. ¡°This mountain was scanned from above the planet, it was chosen because of its high metallicity. Which will come in handy for all the things I need to build.¡± They left the storage facility and walked further down the cavern. ¡°Next up, manufacturing and assembly.¡± Victor stated as they walked. This time they did not enter a huge room off the cavern, but the cavern itself widened out hundreds of meters in both directions and at least a dozen meters up. Huge machines sat at regular intervals chugging away. Victor took a left turn and Pan followed. ¡°These are auto factories. They take the raw resources and break them down to manufacture the individual parts necessary for me to build what I want.¡± Pan put her hand against the smooth white surface of the huge machine. ¡°They¡¯re so big, how many of these are there?¡± Victor didn¡¯t look up as he tapped on his tablet, ¡°Twelve in each construction cell. All are being used to complete parts for the shuttle.¡± Pan watched as a small metal assembly was spat out of the end of one of the machines. A small drone picked it up and waved a thin red light over the part before placing it in a small plastic bin. As she followed Victor he spoke again, ¡°On the other side is assembly, that takes these parts and assembles them into bigger components.¡± Pan watched as huge metal arms manipulated parts and occasionally from behind metal guards bright white light shown and large cones gathered what must have been foul air from the work. They made their way back to where the center of the cavern was and looked over to the other huge machines on the other side of the room. ¡°Those two huge machines are the nano-forge and nano-foundry. The foundry supplies fuel for the forge, but the forge does the work of final assembly of the complex parts I build.¡± Pan didn¡¯t fully understand, and as the machines were not doing anything at the moment she couldn¡¯t really get an idea for how they did things. ¡°So this will build the shuttle that could take us anywhere on this world?¡± Victor nodded, ¡°Yes, in a few days the major sub-components will be ready and the nano-forge will assemble them together into the final product. Something like a shuttle requires atomic level precision, and only the nano-forge is capable of that level of detail.¡± Pan shook her head as she followed him out of the huge room back into the other side of the cavern, ¡°You built all of this in just a few weeks?¡± Victor looked back, ¡°Well, yeah, some of it was in storage, but most of it had to be built from the resources mined here. I don¡¯t have infinite dimensional storage after all.¡± Pan thought to herself, ¡°Divinities in the stories couldn¡¯t do some of the things he nonchalantly does before lunch.¡± ¡°And here is Petroleum refining.¡± Victor stated as they stood behind a huge metal and glass door. Pan looked through the glass at huge machines that consisted of massive pipes covered the inside of the room. One of the hauler drones was backed up to the wall and connected to a pipe and was making a large chugging noise. Pan waited a moment as Victor continued to stare down at this tablet. ¡°Are we not going into this room?¡± Victor shook his head, ¡°Nah, Petro 1 and 2 are running fine, and the fumes in there are dangerous without a rebreather, no matter how much ventilation I add. Come on, off to hydroponics!¡± They walked still further down until the cavern branched off. Victor pointed to the right, ¡°This is where the cavern breaks off and turns into the mine shaft, we¡¯ll continue left.¡± They walked for a long while until they finally reached a doorway on each side of the cavern, ¡°This is Hydroponics, the other side is the meat lab and canned storage. I may have gone overboard on this, but I¡¯m used to ensuring I have plenty of supplies for my troops, if nothing else I¡¯ll have surplus for the nearby towns.¡± They walked into hydroponics. Row after row of vegetables and fruits grew towards large blue lights in the ceiling. Their roots sat in water, but they looked perfectly healthy. Small drones buzzed about the plants doing different chores. Pan gasped, ¡°There is enough food here to feed several villages!¡± Victor smiled and nodded, ¡°Yeah, like I said, over did this, but it won¡¯t go to waste, as the food is harvested it is sent to canning where it will be safe for a couple of decades. The canning equipment can also prepare and package things for easier consumption, like the pizzas that you love so much¡­ Or the pancake mix.¡± Pan slowly stared back at Victor, ¡°So we have infinite pizza?¡± Victor laughed, ¡°Well, I suppose we do. Come on, let¡¯s check across the hall on the meat labs andcanning.¡± They exited hydroponics and into the next huge room. This one was far different, inside sat hundreds of small white metal containers with glass windows. Victor walked up to one and peered inside before showing Pan, ¡°Inside here we are growing genetically modified meat. This one is beef, and each one of these half full dishes will continue to grow the beef until it is full, then harvest it before canning.¡± Pan looked in at the dozens of small glass dishes filled halfway with pink meat. ¡°Wait, you grow meat like a farmer would vegetables?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Victor nodded, ¡°It¡¯s a little more complex than that, the cells require a special nutrient bath, as well as specific light to grow, but in essence, yes, I grow meat here.¡± Pan stepped back and looked around, ¡°What other meats are you growing besides beef?¡± Victor sighed, ¡°Sadly, the only cultures I could afford were beef, poultry, and pork. Had I continued my service to the Emperor, by the time I retired I could have bought more, but that probably won¡¯t happen now.¡± She followed Victor to a door off the lab that probably said ¡®Canning¡¯ or something in his language and watched in fascination as his machines placed fruits, vegetables, and meats in cans, bottles, and pouches. The noise from the machines was nearly deafening to her delicate ears, so Victor hurried her through to the storage area. Inside the ceiling once again raised to over a dozen meters and row after row of the same metal shelves covered the room. This time the height was much closer together and the bins were much smaller. Very few of the bins held anything. Victor tapped at his tablet. ¡°This is just getting started, some of the faster growing fruits and vegetables as well as the first small batches of meats are stored, but it will be weeks before we begin stockpiling food.¡± Pan looked around at the mostly empty shelfs, ¡°We have enough to get by until then, right?¡± Victor nodded, ¡°Yeah, the habitat has a couple of weeks of food for several people, plus I have more in storage, this will be our primary source of food in the future.¡± After a few more taps he nodded to himself and ushered Pan out of the storage area and back through the noisy canning area before they exited from the lab into the cavern. Pan looked back to see the corridor ended shortly past the two doors, ¡°So this is what you inspect everyday?¡± She asked as they walked back to the habitat. Victor nodded, ¡°Yeah, this is what I check on. Luckily most of it is automated, some things I can handle with my implants, but it¡¯s easier with this tablet.¡± He stated as he shook the device. Pan didn¡¯t know what implants were, but simply nodded and followed him back to the airlock. Once inside, Victor sat on the large couch and dropped his tablet on the table beside it. Pan sat down beside him and curled up under his arm. She didn¡¯t want him to go, this was as close to heaven as she could have ever dreamed. Victor smiled down at her, ¡°Hey, wanna watch a movie?¡± Pan smiled up at him, ¡°Only if you make more of that ¡®popcorn¡¯ stuff we had last time. Maybe something I don¡¯t have to read a ton of ¡®subtitles¡¯.¡± Victor grunted as he got off the couch and headed to the kitchen. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do, in the mean time, let me get us a big bowl of popcorn!¡± _________________ Mei sighed as she adjusted the wide brimmed peasants hat and adjusted the rough sawn robe over her blue silk one. ¡°Remind me again why we have to dress as peasants?¡± Xiang planted her walking stick into the ground as she walked, ¡°Because someone obviously is looking for us, first the bear-kin instinctuals, then the rooster-kin we spotted yesterday. We¡¯ve had this conversation already Mei, are you afraid someone will recognize you?¡± Mei continued to follow the road along with the rest of the peasants towards the Celestial City, ¡°The hat is uncomfortable, the clothes itch and stink, I think I prefer to fight my way there.¡± Xiang sighed, ¡°Just another day and we will be inside the city walls, catching a ride on that supply wagon helped us make up for lost time.¡± Mei nodded, ¡°I can¡¯t wait, a nice bath and clean clothes for a change.¡± Xiang glanced over, ¡°Not getting soft on me are you Mei?¡± Mei glared over at Xiang but said nothing after seeing the smile on her face. She wouldn¡¯t rise to her goading. They slept in a field that night before reaching the city gates and discarding their disguises. The gate guards stepped aside after noticing the jade amulets on their wrists. Either that or they were distancing themselves from the smell. Half an hour later they presented themselves in front of Shui Lau, the headmistress of the Iron Paw sect. Shui was middle-aged, hair turning slowly to gray, being a cultivator she was still beautiful, even though she was probably closer to one hundred and fifty years than one hundred. Shui raised an eyebrow as she eyed the two, ¡°I believe you could have visited the baths before you came to me?¡± Mei glared over at Xiang who was insistent that they see the headmistress before they did anything else. ¡°Much apologies headmistress, we felt it was imperative that we report in first, we have been attacked several times on our way here. Always by instinctuals, and we¡¯re pretty sure they know we carry a missive to the Empress.¡± Shui took a small sip of her tea before continuing, ¡°Shihan sent a message stating you were coming, but she failed to mention a missive to the Empress herself. Care to explain?¡± Xiang spoke first, ¡°Shihan must have known what we carried would be important and did not want to risk someone listening in. We ran into a hidden master defending Wuzhen, we were overrun by wolf-kin instinctuals, and he came to our aid.¡± Shui looked from Xiang to Mei, ¡°HE came to your aid? A male hidden master?¡± Mei nodded, ¡°Yes mistress, at first I thought him to be a spy for the instinctuals, but he sensed my incoming attack from behind and dodged. I then found myself inside a residents house as he destroyed the roof below my feet before he flew to the clock tower in the center of town.¡± Xiang continued, ¡°It was then that I called to Mei for aid as the wolf-kin were over-running the wall and we were forced back into the town center.¡± Mei picked up where Xiang left off as Shui¡¯s gaze went from one of them to the other. ¡°As we were driven back he landed behind us and burned several that were flanking us before stepping through our ranks and burning the rest.¡± Shui looked at both of them, ¡°So this hidden master then imparted a message unto you to take to the Empress herself?¡± Mei nodded and brought out the silver bauble the hidden master known as Cane had given her to take to the Empress, the red gem in the center gleamed in the light of the head mistresses office. Shui looked at the bauble, then looked back to the two across from her. Her face went ashen before she spoke, ¡°Hide that immediately Mei.¡± Shui quickly stood up as Mei secreted the bauble away, she shouted to those in the outer chamber, ¡°Gather a group of our best cultivators, make sure Xue is sober and with us!¡± Mei turned to Xiang and raised an eyebrow before speaking, ¡°Head Mistress, is everything ok?¡± Shui turned back so quickly her robes spun around her, ¡°No, you have dropped a divinity stone on my desk!¡± She then turned back to the doorway. Mei and Xiang stood and moved to behind the head mistress looking to each other before staring ahead awaiting orders. Soon a contingent of the Iron Paw Sect stood ready, weapons in view and Shui looked back over her shoulder, ¡°We will be going to the Imperial palace right now, there is perfume in my top desk drawer, both of you use it, there is no time for you to bathe before hand. Hopefully Xue will be here soon.¡± Mei and Xiang used the basin to clean as best they could before using the obviously expensive perfume from the head mistress¡¯s desk, they stood behind the headmistress as a tall stocky woman entered the adjoining room brandishing a glaive that nearly touched the ceiling. Shui spoke, ¡°Good of you to join us this morning Xue, I hope you do not need to bloody that giant weapon of yours, but I fear you may. For this morning we visit the Empress herself, and some may try to stop us.¡± Xue grinned menacingly, ¡°They may try, but they will fail.¡± She then turned to the rest of the gathered cultivators, ¡°Form around the headmistress and her underlings, I will take point.¡± With that said, and without looking back to ensure her orders were followed she exited the office. Soon Mei and Xiang were surrounded by cultivators far stronger than themselves as the headmistress walked ahead of them towards the tallest building in the celestial city. The palace sparkled in the light of the morning sun, Mei noticed the headmistress seemed to the commoner on the street as though she were calm, but her fists were clenched so hard her knuckles were white. The crowds in the streets parted as though they were sharks and the crowds were bait fish, some of that was surely the killing intent that seeped off of Xue at the head of the group. Within minutes they were before the gates of the palace, an Imperial guard captain walked out to meet them in her golden armor. She stopped before Xue, who slammed her glaive down so hard it splintered the hard packed street before the palace. ¡°Lady Shui Lau of the Iron Paw Sect, what brings you unannounced to the Imperial palace today?¡± The golden captain asked. Shui answered, ¡°I bring forth a missive in the form of a divinity stone for the Empress herself.¡± The Captain¡¯s eyes went wide before she shouted orders in the Imperial tongue, her eyes never leaving the group. Soon the group were surrounded by Imperial guard and ushered inside the Imperial gates before the huge metal doors were closed behind them. The Captain then spoke as she began walking, ¡°A divinity stone has not been seen in the Empire in centuries, nor has the gates of the palace been closed. I will take you to the Empress herself, I already have a runner informing her of your presence, if she didn¡¯t already sense you, which is more than possible.¡± Shui just nodded, Mei and Xiang followed keeping their heads straight but their eyes darted in all directions taking in the splendor of the palace. Intricate metal columns held up the massive ceiling in the entryway. As they walked they saw tapestries displaying feats of heroics from the empires¡¯ past. Finally, after what seemed like forever they entered a grand chamber. Mystical lights shown down from above in a ceiling so high even cultivator eyes strained to see it. The same ornate metal columns held up this ceiling, as guards were posted between each one. Flags from ancient and sometimes forgotten kingdoms were flown from each column showing the might of the Celestial Empire, which had consumed each of these kingdoms in its might. Soon they noticed the carpet below their feet went from red for welcome to purple for audience with the Empress. Every cultivator was brought up on the ceremony from a young age, should they ever be so privileged to have an audience with the Empress. They all dropped to one knee a heartbeat after the Captain dropped to both of hers. The Captain spoke in a surprisingly loud tone, her voice amplified by the room itself. ¡°Your Majesty, a contingent of the Iron Paw sect has brought a missive to you. It is placed within a divinity stone.¡± The Immortal Empress, dressed in elaborate gold and purple robes stood from her throne and stepped down the steps of her raised pedestal before stopping in front of the Captain. She looked down at the bowed group, ¡°Captain Jun, you have done well bringing them to me immediately, I assume you implemented the ¡®Jericho¡¯ protocol?¡± Mei could not help but wonder at her imperial accent, so much like Victor Cane¡¯s. The Captain spoke, but never raised her head, ¡°I have my liege, the palace is in lock down as you have ordered should a divinity stone arrive at our gates.¡± The Empress did not smile, ¡°It is good that you did, while this standing order to the Captain of the guard is over a millennia old, it is one of your most important duties. I now order you back to your post, be vigilant, for the Empire may be in more danger than you can imagine.¡± The Captain stood, saluted with a fist over her heart, and exited the Imperial chamber the way they came in. The Empress then looked down at the Iron Paw sect, still on one knee and bowed, ¡°Rise Iron Paw Sect, and follow me.¡± The group rose as one, although confusion was apparent on all their faces, but they dared not say a word before the Empress as they followed her towards a solid metal wall. Before the Empress the wall suddenly slid open and a bright and inviting room awaited them, she waved them to the large table which had more chairs than they had members before seating herself at the head of the table and the wall closed behind them. The Empress looked around, ¡°Now that we are out of the view and hearing of the pompous leaders, aristocrats and troublemakers we can get to the bottom of this.¡± She then brought up her hand, palm up, and looked at the floating glyphs of the Imperial language before closing it and nodding. She then spread her hands across the top of the conference table. ¡°Now that I am sure we are not being overheard, who has this divinity stone?¡± Shui looked over to Mei, ¡°One of my sect members, Mei Hu was given the divinity stone by what she thought was a hidden master and told to bring it in person to you. She thought it a missive or symbol, I do not believe she knew what it was.¡± Mei produced the bauble and placed it on the table. The Empress looked to Mei, ¡°Tell me everything about how you came into possession of this stone, leave no detail out.¡± Mei looked to Shui then started her tale, being as specific as possible. Afterwards she felt spent, as though she had been sparring with the heroes of old. The Empress listened, hands steepled together, ¡°This hidden master, Victor Cane. What kin did he appear to be.¡± Mei hesitated before answering, ¡°I saw no outward sign of kin, and he seemed to have an accent as regal as your own my Empress.¡± The Empress put her hands flat on the table and slid back in her chair staring at the ceiling. Another door slid open from the side of the room, it appeared to be a sitting room, complete with food and drinks. The Empress spoke, ¡°All leave me except Mei, you are to await our return in the sitting room while I ask more questions and check this missive.¡± The others looked around before rising and leaving the room, the giant metal doors closing behind them. The Empress watched them close before turning back to Mei, ¡°Come, sit at my right side and bring the stone.¡± Mei did as she was told and took her place. The Empress picked up the bauble and turned it over in her hand, then with her other hand a thin blue light appeared to run from one side of the object to the other. She then looked to Mei, ¡°This is not of this world, nor was it one I made. This is Imperium technology. I am no longer alone.¡± Bargain Mei looked confused, for the Empress truly looked worried, ¡°Imperium technology? I¡¯m sorry your highness, but I don¡¯t know what that means, it appears to be in Imperial speech.¡± The Empress put down the bauble and sighed, ¡°I truly meant it when I said the Empire could be in more danger than anyone knew, or could fathom.¡± She reached down and picked up the divinity stone and placed her thumb on the red gem, it seemed to glow brighter, when she removed her thumb the imprint glowed on the gem and it began to flash on and off. ¡°Nothing to do now but to wait.¡± She said. ______________ Victor was sitting at the control station in the habitat, setting new routes for the mining drones as they had exhausted their current shaft when an incoming message flashed on his primary screen. He sighed, he was both looking forward to this and dreading it, he acknowledged the request and before him he saw an attractive blonde in a gold and purple robe sitting at a table, beside her sat Mei. He maximized the screen and spoke, ¡°Greetings your highness, I am Captain Victor Cane of the Imperium. I see Mei managed to deliver the communicator to you. Hello Mei!¡± He waved into the camera above the monitor. The blonde seemed to deflate a little at his greetings before sitting up straight again. ¡°Greetings to you Captain, I assume by your presence the Imperium has now perfected dimensional travel?¡± Victor took a moment to take that in, she was speaking Imperium Gothic, ¡°I am not aware as to whether or not they have perfected it, but I was brought here by accident, I am reaching out to you to see if you know of a way to get back?¡± The Empress then seemed to let out a relieved sigh, ¡°So you are not an advanced scout into this dimension?¡± Victor laughed, ¡°No ma¡¯am, just a guy who suffered a transmat accident, my suit said something about getting pushed beyond the finite curve of the universe, whatever that meant.¡± The blonde then seemed to exhale greatly before speaking, ¡°Thank the divinities, I thought I was looking down the barrel of a full scale invasion.¡± Victor shook his head, ¡°No invasion here ma¡¯am, just me. I do need to know if there is a way back though.¡± The Empress paused a moment before speaking, ¡°What year was it when you stepped on that transmat pad?¡± Victor spoke instantly, ¡°The year of our Emperor, 37,867.¡± The Empress nodded back through his screen, ¡°When I arrived here it was the year 30,231. But I have only been here for a little over two millennium. Time does not work the same across dimensions. Nor does it seem to take into account time from one dimension to another.¡± Victor thought about that for a moment, ¡°So what does that mean for me?¡± The Empress sighed, ¡°Hundreds, if not thousands of years have passed since you arrived here just from the transfer between dimensions, now that I know the time difference I could work out the conversion, but even if I could send you back everyone you know would be much older or dead by now, and you would definitely be considered AWOL or MIA.¡± Victor thought on this before answering, ¡°You said even if you could send me back, what did you mean by that?¡± The Empress brought up her hand and a blue hologram appeared above it, ¡°This is a dimensional transmat, it was what I and Dr. Monroe were working on before it failed spectacularly, the next thing I knew I was here, I have no idea what happened to Dr. Monroe.¡± Victor nodded and took a sip of his coffee, ¡°So were you Dr. Monroe¡¯s partner in creating the dimensional transmat?¡± The Empress shook her head, ¡°No, I was to setup basecamp on the other side of whatever we opened up. I was former Imperial Guard, after I did my term I setup a few new colonies in the Emperor¡¯s name. I was on hand for the first real startup of the prototype, now I¡¯m here.¡± Now it all made sense, ¡°So the experiment went horribly wrong or exceptionally right, and you were brought here, luckily with enough gear to start a new colony in an unknown environment, which let you get established here in magical not-china?¡± The pretty blonde on the other end nodded, ¡°Yes, that is the gist of it. I have the information on the dimensional transmat, but I¡¯m no scientist. Even if we could build another, which without at nano-forge that is out of the question, we have no idea if it would take you back to Terra.¡± Victor sighed and ran his hand through his close cropped hair, ¡°So I¡¯m stuck here, and even if I could get back it would be centuries or even millennia in the future.¡± The Empress nodded, then turned somber, ¡°And now that you know the truth, what will you do with that knowledge? Will you be a threat to me Victor Cane?¡± Victor sat back up, ¡°I don¡¯t really see how I could be, you probably have as much technology as I have, the Imperium has stagnated over the last ten millennium, new technologies do still happen, but not like they did in your day and even more so before that.¡± Victor paused, ¡°Plus you have had two thousand years to establish yourself, and are surrounded by magical cultivators. I doubt I am much threat to you.¡± The Empress seemed to take this in for a few seconds, ¡°Very well, you seem to understand the pecking order, now you need to understand what you do not know about.¡± This got Victor¡¯s attention, ¡°I¡¯m all ears Empress.¡± The Empress leaned in to the camera, ¡°I had a daughter about a hundred years ago. Her name is Bao Feng, and a few years ago we had a falling out. She destroyed some of my technology that she knew about and made off with forbidden cultivation texts.¡± Victor nodded, ¡°I had heard mention of a great betrayer in the inn and from¡­ another source, I take it she is your daughter?¡± The Empress nodded looking sad, ¡°That she is, apparently the offspring of someone with gene mods combined with a prodigy in cultivation makes an exceptionally powerful individual.¡± Victor thought for a moment, ¡°The forbidden texts taught her how to use instinctual cultivation?¡± The Empress looked away for a moment before continuing. ¡°It¡¯s worse than that, it takes years, decades even to become a powerful cultivator, but if someone even has the innate talent, they can become a powerful instinctual in weeks.¡± She then sighed, ¡°She recently destroyed the Imperial third army, and while she lost far more troops and cultivators than we did, she can easily replace her numbers, even with males, while I cannot.¡± Victor nodded, seeing what she was getting at, ¡°So you are in a war with your daughter, and it¡¯s not going well for you, I assume you are going to ask me a question?¡± The Empress straightened up again, ¡°I know you are an Imperium Officer, and even in the short time I¡¯ve talked to you I¡¯ve seen that you¡¯ve held back some information. I¡¯m not mad, I understand, I was Imperium too. But I need to know if you have manufacturing capabilities.¡± Victor looked up for a moment trying to decide how much to share, ¡°I do, I was close to retirement and had quite a bit of gear saved in my dimensional storage.¡± The Empress leaned in again, ¡°Do you have a nano-forge?¡± Victor thought for a moment, ¡°Well, there it was, should I lie? The blonde on the monitor noticed his pause, ¡°Judging by your pause I would assume you do, so my next question is, do you have plates for gene mods, weapons or armor?¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s no dummy.¡± Victor thought, in for a penny¡­ ¡°I do not, I do have ammunition, auto factories, refineries, mining drones, forge spiders, as well as food templates and canning plates.¡± The Empress nodded putting her finger to her chin. ¡°Would you consider making a trade? That bitch of a daughter of mine destroyed my nano-forge, which was nearly out of nanites to begin with and without a nano-foundry I had no way of replacing them. So some of my plates are worthless.¡± This did catch Victor¡¯s attention, plates were invaluable back home, here they were damn near priceless. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± The Empress smiled, ¡°I have basic gene mod plates, as well as scout armor and bolter plates, I would be willing to trade them to you if you could manufacture a set amount for me. None of these could be made without a nano-forge, I need the finished product, you want the plates.¡± Victor stifled a swallow at this, gene mod plates were unavailable even on the black markets for any price, even scout armor and bolter plates would be more than all but the richest companies could afford, ¡°And how many of each do you want me to manufacture for you?¡± The Empress sat back in her chair, ¡°As many as I need to win this war and either in-prison or kill my daughter. After that, the plates are yours and we can work out a new deal between us in this world.¡± This wasn¡¯t a hard decision, with that equipment the unknown problem of this world would be vanquished, and the status quo would be brought back, and he would have invaluable plates. ¡°I believe we have a deal your highness. I will have to meet up with you to pick up the plates.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The blonde looked back at him through the monitor, ¡°I hope you have something better than your armor¡¯s jump jets to get here.¡± Victor smiled into the camera, ¡°I think I can do a little better than that.¡± ________________ Mei looked at the Empress dumbfounded, Victor had spoken in common tongue at first, but when the Empress spoke in Imperial, Victor immediately switched to that language. Perhaps that is why his accent was so eloquent. She stared as they had their conversation back and forth, she understood some common words between the languages, but in all, it seemed they were working out a deal of some sort? Soon it was over. The magical vistage of Victor in a strange white room went away, and the Empress spoke, ¡°You did well Mei, Victor Cane will be coming here soon, and after that he will be a loyal subject of the Empire.¡± Mei nodded to the Empress, she wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but she didn¡¯t think Victor was going to just bow the knee that easily, ¡°Thank you Empress, do you think I could see him when he arrives?¡± The Empress raised a single eyebrow at the blushing cultivator before her, ¡°So, you¡¯re a little sweet on our divinity are you?¡± Mei¡¯s mouth dropped, ¡°Divinity?¡± The Empress nodded solemnly, ¡°Surely you did not think I would have been worried for my Empire over a simple hidden master cultivator did you?¡± Mei nodded, looking down at the table. ¡°He did hand me what you call a divinity stone, I guess that would make sense.¡± The Empress looked at Mei for a moment and thought, ¡°Yes, I think I should have you here for his return. Perhaps you should go with him back to his sanctum, maybe it will be part of our deal.¡± Mei looked up at the Empress, was she offering her as a¡­ mistress? Concubine? ¡°May I ask what will be my duties Empress?¡± The Empress smiled at the tiger-kin, ¡°You will keep him company, you will do whatever he asks of you, and you will report back to me as he delivers divine gifts to me.¡± Mei nodded, ¡°As you wish Empress.¡± With that the Empress pushed her chair out and stood up. ¡°Excellent, until he arrives you will be my guest in the royal quarters, where you can get¡­ cleaned up.¡± Mei blushed again as she stood beside the table and the wall opened up once more. The Empress walked around the table and the other wall opened to display the throne room once again. ¡°I would like to thank you Shui for bringing this matter to me immediately, I will be borrowing your pupil Mei for a while, I have a job for her, and I think she will be well suited for it. I will see to it you are compensated.¡± Shui nodded and bowed, the Empress then led Mei out into the throne room where a lady of the court was waiting, the rest of the Iron Paw sect left the way they came in. No one noticed the guard tap her amulet and subvocalize a few words. _______________ Pan tried not to bounce as Victor told her about the Empress, for one, she was rabbit-kin and that would be weird, and the other was that this meant Victor could never go home again. But this also meant he would be staying. She hugged him tight, ¡°I¡¯m sorry you can¡¯t go home, but I would be lying if I didn¡¯t say I¡¯m glad you¡¯re staying with me.¡± He put his arm around her, amazingly gently, considering how strong she knew him to be, ¡°It¡¯s ok Pan, I know you wanted to stay with me, looks like now you¡¯re stuck with me. She pulled away looking up at him, one ear hanging lower than the other, ¡°So you said something about a deal with the Empress?¡± Victor nodded and pulled away to go to the fridge, after opening the door he grabbed a beer and offered Pan one, ¡°Yeah, she has a few things I need, something we call plates. They are extremely rare and they hold the information on how to build what you would consider magical items.¡± Pan took a drink of beer, ¡°I suppose she isn¡¯t just going to give them to you, what does she want in return?¡± Victor took his own pull of beer, ¡°It seems when her daughter went rogue she busted her nano-forge, and without it she can¡¯t make things from those plates anymore.¡± Pan sat down at the table, ¡°But you still have one of your ¡®nano-forges¡¯.¡± Victor sat down across from her, ¡°That I do, and she wants me to make her things from those plates to help her end this rebellion. I do that and I get to keep the plates.¡± Pan leaned forward, ¡°What¡¯s so great about these plate things that you would do all this work for them?¡± Victor laughed, ¡°Well, for one, I can make someone like you more like me.¡± Pan nearly spit out her beer, ¡°What?¡± Victor passed her a napkin as she had some beer that did make it out of her mouth on her chin and shirt. ¡°One of the plates she has is for something called gene mods. Once attached to the persons¡¯s spine they modify them on a genetic level, making them stronger, faster, smarter. Oh, and they give you these neat augments.¡± He stated as he pointed the the silver discs on his arms. Pan was wiping her shirt down and asked, ¡°So someone with one of these ¡®gene-mod¡¯ things would be as strong as you?" Victor shook his head after taking another pull, ¡°No, these are basic gene-mods." Pan dropped the napkin on the table, ¡°So you don¡¯t have the basic gene-mods then?¡± Victor shook his head, ¡°Nah, mine were upgraded when I joined the Imperium, and then upgraded again recently. The ones I¡¯m using now are top of the line.¡± Pan nodded, ¡°You said plates, so there¡¯s more?¡± Victor nodded and took another sip, ¡°Yeah, you know my suit that I was wearing when I first met you?¡± Pan thought back and pointed to the airlock, ¡°The one out there?¡± Victor raised his beer, ¡°The same, she has a plate for those, although I don¡¯t know what model, I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t be better than mine due to the age of the plate.¡± Victor put down the beer and pulled something from his dimensional storage, ¡°She also has a plate for this.¡± He put the bolter on the table. Pan looked at it, it looked similar to the thing he killed all those ox-kin with, but this was held in one hand. He picked it back up and it vanished into his storage, ¡°It¡¯s called a bolter, and it shoots explosive projectiles at ridiculous speed at a target.¡± Pan finished her beer and sat it on the table, ¡°So she wants you to outfit her army, then you get to keep the plates. Um, what happens if she wins, then decides she wants what you have and has an army to come take it from you?¡± Victor smiled and finished his beer, ¡°I¡¯ve thought about that, you see, back when she was still in my dimension, plates couldn¡¯t be altered. They only produced what was on them, and nothing could change that. It¡¯s different in modern times.¡± Pan stood and picked up the beers and their caps and threw them in the recycler, ¡°So you¡¯re going to modify the items you make before giving them to her?¡± Victor stood up and grinned, ¡°Got it in one.¡± Pan sighed and looked down at her shirt, then grinned and looked up to Victor as she pulled it up over her head, ¡°It seems I made a mess with my beer and need a shower, care to join me?¡± Victor grinned and followed her to the bathroom. _______________ Qiao received the report from her spy in the Imperial Guard, the Iron Paw cultivators managed to get the missive to the Empress. Evidently the bauble that they carried was a legendary artifact called a divinity stone, one that had not been seen in millennia. Whether she wanted to or not, she had to report this to her master. She took another puff from her pipe and pulled out a special calling stone. Touching the gold stone she placed a small amount of chi within it and waited as it connected to her master. A familiar voice answered through the stone, ¡°This had better be important Qiao, I¡¯m busy at the moment.¡± Qiao knew what that meant, she was busy with her male toys. ¡°The Iron Paw managed to get their missive through to the Empress.¡± A sudden flurry of cursing came from the other side, ¡°I guess it is too much to ask as to what the missive said?¡± Qiao sighed, ¡°No, the Empress took the group into her private meeting room. However, there is another thing reported.¡± Her master sighed on the other end, ¡°Let me hear it Qiao.¡± Qiao took a pull of her pipe and spoke, ¡°The item wasn¡¯t just a missive, it was a divinity stone, and evidently the palace went into something called the ¡®Jericho Protocol¡¯. Whatever that means.¡± The stone went silent, at first Qiao thought it might have quit on her before it spoke once more, ¡°That is interesting, I remember hearing as a youth that the guard were on the lookout for such artifacts. Jericho Protocol means they have locked down the Palace, which means it has my esteemed mother very spooked.¡± Qiao exhaled a large amount of smoke, ¡°You don¡¯t think this hidden master could be a divinity do you?¡± Silence for a while from the stone, ¡°My mother is a divinity, even if a minor one. I suppose it is possible after a thousand or so years another one could come along. If so that would make my mother pause. I will think this over and get back to you Qiao, keep me informed.¡± And with that, the stone went cold. Qiao sighed, could anything be salvaged from this? The ones in the group there were present for the meeting, perhaps they will have more information? The more she thought about it, the more plausible that would be, she would reach out to her contacts and find out who was in the meeting room, and arrange for them to disappear. _________________ Mei was in heaven, the attendant brought her to the royal guest quarters and drew her a bath before taking her torn and dirty robes. Now she sat in a huge copper tub filled with hot soapy water and marveled at the magic the palace offered. ¡°Hot and cold water a the turn of a handle!¡± She washed up with the softest cloths and sponges, and then simply laid back and relaxed, she had been on the road for almost three weeks and this was paradise in comparison. Later she pulled the plug and dried off, then anointed herself with perfumed oils and powders before slipping into a green silken dress that would have put her entire sect back a month. After leaving the bathing room she then lounged on the couch and looked around the spacious room. A quick knock followed by the same attendant entered the room and offered her a note before heading into the bathing room to clean up. The note was from the the Imperial calligrapher and its lines were exquisite. It invited her to a private dinner with the Empress. It was obvious the Empress had plans for her, she guessed she had the beginnings of that plan after she asked to see Victor again. By tonight that plan would be ironed out. Mei reached over to the chilled wine and glass on the table by the couch and pulled the cork before pouring it into her glass. She took a drink, ¡°It is not as if I can tell her no, she is the Empress after all. This will also let me see Victor again.¡± Once more she shrugged, and finished her drink as the time rolled by until her dinner. Now she sat at a small table on a terrace overlooking the celestial city. An attendant brought her more wine and tiny dumplings. She apologized but stated the Empress was quite busy. After nearly an hour the Empress arrived and spoke to her body guard before sitting across from Mei at the small table. She squinted at the green robed form before her before speaking, ¡°Well, you do clean up nicely don¡¯t you? Mei blushed, ¡°I apologize for earlier, Xiang and I were traveling for three weeks to get here and we reported in immediately. Headmistress Shui would not give us time to bathe or change before she hurried us to the palace.¡± The Empress opened her napkin and placed it in her lap as she spoke, ¡°It is good that you did, had word gotten out that you possessed a divinity stone I have no doubt that it would have caused both you and your sect ruin.¡± At that moment food began arriving, rice, dumplings, roasted duck, beef, noodles, and more kept coming. The Empress knew as a cultivator she would be able to eat far more than a woman of her petite size. They both ate as the Empress spoke, ¡°I need you to discover everything you can about Victor, for while he is helping the Empire, he is a powerful being. Powerful beings usually need to be in control, and if necessary, I need to know how to control him.¡± Mei wiped her mouth with her napkin, ¡°How powerful is Victor?¡± The Empress sat back, ¡°Physically he is male, so I would not expect him to be much stronger than a powerful cultivator. But he will be able to produce incredible items that can do amazing things.¡± Mei nodded, ¡°Like how he materialized items in front of me?¡± The Empress leaned forward with her chopsticks and plucked a dumpling from the bowl, ¡°Sort of, but he also will be able to craft things. I need to know what he can craft, how he does it, where he gets his raw materials.¡± Mei listened as she ate, she got the picture, she was to gather all the information she could on Victor for the Empress. As they wound down dinner and ate dessert together the Empresses body guard came forward with an ornate wooden box. ¡°Thank you Nuwa.¡± The Empress said as she opened the box and produced an amazingly intricate jade bracelet. She placed it on the table next to Mei, ¡°This is both a gift and a necessity for you now, it has the symbol of the royal court as well as the symbol of the iron paw sect. This ensures all know that you are part of the iron paw but on official business from the royal court.¡± Mei reached down and marveled at the craftsmanship, it was flawless workmanship. ¡°Thank you Empress, I will replace my iron paw bracelet with this one for the remainder of my duty.¡± The Empress nodded, ¡°See that you do, for while you are in the palace wearing that bracelet, everyone will be at your beck and call.¡±