《Crystallization》


 Chapter One

    The harsh sound of venting air made Ronin realize he was moving too quickly. Setting down the knife, he readjusted his full faced breathing mask. It made a rasping noise as it rubbed against the five o¡¯clock shadow, he couldn¡¯t seem to get rid of. No matter how often he shaved, the stubble always appeared, and loosened the masks seal on his face. Mask seated, he Swiveled around and checked the tank attached to his lower back, the dial showed twelve hours. Twelve hours of oxygen left. Twelve hours to get to the cave, before earth¡¯s toxic atmosphere killed him.


    With an effort of will he calmed himself down, before picking the knife up. Even knowing the consequences, it was hard for Ronin to stay calm. Moving slowly now, he gently worked the knife back into the wound he had created at the base of the flower. Precious sap trickled out and was quickly caught in an old canteen, but as valuable as it was, the sap wasn¡¯t the goal.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he breathed as the prize was exposed. ¡°A crystal tree seed, I¡¯m gunna be rich.¡± He chuckled to himself as he finally freed the football sized seed from the flower. Quickly wrapping the seed in soft leather, he slipped it into his bag before going to the hole to finish collecting the sap. He giggled to himself as he worked, trying in vain to keep his breathing to a minimum. Crystal tree seeds were rarely seen so near the caves.


    Having finished collecting his bounty, Ronin checked his surroundings. They were still clear, thankfully none of the alien beasts had entered the flower while he had been working. With another giggle, Ronin pulled the seed back out of his bag and examined it. The seed was shaped a lot like a football, one of earth¡¯s ancient relics that he had only seen in books. Running his hands over the seed¡¯s crystalline surface, he couldn¡¯t help but grin. The multifaceted shell was a beautiful emerald green that sparkled in the sun.


    Another vented breath reminded him that he was on the clock. Gently wrapping the seed back up, he slipped it into his bag before climbing to his feet. He gripped a wrist thick stamen to steady himself before beginning the long climb out of the house sized flower. Ronin wished he could take the time to collect the pollen as well, but the scent of fresh sap would attract unwanted attention. So, with a sigh he headed out. Besides, he was starving. It was about time he headed home.


    Exiting the partially closed flower, Ronin slowly moved down the stem until he reached the branch and looked back. The alien flower reminded him of an apple blossom he had once seen in a book. If left alone he knew the flower would eventually turn into fruit that looked a lot like an apple too, but that never happened this close to the caves. No one could pass on the opportunity to gather the seeds immediately, before someone else snagged it.


    It took Ronin over two hours to climb back to the ground from the lowest branch. Thankfully he made it down without encountering any hostile monsters. He shuddered at the thought of those beasts, their giant armored bodies weren¡¯t something he wanted to face alone, or in a group for that matter. They were extremely territorial, not hesitating to tear any human or other monsters to pieces. He¡¯d read once that the ancient trees of earth had monsters too. They weren¡¯t called monsters back then, but he¡¯d seen pictures and they looked remarkably similar. Wood lice, aphids and termites, those ancient monsters resembled the monsters of today. Except those ancient beasts lacked the glittering crystalline carapaces. Shaking the errant thoughts from his mind, Ronin patted the seed in his bag and headed towards home.


    The walk was uneventful. He didn¡¯t even see any other humans as he moved. Not that he often did, so few people had oxygen masks anymore that he rarely met others. The monsters weren¡¯t a problem either, they always stayed in the trees. Once he got far enough away from a crystal tree, he would be safe from attack.


    The hours slowly crawled by as he walked. He had pulled out a book and was reading as he moved. The time worn pages were cracked and yellowed, yet he couldn¡¯t get enough as he carefully turned them. Ronin had read this book so often he knew every line by heart. He giggled quietly as he turned the page, desperate to find out if the prince would be in time to save the damsel. Before he could read the words he already knew, the sky went dark. On instinct, he dropped to the ground looking around wildly for the cause. It didn¡¯t take long to spot the problem. Letting out a sigh, he climbed back to his feet. After checking to be sure his prize was safe, Ronin looked into the sky.


    It was the crystalline ship moving slowly across the sky in low orbit. At this distance, it looked just like a giant crystal beetle with its wings spread. It appeared to be flying through the sky, its multi-faceted surface reflecting a rainbow of colors across the ground.


    ¡°That damn ship,¡± he grumbled to himself. ¡°I could have ripped the page out, then what would I do?¡± He continued to grumble as he watched the ship moving away.


    Something like two hundred years had passed since that ship first entered earth¡¯s orbit. Bringing with it the death of the world as humanity knew it. Ronin remembered his dad telling him stories as a child, stories his own father had told him. Giant seeds falling from heaven, impacting the ground like flame covered asteroids. Crystal trees growing so fast from the impact sites that the eye could track their movement. Ronin ground his teeth together as he remembered his father. Turning away from the now distant ship, he continued on his way. The rest of the stories came unbidden to his mind as he walked.


    Apparently, it had all been an accident. The ship had dropped the terraforming trees as soon as it had arrived. Relying on old probe data that stated nothing about sentient beings living on earth, data that stated giant lizards lived on this far away planet. The aliens were peaceful colonists who¡¯d just made a mistake.


    ¡°So sorry humans, but we really didn¡¯t mean it.¡± Their apologies didn¡¯t stop the downfall of human earth, or the war that followed. Now what was left of humanity controlled the ship. What had once caused devastation was now the only thing keeping the dregs of humanity alive. Not that it was much of a life. Shaking away the last of the old stories now that the ship was out of sight, Ronin resumed reading.


    There was less than an hour of oxygen left in his tanks when Ronin made it back to the cave mouth. There wasn¡¯t much to see, in fact, if one didn¡¯t know there was an entrance here, they would never find it. It just looked like a small pond that butted up to a small rock mound, a simple natural spring that had formed in a depression. It went a long way to conceal the cave¡¯s mouth, but that wasn¡¯t the real reason the entrance was underwater.


    Wading into the pool, Ronin turned off his tank, held his breath and dived in. Entering the narrow tunnel by feel, he found the knotted rope affixed to the bottom with his hands. Gripping it tightly, he hauled himself forward as fast as he could. Coming up out of the water at last, Ronin was able to remove his mask and breathe freely.


    They had flooded the cave entrance on purpose, to keep their oxygen from escaping and the toxic atmosphere from getting in.


    ¡°Welcome back boy,¡± came a voice from the back. ¡°Bring back anything good this time?¡± The speaker was an old man, sitting on a many times repaired lawn chair. He sat in shadow and wore a large cloak that blended in well with the rocks. His long grey hair was tied up in a loose bun on the top of his head and he cradled a rifle in his lap.


    ¡°Hello Markus,¡± Ronin called back once he caught his breath. ¡°You on watch again? I could almost believe you live in that chair.¡± He continued with a chuckle. ¡°As for bringing back anything good¡­¡± his words trailed off as he patted his bag, giving the old man a wink.


    ¡°Really now?¡± Markus said, his voice losing its friendly tone. ¡°As happy as I am for you lad, today isn¡¯t the best day to be coming home with a profit. Alexander is fixin to crystalize today, and he seems intent on taking every damn thing that isn¡¯t nailed down with him. If you¡¯ve got the air, I¡¯d suggest going back outside until he leaves.¡±


    Ronin frowned up at Markus, still standing waist deep in the pond. The old man was his only friend in the caves. A fellow book lover and former scavenger like Ronin. If he said it was dangerous, it was.


    ¡°Thanks for the warning, Markus,¡± he eventually answered with a sigh. ¡°But I¡¯ve got less than an hour¡¯s worth of air left, and I haven¡¯t eaten in nearly two days.¡± The older man frowned at those words, but he could only nod his head in understanding.


    ¡°Alright lad, just hurry on home then. Get inside your hole and keep the lights out, maybe they won¡¯t know you¡¯re home.¡±


    With a nod, Ronin exited the pond and moved swiftly through the cave. The tunnels were dark, but he knew them like the back of his hand. The only areas that were lit were near the low spots filled with water. The lights there were focused on the pools, helping the algae to grow. Ducking around the lit areas as best he could, Ronin did his best not to think about the algae. He really hadn¡¯t eaten since he left the caves nearly two days back and just thinking about the dried and salted algae bar, he had waiting on him made his mouth water.


    His thoughts wandered back to his favorite book. To the scene when the prince hunted the noble stag to feed his men. Ronin had seen pictures of many animals, but he didn¡¯t know what a stag looked like. He wondered what it would be like to eat beasts that he¡¯d hunted himself. There weren¡¯t any edible beasts left these days, apart from the small clams in the underground pools. Other than clams and worms, his diet consisted entirely of algae and mushrooms. Seasoned with various minerals for flavor and the nutrients his body needed to function. His mind fully focused on food; he rounded the last corner to his home.


    A small outcropping in the cave wall covered over with crystal tree bark as a door. Moving his makeshift door aside he crawled in, pulling it closed behind him. Reaching out with long familiarity Ronin¡¯s fingers touched the switch that turned on his lamp. The single LED bulb had been crudely wired into a portable battery charger. Outside, its light couldn¡¯t even be seen during the day, but in this tiny pitch-black space it illuminated everything nicely.


    Seating himself, Ronin rested his back against the wall with a sigh. For a time, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to move, but hunger and the tank digging into his back forced him to act. Undoing the bindings holding his gear in place, he carefully removed his tank and mask. Setting them aside for the time being, he unclipped a small battery pack from his shoulder and clicked the button to check the charge.


    ¡°Four bars,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Looks like Markus¡¯s fix did the trick.¡± Turning it over he examined the small solar panel attached to the charger. It had gotten a short somewhere along the way, but his old friend had managed to get it working again. He¡¯d wait until bedtime and top off his lamp battery, he should turn it off, but he needed the light to finish his book.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Having stripped his equipment, Ronin reached to the back of the small nook, where he shifted a pile of stones aside to reveal a small plastic box. It said Joe¡¯s best water tank on the side. Ronin didn¡¯t know what that was exactly, but it was air and watertight and a perfect place to store his treasures. Unscrewing the lid Ronin pulled out a dried algae bar and took a bite. Chewing slowly, he reached back in for the air tank¡¯s hand pump.


    He had once seen a magazine on scuba diving, apparently, their tanks only had an hour or so of air in them. The alien-built tank he¡¯d inherited from his mother could hold forty-eight hours of oxygen. Unfortunately, it took nearly four days of near constant hand pumping to fill it all the way, but that was a small price to pay since it meant he could leave the caves. Latching one end of the pump to his feet, Ronin sat back into a familiar position. Setting ¡°The prince¡¯s adventure¡± in his lap he slowly read the time worn words as he worked the hand pump and chewed his algae bar.


    His mind wandered away on adventures as he pumped. He was no longer a lanky man in his thirties who barely topped five feet, he was a prince on an adventure. There was a damsel to save and wild beasts to hunt. Having finished his book, he continued to pump as he grabbed another. Before long he was a dashing captain on the bridge of his very own star ship, the deck lurched under his feet as they received fire from a pirate vessel they had tracked down. When they finally brought them to a stop, he led his marines in the charge to take over the ship.


    Turning the page, the emerald sparkle of the crystalline seed caught his eye. He grinned at the sight. He¡¯d been saving his ship credits for five years, but with this seed and the sap he¡¯d collected, his goal was in sight. This would afford him another oxygen tank. Another forty-eight hours outside the caves. With that, his hunting grounds would double, who knew what he would find. Few people could venture that far from the caves so he could vary likely find unclaimed seeds out there¡­. And books. He giggled at the thought of discovering untouched ruins, ruins filled with books.


    There were other caves out there, with other humans living in them. He knew that because they sometimes came and went through the teleportation pad that every human settlement had, courtesy of the crystal ship. He had never used it himself, however, the price was simply too high. Pulling his ID tag up from around his neck he checked his credit balance. Not enough yet, but after he sold the seed, he would be on the way to book heaven.


    His daydreaming was interrupted as the crystal tree bark door was savagely ripped away. Light flooded into the alcove, blinding and confusing Ronin. Before he could gather his bearings, he found himself being ripped from his home and planted face first on the rocky cave floor. The breath left his lungs as a knee was rammed into his back. Before he could struggle, his arms had been pulled behind him and he was trapped.


    ¡°Well, hello, if it isn¡¯t Mr. Robert Jones.¡± The flashlight was still in his eyes, but Ronin knew that nasally, congested voice. ¡°I had thought I might miss you since you were out¡­scrounging in the dirt¡­ but here you are, and a good thing too. You see, I¡¯m leaving today, and it really would be a shame if you didn¡¯t get the chance to give me a going away present.¡± The flashlight was finally taken out of his face, and Ronin could see Alexander Dawson¡¯s smug face framed by greasy hair.


    ¡°My name is Ronin,¡± he said through gritted teeth. Robert Jones was the name his parents had given him, but his parents were gone now, and his name was Ronin. ¡°Ahh,¡± Ronin let out a yelp of pain as the man holding him down twisted his arms up another inch.


    ¡°The boss says ur name is Roburt Jones boy. So, your names is Roburt Jones.¡± Ronin snapped his mouth closed at the words. He recognized that voice too, it was Smith.


    Smith was by far one of the strongest people in the cave. He, like many others, suffered from birth defects. The lack of oxygen, sunlight, nutrition, and exercise in the caves had really taken a toll on the human population. Apart from their overall smaller size, many were also born with problems. Smith was one of those. He had a club foot, and a twisted knee that made it difficult for him to move quickly. This made him mean and spiteful to everyone. Everyone except for Alexander. He followed him around like a stupid, crippled puppy.


    A crippled puppy who just so happened to have arm strength that rivaled a gorilla¡¯s; and a willingness, even eagerness, to use those arms to hurt people. If Ronin talked back to him, his arm might end up broken. In the caves, a broken arm was as good as a death sentence since he didn¡¯t have anyone to help carry his workload. Better to just let Alexander have his way. He was cruel but he had never taken too much from anyone before. Alexander knew how far he could push. Worst case he lost his food and the crystal tree sap.


    ¡°Good boy, Robert.¡± Alexander said, sneezing into his hand and then patting Ronin¡¯s cheek. ¡°Damn allergies! Ah but it won¡¯t be a problem after today my good man¡­why you ask? Because Robert, today I¡¯m going to the crystallization station. My dad finally sent me enough credits to get a teleport transfer out of this hell hole. My stuffs already there yea know. Just spending my last few hours here saying goodbye to all my friends. Everyone has been so nice too, the gifts they¡¯ve given me have been beyond generous.¡± As he spoke, Alexander moved his flashlight back into Ronin¡¯s alcove. Brad, another one of Alexander¡¯s thugs, was busy rifling through his belongings.


    ¡°Hey boss,¡± he called over his shoulder. ¡°Look at what the scrounger¡¯s got in here.¡± He continued as he turned around to show off the crystal tree¡¯s seed. ¡°He¡¯s also got a ship¡¯s tech air tank and a canteen full of sap. Not to mention all the fire starter in that tub¡­¡± he added, kicking ¡°The prince¡¯s adventure¡± away. The binding that had survived two hundred years of apocalypse gave way to the kick. Pages scattered everywhere, to the amused laughter of the thugs.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Ronin shouted when he saw his favorite book explode. ¡°What are you doing? Just take my food already, don¡¯t ruin my boo¡­ ahh¡± his outburst ended in a cry of pain as Smith twisted his arm up even farther. Ronin could actually feel his joints creaking under the pressure.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Alexander asked in mock astonishment. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you old friend? I¡¯m leaving today, I don¡¯t have to play nice with you dirt grubbers anymore. So, I¡¯ll be taking everything I can with me. I should have enough to set myself up for life¡­ so thank you Robert, for the gift. I¡¯ll think of you when I¡¯m crystalized into the ship.¡±


    Ronin struggled wildly when he saw Brad tossing everything, he could find into the water tank and pick it up. Smith ground his knee into his back, but he couldn¡¯t just let them take everything he owned. Without his tank he couldn¡¯t replace anything. He had to stop them. His struggles ended when brad¡¯s booted foot connected squarely with the side of his head.


    Ronin didn¡¯t know how much time had passed when he finally came to himself. He could tell that he was alone though, it was pitch black and there were no sounds apart from his labored breathing. He felt the side of his head, it was still wet with blood. Good, that meant that he hadn¡¯t been out long. If the blood had dried, then it might have been too late. He felt his way back into his alcove from memory, feeling around to see what, if anything, was left.


    After several frantic minutes of searching with his fingers, he finally gave up with a sigh. They¡¯d taken everything. Even the broken pages of ¡°The prince¡¯s adventure¡± had been gathered up. Ronin didn¡¯t know what to do. If alexander was really getting a teleport out, and he¡¯d taken everyone else¡¯s things too, the people in the cave weren¡¯t going to last long.


    ¡°What would the Prince do in this situation, or the Captain?¡± He asked himself, desperately trying to think through the throbbing in his head. ¡°I¡¯ll have to try and stop them,¡± he said at last. Knowing that if he didn¡¯t get his mask back, he was as good as dead. Decision made, he moved to the back of his alcove. Behind the pile of stones that hid his water tank stash, there was another pile of stones. Pulling them aside he reached way way back, as far as his arm could go. Finally, after scrambling around in the dark for a long minute, his hand came back out holding an oilcloth wrapped bundle.


    His parents had left him when he was ten. They had finally earned enough to get crystalized, but it was against the rules to crystalize a minor and they weren¡¯t willing to wait. So, his mother had given him her ship crafted air tank, and his father had given him this bundle. Slowly unwrapping the oil cloth, Ronin¡¯s fingers finally came into contact with the cold metal of the S&W model 29. The .44 magnum hand cannon his father had once said had been handed down from his father.


    Blindly opening the revolver, Ronin felt for the three shells that he knew would be there before closing it again. His heart had started racing as soon as he touched the gun. Now that he had confirmed it was loaded, he was beginning to reconsider his decision. This wasn¡¯t a joke; this thing could kill people.


    ¡°But the captain killed pirates all the time. He killed pirates and saved the merchants; this is the same right? Alexander and his gang are just a bunch of pirates trying to take what isn¡¯t theirs.¡± Mentally psyching himself up, Ronin climbed to his feet. He couldn¡¯t see, but he knew these caves like he knew the words in his books. He also knew where they were headed. The teleportation pad was some distance away, so he decided to run.


    The stale air in the tunnels barely stirred as he moved. If it wasn¡¯t for the grow lights he passed near the small pools, he would have felt that he wasn¡¯t moving at all. It was a strange feeling. The light and the dark, mixing with the pain from his head and the churning in his stomach. Ronin felt as if his head was floating along the silent tunnel without his body. The spell was finally broken when he neared the teleportation pad. Loud and angry voices echoed down the tunnel to meet him as he ran closer.


    ¡°¡­and I¡¯m telling you boy¡± Markus¡¯s voice rang out over the rest. ¡°We put up with your thievin and bullyin all these years because of what your daddy did for this community. But if you think we are gunna just stand by while you¡­¡± his voice faded back into the clamor as Ronin increased his pace.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough out of you, old man.¡± Alexander¡¯s voice pierced the din, echoing off the walls. ¡°Smith, shut that old bastard up.¡±


    Ronin had nearly rounded the last corner to the teleportation chamber when he heard the shot ring out. Bursting through the doors, he was just in time to see the old man collapsing to the ground. Alexander stood in the center of the teleportation pad, near the control panel. His thugs stood shoulder to shoulder in front of him facing a small crowd.


    ¡°No no no no no no no.¡± he muttered as blood began flowing out from Markus¡¯s still form. Looking up, Ronin¡¯s eyes latched onto Smith, holding a tiny pistol in his large hands. ¡°Nnnnoooooo¡±


    With a roar of confused rage, Ronin rushed forward, bringing his old S&W Model 29 up as he ran. The gun bucked in his hand as he fired the first shot. It went wide, disappearing into the darkness. Bringing the barrel back down, he fired again. This shot missed Smith but hit Brad, the goon¡¯s head burst at the impact. The gun bucked again but Ronin battled it back down, he was nearly on top of Smith by this point, the other man staring at him in shock. The third and final round took him in the face from less than a foot away. Alexander hadn¡¯t remained idle this whole time, Ronin saw him moving backward as he charged. Pressing his hand to the control panel, the teleportation pad began to light up.


    ¡°No no no¡± he was still chanting the word over and over as he saw Alexander trying to escape. He had caused this. He had stolen everything Ronin owned, and he had ordered that Markus be killed. There was no way Ronin could let him get away now with everything he had done. Dropping the now empty gun, Ronin rushed onto the teleportation pad and tackled alexander to the ground.


    He flailed his fists wildly, pounding them into Alexander¡¯s head over and over. At first the other man tried to cover his face, but Ronin wasn¡¯t an experienced fighter, and his punches didn¡¯t deliver much damage. Ronin was so focused on hitting Alexander that he was taken completely by surprise when the other man brought his hand up, holding an oxygen tank, and smashed it into his jaw. Once. Twice. Three times. The fight went out of Ronin as he felt his jaw break under the pounding.


    Alexander on the other hand, still had plenty of fight left in him. Shoving Ronin off him, he clambered up and brought the tank down again. The pad was growing brighter, it wouldn¡¯t be long before it activated. Taking everything on its surface to some other place. Ronin whimpered as the tank impacted him again. He¡¯d brought his hands up to intercept, but that had only resulted in broken fingers.


    ¡°I told you¡­ Robert¡­ that I am leaving this¡­ shit hole¡­¡± his words were interrupted as he continued to bring the tank down on Ronin¡¯s body. The teleportation pad had become almost blinding at this point and it was all Ronin could do to keep his eyes open. ¡°You could have stayed¡­ here, but now¡­ you¡¯re going to die¡­ Robert.¡± Rearing all the way back, Alexander held the tank with both hands, ready to drive it down into Ronin¡¯s skull. A loud crack echoed out, and the tank fell from Alexander¡¯s limp fingers. Shortly after it hit the ground, his body followed. Blood splashed Ronin¡¯s face as the body hit the ground next to him.


    Ronin had closed his eyes at the last second, waiting for death when the crack sounded out. He opened his eyes when Alexander hit the ground. Looking around wildly he caught sight of Markus being propped up by his wife, rifle held up and pointing his way. Before Ronin could react to the change in situation, the pad flashed brilliantly, and he wasn¡¯t in the cave anymore.

 Chapter Two

    ¡°Welcome to crystallization tower. Please step off the pad and move this way¡­ ah¡­ well ya don¡¯t see that every day.¡± Ronin heard the voice speaking before his eyes recovered from the blinding teleportation. He blinked several times trying to clear his vision but between the transport and the beating he¡¯d just been through, it wasn¡¯t happening.


    ¡°Well now, you must be Alexander Dawson.¡± Ronin looked up to see the blurry outline of a crystalline man wearing armor. He¡¯d never seen one before, but he was sure that this was one of the lucky people who had earned a new body from the ship. A body that was able to breathe in earth¡¯s new atmosphere.


    ¡°Mmmrrree¡± Ronin tried to speak but couldn¡¯t manage anything around his shattered jaw. He raised his hands up to feel the damage, but that only brought into his line of sight his broken and mangled fingers.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Alex,¡± the armored man said. ¡°Alexander Dawson¡¯s ID was used to activate the pad at the appointed time, and since the paperwork would be a nightmare if you were someone else, you are alexander Dawson¡­ but my file shows you were going to be bringing a pair of slaves with you to sell. All I see are a few corpses. Ah well, no big deal, man. I¡¯ll just change the entry to three organ doners, they look fresh enough. Actually, it¡¯s a good thing. Organs have a set price whereas slave auctions can be temperamental.¡±


    Ronin was having a tough time staying conscious. The armored man¡¯s rapid-fire speech wasn¡¯t doing him any favors either. He was having a hard time following the words. The adrenaline must be leaving his system too because the pain was getting more intense.


    ¡°Ok buddy here¡¯s the deal,¡± the armored man continued his verbal assault. He moved from body to body, picking up their ID tags. ¡°You should know all this already but, procedure you know, anyway looks like¡­¡± he pulled Ronin¡¯s ID tag from around his neck and read it. ¡°Robert, over there was holding your ID tag so here you go.¡± He looped Alexander¡¯s tag around Ronin¡¯s neck and kept talking.


    ¡°Where was I? Oh yea, this is crystallization tower. Everyone who comes through here has to listen to what that means and give their consent to be crystalized before the process can begin. So, crystallization starts when you step into that thing over there.¡± He pointed to a nearby platform that looked a lot like a clear crystal casket. ¡°Once you lay down in there, that machine will make a complete copy of your brain, your memories, your personality¡­everything that makes you, you.¡±


    As he talked the armored man moved around with a small handheld scanner. He waved it over everything the thugs had brought with them. After each scan he tapped something on the scanner¡¯s screen before moving on.


    ¡°The procedure itself is painless, but your body is destroyed in the process. The only thing left of you will be your crystalized consciousness. That, along with your ID information¡­ who you are and how many credits you are bringing with you¡­ will be transferred to the ship. Where your mind can interact inside a crystalline database. Don¡¯t get it pal? It¡¯s like a giant computer ya see. In old earth terms, you¡¯re getting digitized and sent into a ship sized computer¡­ except the computer is actually a biomechanical crystal that can learn and grow and fly through space¡­ you follow?¡±


    Ronin had in fact known most of that already. He even knew what a computer was, though he had never seen one before. Not that he could respond in any way even if he¡¯d wanted to. The armored man wasn¡¯t paying him any attention at all. Still going about his task of scanning everything that had been teleported in with Ronin.


    ¡°OK, so once you get up there, you will appear inside your room. That room will be your new home. The default model is pretty terrible, not gunna lie, but you can spiff it up with ship credits if you want. Apart from furniture and some basic clothes it¡¯s completely empty¡­ except for the giant globe on the table. That globe is your own private pocket world. Again, the default model is pretty terrible, but you got plenty of credit here, with this much cash you can turn that place into your own private adventure world. If ya know what I mean.¡±


    He¡¯d finished his work at that point and had moved back over to Ronin. As he finished talking, he gave Ronin a huge wink before picking up Alexander¡¯s ID tag and touching the scanner to it.


    ¡°There you go Alex, quite the tidy sum there. That ought to last you for quite a while¡­ let¡¯s see what else was there.¡± He picked up a clipboard that had been hanging from his belt and ran a finger down it. ¡°Identity check, crystallization information, what to expect when you get there, how to earn credits¡­ah ok.¡± Ronin still couldn¡¯t see clearly but he could tell the armored man was smiling.


    ¡°Right pal, history lesson time.¡± He said, squatting down in front of Ronin. ¡°So, the aliens whose ship that used to be, are called the crystalline beetles. Well, that¡¯s what we call them anyway, their actual name isn¡¯t pronounceable in English. But they look like giant crystal humanoid beetles so there ya go¡­ anyway, they sent out a probe way back when. It arrived on earth something like ninety million years ago. During the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs were still a thing. Anyway, the probe circled the globe for like a hundred years or something, to get a real good scan in ya know. Then it went back. The beetles did some advanced math and determined that there was no way that the dinosaurs were ever going to gain intelligence, so it would be ok to wipe them out and colonize the planet.¡±


    As much pain as Ronin was in, he was doing his best to listen to every word. He had never heard anything about the reasoning behind the aliens coming to earth before. Only the rumors and ancient stories that he had heard back in his isolated cave.


    ¡°See, the beetles don¡¯t have faster than light travel and they live a looong way from here. That¡¯s why the ship is like a giant computer. They digitized themselves for the trip and just had the ship make them new bodies when they get wherever they are going. Just like this one.¡± He thumped himself on the chest, proving Ronin¡¯s theory that he was a human reborn from the ship. ¡°¡­ pretty cool really. But anyway, it took them millions of years to get here, right? Well part of that time was spent in stasis or with a slowed perception of time¡­ but¡­ some of the time was spent preparing to colonize the planet.¡± After saying that last line, the armored man bent down and picked Ronin up. Moving him towards the crystal casket.


    ¡°Long story short, the default world globe is an exact replica of earth from ninety million years ago. With computer generated responses¡­ it¡¯s basically a virtual reality world, got it?... Anyway, the colonists could earn credits by completing tasks that colonists would do in a new world. Eliminating predators, building infrastructure, developing technology. And those credits could be used to buy entertainment elsewhere on the ship¡­ here we go.¡±


    The armored man had reached the crystal casket. Dropping Ronin into it without ceremony he pulled one of his broken hands out and pressed it against his scanner.


    ¡°Please press your finger here to show that I have explained the situation to you and that you give your consent¡­ thank you sir¡­now where was I?... Oh yea, pretty good system really. Except they didn¡¯t take into account the asteroid that hit the planet, wiping out the dinosaurs and giving rise to humans¡­ ok Alex, it¡¯s been a pleasure talking to you today. If you ever earn enough credits up there to get a body and come back to earth, look me up, ok?¡± With those parting words, he closed the lid, locking Ronin inside the casket.


    ¡°But he didn¡¯t even tell me his name.¡± That was the only thing that really came to his mind as the machine powered up. Lights in all colors flashed and as they did, memories and emotions began to bubble up to the surface of his mind, only to be replaced by others. The process continued, speeding up until he couldn¡¯t see clearly enough to make out the images or distinguish what emotion he was feeling anymore. At some point, they all blurred together until everything went black.


    *             *             *


    When Ronin came back to himself, he was standing in a hotel room from just before the crystal ship arrived. Looking around, he took it in. Blue and white wallpaper covered the walls, a queen-sized bed took up most of the floor space. A small microwave and coffee pot sat on top of a mini fridge. The only thing that separated it from any hotel almost worldwide was the holographic image of a globe floating over the small desk near the window.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he said freezing in place. ¡°How do I know what a hotel room looks like? I¡¯d never even heard the term ¡®mini fridge¡¯ before now so how did I recognize everything at a glance?¡± He moved around the small room, marveling at the technology that so many people had taken for granted, before the world had gone to hell.


    Stepping into the bathroom, he looked around in a mix of understanding and awe. He¡¯d read about bathrooms before, but he had never been in a working one. What was really throwing him off balance though was the intuitive knowledge that told him what everything was and how it worked. On his right, a shower. It was designed to clean one¡¯s body and remove the filth. Straight ahead, a toilet. It did the same for human waste. Stepping up to the toilet, he decided to test it out. Reaching for a small wad of ¡°toilet paper,¡± what a novel concept that was, he threw it into the bowl. Hitting the lever on the side of the tank, he stared in slack jawed amazement as the paper swirled around and went down the drain. Such a simple thing at first glance, but it was so much more convenient than the bucket he had in the cave, and the pit that everyone dropped their waste into. Ronin always wore his oxygen mask in that place.


    Turning to his left, he took in the sink. The amount of available water here was mind boggling. There had been water everywhere back in the caves too, but most of it was stagnant and not safe to drink. Reaching out to the handle, movement caught his eye and made him pause. Looking up he jumped back in fright at the stranger standing in the bathroom with him. When he jumped the stranger followed suit. As he righted himself, the stranger did the same. It took a long moment for his brain to catch up to his racing heart, but when it did, he realized that he was staring at his own reflection.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°How can this be?¡± Raising his hands to his face, Ronin felt his cheek bones, his jaw line, under his eyes. His face had meat on it, and he could barely see the outline of his bones. Running his fingers through his hair, he couldn¡¯t believe the difference. His finger length hair had been thin, frail and limp. Gone mostly to gray at thirty-five. Now it was thick, full of body and a deep brown. His lifeless gray eyes had sharpened and cleared, the gray now closer to light blue. Opening his mouth, he felt around with his tongue. ¡°I have all my teeth!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but shout. Half his teeth had rotted away or cracked long ago, but now they looked pristine and white. With a smile, he rubbed his now hair free chin. Not a hint of the five o¡¯clock shadow remained.


    Moving away from his face, at last he looked at his hands and forearms, it was the same. Flexing his fingers, he felt the muscles moving under the skin. He felt strong. Raising up his shirt, a brand-new white tee shirt, he looked at his chest. He couldn¡¯t see his ribs, just a sheet of rippling muscles. Was his torso longer? Taking a mental step back, he looked at himself as a whole. Yes, he had gotten taller. On earth he had been around five foot nothing. Now, he had to be every inch of five ten. By no means a giant, he was still as tall as Markus, who¡¯d been the tallest man in the caves.


    Searching his mind for that source of inherited knowledge, he tried to understand what had happened to him. Eventually, he just ended up with the feeling that this was what he would have looked like before the fall of earth. What he would have looked like if he hadn¡¯t lived a life where he was half starved every day. Where he was exposed to sunlight, and air that wasn¡¯t trying to kill him. Where he could eat meat, and fruits and vegetables.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize,¡± he said to his reflection. He hadn¡¯t realized just how bad his life had been. That was just how things were. Everyone lived the same way, and he hadn¡¯t known it could be different.


    ¡°But how did this happen, and where did all the injuries from Alexander go?¡± He didn¡¯t have to think too hard on it this time. The knowledge that he didn¡¯t have a physical body anymore, flowed into his mind. He had been healed and improved to the idealized version of himself by the ship. It wasn¡¯t even as far as it could go, he could use credits to change his body in any way he could afford.


    As all the new information flooded his brain and mixed with the trauma of his last hour on earth, his mind started shutting down. He had been crystallized. It was the dream of every human on earth, one that only perhaps three percent of the population still living could ever experience¡­ and it had happened to him.


    Ronin zoned out completely as everything crashed down on him at once. Walking out of the bathroom he looked around for any source of comfort, deciding to eat, he moved over to the mini fridge. A screen appeared in his vision as he opened the door of the empty fridge, it held an extensive list of food items. Selecting something at random, he tapped his ID card against the screen, and it disappeared. The once empty refrigerator now held a chicken pot pie. He didn¡¯t even know what that was, but his hands moved on their own, taking it from the fridge and putting it into the microwave.


    He stood there for the three minutes it took to finish cooking. Without conscious thought, His body moved on its own. He grabbed the pot pie and a fork before sitting down at the desk. Ronin watched the globe spinning slowly above the table, while he mechanically ate the food. He had finished eating already when he realized that he hadn¡¯t even tasted it. With a wave of his hand the empty tray disappeared.


    ¡°What should I do now?¡± He mused aloud, an indeterminate amount of time later. ¡°I made it to the ship, it¡¯s a dream come true¡­ but I¡¯m registered as Alexander Dawson. His father was crystalized and will be coming to find him soon. How will I explain this mess to him¡­ wait¡­ father? Oh god, my parents are here somewhere¡­ what do I do? Should I try and find them? Oh god, I¡¯m not ready for that yet. How do I tell them I, ¡­ I¡­ I killed two people¡­ oh god.¡± His thought swirled around and around just like the globe he was looking at.


    After a while, the slowly spinning globe gathered more of his attention. Until he was engrossed in it. The globe looked different than the one he had seen in Markus¡¯s cave. All the land was on one side, and although there were distinct land masses forming, none resembled the world he had been born into. As he looked, he wondered what the captain would do upon discovering a whole new world, and his thoughts drifted back to the armored man¡¯s words.


    ¡°The default model is pretty terrible, but you got plenty of credits here, with this much cash you can turn that place into your own private adventure world.¡± His own private adventure world. His own private adventure world. The thought kept bouncing around his head until it finally clicked home. His vision cleared as his mind came back into focus. He could be the hero in his own story, and he wouldn¡¯t just have to read about it¡­ he could actually live it. All the pain and anxiety of the day, all the uncertainty of the future, he channeled it, changed it and instead, threw all that focus into making his fantasies a reality.


    Leaning forward, Ronin accessed the globe. Bringing up the settings he familiarized himself with how everything worked. Everything was intuitive and he could do it automatically. The only time he had trouble using the completely unfamiliar interface was when he thought about what he was doing too hard. After an hour of familiarizing himself with the options available, he began.


    ¡°Creating a human population isn¡¯t nearly as expensive as I would have thought.¡± He mused as he looked at options. ¡°But putting a space craft into orbit is exorbitant¡­ looks like I can limit costs drastically if I limit the number of personnel who are allowed to go planet side at a time. And remove all planet buster weapons¡­¡± he continued to talk to himself as he worked, pulling all his favorite races and places from his favorite books.


    At one point Ronin wondered how the interface knew what he wanted so exactly. Then he remembered he was a part of the larger database now, and it was probably just reading his mind. Oddly enough, that realization settled him down even more. Hours passed in this manner, he moved the globe around, setting down cities, people, and monsters all over the place. There were several friendly cities, but the majority of his focus was on creating villains; bandit caves, evil queen filled towers, goblin dens, and dragon lairs. He wanted there to be plenty of foes for him to conquer on his adventures.


    ¡°Now, to work on myself and my team.¡± He had realized after his altercation with Alexander that he needed an upgrade. Even his new body wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as Smith had been, and he would be facing dinosaurs down there. Eventually he decided to go the sci-fi route. He deeply respected the prince, but just felt like a laser rifle would prove more useful than a sword when a T-rex was chasing him down. His body taken care of he turned his thoughts to the team he wanted to adventure with.


    ¡°Looks like everyone I create for the globe will be a new interactive program that can grow and change. So¡­ a self-aware AI that can learn and adapt to its environment? That¡¯s awesome¡­ since they start off pretty basic anyway, I think I will just select random and see what I end up with. But how many should I make?¡± Remembering how many knights the prince always had following him, Ronin decided to follow suit and selected ten companions.


    By the time he finished creating the ultimate cohort, complete with custom gear and mounts, Ronin realized that he was way over budget. It looked like he had spent nearly all his money customizing the planet and bringing in all the races and civilizations he could think of. Now, when he went to create the perfect team and equip them, he realized that he couldn¡¯t afford it.


    ¡°Ah well,¡± he finally said with a shrug. ¡°How much fun would it be if everything was too easy anyway? I¡¯ll just have to revise this down as best I can and get more later. When I earn new credits in the globe. What did that armored man call it, a pocket world? I like that, think that¡¯s what I¡¯ll call it from now on.¡± What followed was an agonizing session of adding and subtracting abilities and equipment and checking the budget repeatedly.


    ¡°Oh, come on,¡± he grouched. ¡°Why did I add so many ships to orbit? I didn¡¯t even buy myself a space craft, it will be a thousand years in world before I can afford one now.¡± Some thirty hours later, he was finally satisfied with all his gear choices. ¡°Finally done.¡± He breathed out in satisfaction. ¡°Well, no time like the present.¡±


    Without hesitation, he typed in the code, and entered his pocket world for the first time.


    *             *             *


    ¡°Dropping in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ dropping.¡± The mechanical voice started counting down the moment Ronin recovered his senses. He was strapped into a coffin sized pod, but thankfully, the door was transparent so he could see his surroundings.


    He¡¯d decided to start his adventure like the captain had done once on one of his adventures. His ship had held several stealth infiltration pods, and he had used one of them to get a small team groundside and keep them supplied during the mission. The book had gone into extensive detail explaining how the pods functioned. Ronin shamelessly ripped off the entire design and used it for his entry.


    The world was black for a long second, and it felt like he was floating freely through the void. The very next second, however, found him pressed back into his shock frame as the pod rocketed downwards. Light bloomed around him as he entered the atmosphere of the ancient earth. For a while, the craft was surrounded by flames and that was all he could see, but then they entered the atmosphere proper.


    The stealth infiltration pod was shaped like a six-sided pyramid. An individual coffin sized pod took up each side of the craft. When the pod was on the ground the point would be facing the sky and so would the riders. While in descent however, the point faced down. So, Ronin felt like he was looking up at the world while rocketing downward. It instantly gave him crippling vertigo.


    Ronin didn¡¯t actually have a ship to drop from, and he had already chosen where he would begin on the ground. He¡¯d entered up here purely for the aesthetics of it, it added a layer of realism that smacked of adventure. The reality was far different. He spent the entirety of the five-minute trip with his eyes screwed shut, doing his best not to throw up in his helmet. When the craft¡¯s landing gear was deployed and the pod did a one hundred eighty-degree flip, Ronin tasted bile in his throat. He was relieved though, the flip meant they were almost down¡­ and slower speeds.


    The shape of the craft had the passenger¡¯s heads now facing upwards. They were also angled back however so he couldn¡¯t look down anymore. He spent the next minute of slow fall catching his breath. When a mountain top shot up passed the descending stealth pod, he knew they were almost down.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl two. Do you copy?¡± The synthesized voice entering his helmet made Ronin jump in surprise. He¡¯d forgotten he wasn¡¯t alone anymore. The drop pod contained the rest of his team, in the other coffins ringing the pod.


    ¡°Yes¡­ I mean, I copy¡­ that is¡­ owl two, this is¡­what?¡± Ronin stumbled his way around the unfamiliar terminology. He¡¯d coded into the unit that he wanted a military mentality, but he hadn¡¯t learned any of the lingo himself. He felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, he¡¯d either have to learn the command phrasing, or tell his team to be more casual going forward.


    ¡°¡­Owl one, owl two. We are approaching the drop sight, suggesting owl one contacts all owl team members with instructions upon landing, over.¡±


    ¡°Right, umm¡­ thanks owl two.¡± After listening to that single sentence, Ronin decided what way he was going to go. Mentally clicking over to the team channel, Ronin prepared himself with a deep breath.


    ¡°Owl team, this is owl one. Before touching down I want to¡­¡± he was interrupted by the impact of the pod hitting dirt. ¡°Off to a wonderful start,¡± he finished mentally.

 Chapter Three

    ¡°Owl team, this is Owl two. Owl five is to recon the area, Owl¡¯s three and four set up a perimeter. Go.¡± Before Ronin could gather himself to speak after touch down, Owl two had taken the opportunity away. Annoyance burned in Ronin¡¯s throat as the pod doors all around burst open in a cloud of pressurized air.


    He¡¯d barely taken stock of his surroundings when three fully armored figures rushed away. Looking around, Ronin found the hatch release and pulled the lever. Pressurized air escaped his pod with a hiss, and his ears popped as he adjusted. Looking around he saw that they had landed in the concealed depression he had set up for them before he¡¯d entered the pocket world. His team didn¡¯t know about that however, so it wasn¡¯t odd that they were treating this like a hostile drop.


    ¡°Sir,¡± a hand appeared in front of his opened pod. The fourth armored figure stood outside, offering him a hand. A large number ¡°2¡± decorated its Left breast. ¡°If you¡¯ve gathered yourself sir, I will assist you in collecting the parachute and checking the cargo.¡±


    Annoyance turned to anger as this member of Ronin¡¯s own team gave him orders. Sure, he wasn¡¯t used to military actions, but the captain would have never tolerated one of his men acting in this way.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two.¡± He said as he pulled himself out of the pod, ignoring the proffered hand. ¡°But I feel quite capable of moving on my own.¡± Taking a few steps forward he made to continue, ¡°and as for you taking¡­¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two¡¯s voice cut over his own. ¡°I hate to interrupt sir, but you are still on the team channel. Please switch to direct coms while only addressing me, its distracting to the team.¡± Another wave of heat washed over Ronin¡¯s face as he switched away from the team channel.


    ¡°Be that as it may Owl two, I¡­¡± he was interrupted again by the heavily synthesized, androgenous voice.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Owl two said from behind him.


    ¡°What?¡± He snapped whirling around, ready to tear a strip off the damned soldier.


    ¡°You forgot your rifle sir.¡± Owl two replied, holding out the weapon.


    ¡°Oh¡­ thanks, Owl two.¡± Deciding to quit while he wasn¡¯t too far behind, Ronin took his rifle and motioned to Owl two, ¡°lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl two replied moving forward. Ronin took the opportunity to look around. They were in a cave with a hole in the ceiling, a hole just big enough for the ship to fit through. The cave itself was something like one hundred yards in diameter with walls that arched up into a dome. Right at the top of that dome, was the hole. Several incredibly tough braided steel ropes extended outside the opening. They were attached to the parachute that had guided them down. It looked like it had gotten stuck out there somehow. After examining the hole they¡¯d entered, Ronin checked out the rest of the circular chamber.


    There were two small tunnels leading out from this one. He already knew where they led, having created them himself, but since his team didn¡¯t know that he kept the knowledge quiet. Besides, he doubted Owl two would give him the time of day even if he did tell¡­ him, her? He didn¡¯t know, he had chosen to select his team randomly and had worked on their set up without ever checking.


    That train of thought was derailed when he saw what Owl two was up to. They¡¯d clipped their rifle to their equipment harness and were busy climbing up the dome, towards the ceiling entrance. Ronin¡¯s stunned brain had to process that for a moment before he realized what was going on. The parachute was outside the hole, which meant it was visible to everyone outside. The stealth pods had an active camouflage system that worked during landing, but the unit only lasted so long and had now expired. With a curse, Ronin clipped his own rifle and started after Owl two.


    The climb was easy. Ronin had spent his whole life living in caves, so he was no stranger to rock climbing, but his newly enhanced body made a dramatic difference. Fingers digging into the stone, he propelled himself up with his arms alone. With bones woven of carbon fiber, organs and muscles made from biomechanical components. Nanorobots or nanites, swarming around ready to fix any damage that might occur. He was easily five times stronger than the healthy version of himself from his crystal ship hotel room. He could barely feel the weight of his full body armor as he hauled himself upwards.


    Reaching the lip of the dome, Ronin swung himself up and out into the sunlight. He couldn¡¯t resist a quick look at his surroundings from this vantage, so he did a full three sixty before squatting down to help Owl two get the parachute down the hole. He thought about the surrounding area as he worked. It was a completely alien world than the one he was born into, but it was his home now. His own private adventure world. He grinned as he finished and crawled back down into the cave.


    The pair worked in silence while they waited for the rest of the team to return. Tightly rolling up the parachute and winding up the steel ropes, they tucked them away. The drop pod and what it held was all they had in the world, so nothing could be neglected or wasted. Ronin was excited to start taking things out and looking at them, but Owl two had advised against it. They wanted to wait until the others reported back.


    ¡°Owl five reporting in.¡± It had been nearly six hours by the time the report came in. ¡°Surrounding area scouted; we are safe for now. Heading back to make a full report.¡± Relieved that the waiting was over, Ronin stood up and shook out the imagined stiffness that he should be feeling but wasn¡¯t. Getting used to this body was going to take a while.


    He glared at Owl Two, who had come over to stand beside him. They were of a size, and if it wasn¡¯t for the numbers on their chests, it would be impossible to tell them apart. Ronin was thankful that the helmet was fully transparent from the inside, allowing for full range of motion. Yet fully opaque from the outside, keeping Owl two from seeing the glare. The soldier hadn¡¯t left Ronin¡¯s side the whole time. Making him wonder if he wasn¡¯t being babysat.


    Before the silence could become awkward, the remaining three members of the team ran in. Ronin watched them as they entered, getting a good look at them for the first time. Although all five of them were dressed the exact same, there were obvious differences between them. Owl three was enormous, they had to be at least seven feet tall and ran in large steps. It looked like the ground should be shaking at their approach, but the steps were quiet.


    Owl four wasn¡¯t as tall as Owl three, but their frame was far thicker. They could be mistaken for a gorilla wearing armor if they were seen in a dark room. Unlike the long-distance eating strides of Owl three, Owl four ran while hunched forward. Ronin could almost imagine them using their hands to help them walk faster. Finally, his gaze landed on Owl five. The smallest member of the group, Owl five looked to be somewhere around five-two, with a small frame. Their steps were short, but they nevertheless ate up the distance quickly. Looking between the three members of his team, Ronin almost let out a giggle. The rifles they carried were all the same model, but they looked so different carried by his team. The gun looked like a toy in Owl three¡¯s huge hands, while Owl five looked like the weight of it might bring them down at any moment. Coming up to stand in numerical order beside Owl two, the four members of his team all saluted in unison with a fist pressed to the numbers on their chests.


    Ronin stood there, unsure of what to do for a full three count. When a small shift in Owl two¡¯s Posture snapped him out of it. Raising his hand to his own chest, he returned the salute. Looking them over, he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed. Despite their size differences they looked very uniform. The armor they all wore was identical. A medium gray under armor coverall hugged their bodies tightly. Large woven metal and carbon fiber plate covered all the vital areas and were flat black/ gray. Everywhere in between was also covered in armored plates, of a more flexible design allowing for freedom of movement. These dark gray plates still offered great protection despite their flexibility.


    ¡°At ease, please.¡± He waited for them to relax before turning his attention to Owl five. They had been the one Owl two had sent on recon. ¡°What did you find out there, soldier?¡± He asked, already having an idea of what they would say.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± they said in a voice just as robotic as Owl twos. ¡°We landed at the deepest part of a mountain valley. The mountain¡¯s arms spread out to either side of us before looping back around into a narrow pass, some ten miles from here. The pass has been blocked off by a small human settlement. It looks like they use this valley to raise plant-eating animals. That is only a guess, but from the fact it is the only entrance to this place, and they are on the outside of it. Coupled with the fact that I didn¡¯t see any signs of predators in here it seems likely.¡±


    ¡°Also.¡± They continued, surprising Ronin with how quickly they gathered that information. ¡°I found a cave, halfway between us and the town. It looks like the towns folk have been using it as a mine, but it looks to have been infested by goblins. I got in close for a look though, I¡¯d say there are no more than ten of them. A family group who found a way in through a back tunnel if I had to guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Keep to the facts Owl five.¡± Owl two interrupted the report with a rebuke. ¡°If Owl one wants clarification on any point, he will ask for it soldier.¡± Ronin was really getting angry now, he¡¯d been very impressed with Owl five¡¯s assessment. Especially since he knew how accurate it was.


    ¡°Sorry, Owl two.¡±  Owl five said, snapping off another salute. ¡°Apart from the goblins and humans the entire valley seems to be clear of threats. The walls are sheer drops all the way around, barring flying, the only way in or out of this valley appears to be the goblin den and the human town.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Owl five.¡± Owl two said before Ronin could speak. ¡°Though I thought I told you to stick to the facts. How do you wish to proceed sir?¡± Owl two rebuked Owl five again before turning to Ronin as if nothing odd had happened. Ronin thought about how he wanted to answer for a moment before he responded.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°You said you think we are safe for the time being?¡± He asked Owl five, when they nodded, he continued with a sigh. ¡°Good. Firstly then, I would like to say excellent work Owl five. That was some excellent scouting. I would also like to say that going forward I want to hear your conjecture. So don¡¯t attempt to stop it again Owl two.¡± Having said that, Ronin reached up and removed his helmet.


    ¡°Next,¡± he said as he took a deep breath of the mountain air. ¡°I want everyone to take off their helmet and introduce themselves. Give me a name and your specialty. I¡¯ll start. My name is Ronin, if I were forced to pick a specialty it would either be researching or scavenging. Ok, let¡¯s start with Owl five and work our way back up to Owl two.¡± Having spoken, Ronin put his helmet down and looked over to the shortest member of the group.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl five said as they removed their helmet, revealing a green face and bright red hair done in a pixie cut. She stared past him with pale pink eyes as she spoke ¡°My name is Brie. I am the team scout, and my specialty is hunting.¡± She finished with another salute. Ronin stared at Owl five, caught completely off guard. Green skin, red hair, pointed teeth and slightly tapered ears. There was no doubt¡­ Owl five was a half goblin woman. Her height and the only slightly tapered ears, with pink eyes instead of goblin red, gave away her half breed status. He¡¯d intended to say something, but Owl four had already begun to move.


    ¡°Sir,¡± he said removing his helmet to reveal a gray green face. ¡°My name is Grush. I am the team¡¯s weapons and armor specialist. Repairs and routine maintenance are where I specialize.¡± He also saluted as he finished speaking, fist slamming into his chest. Ronin managed not to stare this time, but he was still shocked. Grush was a half breed as well, half human and half ogre. That explained the stooped posture and the bulging muscles.


    ¡°Sir,¡± said Owl three also removing his helmet. ¡°My name is Steady aim. I am the team¡¯s combat specialist.¡± Finishing his introduction with a salute, Steady aim put his helmet right back on. He was a Kaldarr, a space fairing race that in nearly all respects were fantasy orcs. He didn¡¯t doubt Owl three was a combat specialist, that was all that Kaldarr were, Combat fanatics. Ronin turned his attention to the last member of the team. Owl two hadn¡¯t moved or spoken, instead they just stood there until Ronin spoke to them.


    ¡°Owl two, please remove your helmet and give me a name and specialization.¡± He said with a hint of ice in his voice. He didn¡¯t have a good impression of Owl two so far and was looking forward to seeing what they looked like.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two said without raising his hands. ¡°My designation is Owl two, and I have been assigned to you as your assistant. I specialize in several areas, including but not limited to; command, combat, recon, planning and logistics.¡± After speaking, Owl two fell silent, they hadn¡¯t moved once through the introduction.


    ¡°I see,¡± ronin said. He wasn¡¯t sure if Owl two was intentionally trying to make him angry or not, but he did know that it was working. Taking a breath, he tried again. ¡°I asked you to remove your helmet Owl two. I would like to see your face. To ascertain your race and gender. As well as to simply become more intimately familiar with you as a member of my team.¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two said after a long pause. ¡°Perhaps there has been a miscommunication¡­ on your part.¡± He added unhelpfully. ¡°I cannot remove my ¡®helmet¡¯ because I¡¯m not wearing one. I am an android. Specifically, a research assistant, model thirty-two. As I am not a biological being I do not have a gender. However, you can feel free to use male pronouns with me if it will make you feel more comfortable. Sir.¡±


    ¡°Well great, I¡¯ve got a robot butler.¡± Ronin thought after Owl two stopped speaking. In almost any other situation, he would have been excited to find he had someone like Owl Two under his command. It was just that the damn android was super annoying. That wasn¡¯t likely to change either since androids weren¡¯t alive. They were simply advanced hardware running off equally advanced software. If Owl two was programmed to act this way, then that was how he would act.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ronin said at last, after coming to terms with his fate. ¡°It is nice to meet you all, I look forward to working with you.¡± He avoided looking at Owl Two as he spoke those words. ¡°Let¡¯s go introduce ourselves to the neighbors, shall we?¡± He was looking forward to this, having cheated a little to set up the first adventure beforehand. Ronin already knew what to expect from the valley.


    ¡°Certainly sir,¡± Owl two answered. ¡°However, protocol dictates that we¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two,¡± Ronin interrupted. ¡°For reminding me of another point. We are going to be here for a very long time. So, I want us to dial back the military discipline a little. Ok?¡± He said with a smile, then hastily added. ¡°But continue to announce who is speaking over the coms, as that could get confusing.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I am afraid I must insist that¡­¡± Owl two started again, only to be cut off with a raised hand.


    ¡°That is an order soldier, understood?¡± He snapped, no longer concealing his frustration with the android.


    The remaining members of the team had stood there passively during the entire exchange. It was a little unnerving how disciplined they all were. Ronin was really starting to regret not having hand crafted each of them into the perfect followers.


    ¡°Yes, sir. I understand¡­ however¡­¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± Ronin said, clapping Owl two on the shoulder. ¡°Then lock up the pod and let¡¯s go meet these humans.¡± He couldn¡¯t wait to go exploring. Besides, he¡¯d read every adventure book he could find back home. None of those heroes ever sat around planning all day. They went out and adventured, and that¡¯s what he intended to do.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Owl five, lead the way. Owl three, bring up the rear. Owl four, stay here and secure the base. Go.¡± Stifling his annoyance at the pushy robot, Ronin chose to look on the bright side. At least Owl two was competent at giving orders. The team jumped to his orders as soon as he had finished speaking. Owl two himself having moved over to stand just behind Ronin. ¡°Sir,¡± he said motioning towards the southern tunnel.


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Unclipping the rifle from his equipment harness, Ronin followed the retreating form of Owl five down the tunnel. Owl two following close behind, it appeared that he really did have a babysitter.


    Entering the tunnel, the light from the dome¡¯s opening gradually faded into blackness. That didn¡¯t prove to be a problem for the team, however. One of the cybernetic upgrades Ronin had added to everyone was enhanced eyes. Among other things, they had a night vision mode. Once the light dimmed to a certain level they activated, bringing the dark tunnel back into full clarity.


    ¡°This is sooo cool,¡± Ronin said softly. ¡°I wish I¡¯d had these back on earth.¡± He giggled excitedly as he moved.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl two. Please repeat last.¡± The mechanical voice of his second entered his helmet, reminding him he still had his com set to team channel. Everything he said was being broadcast to his entire team.


    ¡°Nothing, carry on.¡± He said with a blush, mentally triggering his coms off. He didn¡¯t know why he was having so much trouble with the coms. He¡¯d ripped the entire system off the same adventure book as the stealth pod. In the book it was an intuitive, think and speak, that in reality, wasn¡¯t working out quite right. He let it go with a shrug, it was his first day as an adventurer. There would be plenty of time for him to figure out all the insignificant details. Exiting the cave into the sunlight, his eyes automatically readjusted to the light. Ronin was glad that his eyes, at least, didn¡¯t need manual adjustment.


    ¡°Owl team, this is Owl five.¡± The previously mechanical voice of Owl five had been replaced over the helmet com by Brie¡¯s feminine, if guttural, tones. ¡°I¡¯ve explored both tunnels from the landing site. One heads north and the other south. They are both single entry and exit points and both enter this valley. The valley itself is roughly ten miles in diameter and is heavily forested with a large lake in the center. Apart from the two tunnels. I found one additional tunnel, presumably a mine, containing a goblin den.¡± Ronin listened as Brie rattled off details about the valley, they had landed in.


    ¡°No wonder it took her six hours to do recon.¡± Ronin thought as she talked, ¡°she must have circled the entire valley.¡± His attention wandered away from her continued report, as he exited the tunnel and entered the forest. There were trees everywhere, and none of them were familiar to him. There were trees in all colors and shapes that hadn¡¯t existed on the earth that he knew. He¡¯d even read a book on the flora and fauna local to his hemisphere. Yet still, he didn¡¯t recognize a thing.


    He stopped near a squat tree that had bright pink leaves shaped like a triangle. They were large enough to use as a blanket. Reaching out he tugged on one, it resisted his pull before popping free. Ronin was shocked, considering his new strength, how strong did these leaves have to be to resist him?


    ¡°Sir, please focus on the mission at hand.¡± Owl Two said, his voice as mechanical as ever.


    Not bothering to answer, Ronin let the leaf fall from his hands and continued after Brie.


    ¡°¡­I estimated two hundred townspeople in total, based on the number of buildings.¡± She had been reporting the entire time, but he hadn¡¯t been paying attention. After she told the town¡¯s population, she stopped speaking. Too embarrassed to admit that he hadn¡¯t heard most of her report, Ronin cleared his throat.


    ¡°Good work Owl five,¡± he said. Remembering he had turned his helmet com off; Ronin turned it back on the team channel and repeated himself. ¡°Good work Owl five. Your attention to detail does the team a great service.¡± He intended to complement her, but he also meant it. She had discovered in a few short hours what had taken him a day to create back in his hotel room.


    The team moved at a brisk pace. To their cybernetic bodies it was barely a light jog, but back on earth Ronin would have considered them to be running at a dead sprint. It took them just under an hour to cross the ten miles that separated the town from their drop pod. The time might have been shorter, except Owl five led them in a series of zig zags through the forest. Confused, Ronin had asked Owl two about it.


    ¡°Owl five is using this tactic to avoid the local wildlife. Although none of the beasts appear to be predatory in nature, we haven¡¯t learned their disposition. They might be highly territorial, and the mission is to meet the locals, not engage the wildlife¡­ Sir.¡± Grinding his teeth against the belated ¡°sir,¡± Ronin instead focused on the android¡¯s point. It made sense when he thought about it. There seemed to be a lot more to adventuring than he thought. It was true that he had picked all the creatures in this valley. However, it was also true that he hadn¡¯t researched them very much. He¡¯d simply picked creatures off the herbivore list that looked cool. He had no idea what kind of temperaments they had.


    Motioning his thanks to Owl two, Ronin did his best to restrain his curiosity and mind his surroundings. He had plenty of time to enjoy the valley, but right now he had an adventure to start. A grin spread across his face as he thought about it. He was in a whole new world. A world that wouldn¡¯t kill him, simply for breathing its air. In his mind he was already battling dragons and saving damsels. His new life was going to be so much fun. In fact, he might never leave this place. It was better here than back in that tiny hotel room, and way better than his old cave on earth.


    ¡°Hold. Who¡¯s there, and how did you get into our pasture?¡± The voice startled Ronin back into reality. He¡¯d been so caught up in his daydream that he¡¯d zoned out again. Looking up he saw a huge wall made of thick timbers bound together with ropes. It spanned the narrow gap where the two arms of the mountain came close together and rose some twenty feet into the air. Looking around, Ronin noticed that they had long exited the forest. They were standing in an expansive grassland, the nearest trees a good mile behind them.


    ¡°Well, so much for paying attention to my surroundings.¡± He thought in self-deprecation. As the man on the wall hollered down at them again.

 Chapter Four

    ¡°I asked you a question stranger.¡± The man on the wall shouted again. focusing up at him, Ronin¡¯s cybernetic eyes constricted, bringing the man into sharp focus. The zoom feature worked automatically, just like the night vision, and in seconds it looked like the man was standing right in front of him. Unsure what to say in response, Ronin took the man in.


    He was an older man, perhaps in his fifties. Ronin wasn¡¯t the best judge of age. He¡¯d looked far older than this man himself on earth and he had only been in his middle thirties. Yet, his intuition told him he was close enough. The man¡¯s hair was grey, and he sported a massive beard of the same color. His clothes were all made of heavy leather that had been stretched and softened. His vitals were covered in thick plates of what looked like bone, or perhaps horn. He held a long spear in his hands with a metal point, and had a metal knife sheathed at his belt.


    ¡°Owl five was right,¡± he mused to himself. ¡°It looks like they can work metal.¡± He hadn¡¯t known what level of technology they would have, again, because he hadn¡¯t paid close attention to the details.


    ¡°Sir.¡± Owl two¡¯s voice brought him out of his thoughts.


    ¡°Oh right,¡± he muttered. Reaching up he unlatched his helmet and pulled it from his head, exposing his face.


    ¡°Sir, protocol mandates in hostile situations, helmets not be removed.¡± Owl two said quietly on external coms. Voice just as mechanical sounding as ever. Ronin waved his words away as he looked back up at the older man.


    ¡°Greetings,¡± he called up doing his best to sound friendly. ¡°My name is Ronin. My team and I are adventurers. We came upon this valley by accident, and only intended to pass through. However, we saw that your mine looks to be overrun with goblins. I thought we should come tell you about it.¡± he said, ending with a smile.


    ¡°What, goblins?¡± the gate guard said with worry in his tone. ¡°You better come in stranger, the mayor will want to hear about this.¡± having finished speaking, the guard kicked a large bundle at his feet. it unrolled into a rope ladder that clattered against the wall before settling into place. Ronin grinned. The conversation had gone almost exactly as he had expected. Only slightly interrupted by Owl two¡¯s drivel about the helmet.


    Ronin moved towards the ladder. He already knew how this was going to play out and was eager to get to it. when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in place.


    ¡°Owl three, up the ladder. Secure the perimeter, if its clear, signal for Owl five to ascend. Owl one will follow, and I will bring up the rear.¡± Ronin heard his words on his external coms, but he must have said them through helmet coms as well because Owl three moved over to the wall and began climbing. At seven feet tall, it looked like a running leap would place him near the top of the twenty-foot wall, even without the ladder.


    With a sigh, Ronin gave in to Owl two¡¯s paranoia. He wondered how many credits he would have to save in order to reprogram the android. He¡¯d spent everything he had building this world as it was, and he¡¯d yet to earn any after arrival. He shook the thought away; he was about to start fixing that problem.


    Once Owls three and five had ascended the wall, Ronin was allowed to do the same. The ladder was constructed of large bones, held together with sinew. It was surprisingly sturdy considering its primitive construction. He supposed that shouldn¡¯t be surprising, when he took into account that it was likely made from dinosaur parts. Reaching the top of the wall he used the height advantage to look around.


    He couldn¡¯t see the hole in the mountain from here, he was happy to note. He did see the large lake at the center of the valley though. It was surrounded by several dinosaurs and animals of varying description. All eating and drinking together without conflict. Most of the valley was densely forested, but a mile out into the valley from the gate had been cleared of all trees. Providing clear lines of sight out into the valley. Ronin couldn¡¯t see any dinosaurs in the grassland areas, however there were several animals that looked like giant horned goats. They had long shaggy white coats, and were grazing the meadow grass, as they moved around in herds of five to ten.


    ¡°Hello lad, Ronin, did you say your name was?¡± asked the guard, reaching out his hand to shake. Ronin dragged his eyes away from the beauty of this non-toxic world with some effort, and took the proffered hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°My name is Ronin, these are my companions; Owl two, Steady aim and Brie. He said pointing out each of them in turn. We have one more member of our team, but he is watching our travel gear, so that we could make faster time in reporting the goblin den. What did you say your name was friend?¡± he asked in a friendly manner, mimicking how the prince always spoke to towns folk on his travels.


    Owl two twitched when Ronin mentioned Grush. He could almost hear him saying ¡°Protocol dictates¡­¡± In that annoying mechanical voice of his, but they weren¡¯t here to cause trouble. Besides the natives wore leather and carried spears. The team¡¯s railgun powered rifles could cut through them like those giant goats cut through grass.


    ¡°Ah, oh yes. My name is Peters, nice to meet you adventurer.¡± The man said while shaking Ronin¡¯s hand. ¡°Now, follow me please, I will take you to see the mayor.¡± He walked to the other side of the wall and started climbing down another rope ladder. Ronin watched him go, looking at the wall. it was ten feet across and twenty feet high. It looked like it was made entirely of huge logs that had been bound together with ropes. The top had been filled in with dirt and sod had been planted to keep it all together. The entire thing was very well built for a muscle powered society.


    ¡°Owl three¡­¡± Ronin half ignored Owl two as he gave out team orders. He just waited for his turn to climb down the ladder. He could have simply stepped off the side and landed just fine, but he didn¡¯t want to scare the locals, so he waited. upon reaching the bottom, he heard Peters exchanging words with another older man.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said Gibbs, goblins, now get the wool out of your ears and get up on that wall. I gotta take this bunch to see the mayor.¡± Gibbs, who looked just as grizzled and bearded as Peters, was dressed in similar armor and armed the same. In addition to the leathers, he wore a heavy wool coat. It looked to Ronin to have been made from the giant goats from the valley. Grumbling all the while, Gibbs climbed the ladder to the top of the wall.


    ¡°This way folks,¡± Peters said as he led the way into the town. looking around, Ronin had to admit it was the perfect location to build and defend a town.


    Placed as it was between the two sheer sided valley walls. One of the openings moved into a dead-end valley and was covered by a huge wooden wall. Ronin zoomed his vision across the town to the far side to find that, yes, the other end was completely blocked by an equally massive wooden wall. there were no gates in either wall, they must have to raise up and lower everything they wanted to bring into the town.


    Following behind the slow-moving Peters, Ronin took in the buildings they passed. They were all wood framed constructions that had been sided with dinosaur hide. The heavy hides were stretched tight across the frames. More hides were affixed to the mountain walls on drying wracks. He spotted a well too. Several older women were hauling up leather bags filled with water from the depths and carrying them away on their backs. A few children played in the streets, kicking around a leather ball. Ronin frowned. He¡¯d spent some time creating this place, but something seemed off. It took him a moment to place what it was, but when he did, his frown deepened.


    ¡°Peters,¡± he called up to their guide. ¡°I can¡¯t¡¯ help but notice that everyone I see is either elderly, or very young. Where is everyone else?¡± The old man¡¯s shoulders stiffened at the question, but eventually he responded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the mayor to answer your questions, adventurer.¡± After speaking he quickened his pace, revealing a limp that Ronin hadn¡¯t spotted at the slower speed.


    Now a little worried, Ronin checked on his companions. Owl two was still right beside him and behind half a step. Owl three was a dozen steps behind and sweeping the buildings and side streets with his rifle. Owl five, however, was nowhere to be seen. Concerned that something might have happened to her, Ronin started looking around franticly. A calming gesture from Owl two, and a subtly pointed finger calmed him down however. She was there, moving between the buildings. So stealthy that he wouldn¡¯t have noticed her without Owl two¡¯s assistance.


    Reaching one of the leather houses / tents, which looked just the same as all the rest, Peters stopped the group with a raised hand and entered through a flap. The team waited outside for less than a minute before he returned. Motioning them over.


    ¡°The mayor said he can see you now, adventurer.¡± Peters said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back to the wall now. Old Gibbs isn¡¯t likely to take my shift much longer. It was nice to meet you all, hope the discussion goes well.¡± Having finished speaking, he limped off down the street back the way they had come. Moving towards the tent flap, Ronin was again stopped with a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Owl three.¡± The Robot said simply. At his words, the giant Kaldarr moved into the tent, he returned only a short time later.


    ¡°Clear,¡± he said. Ronin noticed that his real voice was coming over the coms now as well.


    ¡°Owls three and five, stay out here and guard the perimeter.¡± Owl two said, moving forward and holding the flap for Ronin to enter. Rolling his eyes at how pretentious it all seemed, Ronin moved through the opening. He was surprised as he passed inside. The doorway was made of two hides, which overlapped a good four feet. it would be difficult for any cold air to enter this tent. Making him wonder what winters would be like here. Stepping inside, his eyes adjusted to the gloom instantly. looking around curiously as he entered, Ronin took in the house.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The place was simple, yet seemed extravagant to Ronin who¡¯d lived his whole life in an empty hole in a cave wall. the floor was covered in dinosaur and goat hides. there was a table made of a mix of wood and bone, a few lamps hanging from the ceiling and a large pile of furs that served as a chair and sleeping area. right next to that pile was a small brazier with a fire burning inside.


    ¡°Welcome to my home strangers.¡± Came a voice from the pile of furs. ¡°I am Emil, the mayor of valley¡¯s pass.¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t seen the figure at first, buried as it was in the pile of furs. He frowned; it wasn¡¯t that cold out. so, why was the mayor covered up like that and sitting next to a fire?


    ¡°I see the question in your eyes, stranger. Yes, I¡¯m sick. No, it¡¯s not contagious. Its just old age catching up to me at last¡­ anyway, come in, have a seat.¡± He motioned to the fur covered floor near the brazier. ¡°Peters tells me you bring ill tidings from the valley?¡±


    ¡°Ah, y yes.¡± Ronin said with a slight stutter, this wasn¡¯t what he had expected at all. ¡°Right, mayor, we were traveling when we came across the valley. One of my people discovered what appears to be a goblin infestation in your mine¡­ but¡­ may I ask, what is going on here? the town seems a little deserted.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask, the question was eating at him too much to keep silent. This place wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this.


    ¡°You have sharp eyes stranger,¡± said the mayor from under his mountain of blankets. ¡°Our town falls inside the boarders of the Mountain¡¯s Embrace Kingdom. The kingdom has recently fallen under attack from some sinister foe and the king ordered all able-bodied men and women report for battle.¡± The old man¡¯s words were interrupted by a series of hacking coughs.¡± When he was finished, he reached for a small glass of water and took a sip.


    ¡°They have been gone now for nearly six months,¡± he continued his story. ¡°I fear that they won¡¯t be returning any time soon either, if at all. since they left, we have struggled to keep the towns¡¯ folk fed, to say nothing of mining. I believe that our neglect of the mine is what allowed the goblins to move in. The noise of our picks must have kept them at bay before. This is a real problem. Goblins breed very quickly; if we don¡¯t do something about them soon, the valley will be overrun within the year.¡± Having seemingly tired himself out while talking, the mayor lapsed back into silence.


    ¡°I can see the problem,¡± Ronin said. Thinking about the old mayor¡¯s words, the need for adventurers In the world was clearer than ever to him. ¡°Well, mayor, I think we can help you with this problem if you would like. My team and I can clear out a small goblin infestation no problem. and while we are out, I wouldn¡¯t mind hunting a little for the town¡¯s folk. Do you have a preferred option? A dinosaur or one of those giant goats perhaps?¡±


    ¡°You would do that for us?¡± the mayor asked sitting up straight for the first time. Ronin was shocked when his frame came into full view, he had to be at least as big as steady aim. Age was starting to eat into his heavily muscled body, but he was still a sight to behold. ¡°We have very little to offer you for this assistance, traveler, but we¡­¡± Ronin raised a gentle hand to silence the old mayor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, mayor Emil¡± he said with a smile. ¡°I rather like this valley. It would be a shame to see it destroyed by goblins.¡± Leaning forward, Ronin began to discuss the details.


    ¡°I fail to see why any of that was necessary.¡± Owl two said on a private channel after they had safely left the town and returned to the valley. ¡°We could have wiped out the goblins on our way to the town and simply reported our success to nearly the same results.¡± He was as annoying as ever, Ronin saw. He started in almost as soon as he had put his helmet back on.


    ¡°It was necessary, because our long-term goal on this planet is to gather resources, create infrastructure, build civilization¡­ and go on a whole bunch of adventures, saving people in need.¡± he said, proud that he¡¯d listed their goals in no particular order. ¡°This valley is a great spot to set up in and as it seems to be owned already, I thought it best to win points with the locals.¡± Plus, that was just how these things were done. You couldn¡¯t complete the quest before someone told you what the problem was, it was just¡­ unnatural.


    ¡°¡­Understood sir.¡± Owl two said at last, clearly not agreeing with Ronin¡¯s reasoning. ¡°Shall I have Owl five go clear the mines sir?¡± he asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Owl five? By herself?¡± Ronin asked a little shocked, she had said there were something like ten of them. besides, she was part goblin. Would that bother her? He didn¡¯t know, but it seemed important.


    ¡°Yes sir, goblins are notoriously easy to kill. It would also be a waste of your time to go their personally¡­ sir.¡± Ronin translated that into ¡°it would be a waste of MY time,¡± in his head.


    ¡°Thanks for the concern, Owl two.¡± he said at last. ¡°But I¡¯m new at this, and an easy goblin fight is just what I need to get accustomed to this sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°I see, sir.¡± The android said, ¡°Then let me give you a prebattle rundown on your rifle.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t be nec¡­¡±


    ¡°Our standard combat rifle is the mark V railgun. It is a bullpup design, which means the rounds fire from behind the trigger, for a more compact size. It has an overall length of twenty-seven inches and holds fifty rounds of a thirty-caliber bullet. The rounds are jacketless and are propelled down the barrel using electromagnetics. The rounds are fired at extremely high velocity but as there is no combustion to propel the rounds, the act of firing is silent. A small beep will sound in your helmet after each round is fired, since, without any recoil it can be hard to tell that the round actually fired.¡± The android was holding his own rifle out for inspection as he talked, pointing at different areas.


    ¡°The mark V railgun fires from an integrated battery system and after all fifty rounds have been fired it must be plugged into the charging port in the drop pod to be recharged and reloaded. Charging time is fifty minutes. By pressing this button here, a targeting reticle will appear in your vision. The gun is connected wirelessly to your eye implants so you will always be able to see where it is pointing even when not being shouldered should you wish.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two but I¡­¡±


    ¡°The Mark V railgun has an accuracy range of two hundred yards without any notable bullet drop. After that, with proper compensation for wind and gravity, one can shoot as far as they can see. It is a high-powered rifle for its size and weight, but the drawback is significant. With only fifty rounds available to the shooter, it is not a gun meant to be taken on long campaigns. It is rather a gun designed for base defense and protection details where limited ammunition is required.¡± The android prattled on for nearly twenty minutes, explaining the most minute and useless facts about the weapon before he was satisfied. Ronin hadn¡¯t realized just how limited the rifles were when he picked them. In the books, they had always lasted as long as they needed to in order to finish the mission. Still, he had heard enough.


    ¡°Thank you Owl two,¡± Ronin said at last. When the robot had finally stopped talking. ¡°I now have a much, much, greater understanding of my weapon then I did before. So, how are we going to proceed when we get to the¡­¡±


    ¡°Next, let me explain the standard issue non-lethal side arm.¡± Owl two, having finished with the rifle clipped it onto his equipment harness and drew his side arm. ¡°This is the Non-lethal II. It holds five rounds; each round is a taser hook with a built-in battery. This prevents the need for strings back to the gun itself. Each round has a built-in heart monitor and will automatically stop feeding electricity to the victim once they have lost consciousness. it has an effective range of fifteen feet and¡­¡±


    He continued talking about the non-lethal II for another thirty minutes. Though the only other thing of note that Ronin picked up was that there was a single extra five round reload in the holster. He did think it was pretty cool that all he had to do to reload the gun was holster it. honestly though, he couldn¡¯t care less about the years or R&D that went into the gun mechanism itself. Eventually, Owl two ran out of things to say and fell silent again.


    Not wanting to get him started on another lecture, Ronin didn¡¯t say anything to him this time. Instead, he opened a private channel to Owl five.


    ¡°Owl five this is Owl one. how far are we from the mines?¡± he asked, getting straight to the point.


    ¡°Sir, we should be arriving near the entrance in the next five minutes. Should I take care of the den sir?¡± she asked, no trace of hesitation in her voice. That made Ronin feel a little better. When he had put this goblin den in the valley, he hadn¡¯t realized that one of his team was going to be of goblin descent.


    ¡°Thank you Owl five, but no¡± he said. ¡°I would like to lead the charge on this one myself.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she replied simply. The four of them moved in silence until the mouth of the mine came into view. ducking into a crouch they moved forward at a crawl until they had reached the edge of the tree line. The dense forest didn¡¯t extend all the way to the cliff wall, leaving a clear line of sight to the entrance.


    ¡°Owl two, I will be proceeding from here on my own.¡± Ronin said, once they had stopped their advancement. ¡°I would like to test myself, and goblins seem to be the safest option for me to do that on right now.¡±


    ¡°I understand sir,¡± Owl two didn¡¯t argue at all, strangely enough. ¡°Just remember my instructions on your weapons and cam if you need back up.¡± oddly touched when he realized why the android had talked about guns for so long, Ronin nodded his head. looking over at the other two members of his team that were present, he nodded at them too. Then, rifle gripped in both hands, he moved into the mine.


    The area around the mine was a mess. Broken rocks and gravel littered the area, making it clear that the miners had just thrown the debris from the mine out into the valley. It looked awful, and Ronin made a mental note to have it cleaned up at some point. He ducked down behind an ore cart as he reached the entrance and stayed there a long moment, looking into the mine. Since he didn¡¯t spot any movement, he slowly advanced inside.


    his vision grew dimmer and dimmer as he walked, until he hit the required light level for his night vision to kick in. then the cave lit up around him like it was day. The colors were a little muted, but he could see with perfect clarity. That gave him the confidence to continue deeper into the cave system. Looking around as he walked, he took in the mine. It was fairly well dug, considering who had done the work. Every few feet, a set of foot thick wood beams held up the ceiling. Making him wonder how stable this cave was.


    As he walked past another set of beams, he saw movement from behind one of them. quickly turning to look, he found a small green skinned figure. It was clambering to its feet, wiping its eyes with the back of a grimy hand. Without hesitation or conscious thought, Ronin pulled the trigger of his rifle. There was no response from the gun itself, but a small beep in his helmet alerted him that he had indeed fired.


    Not that he needed confirmation. The goblin¡¯s chest caved in under the shot, and when the round passed through the goblin it entered the wooden beam, sending out a cloud of shrapnel. The wooden projectiles bounced harmlessly off his armor, but the goblin wasn¡¯t as lucky. The already dead creature was peppered with splinters. They protruded from its back as it dropped, boneless, to the ground.


    Taking a look around to be sure the commotion hadn¡¯t alerted any other goblins; Ronin moved forward and turned the goblin over. The first thing he noticed was how small and frail the goblin was. It moved easily in his hands and was soon resting against the wooden support. The creature was small, no more than four feet tall. It was malnourished, bones poking out through the gaunt skin. Reaching out, he pulled the partially rotted, poorly tanned rawhide sack away from the wound. The hole was small and went clean through the chest. it had entered right to the side of the breastbone, near a small lump of flesh.


    Frowning, Ronin looked back at the goblin¡¯s face. shock filled his eyes when he realized it was a female. He looked back down at the bullet hole in the emaciated goblin, and his mind jumped back to the caves. His finger pulling another trigger, and Brad¡¯s head exploding. The crippled Smith going down in another spray of blood, and his own frail body being mercilessly beaten by Alexander. Bile rose in his throat as the memories he¡¯d been suppressing flooded back into his vision.


    He¡¯d done it again, he¡¯d killed someone. Dropping his rifle, he scrambled for the helmet release catch. Barely getting it off in time, he threw up on the cave floor. His breath was coming in ragged gasps as he continued to throw up. tears and snot flowed freely from his eyes and nose as he wretched. A small voice in his head told him that he was having a panic attack, but he couldn¡¯t focus on it through the horrifying visions that wouldn¡¯t leave his sight.


    From Out of nowhere, a hand appeared on his shoulder.

 Chapter Five

    A soothing voice entered his ears, and the hand started rubbing his back through his armor.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok sir,¡± the voice said. ¡°This happens to everyone the first few times, it¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of¡­ Owl two, this is Owl five. Owl one is down, I repeat Owl one is down¡­ shhh calm down sir, it will be ok. It will be ok.¡± Distantly, through his own dropped helmet, Ronin heard the voice of Owl two.


    ¡°Copy Owl five, stay with Owl one on protection detail. Owl three and I will clear the mine of hostiles. Good work shadowing Owl one, just keep him safe while we finish the mission.¡±


    ¡°¡­N¡­ No.¡± Ronin managed to gag out between his hysterical sobs. ¡°Non¡­non¡­ non-lethal¡­on¡­only.¡± He managed at last.


    ¡°Owl two, this is Owl five. Owl one has ordered that the mission be changed. We are to use non-lethal only. Over.¡± There was a long pause before Owl two answered.


    ¡°Owl five, did I get that right? We are to use non-lethal force only?¡± the mechanical voice sounded annoyed to Ronin.


    ¡°Yes Owl two, non-lethal only.¡± Owl five replied, as calm as ever.


    ¡°Acknowledged.¡± Owl two finally answered.


    After that, Owl five crouched over Ronin, slowly rubbing his back and shushing him. the whole time, her side arm, was held at the ready. Aimed rock steady deeper into the mine shaft. She only relaxed when the enormous form of Owl three strode past her into the tunnel, his side arm held in a two-handed grip. The gun practically disappeared in his massive hands. Owl two was right behind him. he stopped long enough to check on Ronin¡¯s condition, then followed after Owl three deeper inside.


    Time passed slowly for Ronin. he felt trapped and he couldn¡¯t stop sobbing. All he could do was sit there as the images of withered bodies exploding into bloody messes, played through his mind over and over again. Owl five sat with him while he cried. Slowly rubbing his back and crooning to him. after an eternity, the visions began to lose their power over him. he was becoming numb to the sight of blood, and his sobs slowly subsided as well.


    He didn¡¯t know how much time passed before he calmed down, but he felt more drained than at any time in his life up to that point. Looking into Owl fives helmeted face, he could see his own reflection. It was a pathetic sight. his eyes were bloodshot, his nose swollen. He started to wipe it away, but was stopped by a small hand on his.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got you sir,¡± Owl five said. She¡¯d pulled a cloth from her bag at some point and, wetting it from her canteen, cleaned his face. Ronin was too tired to feel embarrassed at her ministrations. Instead, he just took the gesture for what it was and waited for her to finish. ¡°All cleaned up sir.¡± She said at last, putting away her cloth and canteen. Then she offered a second, much smaller, canteen to Ronin.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said accepting the canteen. Taking a drink of the nutrient and nanite enhanced water, he felt better almost instantly. he didn¡¯t drink any more than that however. They couldn¡¯t make more of the water without the drop pod, and he didn¡¯t want to waste it. handing it back to Owl five, Ronin stood up.


    Accepting his helmet and rifle, Ronin suited up. doing his best to put the incident behind him, he turned his back on the dead goblin woman and marched deeper into the tunnel.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl two.¡± the monotoned voice of his assistant entered his helmet com as he walked. ¡°Reporting the complete capture of all hostiles. We questioned one of the prisoners to determine that we have them all, over.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two. We are inbound and should be at your location shortly,¡± Ronin replied. he hadn¡¯t been here before, but there was an arrow in his vision pointing him in the right direction. A map marker that Owl two had no doubt left for him. as annoying as the android could be, he was at least efficient.


    Rounding the last bend, Ronin walked into a large cave. Looking at the walls, he determined this was a natural cave the miners must have tunneled into by accident. There was another natural tunnel leading off, deeper into the earth. That one was covered by a metal grate, which had been worked loose from the stone, creating an opening just large enough for the goblins to slip through. Seeing Owl two and three, Ronin walked over to them. tied up at their feet were a total of seven goblins.


    A cursory scan told him there were three males and four females in the group. Each was just as gaunt and filthy as the one he¡­ shot, had been. They were also dressed in poorly tanned and half rotten rawhide sacks. Most of them were the standard four feet tall, but one of the males was closer to four and a half feet tall. a veritable giant for a goblin, it glared up at him as he approached.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two said as he arrived. ¡°We have captured the prisoners. What are your orders regarding them?¡±


    Ronin looked down at the small goblins. Not sure what he wanted to do with them. he just hadn¡¯t wanted to kill them, and now, with them tied up and helpless like this he really couldn¡¯t do it. looking back at Owl five, he thought about how she had cared for him in the tunnel. she was half goblin herself. if she could act so caringly, then didn¡¯t it stand to reason that these goblins could too if given the chance? Turning back to Owl two, Ronin said.


    ¡°Like I said before, we are here to build a civilization. We¡¯ve just gotten our first seven builders.¡± He said, making up the words as he went. ¡°I will now accept suggestions on how to bring them under control.¡± He finished, deciding to turn the problem over to Owl two. the android didn¡¯t answer for a long time, simply standing still while he processed the problem.


    ¡°Ok I think we can do this.¡± he said at last, ¡°Goblins are like dogs, or chickens, they have a pack order and always follow the strongest member of the group. So, if you will allow me to use one of the drone parasites on the big guy there, I think we can make this work.¡± They had been speaking over helmet coms, so the goblins couldn¡¯t hear them. the big one bared its teeth at Owl two though when he pointed at him.


    Ronin had to think about that for a bit. The idea had merit, but the drone parasites were also valuable. He only had six of them, they were single use, and that was all he was likely to ever have. An interesting biomechanical bug, the drone parasite borrowed into the host¡¯s skull and essentially turned them into a slave. They would follow any orders given by the mother parasite, the parasite that Ronin had nestled in his own skull right now. Even better, they had a telepathic ability. Meaning they could be controlled at a distance of up to fifty miles.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said at last. ¡°But I want to use one of the nanite injectors on him too.¡± He said, deciding that if he was in for a dime he was in for a dollar.


    ¡°¡­sir¡± Owl two said, reluctance plain in his voice. ¡°The nanite injectors are invaluable, and we only have four of them. to use one on¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand your feelings, Owl two¡± Ronin interrupted. The nanite injectors really were an incredible piece of technology. Once injected, it would rapidly improve the body to its optimal condition with an extended life span. It was very similar to what had happened to Ronin¡¯s body when he was crystalized. Only, it was much more painful, and required the injected to eat as much as they could for days to fuel the process.


    ¡°But if we don¡¯t, the goblin will die of old age within a decade. It would be a waste of the parasite to use it on such a short-lived host.¡± He reasoned with his assistant, wondering if he would cave or not.


    ¡°Understood sir,¡± Owl two said eventually. ¡°Let¡¯s get the prisoners back to the base then, Owl five and I will get them cleaned up and start the process. While you take the casualty back to the town with Owl¡¯s three and four¡­ the town is half empty right now, maybe you can get some clothes for the goblins while you¡¯re there.¡± Plans made, they set to work. Ronin and Owl two each carried two goblins, slung over their shoulders. While Owl three carried the rest all by himself. Owl five¡¯s hands were left free to defend the team as they moved.


    Upon reaching the cave system, Ronin was shocked to see how much work Owl four had managed to do. The cave mouths had been covered with large rocks, only leaving small openings. That alone went a long way to disguise the tunnels from view. once he entered the tunnel, Ronin found his movement being tracked by a small ceiling mounted turret. There was a camera and a small gun attached to the turret, alerting Owl four to their return. They only had a handful of those turrets, and they only held five rounds, but it should be enough to slow any attackers down long enough for the team to respond.


    Reaching the domed cave, Ronin noticed that the sixth pod had been removed. the final pod was entirely filled with gear, and it lay open on the ground while Owl four went through everything. the heavily muscled man was meticulously looking over every piece before putting it back again.


    ¡°Welcome Back sir,¡± Owl four said when Ronin entered. ¡°Upon Owl two¡¯s orders, I fabricated a few manacles, and attached them to one of the parachute ropes over there.¡± Looking over to where Owl four pointed, Ronin saw the braided steel rope affixed to the wall. seven sets of manacles hung from it, each spaced out enough that the goblins couldn¡¯t reach each other while shackled.


    ¡°Great job Grush,¡± Ronin complemented as he carried his prisoners over and locked them up. he saw three more of the ceiling mounted turrets placed equidistantly around the dome. They only had five of them in total, so Ronin assumed the fifth was at the mouth of the northern tunnel. Owl two and three joined him in locking up the goblins they had carried back. All of them, with the exception of the leader, were still unconscious.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two said once Ronin had been unburdened. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to recharge your rifle, sir.¡± Ronin looked at him quizzically.


    ¡°I only shot one bullet Owl two. that leaves me with forty-nine, I don¡¯t think that I need to worry about that yet¡±


    ¡°With respect sir, you never leave on a mission less than fully prepared.¡± The words didn¡¯t come from Owl two, but rather Owl five. Ronin looked over to her, only to find her plugging the taser rounds they had shot into the pods to charge. Ronin had been prepared to argue with Owl two, but if Brie felt the same way he couldn¡¯t argue with them both.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said simply before walking over to his pod and opening the door. the pods held an array of functions and equipment, one of those functions was recharging and reloading the mark V railgun from the reactor and fabrication unit hidden inside the main shape of the drop pod. Clicking the rifle home, Ronin waited the one minute it required to replenish the spent round and the energy it took to fire it.


    As he waited, he looked at the lockers that flanked his coffin sized pod. They held even more equipment. Reaching behind the unit, he pulled out a round shield and a short sword. The round shield was thirty inches in diameter and the short sword had an eighteen-inch double-edged blade. Despite his argument with Owl two, the android¡¯s warnings on the shortcomings of the rifles had gotten through to him.


    ¡°Going forward, I don¡¯t want anyone leaving the base without their melee weapons, in addition to their rifles.¡± He said, waiting for Owl two to remind him that it was protocol to always be fully equipped at all times. Surprisingly however, Owl two didn¡¯t say anything. Only retrieving his own short sword and shield, which were identical to Ronin¡¯s. without a word the others followed suit. Owl three grabbed a long sword and a tower shield, Owl four pulled out a two-handed war hammer and Owl five strapped two long daggers to her waist.


    Each of the weapons was formed from advanced technology and contained nanites just like the armor they wore. As long as it wasn¡¯t completely destroyed, the items could self-repair if provided with adequate raw materials. Everything Ronin had loaded into the stealth pod had been top quality. Unfortunately, the unit wasn¡¯t very big. No matter how good the quality, they were still limited on hardware.


    Ronin moved to stand next to Owl two, who had opened a small case to reveal six glass vials. Each held a small spider shaped drone parasite. Taking one of the vials from the case, Owl two gently closed it and tucked it away safely. Next, he pulled out another box. This one held four, forearm sized syringes that looked like they were filled with liquid metal.


    ¡°Got everything covered here, Owl two?¡± Ronin asked, looking at the precious items the android held in his hands.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The android replied. ¡°I will administer the injection and the parasite and clean the prisoners, while Owl five hunts the surrounding area for food to fuel the transformation. While we do that, you along with Owl¡¯s three and four will retrieve the casualty from the mine and return with it as proof the goblins have been dealt with. Hopefully getting some clothes for the newly cleaned goblins while you¡¯re there.¡± He added pointedly.


    ¡°That sounds about right.¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°But I also want you to give each of the other six goblins a canteen of nutrient and nanite rich enhanced water, I think it will go a long way to restoring them to working condition.¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two said. ¡°The pod can create new enhanced nanite water, but we will have to feed it some of the raw resources we brought with us to do so. Since we haven¡¯t discovered a native source for them yet, every dose used is a dose that we won¡¯t have in case of an emergency.¡± Ronin was aware of the problem, and Owl two had a valid point. Ronin had designed the enhanced water himself after all. he¡¯d read a sword and sorcery novel that had magic healing potions, and did his best to replicate them.


    ¡°I agree with you Owl two,¡± Ronin said at last. ¡°But we should be safe for the time being, and without the enhanced water it will take weeks for the goblins to regain their strength. If we give it to them, however, with a lot of food and some rest they should be in decent shape in a day or so. It¡¯s a gamble, but I think it¡¯s a gamble worth taking.¡±


    ¡°Understood sir,¡± Owl two said, clearly not in agreement. ¡°I will divide up what we have and give it to the prisoners.¡± Ronin thought to correct him on the goblin¡¯s status, but decided it didn¡¯t really matter. After all, until their leader was implanted and brought the rest under control, they really were prisoners.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two¡± he said instead. handing his assistant his canteen of enhanced water. Turning to Grush and Steady aim he signaled to them. ¡°Let¡¯s go guys.¡± He looked for Owl five, but she must have already left to hunt. The two huge team members handed over their canteens to Owl two before following Ronin back out into the forest.


    The trip back to the mine was more eventful than any previous trip. Without Owl five to scout for them, the team kept running into small groups of dinosaurs. One encounter was particularly close. they had been running at full tilt when Grush literally ran into an Ankylosaurus who had been hidden behind a large leafed bush.


    The dinosaur bellowed with rage as the small creature bounced off its armored hide. Ronin gaped at the thirty-foot-long beast. it was squat and wide, sitting low to the ground on thick legs. Its head, back and tail were heavily armored. It looked a little like an armadillo. Except that its tail was long and had a huge club of bone like growth attached to it. swinging its whole body around in a rage, the Ankylosaurus tried to crush Grush for his impudence. Thankfully he was able to move away in time, the tree that had been behind him however wasn¡¯t so lucky.


    With a boom and a spray of splinters, the tree toppled to the ground. Owl three raised his rifle towards the dino, but Ronin told him not to fire. this was a game preserve at the end of the day, and killing randomly could irrevocably damage their populations. Instead, the trio ran for it with everything they had. the beast chased them for a while, but they were able to lose it in the end.


    Arriving at the mine, the three took a moment to catch their breath. Ronin took the large pink leaf that he had rolled up and stored, out of his pack. He intended to use it to wrap the gobliness in for transport. However, now that he had arrived, he didn¡¯t want to go back into the mine. He just stared at the hole in the cliff for several long minutes. After an indeterminate amount of time, Owl three moved over to him.


    ¡°Sir, I can do it for you. there¡¯s no need for you to go in there personally. I know Brie already told you this, but this reaction really is normal in the beginning.¡± The Kaldarr spoke gently, but his voice still reverberated around inside Ronin¡¯s helmet. Still, the care his teammates showed him over the incident did a lot to restore his confidence.


    ¡°Thank you, Steady Aim¡± he said at last. ¡°But I¡¯ve got this.¡± without another word, Ronin strolled into the cave. Walking straight to where he had killed the goblin, he looked down at her in silence. Reaching out, he closed her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry this happened.¡± he whispered into the empty tunnel. ¡°This wasn¡¯t what I had in mind when I set out to adventure.¡± Spreading the leaf out on the ground, he gently laid the goblin onto it and rolled her up inside. Securing the bundle with some vines, he picked her up in a princess carry and walked back outside. Owl four took the bundle from his arms at the entrance. The big man gave Ronin an encouraging nod as he relieved him of his burden.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ronin said. Breathing out through his nose in a long exhale, he recentered himself. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They ran the rest of the way back to Valley¡¯s pass. they only stopped when the walls were in sight. Owl three sighted his rifle on the largest goat and with a gentle squeeze of the trigger, the beast toppled to the ground. the round impacted just behind the front leg, passing through the beast¡¯s heart and out the other side, as clean a kill as anyone could for.


    when they arrived at the carcass, Owl three simply picked up the horse sized goat and slung it over his shoulder. Ronin could imagine he heard the giant¡¯s carbon and metal fiber bones creaking under the weight, but he bore it without a word.


    Reaching the wall, Peters lowered the rope ladder for them and before long Ronin found himself sitting in front of mayor Emil once again. the old leader looked a little livelier this time around, he was sitting up and sipping from a bowl of hot soup.


    ¡°Peters tells me that your big friend outside carried a goat back to the wall on his shoulders?¡± The mayor opened the conversation with a question.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ronin said with a small smile. He had left the two men outside to watch for danger, while he talked to the mayor alone. ¡°My team is very strong,¡± he said simply.


    ¡°Strong?¡± Emil asked skeptically. ¡°Son, I¡¯ve been the strongest man in this village my entire life, and I can hardly lift one of those beasts. To say nothing about carrying it for close to a mile.¡± He stared into Ronin¡¯s eyes for a long moment before changing the subject. ¡°So, this is one of the goblins you killed huh?¡± he asked, pulling back the leaf to look at the small creature.


    ¡°Not really much to look at, are they?¡± he continued, ¡°but they breed like rabbits. Their gestation period is only thirty days long. They are big enough to breed at six months old and fully grown in a year. They might only live ten years or so, but they can breed the entire time. One breeding female can produce over one hundred offspring in their live time. That¡¯s why they are such a menace, a small family of goblins can turn into a horde within a few years. A horde that doesn¡¯t know how to preserve food. So, they are constantly hunting new prey, while yesterday¡¯s kill rots away in the field.¡± The mayor looked like he wanted to spit on the dead goblin, but he restrained himself at the look in Ronin¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Point is lad,¡± he finally said. ¡°Is that we owe you a debt for this, one that we can¡¯t repay. Doubly so, since you brought back an entire goat with you. that will feed the town for some time. Is there anything that we can do to repay your kindness?¡± he looked earnestly into Ronin¡¯s eyes as he spoke these words.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to say no.¡± Ronin said at last, ¡°but we could use some clothes if you have any to spare. Nothing fancy mind, just something serviceable for when we aren¡¯t wearing our armor around camp.¡± He added that last part in the spur of the moment. After he saw how much the mayor hated goblins, he didn¡¯t want to risk him finding out the truth.


    ¡°Of course, of course. I¡¯ll have Peters ask the women folk to scrounge something up. there are plenty of empty houses these days, so a few sets of clothes is a small thing.¡± He said, reaching out his big hand for a shake. ¡°Also, you will stay for dinner I trust?¡±


    Ronin shook the man¡¯s proffered hand. Thinking about his offer to stay for dinner. The towns folk were already busy cooking a haunch of meat from the goat, and it looked like they planned to make a party out of it. giving a silent com call to Owl two, Ronin asked for his assistance¡¯ opinion. The pair exchanged a few words and Ronin nodded.


    ¡°It would be an honor.¡± he said with a smile. He was genuinely looking forward to enjoying his first meal made by a beast that he¡¯d hunted. Well that his team member had hunted anyway. it was one of the things he had dreamed of back on earth, and to enjoy that meal with these happy people just added to his excitement.


    Time blurred passed in the square of the small town. all the remaining towns people had come out. Sitting on stools they¡¯d brought out from their houses. As night fell, some took out jars of home-made fruit wine, and took turns getting Ronin to sample them. They¡¯d tried to get his team members to drink too, but they¡¯d flatly refused.


    Giving up on them, the towns people gathered around an increasingly drunk Ronin. they told him stories of their lives. Told him about their worries that their children might never come home, and how hard their grandkids were taking the situation. Finally, it was time to eat. The mayor had come out of his house to personally cut the first slice off the roast goat and presented it to Ronin himself. Raising a toast in his honor.


    ¡°Now this¡­ this is just like the stories said it should be.¡± he thought drunkenly. He had raised the piece of meat to his lips for the first bite, when a shot cracked out. liquid spattered his face, as the mayor¡¯s twitching body flopped to the ground at his feet.

 Chapter Six

    ¡°Get down,¡± Owl three shouted. Ronin was still staring at the convulsing mayor in shock when he was tackled from behind. ¡°Sir, activate your nanites.¡± The Kaldarr soldier shouted as he forced Ronin¡¯s helmet back on his head, latching it in place. Owl four crouched over them, rifle shouldered and sweeping the area.


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin asked stupidly, still staring at Emil. ¡°R..right,¡± he said a beat later. Activating the nano machines inside his bloodstream with a thought. They immediately began purging the alcohol from his system. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked as his mind cleared, pulling his rifle from his equipment harness.


    ¡°Kaldarr slavers,¡± Owl three said helping Ronin into a crouch. ¡°I saw them coming over the outer wall. One got impatient and took a shot early. We need to move¡­ Now!¡± he said taking a shot into the night. ¡°The Kaldarr are using stun shot, but once they realize we¡¯re here they will switch to live rounds soon enough.¡±


    ¡°We need to save the mayor.¡± Ronin said as he watched the still writhing mayor. There was a barbed hook in his back that was continuously pumping his body with electricity.


    ¡°No time,¡± Owl three said dragging him away, Owl four bringing up the rear. Ronin looked around franticly, desperate to find some way to save the mayor. That¡¯s when he saw a slim ray of hope.


    ¡°The well, Owl four remove the taser and toss the mayor down the well.¡± It wasn¡¯t much, but assuming they made it out of here they could always come back.


    ¡°Sir¡­¡± Owl three started to argue, but Ronin had experienced the worst day of his life and he¡¯d had enough.


    ¡°Do it soldier!¡± he snapped, ¡°any civilians between here and the well are to be dropped in as well before we make our escape. Is that understood?¡± by the end he was screaming into his com, the last dregs of alcohol still muddling his mind.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Owl three and four said in unison, slamming their fists into their chests. Owl four reached back and grabbed the huge mayor, dragging him along behind them. They hadn¡¯t gone five feet when another crack sounded out and an object that crackled with electricity bounced off Ronin¡¯s face plate. The close call did a better job of clearing the remainder of the drink from his mind than the nanites, and he looked around at last.


    Kaldarr warriors were dropping over the outer wall in twos and threes. Ignoring the ladders and simply dropping twenty feet to the ground. They were covered head to toe in full plate metal armor. It looked like a strange marriage between something a medieval knight would wear and the futuristic armor that the Owl team wore. Each of the Kaldarr was armed with what could be described as a super old-fashioned musket, with another more modern rifle slung over their backs.


    ¡°Shit,¡± Ronin breathed. The smallest of the invading Kaldarr was seven feet tall. They towered over the town¡¯s folk, who ran around in a confused rabble. Screams of fear and pain, mixed with the cracking of the muskets and the laughter of the space orcs. Watching the elderly town¡¯s people, who¡¯d been so generous to him that evening, go down brought a tinge of red to Ronin¡¯s eyes. Reaching out he grabbed a passing old woman and a small child by their collars. Ignoring their cries, he dragged them along.


    They reached the well without further incident. It was just outside the town square and hadn¡¯t taken them long to reach. Without ceremony, ronin threw the woman and child into the well. They were followed soon after by the mayor and three more towns folk that Owl three and four had managed to grab on their short trip. Seeing what was happening, a few of the close by town¡¯s people, not knowing what else to do, jumped into the well themselves.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Ronin said. He wished he could do more for the town¡¯s folk, but his reduced team couldn¡¯t handle this situation on their own. Looking back at the far wall, Ronin called up his reticle for the first time. His eyes zoomed in automatically on the Kaldarr warrior who had just topped the outer wall. With a quick trigger squeeze, a small hole appeared on the warrior¡¯s chest. Without a sound, at least that Ronin could hear from this distance, the Kaldarr fell from the wall.


    Owl three and four hadn¡¯t been idle either. Ronin saw several armored bodies mixed in with the writhing town¡¯s folk.


    ¡°WRRAAAAGGG¡± a mighty bellow of rage rang out from the other side of the wall. It was echoed by every Kaldarr on the field. The sounds of the shots changed, as they dropped their non-lethal muskets and pulled out their rifles.


    A mighty impact to his chest knocked Ronin from his feet. His vision swam wildly as he tried to recover from his zoom mode and come to grips with what had happened. Feeling his chest, he felt the armored plate there had been shattered. Bringing his fingers away from the wound, he saw blood. Pain blossomed in his chest before the nanites, already active clearing the alcohol, rushed to this new injury.


    ¡°Sir,¡± owl four shouted. Covering Ronin¡¯s body with his own as several more gun shots sounded. ¡°AAHHHAA¡± the half ogre grunted in pain. It didn¡¯t slow him down at all in picking Ronin up, and making a run for the inner wall.


    Finding his chest pressed into Grush¡¯s shoulder, Ronin took advantage of the position to provide covering fire. Fighting through the pain, he was able to drop three more of their attackers when another shot impacted Grush¡¯s back. The plates there had already been shattered, and blood began flowing freely from the wound.


    ¡°Grush!¡± Ronin yelled in panic, but the thickly muscled man ignored the shout and the pain and continued to run. With another yell, Ronin raised his rifle and began to fire unrestrained. He likely would have dumped the entire magazine right then, if Grush hadn¡¯t dived to the ground. Finding himself crushed between the half ogre and the ground, Ronin fought for breath. It was the second time that day that he hadn¡¯t been able to breathe, so he handled it a little better this time.


    ¡°¡­What?¡± was all he managed to get out, but it was enough.


    ¡°The enemy are now dropping over the inner wall sir.¡± Owl three said, from his prone position beside Owl four. ¡°They must have landed craft on either side of the town¡­ we aren¡¯t getting out of here.¡± Owl three had moved just enough to let Ronin roll out from under him. He took his place beside his men as they all fired into the new attackers. Ronin searched his mind for an answer but was coming up blank. Owl three grunted as a round impacted his body, yet he continued to fire.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl two. What is the situation?¡± Ronin almost didn¡¯t hear the voice of his assistant in his headset over the chaos going on around him. The undaunted robot simply repeated the message some three times before Ronin finally heard him.


    ¡°Owl two, we are under attack. Kaldarr slavers came over both sides of the wall. We are surrounded and both Owl three and Owl four are hurt. I don¡¯t know what to do.¡± Ronin was pretty sure he had been hollering over the team channel, but at this point he couldn¡¯t be bothered with that.


    ¡°Understood,¡± Owl two¡¯s voice came back after a long moment. ¡°Owl five is inbound, she will attack from behind the inner wall to take some pressure off of you. Best recommendation sir is to find a place to hunker down. Kaldarr slavers only care about gathering slaves. Once the resistance stops, they gather up everyone still alive and leave.¡±


    Still firing into the Kaldarr who were ducking around between the houses, Ronin wracked his brain. Trying to find a way that they could hide. It didn¡¯t look like the Kaldarr had night vision, from the way they were moving, but they would be certain to check the houses when the fighting stopped.


    ¡°Understood, Owl two.¡± the words had come from Owl three and Owl four at the same time. The pesky android must have cut him out of the conversation and given them orders. Before he had time to ask what they were talking about, Owl four tugged the rifle out of Ronin¡¯s hands and got to his feet.


    A rifle in each hand, he charged the enemy, firing with abandon. Owl three in the meantime had pulled the tower shield off his back. Yanking Ronin over to him he hugged the smaller man between his body and the shield before standing up as well. Ronin felt the impact of rounds through the shield, and knew that Owl three was getting hammered.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he shouted as the giant ran back into the town¡¯s square.


    ¡°When we get¡­GAH¡­there, keep the shield between you and the sky. Got it, Sir?¡± Owl three shouted in response. Grunting in pain as he talked when another round hit him. Ronin didn¡¯t have a clue what was going on, but the situation had gone fully outside his control. He was completely outside his element, and the enemy Kaldarr were getting closer.


    Reaching the town¡¯s square, Steady Aim dropped both Ronin and his tower shield into the well. He hardly had time to realize he was falling before he crashed into cold water and frail bodies. Struggling to his feet through the press of bodies, ronin found that the water was just over waist deep. He didn¡¯t know how many people had jumped down here to hide, but the well was only seven feet across. The people were packed in here like sardines.


    ¡°Bring the shield up!¡± the giant roared as a dinosaur hide was flung down the well. Ronin recognized it as the one brought out for the small children to sit on during dinner. It settled over top the frightened figures like a concealing blanket. Baffled, but trusting in his man¡¯s words, Ronin raised the shield up over his head, pressing up against the thick dinosaur hide. Just in time to catch the falling impact of a mountain of stones.


    ¡°Aaahhh¡± he screamed as his enhanced muscles and bones bore the weight that crashed down atop him. Steady Aim must be collapsing the stones piled around the top of the well. Forced down to his knees, Ronin continued to push up as the pressure mounted. Stones still tumbling down as more were pushed into the well.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°What is he doing up there?¡±  Ronin screamed inside his head as he struggled to hold the load. The bodies around him writhed in agonized pain as they were crushed. The ones lucky enough to have been close to him, crowded closer in under his shield. Struggling to keep their heads above water.


    Perhaps due to his mental question, or just his intense desire to know what was going on above, another one of his artificial eye¡¯s functions activated. With a whirling sense of vertigo, ronin found himself seeing through Owl three¡¯s eyes. He was pressed against the last section of well that stood above ground. His head tilted down as he heaved, granting Ronin a view of his body. It was a tattered mess. His armor plates were all shattered, and blood pumped freely from multiple wounds.


    The whole team was equipped with nanites that, in theory, would work to seal up wounds and stop bleeding. The giant just had too many wounds. The nanites must have been overloaded with the amount of work. Ronin imagined them moving back from the wounds and congregating in the heart, doing their best to keep it beating, just a little bit longer.


    With a monstrous shout and a mighty heave, Steady Aim finished collapsing the well. Ronin felt his vertigo increase several fold, as he watched the rocks falling, yet feeling them impacting his shield from above. Job finished, Owl three stopped his struggle. With a long blink, he toppled over the edge and landed on top of the stones that now completely covered Ronin and the poor town¡¯s people.


    Vision snapping back to his own body with Owl three¡¯s death, ronin let out an agenized sob. He¡¯d only known the giant for a day, yet sharing his last moments brought him closer to the Kaldarr soldier. Not wanting to think about either his, or Owl three¡¯s situation, he refocused his vision to Owl fours eyes.


    The feeling of vertigo came back and intensified with this new shift in prospective. Owl four had dropped the rifles at some point, he now held his massive two-handed hammer in his bloody grip. Ronin didn¡¯t have any way to shift Owl four¡¯s focus, so he did his best to figure out what was going on by checking the periphery.


    A flash of movement. A Kaldarr warrior sneaking around the corner of the house Owl four was hiding behind. With a grunt, he brought the hammer down. Crushing the fully armored warrior into the ground. Turning around, Grush stumbled around to the other side of the house, where he repeated the action again on another Kaldarr warrior.


    The aliens seemed to have caught on at this point, however. The next Kaldarr didn¡¯t come around the house. They went through it. The heavy dinosaur hide wall exploded outward as the new warrior arrived on the scene. Stumbling backwards, the injured half ogre nevertheless brought his hammer around in a backhanded swing that sent the warrior flying back into the house. That warrior wasn¡¯t alone though, two more were standing behind the first. Ronin¡¯s vision shifted again as the pair unloaded their rifles into his second team member.


    ¡°Nooo,¡± he cried out in fresh grief. Tears flowed freely from his eyes now. He wanted to lash out, to fight, to run and hide. All he could do though, was kneel here holding Owl three¡¯s shield over his head. Hold the shield, and prey that the kaldarr didn¡¯t find him.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl five. What¡¯s your statis?¡± the soothing voice of Owl five entered his helmet, and fear gripped his heart. Owl two had said Owl five was inbound. She wasn¡¯t going to die trying to save him too, was she? In a panic, he shifted his vision to her eyes.


    She was outside the inner wall of the town. There weren¡¯t any Kaldarr in sight though, they must have already gone over the wall. He followed her gaze as she looked at one of two drop ships that had landed in the field outside the wall. The back hatches were both open and he watched mutely as she ran up the ramp to the closest. Her non-lethal cradled in a two-hand grip, she crept through the passenger compartment. Reaching the cabin, he watched as she shot the pilot in the back of the neck. Once he had finished convulsing, she pulled him up and out of the seat. Ronin was surprised to see that it was a human.


    ¡°Owl one, what is your statis? I repeat, what is your statis?¡± as she dragged the pilot from the ship, she continued to try and contact Ronin. He realized that she must not be able to tell that he had accessed her vision. Having pulled the pilot some fifty feet away and hiding him in a patch of tall Field grass, she headed towards the other drop ship.


    ¡°Owl five, this is Owl one,¡± he answered at last. ¡°I¡¯m currently buried in the well with some of the town¡¯s folk. I should be fine as long as the Kaldarr don¡¯t find me¡­ though I can¡¯t say the same for the town¡¯s folk.¡± He added, as he listened to their continued crying. It was quieter now than it had been. He could only assume that they had been overcome from the weight of the rocks and drown.


    ¡°Owl one, please maintain position. I¡¯m coming to get you, Owl five out.¡± having finished speaking, she must have cut the channel because she didn¡¯t respond to any of his attempts to contact her again. He could only watch through her eyes as she entered the second drop ship.


    This scene played out nearly identically to the last, only the pilot was female this time. Once she had been incapacitated and dropped off in the tall grass, Owl five returned to the craft. Closing the hatch behind herself she strapped into the pilot¡¯s chair and began pushing buttons. She made several false starts before the craft finally fired up. Ronin guessed she was doing this on the fly. Gripping the stick, she lifted the craft from the ground. It wobbled unsteadily as it rose, Ronin had serious doubts that she could fly the ship for very long¡­ thankfully, she wasn¡¯t going far.


    Owl five flew the ship over the wall, through the city and over the next wall. Another three drop craft were landed on this side of the wall as well. Ronin wondered how they had gotten so close to the walls without being seen, before forgetting the question, when Owl five fired a rocket into the closest craft. It exploded in a shower of shrapnel, knocking all the nearby Kaldarr from their feet. Ronin didn¡¯t know if they were dead or just incapacitated, but he didn¡¯t have time to look. Owl five had moved onto the next ship.


    A second rocket flew from the captured ship, causing a second explosion as it impacted the next ship in line. The night lit up as the rockets flashed towards the targets. Ronin expected the ships to catch fire, in the books they always caught on fire, but these didn¡¯t. Before he could ponder on that, Owl five moved the ship toward the last Kaldarr vessel. When she pulled the trigger a third time, however, nothing happened. She slapped the control and tried again, but again, nothing happened. Moving her hands over the controls she tried several buttons at seemingly random, until finally something worked.


    A bloom of fire from under the craft lit up the sky as some kind of machine gun began to fire. The shots were laced with tracer rounds, so Ronin found it easy to follow the bullets trajectory as they slammed into the last craft. These bullets weren¡¯t powerful enough to penetrate the ship¡¯s haul though, they just ricocheted off, leaving dents in the ship.


    Punching the controls again, Owl five swung the ship around to the side. Where she sent bullets straight into the still closing hatch. They bounced around the inside of the ship, until the front viewing screen was painted red with the pilot¡¯s blood.


    Ronin¡¯s vision shifted away from Owl five and back to his own body as his head went under water. Spluttering in shock, he heaved himself back to the surface. Looking around, he realized that the town¡¯s people had crowded in so close that they were pushing him underwater with the added weight of their bodies.


    Growling, he started to bash his helmeted head into the clinging town¡¯s people. The irony of the situation was clear to him as he tried to free himself. He¡¯d done everything he could think of to help save these people at the beginning of the battle, but now that they threatened to drag him down, he batted them away without remorse. He felt sick at the realization, but his body had taken over at this point. He didn¡¯t want to die; it was as simple as that. The problem facing him now was that the town¡¯s people didn¡¯t want to die either.


    Ronin didn¡¯t know how much time passed as he struggled to keep his head above the water and keep the rocks from crushing him. Conscious thought had fled his mind at some point, leaving only the desire to survive. Eventually, however, he felt the rocks above him beginning to shift. The remaining town¡¯s people had noticed too, and began to shout for help. Ronin wanted to shout for help too¡­ but who was up there? Was it Owl five, or the Kaldarr?


    ¡°Owl one this is Owl five,¡± the voice sounding inside his helmet was the sweetest sound Ronin ever remembered hearing. ¡°I¡¯m almost to you, just hold on a little longer.¡± His arms were shaking so badly now that he didn¡¯t know if he could hold out for even another minute. Hearing Owl five say that she was almost too him, had drained what little fight he still had in him away.


    When the leather tarp was finally removed and the tower shield taken from his limp hands, Ronin sagged into the water. He caught a glimpse of both Owl two and Owl five above him before his body gave up entirely and he blacked out.


    *            *            *


    The next time Ronin opened his eyes, he was back in the pod cave. Owl two was carrying him to his pod. Noticing he was awake; the android gave out a mechanical sigh.


    ¡°Glad to have you back with us sir,¡± he said settling Ronin into his pod. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sir.¡± He continued once Ronin was settled in. ¡°You are safe. The bullet didn¡¯t penetrate anything vital, and the damage to your arms is repairable. Just get some rest now, the pod will do its work and when you wake up again you will be right as rain.¡± Closing the door slowly he added, ¡°Owl five and I have the situation covered for now, get some rest sir.¡±


    Lid closed; the pod set to work. Small mechanical arms reached out towards his wounds as the pod released a knock out gas. He wouldn¡¯t wake up until he was fully recovered or Owl two or five manually pulled him out. Just before he lost consciousness again, Ronin triggered his release from the pocket world.


    Once again seated back in his hotel room, a pop up appeared in his field of view.


    ¡°Would you like to pause the flow of time in your tutorial experience or let it continue at previously set time dilation?¡± there were two options underneath the question, but Ronin didn¡¯t have it in him to even finish the message, let alone make decisions. Reaching out blindly, he closed the window with a wave.


    He was exhausted. Even here, he felt like he had just been through hell. Looking down at himself, he found he was still wearing the fresh white tee shirt and blue jeans. His cybernetically enhanced muscles making the material bulge more than when he first looked in the mirror. Collapsing back into his chair, he stared at the slowly spinning globe. ¡°Is that what adventure is?¡± he thought as his mind blanked. ¡°That hell? Why on earth would anyone do that to themselves knowingly?¡± feeling sick to his stomach, Ronin struggled to his feet. He needed to relax, and clear his head of the day¡¯s events.


    Walking into the bathroom, he ignored the mirror that had so enthralled him before. Stripping down, he stepped into a shower for the first time in his life. Turning the water on intuitively, he cranked the dial up as hot as it would go. Letting the water flow over his head to hide his fresh tears. For a long, long time, he just stood there and cried. He didn¡¯t know that he¡¯d even had this many tears. It felt like he¡¯d cried more today than the whole of his life to this point combined.


    Getting out of the shower, he dried off mechanically and climbed into bed. This was another first for him. He¡¯d never even had a pillow before, let alone a bed. Yet, like the shower, he couldn¡¯t appreciate the comfort the bed offered. Closing his eyes, he resolved that he wasn¡¯t ever going back into that hell, as he drifted off to sleep.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been asleep, when he was awoken by an ear-piercing ringing. Another pop-up appeared before him and, like before, he waved his hand blindly trying to shut off that noise. The noise did stop, but when he opened his eyes again, he found that there was now a well-dressed man standing in his hotel room.


    ¡°So.¡± The man said, looking down at Ronin who was still laying in bed. ¡°You must be ¡®alexander Dawson¡¯¡­ it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Leo, Leo Dawson. I¡¯m Alexander¡¯s father¡­¡±

 Chapter Seven

    Ronin cursed quietly as Alexander¡¯s father introduced himself. Why hadn¡¯t he looked at the message before blindly pressing buttons?


    ¡°Sleeping¡­ son?¡± He asked, adjusting the already perfect black tie at his neck before smoothing out his gray suit jacket. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s understandable; you had a busy day¡­ after all.¡± Moving over to Ronin¡¯s desk, he pulled up his pants slightly as he sat down.


    ¡°We don¡¯t actually need sleep anymore. Did you know that? It took me nearly five years to break the habit¡­ even now, I can¡¯t help but close my eyes on a particularly difficult day.¡±


    Ronin listened to Leo¡¯s calm voice. The man wasn¡¯t saying anything of note, just talking about small things. He reached out as he spoke and accessed the globe floating over the desk. Manipulating the controls, he zoomed in on various areas, looking at Ronin¡¯s set up and talking about items of little importance.


    ¡°I had planned on asking you for the credits you brought with you¡­ but I see that you have spent them already.¡± He eventually said with a sigh, leaning back from the pocket world.


    ¡°I¡­ uh, I mean I¡­ yes sir¡± Ronin managed to say eventually. It was strange, he was an adult, and had been responsible for himself for the last twenty-five years. Yet here, lying in bed, with the father of a man he¡¯d helped to kill, Ronin felt like a small child.


    ¡°Now, now Alex. There¡¯s no need to call me sir.¡± He said with a broad smile that failed to reach his slate grey eyes. ¡°I¡¯m your father¡­ call me dad.¡±


    ¡°I, um, don¡¯t think that is appropriate, si¡­¡±


    ¡°Was I not clear?¡± Leo interrupted, running a hand through his slicked back hair. It was jet black with grey at the temples and looked too perfect to be natural. He hadn¡¯t so much as raised his voice, yet Ronin felt a chill at the words. His eyes were drawn to the man¡¯s hand. It bore a large gold ring that covered both his middle and ring finger. It was crowned with a lion¡¯s head, the eyes so realistic he could swear they were looking right into him.


    ¡°What is he doing?¡± Ronin wondered, ¡°He knows who I am, he led the community in the caves when I was a boy. Hell, he got crystallized with my parents.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ father.¡± He said at last, not sure what game the man was playing. Just like when he was a child, he couldn¡¯t deny the man. Nobody from the caves had been able to deny him.


    ¡°Good, Alex, good¡± he said with another fake smile. ¡°Now, unfortunately we seem to have a bit of a problem. Do you know what that problem is, Alex?¡± He asked kindly.


    ¡°I¡­ why don¡¯t you tell me si¡­ father.¡± He said, still thrown by this man from his past, his connection to the dead Alexander, and the awful day he¡¯d had since returning to the cave with that crystal seed.


    ¡°Of course, son,¡± he said. ¡°You see, the first problem, is that you spent all the credits I asked you to bring me when you crystallized. Now that, though unfortunate, can be worked around. But the second problem.¡± At this point he raised his other hand. A glass of red wine appearing out of nowhere. Ronin noticed this hand also bore a large lion headed ring. He took a slow sip before continuing.


    ¡°The second problem is that we have an appointment in twenty-four hours. An appointment that we cannot miss or be late to. Don¡¯t you remember son? The reason I order¡­ asked you to crystallize yesterday? It¡¯s almost time for the father-son event in the shared tutorial world. And I know you remember just how much we have riding on that competition.¡±


    The veneer of calm cracked, ever so slightly at the word much, and the wine glass in his hand trembled. Opening his hand, the glass dissolved into the air, taking the evidence of his agitation with it.


    ¡°Now, I know we talked about this competition before, but¡­ due to your¡­ condition, you might have forgotten about it. I can forgive that; I can forgive the credits you spent¡­ I can even forget about the unfortunate¡­ circumstances¡­ that resulted in your current situation. However,¡± Leo stood up and walked over to stand over Ronin.


    ¡°This competition requires that a ship registered father son pair compete together. Now, I am confident in my ability to win this alone, or I wouldn¡¯t have bothered calling such a useless fool as my dear Alexander. The rules, however, do not allow for that. So¡­ be ready twenty-four hours from now. I will gather you from your room, hell, I¡¯ll even give you one million credits of the prize money once we win¡­ do that for me¡­ son¡­ and we can let bygones be bygones. Besides, I think you will find yourself needing the money soon¡­ do we have an understanding?¡±


    Looking deeply into Leo Dawson¡¯s slate gray eyes, Ronin nodded his head. He couldn¡¯t help but feel some lingering childhood fear for this man, and, one million credits, just to be a tag along? How could he resist; besides, he would need the money since he¡¯d firmly decided not to enter that hellish pocket world again.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad we understand one another.¡± He said with another fake smile, ¡°here is an overview of the competition. Not that I expect you to contribute much of worth, just be here in twenty-four hours¡­ I don¡¯t have to say ¡®or else¡¯ do I?¡± having said everything he wanted to; Leo Dawson winked out of existence. It was like he had never been there at all.


    Finally sitting up with a deep sigh, Ronin leaned his back against the wall. ¡°What is going on? What is it about this competition that would cause him to not care about his own son?¡± Not that Ronin¡¯s own father had cared all that much about him either. They¡¯d left him behind just as soon as they¡¯d scraped the credits together to leave.


    Looking at the pamphlet Leo had handed him, Ronin read it over.  It looked like it amounted to a survival game with a crystalline theme. There was a million-credit entry fee, per person. A one hundred million credit grand prize, as well as a special personal tutorial globe item¡­ a giant octopus ship with a clear body that housed an entire city. The blip under the picture read,


    ¡°Show off to your peers with this luxury under sea cruse city¡±


    ¡°That couldn¡¯t be the reason, could it?¡± he said aloud in consternation. ¡°An underwater ship, really?¡± he was about to roll over and go back to sleep, when he got another call. Groaning, he raised his hand to swat the screen away¡­ before thinking better of it and reading the message.


    The screen read ¡°incoming call from Markus Ball.¡± Sitting straight up with a start, Ronin hit the acceptance button. Markus didn¡¯t appear in his room like Leo had. This time, a screen appeared in front of him, which held Markus¡¯s home cave. His unconscious body lay on the bare stone, covered by a thin grimy blanket. His wife sat next to him, holding his hand and looking through the screen at Ronin.


    ¡°Penny! What¡¯s going on, is Markus, ok? I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Hello Robert¡± she said, talking right over him. ¡°I called in a favor from one of Markus¡¯s old friends to make this recording.¡± She said, pausing to wipe a tear from her eye. ¡°Mark¡­ isn¡¯t doing well. His friend has a medical scanner, he¡¯s only got at most two days to live Robert.¡± She was the only one who still called him Robert, the only one who he didn¡¯t get mad at for it anyway. He waited while she blew her nose before she continued.


    ¡°Mark¡¯s friend runs the crystallization pad nearby and said he can pull some strings for Mark to jump the line¡­ the problem is the teleportation fee¡­ and the crystallization fee.¡± Her voice got quieter and quieter as she said the last two lines. ¡°The teleport is twenty thousand credits, and crystallization costs one million.¡± she was practically whispering at this point.


    ¡°I know,¡± she took a deep breath and looked straight through the screen and into Ronin¡¯s soul. ¡°It¡¯s a lot to ask, but you got all the stuff Alexander and his friends took from us. If there is enough, could you use some to save my husband¡¯s life?¡± she was on the verge of tears, but held out just long enough to say, ¡°If you can, within the next two days¡­ send the money to Mark¡¯s friend. I¡¯ve included his contact information.¡± The screen dissolved as she lost her composure completely.


    Ronin was alone in his room again. He stared into the air that had just occupied the only friend and the closest thing to parents he¡¯d had on earth. Rage at the injustice of it all, welled up inside his chest. Throwing back his head, he screamed at the ceiling until his voice broke from the strain.


    ¡°Why,¡± he said. Voice coming out in a croak. ¡°Why did I spend all that money, I knew he was hurt. I knew it, but I just spent it all anyway. For a world full of ¡®adventure,¡¯ ha what a sick joke.¡± The croak in his voice cleared away before he¡¯d even finished speaking. Healed good as new by the ship, denying him even the pain of his grief.


    Getting out of bed he paced the room, berating himself the whole time. At just under twenty-five feet long, it didn¡¯t allow him for very long strides. Looking up at the door, he contemplated going out for a walk. He hadn¡¯t even looked out the window yet, and he¡¯d heard his whole life that the crystalline city in the ship was the most beautiful thing in existence. Reaching out his hand to the knob, he froze. Leo¡¯s face entered his mind, and he couldn¡¯t bring himself to leave. Turning back around, he resumed his pacing.


    Intellectually he knew that it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. Thinking of Leo just now had reminded him of that fact. If he hadn¡¯t spent all that money, Alexander¡¯s dad would have just taken it from him¡­ Wait, Alexander¡¯s dad had offered him a million credits for his participation in the father son event tomorrow. Did he know? Excitement lifted his heart, before he remembered the teleportation fee, and it came crashing down again.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s a chance. There has to be¡­but how can I make that much money?¡± his pacing took him back towards the window, back towards the globe slowly spinning above his desk. ¡°No,¡± he said turning around again. On his next lap, he slowed down a little when he turned around at the desk. ¡°No, there is no way. Besides, I¡¯ve only got one day. There¡¯s no way I can make twenty thousand credits in one day. By the fifth lap, he remembered the time dilation feature and was forced to stop his pacing.


    ¡°Might as well check it out.¡± he said with a shrug, not having thought of any other ideas. Opening the menu, he was shocked to see that he could indeed manipulate the flow of time in his pocket world. Right now, it was set to mimic ship time, or real-world time, but he could slow it down to a dead stop if he wanted too. Handy, if he was going to spend millions of years crossing the stars. When he checked if he could speed things up, however, he found a problem. He could speed things up, but it cost credits.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    It looked like he could turn a day outside into a month in his pocket world for one thousand credits. It cost an additional thousand credits for every extra month added into that day. It got exponentially cheaper if he wanted to add years or whole decades instead of months, but that kind of money was a distant dream to Ronin.


    ¡°Damn it¡­ Why? I don¡¯t even ha¡­¡± he trailed off as he checked his credit balance. He actually did have some credits, four thousand, one hundred eighty-eight of them to be exact. ¡°Where did these come from?¡± digging a little deeper he found a receipt with a breakdown of how each credit had been earned. Confused by everything he saw, he wished with frustration that it was easier to understand. No sooner had he wished that, then the complicated tables disappeared and were replaced with a short bullet list.


    <ul>


    <li>goblin = killed / captured = 1 credit (8)</li>


    <li>Kaldarr = killed / captured 50 credits (1800)</li>


    <li>Goblin = restored to full health = 10 credits (60)</li>


    <li>Goblin restored / enhanced = 1000 credits (1,000)</li>


    <li>Obtained Kaldarr space craft = 500 credits (1,250) (half points for partially damaged vessel)</li>


    <li>Improved the living conditions of goblins = 10 credits per (70)</li>


    </ul>


    There was a lot more information available, but this gave him the highlights and he was glad for it. In his current mental state, he didn¡¯t think anything more complicated would sink in. having read the list, he started pacing again. To the door, then back to the desk where he read the list. It took him time, but eventually two things became clear to him.


    The first thing was that life was considered more valuable to the pocket world than death was. He could tell that in the number of credits offered. He had gotten one credit for killing that poor goblin woman. Yet he had gotten ten credits for restoring them to health, and another ten for improving their living conditions. That was twenty times the credits for just killing them.


    The second thing was that he could actually do this. If he spent the four thousand credits to turn his one day into four months, and he used that whole time to build a community of goblins¡­ he could make it happen. Having made his decision, he moved over to the time dilation tab. Sliding it over to four months he hit enter, watching as the credits he¡¯d just earned drained away. He thought about Owl three and Owl four then. Of Steady Aim and Grush. This wouldn¡¯t have been possible without them.


    Having made his choice, Ronin stood up. It hadn¡¯t been an entire night since he resolved not to go back into that place. Yet, here he was preparing to spend the next four months there. He went to the bathroom; he wanted another shower first.


    *     *            *


    Ronin heard the depressurizing hiss of his pod opening, before he opened his eyes. The shower had felt so good that he had lingered far longer than he should have, eating away one of his few remaining hours. Blinking his eyes open reluctantly, he gave a start at what greeted his eyes.


    ¡°What is it? What¡¯s the matter?¡± He asked in a panic, reaching for his rifle.


    ¡°Nothing out here is wrong sir,¡± Owl two said, laying a hand over his rifle, at the same time Owl five laid her hand on his arm. The pair of them had been crowded so close around his pod it looked like they were trying to crawl inside with him. ¡°We were simply worried. I anticipated you would be out for perhaps six hours while you healed, however, you have been unresponsive for roughly six days¡­ sir.¡±


    ¡°Six¡­ six days?¡± Ronin yelped. ¡°But that¡¯s imposs¡­¡± he trailed off as he thought back to when he¡¯d first awoke in his hotel room. The pop up had asked him if he wanted to pause the flow of time in his pocket world, but he¡¯d just blindly waved it away¡­ just like he¡¯d done with the call to Leo. Still, it had barely been a whole night before he came back so how¡­ oh, he¡¯d sped up the flow of time before taking an hour¡¯s long shower.


    He sighed, waving them back. Doing the mental math with the help of his cybernetics enhanced brain told him the truth. That one hour in the shower had translated to about five days, added to his half a day of sleep and¡­ six days.


    ¡°Ok guys, false alarm, everything is fine.¡± He said, waving them away. ¡°I put myself down on purpose to run some calculations, I never dreamed it would take this long.¡± He continued, not exactly lying; he had been making calculations, and it had taken way longer than he had planned. ¡°Now that I¡¯m back, you can get me up to speed and¡­¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl two interrupted, in what was quickly becoming his trademark move. ¡°I am sorry to interrupt, however,¡± Ronin didn¡¯t think he sounded very sorry. ¡°The mayor has sent word over the com unit I gave him¡­ there¡¯s a problem at the outer wall, and he is requesting your aid.¡±


    ¡°What? The mayor survived? What problem?¡± allowing his surviving team members to pull him out of his pod, Ronin looked around in astonishment. The one-hundred-yard diameter half dome shaped cave had been transformed entirely. The pod sat in the middle of the dome, affording Ronin a good view of the whole cave. He spun a circle in shock, taking in all the changes.


    In the section farthest away from the two tunnels leading into the valley, was a neatly laid out scrap heap. It took Ronin a moment to recognize the twisted hulks of the two drop ships Owl five had shot with rockets. They took up a large section of the cave, and were in pieces; and it looked like someone had been taking them apart and making neat piles of component parts. ¡°They must have been lowered down here in pieces through the hole, by the working drop ships,¡± he thought. Since the intact ships were far too big to fit down here.


    A little separated from the ship debris, another pile of metal lay heaped on the floor. A passing glance showed this to be the armored suits the Kaldarr had been wearing. On the other side of the cave, stood what looked like a smaller version of the local town. The houses were smaller in scale, but they were all constructed of dinosaur hide, stretched tight over wood frames. Ronin counted four of them, with one being taller than the others by a few feet. Two small fires had been laid out on the cave floor, a pile of rocks around each to contain them.


    The closest fire held a large pot, suspended over the low burning flames. Tending to the pot was an absolute giant. A giant by goblin standards at least; he had to top five feet by four inches, and his frame was densely packed with lean muscle. His flame red hair was perhaps two inches long and stuck out wildly in all directions. The outfit he wore was a near replica of what Peters and Gibbs had worn when they first met them, dinosaur hide pants and shirt, with the vital areas covered with thick bone like plates. Ronin now recognized those plates as having come from an ankylosaur.


    An unfamiliar human woman stood beside the large goblin. She was of a height with her green counterpart, with pale skin and light brown hair cropped short to her head. It looked like she was coaching him through the process of making soup. Pointing to various vegetables or fruits, and pieces of meat, none of which Ronin recognized, and murmuring to him as her finger came to rest on each one.


    The second fire was occupied by a pair of goblin females, and an unfamiliar human male with close cropped blonde hair. These goblins were the normal four-foot height, though they weren¡¯t the stick figures Ronin had met a few days ago in the caves. They were fully fleshed out, and even had some feminine curves showing up through their clothing. The pair were dressed in local children¡¯s clothes. The unfamiliar human man and woman were also dressed in the local civilian garb. The three of them stood over a second steaming pot, while the human taught the goblins how to wash clothes.


    ¡°It seems like I missed out on a lot over the last week,¡± Ronin said after taking in a full circle. His eyes coming to rest on four Kaldarr warriors, stripped to their undershorts and chained to the wall. thick course hair covered their slate grey bodies that rippled with muscle. Their small beady black eyes glared at him over extended lower jaws that held thumb sized tusks. Each had a large, uncomfortable looking, metal collar around their thick necks. ¡°What¡¯s up with those guys?¡± he asked, a spike of anger running through him at the sight of his teammate¡¯s killers.


    ¡°Sir, Mayor Emil requested assistance an hour ago. I will be happy to fill you in on the situation here, as we make our way to town.¡± The mechanical tone was polite, yet inflexible. Ronin knew that if he wanted answers, unless he wanted to start dropping orders, the best way would be to follow the robot.


    ¡°Alright then, lead the way.¡± He said, motioning Owl two to precede him. With a nod, the android began moving down the southern tunnel at a full-on sprint. Blinking his eyes at the speed his assistant was capable of, Ronin did his best to catch up.


    Exiting the cave, Ronin took in the two captured drop ships as they rocketed passed them. The ships weren¡¯t pretty by any one¡¯s standards, looking like semi-truck sized cargo containers with engines mounted to the top and sides. The third ship looked worse of all. It was intact but would require major repairs to get it airborne again. Looking back at them over his shoulder as they ran by, Ronin noticed that Owl five wasn¡¯t following.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t Owl five coming?¡± he asked as he caught up to Owl two at last.


    ¡°Apart from Owl five and myself,¡± Owl two said while he sprinted. ¡°The only person in that cave who can be one hundred percent relied upon to be loyal is the goblin with the drone parasite. So, until we come up with a way to keep them all in line, one of us will have to stay at the base at all times.¡±


    Ronin frowned at those words. He didn¡¯t like splitting his already reduced team up even more but didn¡¯t know what the alternative was. The plans he¡¯d roughly sketched out in his hotel room would only compound the problem. Shaking his head, he turned back to Owl two.


    ¡°Ok, fine. Why don¡¯t you give me the highlighted version of what I missed then?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The android said before beginning his report. ¡°We recovered all the wreckage we could from the Kaldarr drop ships. I had the captured human pilots drop it off inside the cave for more convenient processing. We have two functional ships and another that we could make work if we had the materials. Unfortunately, the ships aren¡¯t compatible with the reactor in our own drop pod. Meaning we have no way to power them.


    ¡°I am attempting to make a work around, but the technology that was used to make the drop ships is just too different from our own pod. I might be able to do it, but it will take time. Current recommendation is to only use one ship and only when needed. Recharging it using the power cells from the remaining four ships.¡± Owl two paused for comments.


    ¡°Ok, understood,¡± Ronin said. ¡°Though I can¡¯t deny I¡¯m disappointed.¡± As ugly as they were, having access to the skies all the time would have been great. He cursed himself again for choosing that drop pod over a more convenient drop ship, not that power wouldn¡¯t have been just as much an issue then, but still. ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°We killed thirty-two and captured four Kaldarr slavers, and their pilot slaves. There was a total of fifty Kaldarr in the raiding force so that leaves fourteen unaccounted for. Once freed, the human slaves have been quite willing to work for us, but their loyalty has yet to be tested. For lack of anything better to do with them, I¡¯ve had them teaching the goblins how to be useful. Oh, and speaking of goblins, when you didn¡¯t wake up, I logged in to access the drone parasite, without the leaders cooperation we couldn¡¯t get the rest to fall in line.¡±


    Ronin took all of that in as they continued to run. He was a little unsettled that Owl two could ¡®log in¡¯ to his brain like that, but he was his assistant. As for the Kaldarr; Ronin had limited the number of troops any of the ships he had placed in orbit could land to fifty. He¡¯d done that only to limit the cost of putting ships in orbit, turned out to be a good thing he did. Though, in hind sight it would have been better to avoid them entirely.


    Kaldarr were a villainous race from a book he¡¯d only read once. They were brutes who were bread for war, capturing slaves to do everything else for them. They couldn¡¯t even pilot their own ships, let alone make the munitions they used. They¡¯d once been a slave race to the humans of that world before they broke free and enslaved their former masters. They kept control using a heavy slave collar that shocked the wearer badly, whenever they disobeyed an order given to them by someone wearing a control bracelet.


    Racking his brain, Ronin couldn¡¯t think of much else about the Kaldarr. They were pretty one-dimensional people, inclined to war. With a, relatively, poor technological base. Unfortunately, the book never said how many drop ships one of their interstellar ships carried. So, Ronin had no way of knowing if they didn¡¯t have the ability to invade again, or if they would soon be buried in Kaldarr warriors.


    They had passed through the forest by this point, and were running through the grass lands. Setting aside his other questions for more immediate concerns, Ronin couldn¡¯t help but marvel at his new body. He¡¯d just covered ten miles in a dead sprint and was barely winded. Coming up to the wall, he began to slow his pace to climb the ladder. Owl two, however, only increased his speed. Reaching the base of the wall, he made a running leap, kicking off the wall to propel himself higher. Grabbing some of the ropes binding the wall together he pulled himself up again. Reaching the top of the twenty-foot wall in a few smooth movements.


    Ronin, distracted by his assistant¡¯s display, decided to give that method a try. He¡¯d left it too late however, and when he made his own running leap, he found himself planted face first into the wall.

 Chapter Eight

    ¡°That was excellently done¡­sir.¡± Owl two¡¯s tone was the same as always, but Ronin swore he detected a trace of disdain in the android¡¯s mechanical voice. ¡°Come on now, sir, they are on the far wall.¡± with that, Owl two disappeared from view. Grumbling to himself underneath his helmet, Ronin hauled himself onto the wall. Thankful that his armor had been repaired while in his pod and that his under armor reduced blunt impacts. Looking out he saw Owl two was already halfway across the now nearly deserted town.


    Leaping out, Ronin covered a good twenty feet before he hit the ground. putting in everything he had, he chased after his disrespectful assistant. As they crossed the town, Ronin slowly gained on Owl two until he was just behind him. readying himself for the leap, Ronin swore he was going to be first up the wall this time.


    ¡°Best to use the ladder sir,¡± Owl two said as he slowed to a stop at the outer wall. Ronin, having already put on another burst of speed, tried to stop. Unfortunately, he was going too fast and stumbled right into the outer wall with a loud thump. ¡°Be careful sir,¡± Owl two said as he began to climb the bone ladder. ¡°The ground is a little uneven just there.¡±


    ¡°That damned hunk of junk,¡± Ronin swore. Without his coms on, his voice was almost entirely muffled inside his helmet, so he didn¡¯t mind cursing out the android. He knew that had been on purpose, but again he wasn¡¯t hurt, just embarrassed.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl two. repeat last.¡± Came across the com. Startled, Ronin checked his coms, no they were off.


    ¡°Nothing Owl two, carry on.¡± He said with a sigh, beginning the climb up the wall behind Owl two.


    ¡°Mayor Emil is in that tent sir,¡± Owl two said pointing, once they both stood on the outer wall. looking out, Ronin saw twenty armored men sitting around a pair of fires inside a circle of tents. Outside the circle lay an ankylosaur, hitched to a semi sized wagon. Ronin furrowed his brows at the site.


    ¡°Who are they?¡± he asked, unhappy at having a troop of armored men showing up so soon after his life-or-death battle.


    ¡°From what I understand, these men are tax collectors for the military. Valley¡¯s Pass is one of a handful of small towns set up with the express purpose of providing the kingdom¡¯s military with either meat, equipment or soldiers. since they took all the young adults last time they were here, there was no one to hunt for this round¡¯s taxes. They are demanding the food, or they will come in and help themselves.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ronin asked in an icy tone. ¡°What is it that the mayor thinks I can do here?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to spoil the surprise¡­ sir.¡± Owl two answered, deadpan.


    ¡°Of course, you wouldn¡¯t,¡± Ronin sighed. Beginning the climb down the ladder. It didn¡¯t really matter; he would find out soon enough. Besides, if Owl two thought he was in any danger here, he wouldn¡¯t have let him go first.


    ¡°Halt,¡± shouted an aggressive voice as Ronin touched down on the ground. ¡°Towns folk have no business out here, so state your business or get lost back over that wall. don¡¯t worry, peasant, we will be over there soon enough, since you want to see us that badly.¡±


    The soldier had marched over while he shouted at them. Ronin frowned, looking him over. He was armored much the same as the town¡¯s folk had been; leather hide with ankylosaur plates protecting his vitals. The only thing that differentiated him from them, was the sword at his hip and the yellow cloak with its burgundy dyed fur lining. Yesterday, well yesterday for him anyway, the arrogant display might have impressed Ronin. after living through the Kaldarr raid though, this jumped-up commoner wasn¡¯t much in his eye.


    ¡°Thank you, captain¡± Owl two said upon reaching the bottom of the ladder. ¡°However, your lord has sent for us, and we wouldn¡¯t want to keep him waiting.¡± Motioning Ronin forward with a respectful gesture, Owl two moved in behind him. Ronin, still frowning at this man¡¯s obvious hostility, moved forward at Owl two¡¯s direction.


    He thought the guard would try to stop them for a moment, but it looked like he held a lot of respect, or fear, for his lord¡¯s word. Stepping aside, he didn¡¯t say anything else, simply glaring holes into the pair as they moved passed him into the ring of tents. All the men here glared at them as they walked past.


    Ronin caught the glint of steel off a few swords or helmets, but the majority of these men were armed and armored with dinosaur part equipment. Following Owl two¡¯s direction to the largest tent, Ronin was stopped again by another guard at the tent flap. He waited while the guard announced their presence to whoever was inside, presumably the ¡®lord.¡¯


    ¡°Enter.¡± Came the one-word response. That one word spoke volumes to Ronin about the character of the lord inside. He had read about aristocratic drawls before, but the drawn out and nasally word, just reminded him of Alexander¡¯s affectation of influence. The sound made him grind his teeth together in remembered anger.


    Owl two moved forward and pulled the tent flap aside and motioned for Ronin to proceed him. Ronin scoffed internally as he walked by the robot, at least he could show respect in front of outsiders. The brief amusement he¡¯d felt at Owl two¡¯s gesture evaporated once he stepped inside the tent.


    The first thing he saw upon entering was a large, richly engraved table, piled high with food. A grotesquely fat man sat behind the table, dressed in opulent robes of yellow and burgundy eating heartily. Embroidered rugs covered the floor and there were paintings and statues set up around the tent on small stands. Two young, scantily clad serving girls stood meekly behind his chair, one held a large towel, and the other a pitcher of wine.


    What had killed Ronin¡¯s amusement, however, was old mayor Emil standing in front of the table. He was trembling from fatigue, leaning on a walking stick. His left arm held tight to his body in a sling. A quick glance around showed Ronin that there were no other chairs in the tent, only the fat man was allowed to sit, it seemed.


    ¡°Ah, you must be this old fool¡¯s replacement.¡± The fat man said, gnawing on a large bone. ¡°I was one course away from ordering a seizure of your assets to cover the back taxes you owe the crown.¡± The fat man had never looked up as he spoke, continuing to eat.


    ¡°What¡¯s he talking about?¡± he asked Owl two on internal coms, while looking over at Emil. The old man was looking at him imploringly, doing his best to conceal the shaking in his tired limbs.


    ¡°The town¡¯s people voted while you were¡­ doing your calculations¡­ they unanimously decided that you would be their new mayor. Of course, they didn¡¯t hold the vote until after this tax collector showed up. So, really, they just want us to save them again.¡±


    ¡°Should we get involved?¡± Ronin asked, still ignoring the eating tax collector. His assistant had six days longer than him to collect information, so Ronin wanted his opinion.


    ¡°If you have decided to stay in the valley, then yes. At least in the short term, it would be better to keep them out of the valley. There just aren¡¯t enough of us to hold anything.¡± That was a problem Ronin was still pondering. He needed to create a settlement, for Markus¡¯s sake. So, more people, loyal people, were necessary.


    ¡°Did you not hear me ¡®Mayor¡¯?¡± asked the tax collector, looking up at last. ¡°In his majesty¡¯s name. What are you wearing? You look like a set of matching fools playing dress up as soldiers. And what is that on your head, a cook pot? His majesty¡¯s balls, you even match.¡± Sitting back in his chair he let out a belly laugh that jiggled his bulk in a disgusting wave of flesh.


    Ronin looked down at his armor in confusion. In all the books he¡¯d read, this was the most technologically advanced suit of nanite infused armor he¡¯d been able to afford. The plates might break under high powered projectiles, but they had an auto repair function. Nothing this fat pig had brought with him in this caravan would even be likely to pierce it.


    ¡°The people of this kingdom have very limited technology sir.¡± Owl two said before Ronin could snap back. ¡°To them, we probably do look very silly, when everyone knows ankylosaurus armor is the cutting edge in protection.¡± Nodding, Ronin calmed down.


    ¡°How do I address you?¡± Ronin finally asked when the man had finished laughing. The smile disappeared entirely from the man¡¯s face with the question.


    ¡°My lord,¡± he grated out between clenched teeth. ¡°You will address me as ¡®My Lord¡¯ or I will have your tongue removed. Do you understand me peasant?¡± his chest was now heaving, in what looked like an attempt to restrain himself from leaping over the table. Emil had shrunk back, hunching his big shoulders in fear.


    ¡°Very well¡­ my lord.¡± Ronin said, channeling his inner Owl two. ¡°What can valley¡¯s pass do for you? I¡¯ve only just taken the post of mayor you see and haven¡¯t learned everything required of me yet.¡± Seemingly mollified, the lords demeaner shifted back to normal. That is to say, he began eating again.


    ¡°Taxes, mayor. You owe the crown taxes. ten tons of jerked meat, or twenty military aged men or ten unmarried women. You can always do a mix of each. say five tons of jerked meat and five unmarried women and so on. your bimonthly quota, has this old fossil failed to tell you even that much?¡±


    Ronin honestly couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Turning to Emil, he cocked his head, trying to ask if that was accurate. The former mayor must have caught on because he nodded sadly. It was an insane amount. Ronin could now understand how the town had fallen so far. It would have happened gradually, a few young men wanted to go off to adventure, so the quota would be lessened. They couldn¡¯t quite meet the deadline, so a young lady volunteered to go to make up the deficit. Before too many years went by, there weren¡¯t enough young adults to do the hunting for the quota at all.


    ¡°Owl two?¡± ronin asked over the helmet com. Doing his best to keep his anger in check. ¡°How long would it take us to get that amount of meat prepared?¡± he had no intention of handing anyone over to this pig of a man, even if he¡¯d had anyone to give.


    ¡°Sir, that amount of meat is roughly four full grown ankylosaur or three full grown iguanodons. I¡¯ve thought over this problem and have already started fabrication on an oven, using the wreckage from the drop ships and heating elements using the power cells. If we aren¡¯t concerned about power usage, we could produce that much meat in a week, assuming we have the hands to help slice and package of course.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said on helmet coms before speaking on his external com to the fat lord. ¡°Very well, give us one week and we will have your meat¡­Lord.¡±


    ¡°Hhmm¡± the obese man said sitting back in his chair. The young woman with the towel hurried up to wipe the grease from his hands. Picking up his wine cup he drained it in one go. The other young woman was prepared and refilled the cup from the pitcher she had been holding. ¡°Very well, peasant.¡± He said at last. ¡°Normally I wouldn¡¯t be so generous, but my brother¡¯s route is bringing him this way and I haven¡¯t seen him in ages. So, I will wait here for one week. If you don¡¯t deliver on your promise by that time¡­ my brother and I will be happy to assist. These are after all, challenging times. The army needs rations, and new recruits at the wall¡­ you may go.¡±


    Walking back outside, Ronin took a deep breath. He¡¯d been robbed, killed two people, been beaten half to death, gotten crystallized, shot a helpless goblin woman, been involved in a shootout, had two team members die, been blackmailed by his enemy¡¯s father, found out his best friend was dying, became a mayor and been extorted for an extreme amount of resources¡­ all in the last two days. what had his life come to?


    ¡°Owl two,¡± he said as they walked through the circle of glowering guards.


    ¡°Yes sir?¡± his assistant asked walking a half step behind him.


    ¡°Our armor really isn¡¯t that good is it, Owl two?¡± Ronin asked in a dejected tone.


    ¡°¡­ No sir, it is not.¡± The robot replied bluntly. ¡°For its intended application; infiltration, and assassination, it is perfect. Light weight, flexible, self-healing and will protect the wearer from nearly anything, once. For Owl five, this armor is ideal. But for prolonged engagements or fights like we experienced recently; it falls short of expectations.¡± Owl two laid everything out for him in black and white, not pulling his punches at all.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said. Turning to Emil, who¡¯d followed them from the tent, he said. ¡°Emil, I will be your mayor, if that¡¯s what you want. But I will need you and the towns folk¡¯s full cooperation.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir,¡± Emil said with a shallow bow.


    ¡°How many people are left in the town, and how many did we lose in the attack?¡± Ronin asked, helping Emil up the ladder.


    ¡°There are sixty-five adults and fourteen children left, my lord.¡± Emil said as he climbed, ¡°We lost¡­ ten people¡­ in the attack.¡± he was struggling badly on the ladder, Ronin once again felt anger at that fat pig of a lord. Why had he made Emil climb that damn wall? of course the alternative was to climb it himself. That thought explained the situation for Ronin.


    ¡°All of whom died in the well,¡± Owl two added helpfully from behind Ronin. anger was replaced with remorse as he learned that it was his attempt to save the people that had doomed them to death.


    ¡°Emil¡­I, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I was trying to help, I¡­¡± he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. it seemed like he had been responsible for many deaths lately.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame yourself sir,¡± Emil wheezed out. ¡°I was there, in that well with you. I watched you do your absolute best to save us, even after those damn slavers started piling the rocks down on us. Owl two told us how they buried us alive before throwing your man down on top of us. We are all grateful to you and your team. We would all be dead or enslaved if it hadn¡¯t been for you.¡± Ronin shot a glance back at Owl two. he wouldn¡¯t put it past the android to lie if it served his, and Ronin¡¯s, ends. Still, even if it helped him, he couldn¡¯t help feeling terrible for the deception.


    They traveled the rest of the way back in silence. Dropping Emil off at his home, Ronin told him to be ready to travel by morning. Then, the pair started their mad dash back towards the cave.


    ¡°Owl two,¡± Ronin said as they ran.


    ¡°Yes sir?¡± he asked.


    ¡°How difficult would it be to adapt the Kaldarr armor for someone of a different size?¡± It became increasingly clear to Ronin that real life and books weren¡¯t the same. He¡¯d botched everything he¡¯d tried so far, the only thing that had worked out had been selecting random on his followers. If he¡¯d hand crafted them, they would likely be as useless as he was proving to be.


    ¡°With our current resources, modifying the existing sets would be impossible.¡± Owl two answered. ¡°However, the Kaldarr equipment isn¡¯t very advanced. Our pod fabrication unit could reproduce armor similar to, or superior to, theirs. Using the old armor for raw materials.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± Ronin said. ¡°How long will it take per set?¡±


    ¡°Depending on thickness and durability, approximately a day per set. Though if you are wanting to reequip yourself sir, I think several modifications would be required from the Kaldarrian standard battle suit.¡± Ronin only grunted in reply. The pair ran in silence back to the base, Ronin using the time to think and plan.


    Having arrived back at the cave, Ronin sat around a fire with Owl two and Brie. The half goblin had her helmet off, while she ate the stew the enhanced goblin had made. He couldn¡¯t help but think of her as Brie when she had her helmet off. it was a silly distinction he knew, but when she was all suited up, she just felt like Owl five.


    ¡°This is good,¡± Ronin said sampling his own bowl. ¡°He made this himself?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Brie said continuing to eat. ¡°Guts has taken a liking to cooking and cleaning. He helped me clean out a kill and begin the tanning process of the hide too. His enhancement seems to have improved his abilities a lot. All the goblins really,¡± she added. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how calm and eager to learn they¡¯ve been.¡±


    ¡°That would be my doing,¡± Owl two broke in. he wasn¡¯t eating for obvious reasons, but he sat with them while they planned. ¡°I modified some nanites into a sexual inhibitor. The instinct to reproduce dominates the goblin mind. Once it was blocked, it gave them the ability to think about something other than creating young.¡±


    ¡°Is that ok?¡± Ronin asked. ¡°I mean, will that have any adverse effects on them?¡± he couldn¡¯t deny he was thrilled that the goblins were all working so hard at the tasks they had been assigned. Yet, he didn¡¯t want to end up doing more harm than good.


    ¡°None,¡± it was Brie that answered the question. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m surprised I didn¡¯t think of it. I was given something similar when I was a child. Goblin instincts to reproduce are very strong. It¡¯s both what has allowed the species to survive as long as it has, and what makes them so hated by so many.¡± Ronin was happy to see the topic hadn¡¯t bothered her at all. in fact, she seemed to wholeheartedly approve.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Owl two said, ¡°I used your implant as a model for theirs, Owl five. The only difference being you can turn yours off at will. While the ones I produced for them have to be deactivated by one of us.¡± Turning back to Ronin after the brief distraction he continued his original line of questioning.


    ¡°Are you sure about this sir?¡± he asked again. ¡°The nanite injectors and drone parasites are irreplaceable in our current situation. I see the value in your proposal but it¡¯s a step that can¡¯t be undone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Owl two.¡± Ronin said again. ¡°The Kaldarr warriors make excellent soldiers. three of them would be enough to go through everything that ¡®lord¡¯ brought with him. not only that, but they¡¯re also strong. Seven feet tall is about as short as they get. But the biggest consideration is how short we are on loyal people. tomorrow morning, this place will be overrun with town¡¯s folk. we need people we can trust keeping an eye on things before I leave.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another thing, sir.¡± Owl two said as Ronin finished. ¡°Why the sudden desire to turn this valley into a goblin city? I can understand not wanting to kill the small group we found in the mines, but you¡¯re talking about actively hunting them down in the tunnels and bringing them back here. they require more work than human citizens. They need to be cleaned, fed back to health, provided with clothes, not to mention the nanites we will have to use to block their sex drives.¡±


    Ronin had told the pair about his plans to head into the tunnels after more goblins. Owl two had been skeptical, while Owl five had wanted to go. she¡¯d been quite unhappy when he told her she had to stay.


    ¡°Are you sure I can¡¯t go?¡± she asked, almost as if she was reading his mind. ¡°I am part goblin myself, besides, someone needs to be there to protect you sir.¡± She¡¯d been quite insistent that someone be there to watch his back.


    ¡°I already told you Owl five,¡± he said still unable to call her by name for some reason. ¡°I will have Guts and the other goblins with me. He has to be loyal to me, and didn¡¯t you tell me he got his name because of how brave he was?¡± he reminded her. Since apparently, goblins named each other by a physical identifier or character trait that they possessed. Similar to how the Kaldarr named themselves.


    ¡°He might have guts for a goblin, but that doesn¡¯t mean much in the greater world. and¡­¡± Ronin raised a hand to cut her off.


    ¡°Owl five.¡± He said, voice serious. ¡°I need you to bring back a big dinosaur for the town¡¯s folk to start working on. Then, I need you to hunt down the remaining Kaldarr hiding in the valley. They need to be delt with for our safety. Not to mention how valuable they will be as slave labor.¡± The idea of keeping living beings as slaves seemed repugnant to Ronin, but it was either collar them or kill them. he was also hoping that he¡¯d be able to rehabilitate them eventually, something he couldn¡¯t do if they were dead.


    ¡°Ok, you said you thought you saw seven of them come over the inner wall?¡± he asked when her expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Capture me four of them. do that, and you can come after me in the caves. Deal?¡± he watched as she thought about it.


    ¡°Deal,¡± she said at last. He could already see her, tearing up the valley looking for the Kaldarr. He knew that loyalty was essentially programed into his team members, but he appreciated it all the same.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± he said clapping his hands together. ¡°Let¡¯s get three of the Kaldarr implanted and injected. Then, I want to get Guts and his people equipped with Kaldarr inspired battle suits.¡± He was starting to look forward to his adventure in the tunnels.


    ¡°Since we will have three loyal Kaldarr, enhanced with nanites, and Owl five will be busy¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Owl two.¡± ronin said without hesitation. ¡°You are by far the smartest person here. I need you to; fabricate the oven, make the nanites, upgrade the armor, work on the ships power problems¡­ and a bunch of stuff that I haven¡¯t thought of yet but I¡¯m sure you have.¡±


    ¡°Very well, as long as you realize how vital I am to your success.¡± Owl two said. Shaking his head, Ronin nodded to his team before walking over to guts who was tending the stew pot.


    ¡°This is good, Guts.¡± he said as he arrived, handing his bowl over to the giant goblin. ¡°You seemed to have taken a shine to cooking.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± Guts answered refilling Ronin¡¯s bowl. ¡°I still have trouble believing how difficult this used to be. it¡¯s like I was asleep my whole life until now.¡± Ronin still marveled at how well the goblins could speak. The words were more guttural than Brie¡¯s, like they were coughing the words out rather than saying them. yet, they were able to form complete and coherent sentences.


    Goblins were another race he¡¯d pulled from his favorite books. Not being able to choose what style of goblin to go with, since every author had their own ideas, he just chose to randomly mash the different types together. What he¡¯d ended up with were these small, forest green people with fire red hair and eyes who weren¡¯t much different than humans. If they could get over their all-consuming desire to reproduce anyway.


    In that respect, they really did act like chickens. The males fighting for a place at the top while the females stuck around the strongest males for the protection they offered, as well as the prospect of producing the strongest young.


    ¡°Are you ready for tomorrow?¡± he asked, resuming his conversation with Guts. ¡°We are going to have to capture them before they understand what we¡¯re doing, are your people ok with that?¡± he wanted to be sure his back up wouldn¡¯t balk when the time came to act against their own kind.


    ¡°Yes sir, I am ready. and no sir, none of us here have a problem with what we have to do. It¡¯s only been a week, but we already live better than we ever did before. We won¡¯t let you down sir.¡± After a few more words with Guts, Ronin made a round of the cave.


    he hadn¡¯t had a chance to talk to the pilots or the other goblins yet and he thought he should meet the people he was responsible for. He spent the next few hours in that fashion, moving from group to group. Helping Owl two with the oven, learning how to cook with Guts from the pilot Samantha, washing clothes with the goblin ladies under Eric, the other pilot¡¯s, supervision. He even spent a little time with Brie while she showed him how to properly flesh a goat hide.


    It was relaxing, and for those few hours he could forget about how hectic his life had become. Eventually, however, he had to put the mantle of responsibility back on. He had more preparations to do before he left, and the clock was against him.

 Chapter Nine

    Ronin stood outside the mine with Owl five and the seven goblins they¡¯d previously captured. Owl five was still unhappy that she wasn¡¯t allowed to come on this trip. Her agitation had only grown when Ronin told her that he didn¡¯t plan on taking his rifle.


    ¡°Sir.¡± she said again. ¡°I realize that you grew up in caves and that goblins, on average, aren¡¯t very dangerous but this is irresponsible.¡± Ronin just nodded his head. He didn¡¯t want to explain his reasoning to her all over again. What she said was accurate; because he had grown up in caves and goblins really weren¡¯t very dangerous. The real reason, however, was that he didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill any more goblins. He still felt terrible for killing that first woman. Besides, the goal of this whole expedition was to earn credits to save Markus. An alive goblin was worth twenty times more to him than a dead one.


    ¡°All the more reason for you to bag a big dino by the base and round up the Kaldarrian stragglers.¡± He said instead of addressing her concerns. Owl five wasn¡¯t as vocal as Owl two, but she didn¡¯t hesitate to speak up when she thought he was making a mistake. He appreciated that quality, although in times like this it did get annoying.


    ¡°Very well sir,¡± she said. Pounding her fist against her chest in salute. ¡°I will join you soon.¡± without another word she turned and ran away into the forest. After he watched her disappear from view, Ronin turned to take in the rest of his party.


    Kaldarr armor, it turned out, had been far too bulky for the diminutive goblins. Added to that, it took far too long to produce in the small fabrication unit built into the drop pod. In the end they¡¯d settled on a flexible leather impregnated with Carbon fiber for added durability. Thin metal plates had been added over the vitals in imitation of the ankylosaur armor. The formfitting leather garb showed off Guts lean musculature, and hugged the ladies curves a little too tightly. The sexually inhibited goblins didn¡¯t even seem to notice, but Ronin sure did. An image of Owl five in that armor surfaced in his mind, before he shook it away. Frowning at the thought, he turned his attention back to the goblins.


    Ronin hadn¡¯t felt comfortable arming them yet, so only guts carried a pair of non-lethal II¡¯s on his hips and a small round shield. The rest of the goblins had to make do with belt knives. They didn¡¯t seem to feel slighted when only given knives though. For all of them, it was the first blade they had ever owned. They seemed to take the knife and armor as a symbol of respect. Not being the leader, they weren¡¯t used to getting anything. They had also been loaded down with a backpack; filled with food, clothes and a few other odds and ends.


    Checking his own gear, Ronin found that everything was in place. He also had two Non-lethal II¡¯s, one on each hip. In addition, he carried his round shield and short sword in case he needed to fight. He wasn¡¯t trained in the weapons, but he was super humanly strong. He doubted there was anything a goblin could do to him in a fight. Tightening the straps on his own equipment harness, he motioned the group forward. They had five days to map out the tunnels and find new goblin citizens. Before they had to return for the tax collector¡¯s deadline.


    Walking inside the mine, he pulled up the small map in the corner of his vision. Ronin didn¡¯t exactly understand how it worked, but it had a feature that allowed him to make maps of the areas he¡¯d already been to. It was of limited value in a forest, other than to point out a path he had taken previously, but it was different in a cave system. Whole tunnels could be revealed. If he came upon a place he¡¯d been before by a different route, he would know it right away. A helpful feature for assassins sneaking into restricted areas. Not only would it help them get back out, but they would have a map of the route they used for later use or to sell. Also helpful for someone goblin hunting, who didn¡¯t want to get lost in an unfamiliar cave.


    ¡°We¡¯ll start by completely mapping out the mine section of the cave.¡± Ronin said as they moved deeper. ¡°Emil said it was a natural cave that they expanded on, but they hadn¡¯t opened it up much. We can go farther in from there.¡± He¡¯d hoped Guts would be able to take him to where they¡¯d entered the cave, or to where other goblins were likely to be. Unfortunately, none of the goblins could remember how they had gotten inside the cave or how long they had been there. So, the party would just have to search the caves tunnel by tunnel. Ronin preferred it that way, it would give him the opportunity to expand his map more fully.


    Ronin felt a little silly as he walked around the mine, trailed by the seven goblins. It took them more than an hour to completely map out the dug out and supported sections of the cave. Yet, not one of them said anything or complained, they just followed behind him as he moved up and down the tunnels. He averted his eyes when they walked past the support pillar where he¡¯d killed the goblin. Not wanting to see the blood stains or the bullet hole in the beam. Having finished the mine portion of the cave, they entered the natural cavern where his team had captured the rest of the goblins.


    ¡°Does anything look familiar Guts?¡± he asked as they entered the open space. Looking around for any sign of more goblins.


    ¡°Sorry sir,¡± Guts said moving up from behind him. ¡°I don¡¯t remember much from before.¡± The goblin came to a halt beside Ronin and looked around. ¡°Hunter, soft step, go check the perimeter. Do it like Owl five showed you.¡± the two goblin women moved away from the group and began checking around the room.


    The pair Guts had called on were the most competent of the bunch besides himself. Ronin had thought it a funny naming convention at first, but you could usually tell from hearing a goblin¡¯s name what they were like. On average, goblins who were named for a physical characteristic weren¡¯t very impressive. Like broken tooth and one ear, the other two males of the group. They followed orders well and behaved but they didn¡¯t show much initiative. Hunter and soft step in contrast, were named for an area they excelled at. For goblins, an impressive name meant an impressive goblin.


    ¡°There is no sign that anyone has been here since we were last here, sir.¡± Hunter said after a round of the cave and a quick consultation with soft step. Both goblins had their fiery red hair done in a pixie cut, likely to copy Brie¡¯s look.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said with a nod. Trying, and only partially succeeding in keeping his eyes on her face. ¡°Would you two take the lead going forward? I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m rather hopeless at tracking.¡± He felt a little subconscious admitting that, but he needed results now more than he needed to feel important.


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± Hunter said, clapping her fist to her chest in the salute his team members used.  She and soft step then moved into the unexplored tunnel, Ronin and the rest not far behind.


    They moved through the darkness, the pair of goblin women walking on either side of the tunnel.  they each had a hand on the wall, and Ronin noticed that they were sniffing the air as they moved. ¡°Their night vision must not be as good as mine.¡± He thought as he began paying attention to the other goblins around him. Sure enough, all of them were touching the wall and sniffing as they walked. From there interactions he knew they could see, but they clearly relied on their other senses too. After thinking about it for a while, Ronin figured it made sense. His eyes were artificial, made with the best tech from the futuristic books he¡¯d read. Their eyes were natural, coming from a race he hadn¡¯t put much thought into creating. other than adding them into his world as cannon fodder.


    They walked for hours, moving into each small passage and room they came across. Ronin paced out each open area so that it would be fully visible on his map before they continued. The hours gradually turned into a day. Ronin felt like he could continue for days yet, but he could see the goblins were nearing exhaustion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s call it a night guys,¡± he called out when he saw White hair stumble. She was the oldest goblin here by a large margin and wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep up this pace if she hadn¡¯t been restored to full health by the enhanced water and a weeks¡¯ worth of good eating. Ronin was beginning to regret bringing her along, but he hadn¡¯t wanted to single her out of the group. ¡°Eat up and get some sleep, I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±


    Taking off his helmet, Ronin sat down to eat his own rations. A hunk of hard bread and some dried meat. their diet wasn¡¯t very expansive yet, but the former Kaldarrian slaves were skilled in quite a few areas, so Ronin hoped for more food options soon. sitting down next to him, Guts tore a strip off a piece of jerky.


    ¡°This is good,¡± he said chewing the hard meat. ¡°Being able to eat whenever we get hungry is¡­ amazing.¡± He was looking out at the small group of goblins as he talked, watching them converse in low tones as they ate. ¡°I hope we find many more of our kind. We won¡¯t make you regret saving us sir.¡± Having said his peace, Guts stood up and moved to stand watch as his people bedded down. Leaving Ronin with a lot more to think about.


    The goblins had been sleeping for three or four hours, huddled up in groups. Ronin found them fascinating to watch, being an interesting mix of human level intellect and animal instinct. Guts had laid down closest to where Ronin was keeping watch. Hunter and Soft step were sleeping together with Song, a short distance away. While White hair, one ear and broken tooth slept in a heap farther down the tunnel.


    Ronin assumed they were using how close they slept to him as a status symbol. Allowing anyone observing to know the pecking order of the group at a glance. The sleeping order lined up with how they were named as well. He also noted how the first two groups had gone to bed fully armored, while the trio on the end had stripped down before piling up for bed. Watching them sleeping, Ronin tried to think back. He didn¡¯t think he had ever heard any of them speaking before. They just followed the group around silently, doing as they were told.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    His musings on goblin social norms were interrupted by a scrabbling sound. Rising to his feet with a quick flex of his legs, Ronin looked around. The scrabbling sound was quiet, but in the silence of the cave it seemed louder. Locking his helmet on, Ronin drew his non-lethal II and pulled the shield from his back. Hearing a sound like tumbling pebbles, Ronin looked down the tunnel where White hair and the rest were sleeping. He could see where a small chunk of stone had fallen away from the wall.


    With a frown, he moved closer. Another piece of the rock wall tumbled away, and a small head popped out of a newly formed hole. Pulling its head back through the gap, it began chewing around the hole to enlarge the opening. Ronin couldn¡¯t believe it; the creature was actually chewing up the stone. Having made an opening large enough to fit through, the creature crawled out into the tunnel.


    Ronin looked at it curiously as it sniffed the air and took in its surroundings. It looked like an old earth rat but was closer in size to a raccoon or a house cat. Finally recognizing it as a stone carver rat, Ronin moved over to wake Guts. He remembered reading about them, but they were such a small part of the story he couldn¡¯t remember the details. Other than they ate stone and absorbed the minerals to make themselves stronger.


    ¡°Guts,¡± he whispered touching the goblin¡¯s shoulder. With a start, the goblin leader sat up.


    ¡°Yes sir?¡± he asked, coming instantly awake.


    ¡°Look,¡± Ronin said pointing toward the stone carver rat. ¡°It just tunneled through the wall, what do¡­¡± before he could ask what Guts knew about the creatures, the goblin had jumped to his feet and let out a bellow of warning.


    ¡°RATS¡± he yelled, drawing his belt knife and readying his own shield. Ronin, not sure what all the fuss was about, moved to ask. When another rat scurried out of the tunnel, then a third. As the sleeping goblins scurried to their feet and drew their knives, a veritable flood of the creatures swarmed from the wall. Before anyone could act, the unarmored pile of goblins was swarmed in chittering rat bodies.


    With a bellow of rage, Guts charged the swarm. Hunter and soft step right behind him. A deadly melee had broken out before Ronin realized what was happening. Snapping out of his daze, he lifted the non-lethal II. shooting all five rounds into the writhing mass of rats, stunning several. before drawing his short sword and wading in to stand beside Guts.


    The cave walls echoed with the chitters of rats and the screams of the unarmored goblins being eaten alive. Ronin and Guts tried to reach the trio, but there were just too many rats¡­ and they were stills streaming out of the wall. Using the two men as shields, Hunter, soft step, and now Song reached around and between them to drive their belt knives into the swarm.


    Their bodies were tough, armored with metallic plates where they weren¡¯t covered with thick black fur. Ronin¡¯s sword was bouncing off the plates as often as it was hitting flesh. Thanks to his strength however, even when he hit the armored plates, he was dealing fatal damage. Rats died to each of his swings and to the stabs of Guts and the girls. There were just so many rats, no matter how many they killed more would swarm from the wall.


    The screams from inside the pile had fallen silent with many of the rats focused on their meal. There were still plenty left who continued to swarm towards Ronin and guts. A rat sunk its teeth, capable of chewing through stone, into Ronin¡¯s shin. It punctured the armor plates without much resistance. The nanite under armor stopped the bite long enough for Ronin to kill the creature with a swing of his blade, but the situation was getting dire.


    ¡°Draw our guns,¡± He called out to the girls. ¡°Point them at the rats and pull the triggers.¡± They fumbled at the men¡¯s belts a few times, before each of the girls had a taser pistol in hand. He had to coach them a little more as he fought desperately against the tide but eventually, they figured it out. With a flash of electricity, twenty rounds flew into the writhing mass of stone carver rats. They were packed so tightly together that multiple targets got shocked, per round fired. causing a minor lull in the fighting while the rats thrashed against one another, trying to get away from the taser rounds.


    Using the distraction to the fullest, Ronin and Guts rushed in, cutting down rats by the handful. They continued to accrue bites; chunks of their armor being broken away along with pieces of flesh. Yet they persisted, and eventually, the tide of rats slowed and finally halted. The surviving members fleeing back into the tunnel they had exited from.


    Ronin, Guts and the ladies flopped onto the ground, gasping for breath and trying to staunch their bites. Ronin had a cyborg¡¯s body that was pumped full of nanites, so he was already healing. Guts also had nanites in his system but not nearly to the same extent. His wounds were closing but very slowly. The girls weren¡¯t so lucky. They had all been bitten at least once, but Song had gotten it the worst. A bite to her forearm that had cracked the bone.


    ¡°Drink this,¡± Ronin said pulling his canteen of enhanced water out. ¡°Finish half the bottle then pass it to Hunter and Soft step to share the rest.¡± As she followed instructions, movement from the pile of corpses caught everyone¡¯s attention. There were still rats alive in there, they¡¯d been stunned but it was quickly wearing off. Guts made a move towards them with his knife, but Ronin called him back.


    ¡°We need to capture a few of them alive.¡± He called out as the goblin moved in for the kill. Guts growled at the order, and for a moment, Ronin thought he was going to have to use the drone parasite to force compliance. In the end though, he nodded.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± he said. ¡°How do you suggest we capture them?¡± it was clear he hoped that Ronin wouldn¡¯t have a way, just as clear, he wasn¡¯t going to make suggestions. It made Ronin wonder if the stone carver rats preyed on the goblins or something to make them loathe them so much.


    In the end, Ronin ended up capturing four of the remaining rats himself. They weighed a lot more than he anticipated. Leading him to believe that the plates covering their bodies really were metal. Placing a marker on his map so that they could come back for the corpses, he put the bound rodents in a heavy bag he¡¯d brought along. Picking up the sack, Ronin realized he wouldn¡¯t be able to lug it around with him. At thirty-five to forty pounds apiece, the bag containing four of them weighed in at around one hundred fifty pounds. Eventually, he just found an outcropping near the ceiling and tied the bag off there. Assuming they didn¡¯t die or get taken by other predators, Ronin would pick them up on the way back through.


    After that was done, he moved back to the recovering goblins, to find them quite literally licking their wounds. Having dealt with his own injuries back on earth and having helped Markus tend to others who were hurt, Ronin had a basic understanding of first aid. So, making them stop licking themselves, he spent the next thirty minutes cleaning and binding their wounds as best he could. The enhanced water would help prevent infection and increase the healing process, but it didn¡¯t hurt to be thorough.


    ¡°There you go, Soft step.¡± He said patting her shoulder. He¡¯d just finished cleaning and binding a wound in her side. ¡°That should be everyone. Do your injuries need tending too Guts?¡± he asked his goblin chief, as Soft step put her armor back on. She¡¯d had to expose her upper torso in order for him to treat her wound, but the sight of blood and bone poking out, had his full attention. He didn¡¯t feel any interest at her revealed body, only seeing an injury that needed to be cleaned. His experience with romantic encounters consisted to this point only of what he had read in books, but what had just happened never featured in any of his favorite adventure novels. There was certainly no blood at least in those scenes.


    ¡°No sir,¡± Guts said from his position near the corpse pile. He had taken over guard duty so that Ronin could treat the girls, not knowing anything about first aid himself. ¡°Sir, may I make a request?¡± he asked, never turning around.


    ¡°Of course, Guts, what do you need?¡± Ronin asked, sitting back tiredly to lean against the wall.


    ¡°When we return to base, can you teach me how to do the ¡®first aid¡¯ you helped us with?¡± he seemed worried or embarrassed at asking the question. not knowing what the fuss was about, he just answered normally.


    ¡°Certainly Guts,¡± he said. ¡°Actually, I intend to teach you all everything I can. I also intend to learn everything I can too. If I¡¯d known what that creature was when it came through the wall, we might have been able to save everyone.¡± He admitted, looking at the fallen bodies of White hair, One ear and Broken tooth. He shouldn¡¯t have brought them. if he¡¯d known more about goblin naming conventions and hierarchy, he wouldn¡¯t have. So many mistakes. He just kept making them, one after the next.


    ¡°We will learn together,¡± he continued at last, looking at his remaining followers. ¡°I intend to build the valley into a goblin city. In order to do that I need your help, all your help.¡± He said looking each of them over as he spoke. ¡°We will need to learn, and overcome, together to make that happen.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± the four remaining goblins said in unison, clapping their fists against their chests in salute. Ronin looked up at them, as he¡¯d been speaking, they had all gathered around him. he was almost shocked to see the fire in their eyes. he¡¯d all but condemned himself before them, yet they seemed ready to follow him into another life-or-death battle immediately.


    ¡°Get some rest you four,¡± he said at last returning their salute. ¡°We are running out of time, and I¡¯d like to at least find some signs of goblins before we leave.¡± Once they had taken his advice and bedded back down, Ronin collected the fallen goblin¡¯s gear. He put it up next to the bag filled with living rats to be collected later and drew his sword.


    Looking over the blade, he saw how bent and blunted it had become. If it wasn¡¯t for the superior quality of the materials that had gone into its construction it would have broken under the strain. Looking down at the cracked and crumbling plates of his armor he couldn¡¯t help but get angry at himself again. he needed a different weapon and armor. his fighting style, what there was of it anyway, didn¡¯t line up with the equipment he¡¯d chosen in the beginning.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to Owl two about it,¡± he thought as he tried to relax after the latest fight. he decided he¡¯d give the goblins a full six hours of sleep. He needed the rest too, although he wouldn¡¯t be sleeping. Six hours of quiet time, it would be the first he¡¯d had since before his life on earth had ended. Leaning back against the wall, he kept his eyes trained on the tunnel, while his mind drifted off into his future plans.


    When the time elapsed, he woke his followers. Giving them time to eat more hard bread and dried meat, he looked over their wounds. His own and guts wounds had all but healed, but the girls were still wounded. The enhanced water would help but it would be days yet until they were fully recovered.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last having rebound their wounds. ¡°I¡¯d like to send you back to rest, but I still need your help here. Hunter, Soft step, you are much better at scouting than I am so I will need you to take the lead again. if there is any danger, fall back behind Guts and me. Here¡­¡± taking the non-lethal II¡¯s from his hips, he handed them to his new scouts. ¡°You handled these pretty well before. When we get back, I will have you work with Owl five, she can teach you more than I can.¡± Turning to Song he continued.


    ¡°Song, you are too badly injured to take point with the others. so, stay between me and Guts. I will be behind Hunter and Soft step ready to jump in should we encounter any more hostiles and Guts will follow behind to protect our rear.¡± Having finished giving out orders, the party got moving again.


    They didn¡¯t find anything for the entirety of that day, only adding more of the tunnel system to Ronin¡¯s map. That night passed uneventfully, and Ronin was finally able to take a turn sleeping. He hadn¡¯t needed it yet physically, but he had been mentally and emotionally drained. He¡¯d awoken feeling much better, even if it had only been for two hours.


    They hadn¡¯t walked an hour after breakfast that morning, when they heard screaming and growls from up ahead. Looking at each other warily, the ladies moved back, while Guts and Ronin took their place in the lead. Weapons drawn, they rounded the last bend in the tunnel, and found themselves in a scene of utter chaos.

 Chapter Ten

    There was an intense battle being fought between two groups. A large clan of goblins were facing off against a much smaller group of what Ronin recognized as troglodytes or trogs for short. The goblin sized humanoid crocodiles were outnumbered five to one, but they seemed to be the aggressors in the conflict. They had backed the goblins into an alcove that they couldn¡¯t escape from without a fight.


    To make matters more complicated, it looked like the rest of the stone carver rats had ended up here. they swarmed around both sides of the conflict, biting and scratching at everyone equally. Doing some quick head counting, Ronin figured there must be between fifteen and twenty of the troglodytes. Looking at his people, he saw that they were ready and eager for the fight.


    ¡°Guts, you and me will head in and gather their attention. Hunter, Soft step and Song, you come in behind us and shoot as many as you can. Don¡¯t risk yourselves unnecessarily, take your time and make the shots count. When we finish the battle, don¡¯t let the goblins out of the alcove. I don¡¯t want to risk them running. got it?¡± seeing that everyone understood, Ronin gave a shout and charged.


    He met the first humanoid crocodile with his shield. Even with his enhanced strength and height advantage, the troglodyte only stumbled back a step at the charge. Despite being goblin sized, they were densely muscled and covered in thick scales. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t seem very smart. He didn¡¯t spot a weapon between them, fighting with teeth and claws alone. The one he¡¯d rammed into righted itself quickly and lunged back into biting range. Its massive jaws snapped shut around the round shield, catching it on the lip and nearly pulling it from his grasp.


    Thankfully his sword was already lined up and a quick thrust was able to put the blade into the attacker¡¯s neck. It didn¡¯t let go right away however, continuing to bite and thrash against Ronin¡¯s shield. The beast¡¯s thrashing only served to open its neck wound further and before long it dropped away, clutching its throat.


    While he¡¯d been engaged, Guts had thrown himself on a second trog. He¡¯d followed Ronin¡¯s example, leading with his shield. When the trog bit down on the steel shield, he began stabbing it as fast as he could. letting his armor absorb the claws, which were raking down his sides from all four limbs. not having the time to help Guts, Ronin was already being engaged by another of the aggressive trogs. He¡¯d learned a little from the first encounter, so when the trog came in with a bite he would pull back the shield. When it closed its mouth with a snap, he would punch the shield forward into its snout before cutting at it with his damaged sword.


    It was slower than his first attack method but kept him at a distance from the teeth and claws. Thankfully, the trogs seemed to be rather single minded in their fighting mentality. Only the ones who had been directly engaged from behind had turned around to fight, the rest remained focused on the goblins trapped in the alcove.


    The scouts were making their own contribution. Having taken Ronin¡¯s advice to heart, the three goblins were standing back. Taking careful aim between shots, they lined up their target before shooting to conserve ammunition. They still missed more often than they hit, but the targets were so bunched together that it hardly mattered. Ronin saw that Guts had also finished his first target. The goblin chief was injured though, having taken too much damage to his armor during the brawl.


    ¡°Guts, help with this one.¡± he called over softly, not wanting to alert the others. ¡°We will take them on together, they are just too strong to do it alone.¡± Complying with the order, Guts rushed the trog from behind and drove his knife into its back. Not being able to turn around for fear that Ronin would be able to target it freely, the trog did its best to defend from both directions but quickly went down under the onslaught.


    Motioning Guts to stay put, Ronin pulled another trog out of line and led it over toward the injured goblin. They made quick work of this one too, following the same tactic. The number of standing foes was starting to dwindle, and before long they were either all stunned or dead.


    ¡°Song, Soft step, reload and block off the alcove. If any of them try and run, stun them.¡± He called out. ¡°Hunter, here.¡± Ronin said to the final member of the group, tossing over a bag filled with control collars looted from the Kaldarr drop ships. ¡°There are ten collars in there, if there are any more than ten still alive¡­ kill them.¡± Hunter was the most decisive of the goblin women, and he didn¡¯t think she would balk at the orders.


    ¡°Guts, you gunna make it?¡± He asked the goblin chief as he moved over to support him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine sir,¡± he said with a pained grimace. ¡°Let¡¯s get them subdued before something unfortunate happens.¡± He said looking with concern toward Song and Soft step. Confused, Ronin followed his eyes. What he saw was a large number of goblin males, staring at the leather clad goblin women with lust filled eyes.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Ronin swore. Thankfully, the rats were still running amok inside the goblins ranks or they might have already tried something. ¡°Screw it, we¡¯ll have to stun them. Song, Soft step, aim for the males. We need to make this quick before they finish off the rats.¡± Pulling out a bundle of zip strips, he plunged into the pool of green skin and red hair.


    *            *            *


    The following hours were a blur to Ronin. they¡¯d used more of the stun rounds then he¡¯d expected and ran out after a few shots. He¡¯d ended up having to wrestle the goblins down and zip them hand and foot before moving on. Guts was too wounded to assist, but he was still a giant goblin male. Just by standing in the alcove opening and bellowing at any who came to close, he was able to keep them all confined while Ronin worked.


    The rats were an added complication he hadn¡¯t wanted to deal with. They managed to kill a half dozen goblins after he¡¯d tied them up, before he killed the last one. Hunter, having finished collaring the trogs, began injecting the bound goblins with the sexual inhibitor. It would be a while before it took effect, but when it did, they would start to calm down. then they could feed them, and hopefully convince them to follow the group back to base.


    ¡°Sir¡± the familiar voice entered Ronin¡¯s exhaustion drenched mind. blinking in surprise he looked around, wondering if he¡¯d imagined it. ¡°I completed my mission, and as promised, I¡¯m here.¡± it wasn¡¯t his imagination after all. Owl five had just entered the alcove, followed by a pair of hulking Kaldarr warriors. They were huge, standing fully eight feet tall.


    Ronin had read in his books about giants before. It was easy to read about eight-foot-tall giants, but when he saw them in the flesh it was different. It was unreal, just how big they looked. He felt like a child again, looking up at the adults of the caves. He blinked and shook his head when he realized how badly his mind was wandering.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re here Brie.¡± He said, giving her a smile. He¡¯d removed his helmet after the battle, so his expression was on full display as he smiled tiredly. ¡°Would you mind taking over here? Hunter can fill you in. Guts has already passed out, and I¡¯m honestly not too far behind.¡±


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± She said, having stiffened slightly at his use of her name. ¡°Get some sleep, I¡¯ll take care of everything.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Owl five.¡± He said gratefully, entering a quiet corner to lay down. he was asleep before his head settled all the way down. He¡¯d pushed himself hard, and made a good head start on his goals. There was still a long way to go though.


    He didn¡¯t know how much time passed before he opened his eyes again, but he felt fully refreshed. Sitting up, he found Owl five sitting beside him with her helmet off. she held a hunk of bread and a piece of dried meat, which she handed to him.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± he said. accepting the food with a ¡°thank you.¡± he ate in silence, waiting for her to speak.


    ¡°We¡¯ve secured the area,¡± she started after a moment. ¡°Thirty-three goblins survived the ambush. We finished the sexual inhibiter injections, and once they calmed down, we fed them. the group¡¯s alpha tried to cause trouble, but as malnourished as he was, even injured, Guts crushed him. once they have a little time to talk with Hunter and the others, we shouldn¡¯t have any trouble at all getting them back.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Ronin said, still eating. ¡°it¡¯s a real shame though, there were easily twice that many goblins when we arrived at the fight. you were right you know, again. I should have taken my rifle¡­ and you.¡± he thought back to the losses they¡¯d suffered at the fangs of the rats. He had to do better.


    ¡°It takes time sir,¡± Owl five said looking him in the eye. ¡°You are learning. Sure, you made mistakes, but none of them would have survived at all if you hadn¡¯t arrived when you did.¡± Ronin nodded, able to accept her words as the truth, even if he didn¡¯t want too.


    ¡°How about the trogs, and that bag of rats?¡± he asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Hunter collared ten troglodytes and killed the other three,¡± Owl five started. ¡°I found the rats on the way down and brought them along. We took off the muzzles and let them eat and drink before muzzling them again. what do you plan to do with them? neither of their species will be easily controlled. The control collars don¡¯t actually force obedience, they just punish disobedience.¡±


    Ronin nodded, he agreed with her, but he couldn¡¯t pass up any opportunity to earn more credits. Living creatures were worth more than dead ones, and if he could get them to behave, the credits he earned would be worth the effort.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he answered honestly, if not completely. ¡°We should have killed Guts and his group too, but that ended up working out. the trogs are strong and aggressive, maybe use them as guard dogs?¡± as for the rats, well he had no idea but Owl two might.


    ¡°What would you like to do now, sir?¡± Owl five asked after a long moment of silence.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Now?¡±  he said, finishing his meal. ¡°Now, lets get this group organized. I want the Kaldarrians along with the goblin team to shepherd this lot back¡­ while you and I go just a little farther.¡± He didn¡¯t expect to get any more goblins out of the deal, but he just wanted to see a little more.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl five said, ¡°I will get them organized and join you shortly.¡± Having spoken, she got right up to put action to words. Within fifteen minutes the group had been organized and were moving back the way they¡¯d come. Ronin made sure to have them pick up as many rat corpses as they could carry. He didn¡¯t know what purpose they would serve, but the metallic plates interested him.


    ¡°Ready to go?¡± he asked as she joined him by the far passage.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said with a nod. Putting her helmet back on she nodded her head, saying that she was ready to go.


    They didn¡¯t have much time left, but now that they had a map, they could always sprint back. Just the pair of them could move at incredible speed. He also had several things he wanted to talk with her about.


    ¡°¡­ So, after watching what Hunter and Soft step were capable of, I¡¯d like you to take them, and others like them, under your wing.¡± He said as they moved, ¡°they will be our scout team.¡± He had been explaining what he had learned about the goblins as a whole during the short trip. ¡°Going forward too, we¡¯ll separate the goblins like Guts and Song from those like One ear and White hair. They are fine as general workers but, on this trip, they were a liability. It was my fault as the leader, but taking their armor off like that, led to their deaths as much as my not understanding the threat the rats posed.¡±


    The goblins weren¡¯t a close combat force. even Guts wasn¡¯t very good at close quarters fighting. But the ones who were gifted at stealth, were very gifted. If he could get an entire team of skilled scouts and hunters like Owl five¡­ his mind spun with the possibilities.


    Turning a bend, Owl five motioned for him to stop. Ronin looked around but couldn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary. So, he just watched her move forward toward the next bend.


    ¡°Sir, there is light up ahead.¡± She said over helmet coms. ¡°I think we might have found another exit to this cave system.¡± Joining her when she motioned him forward, Ronin looked around the bend. Only then did he notice the darkness shifting a little towards light. Her perception must be very sharp to have noticed it even before they got to the bend.


    ¡°How did you know at the last bend? I can barely see the light shift, even here.¡± he asked her curiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s the smell sir,¡± she said. ¡°I can smell the air has changed, so I knew there was something ahead.¡± The air? He¡¯d seen the other goblins smelling the air. Tilting his head back, he took a few whiffs at the air, but couldn¡¯t smell anything. Goblins might be weak bodied sex addicts, but they sure had sharp senses.


    ¡°Good job, Owl five.¡± He said at last, giving up on trying to smell anything. ¡°I can confidently say that your senses are much better than mine.¡±


    ¡°I am pleased to be of assistance,¡± she said. ¡°I look forward to going on the next adventure with you from the beginning.¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t said he would take her along, but he couldn¡¯t deny she was invaluable as a scout.


    ¡°Get me a team of scout candidates and give them some instruction and you have a deal.¡± He¡¯d take her with him regardless, but he figured he might as well add extra incentive for her anyway.


    ¡°Deal¡± she said, and Ronin swore he heard a smile in her voice. They moved forward together, rounding the bend and finding a small crack leading to the outside world. it was too small for either of them to fit through, but looking out, all they could see was forest. Talking it out, they decided to leave for now. They would explore here after the tax collector was taken care of. placing a marker on the map, they turned and sprinted all the way back to base.


    They arrived with a day to spare, coming up out of the cave to a whirlwind of activity. The former human slaves were helping Guts and his people bathe and clothe the new goblins. Kaldarrians wearing control collars were busy building new tents, under the watchful eyes of a drone parasite implanted Kaldarr warrior. While all that was going on, town¡¯s people moved in through the southern cave entrance carrying raw cuts of meat. That they handed off to Owl two. he was working the drying oven he had cobbled together, then passing the finished product on to more towns people who carried it out the northern tunnel.


    Ronin was impressed by the operation underway. His eyes had lingered on the Kaldarrians for a while, he counted six of them in collars. So, Owl five had managed to collect five of the seven after all. he¡¯d hoped for all of them to be captured, but he had only asked her for four of them, so he wouldn¡¯t complain. Moving his eyes over the bustling crowd again, he frowned.


    ¡°Owl two,¡± he said moving over to his assistant. ¡°Where are the Troglodytes and stone eater rats?¡± he was confident they weren¡¯t in the cave, but he¡¯d seen them come up with Guts group. Come to that, he didn¡¯t see the two Kaldarr warriors who had come down with him either. He hoped something hadn¡¯t happened after he¡¯d left them.


    ¡°Relax sir,¡± Owl two said. ¡°We didn¡¯t have time to mess with those upright crocodiles, so I had the Kaldarr lock them in the damaged drop ship. I closed the cockpit so there¡¯s nothing in there for them to hurt. I ordered them to sit quietly until I came back. Orders they are probably ignoring right now. I¡¯m hopeful that the repeated shock therapy will calm them down. Rats are sedated and locked down, for the same reasons.¡± Owl two was clearly not happy about the added work load. If Ronin had to guess, he hadn¡¯t stopped working since he left a few days ago.


    ¡°And the Kaldarr?" Ronin pressed, wanting a more complete update before he started helping out anywhere.


    ¡°I sent them to the outer wall,¡± Owl two said with obvious irritation. ¡°Another ankylosaur pulled wagon arrived a few hours ago. I was worried they would try something while we were all the way over here. don¡¯t worry about that though, those hulking brutes can handle anything those primitives have to offer.¡±


    Ronin believed that easily enough. A pair of riflemen on that wall could ruin an army of any size¡¯s day. When said army was armed with swords and spears anyway. nodding to Owl two, Ronin worked his way around the underway operation.  Going out the southern tunnel, he saw a number of towns people climbing around a partially disassembled iguanodon. They carved strips off the carcass and took them to long tables set up with more towns people, who cut them into strips and removed unwanted portions. Still more were grinding the scraps up and stuffing them into intestines.


    It looked like they were using the opportunity to make some food for themselves as well. Ronin agreed with the decision. He only saw two of the drop ships, one being the damaged one. muffled screaming and bellows of rage echoed out from inside the ship. Ronin shook his head, wondering if the trogs would end up being too aggressive to learn. Catching sight of a resting Emil, he moved over to the former mayor.


    ¡°Greetings Emil,¡± he said squatting down beside the sitting man. ¡°How is the processing going?¡±


    ¡°Greetings mayor Ronin,¡± the old man said tiredly. ¡°It¡¯s been a trial, but we are almost done. Some of the magic devices you have in that cave of yours are enough to boggle this old man¡¯s mind. to be honest, before I saw that strange oven working, I didn¡¯t think it was even possible to jerk that much meat in only a week.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my assistant came up with the idea. Though it¡¯s not a fuel-efficient method, we won¡¯t be able to do this again¡­¡± they continued the conversation for a short time, talking about light topics to avoid the subject of the obese tax collecting lord at the gates.


    Ronin got up to check out the northern tunnel. moving back through the southern tunnel, he picked up a bundle of dried meat to save someone else a trip. He laughed quietly and shook his head when he saw that Owl five had already pulled Hunter, Soft step, song and three other goblins aside. She was talking to them intently, and Ronin could only guess that she was already working on the scout team he¡¯d asked her for.


    Following the trail of towns people out the northern tunnel, Ronin saw the last drop ship. The people were loading the meat into crates, they must have brought from the town, and stacking them up in the troop compartment on the ship. It was nearly full, and Ronin was impressed with how diligently everyone had been working. He wasn¡¯t happy about having to use the drop ships to move the stores, but under the time restraints he didn¡¯t know how else to move ten tons of dried meat the ten miles it needed to go. he resolved right then to get himself an ankylosaur pulled wagon of his own.


    Handing off his bundle, he went back into the cave. It was already crowded and wouldn¡¯t be able to handle anymore goblins. At least the towns people weren¡¯t planning on moving in too, or it would be a nightmare. He had to talk to Owl two about it soon, he didn¡¯t know if he wanted to move outside the cave and into the forest or dig into the mountain for a more hidden and fortified town. he sighed; it was a tradeoff between safety and time. He guessed he shouldn¡¯t decide on anything until the business with the tax collectors was taken care of.


    Rolling up his sleeves, he joined Eric and Samantha in bathing the new goblins, they were clearly grateful for the help since it was a nasty job. They were clothed in rotting animal hides and were infested with fleas and lice. Ronin didn¡¯t understand how the drive to reproduce could account for it. then he remembered old Sam, from back on earth.


    He¡¯d been a scavenger along with his son. When his son hadn¡¯t come back from a scavenging trip with him, he went a little insane. It started off with a few of the cave¡¯s special mushrooms, to help him sleep. Then after a while, he would have a few after dinner too. Before the end he would roam the caves looking for a patch of the mind-altering mushrooms. Then gorge himself until he passed out. then repeat the process again when he awoke. He never bathed, changed his clothes, or anything else productive during his final years. Ronin felt pity for old Sam, but he¡¯d also felt disgust for how awful he¡¯d smelled. Everyone was relieved when he finally ate a bad batch of mushrooms and passed on.


    ¡°But could instincts be so powerful as to act like a drug, and if they can, why is it that they can talk after they are relieved of it?¡± he pondered over the odd puzzle of the goblins while he helped get them cleaned up. he didn¡¯t think there was any real answer. He¡¯d created them at random, intending to use them as battle practice and nothing more. It was only after killing one of them, and then finding out about Markus¡¯s condition, that he started trying to fully understand them.


    Once all the new citizens had been cleaned and tucked into their tents, the day was drawing to a close. they had to deliver the promised meat in the morning, but Ronin wasn¡¯t ready for sleep just yet.


    ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Owl two.¡± he said, sitting around a small fire with Owl¡¯s two and five. Guts was tending the stew pot, having appointed himself as Ronin¡¯s personal cook. ¡°I know you are already well aware.¡± He added with an eye roll, ¡°but none of this would be possible without you.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Owl two said with a slight inclination of his head. ¡°Its good that you recognize that fact.¡± He couldn¡¯t eat but held a steaming cup in his hands anyway. he¡¯d said that it would make them feel more comfortable if he acted like a biological. Strangely enough, it actually did, when Ronin stopped thinking about how weird it was anyway.


    ¡°So how do you think it will go tomorrow?¡± he asked, thanking Guts who had just handed him his own steaming cup of soup. They¡¯d finished packing the meat two hours ago but had carried on for another hour and a half to make jerky for the town¡¯s folk too. Eric was flying them back to town now, with a Kaldarrian escort. To both keep him safe and to ensure that he came back with the ship.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know.¡± Owl two said, raising the cup to his helmet and making a sniffing noise through the speaker that was his voice box. ¡°If I had to guess, I¡¯d say plan on a betrayal. But it would be in everyone¡¯s best interest if the payment went off flawlessly.¡±


    Ronin looked at Brie, who was quietly sipping her own soup. Her eyes were focused on the six goblin women she¡¯d picked out to comprise the scout team. She had them running laps around the base cave. She¡¯d also given the three she¡¯d pulled from the new group a draft of enhanced water. Owl two had protested, but she had ignored him. saying that she needed them in shape fast so she could get them started on their training.


    ¡°As much as I hate to admit it,¡± Ronin said turning his eyes back on Owl two. ¡°I have the same feeling, the question is¡­ what do we do about it?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Owl two said, pausing to take a ¡®sip¡¯ from his cup. ¡°I have been thinking about it, and¡­¡±

 Chapter Eleven

    Ronin stood on the town¡¯s outer wall, Owl two and Emil standing beside him. They had gotten here early, having managed to land the drop ship just inside the outer wall, without anyone outside noticing. The collared Kaldarr had been ferrying the crates up the wall since then. They weren¡¯t happy about being collared, but they seemed to understand that there wasn¡¯t anything they could do. So, they were behaving, for now at least.


    The tent camp had grown with the arrival of the second wagon. Now over a dozen tents were set up outside the town, with the additional two that were much larger. Ronin knew that one of those belonged to the obnoxious lord fatso. The other must belong to his brother, who Ronin hadn¡¯t seen yet. Their men were getting up and gathering inside the circle of tents though. There were now a solid sixty of them, fatso¡¯s brother having brought forty men with him. The men joked and jeered with each other, making it clear they were planning something that excited them.


    That didn¡¯t bode well to Ronin, who hoped for a peaceful resolution today. Still, he could hope for the best. With a sigh, he began climbing down the ladder with Owl two and K3, one of the Kaldarr warriors who had been injected with a drone parasite and nanites just like Guts. Ronin hadn¡¯t wanted to know their names, so he just gave them code names instead. the ladder creaked as the heavily armored giant descended, but the sturdy dinosaur bones held his weight.


    The cocky looks on the men¡¯s faces diminished a little bit when Ronin entered their camp with the giant in tow. Those looks were why he had brought one of the Kaldarr with him. Perhaps if he could intimidate the soldiers, they wouldn¡¯t want to attack him. at the same time, he didn¡¯t want to appear like he was actually threatening them, so he¡¯d left K1 and K2 up on the wall. they were there and ready, just in case the deal went sideways.


    ¡°H... halt,¡± said the captain who¡¯d been so aggressive last time. He was still standing in their way, but the towering form of K3 left him looking a little uneasy. Glancing back at his men for reassurance, he turned back around and addressed Ronin. ¡°Our Lord has invited you to his tent, peasant, but he hasn¡¯t invited either of these¡­ people.¡± he swallowed whatever insult he had been about to say regarding Owl two and K3. ¡°They will have to wait outside.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t outside Ronin¡¯s expectations. So, instead of making a fuss, he just waved them to stop. Owl two could listen in and communicate over his helmet com anyway so it didn¡¯t matter if he was actually standing there. Taking a deep breath, Ronin squared his shoulders, and entered the tent.


    The tent was laid out the same as it had been before, with two exceptions. There was now another man seated at the table with ¡®my lord¡¯ fatso, and two more young girls stood behind the pair. The girls looked very much like the first two; too young, very pretty, and scared. They were also holding a towel and pitcher of wine. The brothers in stark contrast, looked nothing alike. Where the first was morbidly obese; dressed in opulent robes and ate like it might be his last meal. His brother was heavily muscled, with a buzz cut and was also clean shaven; dressed in ankylosaur armor. ate slowly, using his knife and fork to cut small bites from his steak. He seemed to be around forty, and his sharp brown eyes had the look of a man who¡¯d seen combat, and often.


    ¡°Ah, brother.¡± Fatso said to his breakfast companion, completely ignoring Ronin. ¡°I¡¯ll be interested to see what the men find behind this wall when the peasants fail to pay their taxes.¡± Ripping into the massive rib bone he was holding, he continued through a mouth full of food. ¡°I wonder if this wretched backwater still has any attractive women, we¡¯ve cleaned out all the other hamlets of them haven¡¯t we brother, ha-ha¡± he made to slap the other man on the back, but a look from the militant man made him pause. ¡°Yes, well¡­ I suppose they are a tad greasy.¡± He mumbled, going back to his meal.


    A slow churning anger began to bubble up inside of Ronin. he¡¯d suspected that this tax collector was bleeding the town dry on purpose but hadn¡¯t had any proof. Of course, he still didn¡¯t, but it didn¡¯t feel that way.


    ¡°Don¡¯t sound so thrilled with yourself Charles,¡± the armored man said. slowly raising his fork to his lips and chewing a small bite. ¡°The war at the wall isn¡¯t going well you know. And while I¡¯m not above lining my pockets in these backwaters, there is a limit to what we can squeeze out of them. once they¡¯ve been bled dry it will only be a matter of time before the wall collapses, and the whole kingdom with it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come now Benjamin,¡± the now named Charles said. ¡°Who cares what happens to this wretched kingdom? We are leaving once we make these last few rounds anyway. just need to gather a few supplies for the road first¡­ and speaking of which, it looks like our local mayor has decided to grace us with his presents.¡±


    The slowly bubbling anger had begun to boil, at the callous way the pair talked about the kingdom falling to this, outside enemy. They¡¯d actually admitted to robbing the towns to line their own pockets during a war. He almost couldn¡¯t believe they were confessing like this. sure, it happened in books all the time, but did real villains actually spill their plans to everyone this way?


    ¡°What do you think, Owl two?¡± Ronin asked over helmet coms. ¡°Should we let this play out or just cut right to the fighting?¡± Ronin had been against taking preemptive action toward the troop until now but listening to these two talking had changed his mind.


    ¡°Sir, the only concern I had regarding taking these men out, was the reaction of the nearby town when they didn¡¯t return. However, from the sounds of it they don¡¯t plan to return anyway. I say let¡¯s carry out the plan now.¡±


    ¡°Agreed, I¡¯ll keep these two busy. Coordinate with Owl five and the Kaldarr warriors to subdue the troops.¡± He¡¯d set himself a goal to earn credits by building up a goblin settlement, and these¡­ people were standing in his way. it was time to do something about that.


    ¡°¡­ Did you hear me peasant? I asked where the meat you promised me was...¡± Charles the fat had been berating him the whole time he¡¯d been talking with Owl two, but he¡¯d tuned him out. Now that he was paying attention again, he could tell how much his ignoring the pair had angered them.


    ¡°So eager to ignore me, yet unable to be ignored¡­ really sad guys.¡± He thought with a shake of his head. Charles was blustering about the taxes, but Benjamin was sitting calmly. He was still eating his steak, one small bite at a time. Yet his eyes were sharp, focused on Ronin, like he knew what was coming.


    ¡°Gentlemen,¡± he said softly. Interrupting Charles tirade. The fat man looked so shocked that he¡¯d been interrupted he fell silent for a beat. ¡°I can see that negotiations aren¡¯t going to bear fruit, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn peasant!¡± raged the fat lord, ¡°I warned you. my captain will have your tongue out for this. do you think that a backwater ¡®mayor¡¯ can just interrupt me while I¡¯m talking? You worthless piece of¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up Charles,¡± Benjamin said taking another bite. ¡°This man entered our tent fully armored and even has his helmet on. He hasn¡¯t moved or spoken at all until he remarked that negotiations had failed¡­ what does that tell you brother?¡±


    ¡°It tells me he¡¯s a freaking fool,¡± Charles screamed. ¡°Him and his assistant entered in matching armor last time too, in this jumped-up play pretend armor. look at the cooking pot he¡¯s wearing as a helmet. Pathetic¡­¡± his words were cut off in a spray of blood. Benjamin had driven his steak knife into his neck. With a twist, he cut outward opening the wound beyond repair.


    He then motioned his towel girl over with a kind smile. she hesitated, but her fear of him seemed to outweigh her fear of the dying Charles. Taking the towel from her hand, he wiped the blood from the knife and gently laid it on the table. Moving his hands away from it, he picked up his wine glass and finally addressed Ronin for the first time. Who had been staring in shock throughout.


    ¡°My brother may not have recognized anything from your armor, but I did.¡± taking a sip, he leaned back in his chair, in an attempt Ronin thought to look non-threatening. ¡°Are you familiar with the situation Mountain¡¯s Embrace kingdom finds itself facing?¡± at Ronin¡¯s head shake he continued. ¡°We have been beset outside our walls by giant, vaguely humanoid, bug monsters. they¡¯ve been swarming our walls for months now. But recently,¡± finishing his glass he held his hand out for a refill. The trembling wine girl filled his glass. He nodded to her with a ¡°Thank you,¡± before he continued.


    ¡°We received reinforcements. They came down from the sky in giant metal globes and are armored similarly to you.¡± He said pointing at Ronin¡¯s gear.


    ¡°You getting this Owl two?¡± Ronin asked, a little thrown by this entire situation.


    ¡°I hear it, sir.¡± Owl two replied, ¡°but I¡¯m a little busy right now. Just hear him out and decide from there.¡± Easy enough to say, but Ronin was out of his element here.


    ¡°Now, I know that you aren¡¯t part of that group. But I have a feeling you have your own group here. I also have the feeling that I won¡¯t be escaping the kingdom like I planned. So, I would like to offer my services.¡± Having said his peace, Benjamin set his glass down and laid his hands on the table where Ronin could see them.


    ¡°What the hell man, what do I do now?¡± Ronin muttered to himself, trying to decide on the proper course of action. He¡¯d had a little speech prepared and everything, now the fatso was dead, and his killer was trying to change sides¡­


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last.


    ¡°Ok?¡± Benjamin asked, a little taken aback. ¡°Just like that?¡± he seemed as confused as Ronin felt, but was doing a better job containing himself.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin repeated. Tossing over a Kaldarrian inspired collar that Owl two had made while he was out goblin hunting. ¡°Snap this around your neck.¡± The new collar was less bulky and more streamlined than the Kaldarrian version, but it did the same job. After inspecting the collar for a moment, Benjamin sighed.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what this does, but I¡¯ve seen enough of our¡­ savior¡¯s¡­ magic to have an idea.¡± Without any more hesitation, he raised the collar to his neck and snapped it in place. He¡¯d squinted his eyes as the collar clicked shut, obviously expecting something to happen. when nothing did, he looked up at Ronin in question.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a control collar,¡± he explained. ¡°Do what you are told, and nothing will happen, ignore an order and it will hurt. Pretty simple really.¡± Turning to the four serving girls he said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, but I don¡¯t know you yet, and¡­ since I only brought two collars¡­¡± as he trailed off, he raised his non-lethal II with a smooth motion and shot the four startled girls before they could react. He watched them twitching and writhing on the floor with sympathy but didn¡¯t approach. He couldn¡¯t risk that one or more of them were a secret guard. He thought it unlikely, but Owl two had insisted.


    ¡°Well¡­ come on then, I guess.¡± He said, motioning for Benjamin to follow him from the tent. He was still unsettled by what had just happened, but he didn¡¯t have time to worry about it. still, these ¡®saviors¡¯ Benjamin talked about¡­ and the humanoid bug monsters, they were both more than likely races or factions that Ronin had introduced to the world himself. Unlike the Kaldarr, who were only space capable because they stole the tech and had slaves to operate it¡­ some of the races he¡¯d introduced were¡­ dangerous.


    ¡°What did I do to this world?¡± he whispered, the consequences of his actions finally dawning on him. he¡¯d made small bastions of safety surrounded by evil forces, and he¡¯d done it on purpose¡­ ¡°Why didn¡¯t I realized that the bad guys wouldn¡¯t sit idly by in their castles or caves and wait for me to come kill them from the conveniently placed cities?... oh god, oh¡­ oh god.¡±


    ¡°Did you say something my lord?¡± Benjamin asked from behind him, where he had followed him from the tent.


    ¡°Do not call me ¡®lord.¡¯ you can address me as sir.¡± Ronin said, not really listening, but hating the term ¡®lord¡¯ immensely at least coming from one of the brothers.


    ¡°Understood my lor¡­ Aaahhh¡± Benjamin screamed in pain and clutched his neck. Staring in shock at Ronin.


    ¡°I told you not to call me that.¡± Ronin said with a shake of his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t shock you on purpose just now either, it was the collar. No one needs to witness you breaking an order for you to be punished.¡± Spotting Owl two and K3 standing amid a pile of writhing bodies, Ronin walked towards them. ¡°Come on,¡± he said motioning to Benjamin. The armored man followed quickly, not eager for another lesson in what happened when he disobeyed.


    ¡°I see the new weapons worked out.¡± Ronin said as he arrived, surveying the multitude of downed men. ¡°It was a good idea Owl two¡­ adding a battery to a rod to create a stun baton.¡± They had discussed different ways to subdue the men last night, but as usual, Owl two had already come up with something. The fabrication unit in the pod was truly impressive, unfortunately it was small and took long hours to make anything complicated. They would never be able to equip a large force using the fabricator.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Owl two said, ¡°my ideas tend to work out flawlessly.¡± Turning to the group of town¡¯s people who had just arrived he pointed at the downed men. ¡°Collar them please, be sure not to miss any.¡± That taken care of, he walked over to Ronin. K3 following along behind him. ¡°I heard about the situation at the wall,¡± he said. ¡°Once we are finished here, let me question Benjamin. We are probably going to have to act on the problem.¡±


    Ronin nodded; he had already decided they would have to help. it was his fault after all, but first he needed to get several things in order. the valley needed secured, and the goblin town started, he needed new weapons and armor, the scout team needed to be trained, he had to figure out what he was going to do with all these soldiers¡­ the list was getting longer by the day.


    ¡°First things first,¡± he said turning to Benjamin. ¡°How long do we have before someone else comes looking for you?¡± the answer to that question would give them a time line to work from.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Benjamin said smartly. ¡°Charles passed through two towns before he got here, taking everything they had along the way. the goods are in the wagons.¡± He said pointing, ¡°my late brother made sure that everyone knew what he was doing, the fool. I expect pursuers within a month, but if you play it right, you can just point them down the road. After that, I believe they will cut their losses. The wall will likely fall before they send anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Is the situation really that bad?¡± Ronin asked, furrowing his eyebrows under his helmet.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± answered Benjamin. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the armored people who dropped from the sky, taking over the defenses, we would have been overrun already. Even now, we can¡¯t hold much longer.¡±


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough for now. We need to get this camp cleaned up and everything brought back to our base camp. Owl two will have more questions for you later. Until then wait here with these men and go where you¡¯re directed.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Benjamin said instantly, snapping off a salute. It was different than the one Ronin¡¯s people used. He brought his left fist up diagonally across his chest before clapping his right hand over it. Nodding at the gesture, Ronin turned and walked away. He had other matters to attend to. Remembering at the last moment, he turned to the town¡¯s person closest to him. surprisingly, he recognized the man.


    ¡°Gibbs, there are four young girls stunned inside the command tent. Go over and collar them, would you?¡± giving a start at being addressed by name, Gibbs nodded his head and stumped off toward the tent. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to stop thinking of them as ¡®town¡¯s people¡¯ soon.¡± Ronin thought as he looked for Owl five. She¡¯d snuck over the wall late in the night with her scout team. They were to make sure no one escaped, in case everything went as it ended up going.


    Not seeing her, he decided to go check on the wagons. They had been of interest to him since he saw the first one, and he wanted a closer look. reaching the first wagon, he made to climb the steps to the door. he was stopped by a giant hand on his shoulder. Looking around, he saw that K3 was still shadowing him.


    ¡°Sir,¡± he rumbled out in a voice like boulders clashing together. ¡°This is an unknown area, please allow me to check it out first.¡± waiting for Ronin to nod, the giant stepped up in his place. His weight caused the wagon to tip down, and Ronin sighed. He had no doubt that Owl two had given K3 a whole list of orders concerning him. it was also likely the Kaldarr warrior had been assigned as his new keeper. The thought didn¡¯t annoy Ronin like it had on his first day. He knew too well how quickly things could go wrong, and having K3 around to help out wouldn¡¯t be so bad. Thinking back to that first day had Ronin narrowing his eyes in remembered pain. Steady aim and Grush had been highly loyal and skilled combatants¡­ and they¡¯d died because he hadn¡¯t been prepared.


    ¡°Clear sir,¡± K3 called out from the doorway. He¡¯d taken a walkthrough of the first wagon while Ronin had been beating himself up. reaching down, he offered a huge hand to help Ronin up the stairs. Ronin smiled at the gesture, he didn¡¯t need the help, but he took the hand anyway. allowing K3 to pull him into the wagon. That was what made the drone parasites so expensive, they didn¡¯t just enforce obedience, they literally made the host loyal. K3 actually wanted to help and protect Ronin.


    ¡°Thank you, K3.¡± He said once inside. The Kaldarr might have been involved in the death of his old team members, but he wasn¡¯t that same person anymore. so, why not be polite? Moving around his bulky form, Ronin took in the wagon. It was easily the size of a shipping crate. A small cabin up front was close to empty but looked like it normally held the things decorating Charles tent. The middle was filled with crates of all sizes. Prying the lid off one, Ronin saw that it was full of salt, another held some kind of root vegetable.


    ¡°Looks like not all these towns were set up as dinosaur preserves.¡± he said as he moved further back. The rear of the wagon was walled off from the front and middle sections. Finding the door locked, he moved back up front to find the key hanging on a hook by the cabin. Unlocking the door, he walked into the back room. the smell hit him hard as he entered the area. once his eyes adjusted to the blackness, he saw the bars. The entire rear compartment was set up as a slave transport.


    Grinding his teeth together, Ronin looked at the small cages. A few held animals, like chickens and rabbits, but the majority held humans. Humans, caged up with the animals. They¡¯d whimpered when the door was opened, scurrying to the backs of their cages as if afraid to be beaten. Taking a quick count, Ronin found there were fifteen people locked up back here.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said gently. ¡°That fat bastard is dead; I will have you out of there shortly. And we¡¯ll get you cleaned up and fed. Just hold tight a little longer until my people get here.¡± turning to K3 he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go see what kind of livestock Benjamin kept in his wagon. He was already seeing red, what he saw in that wagon, would determine how long Benjamin lived after Owl two had questioned him. Dropping from the wagon¡¯s steps Ronin found Owl five waiting for him. she started speaking, but he waved her to silence.


    ¡°Take care of them first,¡± he said pointing at the wagon. He couldn¡¯t think about anything else until he knew what was in Benjamin¡¯s wagon. Reaching the steps, he once again had to stand aside while K3 checked it out first. he waited impatiently, before jumping the steps and entering without taking K3¡¯s proffered hand. He did pat the Kaldarr on the arm as he passed though.


    The layout of this wagon was very similar to the first. walking into the cabin, Ronin found it to be dominated by a large table, with a map spread out across its surface. a quick glance showed him that it must contain the entire Mountain¡¯s Embrace kingdom. He wanted to stop and look it over, but he needed to know what was in this wagon first. the area directly behind the cabin was set up much like the first wagon, filled with crates of various sizes. Unlike the last wagon however, the back door wasn¡¯t locked.


    He opened it to light streaming through small windows. Blinking, Ronin took in the scene. It was set up as a barracks. Bunks lined the walls from floor to ceiling, they were small but well kept. There were also a number of chests on the floor and a few empty weapons racks. It looked like Benjamin didn¡¯t have slaves; he¡¯d had his entire wagon set up to accommodate his troops.


    Frowning, Ronin moved back outside. Going back to the first wagon, he entered and looked for signs of habitation. He found them in the cargo area, it looked like Charles men slept in here with the goods. ¡°They must just huddle in here while moving and sleep in the tents when the wagon stops.¡± He mused, looking around the dark and cramped space. He didn¡¯t envy the conditions these men lived in.


    ¡°Owl five,¡± he said seeing her come out of the back room. ¡°Sorry for that, I was just¡­¡± he trailed off, looking over her shoulder at the slave pen.


    ¡°I understand sir,¡± she said. ¡°I am having trouble understanding what kind of monster could do that to their own people.¡± her voice didn¡¯t even quaver, but Ronin could feel that she was shook up all the same.


    ¡°Well, that bastard is dead now at least. Though I¡¯m still not sure about his brother. I¡¯ll be asking him some questions when Owl two is done with him, if I don¡¯t like the answers¡­ well, I guess we will see.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Owl five said looking at the prisoners as the team of scouts she was training helped them out one by one and handed them off to the towns people at the door. ¡°No one escaped the ambush sir.¡± She said, moving onto her debrief. ¡°We were able to descend the wall unnoticed and move around behind the camp. Only a few managed to get away from K3 and Owl two, but we took them down before they got very far.¡±


    ¡°Good work, Owl five.¡± Ronin said clapping her lightly on the shoulder. Despite the layers of armor separating them, he still felt his hand warm from the contact. ¡°Let¡¯s get all the evidence out from in front of the wall, get these people cleaned up and figure out what to do from here.¡± he looked out over the bustling chaos that had been the tax collector¡¯s camp. He didn¡¯t even know how many goblins, soldiers, slaves, troglodytes and towns people he had to deal with now. If that wasn¡¯t bad enough, it looked like war was headed to his valley, unless he could stop it at the wall Benjamin had mentioned.

 Chapter Twelve

    Ronin woke up in his pod, listening to the hiss as the pressure seal was broken. He¡¯d worked through out the night; helping clean up Charles¡¯ slaves, talking to the new goblins, interviewing Benjamin¡¯s men, checking on the trogs and a host of other things. As the sun rose, Owl two had practically forced him into the pod. Saying that he was too tired to think straight, and he still had to interview Benjamin before Ronin could do anything hasty.


    Sitting up in his now open pod, Ronin saw K2 standing guard beside him. he could tell it was K2 because the code name had been added to the heavy metal full plate the Kaldarr warrior was wearing. It was a helpful addition since their armor was identical. Plus, Ronin just felt like it made the camp more professional. He knew it also identified who was who for enemy snipers, but he liked it anyway.


    ¡°Good morning K2,¡± he said. climbing out of the pod, he looked around. the cave was bustling as always. Several of the dinosaur hide houses had been taken down, moved outside into the open valley. The ones that remained held the new goblins and former slaves, while they got used to their new life. The collared soldiers had just been ordered not to leave their tents. Ronin had still been awake for that. only one or two soldiers per tent had needed to get shocked half unconscious before the rest realized that running was hopeless.


    The area that had been taken up by the tents was now filled with crates and crates of supplies. It all had to be sorted and inventoried before they did anything with it. Ronin had entertained the idea of returning the supplies to the towns they had been stolen from, but they had too many mouths to feed now for that to be practical.


    As he took in his surroundings, a squad of six leather clad goblin women ran into sight from the southern tunnel. each had the word ¡®Scout¡¯ emblazoned on their left breast with a number beneath it. Owl five ran at the front of her trainees, shouting for them to go faster. After a round of the cave, they exited again through the northern tunnel, Owl five giving him a small wave before she left, when the scout team wasn¡¯t looking.


    ¡°Good morning, sir.¡± K2 said once Ronin had stopped taking in his surroundings. ¡°Owl two asked me to accompany you today.¡± He continued, his voice just as deep as K3¡¯s. with a nod to his shadow, Ronin went out into the valley.


    There was a giant goat outside being butchered by the towns people. there were a few goblin males, including Guts, assisting in the process. They were being taught the proper way to butcher and process the meat. Seeing Ronin come outside, Guts made to come over, but Ronin waved him back to his task. The Goblin chief loved all things food, so Ronin didn¡¯t want him to miss out on this learning experience. Seeing another of the giant animals of the valley being slaughtered though, Ronin knew that they had to do something different soon.


    There was a ton of meat on any one of these beasts, but they bred slowly, and the valley only held so many of them. there was a surplus right now, because the town hadn¡¯t been able to hunt them like they had in years past. So, their numbers had grown without fear of predators. That wouldn¡¯t last for long however, and they needed to find a new source of food. He thought back to the root vegetables in the wagon; he¡¯d read about gardening back on earth, so he knew it was possible. He¡¯d even cultivated mushrooms in the caves. Sighing, Ronin added that to the already miles long list of things to discuss with owl two. He had a lot to do and only four months to do it in. he wanted his valley to be as safe and self-sufficient as he could make it before he left for Leo¡¯s competition.


    ¡°¡­ so, of the thirty-three goblins you brought back ten were male. Of those only three are of what I am calling the crafter class. Of the females, only nine were of this class, the remaining twenty-one goblins are of the worker class.¡± Owl two said, finishing a very long list of updates. Ronin was overloaded with information, but he decided to take the last topic and cover it first.


    ¡°Ok, so twelve out of twenty-three are crafter class. That¡¯s like Hunter and Guts, while worker class will be like one ear and broken tooth?¡± he asked just to clarify. At Owl two¡¯s affirming nod, he asked a follow up question. ¡°What areas do their talents lend themselves?¡± Goblin naming conventions were very useful in determining how gifted an individual was.


    ¡°Strangely enough, the three males are talented at plants and food preparation, while the nine females are all similar to Soft step and Hunter. It seems that the Males mainly just protect the females in their society and the females do¡­ everything else. The males who are good at food preparation, Gained the skill because they like to eat.¡±


    Ronin thought on that for a bit. He needed a way to get new food sources, the goblin males liked food prep. Owl five was making good progress shaping up the scout team, and with a war coming up, he needed more capable fighters.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said making up his mind. ¡°Have the male goblins get together with Eric and Samantha, and all the freed slaves who are willing, from the farming town to the south. I want them to start farming in the valley. Have the Kaldarr make a fence around the area to keep out the local wildlife. Next,¡± he paused to gather his thoughts. ¡°I assume that three of the nine new females are with the scout team? Ok, then gather the others and make a second team of six. Owl five has done a good job Training the scout team, she can train another one. differentiate them by colors or something.¡± What else? He didn¡¯t know what to do with the worker class goblins¡­ ¡°I guess, Have the worker class goblins clear the field and start digging up the ground for the gardens, that will keep them busy short term.¡±


    ¡°Understood sir,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Now, what do you want to do with Charles¡¯ and Benjamin¡¯s men? Have you thought over my proposal?¡± Ronin sighed, sitting back in his chair. To buy time he looked around the room. Owl two had a command tent built inside the cave, that Ronin hadn¡¯t been able to find time to visit until now. they had taken Benjamin¡¯s table and chairs along with the kingdom map and his books to furnish the room.  For a deserter, he was quite the dedicated military man.


    ¡°Charles¡¯ men were all accomplices in his actions, so they stay collared.¡± Ronin said, deciding to take care of the easy one first. ¡°But Benjamin and his men¡­ are you sure he didn¡¯t know what Charles had been doing?¡± he just couldn¡¯t believe that a man didn¡¯t know what his own brother had been up too.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl two said confidently. ¡°He hadn¡¯t been in contact with his brother in years, other than by letter. He was stationed on the wall, fighting the outside threat. When he realized Mountain¡¯s Embrace was doomed, he reached out to Charles who convinced him to Make a run for it. He was only trying to save his men and didn¡¯t know how depraved Charles had become until just hours before you met him.¡±


    Ronin had heard the story before. It seemed unbelievably convenient. Yet it also seemed to be the case. Benjamin was a career military man, a lieutenant. He led his own platoon with four sergeants under him; each commanding a squad of nine soldiers. None of whom had even known they were deserting. Ronin had questioned them himself, they all thought they were on orders from the crown. He would be a very useful member of the team.


    ¡°I see your point, but are you sure that using the drone parasite is necessary? We only have two left, and he is already collared.¡± Owl two had been trying to get him to convert Benjamin entirely, stating how useful a man with his experience would be.


    ¡°Sir, without rehashing old ground, let me just say that I think it would be worth it. Yes, he is collared. But that does not make him loyal; besides that, his men are loyal to him. Do you think they would be more likely to help willingly if their leader was collared just like they were or if he was freely participating with you?¡± they discussed it a little more, but the outcome was hardly in doubt.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s take care of that after we¡¯re done here.¡± Ronin said, giving in at last. He hadn¡¯t really intended on stopping Owl two from getting his way, he just didn¡¯t want to be left out of all the decisions. He realized just how much he relied on the android, but he wanted to feel like he was still in charge occasionally.


    ¡°It will be as you say sir,¡± Owl two said. Like it hadn¡¯t been his idea the entire time. ¡°That leaves the trogs, Charles¡¯ men, the rats¡­¡± Ronin stopped him with a raised hand.


    ¡°I thought we already discussed Charles¡¯ men; they are to stay collared.¡± Ronin said with some irritation.


    ¡°Yes¡­ sir, but what do you want to do with Charles¡¯ ¡®collared¡¯ men? Right now, they are just eating our food and giving no benefit for it.¡± Ronin really hated the android at that moment.


    ¡°Oh¡­ well,¡± he said trying to hold back the embarrassment fueled anger. ¡°We have K1 supervising the six Kaldarr warriors we have collared?¡± at the affirming nod he continued. ¡°Then, lets have K1 and K2 split them up, three a piece, then give them ten each of Charles men. They can trade off between working them and training them. Maybe if we keep them busy and tired then we can form them into loyal soldiers with a little effort.¡± Ronin was warming up to the idea, ¡°they can till the fields, cut firewood hell have them dig in the mine if we run out of work. Then, have them running laps and doing drills. Benjamin can assist with that; he was a ranking officer.¡±


    ¡°As workable a plan as anything we have sir,¡± Owl two said with a nod. ¡°Then how about the troglodytes?¡± he asked, getting Ronin back on track.


    ¡°Right¡­ you said they still aren¡¯t cooperating, and they¡¯ve started laying eggs?¡± he asked, blowing out his breath in thought. ¡°Let¡¯s give them aggression inhibitors like the goblin¡¯s sexual inhibitors. See if that makes them more pliable. They are very strong for their size and depending on how long it takes their young to develop they might make a good fighting unit or labor force.¡± Scratching his head, he finally said.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°The rats, and the worker-class goblins I¡¯ll leave up to your discretion. If you can find a use for the rats, great, if not just kill them. The goblins, we can¡¯t just kill. We need them to live healthy lives. Maybe split them into small groups and try to teach them a trade? I don¡¯t know, you can do whatever you want with them, as long as they¡¯re healthy.¡± He¡¯d had enough of this meeting already but had one more question to ask before he made his escape.


    ¡°Make any progress on getting me new weapons and armor made up?¡± he asked eagerly.


    ¡°Soon sir,¡± Owl two said patiently. ¡°The fabrication unit is in high demand and large, complicated, pieces take a long time to construct. In the meantime, however, if you don¡¯t have anything better to do I recommend you join K1 and K2, as well as Owl five¡¯s training groups. you could benefit from the basics while the scouting groups are being trained and your armor is being made. Give it, two weeks, and you can head out on another goblin raid much better prepared than before.¡±


    *            *            *


    Ronin rebelled against the idea of training while ignoring the overall picture for almost a day. Once he realized that Owl two had everything organized far better than he could have managed, he finally gave in. what followed was not two, but three full weeks of the worst physical exhaustion of Ronin¡¯s entire life. He plowed the fields with the worker goblins, cut down trees and built fencing under K2, ran laps with the scout teams, fed and cleaned up after the trogs, and ran more laps with the human squads.


    He didn¡¯t spend all his time working and running, however. Once he was thoroughly exhausted, quite the task given his cyborg body, they would run him through drills. He sparred with Benjamin, Owl two and K3. Played hide and seek with Owl five, a task that was harder than he first expected, learned how to follow orders under Karr, one of Benjamin¡¯s sergeants, was taught how to use and care for each piece of gear he wore or carried to the point he could do it blindfolded, because they made him do it blindfolded.


    They wanted him physically and mentally exhausted, so he was only given an hour of sleep every two days. he hadn¡¯t realized he could even function under these conditions, let alone learn so much. His trainers knew what they were doing though, because he was picking up their training in record time. Ronin was feeling proud of himself after Benjamin complemented him on his learning speed¡­ until Owl two pointed out that with his cybernetically enhanced brain doing all the heavy lifting, he had expected him to be learning much faster.


    he blamed his exhaustion for what had happened next, but he had actually attacked the android at that point. Owl two merely dodged his attempts to strike him, and the tin can even gave him pointers on how to strike more effectively at each failed attempt. He¡¯d been contemplating shooting the robot with his railgun when Owl five intervened. She¡¯d pulled him to his feet and set him into the forest, where he had to evade capture by one of her scout teams for as long as possible.


    He ran and hid intermittently for what felt like hours but was later told barely exceeded thirty minutes. Then he was turned over to K3 who had him pulling a plow to break ground on a new garden. He was quizzed on his gear and how to properly maintain it while he worked. Whenever he got an answer wrong, a stone was placed into a basket on his back. Before long, it felt like his feet were digging deeper furrows in the ground then the plow he pulled.


    When two weeks passed, his new armor and weapon were finally finished. Ronin thought his misery was now finally going to end. Instead, he got to continue his nightmare training routine, only now wearing the heavy armor. The suit was a beautiful collection of overlapping steel plates that provided far more protection than his original scouts armor had. Yet, despite its beauty, Ronin quickly grew to hate it.


    He was forced to wear it round the clock, even during his bi-nightly hour of sleep. The only time he was allowed to remove the armor was when he was cleaning and inspecting it for damage. That was such a grueling chore that he wished they¡¯d let him keep it on. Only once the armor had been cleaned spotlessly, was he allowed to put it back on, blindfolded. Any mistakes or wasted time resulted in some filthy chore followed by another round of cleaning. He was intimately familiar with the armor before that third week was over and wore it like a second skin, despite its weight.


    ¡°¡­Good, now follow through on the strike. Keep your momentum up throughout and carry it into the next blow¡­ yes, much better. Bring that shield up¡­ intercept and redirect the blow.¡± Benjamin had been training him on his new weapon, a flanged mace. It was solidly constructed from a heavy metal that seemed near impervious to damage. It had a few added tech advantages as well, but he wasn¡¯t using them during the spar. His armor and shield had been made of the same alloy.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Benjamin called out, taking a step back. ¡°You are getting better all the time, just remember to use the momentum of your weapon to your advantage. Follow through on its motions, don¡¯t fight them.¡± Ronin liked Benjamin quite a bit after the drone parasite had been implanted. Although his personality hadn¡¯t changed, that layer of uneasy mistrust was gone now between them.


    Ronin looked at the older man, who showed not the least sign of the sparring he¡¯d been doing. He was in his early forties and had clearly lived a long life filled with combat. His best days weren¡¯t behind him yet, but Ronin suspected he had peeked. Although his physical abilities might have reached their limit, his knowledge and ability to teach were as strong as ever. Thinking over the last weeks of training he¡¯d received from the man, and how much he had improved, filled him with pride.


    ¡°Getting¡­ tired¡­ already?¡± he asked, gasping for breath. Ronin was exhausted, having been pushed to his limits and beyond so many times that he didn¡¯t even know what his limits were anymore. yet, he¡¯d learned that complaining only made his trainers go harder on him. ¡®If you have the energy to complain, then you have the energy to run another lap¡¯ was a common response. He¡¯d learned to push through anything without complaining as a coping mechanism.


    ¡°It¡¯s been three weeks, sir.¡± Benjamin replied with a smirk, ¡°You¡¯ve progressed far enough to put up a good showing in the tunnels. Besides, you need some time to digest what you¡¯ve learned, and put it into practice. before we teach you anything else. That is¡­ unless you wanted to go another few rounds?¡± his smirk turned into a full-on grin as he said the last part.


    ¡°Ah, well¡­¡± Ronin was taken aback, three weeks, already? ¡°No, uh, no Benjamin, I think you¡¯re right. I need to put into practice what I¡¯ve learned. Time is running out, and I think another goblin raid is in order.¡±


    ¡°ha-ha, that¡¯s what I thought sir.¡± Benjamin said with a laugh. ¡°Owl two said to get some sleep in your pod. There will be time to go over everything when you¡¯ve fully rested. Besides, we need to get your team rested and ready to go too.¡± With a nod, the lieutenant turned and strode over to where a pair of his squads were sparring with a squad made from Charles¡¯ former men and three Kaldarrians. Ronin could hear him shouting encouragement and instructions before he even reached the combat.


    ¡°So, I can¡­just go sleep?¡± Ronin muttered to himself as he looked around. For the last three full weeks, he¡¯d been constantly hounded by one of his people. Benjamin would force him to spar, Owl five would force him to run and hide or follow tracks, K1 and K2 would force him to work. The list went on, but right now though, he was alone. There wasn¡¯t anyone yelling at him to get moving or to push harder. In an exhaustion drenched daze, he stumbled back to the cave. people saluted or waved to him as he walked through the ever-growing town around the cave, but he couldn¡¯t spare them much attention as he moved.


    Reaching his pod, he started stripping out of his armor. Mechanically he cleaned each piece, thoroughly but swiftly, checking for dents or scratches as he went. Done with the armor, he repeated the process with his mace and shield. Wiping himself down with a nearby rag and bucket, he donned the armor again as fast as he could. He waited for the shouts of how slow and sloppy he had been at the task, but they never came. Trying to think through the fog, he remembered that there wasn¡¯t anyone here forcing him to clean his armor. Ronin almost teared up when he realized he could have been in his pod already, before shaking the thought away. He needed to make his equipment his priority, over everything else, it was the only thing that stood between him and death while in the field.


    Flopping into his pod, he watched the door slide shut above him. The hiss of oxygen enriched air being pumped into the chamber soothed his weary mind. Each pod was targeted to an individual, they could be used by anyone, but with limited results. They came equipped with multiple scanners and manipulators, along with full body scans of the owner. Once inside the pod, unless someone interrupted or he programed it differently beforehand, he would remain asleep until the unit had restored him to the pinnacle of health. Ronin didn¡¯t understand all the science behind it, but it worked. Taking deep breaths, his tired mind slowly drifted away.


    The hiss of escaping air roused him in what felt like no time at all. he woke up fully alert and feeling refreshed. Stepping out of his pod he flexed his body with a few stretches. It was hard to tell, but he thought he had gotten stronger. At least his armor didn¡¯t feel so heavy anymore. instead, it felt like he was wearing a second, heavier skin. turning around to grab is rifle from its charging port, he jumped with a start.


    ¡°Good morning, care to grab breakfast with me before you and Owl two start arguing about¡­ discussing the camp?¡± Owl five said from where she was leaning on the drop pod. She¡¯d been beside him and he¡¯d never seen her. Something he would have to watch out for going forward. if she¡¯d been an assassin he would have likely died just now.


    ¡°Sure,¡± he said with a smile. She was wearing her armor, he¡¯d yet to see her without it, but her helmet was tucked under one arm in a casual grip. With one knee pulled up, foot placed against the pod she cut quite the striking figure. Clearing his throat, Ronin looked back to her face. ¡°Shall we?¡± he asked, motioning her to proceed him.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m confident in them, at least for a mission like this anyway.¡± They were sitting on logs that surrounded a small fire in the cave. it was quickly becoming their customary eating fire, with Guts attending to the food preparations himself. He had added his own comments here and there while Brie brought Ronin up to speed on everything he¡¯d missed in the last few weeks.


    ¡°Good,¡± he said around a mouthful of soup. ¡°Glad the scout teams are working out. My hope is that we can make another one soon. Guts, this is amazing, you really are getting good at this.¡± He praised his goblin chief after he¡¯d swallowed. Now that they had gotten the goblins in line, Guts wasn¡¯t really needed to personally force them to behave. Ronin was still glad he¡¯d upgraded the goblin though. He was someone Ronin was quickly coming to view as a friend.


    ¡°Thank you, sir¡± Guts said proudly. ¡°There are four goblins in the food corps now, and we are learning everything we can. Eric and Samantha have been a great help, and so have the people from the southern villages.¡± Ronin was a little surprised at just how into cooking Guts was. He¡¯d participated in some of the training during the last three weeks, but most of his time had been filled with learning everything he could about food. How to plant it, forage it, butcher it and most importantly how to cook it.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Brie said, suppressing a smile. ¡°Guts will be coming along with us to act as our official food corps representative.¡± Ronin could tell she found Guts¡¯ love of food amusing.


    ¡°Of course, I will be coming,¡± Guts said puffing himself up. ¡°I am lord Ronin¡¯s personal cook after all.¡±


    ¡°Thank you guts, but there¡¯s no need to call me lord.¡± Ronin said, feeling a little overwhelmed.


    ¡°Might as well get used to it sir. Like it or not, you are the lord of this valley. Sure, Owl two does most of the actual running part, but you are the lord. Everyone outside your inner circle has taken to addressing you that way in conversation.¡± Brie said as she finished off her own soup.


    ¡°Great,¡± Ronin said with a sigh. ¡°Just don¡¯t you ever start calling me lord, you hear me.¡± he said in mock anger, waggling his finger at her.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± she said hopping off her log. ¡°Ronin.¡± She added with a shy smile before putting her helmet back on. Just like that Brie was gone and Owl five was back. ¡°If you are finished sir, we need to get to Owl two¡¯s debrief before we can leave.¡± She said the last words over her shoulder, already walking towards the command tent.

 Chapter Thirteen

    ¡°Greetings sir,¡± Owl two said from his place inside the command tent. ¡°Taking good care of your armor I see.¡± He added after giving Ronin a once over. ¡°How do you like your new equipment?¡± Ronin had just entered the command tent, looking around he saw that Owl two, Owl five and Benjamin were the only people in attendance. He¡¯d left Guts at the fire; the goblin had insisted that it was his ¡®duty¡¯ to clean up the bowls.


    ¡°It¡¯s wonderful.¡± He said, finding his seat at the table. ¡°All the new gear is of excellent quality and very durable. Only K3 was able to dent it during sparring. How did you come up with this material?¡± he¡¯d been curious about that since he got the new equipment but had been too busy being tortured to ask.


    ¡°The metal came from the stone carver rats,¡± Owl two said. ¡°They are fascinating creatures. They metabolize the minerals from the stone they eat. Their bodies work through a chemical process, that I still can¡¯t replicate, to grow the armored plates. The metal is a natural wonder, I used a good chunk of it to create your gear, and most of the rest to outfit the scout teams. I¡¯m currently experimenting with the ones you brought back. Hopefully, we can breed them and make targeted metals just by controlling what types of rocks we feed them.¡± Ronin blinked at the onslaught of information. Owl two must have been excited, to volunteer so much about one of his projects.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that,¡± Ronin said at last. ¡°We¡¯ll do what we can to bring back more of them on this trip, both living and dead.¡± He was already picturing K1, 2 and 3 outfitted in full plate sets of the armor. They were already monsters in combat, but what would happen when their defenses drastically increased with that armor?


    ¡°Yes, your trip.¡± Owl two said, bringing himself back on target. ¡°Benjamin, Owl five and I have discussed the known threats, as well as the exit you found outside the valley. We think for this trip you should take the red scout team; that¡¯s the one with Hunter, Soft step, and Song. In addition, Sargent Karr shall accompany you with his squad. Rounding out your team will be Owl five, guts and K3.¡± Owl two said getting straight to the point.


    Ronin thought over the team composition. Having an entire scout team would be invaluable, getting caught by surprise was deadly and they could help them avoid that situation. Sargent Karr was a good man; Ronin had enjoyed training under him. besides that, he was familiar with Karr¡¯s men. They were a match for any troglodyte force, especially when working with the scout team. The other three were really just there to look after Ronin, but he didn¡¯t mind, he enjoyed their company.


    ¡°Very well, should I assume you have already got all the equipment we will need to collar and capture any goblins, trogs or rats we encounter?¡± he asked, semi rhetorically. If he knew Owl two at all, he knew the android was always prepared. If he hadn¡¯t been ready for Ronin to go, then ronin would still be running laps on one hour of sleep.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl two answered promptly. ¡°Everything is ready to go. There are enough provisions that your team should be able to explore for two weeks without supply concerns. You can leave at any time, in fact your team is already at the mine entrance. Except for Owl five, guts and K3 of course.¡± It was starting to feel to Ronin that Owl two was trying to get him out of camp. he¡¯d never been so accommodating before, and the way he almost seemed to be pushing Ronin out caused his brows to furrow.


    ¡°I see,¡± he said looking at the android for any obvious tells. It was a fool¡¯s errand; Owl two didn¡¯t have facial features, and he wouldn¡¯t display any overt signs of deception unless he was portraying them on purpose. ¡°Let¡¯s get going then.¡± Ronin eventually gave up; he didn¡¯t know what the android was up to, but he was just as excited to leave, as Owl two was to get him gone, so why not?


    There were a few more matters they had to deal with before he could leave. While Ronin had been training, a courier had come by looking for Charles and Benjamin. With a little coaching from Benjamin, Emil was able to get rid of them. So, at least for now, they were in the clear. Then, a few goblin babies had been born from females that had been pregnant when they¡¯d been brought back. Ronin decided to put them through schooling, at least to the extent that his people were capable of. To see if training from birth could get a higher percentage of crafter class goblins. The issues of the valley handled, Ronin left with Guts, K3, and Owl five.


    Racing through the forest following Owl five¡¯s lead, Ronin felt a rush of nostalgia. It reminded him of the first trip to Valley¡¯s pass the newly landed Owl team had taken together. Back before he learned what adventure really meant. his team had changed since then, but so had he. No longer was he the same clueless fool who thought adventure always played out like in the stories. Now he knew the consequences of failure.


    Coming out of the woods at the mine¡¯s opening, the group slowed to a walk. Already waiting at the entrance, were a group of sixteen people. Karr¡¯s ten-man squad and the six members of the red scout team. Karr¡¯s men were all armored in carbon fiber impregnated leather armor with metal plates covering the vitals, and each held a spear and round shield, with a short sword sheathed at their waist. Red team was armored the same as before, but they now carried an Owl two designed and built crossbow. A quiver of bolts and two long daggers, very reminiscent of Owl five¡¯s, at their hips.


    Arriving at the mine, he checked over the people he brought with him. Owl five was dressed in the same armor they had dropped in. her two long daggers were belted at her waist along with her non-lethal II, and her mark V railgun was cradled in her arms. She hadn¡¯t changed her kit at all since they¡¯d landed. Guts was still armored in his own carbon fiber impregnated leathers but had changed out his belt knife for a short sword and buckler. He also had a non-lethal II at his waist.


    That left Ronin himself and K3, the odd men out of the group. K3 was wearing a medieval looking full plate steel armor, that covered him from head to toe. Despite outward appearances it was nearly as well made as Ronin¡¯s, and he wore a nanite under armor to help slow down anything that did get through the armor¡¯s plates. He carried a tower shield that was nearly as tall as he was along with a hammer of similar dimensions. A mark V railgun rounded out his kit. Ronin had asked Owl two why they weren¡¯t using the Kaldarr weapons they¡¯d recovered. he¡¯d said he wanted to analyze the tech first. Also, it wasn¡¯t a good idea to make gear they didn¡¯t have replacements for yet, their standard equipment loadout.


    Ronin and K3 would be the front men in any melee confrontation. Their heavier armor and shields would allow them to soak up enemy attacks while Karr¡¯s squad stabbed them with spears and red team shot them with bolts.  Ronin wasn¡¯t quite sure how he¡¯d ended up with the role of front man. being the leader, it didn¡¯t seem like the best place for him, but that¡¯s what his physical abilities and his own natural inclination led him towards. Owl two didn¡¯t seem to think it was a problem either, so Ronin figured he was safe enough.


    ¡°Thank you all for joining me for this trip,¡± he said. ¡°We will be gone for up to two weeks. If we come across a group, we¡¯ll return them to the mine where people will be ready to take them from us.¡± He¡¯d discussed this at length with Owl two. They hadn¡¯t been using the long-distance telepathic features of the drone parasites at all. they did, however, let him communicate and give orders up to a range of fifty miles. Ronin just needed to Let Benjamin know to send a team, when they had acquired who they were after.


    ¡°Everyone should have been briefed on what to expect in the caves, yes?¡± He paused to ask, getting affirming nods he continued. ¡°Last time, we lost three people due to my inexperience. This time I don¡¯t want to lose anyone, so keep your heads about you and don¡¯t take any risks. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± echoed back to him along with the sound of nineteen fists crashing into nineteen chest plates.


    ¡°Good, then red team lead the way. We will be following the same route as before.¡± Having finished his speech, Ronin watched as three members of red team entered the caves along with Owl five. Ronin, Guts and K3 entered after a minute, followed by Karr and his men. The final three members of red team came in last to cover their rear.


    The mine section of the caves system hadn¡¯t changed at all. they would eventually start mining it again; but they had so much scrap metal from the destroyed Kaldarrian drop ships, along with the stone carver rats plates that it wasn¡¯t going to be necessary for a long time. They moved through it quickly, Ronin once again averting his eyes at the beam where he killed that first goblin. He knew he should stop letting that affect him, he just didn¡¯t want to think about it, so he looked away.


    Owl two had taken a copy of Ronin¡¯s map and printed it out on the drop pod¡¯s fabrication unit. it now decorated a wall inside the command tent. Before they¡¯d left, the leadership group had looked it over carefully. There had been another passage near the crack into the outside world. they just hadn¡¯t had the ability to go any deeper at that time. This time, Ronin wanted to explore as far as he could go, hopefully finding where the goblins were getting into the cave system.


    Having a known route made the trip go much faster, but the double handful of humans in the group made things awkward. They couldn¡¯t see in the dark, so were forced to use outside lights. Owl two had accommodated for that and given them each a head mounted flashlight, but the light messed with Ronin¡¯s night vision. He couldn¡¯t see as well as before, and the bright light in the tunnels made him nervous. There just wasn¡¯t anyway to hide the fact that there were people here who shouldn¡¯t be.


    Nevertheless, they made it all the way down to where they found the goblins and fought the trogs in just over a day. This section of the caves seemed to be deserted. Ronin could understand why from his own experience, as it was dry and lifeless. There was no moss or mold growing, no water puddles, nothing to support life here at all. after a rest, they continued to where the crack in the cave let in the air and sun of the outside world.


    ¡°I really want to bust this open and go explore that forest.¡± Ronin said quietly to Owl five, as they once again looked into the forest outside the cave.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Owl five said. she was crouching below him as they both looked outside. ¡°But all the reasons Owl two gave for not opening this wall are sound. Goblins clearly aren¡¯t getting in this way anyway so at least for now, we should stick to the mission.¡± He didn¡¯t want to admit it, but she had a point.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said stepping back. ¡°Let¡¯s find out where we¡¯re going then.¡± They had been killing time while red team checked out the tunnels ahead. They had just returned and were waiting for Ronin to hear their report.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Hunter said. she had been made the leader of red team. A decision Ronin approved; she was definitely qualified. ¡°The tunnels change going forward. they are damper and mushrooms and moss are growing on the walls. I smelled the leavings of several animals as well.¡± Feeling excited, Ronin gathered the team to move forward.


    Entering the tunnels himself, he started to feel concern instead of excitement. The walls were covered with moss and mushrooms, but what Hunter had failed to mention was that they were glowing. The moss glowed a faint green, and the mushrooms glow depended on their species. A few were glowing blue while another patch had a red tint. Blinking in surprise, he turned to hunter.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t say they were glowing.¡± He said, a frown in his voice.


    ¡°No sir,¡± she said taking a step back and lowering her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it mattered, sir.¡± That threw Ronin for a loop. Didn¡¯t think it mattered? Moss didn¡¯t glow¡­ but then he remembered, this was earth from ninety million years ago, and he¡¯d mixed in a ton of fantasy and sci-fi elements at random. So, why shouldn¡¯t the plants glow?


    ¡°Never mind Hunter,¡± he said patting her on the shoulder. ¡°It didn¡¯t matter really; I was just surprised is all. carry on.¡± She saluted, before returning to her team. They conversed in low tones for a moment before moving deeper into the tunnels. Ronin watched them go, hoping he hadn¡¯t just caused a problem with red team.


    ¡°She told them to pay more attention to the details.¡± Owl five said from his side. ¡°She reminded them that they owe their lives to their lord, and any oversight that could cause him harm couldn¡¯t be tolerated.¡± She continued, giving Ronin a pat of his own.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t¡­¡± he tried to say that he hadn¡¯t meant that, but Owl five cut him off.


    ¡°I know sir,¡± she said. her voice was soft, and reassuring. ¡°Owl team was briefed at our¡­ formation,¡± she lingered a little on the word, but carried on before he could inquire. ¡°On what our team would likely be doing, based on our leader¡¯s preferences. So, I know you didn¡¯t want to be a lord. But regardless of your intentions, they have a chance at life they never would have had without you.¡± taking her hand back, she punched him lightly on the shoulder. ¡°So, straighten up, we have glowing caves to raid.¡±


    Ronin watched her figure disappear into the tunnels after red team. He just stood there for a bit, exchanging looks with Guts and K3. Both of them just shrugged with a ¡®don¡¯t ask me¡¯ motion. He sighed, wondering how he¡¯d gotten so far astray from the life of a wandering adventurer, that he¡¯d planned on living.


    As they ventured further into the living tunnel, Ronin checked his map and realized they were heading deeper down into the mountain. As they traveled, the tunnels grew larger and larger. They saw their first signs of life within a day of entering the new section of tunnel. a palm sized spider had woven a web across the top of the tunnels passage. A moth with a wingspan the size of a dinner plate had flown into the web and was struggling wildly as the spider slowly spun it up in silk threads. Ronin was fascinated by the display. He¡¯d read about spiders and moths, but the only bugs he¡¯d ever seen were on the crystal trees.


    As the passage got too wide for Ronin¡¯s mapping feature to cover the tunnel, Owl five moved to the other side. They connected their mini maps and used both their suits to expand the map together. Expanding out, Ronin saw that a large chunk of the valley that had been previously dark to him had lit up. he would have to look into this, if others could expand his maps than their planning sessions would get a lot easier.


    The mushrooms got taller as they went down too, and the glow intensified. Eventually, Karr and his men turned their lights off to save the batteries since they didn¡¯t need them anymore. Ronin wanted to stop and study every new plant or bug they came across, but he knew that time was against him. if he managed to save Markus and placate Leo, then he could have all the time he wanted to explore this underground maze.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Hunter said slipping back into view from further in the tunnel. they had been getting ready to camp for the night since they had found a defensible alcove.


    ¡°What is it, Hunter?¡± he asked, reaching for his mace at the look on her face.


    ¡°Sir, I think you are going to want to see this.¡± she said, all but dragging him down the tunnel. he shared a look with Owl five, who already had her rifle in hand. She slipped forward ahead of them, ready to cover him should the need arise. K3 got up and followed, motioning Guts and Karr to remain at the partially set up camp.


    ¡°What is it?¡± ronin tried to ask again, but Hunter was too distracted to answer. Still pulling him along, she only slowed when she reached a sharp bend in the tunnel. the remaining members of her team clustered around the bend, looking around the corner but not going out. they didn¡¯t have their weapons aimed, so Ronin didn¡¯t get the feeling that danger lay around the corner, but he just didn¡¯t understand what would make them act like this.


    Reaching the corner, Hunter shoved ronin forward. he stumbled a little, but it was mostly for effect. Hunter was far too weak to actually move him if he didn¡¯t want to be moved. Still, he preferred to act like he wasn¡¯t a biomechanically enhanced super human whenever possible. Righting himself with a hand on the wall, he looked around the bend. His own brain seemed to seize up at what he saw.


    They were standing at an entrance to an underground, glowing, mushroom forest. The ceiling was far, far above them. spanning the gap between ceiling and floor were huge columns of connected stalagmites and stalactites. Each covered in glowing ivy, that reached up to spread across the ceiling. Not only the ivy glowed. There were tree sized mushrooms whose caps spread out dozens of feet that also glowed a variety of colors.


    Somewhere in the distance, Ronin could just make out the roaring splash from a water fall. There must be a lake in this underground biosphere. Not only a lake, but large stalagmites that weren¡¯t connected to the ceiling, looked like giant hills rising up from the mist that covered the floor like a silver blanket, a faint green glow lighting it up and giving the place an eerie vibe.


    ¡°How big is it?¡± He breathed out in wonder.


    ¡°Looks to be at least twenty miles across sir.¡± Owl five answered him, ¡°I count at least five tunnels leading from this place from here. this is likely a highly trafficked area, we should proceed carefully sir.¡± Her calm tone brought him back to his senses. She was right, this could be hostile territory.


    ¡°Ok. Hunter, leave a look out here. everyone else head back to camp. We need to regroup and get some rest before we even think about exploring out there.¡± Getting nods of agreement, he turned and went back to the camp, where Guts was already setting a pot on a small stove. Unlike the goblin, Karr and his men had been on full alert. Only relaxing when Ronin returned and signaled that it was safe.


    There was life down there, at least plant and bug life. If the goblins had come up from somewhere deeper in the caves, they would have had to at least pass through the biosphere. Ronin got excited at the idea of some of the goblins having stayed behind in that huge place. Tonight, the group would rest. Then, tomorrow, they would search the mushroom forest for goblin sign.


    ¡°What do you think we will find out there?¡± Brie asked him after dinner. The pair were sitting side by side against the tunnel wall, separated by a few feet. Everyone else was already sleeping, except for Guts and K3 who had the watch. Karr¡¯s squad and red team were tough, but without the nanites that sped recovery rates, they couldn¡¯t keep up with all day marches indefinitely.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not sure,¡± Ronin answered honestly. He was too busy taking comfort from her closeness to worry about the mushroom forest, but as they sat there his mind worked over her question. ¡°There is water in there, and really big living plants. There should be something that feeds off those mushrooms. Also, since all the mushrooms haven¡¯t been eaten, that means there should be something that feeds off those creatures. I¡¯m hoping for goblins, but troglodytes are also a likely possibility.¡± He said eventually, turning his head back towards her. ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll find?¡±


    ¡°Ohhh¡­¡± she said drawing out the word. ¡°I think we¡¯ll find a long-lost goblin city, with an entire civilization of goblins living like humans do above ground.¡± she waved her hands around as she talked, exaggerating the motions, and giggled when she was finished speaking.


    ¡°Really?¡± Ronin asked, enjoying the sound of her giggle. ¡°That would be lovely.¡± He said with a smile. They talked a little bit longer, but eventually they went to bed. After four hours of sleep, they relieved Guts and K3 on watch, but they didn¡¯t talk anymore. they were on duty now, and Owl five took her duty very seriously.


    The next ¡®morning¡¯ the group got up and ate their morning rations. Guts was already experimenting with the glowing fungus on the walls. He was tasting them and waiting for any reaction. Thankfully, his body was a lot tougher than it used to be at fighting off infection. Besides, goblins had iron stomachs anyway. Ronin looked forward to his discoveries, he enjoyed meat and bread, but he¡¯d been eating mushrooms and algae his whole life. The thought of mixing old and new flavors secretly excited him a little.


    ¡°Form up,¡± Karr called out to his men. They were already in line, but the words let them know it was almost time to go. Red team was already out scouting, and so far, all they¡¯d found were bugs. Really big bugs, but still just bugs. Owl five had suggested that he wait until she and red team found something for him worth looking at, but he didn¡¯t want to wait. After all, they had discovered a glowing underground mushroom forest. It was just like a fairy tale, he needed to be in there exploring.


    The tunnel they exited into the biosphere was high up on the wall, giving them a clear view for a way into the mushroom forest. It also gave anyone watching a clear view of them climbing down the steep incline towards the cave floor. Thankfully for their safety, the whole cavern was filled with giant columns, and a faint glowing mist that hampered visibility. Unfortunately, it also made it so they couldn¡¯t see details from their high vantage point.


    Sliding down the slope, Ronin and his team entered the mist. It got thicker as they descended, and it soon became clear the cave was a lot deeper than they¡¯d thought. Reaching the ground, Ronin¡¯s feet came to rest in a bed of calf deep moss. The area was strewn with large rocks and rubble. It looked like part of the wall had collapsed in recent years, perhaps uncovering the tunnel they¡¯d entered through.


    Squatting down, he scraped moss away as he dug down to the cave floor. Only the top layer of moss was alive and growing, the rest was dead and decaying, filled with small insects that scurried around as he disturbed their home. The rock floor was also broken up slightly, years and years of tiny roots burrowing into the stone had begun breaking it down. When the decaying plant matter was added on top, it created a layer of soil that was over a hand¡¯s span deep. at least in this one spot near the rockslide. He guessed it might be deeper farther in.


    Standing back up, he walked over to one of the giant mushrooms. Placing his gloved hand upon it¡¯s surface he felt a slight give. The surface was rough and hard like bark, but the give made him wonder if it was softer inside. he couldn¡¯t wait to cut into one and find out. As he explored, the remainder of the team slid down to join him. the mist not hampering their ability to see one another, but they couldn¡¯t see the cave they¡¯d entered from, even standing right below it.


    ¡°Owl one, this is Owl five.¡± His thoughts were interrupted by Owl five¡¯s excited voice. ¡°Owl one this is¡­ damn it Ronin, come to my position, now. you have to see this!¡± Ronin¡¯s gaze snapped away from the mushroom and onto his mini map. Owl five was at least a mile ahead. She had taken a long zig zag route to get to where she was, but Ronin didn¡¯t have time for that.


    ¡°Sargent Karr,¡± He yelled. ¡°Get your men ready, now. Owl five has called for assistance, and we are taking the straight path to her. Keep up and don¡¯t get lost in the fog.¡± Drawing his rifle, Ronin waited just long enough to be sure that everyone was following and sprinted into the mists.

 Chapter Fourteen

    Ronin ran forward in a dead sprint. Kicking up a trail of moss as he went, he didn¡¯t pay attention to anything other than getting to Owl five¡¯s position as quickly as he could. Keeping one eye on the dot that represented her on his map, he ran faster than he ever remembered before. The mist obscured his vision, making it hard to see far ahead, but eventually he found her.


    The ground sloped upwards, and she was laying just to this side of the crest. He pounded up the hill towards her, but quickly dived onto the ground as she frantically motioned him down. the thick moss cushioned his fall, and confused, he crawled to her through the moss.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± he asked over helmet coms when he reached her. ¡°Why did you¡­¡± his voice trailed off when he got a look out over the ridge. They were on the edge of a river cut deep into the ground. To his left he saw the waterfall he¡¯d heard before. It fell into a small lake before being funneled through the deep gorge and out of sight to his right. Across the river was what had him spell bound.


    The cave across the river was completely devoid of mist and nearly devoid of moss. Without the constant glow his night vision was able to pick up the whole scene. The cave across the river had been cleared flat except for the naturally formed pillars keeping the ceiling up. The ground had been smoothed and filled with soil; small aqueducts lined with stones spread throughout the fields from the river, supplying water to all areas evenly. The crazy thing though, was the huge walled city built entirely of worked stone that dominated the farthest part of the cave. roads wound themselves out from the city and to small villages that dotted the fields. Ronin even saw roads heading into tunnels and out of sight. It was breathtaking in its beauty, or at least it would have been.


    the place looked like a ruin. The stone was still in good shape, but the fields were all dead from lack of water. Glowing ivy was beginning to work its way up the stones. The roads were cracked and uneven. The entire place reeked of neglect, but it wasn¡¯t empty. Zooming in on one of the small farming villages, Ronin saw the small figures of goblins. Some were scrabbling over food; others were procreating in the streets.


    Turning his attention to another of the villages, a similar scene awaited him. finally, he zoomed in to the city. At this range, his vision wasn¡¯t as clear as he would like but he could see well enough. There were goblins there too, but they weren¡¯t alone. Another race moved around the city with them that were bigger than goblins. He couldn¡¯t make out many details, but they were perhaps human sized but thicker with muscle and their hair was a yellow orange that stuck out from the goblins fire red. They moved around, occasionally kicking one of the smaller goblins out of their way. Ronin even saw one riding on the back of a giant lizard.


    They didn¡¯t look like they belonged to the city, or rather they didn¡¯t look like they had built it. It looked to Ronin like someone else had built the place and then abandoned it. Leaving it open for the goblins and this other race to move in. it was only a guess, but they weren¡¯t using the city like a city. They were squatting in alleys, sleeping on roofs. Ronin even saw a goblin relieving himself on the side of a building. He just couldn¡¯t believe they had built the place.


    A nudge in his side got his attention, he looked over to Owl five who was pointing towards the water. Following her finger downwards, he looked at the river. It was filled with Troglodytes. They swam around, snapping up fish and clawing at each other. There was a path up the rocks leading behind the waterfall that a few of the trogs were climbing before they disappeared behind the water. Suspecting there must be a cave back there, Ronin looked the other way. He couldn¡¯t see the whole of the river due to the mists, and the twists and turns the gorge took through the cave, but he hoped they couldn¡¯t get out of there. That number of trogs was more than his little group could handle.


    Hearing the trample of feet behind him, Ronin twisted onto his back, bringing his rifle to bear. He relaxed when he saw that it was Karr¡¯s squad, just now catching up to him. with an ¡®all clear¡¯ he waved them to relax and catch their breath, while he looked back out over the cave city. This was exactly what he¡¯d wanted. A buried city lost to time, a mystery to solve, and plenty of goblins to capture¡­ if only he wasn¡¯t on the clock for Markus and the kingdom¡¯s collapse from outside forces.


    ¡°The mushroom forest covers less than half the cave. it runs up to the river that cuts across the cave then stops. There is a massive stone bridge that crosses the river that¡¯s guarded by hobgoblins. We also found an area where the trogs can get out of the gorge. It looks like they can only enter the forested side of the cave however, so the hobgoblins on the bridge are likely there to keep them from crossing. There are several small family groups of goblins living in the forest¡­¡± Hunter was giving red teams scouting report to the group, who were once again in the small alcove outside the mushroom forest cave.


    Ronin nodded at each point. ¡°So, the larger goblins are called hobgoblins huh?¡± he thought as he listened. It had been several hours since he had run to Owl five like a mad man. No one had commented, but he still felt a little embarrassed when he thought back on it. After he¡¯d arrived, he¡¯d gone from afraid that she was in trouble, to being mesmerized by the city laid out below him. they¡¯d stayed on that ledge, overlooking the cave city for nearly two hours. Picking up on every detail they could from this range.


    ¡°¡­ want to do, sir?¡± he¡¯d zoned out at some point, and hadn¡¯t caught the end of her speech or the question that Owl five had asked. A light kick at his foot got his attention focused back on the group.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what was the question?¡± he asked a little embarrassedly.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Owl five said evenly. ¡°I asked what you want to do? Should we go to the bridge and talk to them? Stay hidden on this side and collect small groups of goblins or let me sneak over there and investigate the situation quietly?¡± she said, summing up the discussion to that point. Ronin frowned, having to think over his options. He knew what he wanted to do but didn¡¯t think he had the time. At the same time, he didn¡¯t think he could leave without at least trying to find out about the city.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last. ¡°We came for goblins, so we will focus on that. Let¡¯s try to collect whole family groups if we can. I don¡¯t want to go stealing babies from there mothers or anything¡­ Yes, I realize who someone¡¯s parents are isn¡¯t an issue in goblin society, but still.¡± He could tell what Owl five was going to say just from the twitch of her shoulders, and she had a point. None of his goblins even knew who their parents were or if they had siblings.


    ¡°However,¡± he continued. ¡°I can¡¯t just see that ruin of a once mighty city without being overwhelmed with curiosity. So, Owl five will head over and scout it out.¡± He turned to her, ¡°do whatever you need to in order to get the information. Just don¡¯t get caught, there isn¡¯t much support we can provide you with from this side of the river.¡± He was worried about her but knew that if anyone in his entire valley could pull off the mission, it was her.


    ¡°Why do you want to know about that old city so badly?¡± Guts asked some time later. Red team and Karr¡¯s squad had left to hunt goblins. leaving Ronin, Guts, and K3 alone at camp. Ronin had wanted to go, but Owl two had said it would be a good idea to get the teams used to hunting on their own. Owl five had also left on her own mission.


    ¡°Because¡± Ronin said looking at his goblin friend. ¡°The valley we live in belongs to the Mountain¡¯s Embrace kingdom. The kingdom is at war and likely to lose according to Benjamin. Now, that would be good for us if it was any other enemy. We could just claim the valley and be done. but this enemy is different, if they get passed the wall, we are all screwed.¡± Ronin ran his fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp.


    ¡°This city though, looks like it was abandoned centuries ago. oh, sure there are goblins and hobgoblins living there, but we are gathering up goblins anyway. How nice would it be to take over a prebuilt city that isn¡¯t owned by anyone, and have a ready-made population to work with?¡± Ronin could already see it in his mind. the place was literally built with defense in mind, the bridge being the only way to access the place that he could see. The only real sticking point to his taking it right now were the hobgoblins. That and the days long trek to get outside from down here.


    ¡°Ok, I think I understand.¡± Guts said, as he sliced a mushroom into thin strips. ¡°Take it then,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°Hobgoblins respect strength, just like goblins. If you can prove your stronger then they are then they should follow you. They fight good too, hobs love to fight. just point them at a target an away they go.¡± That got Ronin thinking all over again¡­ a fortified city of his vary own and an army to reenforce the kingdom¡¯s wall with.


    ¡°Good idea Guts,¡± he muttered. ¡°Its still too early to decide on anything though. Owl five still needs to do her recon mission and who knows, there might be a good reason not to attack the city.¡±


    ¡°uh-huh¡± Guts said, clearly not believing him. the sad part was, Ronin couldn¡¯t even bring himself to argue. He really wanted to take that city. In his mind the decision had already been made.


    ¡°Would you guys¡¯ mind keeping watch?¡± He asked Guts and K3, who were already standing guard. ¡°I need to do some thinking.¡± At their nods, he settled back against the wall and closed his eyes. reaching out to Owl five, he once again looked at the world through her eyes. he hadn¡¯t used the ability since he¡¯d been trapped in the well, feeling like it was an invasion of her privacy. In this case however, she was on a mission to get him information, what better way to do that then to show him directly?


    Stolen novel; please report.


    *            *            *


    Owl five was crouched in the glowing moss, near the large stone bridge that spanned the gap between mushroom forest and the farm fields. Ronin hadn¡¯t seen the bridge before, so he took the opportunity to look it over. It was a huge construction of stone, wide enough for two wagons to pass by each other. There was a slight arch to the bridge, and several supports under it. It reminded Ronin of an old train bridge he¡¯d seen pictures of in a book back on earth. He couldn¡¯t spend much time on the bridge. He was using Owl five¡¯s eyes after all, and she was focused on the hobgoblins guarding it.


    There were twelve of them, sitting in a circle rolling stones. A gambling game? Off to the side there were a pair of the giant lizards tethered to the bridge. They were squat creatures, looking a lot like an iguana but their scales were black, and they were a lot bigger. Perhaps chest high at the shoulder, they were easily fifteen feet long, half of which was tail. Shifting is attention to the hobgoblins themselves; Ronin changed his earlier estimates slightly. They weren¡¯t quite human size they were around five feet tall. the thickly muscular bodies had made them look bigger from a distance. The hobgoblins didn¡¯t remind him of dwarves though despite their stature. They looked more like short, body building humans with yellow/green skin.


    His view shifted constantly as Owl five looked around. after a few turns, he stopped trying to look at the hobs and started paying attention to what she was looking at. Ronin was confused, it looked to him like she was sizing up the bridge, but why would she do that? after a few more minutes of staring, Owl five moved away from the bridge, back up stream in the direction she¡¯d come from. Before Ronin could even guess her plan, she crawled to the edge of the river filled gorge and swung herself out over the edge.


    Hanging from the lip, she slowly worked her way downwards. Ronin was shocked, the river had to be two or three hundred feet down, the gorge itself was a good seventy feet across at the top and widening as it got deeper. It was like a miniature Grand Canyon with a trog filled river at the bottom. Once he got over his shock, he could tell that she knew what she was doing. Her hands and feet found the faults in the stone, gripping them like they were a wide platform for her to stand on. Slowly at first, but with ever increasing speed, she began moving towards the bridge. Crawling along the gorge¡¯s wall as she went.


    Upon reaching the underside of the bridge, Owl five changed her grip, latching onto a support pillar. Once off the wall, she began crawling up the pillar until she reached an area where it joined another pillar. swinging herself over, Owl five grabbed the new pillar to repeat the process. Ronin almost pulled his vision back from her eyes as she traversed the underside of the bridge. Not wanting to watch her inevitable fall. He stayed with it though, fascinated by how smoothly she moved. Reaching the other side at last, she gripped the stone again with her hands and feet.


    Having grabbed the opposite wall, she began the process of crawling along the vertical surface until she reached the approximate point she crawled over from the other side. Moving up to the edge of the gorge, Owl five checked to be sure the area was clear before climbing over the edge. Just like that, she¡¯d made it across the gorge. Ronin couldn¡¯t help but be impressed with her, pride swelling in his chest at the sight of her skill. That was, until he realized that she was likely to make him do the same soon enough. if not here and now, then at some point in his training. The thought made him shudder.


    Owl five was crawling away from the gorge when Ronin felt someone shaking his shoulder.


    ¡°Sir,¡± he heard Guts call from where his body sat in the tunnels. ¡°Sir, the teams are back. They have captured several goblins.¡± With a sigh, Ronin opened his eyes, cutting the connection with Owl five. As much as he wanted to watch her entire scouting trip, he had responsibilities of his own to look after.


    ¡°Thank you Guts,¡± he said raising to his feet. ¡°Let¡¯s get them fed and checked for injury. We can¡¯t clean them up down here, but let¡¯s at least use the flea and lice powder Owl two came up with on them.¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t even thought to ask, but the industrious android had created a poison that targeted the parasites all the goblins seemed to be infested with. It wouldn¡¯t stop the smell, but it would at least keep them from infecting Ronin and his teams with annoying biting insects.


    For the next hour, Ronin helped check the twenty odd goblins over. Helped administer the powder and get them fed. There were some twenty-odd number of them, both red team and Karr¡¯s squad having captured an entire family group each. Wanting to make the trip as profitable as possible, and wanting to give Owl five more time, Ronin sent them back out for another round. He hoped to get at least fifty this time.


    Still, the nagging suspicion that he would just be bringing them all right back here kept popping into his mind. he wanted that city. Not only to try to uncover its ancient secrets, but also for the points it would likely award. One of his four months was already gone, he didn¡¯t have much time left. Markus would die before he finished his obligation to Leo Dawson if he didn¡¯t secure the teleport fee. Try as he might, he couldn¡¯t see a way around it. this city was the key, he had to take it, and subdue the population under his leadership in the next three months. It took him more than two hours before he was finally able to return to watching Owl five¡¯s scouting mission. Once he¡¯d settled back down against the wall and closed his eyes, he opened them to once again see the world from Owl five¡¯s body.


    She had covered a lot of ground in the last two hours. Although the fields on this side of the river were easily larger than the entirety of Ronin¡¯s starter valley. It looked to him like she must have sprinted the entire way, because she was already at one of the small villages. She was on one of the stone building¡¯s roofs, looking down on the goblins there. Most of them were lazing about or doing private matters in public. There were a few of them eating what looked like a giant bat creature. The carcass looking gaunt and grizzled. Leading Ronin to believe that it had died and fallen to the ground here rather than them having hunted it.


    Owl five¡¯s point of focus shifted as she looked up at the ceiling. Her eyes zooming in gave Ronin a bit of vertigo, but he recovered quickly. Owl five was now focused on the ceiling of the cavern. the image was fuzzy due to the distance; however, Ronin could make out the shifting forms clamped to the stones above. Bats, but not like those he¡¯d read about from earth¡¯s history¡­ or earths future, from his pocket worlds prospective?


    It didn¡¯t matter, these creatures were clearly fantastic in nature. He couldn¡¯t tell their size from here, but some were bigger than others. if the one on the ground was any indication, they were close to goblin size humanoid bats. Fine fur covered their bodies, which were hard to make out around the huge leathery wings that wrapped them. he did get a good look at one, however, when it spread its wings in a stretch. It looked a lot like a fur covered human with stubby legs, a bat¡¯s head and clawed hands on its second wing joints. There were also tens of thousands of them. It looked like the roof was covered in furry, winged bodies.


    His view disappeared while Owl five blinked, shook her head and looked again. It seemed like she was having a hard time at the sight of all those bat creatures too. After another long look, she dragged her eyes back to the ground. Ronin didn¡¯t know what she was looking for, but it didn¡¯t seem like she found it. after ten minutes of just sitting there, she jumped down and began sprinting towards another small village.


    This process repeated three more times before Ronin finally learned what she was after. Once again hiding on a stone roof, her eyes locked on a lone hobgoblin that was wandering around the village. It was giving the goblins grief, pushing them around and messing with the females. Owl five watched it for a long time, until it finally grew bored and wandered away. Before it managed to leave town, she had stunned it with her non-lethal II and dragged it into a nearby stone house.


    There were three goblins inside when she came through the door. Without hesitation, she shot them all with her taser. Giving each a quick blow to knock them unconscious, she rolled them over into the corner before returning to the hob. Binding his hands behind his back, Owl five sat him up in another corner of the room. Settling down in front of him, she drew her arm back for a smack.


    ¡°wha...?¡± The hob spluttered, coming awake from the blow. ¡°What the hell¡­¡±


    ¡°I have a few questions¡­¡± Owl five was just starting her interrogation when Ronin felt another tap on his shoulder.


    ¡°Sir,¡± Guts said, shaking his shoulder again. ¡°The teams are back again sir. They have more goblins¡­ and some strange bat thing.¡± Ronin was angry that he had been interrupted just before he was going to get his questions answered, but he dialed back when he heard about the bat creature.


    ¡°Where? Take me to it.¡± He said, opening his eyes and rising to his feet. Guts led the way to another group of goblins, already being treated with the flea and lice powder. In their midst was Hunter and Song, who had one of the bats bound and unconscious on the floor. It was bigger than the one the goblins had been eating. Closer in size to a hobgoblin than a goblin.


    ¡°Sir,¡± she said with a salute. ¡°We found this creature eating bugs on top of one of the mushrooms. I thought to bring it back for you, sir.¡± Her face didn¡¯t show much expression, but Ronin could tell she was pleased with herself.


    ¡°Good job, Hunter.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Did you see any others of its kind?¡± He added, worried that the thousands strong bat creatures could destroy his twenty-man team easily if they chose too.


    ¡°No sir,¡± she said. ¡°I only saw this one. It¡¯s male, I saw while we were tying it up sir.¡± She added thoughtfully. Ronin sighed internally; goblins weren¡¯t very worried about their clothes when he first captured them. So, he had seen quite a few exposed goblin bodies. The books never mentioned this, but he supposed the Minotaur in the heart of the labyrinth, or the faeries in the woods weren¡¯t clothed either. He shook that thought away as fast as he could.


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter. Though, going forward let¡¯s be wary of these creatures. Something tells me there are a lot of them out there.¡± Thanking her again, he clapped her on the shoulder with a smile before moving to the bound bat creature.


    kneeling, he gently shook the bat. He was shocked at just how soft the fur was. Distracted, Ronin ran his fingers through the coat. It was incredibly fine fur, soft to the touch and impeccably fluffy. He was so caught up in feeling the fur, he didn¡¯t notice that the bat had woken up.


    ¡°What?¡­¡± it spoke, shocking Ronin greatly. He hadn¡¯t thought it would be able to speak. He¡¯d been fantasizing about lining his armor with this fur. He didn¡¯t dismiss the idea out of hand however, if these bats were hostile¡­ the fur was very soft.


    ¡°Hello, sorry for the rough treatment.¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°But we had a few questions for you, and I hoped you¡¯d be able to help me.¡± He couldn¡¯t listen to Owl five¡¯s interrogation, but it looked like he was going to be able to do one of his own.

 Chapter Fifteen

    ¡°¡­after questioning, I dropped him in the river. The trogs took care of the evidence from there.¡± Owl five was filling him in on her mission while they walked the sixty plus goblins back up the tunnels. Ronin winced a little at her casual dispatch of the hob, but he supposed it was necessary to maintain secrecy.


    Ronin didn¡¯t let on that he had seen part of her trip. He didn¡¯t know why, but he wanted it to be a secret that he could view through her eyes. That got him thinking about how useful an ability that was, and about Owl three and Owl four. Owl two had put their bodies back in their pods after they died. Stating that they were filled with valuable components. Ronin had been horrified when he¡¯d looked through the window to see their perfectly restored forms, kept alive and functional by the high-tech pods. Perfectly healthy in body, but brain dead.


    He¡¯d tried demanding that Owl two bury them at once, but the android had talked him out of it. He¡¯d done everything he could to put them out of his mind until now. however, the ability to see through a scout¡¯s eyes was just too much of a temptation. Could Owl two transplant the eyes into some of Ronin¡¯s other people? He felt a little sick at the thought, how much had he changed from the book loving man he¡¯d been? Still, he would have to ask.


    ¡°So,¡± he said once she was done. ¡°To sum everything up¡­ the ¡®masters¡¯ built the city and kept hobs as soldiers and goblins as servants. Then at some point in the past, they took the best soldiers and servants with them¡­ leaving this cave behind and collapsing the tunnel when they left?¡± looking over to Owl five he watched her nod.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± She said in agreement. ¡°All the tunnels that are open are apparently dead ends. They trapped their minions in here¡­ until a cave-in opened the tunnel we came in from, that is. I asked the hob about it; he didn¡¯t even know it was there. I guess they don¡¯t go into the mushroom forest much; just guard the bridge against trogs and throw goblins across when they get too numerous.¡± Again, she didn¡¯t seem bothered by the treatment of her kind. Well, she was only half goblin, Ronin wondered if that mattered. Not that humans were any better. Ronin had eaten worms he¡¯d scavenged, all the while knowing someone, he¡¯d grown up with was starving to death. He¡¯d come to accept that sharing would have just meant they both died.


    ¡°that¡¯s good.¡± He said nodding, ¡°I heard a similar story from the ¡®Hobat¡¯ over there.¡± He motioned to the collared bat creature K3 was carrying. Apparently, they didn¡¯t have a name for their species. so, Ronin named them batlins and hobats. Since they were basically goblins and hobgoblins with wings.


    ¡°He said the ¡®creators¡¯ left them here. He said they were charged with protecting the castle and following the orders of the castle lords¡­ guess there was quite the battle between the hobgoblins and the hobats for ownership of the castle. When the hobgoblins won, they sent people down to see what their new bosses wanted, but they kept getting killed. Taking that as orders to stay away, they haven¡¯t gone near the castle since¡­¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Owl five asked, looking over at the hobat. ¡°The hob didn¡¯t have anything to say about them. Other than they were weak and scared of the mighty hobgoblins.¡± She added with a chuckle. ¡°Why is K3 carrying that one, is it injured?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ronin said. ¡°He can walk, with the aid of his wing hands¡­ he¡¯s just really slow. They are primarily aerial creatures.¡± He looked over at the five-foot-tall bat creature. It looked tiny compared to K3¡¯s massive bulk. ¡°I guess the batlins are basically just goblin shaped animals. They follow the hobats subsonic orders since they can¡¯t speak.¡± Ronin was happy about that, because it meant he didn¡¯t have to feel weird when he had batlin clothes made for himself.


    ¡°That¡¯s a mixed bag than, isn¡¯t it?¡± she asked, still looking at the hobat. ¡°On the one hand, they are going to give us a fight when we try for the city. On the other, they should follow orders once we take the city from the hobs¡­ it could get bloody, but if we plan this right, we could gain a lot for a low cost.¡± She continued, musing aloud.


    ¡°Go for the city?¡± Ronin asked, trying to fain ignorance. He hadn¡¯t mentioned his plans to take over the city to her, had he?


    ¡°Sir,¡± she said looking at him with her helmeted head cocked. ¡°That city is a strategic goldmine. Its well located and easily defended. Full of goblins and hobgoblins, both of which happily follow the strong. There¡¯s also these batlins and hobats that will apparently also fall in line once you take over¡­ honestly sir, if you¡¯re not already planning on taking over that city, then you need to get your head examined.¡± She said, as blunt as ever.


    Ronin smiled behind his own helmet, cheeks heating in a blush. He had a love hate relationship with these helmets; he hated that he couldn¡¯t see her face when they talked, but he liked that she couldn¡¯t see his when he went red like this. She was right of course, for all those reasons and more. He needed healthy followers to save Markus; and being an underground city lord may or may not be on his list of past fantasies.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, as always.¡± He eventually said. ¡°I was thinking about how to take over the city. It¡¯s in rough shape, but it shouldn¡¯t take us long to whip it back into working order¡­¡± Heck, with Owl two at his side, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they had electricity within the year. There was a waterfall after all, and a water wheel wouldn¡¯t be that hard to construct¡­ his mind drifted away into his fantasies again. He had to stumble over a rock to bring himself back to reality. Looking around sheepishly, he saw Owl five¡¯s shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Shaking his fist at her in mock outrage, he moved forward to talk to Guts.


    The trip back passed uneventfully. There were no more stone carver rats, it seemed like they had been on a long migration because they didn¡¯t find any evidence of their passing other than that one instance. That left the rats entrance point, the mine entrance, and the small crack into an area outside the valley. Ronin checked his map again. He¡¯d uncovered everything between his valley and the mushroom forest. His eyes were once again drawn to the crack in the wall. It was only a few hours walk from the mushroom forest. After they took over the underground city, they would have to explore out there. It was much more conveniently placed than his own valley. As it stood, they needed to march for a few days to get outside.


    One stand out from the trip back was the menu. Guts had stuffed a few packs full to the brim with mushrooms, moss, vines, and giant insects. He¡¯d been experimenting with the ingredients and, after making sure they weren¡¯t poisonous, fed them to Ronin, Owl five and K3. They all had a strong attraction to the mushrooms, all except K3. The big guy didn¡¯t like them very much, he did take a fancy to the insects though. Ronin was amused to watch him crunching happily into the three-inch-long boiled ants Guts had made.


    The four of them sat together at their own little fire at each break time. after they had seen to the goblins needs and spoken with Karr and Hunter¡¯s teams. He had already gotten close to Guts and Owl five, but Ronin had been surprised to find that he really enjoyed K3¡¯s company as well. The giant didn¡¯t speak often, but his presence was comfortable.


    Ronin realized all these people were literally made for him, so it would be strange if he didn¡¯t like them. Still, it was hard to complain when he had friends for the first time in his life. Besides, its not like they were really different from him anyway. Sure, they were created by a living computer, but his physical body was destroyed, and he was essentially just biomechanical data in the same system they lived in. they might not have been born on earth, but they seemed plenty alive to him.


    Cutting into a mushroom steak that had been simmered in a dinosaur bone broth, Ronin smiled. Brie sat beside him enjoying the same dish, and K3 munched on boiled ants. Guts tended to the food and muttered to himself, trying to remember the recipes. Ronin made a mental note to teach him how to read at some point so he could keep a recipe book. With as much fun as he was having with his companions, Ronin thought about Owl two. He hadn¡¯t seen the android in a few days and decided that after dinner he would check in on his assistant. Sitting back against the wall, Ronin let everyone know he would be doing some mental planning for a while and closed his eyes.


    *            *            *


    When he opened his eyes again, he was seeing from Owl two¡¯s prospective. the android¡¯s vision was different from any of his other team members. His vision was filled with small boxes of numbers and text. Ronin couldn¡¯t read most of them and the ones that he could didn¡¯t make much sense. Looking past the text, he tried to get his bearings. It wasn¡¯t as easy as he hoped. It felt like he was looking at the world through several layers of data, which created a picture, rather than seeing the world with eyes and putting a picture together in his mind.


    After several minutes of effort, Ronin was able to slowly make out his surroundings. Owl two was in the base, in the area he had set up for the stone carver rats. He¡¯d created an enclosure for them out of some kind of wood or plant? Ronin couldn¡¯t tell, but the rats weren¡¯t chewing on it at least. The enclosure was set up like a small maze, and each rat was in its own small cage. From this vantage Ronin could only see three of the four rats he¡¯d brought back.


    With a tug, Owl two lifted the gate holding one of the rats in its cage and it entered the maze. Ronin looked at it curiously, there was a small device strapped to its head. as the rat sniffed the air, it just stood there for a moment, until a small beep sounded from the device along with a blue light. The rat began to move forward right away at the sound, coming up to an opening in the maze. The device beeped again, this time in a different pitch and a red light flashed. The rat instantly stopped and backed away from the doorway. Turning, it moved towards another entrance, nothing happened this time and it continued forward. in this area was a small stone, the rat lunged at it instantly, only to be stopped by a beep accompanied by a red light.


    Backing warily away from the stone, the rat continued through the maze, taking its cues from the device mounted to its head. moving when the light was blue, stopping when it flashed red. Ronin watched in fascination until it made it all the way through and exited the maze on the other side. A large chunk of metal sat there waiting for the rat. It waited until the light flashed blue before it lunged at the metal and devoured it in several rapid bites. It then moved into another cage where Owl two closed it in again.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Owl two repeated this process with the next two rats. The second did about as well as the first rat. It did have a little more trouble avoiding the stone, however. It got much closer than the first rat did, and its head mounted device started to vibrate, in addition to the red light and beep, before it stopped and moved away. The third rat was a different story. it ignored the beep, the light and the vibration, going straight for the stone. As soon as its teeth touched the rock, the device lit the pen with arcs of blue lightning.


    The rat writhed in agony, letting out an ear-piercing shriek that could have come from a human throat. Ronin had been keeping half an eye on the boxes in his vision during the tests, and the numbers when this third rat had come out weren¡¯t as good as the first two. he didn¡¯t know how he knew that since he couldn¡¯t read them, but the longer he was looking from Owl two¡¯s eyes the better a feel for it he got. The numbers somehow showed a failing grade on this third rat.


    Owl two picked the still screaming rat up and tossed it into another cage. This one was filled with scrap metal from the Kaldarrian ships. The rat started eating as soon as the device stopped hurting it, and shortly after dropping it in, Owl two turned away. It looked like this one couldn¡¯t be trained, so it was being fattened up for the slaughter. Owl two moved to another cage, this one held the only female rat of the group. It lay on its side surrounded by baby rats. Lifting her out, Owl two put the mother rat in with the first rat that had done the best in the maze.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the rat to claim its prize, and the female was put back in with her babies. Ronin counted seven in the brief window he had to look. he also caught sight of the metals Owl two had in the cage. They were much higher-grade alloys than the scrap metal the failed rat was eating.


    ¡°So, he¡¯s doing training and breeding experiments huh?¡± Ronin thought as he watched the android tidy up and move outside. Once again, he was overwhelmed by the amount of data he was looking through, but it eventually settled down when they reached their next destination. They were at the damaged drop ship turned into a trog container.


    Moving up to the rear ramp, Owl two opened a small round door in its center. It had a round crank for an opener and reminded Ronin of a submarine hatch. Climbing inside, he saw the trogs. There were ten adults all sitting around meekly, looking up at Owl two. they were still collared and chained to the bulkhead, but it looked like the aggression inhibitors were doing their jobs.


    ¡°Stand up for your meal,¡± Owl two said. dragging a large sack of meat inside that he must have picked up while Ronin was still adjusting to his surroundings. they got up obediently and waited for Owl two to give them each a large chunk of meat. ¡°You may eat now.¡± He said, moving back towards the door. the trogs started tearing at the food when they heard his order, gobbling it down in a matter of seconds.


    ¡°How are you today number six?¡± Owl two asked, moving to one of the trogs. Ronin noticed it had a six printed on its collar. The trog didn¡¯t even blink at the question, instead just standing there in a stupor. ¡°Sit down and then stand up please.¡± Owl two said and watched as number six complied. It was a little unnerving for Ronin to watch, like all life had been drained out of them.


    Stepping backwards to the hatch again, Owl two lifted a remote from out of Ronin¡¯s line of sight and pressed a button. Number six didn¡¯t respond for almost two seconds, then it screamed in rage and lunged at Owl two. coming up short at the end of its chain, it never the less snapped its crocodile jaws at him and thrashed its tail in a mad attempt to reach the android.


    ¡°Number six, please sit down.¡± Owl two said calmly, raising his voice to be heard over the growling crocodilian humanoid. The trog gave no indication of having heard him, even when the collar started shocking the beast for disobeying the order, it just kept right on trying to get at the android. Lifting the remote again, Owl two pressed another button. Again, within two seconds the trog calmed down and sat quietly on the ground.


    Ronin read the failure in the numbers as clearly as he saw it with Owl two¡¯s eyes. the trogs couldn¡¯t be civilized. Still, as he looked at the numbers before him, and thought about what he saw himself, Ronin could still see value in the trogs. They might never fit into the society he was building, but if managed properly they could still be useful. Owl two spent a little more time on the trogs before going back outside.


    Closing the door, he moved around to a crate near the drop ship. When he Lifted the lid, Ronin saw red light emanating from inside. It was filled with trog eggs, and several heat lights. They were divided into two groups, ten in each. Owl two spent some time looking them over and measuring them. then he turned over all the eggs from one group, leaving the other in place. Ronin read some of what he was trying to do in the numbers.


    Finished with this crate, he opened a second crate right next too it. this one was also filled with trog eggs, split into two groups of ten but without the heat lights. Again, Owl two measured them and turned one of the groups over before closing the lid. he didn¡¯t know how trogs reproduced so he was attempting to hatch the eggs by trial and error. Ronin thought he could read that he¡¯d attempted to leave the eggs with the trogs, but it had been a failure for some reason.


    Done with the trogs, Owl two and his passenger moved on to the tent city. Ronin was still struggling to see while the android moved, but it was getting better. There was just so much information being flooded into his eyes that he couldn¡¯t track it all. it settled down again when he entered a tent house.


    ¡°Hello Owl two,¡± came a voice from inside.


    ¡°Hello Samantha,¡± Owl two said after entering. ¡°How are our students doing?¡± he asked looking around at the double handful of goblin kids. A quick count put their number at fourteen. Ronin frowned looking at them, something was wrong.


    ¡°Good so far.¡± She said, now in Ronin¡¯s line of sight. ¡°The three pure blooded goblins are already clearly the worker class, unfortunately. It would have been nice if one of the scouts had been pregnant when they got here. that would let us know if the crafter class is genetic or not. Any chance of doing a trial run?¡±


    ¡°None I¡¯m afraid.¡± Owl two said. ¡°Lord Ronin gave me free rein over the workers but said the crafter class goblins were all spoken for.¡± He was crouched down, looking at three small forest green toddlers with red hair. They were crawling around and appeared to be looking for something. ¡°Still only stimulated by food I see.¡± He said standing back up.


    ¡°Yea, sadly.¡± Samantha said, looking down at them. ¡°They are a little older than the rest but still aren¡¯t showing half the personality.¡±


    ¡°How are the rest doing then?¡± Owl two asked casting an eye over the other babies in the room.


    ¡°The four bred from the Kaldarr are naturally the largest. The one from K1¡¯s sample is the largest of all, though again that doesn¡¯t prove anything. They aren¡¯t growing quite as fast as the pure goblins, but they already exhibit more intelligence.¡± While she spoke, Owl two focused in on the largest of the kids. They were also green, but their skin had a gray tinge to it, and they were thicker in the body.


    ¡°Excellent, how about the trog half breeds?¡± Owl two asked, shifting his attention to four more kids. These were a little darker than the standard goblin green, but their bodies were also covered with knobby growths of thick armor-like leathery hide. It looked a lot like the troglodyte crocodile flesh. The trogs were a dark green brown and looked just like a crocodile that had stood up on its hind legs. But apart from the skin, their mouths might be a little fuller but that was it.


    ¡°They are more aggressive during meals and play time, but its manageable. They also stick to their own group more than the others. the rest will mingle and play together but the trog half breeds are always clustered up.¡± Ronin noted that it was like that now as well. The other children were playing together or tussling or whatever, but the leather skinned goblin children were huddled in a pack staring out at the rest with mistrust.


    ¡°A shame,¡± Owl two said. ¡°It looks like the trogs are too biologically focused on aggression to be anything other than attack dogs. it makes me wonder if they were bred that way to begin with¡­ and the last three?¡± he asked, turning his attention to the lightest skinned goblins.


    ¡°The half human goblins are the most intelligent of the bunch. They¡¯re also not as strong as the Kaldarr or as aggressive as the trogs. But they are growing just as fast as the rest. Its early days yet. But if I had to make a conclusion right now¡­ I¡¯d say the human half breeds will make the best workers, the Kaldarr kids the best soldiers and the trogs are more trouble than their worth.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little too early to make those calls I think.¡± Owl two said, ¡°But what about the pure-blooded goblins?¡± he added afterwards.


    ¡°Again, I¡¯m just guessing here. but I think the crafter class goblins aren¡¯t pure goblins at all. they must have something else in their bloodlines that explains their intellect. But these pure breeds or worker class or whatever¡­ honestly without the sexual inhibitors their no better than animals. They shouldn¡¯t be allowed to breed at all until we have mixed their blood enough with a more useful race so they can control themselves naturally¡­¡±


    Ronin tuned them out as he looked at the kids. He was a little shocked. When Owl two had been doing breeding experiments on the rats and trogs, Ronin hadn¡¯t batted an eye. this though, this was different, or it felt different anyway. he had told his assistant that he could do whatever he wanted with the goblins as long as they were healthy, but this¡­ he watched the room full of half breeds playing. They were babies, but they were already looking like toddlers. His mind wandered back to Emil¡¯s words. That goblins were full grown at one year but able to reproduce by six months.


    If that breeding rate could be applied to the Kaldarr¡­ wait¡­, was he actually considering this? his assistant was forcibly breeding the goblin women. That was wrong. Or was he? Hadn¡¯t Samantha said ¡®K1¡¯s sample¡¯ that would mean artificial insemination, wouldn¡¯t it? He sighed mentally.


    ¡°Why does everything have to be so complicated?¡± he asked himself as he thought over the problem. It was pretty clear just looking at these babies that the Kaldarrian and human half breeds were superior to the rest, at least mentally. Did that matter though? They were all living creatures after all. that being said, goblins didn¡¯t care at all about parenting or who¡¯s child was whose. Accidental inbreeding wasn¡¯t just possible, it was common.


    Pulling his point of view back to his own body, Ronin opened his eyes. ¡°Not like I can change what he already did anyway. So, I might as well wait and see how it turns out.¡± he thought, still feeling conflicted.


    ¡°You done with your ¡®mental planning¡¯?¡± Brie asked from where she sat beside him. Blinking, Ronin noticed she¡¯d moved closer to him. Their sides were nearly touching where they sat, leaning against the tunnel wall.


    ¡°ha-ha, I don¡¯t know.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°I think I just confused myself even more.¡± He smiled at his half goblin teammate. ¡°Anything exciting happen while I was away?¡± he asked. If she was anything to go by, mixing the blood was a no brainer. He just needed to make sure the goblin women hadn¡¯t been forced and had understood what they were doing. The fact that he knew they wouldn¡¯t care in the slightest not making him feel any better.


    ¡°Not really,¡± she said with a slight smile. Adding, ¡°Unless you count our fearless leader drooling on himself during his ¡®planning¡¯ session¡± she giggled at her own joke, popping a boiled ant into her mouth and biting down with an audible crunch.


    ¡°Ohh¡­ really?¡± he said with his own smirk. ¡°I will have you know that I don¡¯t drool while I¡¯m ¡®planning¡¯ or sleeping for that matter.¡± Reaching over, he took one of the boiled ants from her hand and popped it into his own mouth. Biting down, he felt the crunch as much as he heard it. Karr and his men found the bugs disgusting, but Ronin had grown up eating worms and clams, so he didn¡¯t find any real issue with eating the insects.


    ¡°Hey!... Sir, that was mine.¡± Brie said with a little laugh slapping his arm lightly. ¡°So¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake.¡± Guts called from not too far away. ¡°Are you hungry? I have a few dino bone mushroom steaks left over.¡± Ronin looked up at his goblin chief turned cook as he approached.


    ¡°No, thank you Guts.¡± he said, looking to Brie and finding that she¡¯d slipped away. She was now a good ten feet away and already donning her helmet. ¡°But thanks¡­ so much for offering¡­ right now.¡± He muttered through clenched teeth.

 Chapter Sixteen

    Owl five kept her distance the rest of the way back. Ronin didn¡¯t think she was avoiding him exactly, but it felt that way sometimes. he liked Owl five¡¯s company, so when her mood changed like this it confused and frustrated him. Not that there was time to talk much during a march anyway. the sixty odd goblins outnumbered his team more than three to one, and they weren¡¯t all sold on following orders yet.


    ¡°Get back into line please,¡± Ronin said to another rambunctious male. The goblin sneered at him, but Ronin settled him down by picking him up by his filthy hide clothes and tossing him gently back towards the group. He didn¡¯t enjoy feeling like a bully, but he¡¯d found it settled the goblins down the fastest. Just proving he was stronger than them was enough for most to obey his orders.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting better at that sir,¡± Guts said from beside him. ¡°It¡¯s hard, keeping a group of goblins together. Looking back on it now, I¡¯m not sure how I ever managed.¡± The goblin was a veritable giant by the standards of his kind. Standing over five feet, he was bigger than a hobgoblin. Still, he really didn¡¯t have a fighter¡¯s mentality. Ronin guessed it was his size and strength alone that had allowed him to keep his family group together.


    ¡°Well, you managed it. I¡¯m just grateful that you prefer cooking to fighting.¡± Ronin joked instead of saying what he thought. ¡°Could you imagine me trying to fend for myself out here? I¡¯d starve to death.¡±


    ¡°No, sir.¡± Guts said, snapping off a crisp salute. ¡°You will never starve while I¡¯m with you. I give you my word as your personal cook.¡± The goblin was serious, and Ronin didn¡¯t know whether to feel grateful or laugh at his friend.


    ¡°Thanks guts.¡± he said, deciding that¡¯s all that needed to be said.


    ¡°Sir, we should be close enough now. If you would like to reach out to Benjamin.¡± Owl five said, moving over to join them.


    ¡°Right, thanks Owl five.¡± He said, reaching for his connection to Benjamin through his mother parasite.


    ¡°Lieutenant Benjamin, this is Ronin, can you hear me?¡± he asked, mentally directing his words towards his military leader.


    ¡°Sir, yes, I can hear you. are you ready for my team at the mine sir?¡± he asked, voice entering Ronin¡¯s mind. ¡°How many Goblins did you get this time?¡± he added. Making Ronin feel weird at the telepathic communication.


    ¡°We got sixty-three this time, mostly females again. forty-seven of them and they¡¯re all in need of a bath.¡± He exchanged a few more messages with Benjamin before cutting his connection with him.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be waiting at the mine for us.¡± Ronin said to the pair of waiting goblins. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have to hang around either. We can drop them off with Benjamin and go get cleaned up ourselves.¡± He added, wanting a bath and a rest in his pod after the long trip underground.


    ¡°Welcome back sir.¡± Benjamin called as they entered the sunlight once again. He was standing in front of his other three squads and the second scout team. As they entered the clearing around the forest, the teams came forward to take charge of the goblins. Leaving Ronin and his people free to go about their business.


    ¡°Thanks lieutenant,¡± Ronin said to Benjamin once the pass off had been completed. ¡°I¡¯ve got to speak with Owl two, so if you will excuse me.¡± With a nod to his team, Ronin made his way towards camp. Guts and Owl five stayed behind to help integrate the new goblins, but it didn¡¯t surprise him when he heard K3¡¯s large steps following him. Owl two had made it clear that at least one of the enhanced Kaldarr warriors would be following him at all times.


    Ronin had intended on going straight to the bathtub and his pod when he got back. Once he returned, however, he got his second wind. Going to sleep had dropped down his priority list. when compared to asking Owl two about the goblin breeding program he was working on and getting him started on a takeover plan for the underground city. Despite his impatience, he didn¡¯t sprint back to camp. it was a beautiful day, and he wanted to enjoy the sunshine for a bit, besides, he needed to put his thoughts in order.


    ¡°Welcome back, sir.¡± Owl two said from his seat at the map table. Ronin was getting used to meeting him there. He knew that the android spent nearly all his time roaming the cave and the tent town putting out fires and solving problems. Still, every time Ronin wanted to talk to him, he would be sitting in the command tent.


    ¡°Can you read my mind?¡± he asked, the question coming out spontaneously. ¡°Seems like you always know when I want to talk to you, despite all the other things you have going on.¡± He moved over to the table and sank into a padded chair, looking down at the newly expanded map as he waited for an answer. The valley was nearly entirely filled in now. Along with additional notes on the war at the wall.


    ¡°Of course, not sir.¡± Owl two said, adding a new note to the map. His handwriting was so perfect that it looked printed on a computer. ¡°I simply placed a tracking unit on all the armor suits, as well as a patch into the com¡¯s units. I monitor all conversations, using the data to improve planning in real time. To know if someone needs assistance in the field, if and where there are problems, and so on.¡± he was writing notes the whole time he spoke, stopping only to look at Ronin. ¡°For example, thanks to your new information. I¡¯ve now learned that the crafter class goblins are actually goblins that have hobgoblin blood. I have also begun working on our invasion plans for the underground city¡­ though I will want to go scout it out myself with Benjamin before we make any final plans.¡± Owl two stood up when he was finished writing and pulled out a box of beautifully carved wooden figures. They reminded Ronin of chess pieces, only these were of different figures.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been spying on me?¡± Ronin demanded angrily. Blood rushed to his face and his heart rate picked up. he couldn¡¯t believe this, what kind of person spied on people like that?


    ¡°Of course, not sir¡± Owl two said again. Pulling a lifelike model of Owl five from the box and placing it on the table. ¡°No more than you were spying on me when I gave you the tour of the nurseries.¡± He added, as he pulled out another figure. This one shaped like a goblin scout. ¡°We are simply using the tools at our disposal to make the best decisions we can. To make the best decisions, we need the best information. Wouldn¡¯t you say sir?¡± the android asked, adding a human figure armored like Benjamin¡¯s men to the steadily growing line up on the table.


    The balloon of rage that¡¯d been building inside Ronin suddenly deflated. Owl two had a valid point¡­ dang it. He¡¯d never learned how to deal with interpersonal conflict like this. He knew the android was manipulating him. he had been, since before they ever landed. Yet, he always had valid reasons behind his decisions. It was really hard to argue with him. Ronin sighed, not knowing if it was worth trying to say more, when he knew he couldn¡¯t win against the android¡¯s programming. He needed Owl two.  He¡¯d just have to keep a closer eye on him going forward.


    ¡°¡­ Fine.¡± He said slumping back in his chair. ¡°At least tell me you got informed consent from the goblins before you bred them?¡± he glossed right over the spying issue, deciding he wouldn¡¯t win when he had been spying himself. Instead, he went right to the heart of the issue that had been bothering him the most.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl two said promptly. ¡°Also, there was no actual breeding taking place. Everything happened through artificial insemination. As for the goblin women¡¯s consent, goblins are much like rabbits my lord. In the sense that they breed rapidly to outproduce their short lives and frailty. Goblin females are pregnant nearly their entire adult lives. When I posed the question, they thought not being pregnant would have been stranger. Coupled with the fact that they raise their children as a group, they don¡¯t have any attachment to their offspring.¡± Owl two said, setting nearly all Ronin¡¯s fears to rest.


    ¡°Ok¡­ just, don¡¯t go out of line, ok?¡± he said lamely, feeling pathetic. ¡°What are the figures?¡± he asked to distract himself. There were ones for himself and the Kaldarr, Benjamin and Guts. As well as several that showed different things. The Kaldarr drop ships, hobgoblins and hobats, Guts food corps were even represented.


    ¡°This is how we will prepare for our attack on the city, my lord.¡± Owl two said using the term ¡®lord¡¯ for the second time today. Ronin figured he was trying to butter him up after the ¡®stern talking to¡¯ he¡¯d just gotten¡­ yea, the stern talking to. ¡°Each piece represents a unit or individual in our army or that of the enemy. For example, this.¡± He picked up a goblin scout, ¡°represents a unit of six goblin scouts. I¡¯ve just been informed that there are thirteen females of hobgoblin descent or ¡®crafter class¡¯ in the new group, and five crafter class males. So, we can make two more units of scouts for a total of four and grow the food corps at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Only thirteen out of forty-seven females? That¡¯s low, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ronin asked, a bit disappointed.


    ¡°Yes and no. As I said before. The crafter class are just goblins with hobgoblin blood. The mix to their bloodline makes them smarter than typical goblins. So, Hunter, Guts and the rest on the scout teams are all mixed breeds. Where the ¡®worker class¡¯ goblins are actually just¡­ goblins. Pretty useless really.¡± Owl two said, pulling out a small figure of a goblin holding a shovel and placing it on the table.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Ronin said thinking about Owl two¡¯s breeding experiments in a new light. ¡°Will mixing their blood like that cause any problems for them going forward?¡±


    ¡°None that I can see.¡± He replied instantly, ¡°goblins are extremely prolific and seem to be compatible with nearly everything. I think I could inseminate them with stone carver rat seed, and they would produce a hybrid species¡­ no, every mixed breed so far has been bigger, smarter, and healthier than the pure-blooded goblins.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ first off¡­ do not, under any circumstance, mix their blood line with that of animals, dinosaurs or anything else that isn¡¯t intelligent¡­ do you understand me Owl two?¡± he waited for the android to acknowledge his order before he continued, knowing that he couldn¡¯t violate a direct order. ¡°Good,¡± he said when his assistant assented. ¡°Next, I want you to continue with the experiments. Using pure blooded goblins only, the crafter class are two valuable to be laid up for weeks at a time. and lastly; start working on an invasion plan¡­ And get me another training regimen set up, I also need to improve myself.¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± Owl two said. ¡°Also, we should talk about a few things related to¡­¡±


    Ronin had envisioned himself just giving a handful of orders and going to sleep¡­ instead, Owl two listened patiently to him talking¡­ then went on to talk him to death. until everything that happened in the last few days had been addressed, and everything was going according to his, that is to say Owl two¡¯s, plan. When Ronin finally managed to slip away, he felt more like the ¡®yes man¡¯ to his own assistant than any kind of ¡®lord¡¯.


    Following the route Owl two had taken while he had been riding along behind his eyes, Ronin walked towards the tent housing the baby goblins. He was exhausted and really wanted some pod time, but he couldn¡¯t resist looking at the babies that were occupying so much of his attention. ¡°Is this ok, messing around with kids like this?¡± He just didn¡¯t know. Ronin wouldn¡¯t have even considered this if Owl two had asked first, but it was already done, and he really did need better soldiers.


    ¡°Greetings, lord Ronin.¡± Samantha said, when Ronin slipped between the overlapping folds of the tent house¡¯s door. she rose from where she had been kneeling on the floor, a goblin child in her hands. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you had returned. How may I help you?¡±


    Ronin looked around the large dinosaur hide building. It was set up like a barracks, with several small beds stacked one on top of the other all the way to the ceiling. A large pen dominated half the space where the goblin children were playing. Ronin frowned when he saw the toys they were given. Wooden swords and shields, leather helmets, light crossbows with rag tipped arrows. Eric and a human man Ronin didn¡¯t recognize were outside the pen. They had been showing the toddlers how the gear worked when he walked in. They had stopped at his entrance, however, and were waiting on his words, just like Samantha.


    ¡°Hello Samantha,¡± he said. turning his attention to her, he saw the child in her arms. It was one of the kaldarr half breeds, and it was nursing a bump on its head. likely from one of the wooden swords in the pen. ¡°Here,¡± he said reaching out for the child. Without hesitation, Samantha placed the child in Ronin¡¯s arms. Her reaction going a long way to convince Ronin that she, at least, didn¡¯t see anything wrong with what they were doing.


    ¡°Hello, little guy.¡± Ronin said, bouncing the child in his arms a little.


    ¡°This one is a girl, my lord.¡± Samantha said, with a slight nod towards the child.


    ¡°Really? Thank you, Samantha.¡± He said, looking at the child in his arms, who was making ¡°Oh, oh, oh¡± noises as he bounced her. He squinted as he smiled at her, trying to get any sense that she was in fact a girl. He¡¯d never seen a Kaldarr female before, but he could see a difference in the shape of her cheek bones and around her eyes when he looked closely. her overall bulky frame, for a toddler, had distracted him from them at first.


    He played with her for a few minutes, then swapped her out for one of the human/goblin kids. While he played with the kids, he asked Samantha and Eric questions about them. he could see a difference in their intellect as he played with them. the pure goblin kids weren¡¯t interested in him at all, until he offered them a snack. Whereas the trog/goblins tried biting him when he picked them up. he stayed for nearly an hour, watching while Eric and the other man showed the kids how to use the ¡®toys¡¯. Only leaving when it was time for the kids to have a nap.


    Walking out of the hide covered house, Ronin¡¯s mind was settled, at least a little. Sure, they were half breed experiments, but they weren¡¯t really being mistreated. Samantha had apparently been in charge of raising Kaldarr babies during her enslavement, so she was already trained at this. where Eric had been a sparring partner for the young Kaldarr warriors. That actually translated to being their punching bag, but Ronin was glad to see that wasn¡¯t happening here.


    Content to just let the experiment continue, Ronin returned to his pod. Again, he stripped his armor down and cleaned it and himself before climbing in. it was an engraved habit, and he barely noticed himself doing it anymore. although he hadn¡¯t seen any action this trip, marching for days on end in his heavy armor was an experience all its own. Laying back in his pod, Ronin closed his eyes. as the hiss of the pod pressurizing sent him to sleep.


    *            *            *


    The week following his return was a blur of activity. They had to sort through the goblins, separating them into their classes. The pure-blooded goblins were sent off to work in the fields, while the ¡®crafter class¡¯ goblins were split into the food corps and the scout teams. The food corps Wasn¡¯t just responsible for cooking. They worked in the gardens, hunted herbs, processed and tanned hides, and did a slew of other useful jobs. The goblin men however, to a man, loved to eat. So, they had decided on the name food corps themselves. Ronin didn¡¯t really care what they called themselves, so the name stuck.


    Once everyone was settled into their new roles, Ronin went back to training. He had continued his routine from before, only now always fully armored. After the multi day run underground, it wasn¡¯t as hard as it used to be. So, like now, he found himself running laps around the entire valley, he wasn¡¯t too badly winded, at least for a few laps. He held up better than the new scout team K3 and he were currently running with anyway.


    On the third lap, a crack split the air, and a hammer blow knocked Ronin from his feet. several more cracks rang out, and Ronin heard the goblins screaming around him as he scrambled to find cover. They were in the open grasslands near the inner wall, so there wasn¡¯t much cover to be had. he ended up just laying prone in the tall grass while he readied his rifle and looked around.


    ¡°My lord, are you ok?¡± K3 asked as he crawled over to Ronin¡¯s side. Ronin looked at the Giant Kaldarr as he arrived. His armor had a few dents, but he seemed unharmed. Turning his head, Ronin tried to find their attackers, while shots continued to ring out.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said over the noise of gunfire. ¡°The bullet didn¡¯t go through, but where are the enemy?¡± he still couldn¡¯t find their attackers, and he was getting worried for his scout team.


    ¡°On the wall sir,¡± K3 said pointing. Following his finger, Ronin saw some half dozen Kaldarr warriors laying prone on the wall, firing their rifles down on them in small puffs of gun smoke. ¡°I count nine of them sir, they must be the remaining Kaldarr who escaped the battle.¡± The math fit, considering there had been fifty of them originally. They had killed thirty-two of them, captured four and then later Owl five had captured another five. That left nine, but Ronin had thought some had run away from the valley. They must have found each other in the weeks since the attack.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Ronin answered. Desperately trying to think what to do. ¡°Owl two, this is Owl one.¡± he said into his helmet com. ¡°We are under fire from the nine remaining Kaldarr warriors. They are on the wall and firing down on us.¡± He decided to call in the attack, Owl two would likely know what to do better than he would anyway.


    ¡°Owl one this is Owl two.¡± came the immediate reply. ¡°K3 has already called in the attack.¡± The android continued, ¡°yours and K3¡¯s armor should be able to withstand the fire at that range. just hold your position until reinforcements arrive.¡± His words were punctuated by another goblin scream.


    ¡°What about the scouts?¡± he shouted into his coms, flinching at the sound of one of his people in pain. ¡°Their armor can¡¯t hold up to the rounds, they will all be killed before anyone can get here.¡±


    ¡°They are acceptable losses, as long as you are safe.¡± Owl two said, his tone as even as ever. Ronin shook his head, unwilling to just lay here while his people were killed. He wracked his brains, trying to think of a solution. It wasn¡¯t easy to think, with the sounds of gunfire and screaming filling his ears. Another bullet impacted his armor, driving the wind from his lungs but doing no real damage.


    ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± he said. ¡°K3, you and I will charge up the wall and engage them hand to hand.¡± He said on open coms. If his armor could withstand the shots, then why should he hide down here? having spoken, he got to his feet and ran at full tilt towards the inner wall. he felt multiple rounds impacting his armor as he ran, but he ignored it.


    ¡°Owl one, I repeat Owl one¡­Ronin, listen to me¡­¡± Owl two was trying to talk him out of the charge, but he paid the android no more attention than the bullets. Pelting across the field towards the wall at full speed. He didn¡¯t know if K3 was behind him or not, but it didn¡¯t matter. He had trained for this, and he wouldn¡¯t let his people die, not if he could help it. he pulled out his mace and shield as he got closer.


    Reaching the wall, he leapt upwards. Planting his foot into the bound logs, he kicked off with all his might. rocketing upwards, he grabbed a binding rope with his shield hand. Using his momentum, he steadied himself as he continued to rise, kicking off again. cresting the top of the wall, he had barely gotten his feet under him, when he took nine rounds to the chest.


    He stumbled back, only just managing to keep his footing on the wall. flames ignited inside his chest, and he could tell that at least one of the rounds had penetrated. Fear flashed through his mind as he relived the fight inside the town. he¡¯d been shot in the chest then as well, and it had nearly killed him. this situation wasn¡¯t the same as back then however. Not only was his armor better, but he was better too. Ignoring the pain as best he could, Ronin leaned forward catching his balance and launched himself at the enemy.


    He hit the nearest Kaldarr with his shield, pushing his rifle up and out of the way. gripping his flanged mace tightly, he activated the taser Owl two had built into the weapon. Electricity sparked between the flanges as the weapon hurtled towards the now open Kaldarr warrior. Ronin grinned at the thud of impact as the first warrior was knocked, twitching, to the ground. another heavy Kaldarrian round slammed into his side before he could follow up the swing.


    Pivoting around to face the new threat, Ronin saw K3 vaulting onto the wall. his eight-foot frame towering over the unmodified Kaldarr warrior who had just shot Ronin. with a swing of his hammer, he sent the unfortunate warrior right off the wall. he then moved in to engage another enemy. Ronin didn¡¯t have time to watch his fight however, another bullet impacted his shield from the other side.


    Bringing his shield in to cover his torso, Ronin advanced on the new target. This Kaldarr was bigger than the last, and after firing the shot, dropped his rifle. Reaching to his belt, the warrior drew a thick bladed machete before throwing himself at Ronin with a war cry. Ronin took the blow to his shield, angling it like Benjamin had taught him to deflect much of the impact. The Kaldarr, it seemed, wasn¡¯t trained in melee fighting, because he had put all his strength into that swing.


    When Ronin redirected the blow, he was knocked off balance and stumbled forward. right into the downwards swing of Ronin¡¯s mace. Electricity crackled again as the mace impacted the back of the warrior¡¯s head. the blow dropped the warrior, where he lay twitching on the wall. turning his head, Ronin found another enemy to engage.


    He took three more rounds before the battle ended, at least one of which penetrated his armor. thankfully, the Kaldarr weren¡¯t highly trained. They fought like brutes, and between him and K3, they fell quickly. Unfortunately, his armor couldn¡¯t hold up to their guns¡¯ heavy rounds at this close a range. He looked down at himself, panting heavily from exertion and pain. There were several rents in his deeply dented armor. Thankfully, his nanite under armor had done its job and stopped most of the pass through. However, he could see blood seeping out between the overlapping plates of his armor.


    ¡°Sir,¡± K3 shouted in alarm, coming forward to inspect Ronin¡¯s wounds. ¡°Drink this, while I get these plates off.¡± he said, forcing his enhanced water canteen into Ronin¡¯s hands. Ronin shakily drank the nanite laced water while K3 pulled his armor off. there was a lot of blood, and now that the battle was over, the pain was catching up to him.


    ¡°Damn it,¡± he muttered as he felt the world going dark around him. ¡°Not again.¡± for once, he would like to make it through a battle without falling unconscious. Still, he smiled as darkness claimed him. he¡¯d defended his people against the Kaldarr this time, instead of hiding, while they died around him.

 Chapter Seventeen

    The all too familiar sound of depressurizing air met Ronin¡¯s ears when he woke up. he came right to full wakefulness instantly, thanks to the pod, he was never groggy in the mornings anymore. bringing his hands up, he felt his bare chest. there were no injuries, but the fact they took his armor off meant it was probably bad. Sitting up, he looked around. K2 stood outside his pod this time, making him worry that K3 might not have made it. the look on his face must have betrayed his thoughts because K2 spoke up instantly.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine sir,¡± K2 said soothingly. ¡°He needed a little help, so Owl two put him in Owl three¡¯s pod after he looked into his injuries.¡± Ronin let out a sigh of relief, he would have been devastated if he¡¯d lost another team member.


    ¡°How many scouts made it?¡± he asked, accepting K2¡¯s help out of the pod. He¡¯d been training with one of the new teams, so they hadn¡¯t even been armed yet.


    ¡°We lost three of the scouts sir,¡± K2 said. ¡°But one of Benjamin¡¯s teams came back with more goblins, so we were able to refill the ranks.¡± Ronin nodded, less worried about full ranks than dead scouts. Still, it was good to know he hadn¡¯t lost them all.


    ¡°How is the hunt going?¡± he asked, partially to change the subject and partially out of curiosity. A team of scouts was partnered with one of Benjamin''s squads, for a better-rounded team. They had been taking turns going down to the mushroom forest to hunt for goblins. Ronin had stayed out of it, choosing to let his people practice working together while he trained.


    ¡°Good sir, the first team returned. They only managed to bring sixteen goblins back, but no one was injured.¡± The pair had started walking towards Ronin¡¯s tent while they talked. He never used the tent, so had argued against having one wasted on him. still, it was nice when he wanted to change or bathe in private.


    ¡°Glad to hear it, how about the Kaldarr?¡± he asked as they entered his tent. ¡°Did we get them all?¡± there was a tub of water, ready and waiting for him when he entered. It looked like it had been welded together from scraps of the Kaldarrian ships, but it held water just fine. Stripping out of his nanite pants, Ronin stepped into the water.


    ¡°All the warriors you fought were recovered, my lord.¡± K2 said, taking up position at the door. ¡°K3 got a little over excited when he saw how badly you were shot and killed the first two, he encountered. But seven of the nine were taken alive. They are recuperating before they begin loyalty training with the other six captured Kaldarr warriors.¡±


    Thirteen captured Kaldarrian warriors, plus the three Ronin had implanted and upgraded. If Owl two¡¯s loyalty training worked out, then that would be quite the addition to his forces. If not, well he could still use them as forced labor. Though he had high hopes, the six they¡¯d been working on were already starting to come around.


    Ronin spent the next hour in the tub, asking questions and thinking. it was a lot nicer than back in the caves on earth. Back then a person would have to bathe in a cold river, with whom ever was bathing or washing clothes at the time. He did feel a little bad that K2 couldn¡¯t enjoy a bath himself, but the tub wasn¡¯t big enough, and he was on guard duty anyway. ¡°Maybe I should have Owl two build a community bath house for off duty soldiers and workers to enjoy.¡± He mused as he soaked.


    ¡°Owl two said he would like to have a meeting when you were finished.¡± K2 said as Ronin dried himself and dressed in his old armor. he¡¯d asked K2 about it, and it seemed his new armor was being repaired and strengthened. It would be even heavier going forward, but he was stronger now than he had been when it was made.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said once he was outfitted and ready to go. ¡°Let¡¯s go see what Owl two has to say.¡± he moved to the door, but was stopped by K2, who exited first to check the surroundings. Ronin sighed, he thought they were passed that stage, but he had been nearly killed recently so he couldn¡¯t complain.


    ¡°All clear sir,¡± K2 said poking his head back in the tent.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Ronin said as he followed the giant outside.


    The walk to the command tent was short. There weren¡¯t many people inside the cave anymore, just the newest goblins and their care takers. Everyone else was either on assignment or moved outside to the valley. More of the cave had been converted into testing grounds for Owl two¡¯s experiments. Ronin figured it wouldn¡¯t be long before the cave was off limits to the general population entirely. He smiled when he walked past the forest of standing Kaldarr armored suits. They were obsolescent, with his fabrication unit, but they still looked impressive. Like futuristic terra cotta soldiers.


    Ronin entered the command tent to find; Owl two, Owl five, Benjamin, hunter, Samantha and Karr. They were sitting around the table, but they rose when he entered. Waving them back down, he moved up and took his own seat next too Owl Five. Looking across the table to Owl two he asked.


    ¡°What have you got for us, hope I haven¡¯t made you all wait too long?¡± he looked around at his command team; Owl two and Benjamin sat across from him while Hunter and Samantha sat to his right and Karr sat on the other side of him. they all smiled and shook their heads at his question, before Owl two got things started.


    ¡°Not at all, my lord.¡± He said with an inclination of his head. ¡°I called everyone together when you woke up, and we all arrived just moments before you did.¡± gesturing to the map, he said. ¡°We need to go over our plans. Lord Ronin has said we need to control the underground city within seven weeks. Also, from what Benjamin tells me, the fight at the wall will be lost by then as well.¡±


    Ronin looked at the map, it showed the outline of the mushroom forest in the mountains. there were several figures of batlins and hobats, goblins and hobgoblins scattered around the cave. All the way to the kingdom¡¯s wall. that held several human soldier figures and a few taller, slender figures in intricate armor. outside the walls, were a swarm of what looked like human insectoids.


    ¡°Therefore, I think we should divide our attention between the two tasks.¡± He slid the figures of Ronin, Owl five, Karr¡¯s squad and Hunters team into a drop ship, along with K1, K2, K3 and Guts. then moved himself, Benjamin and the remaining three scout teams into the tunnels with one of Benjamin¡¯s squads. That left two of Benjamin¡¯s squads and a partial scout team behind at the camp.


    ¡°I propose that you take the drop ship to assist at the wall, my lord.¡± Owl two said pointing at the swarm of insectoids outside the wall. ¡°It will take Benjamin and I several weeks to prepare for the assault on the underground city. But before we can effectively plan a campaign, we need to go down for a look. we can come up with a plan, while we strip the mushroom forest clean of goblins. Bolstering our numbers, while cutting down on the number of enemies we will have to face during the battle.¡± He continued for a while before opening the floor for comments. Ronin had a few questions, so he spoke first.


    ¡°Won¡¯t we be leaving the valley exposed if we only leave two squads behind?¡± he asked, with a raised brow.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe so, my lord,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Now that the Kaldarrian threat has been dealt with, it should be the safest time to go. besides, we still have Eric and the second drop ship here. The guns on board that vessel should be enough to deal with anything short of another space invasion.¡± He nudged the second drop ship while he talked, making Ronin think about the carnage Owl five had wrought on the Kaldarr warriors the night they attacked.


    ¡°Is that likely?¡± he asked, a bit worried. ¡°Did we ever find out how many dropships the Kaldarr had? we got lucky before, but if they land fifty more troops while the fighters with guns are all away¡­¡± he trailed off at the end, knowing he didn¡¯t have to spell it out.


    ¡°After talking with our captives and K1, K2 and K3, it is likely there are at least five more drop ships. However, they only came here for easy slaves. we wiped out their entire drop force and took their ships away. It is unlikely they will come anywhere near us again.¡± Owl two said, making Ronin breathe a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Alright, then how about the trip to the wall? can we really make a difference with only twenty some of us? Locusts are beyond aggressive, and they breed like crazy. If they have been left alone outside the wall this whole time, there are likely tens of thousands of them by now.¡± He looked at the insectoid figures while he spoke.


    Locusts were an invasive alien species. They dropped onto a planet in large egglike pods, where they hatched and began the process of devouring everything biological on the entire planet. They reproduced rapidly; making humanoid drones at first, but as more and more of a planet was conquered, they would start to create larger units, using the biological matter they ate. Eventually, they would strip a planet completely clean. Then, a queen locust would gobble up all her children, creating a large pod that she would shoot into space. Where it would head towards another planet, to start the process all over again.


    Like the Kaldarr, the locusts were a pretty one-dimensional species. They existed to eat everything they could, to the point of eating themselves to death. They came from a book series that Ronin had only read a few volumes of, and were countered by a race of giants who wore super heavy armor. Ronin thought they were kind of lame though, so he hadn¡¯t included them in his world. a decision he now regretted. Almost as much as including the locusts, because now there was no counter to their spread. He¡¯d done his best to put them from his mind, knowing that he didn¡¯t have the resources to fight them yet, and he might never be able too.


    ¡°The locusts are individually strong, true.¡± Owl two said, ¡°but they don¡¯t focus on fighting. They focus on eating, and only attack when their food fights back. If you take all eight of the railgun rifles with you, you can kill a few hundred with those alone. Along with outfitting Karr¡¯s squad with Kaldarrian rifles I¡¯ve modified for their smaller size, and the crossbows I made for the scouts¡­ I believe you can put a dent in their numbers.¡± He then pulled out another figure from the box and set it beside the drop ship.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Plus, I¡¯ve put together a little present for the locust I think should go a long way towards helping out your mission.¡± Ronin looked at the figure and couldn¡¯t help the wide grin that spread across his face.


    ¡°But what about these,¡± Hunter said pointing towards the tall slender figures that stood on the wall with the humans. ¡°Who are they supposed to be?¡± Ronin looked over to the assertive Goblin woman. After Guts, she was the best goblin they¡¯d found. Honestly, if it hadn¡¯t been for the nanite injections that Guts got, she would be far superior to him.


    ¡°Those are moon elves,¡± Owl two said taking a figure from the box and tossing it to Hunter. ¡°We honestly don¡¯t know a lot about them. Other than being a nature loving race, who uses grown arms and armor, they are also fond of battle pets. They use living ships to travel through space, but I honestly don¡¯t know how that works. So, part of your mission will be to gather information on them.¡± Hunter nodded, looking at the figure in her hand.


    Moon elves. Slender human sized people with silver hair and skin the color of the full moon. Another fictional race Ronin had added to his world. it had cost a few million credits for every race he had added, and most of them weren¡¯t even sustainable. Like the Kaldarr and moon elves, they only had one ship¡¯s worth of population in orbit. Making it unlikely they could live beyond one or two generations. He shook his head at his waste of credits.


    ¡°But why are they working with the humans to combat the locusts?¡± Karr asked, speaking up for the first time.


    ¡°We can¡¯t know for sure, that will be part of your mission to discover¡± Owl two said. ¡°But it¡¯s likely because they are a nature loving species, and the locusts are anathema to nature and all life in general.¡±


    The meeting continued for over an hour. Once they had settled on Ronin¡¯s mission, they discussed Owl two and Benjamin¡¯s objective. On the surface it seemed straight forward, but Ronin had the feeling it was going to be much harder than his own mission. Once they ironed everything out, the meeting split up. his people went out to get ready for the mission, while Owl two went with Ronin and K2 too check on K3.


    ¡°Are you really going to tell me that he was this injured?¡± Ronin asked in disbelief, when they reached the pod. He looked through the transparent door at K3. The enhanced Kaldarr was covered in scars. It looked like the poor man had fallen into a wood chipper and been sewn back together. ¡°There really is no way, Owl two¡­ what did you do to my guard?¡± anger was bubbling up in Ronin¡¯s chest again at the antics of his ¡®assistant.¡¯


    ¡°No, my lord.¡± Owl two said candidly. ¡°However, since you were going to be under for a few days anyway¡­ I decided I should improve your favored guard.¡± The android¡¯s tone never varied, he could be talking about the weather, or the genocide of humanity and his tone would stay the same. Still, it really got on Ronin¡¯s nerves sometimes.


    ¡°What does ¡®improve¡¯ mean exactly?¡± he asked through gritted teeth. K3 really was his favorite of the enhanced Kaldarr and seeing him mutilated like this was almost more than he could handle. It would have been bad enough if the enemy had hurt him this much, but it had been his own side that had done it.


    ¡°My lord mentioned that he wanted to know if it was possible to improve the¡­ vision¡­ of his people. So, while I was patching this unit up, I transplanted a pair of eyes to him¡­ along with a heart, lungs¡­ and a few other things from the deceased Owl three. Thankfully they were compatible, the nanites and the pod will take care of the healing process. In a day or two he will come out better than ever.¡±


    ¡°Owl two¡­¡± Ronin started, his voice failing him after the first few words.


    ¡°Yes, my lord?¡± the android asked, a hint of innocence in his bland tone.


    ¡°I forbid you to ever¡­ under any circumstance, to ever experiment or improve or adjust or¡­ anything to Owl five¡­ do you understand me, Owl two?¡± if the android had really mutilated K3 because he was Ronin¡¯s favorite guard¡­ what would he do to someone Ronin liked more than a guard? A long minute passed in silence, while the pair stared at each other.


    ¡°I understand, my lord.¡± He said at last, Ronin couldn¡¯t be sure, but he thought the android really did understand this time.


    ¡°I am glad to hear that.¡± he said, a note of steel in his voice for the first time when talking to his assistant. Ronin couldn¡¯t deny how useful Owl two was, but the android had a strong desire to do experiments on living creatures that pushed the bounds of what Ronin was comfortable with. ¡°What about our armor?¡± he asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Owl two said seemingly happy at the subject change. He moved around the pod to the fabrication section. ¡°I¡¯m currently working on thickening the plates to both your armor sets.¡± He pointed through the window at the roughly six-foot cubed chamber inside the pod. It was currently adding material to an armor plate. Ronin watched in fascination as a mechanical arm laid down a bead of material while a second arm pressed it down. it was like a 3-D printer, mixed with a welder with a forge thrown in for good measure. That wasn¡¯t the limit of this machine¡¯s capabilities either. Given enough time and the right resources, Ronin knew it could create living things as well. Not people, but advanced plants or replacement limbs weren¡¯t out of the question.


    ¡°Tell me about the changes,¡± Ronin said as he watched the machine work. It was a time-consuming process, but several fold faster than trying to forge the plates by hand. The fabrication unit was a technological marvel, bordering on magical. It could even print him out a computer or a space ship, component by component, if he had the time and materials. Sadly, he had neither at the moment. Nor the blueprints to craft them from.


    ¡°Functionally, the suits will remain the same. However, I am increasing the thickness as well as adding a layer of carbon fiber weave to the inside surface and an enameled coating of the same to the outer surfaces. This layering should reduce penetration, as well as look good for the moon elves. Who by all accounts like beautiful things. Sadly, I don¡¯t have the time to do everyone¡¯s armor in layers, but the Kaldarr and Owl five will get the outer coating to match your suit, sir.¡± Owl two went into more detail about the enamel coating and discussed possible color and pattern options with Ronin for a time, before bidding him farewell and going back to work.


    Ronin watched him go, worry gnawing at his mind. Owl two was a concern, but not the main one. he knew the next few weeks were going to be tough, locusts were terrifying enemies. Not to mention the moon elves, who Ronin didn¡¯t know much more about than Owl two. he was going into an unknown situation, while leaving both of his strategic commanders behind. One of whom, Ronin didn¡¯t trust completely anymore. shaking his head, Ronin started making his own preparations. There was nothing he could do about his worries, other than face them head on. He couldn¡¯t change Owl two¡¯s programming, but he could go kill some locusts.


    *            *            *


    ¡°We look ridiculous.¡± Ronin said, looking around the inside of the drop ship Owl two had named Flight one. everyone¡¯s armor had been coated with a black enamel. That would be fine by itself, but there were dark gray patterns on them with light gray patterns on top of those. In the sunlight, it looked like shadowy flames, while still blending in well with the shadows at night. Ronin¡¯s own armor went a step further yet. It was also black with increasingly light shades of gray as well, but his went all the way to brilliant white at the tips of the flames.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know sir.¡± Karr said where he sat half way down the line, chewing on a mouthful of leaves. ¡°I think we look like a true elite squadron. Only the king¡¯s own guard wore armor this fine when we worked for the Mountain¡¯s Embrace kingdom.¡± He grinned then, showing teeth stained red from the leaves he chewed. ¡°Since we were assigned to you full time, my lord¡± here he paused to spit into a cup. ¡°I guess that makes us your royal guards.¡± After spitting, he leaned back in his seat, adjusting the strap of his Kaldarrian inspired rifle as he moved.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about ¡®royal¡¯, but I couldn¡¯t ask for a better escort than you fine men and women.¡± Ronin said with a grin, looking around at the troops strapped into Flight one¡¯s seats. He still thought they looked ridiculous, but if his people liked it then he could let it slide. Instead of focusing on his new look, he took in the drop ship around them.


    It looked like a shipping crate with propellers and guns from the outside. From the inside, it frankly didn¡¯t look much better. A long rectangular box filled with several rows of seats, and a large open area near the front of the ship for cargo. The ship would seat fifty soldiers comfortably. Ronin was once again thankful that he¡¯d placed a fifty-man limit on who could drop from orbit, and that the Kaldarr had been after slaves. if they hadn¡¯t brought so many half empty ships down, Owl two wouldn¡¯t have so much raw material to work with, and they wouldn¡¯t be flying right now.


    ¡°How are you holding up?¡± he asked K3, who was sitting beside him. the Kaldarr had woken up only the night before and hadn¡¯t had much time to get acclimated to his new body.


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, sir.¡± He said with a seated bow, ¡°but I¡¯m fine. Better than fine actually, I feel stronger than ever. No one will be able to hurt you again sir, not unless they go through me first.¡± K3 was feeling guilty about the injuries Ronin had suffered under his watch. Ronin figured that was how Owl two had talked him into going under the knife so easily.


    ¡°My injuries weren¡¯t your fault,¡± Ronin said firmly. ¡°I chose to attack the wall. so, its all on me. Besides, I might have died if you hadn¡¯t been there to back me up.¡± actually, Ronin knew full well that he would have died without K3¡¯s intervention.


    ¡°There is no ¡®might¡¯ about it¡­ sir.¡± Owl five said from his other side. She hadn¡¯t taken his near-death experience well and had been cold towards him since it happened. ¡°We are your people, sir. It is our jobs to fight and, if need be, die for you¡­ not the other way around.¡± Ronin sighed, she¡¯d said those words, or something similar enough to them, to him every time he¡¯d tried talking to her.


    ¡°Cheer up boss,¡± Guts said. clapping a hand on his back from the row behind them. ¡°It just means she cares about¡­¡± the goblin drew his arm back with a ¡®yelp¡¯ when Owl five turned around with her hand raised. Ronin smirked at their antics. His team had good chemistry, and he enjoyed their company. Turning his eyes from the bickering goblins, Ronin took in the rest of those present.


    There were Karr with his nine men, all dressed in their carbon fiber impregnated armor with metal plates over the vitals. Hunter with her all-female scout team, who were armored the same as Karr¡¯s squad. Except they were armed with knives and crossbows rather than with rifles, spears and shields. Then there were K1, K2 and K3, the hulking giants dwarfing the rest of them by several feet. they were wearing full metal plate armor and carrying massive shields and blunt weapons like maces or hammers, in addition to their mark V railguns. That left the three members of the food corps, Guts led personally. They were armored the same as Karr¡¯s men, but their focus wasn¡¯t on combat, but support. That only left Samantha, who was flying the ship. along with the cargo, currently suspended from the ship in a large crate.


    Bringing the crate was a drain on the ships power, but the added firepower it represented was worth the power consumption. The wall was a few hundred miles from the valley, but only a day¡¯s flight away by ship. Ronin had talked at length with Owl two about the power problem. Although the android hadn¡¯t been able to replicate the energy source yet; he assured Ronin he could make the trip to the wall a few hundred times on the power they had. thankfully, he had been able to replicate the rounds the on-board machine gun fired. They were limited on rockets, but the big ship mounted machine gun was lethal to anything not heavily armored and shielded.


    ¡°Settle down you two,¡± Ronin said coming back to the present. ¡°Owl five, I¡¯m sorry. Your right, it was a bad move on my part, but I couldn¡¯t just sit there safely when I had the arms and armor that could help. I promise though, I will be more careful in the future.¡± This was something he¡¯d learned from Penny. It didn¡¯t matter if he was in the wrong or not, giving her an honest sounding apology was the fastest way to end an argument.


    ¡°¡­Right,¡± Owl five said leaning back. ¡°Not like it really matters to me if you kill yourself, but everyone else needs you.¡± she said, rapping her armored knuckles on his chest plate. ¡°So, remember that, ok?¡± Ronin was touched at her gesture. She was usually so reserved¡­ and then the moment was broken when Guts started snickering from behind them. Ronin sighed when Owl five turned around and aimed a swing at the cook.

 Chapter Eighteen

    Getting tired of the banter, Ronin got up and walked into the cockpit where Samantha was operating the ship. setting himself down in the copilot¡¯s seat, Ronin strapped himself in and looked out the window. There wasn¡¯t much to see. From this altitude, he couldn¡¯t see much besides a heavy fog of clouds. They would break every now and again, exposing the ground far below. Thankfully, the relatively steady flight didn¡¯t mess with his inner ear like during the drop. The height didn¡¯t bother him either, he¡¯d spent most of his time outside climbing up and down the obscenely huge crystal trees. Where a single flower was larger than one of the dino hide houses.


    ¡°How goes the flight, Samantha?¡± he asked after a while.


    ¡°Sam, is fine sir.¡± She said, giving him a small smile. ¡°And its smooth sailing so far¡­ a lot less stressful than working with those kids ha-ha.¡± She added with a shake of her head.


    ¡°How is that coming along?¡± he asked curiously, still looking out the window.


    ¡°Great, actually.¡± She said, ¡°they¡¯re just kids at the end of the day. I¡¯m used to working with Kaldarr children, but I wasn¡¯t in charge back then. Being a slave who can be given pain by a four-year-old throwing a tantrum wasn¡¯t the most pleasant experience.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ sorry about that, Sam¡± Ronin said. the pair went quiet after that, Sam flying the ship and Ronin looking out the window. A long time passed in silence before Samantha spoke again.


    ¡°I wanted to thank you,¡± she said hesitantly. ¡°We, Eric and I, grew up being slaves¡­ when you captured us¡­ you could have easily kept the collars on. Had us do everything we are doing now, only with enforced loyalty. The fact that you didn¡¯t¡­ well you¡¯ve earned our real loyalty.¡± Ronin listened quietly while she stuttered through her thanks. Looking out the window while she got that off her chest.


    When she was finished, he turned and took her in for the first time in a while. She was wearing the metal plate covered leather, in black with gray flames that had somehow become his colors. Her brown hair had been cropped shorter than finger length when she¡¯d first arrived. Now it had grown out to a few inches and was developing a curl. She¡¯d been thin as well. he hadn¡¯t realized it then but it must have been from malnourishment, because her frame had filled out and thickened. She¡¯d been doing exercises along with everyone else in the valley, so her muscles had developed a lean, toned look. he remembered she was of a height with Guts, four inches over five feet or so. He figured that put her at around 110 lbs.


    Ronin sat back in his seat again, lost in thought. He¡¯d been in this world for a handful of weeks at this point. Yet, he still hadn¡¯t paid much attention to those outside his inner circle. He¡¯d honestly been taking Samantha and the rest of his people for granted. That might have had something to do with Owl two handling the day to day, but that wasn¡¯t all of it. he¡¯d been treating this place as if it wasn¡¯t real. It was just an escape for him, from how hard his life had become. Then, when he realized how close to death Markus was, it became a means to make money. He sighed internally, vowing to pay more attention to those around him.


    ¡°No,¡± he said at last, ¡°Thank you Sam. I don¡¯t have any skills, outside of scavenging and reading. Everything that we¡¯ve accomplished, has been done by people more qualified than I am. People like you and Eric, Guts, Hunter, Benjamin and Owl two. All I¡¯ve been doing is training and running off to bring back more problems on everyone, while you¡¯ve gotten on with the business of running the valley. I¡¯d be a fool to keep someone as valuable as you as a slave.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± She actually teared up at those words, wiping her green eyes with the back of her gloved hand. He looked out the window while she got a hold of herself, giving her some privacy. ¡°We are still a few hours out, if you wanted to get some rest.¡± Understanding she wanted to be left alone for a while, Ronin got up. patting her reassuringly on the shoulder, he moved back through the cargo area into the troop compartment.


    Nodding at his team, he moved past them and over to Karr¡¯s people. He was feeling guilty at how much he¡¯d been ignoring his people, so he settled down to join the card game the men were playing. It was a complicated game that he¡¯d brought with him from earth called ¡®Monsters¡¯. he¡¯d had Owl two print up several sets and handed them out to everyone. The main goal was to draw monster cards and empower them using the other cards in your hand to attack your opponents.


    ¡°Mind if I join?¡± He asked, waiting for the nods of approval before he settled down and pulled out his own deck. He¡¯d been surprised to find out Owl two knew all the rules to the game. Even more surprised when he volunteered to make new cards for the game based around the inhabitance of the valley. The game wasn¡¯t exactly the same ¡®Monsters¡¯ that Ronin remembered, but it was even more interesting than before. Since they were playing with cards made based on their companions. They¡¯d renamed the game ¡®People of the Valley¡¯. Still, Ronin had no idea when Owl two managed to find the time to essentially create a recreational game and then print the cards.


    ¡°Lieutenant Benjamin,¡± Karr said with a smile. Setting down a card with the likeness of his military leader on it. ¡°Empowered by lord Ronin¡¯s enameled armor.¡± he continued, laying down a card with a picture of the heavy plate armor. The men groaned when he laid the cards down. Benjamin was a powerful card, and the protection Ronin¡¯s armor supplied was second to none.


    ¡°Move over,¡± Hunter said pushing a few of Karr¡¯s men aside and moving into the circle. ¡°Owl five, empowered by Gut¡¯s soup spoon.¡± She continued, slapping down a pair of cards once she¡¯d joined the group and played a few food cards. As funny as it sounded to be armed with a spoon, no one laughed. Owl five was widely respected in camp for her abilities. ¡°What do you have that can beat that sir?¡± she asked Ronin with a sly grin.


    ¡°ha-ha, I don¡¯t know if I can beat that¡­¡± he said, with a sidelong glance at Owl five. ¡°But I¡¯ve got Owl Four, empowered with his own Warhammer.¡± Ronin smiled a little sadly at the face of his dead friend. Everyone in the valley had a card made of them, that could be updated with new stats if they advanced themselves. It was one of the reasons Owl two had agreed to make the cards. He said that being constantly compared to one¡¯s peers like that would be an excellent motivation tool, because who wanted to be considered weaker than their peers?


    No one present had ever met Owl four. Yet that very fact was another reason they loved the game. If they were to fall in battle, they would be immortalized in the decks of their friends and family. in a kingdom where paintings were the only means of recording one¡¯s image, paintings that were restricted to the very wealthy, the cards were a marvel to Karr¡¯s men and downright magical to the goblins.


    One by one, the rest of those in the troop compartment came over to join the game. Each card had a points value and each deck a max point allotment, so one had to choose who and what gear to include in their decks. During one round, Ronin watched as Guts played a Ronin card armed with his mace. His opponent played three Kaldarr warriors in scout armor. it was a little embarrassing to watch himself distilled down to strength and dexterity stats, and put up against his fellows. Even more so when Guts won the round and no one seemed surprised about it. He hadn¡¯t even known there were so many cards out there now. His deck was built around his original team and the gear they¡¯d dropped with. His base cards had great stats, but the gear wasn¡¯t suited to all situations. So, his win record wasn¡¯t that good. he resolved to get a few updated cards when he returned¡­ assuming Owl two wasn¡¯t monitoring this game that was. If so, he would probably have a new deck waiting for him upon his return without his having to ask.


    The rest of the flight passed like that, everyone getting to know each other better by playing ¡®People of the Valley.¡¯ He¡¯d actually lost a game against one of the scouts who¡¯d played a standard worker goblin named Big toe, who¡¯d been armed with Flight one. everyone had gotten a laugh over that one. Song also won a round, and treated everyone to a victory tune. Her voice was as good as her name implied.


    ¡°We are approaching the wall,¡± Sam¡¯s voice said over flight one¡¯s ship coms. ¡°I will be dropping the crate before bringing us around for the landing. Get ready for action people.¡± With her warning, everyone collected their cards into leather card pouches and resumed their seats. Ronin himself moved back to the copilot¡¯s seat, so he could see what was going on outside.


    Buckling in, Ronin looked out the front window. At first, he didn¡¯t see anything. Until he zoomed in using his artificial eyes. then he saw a massive wall made of stone, connecting between two large valley walls. He grinned, thinking how similar the entire kingdom was to his own valley. It was, itself, a huge valley. Hundreds of miles of flat lands, lakes and forests surrounded on all sides by giant sheer cliff walls. Completely surrounded, except by this mile wide section. The Name Mountain¡¯s Embrace was a little on the nose, but it was true enough.


    The inside wall was surrounded by a massive city. It looked mostly abandoned upon closer inspection. Ronin wasn¡¯t surprised, Benjamin had told them as much. The war had been fierce, and everyone who couldn¡¯t fight had been evacuated long ago to make room for more military personnel. As the ship drew nearer, the wall came into better focus. it was a hundred feet tall, made of stones cut from outside the kingdom and hauled back over decades, and put into place. Thirty feet across at the top, it looked more like a road than a wall.


    As they descended, he could see there were figures on the wall, shooting bows and throwing spears over the edge into an enormous swarm of locusts. Ronin blinked in shock at the actual numbers he was looking at. They carpeted the ground, leaping towards the wall and using their wings to get a little more height. They couldn¡¯t fly thankfully or they would have overrun the valley kingdom already. They could, however, leap on their powerful rear legs and use their wings to stay airborne a little longer.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Ronin shuddered at the insectoids. They really looked like locusts, or grasshoppers, from the books he¡¯d read on earth. their thick carapaces were even the same shade of green. Only they were the size of a man, and stood up on their powerful hind legs. They also had two sets of arms; the larger, upper set were ended with huge slightly curved talons. They looked like swords mounted on the end of their wrists. The second smaller and lower set of arms had a set of claws much closer to human hands. They used the talons to carve up the food and their manipulator arms to carry it back to the hive.


    ¡°Can we drop the crate off without risking bringing them back over with us?¡± he asked as he watched how high they could jump.


    ¡°I can lower the crate up to two hundred feet.¡± she replied, shock written all over her own face. ¡°Might want to get a few guns on the line though, just in case.¡± She added with hesitation.


    ¡°Got ya,¡± he said before pulling up his mental connection to the K¡¯s. ¡°K1, K2 and K3 this is Owl one. we are about to lower the package, please go to the firing doors and ensure that no hostiles manage to cling to the ship during the drop.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± he said to Sam when he finished relaying his instructions. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done.¡± Ronin looked on in fascination as they lowered the crate towards the ground. he swiftly put aside the dreams he¡¯d had of dropping down outside the walls himself to fight with his team against the horde. There were just too many of them. they¡¯d be overrun before they could accomplish anything worthwhile.


    The heavy shots of Kaldarrian rifles rang out as the three K¡¯s fired into the locusts as they tried to reach the ship. the locust had thick natural armor, but the heavy rifle rounds were more than sufficient to penetrate them. they fell from the sky in twos and threes. Only to be devoured by their own kind, broken down into chunks and hauled away to feed the hive.


    ¡°Light em up Sam.¡± He said when the crate had been placed on the ground at last, the cables unhooked. ¡°Half a drum, then land us on the other side.¡±


    ¡°With pleasure sir,¡± she said thumbing over a protective cap on her controls and pressing down on the red button there. With a whirr, the hull mounted machine guns lit up, sending hundreds of rounds into the tide below. The locusts fell like rain, but it didn¡¯t seem to matter. Their fellows were only slowed as they tore into their own kind. She fired until the drums ran dry, but Ronin couldn¡¯t find the words to reprimand her. They¡¯d brought more ammunition anyway; he just hadn¡¯t wanted to meet the moon elves without rounds in the chambers.


    ¡°Empty sir,¡± Sam said with chagrin before angling the craft over the wall and settling it towards the ground. they scanned the city as they dropped, looking for a good place to land the craft. ¡°There?¡± Sam asked, pointing towards an area that looked to have caught fire at some point. The wooden houses had been burned to the ground and the area abandoned. As the ship settled down, Ronin saw dozens of men running towards them, weapons drawn. In their midst were several slender figures with elaborate armor in blue and silver.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± he asked, reentering the troop compartment. Samantha stayed where she was, closing herself inside the cockpit. She wasn¡¯t a combatant, and she was also the only one who could fly the ship with such ease. It was best to keep her safe as possible.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Came the loud reply accompanied by the fist to chest salute.


    ¡°Good.¡± he said looking them over proudly. ¡°Karr, your team goes first. Hunter, follow them out and find cover. Guts, you and the Food corps stay here for now. Everyone else will exit with me, understood?¡± he got another round of ¡®yes, sir.¡¯ Before nodding towards one of the soldiers to open the landing doors. They didn¡¯t know what kind of reception to expect, but hopefully killing so many locusts would at least buy them a conversation.


    Ronin watched as the doors opened and his soldiers and scouts rushed out. he gave them a five count before following them out himself. K1 and K2 moved ahead of him to exit on either side, huge tower shields held up to cover him in case of attack. K3 stood at his side, his own melee weapons in hand. It was a gesture mostly for the benefit of the locals, who likely didn¡¯t know what a fire arm was. If it came down to a fight, he trusted Owl five who was bringing up the rear with her rifle to end things quickly.


    ¡°Hold,¡± a voice shouted as Ronin stepped out into the sunlight. ¡°Who are you people? this is a Kaldarrian ship¡­ those are Kaldarr, damn it let me go.¡± Ronin looked at the speaker, an elven female. Her face was a twisted mask of rage at the sight of the ship. her long silver hair was a tangled mess and her armor was only partially on. It looked like she had jumped out of bed and rushed straight over. she was being restrained by two of her elven companions. It seemed like she was willing to talk until she saw K1, and K2 move into view, after that all bets were off.


    ¡°Elyria, you need to calm down.¡± shouted one of her companions, Ronin noted that one was male and the other was female. ¡°They¡¯re not all Kaldarr. Besides, look at the ship, look at their armor. that guy, White flame there is clearly in charge and he¡¯s far too small to be Kaldarrian.¡± Surprisingly, Owl two had been right when he said repainting the ship in the white flame scheme would pay off. Ronin sighed, knowing the android was likely listening right now.


    He took in their appearance quickly. Human sized with pointed ears, pale skin and silver hair. They were dressed in what looked like blue silk covered with silver armor at the chest, shoulders, forearms, thighs, and shins. Each piece was delicately engraved with wood grain patterns. Ronin thought they looked ready for a ball, not a battle.


    ¡°Greetings,¡± he called out hoping to interrupt a fight before it started. ¡°We aren¡¯t here to fight you, but with you. Yes, this is a Kaldarrian ship, but I took it from them and captured a few of their warriors. They work for me now; we don¡¯t want any trouble with you. we came to help defend the wall for a while.¡± The human soldiers that surrounded them said nothing. It was clear to Ronin they¡¯d deferred command to the moon elves entirely.


    ¡°No.¡± screamed the elven woman Elyria. ¡°Kaldarr are a plague, as bad as the locusts. They all must be destroyed.¡± She shoved the other elves off her and had made it two steps forward before another voice cut through the air.


    ¡°Elyria, that¡¯s enough.¡± looking up, Ronin saw another elf swooping down on the back of a giant sparrow. The bird wore a leather saddle that had several large quivers filled with long arrows strapped to either side of the rider. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. One of the big ones is coming¡­ White flame,¡± he said looking over to Ronin. ¡°Does your ship still have ammunition? If so, I beg you, help us deal with this threat.¡± Groaning internally at the name ¡®White flame¡¯ Ronin nodded to the sparrow mounted elf.


    ¡°K1, K2 get the drums changed out please. Karr, would your men help reload the first set?¡± his words were posed as a question and spoken politely, nevertheless, his men slapped their chests in salute and shouted ¡®yes, sir.¡¯ Before jumping to do as he asked.


    The discipline in front of the elves and human soldiers went a long way to calm the situation. Everyone settled back a little, relaxing their grip on their weapons¡­ everyone except Elyria that is. She had stopped at the sparrow mounted elves command, but it was clear she wanted to attack regardless of his words.


    ¡°Lord Ellanaril,¡± she all but screamed. ¡°They¡¯re Kaldarr. You know what they¡­¡± her words were cut off when the mounted elf vaulted off his mount and got right into her face.


    ¡°I know all too well what they did, Elyria. He was my brother damn it.¡± He screamed, ¡°but the locusts are the priority right now. If we don¡¯t take that big one down before it reaches the wall¡­ how many will die pushing it back?¡± his words seemed to get through to her, at least a little. She stepped back and bowed her head ever so slightly.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She spat out through clenched teeth. ¡°But I will follow this, White flame, from this day until my last day. I swear that when he proves himself to be just another Kaldarr scum¡­ I¡¯ll kill him.¡± The elf lord, along with the other elves within ear shot took in a sharp breath. They looked stunned, and Ronin could only assume she¡¯d said something drastic.


    ¡°Elyria, please, think about this¡­¡± Lord Ellanaril said in a pleading tone. ¡°Once you swear that oath¡­ it can¡¯t be taken back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said it, Brother.¡± Elyria said solemnly. ¡°This will be my final task in life. From this day until my last day.¡± Up until this point, she¡¯d looked crazy. Franticly trying to attack Ronin¡¯s men bare handed and with only half her armor on. She still looked like a mess, but the madness had left her eyes.


    ¡°Very well, sister.¡± Lord Ellanaril said, staring into her eyes, as blue and hard as chipped sapphires, for a long moment before he turned to Ronin. ¡°Lord white flame, I entrust my sister-in-law to your care. If your character is true, she will be a staunch pillar of support¡­ if you prove to be as evil as the Kaldarrian slavers, then she will kill you before taking her own life.¡± When he finished speaking, he dropped into a bow.


    Ronin just stood there blinking his eyes in shock. ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± he shouted inside his head. ¡°Entrust her to my care? Kill me? Support me? What the hell man, what is going on?¡± he didn¡¯t know what to do, but the elf lord was still bowing to him. he had to do something so¡­


    ¡°Although I do not understand exactly what is going on,¡± he started at last. ¡°I intend to help fight at the wall until my people are ready for my team to return. Then l will return here with a much larger force to hopefully end this locust threat for good.¡± he shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m just me, lord Ellanaril, that¡¯s all.¡± he didn¡¯t know what part of his words did the trick, but the elf rose from his bow and nodded.


    ¡°Thank you, lord White flame. Now, is your ship ready? We need to hurry.¡± Ronin turned around to his people who nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready, you want to ride along or lead the way on your sparrow?¡± He motioned his people back on board as he spoke and was shocked when Elyria calmly walked on board with them. she was busy braiding her long silver hair behind her head and straightening her armor.


    ¡°I will lead the way on¡­ wait, you recognize the sparrow? So, you aren¡¯t of this world¡­ never mind.¡± He said with a shake of his head. ¡°I will lead the way, fire at what I fire at. There are a few, so try to conserve your ammunition.¡± With that, he leapt onto the sparrow again and took to the air. The other two elves exchanged a glance and ran up the ramp onto flight one following Elyria. Ronin, confused but interested, followed them in motioning for K3 to shut the door behind them.


    ¡°Follow the sparrow,¡± he said once he was strapped into the copilot¡¯s seat. ¡°He will be pointing out our targets¡­ but go easy on the trigger this time, ok?¡± he added with a slight grin.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Samantha said looking self-conscious as she lifted the craft from the ground. swinging it around to follow the sparrow. four more giant sparrows swooped in to join the first, flying in an inverted ¡®V¡¯ formation. ¡°So, what¡¯s going on boss?¡± she asked once they were underway.


    ¡°I honestly have no idea.¡± He said with a shake of his head. ¡°But after we shoot some bugs, I plan to find out.¡±


    Another two sparrows joined the ¡®V¡¯ as they flew over the wall. there were seven truck sized birds flying in front of them now. Surprisingly, to Ronin, they were easily doing eighty miles an hour. Barely a crawl for the drop ship but faster than he expected a bird to be able to fly. The elves shot down into the swarm as they flew. Expertly piercing the enemy¡¯s carapace, despite the speed. Five minutes passed like that, until an exclamation from Sam pulled Ronin¡¯s attention up from the horde.


    ¡°Holy jeez, look at that,¡± she said pointing. Ronin followed her finger out into the mass of bugs. Where his eyes landed on a locust that looked just like the rest¡­ except it was the size of a school bus.

 Chapter Nineteen

    The giant locust was gliding along a few hundred feet above the ground. After about a mile, it slowly lost altitude, until it landed in the swarm of locusts. Ronin couldn¡¯t hear anything inside the cockpit or from this distance, but he could imagine the crunch of carapace as the huge locust crushed several dozen of its followers before it leapt into the air again. The survivors began busily harvesting their fellows, while the school bus sized bug spread its wings again.


    ¡°It¡¯s a queen,¡± Ronin said with a grimace.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad, isn¡¯t it?¡± Sam asked in a quavering voice.


    ¡°Yes and no,¡± Ronin said with a shake of his head. ¡°It means the invasion has gone on long enough for queens to spawn¡­ but the fact this one is still mobile, means we caught it early enough.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say boss,¡± Sam said, clearly not understanding but too focused on flying to pry.


    Ronin thought back over everything he knew about the locusts. Their pod would impact the ground, then the drones would start to hatch. They¡¯d eat their pod to gain strength and start devouring everything biological they could find. This was the best time to stop an invasion, when the drones had limited numbers and couldn¡¯t reproduce. Then one in every so many thousand would mutate into a queen, which could lay eggs of its own. That was where they were now. each queen could lay as many eggs as it had biological matter to fuel their creation.


    This was a tricky stage because their numbers would start blowing out of all control. Until the food started running out. Then the queens would go to war with each other, until only one was left. When that happened, they would hunker down, losing their mobility, but gaining the ability to produce new types of drones. If the invasion reached that point it was all but impossible to route them out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said instead of a long explanation. ¡°All we have to do is kill all the big bugs and keep doing it whenever new ones mutate. That will stop them multiplying, then it¡¯ll just be a war of attrition.¡± They could do this, it wouldn¡¯t be quick, there were hundreds of thousands of them down there, but they could do it.


    ¡°Got it,¡± Sam said. ¡°So, want me to take that big sucker out then boss?¡± she asked, finger already on the trigger. Ronin looked at the queen for a long second, the elves were shooting arrow after arrow at her, but they all bounced harmlessly off her thick carapace.


    ¡°Do it,¡± he said at last. ¡°But start slow, I want to see how much punishment she can take before she goes down.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Sam said a feral grin spreading across her face as she let off a three second burst from her machine guns. The grin widened when the flying queen was blown out of the sky from the impact and crashed down into the swarm below, flattening another dozen locusts.


    The grin disappeared the next moment, when the queen stood back up and launched herself at the ship. The bullets impact had knocked her off course, but they hadn¡¯t had enough power to penetrate her thickly armored exoskeleton.


    ¡°Dodge.¡± He yelled as the queen lunged straight at the ship. Sam was already doing just that, but the queen was rapidly getting closer, and he was panicking.


    ¡°Working on it sir,¡± Sam said as she banked the craft hard to the side, firing into the approaching queen as she went. The rounds pinged off her armor as they hit, scoring the surface but still not penetrating.


    ¡°Get too the gun ports,¡± he shouted into the ship¡¯s coms. ¡°Fire at will¡­ whatever it takes, just kill that queen.¡±  The drop ship had twenty small hatches lining the walls, ten on each side. They were designed for a Kaldarr to lay prone on the deck and fire down on targets below. Ronin didn¡¯t really have much hope in handheld rifles breaking her defenses when the machine gun couldn¡¯t, but every little bit helped.


    Gunfire cracked out from the troop compartment as his people responded to the orders. In the meantime, Sam had slewed around behind the queen locust, and was firing into her back. Her rounds weren¡¯t having any better effect back here, except to force her back towards the ground faster. Ronin¡¯s eyes darted around, looking frantically for some solution. The queen had landed with a crunch, smashing even more of her drones. Yet only a second passed before she righted herself and leapt right back towards flight one.


    ¡°Shoot her wings.¡± He finally said, noting that her wings were covered in thick armor when on the ground, but were exposed while she was in flight. Maybe they could at least ground her, if not take her out entirely.


    With a grunt of acknowledgement, Sam swiveled her guns around and opened fire on the rapidly beating wings. she emptied half a drum into the side of the queen before she connected with the base of her left wing. Like Ronin had hoped, the wing had been concealed with armor for its protection. The dozens of rounds smashing into the delicate membrane shattered it, and the whole thing flew off and landed in the swarm. Where it was promptly devoured.


    Losing control of her flight, the queen did a corkscrew in midair. She was trying desperately to stay aloft with only one set of wings beating and it had put her into an out-of-control spin. She landed with a lot more momentum this time and left a trail of broken locust bodies behind her as she struggled to her feet again. Without hesitation, she flung herself right back into the air, ten-foot-long talons flailing towards the ship.


    Unfortunately for the queen, her wing was still missing. When her leap ended and she extended her wings, she ended up in a corkscrew dive again. Smashing down into another cluster of drones.


    ¡°Stop firing.¡± Ronin said, resting a hand on Sam¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Just fly around for a while. Keep her attention on us. she¡¯s killing more of her own kind right now than we could with the same number of bullets¡­ I¡¯m going out back for a while. Keep up the good work.¡± Squeezing her shoulder gently, he moved out back.


    Nearly everyone in the troop compartment had their front half hanging out a firing port. Lines clipped to their gear kept them from falling out as they fired down on the queen as quickly as they could reload. Their fire was ineffective, but they kept at it anyway, hoping to get lucky.


    ¡°Cease fire,¡± Ronin called out. Having to shout the words twice more before everyone heard him over the sounds of gunfire and the roar of the engines. ¡°We are going to kite the queen around for a while. Let her kill her own drones for a bit while we come up with a plan.¡± Motioning to his team, Ronin turned to the rest of his people. ¡°Karr, could your guys swap out the drums with fresh ones please? Do them one at a time so we aren¡¯t down in case we need to fire. Then if all of you would work together to reload the spent drums. Thank you.¡± Having finished his instructions, Ronin led his personal team into the cargo area where they could talk in private.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± the angry words stopped Ronin as he was exiting the troop compartment. ¡°You aren¡¯t going anywhere without me.¡± Ronin groaned internally at the words. He¡¯d completely forgotten about the moon elves who¡¯d boarded his ship at the last second. Turning around he wasn¡¯t surprised to see that it was Elyria who had spoken out.


    ¡°Listen,¡± he said raising his hand in placation. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you think is going on here, but I¡¯


    m just going to have a private word with my people. You and your friends can wait here and¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± one of the other two elves said imploringly. ¡°She swore an oath unto her last day, and you accepted it. You must take her into your council. Should you prove true of purpose, Elyria will serve you faithfully for life, should you prove however to be a wicked man. She will strike you down to prevent your wickedness from spreading.¡±


    ¡°And you are?¡± Ronin asked the elven woman when she had finished speaking. He didn¡¯t really care what her name was under these circumstances, but he needed to buy time to think.


    ¡°My name is Surrallathil, and this is my husband Durrallathil.¡± She said, introducing them both. ¡°I¡¯m Elyriaaril¡¯s¡­¡± A hiss of pain from Elyria silenced her. She looked at her sister with sympathy before she started talking again. ¡°Sorry, I mean, I¡¯m Elyria¡¯s sister.¡±


    Frowning at the strangeness of elven naming conventions, Ronin made to speak, when the whole ship jostled to the side. A few of the soldiers lost their footing, but everyone else managed to catch themselves.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± Sam¡¯s voice echoed in his helmet. ¡°She got a little too close for comfort that time. she was losing interest in us, so I swooped down to get her attention. But I think she was baiting me¡­ I¡¯ll be more careful going forward.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Sam,¡± he replied over his coms before turning his attention back to the elves. ¡°Whatever, we can hash this out later but right now we have a ticked off queen locust to deal with. Let¡¯s go guys, Elyria can come, let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± Without another word he turned his back on them and moved into the cargo compartment. His team followed him in, with Elyria bringing up the rear. Her face had lost its angry expression as soon as he caved, and she was once again watching impassively from the side.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said, jumping up to sit on a crate. ¡°We emptied a full drum into that thing but couldn¡¯t penetrate its armor. We ended up focusing on the wings, thinking they wouldn¡¯t be as protected. It worked, but we still can¡¯t bring it down. any thoughts?¡±  what followed was fifteen minutes of them bouncing ideas off one another. Elyria remained silent throughout, glaring holes into K3 was her only contribution.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°What the heck,¡± Guts said after a while. ¡°We could shoot it with a rocket, but those are too limited to be a long-term solution. We¡¯d have to empty the ship of rounds to kill it with the machine guns, K3 could probably kill it with his hammer, but he¡¯d be swarmed before he got close enough to try. Seems like the only way to fight a queen would be with a queen¡­¡± he trailed off as they all looked at each other, an idea blossoming in their minds at once.


    ¡°The parasite,¡± K3, Owl five and Guts said in unison. Ronin couldn¡¯t join in since he was grinning too broadly to speak.


    ¡°Think it will work?¡± Guts asked, turning to him. ¡°If we had one of those monsters under your command, we could wage war on the locusts from the inside.¡±


    ¡°I think it will,¡± Ronin said. ¡°The tricky part will be getting the parasite into the queen¡¯s head. We might have too¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Elyria cut in with a snort. ¡°What is this ¡®parasite¡¯ you¡¯re all talking about. And how could it help?¡± She¡¯d crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Ronin.


    ¡°It¡¯s called a drone parasite.¡± Ronin said, deciding it was easier to humor her than argue. ¡°It¡¯s a machine that burrows into the hosts brain and makes them willingly loyal to the person who has the mother parasite. If we can get the parasite into the queen, then we can use her to fight her own kind. The drones she produces will be under our control as well, since they will follow her orders, and she will follow mine.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Elyria said, stiffening in place for a full second. Without warning, she exploded into action, rushing Ronin like a streak of blue lightning. She¡¯d vaulted onto the crate before anyone could stop her and had shoved a small knife between the plates of Ronin¡¯s armor before Owl five, the first to reach her, could place a knife to her throat. Everyone was shouting and brandishing their weapons at the deranged woman.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Ronin shouted before Owl five could pull the knife across the elf¡¯s neck. At the commotion, the door into the troop transport opened and the other moon elves came darting in. they were followed a heartbeat later by Hunter and Soft step, crossbows loaded and leveled at their backs.


    ¡°Elyria,¡± Surrallathil shouted when she saw the situation. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Slavers,¡± she said driving the knife deeper into Ronin¡¯s side. ¡°This¡­ White flame tyrant¡­ wants to¡­ enslave the queen below to do his bidding.¡± She struggled to get the words out, because the harder she pushed the knife, the harder Owl five pulled on hers. Blood was flowing freely down the elf¡¯s neck, but she ignored it.


    ¡°Brie¡­ I asked you to¡­ Wait.¡± Ronin said, having to struggle around the pain himself. The knife didn¡¯t look like much, but it was unbelievably sharp. She¡¯d managed to slip it between his plates near his armpit, and it had even punctured his nanite under armor. ¡°Elyria¡­ if you would¡­ just listen, I think¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up, scum.¡± She said, driving the knife to the hilt. Thankfully it was a short blade, or it might have punctured his heart. As it was, he would likely bleed to death if it wasn¡¯t for his nanites. Thankfully, Owl five had listened and loosened her grip slightly, otherwise Elyria would have been dead with that move. Ronin saw the conflict raging in her face, even now. She wanted to finish the elf off but was barely restraining herself.


    ¡°Please, sister¡± Surrallathil tried once again, noticing the goblins holding weapons on them, she didn¡¯t advance. ¡°Let him explain, what if this is a misunderstanding?¡±


    ¡°How can it be?¡± Elyria asked, a mad gleam in her eyes. ¡°He admitted it, he¡¯s a slaver. He intends to enslave the queen just like those filthy Kaldarr tried to do to us when they¡­¡± she bit back a sob at the end, unable to get out what they¡¯d done.


    ¡°Listen lady,¡± Guts said jumping up next to Ronin and holding his hands out in a ¡®calm down¡¯ gesture. ¡°I¡¯ve got one of those parasites in my head. So does K1, K2 and K3 over there.¡± He said gesturing toward the Kaldarr, the latter of which looked ready to tear the elf apart with his bare hands.


    ¡°So?¡± she demanded fiercely, ¡°all that means is I can¡¯t trust anything you say. You should thank me, once I kill this monster you will be free from his control.¡±


    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t been implanted with anything.¡± Hunter said, her crossbow now pointed between Elyria¡¯s eyes, her aim so steady that the bolt didn¡¯t so much as tremble. ¡°Lord Ronin Freed us from starvation and the fog that obscured our thoughts. He¡¯s worked tirelessly to free hundreds of our kind from slavery in the underground. Given us food, shelter, clothes, and a trade. So, believe what you will; but I swear to you, release my lord now or die.¡± Her words were echoed with a chorus of ¡®yea¡¯ and ¡®release lord Ronin¡¯ there was even a ¡®release the white flame¡¯ thrown in, from every goblin and even the humans present.


    Something in her words or tone caught Elyria¡¯s attention and she looked up at her. There was a trace of hesitancy in her eyes, and Ronin thought she might give in. at that moment, the ship shuddered again, throwing the elf off balance. Taking the opportunity, Ronin punched her as hard as he could. She flew across the cargo compartment, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. Pieces of her broken breastplate littering the floor between them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill her,¡± Ronin shouted as his people all moved as one. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with her¡­ mind, augh¡­ just restrain her and take away her weapons. We¡¯ll work this out after we capture that queen. Understood?¡± his sentence was punctuated by a grunt of pain as he pulled the dagger out of his side, but by the end he was already feeling better. The last word came out as a command, and his people responded in unison with a ¡®yes sir.¡¯ All except owl five that is, she still looked ready to kill. Looking at her imploringly, Ronin rose to his feet and walked over to the still standing elves. They were staring at him in shock.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you to please bear with me until this situation is settled.¡± He said, handing Elyria¡¯s sister her bloody dagger. He had to fight to keep his expression under control while he talked. The nanites were working overtime to heal the puncture, but he still felt the pain from the stab. ¡°Because, misguided as she might be, your sister was correct about one thing. I am going to enslave that queen and make her fight her sisters for me¡­ that is unless you can think of a better method to fight this swarm without losing most of our people?¡±


    She stared into his eyes for a long time, ignoring the ship as it shuddered and swayed around her. Finally, she slowly reached out her hand and accepted the dagger.


    ¡°I am willing to trust you, White flame¡­ For now, at least.¡± She added with a furrowed brow, as she watched Hunter¡¯s scout team placing a collar around Elyria¡¯s neck. ¡°Be warned however, if you think to enslave my sister¡­¡±


    ¡°Peace, elf.¡± Ronin said, cutting her threat off mid word. ¡°It¡¯s just to make sure she doesn''t attack anyone else until the queen has been handled. Now, go sit in the troop compartment with her.¡± He didn¡¯t even say please, which went a long way to show everyone how upset he was at the situation. He waited until the elves were gone, before turning to his people once again.


    ¡°K1, K2 and K3,¡± he called his Kaldarr warriors over. ¡°Get the winch system we used for the crate set back up, the four of us are going out on the line. Owl five, you will be coming too. You¡¯re the most agile of us so it will be your job to get the parasite implanted once we get her tied up. Sam,¡± he continued talking to her headset as well as the people in the cargo area. ¡°We are gunna tie her up, you will have to get us airborne as soon as we have her secured. Everyone else, man the gun ports. Keep the swarm off us while we work.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Owl five started to say but was cut off after the first word.


    ¡°No buts, from anyone. I¡¯ve had enough arguing for one day. Just get on the line and get me that queen¡­ here¡­¡± he added, holding the parasite out to her. ¡°It¡¯s my last one, so don¡¯t drop it.¡± He added with a grin, to take the sting out of his words. ¡°Let¡¯s move people.¡± Dealing with the elves had drained all the compassion out of him for the day. His side hurt, and although it wasn¡¯t a fatal wound, he still wasn¡¯t happy about it. He was tired of being questioned, and tired of talking everything over before they did anything. It was time to act, it was time to bag himself a queen.


    Strapping himself in a harness with the help of Guts and Hunter, Ronin grabbed the large clip that had held one corner of the crate up. once he was ready, he looked over to his Kaldarrian guards and Owl five. Seeing that K3 and the others were also holding their clips and that Owl five had the parasite safely in hand, Ronin didn¡¯t waste any more time. slapping on his helmet, he turned towards the small hatch, kicked it open and leapt from the ship.


    He hung below the ship at its front right corner, a moment later K3 dropped from the left front. K2 and K1 dropped down from the rear of the ship shortly after. They¡¯d hung the cargo crate below the ship on four spools of cable, driven by an electric winch. Trying to ignore the swaying motion of his line, and the swarm of locusts beneath him, Ronin hit the button on his harness to lower the cable.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± he screamed into his helmet. He hadn¡¯t turned on any of the channels so no one heard him, but it still helped to pump him up. until he looked down and saw the massive queen rocketing upwards. She wasn¡¯t quite the size of the drop ship, but she wasn¡¯t too much smaller either. she reached just below the ship and took a swing with her massive swordlike talons.


    Ronin had frozen with fear at the sight of her so close, but K3 wasn¡¯t. with a mighty roar that Ronin could even hear over the engines, he smashed his hammer into the wrist that supported that massive talon. The small surface area of the hammer, compared to the queen¡¯s wrist, acted like a punch, and crashed straight into the carapace with a sickening crunch. The queen let out a roar, which had no business coming from an insect, and jerked away. Pulling the hammer out of his hands as she went. She came within inches of Ronin before she opened her wing and tried to fly closer, but he was still frozen and didn¡¯t react before she went spiraling away to slam into the ground.


    ¡°Nice move boss,¡± Owl five said into Ronin¡¯s helmet. He ground his teeth together at the jab but didn¡¯t respond. She had a point, he had frozen and lost a great opportunity. It wouldn¡¯t be the only one however, because the queen was already getting up and readying herself for another jump. The ship was hovering some two hundred feet off the ground. That put them inside the queen¡¯s effective jump range, but outside the range of the drones. They couldn¡¯t quite make it the whole one hundred feet to the top of kingdom¡¯s wall, so they were safe from their interference at least.


    Thankful that he didn¡¯t have to deal with the drones, Ronin readied the large carabiner in both hands. Watching the queen crouch down, he waited for her to jump. Only she didn¡¯t jump. Frowning, Ronin watched her crouching there in confusion. Until the drones started swarming onto her body.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± he yelled on open coms. ¡°She¡¯s bringing company this time.¡± when the queen finally leapt into the air, she was accompanied by a dozen drones all clinging to her exoskeleton. The added weigh kept her from reaching as high as before, but at the height of her leap the drones leapt off her and headed right for the ship.


    The drones easily cleared the forty feet or so to the ship, some smashing into the sides or bottom but a few landing on top of the craft. His people were firing from the gun ports as fast as they could, clearing the sides of drones. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t anything they could do about the ones on the roof. Before Ronin had a chance to panic, however, the elves swooped in on their sparrows. Showering the locust drones with arrows, all those who¡¯d managed to avoid the gunfire fell away to their bows.


    Breathing out a sigh of relief, Ronin turned his attention back to the queen. She didn¡¯t open her wings this time, falling straight back down and landing on her feet. that proved to Ronin that she could learn, even if it had taken her nearly twenty minutes to figure it out. he cursed under his breath, they had to snare her before she figured out what they were trying to do. He watched as she crouched down, gathering another dozen drones.


    ¡°Drop another twenty feet,¡± Ronin called out to Sam. The extra weight from the drones meant that she couldn¡¯t jump as high. He planned to be inside her range on this jump. He stared into her giant multifaceted eyes as she prepared for her leap and the ship dropped as he ordered.


    When the queen jumped, she flew right passed him towards the ship and Ronin knew she¡¯d baited them again.

 Chapter Twenty

    The queen had fooled him. she wasn¡¯t out of range; she¡¯d purposefully not jumped as high the last time. when he¡¯d ordered Sam to lower the ship, he¡¯d been taking them right into her range. One of her talons had been disabled by K3¡¯s hammer blow, but the other one slammed into the side of the ship. Ronin couldn¡¯t see from this angle for sure, but he thought it had hit the cargo area.


    While he¡¯d been looking up, Ronin failed to notice the manipulator claw wrapping itself around his body. He let out a howl of pain as the hand squeezed down on him. almost by accident, he slammed the giant carabineer down on the hand, clipping it snuggly around one of the claws. The way the exoskeleton was ridged, he didn¡¯t think it could slide off from there. Fighting to breathe, he slapped the button on his harness to start reeling in the line.


    He checked on his companions as he fumbled with his mace. K3 was the closest to him, and he¡¯d already looped his carabiner around the queen¡¯s other manipulator hand. The Kaldarr was doing his best to catch the queen¡¯s attention, by bashing her repeatedly with his shield. Unfortunately, his efforts didn¡¯t have much effect.


    Ronin was starting to black out, the hand large enough to cover his entire torso and it was squeezing down like a vice. He couldn¡¯t reach his mace, and the rifle was trapped on his back too. he didn¡¯t have any gear he could reach from where he was. So, he started punching. His gauntleted fist carried a lot of force behind it. enough to send the elf across the room and smash her armor, but he was already running out of air. His swings didn¡¯t contain full power, and he wasn¡¯t able to affect the queen at all.


    The elves were swooping around the locust queen, shooting arrows at her and the drones that she¡¯d brought with her on this jump. A few of the sparrows even made diving runs, snatching drones from the air, and crushing their wings before letting them fall. Before he blacked out entirely, Ronin saw Owl five landing on the queen¡¯s head. she dropped down to the bug¡¯s shoulder and started slamming her daggers into the joint between two of the queen¡¯s head plates. He stayed awake long enough to watch her fist disappear inside the queen¡¯s skull before he lost consciousness.


    *            *            *


    ¡°You really need to work on the whole, passing out after every fight, thing.¡± Brie said when he opened his eyes. he was sitting in flight one¡¯s copilot seat and Brie was sandwiched between his seat and Samantha¡¯s. Ronin looked at the pilot. If she was dissatisfied at all about having an extra person crammed into the two-seater cockpit, she didn¡¯t show it. her eyes were focused squarely out the window ahead.


    Ronin turned his attention back to brie. She was leaning into him, though that was largely due to the space constraints, and her face looked worried. She had one hand on his shoulder, the other one supported her on the armrest. The hand resting on his shoulder was covered in bug guts, Ronin assumed it was the hand she¡¯d shoved the parasite into the queen with.


    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked, trying to get a feel for his own body. He didn¡¯t feel injured, but it was hard to tell how quickly his body healed itself.


    ¡°You got yourself in too close again.¡± brie said with a crooked smile at his question. ¡°The queen got her hand around you. She couldn¡¯t penetrate your armor, but it looks like she was able to squeeze you hard enough to stop your breathing. You might have had a broken rib, but if so, I¡¯d be surprised if it wasn¡¯t healed already.¡± She patted him on the shoulder, sending gobbets of gore splashing onto his face. that made her smile even wider.


    ¡°Boss,¡± Guts said looking in through the partially open hatch. ¡°Your awake, oh good, Owl five almost went on a rampage when you blacked out and you should have heard Sam¡­¡± he was cut off when Owl five¡¯s gore covered hand covered his mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re feeling better sir.¡± It looked like Owl five was back. Ronin sighed, wishing Guts would learn to read the room.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl five.¡± He said, knowing he couldn¡¯t draw her back out now. ¡°How is the rest of the team, did we lose anyone?¡± he asked, gently ushering her out of the cockpit and following her out. he gave Sam an apologetic smile as he left, but she was still solely focused on flying the ship.


    ¡°Everyone is fine,¡± Owl five said. ¡°The elves kept the drones off the hull while we fought, and the queen has been restrained. She¡¯s currently bound tight to the underside of the ship. she stopped struggling after I got the drone in, but with you out cold we didn¡¯t want to risk it.¡±


    Worried about that very thing, Ronin reached out through the mother parasite to the queen.


    ¡°Can you hear me?¡± he asked over the link. What he got back was a jumbled mess of feelings and impressions, along with the ship shaking violently. ¡°Remain still, please.¡± he sent, and the shaking stopped. He got another jumble of impressions, but this time he was almost able to make them out. ¡°Can you send them again? only go slower this time, I can¡¯t quite make out what you¡¯re trying to say.¡± The impressions came again, and the feelings along with them. this time they were much slower, and he was able to put words to what he was seeing and feeling.


    ¡°We¡¯re sorry we hurt you,¡± she sent. ¡°We didn¡¯t know... We are sorry¡­ we are injured¡­ can we eat?... the birds are hurting us¡­ we are hungry¡­ can we eat?¡± She wasn¡¯t speaking exactly, but the pictures and feelings Ronin was getting came together and translated themselves through the parasite into those words, repeated over and over.


    ¡°Sam,¡± Ronin said opening the hatch to the cockpit again. ¡°Can you get on external coms and ask the elves to stop shooting the queen please?¡± he could see how difficult it would be for her to remain calm while she was continuing to be shot at, even if the arrows couldn¡¯t really hurt her. While Sam was relaying his message to the elves, Ronin responded to the queen.


    ¡°I am getting them to stop now,¡± he sent. ¡°It¡¯s ok, you know now, and I know you won¡¯t do it again.¡± he reassured her next, so that she would quit spamming his link with apologies. ¡°I will make sure you¡¯re fed, will that help you recover?¡± he asked, as he looked out the window again to see the elves had stopped firing. She sent him an affirmation, before continuing to tell him that she was hungry.


    ¡°Where are we headed?¡± he asked Owl five, who hadn¡¯t left his side. Looking around for the first time, Ronin saw that K3 was also standing nearby. The rest of the cargo area was empty apart from his team. The remainder of his team and the elves having been shooed back into the troop transport compartment.


    ¡°Deeper into the infested zone,¡± she said answering his question. ¡°We didn¡¯t want to take the queen back to the wall, and we also need to find out just how far the locusts have spread.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± ronin said. ¡°Try to find an isolated place for us to put the queen down. she needs to eat to recover, and her constant crying for food is starting to get on my nerves.¡±


    They flew for several hours, until they came upon a sea. There was an enormous city on the shore, that looked like it would have been right at home on earth, before the crystallin beetles arrived. The tall buildings were made of steel and glass, and he saw vehicles in the streets. They didn¡¯t look like buildings or cars from his earth¡¯s history, but they were from a similar time period. The main draw, however, was that the place was mostly empty. There were a few hundred locusts milling around, but that was all.


    ¡°That place looks good,¡± Ronin said over Sam¡¯s shoulder. We¡¯ll set her down, then land on a roof while she eats.¡± He was pretty sure the elves wanted to talk anyway. they were getting increasingly closer to his ship, the farther they¡¯d flown. He¡¯d considered leaving them behind once or twice but decided that would cause unnecessary friction between their factions. They still had to fight together after all.


    They set the queen loose to gobble up all the locust drones she could eat. Before landing on top of a parking garage. Ronin had gotten himself cleaned up by that point, and all his people were still in fighting shape. Taking a breath, he took the collar off Elyria, who thankfully didn¡¯t immediately attack him. He¡¯d listened to the three of them talking, using the ships coms unit. He knew the other two had been trying their best to get her to see reason, it seemed to have worked, for now at least.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I collared you,¡± he said trying to extend an olive branch. ¡°If we hadn¡¯t been in the middle of combat, I wouldn¡¯t have¡­ I hope you can observe me a little longer, before deciding that I must die. Judge me on my actions, that¡¯s all I can ask.¡± He¡¯d thought over that speech on and off for the last few hours. He wished he could just be rid of this insane elf, but he needed the elves to fight the locusts. So, he¡¯d just have to deal.


    He waited for some sort of response, but Elyria only stared at him coldly. She hadn¡¯t outright attacked him though, so he chalked it up to progress. Tossing the collar to Soft step, Ronin moved over to the drop ramp. With a nod, K1 pressed the controls that would open it to the outside. The door opened to seven elven warriors, standing outside holding ornately carved bows. None were nocked, but that didn¡¯t mean anything, Ronin had seen how fast they could draw.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the long flight time,¡± he said stepping out of the ship. ¡°I got careless during the battle and ended up sleeping for a while. As you can see, I¡¯ve subverted this queen. And¡­¡± he actually got more words out than he expected before lord Ellanaril raised a hand for silence.


    ¡°With respect, White flame.¡± He said, politely but firmly. ¡°I would like to speak with my people before we converse further. I do not wish to sound as though I mistrust your words¡­ however, this hunt has not gone how it was anticipated. I simply wish to be sure that our conversation can take place with mutual trust.¡± Ronin barely restrained a smirk. It was worded politely, but the elf had quite literally just told him; to wait until his people told him the story, so he¡¯d know what Ronin lied about.


    ¡°By all means,¡± Ronin said. he motioned for Elyria and her escorts to come out and join their brethren. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind lord Ellanaril, I would like to explore this structure while you converse with your subjects.¡± He didn¡¯t phrase it as a question, nevertheless the elf waved his hand as if granting him permission anyway.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Trying to keep the annoyance off his face, Ronin walked back to the ramp. Motioning his people over, he looked at them all with pride. They¡¯d all performed well under the circumstances.


    ¡°Firstly,¡± he said on the spur of the moment. ¡°I¡¯d just like to tell you how proud I am of you all. that was a tough battle, but you performed admirably. Yet, even before the battle, in everything I¡¯ve asked of you. you¡¯ve given it your all, and I appreciate it¡­ still, don¡¯t let it go to your heads. When we get back to base, I¡¯m going straight to Owl two and having a queen card printed¡­ we¡¯ll see who can beat me then.¡± He smirked at a few people who¡¯d stomped on him several times on the trip to the wall. Everyone laughed at his joke, then crisply saluted. The sound of their mailed fists hitting their steel covered hearts rang out through the otherwise silent air.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said returning their salute. ¡°Now, I want to explore this building while our friends talk. Karr, I¡¯m sorry to do it to you but your team needs to guard the ship. Guts, you, and the food corps will be staying here too. same with you two, K1 and 2. Hunter, please take your team on a sweep of the building, Owl five can accompany you.¡± he didn¡¯t need to give K3 orders, the Kaldarr was his unofficial, official bodyguard. He waited five minutes before moving down the parking garage. The building was packed with vehicles, and he wanted to give the scouts enough time to clear the area before moving out himself.


    He moved down the rows, inspecting each vehicle as he passed. Most were four-wheeled two seaters, with narrow and short frames that sat low to the ground. He¡¯d read several car magazines back on earth, and most of the vehicles reminded him of a ¡®street buggy¡¯. The tops were open to the air, with metal frames to prevent injuries, should the vehicle roll. There were also a few two wheeled versions that looked a lot like an earth motorcycle. It looked like someone had taken pre-invasion earth tech and overlayed a layer of science fiction on top. They looked sleek, with large wheels and good suspension. Not things one would need to ride on these well-maintained roads.


    ¡°More evidence of how unlike reality my adventure books are.¡± He thought, looking at the unrealistically designed modes of transportation. Still, they looked really cool, with their shiny paint jobs in every color imaginable. He resolved to put a few in the ship before they left this place. As small as they were, he could probably fit at least four of them in the cargo compartment.


    The lower into the building he went, the less pretty everything looked. There were signs of struggle down here. smears of dried blood and shredded clothes. No matter how much blood, there weren¡¯t any bodies. Those had all been taken by the locusts, as they stripped the city clean of everything they could use as sustenance. Picking up an abandoned firearm, Ronin examined it. it looked like a revolver from back home. Flipping open the cylinder, he saw that it still contained one round. He slid the gun into his pack, knowing that with just one round and the gun Owl two could reproduce it.


    ¡°Anything?¡± he asked when Owl five joined him some time later.


    ¡°No signs of life sir,¡± Owl five said stiffly. ¡°There are some interesting artifacts laying around though, I¡¯ve asked the scout team to collect what they can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Owl five.¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°Before we leave, I¡¯ve earmarked a few of these vehicles to take back with us. If time permits, I¡¯d like to go on a quick raid of the other buildings. I think this place is exactly what we need to advance our city by several centuries. In fact, after the war with the locusts is over, we¡¯ll have to come back and clean this place out properly.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself boss.¡± Owl five said, not unkindly. ¡°We still have two wars to win before that happens¡­ still, I¡¯m glad you decided to bring back that red one.¡± she added pointing to a brightly colored motorcycle, that sat low to the ground between two big wheels. The design looked like it would be comfortably driven off road, and it wasn¡¯t one of the vehicles Ronin had marked to bring back with them. he sighed, already wondering which one of his other picks he¡¯d have to leave behind.


    ¡°Lord White flame?¡± Ronin turned around at the sound of the voice, it was one of the elves who¡¯d flown a sparrow over. He hadn¡¯t heard the elf approaching, but since K3 and Owl five hadn¡¯t reacted, he supposed that they had known he was there.


    ¡°Yes?¡± he asked politely.


    ¡°Lord Ellanaril has finished debriefing his brother¡¯s wife and wishes to have words with you, at your convenience, my lord.¡± The elf finished with a bow.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°Let¡¯s go now then,¡± he motioned the elf to proceed him, ¡°If you would.¡± As he followed the elf back, he wondered. ¡°This guy was a lot nicer than before; I wonder what they said about me?¡± as he followed the elf back with K3 and Owl five in tow.


    ¡°Lord White flame,¡± lord Ellanaril said with a bow upon their return to the roof. ¡°I apologize for my earlier rudeness. Please, let us take a seat and discuss the situation.¡± Ronin really wanted to know what they¡¯d been talking about now, and wished he¡¯d thought to bug their clothes or something.


    ¡°They told him how you got stabbed in the chest. Punched Elyria across the room with enough force to shatter her armor, with the knife still inside you. before calmly pulling the bloody blade free, rearming a potential enemy, and politely asking them to wait while you battled the monster. Then how you jumped out of the ship, still bleeding, to do battle with the queen in midair.¡± Owl five said over private coms. clearly having read his thoughts, and just as clearly having thought to place a few bugs on their guests¡¯ clothes. ¡°It sounded way more intimidating the way they explained it, than it actually was.¡± She added¡­ unnecessarily in Ronin¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said as he seated himself on the hood of a car. ¡°Again, I apologize for any inconvenience the long flight may have caused. The queen I conquered was badly damaged during the fighting and we required a secluded place for her to eat and restore herself.¡± He watched the elf lord settle in on the hood of the neighboring car. The move so graceful and self-assured it looked like he was settling onto a throne.


    ¡°Yes, about that.¡± The elf lord said with a frown. ¡°Elyria told me, at length, about how you are a slaver. Technically, that violates your oath to her, and you should have allowed yourself to be killed.¡± Ronin tried to interject, but the elf raised his hand in a ¡®hold¡¯ gesture. ¡°I fully understand, after entering this small kingdom, that our ways are not the ways of humans. Also, the fact that you didn¡¯t kill her, but asked for her patience while you prove yourself¡­ I respect that. The biggest consideration by far, however, is the current situation. You are strong, that is clear. It would be foolish to deprive ourselves of strong allies when we¡¯re on the verge of being overrun¡­ but I must know the queen you captured will not slip free of your control. It¡¯s too important a matter for blind trust.¡±


    Ronin leaned back against the car¡¯s roll bar and looked at the elf with confusion. This conversation felt a lot closer to what he expected from his adventure books. Except the elf was talking like the prince, not him¡­ so what did that make him? he didn¡¯t feel like a bad guy. Then again, a good guy wouldn¡¯t be using advanced technology to enslave people¡¯s minds, or shock collars to ensure obedience. Come to that, they wouldn¡¯t condone breeding programs to create a genetically superior soldier either¡­ ¡°Oh my gosh, am I the bad guy?¡± He panicked as the thought popped into his head.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± he said weakly to the elf before he stood up and paced around the roof. He kept muttering, ¡°I¡¯m not the bad guy, I¡¯m not the bad guy¡± over and over while he paced. The elves were staring at him in confusion and his own people were gearing up for something to happen. He¡¯d just reached the end of his path and turned around when he found himself in a tight embrace.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the bad guy, Ronin.¡± Brie whispered up into his ear. Her scarlet hair tickled his nose, and he inhaled her scent for the first time. The doubts fled his mind, only to be replaced by new concerns. ¡°You¡¯re in a tough spot, and doing the best you can¡­ But I need you to man up now.¡± she said drawing back and punching him, hard enough to rattle his armor. ¡°You¡¯re our lord, remember? Can¡¯t have you embarrassing us in front of the elves.¡± She was putting her helmet on as she spoke, and by the last word she was already gone.


    Ronin blinked and tried to get himself back under control. She was right, he could have a crisis of conscience later. Right now, he had a job to do, that no one else could do besides him. straightening his shoulders, he walked back over to lord Ellanaril and settled back down on the car.


    ¡°My apologies, lord Ellanaril.¡± He said once he had resumed his seat. ¡°I needed a word with a member of my team.¡± He decided to gloss over the whole situation and just hope the moon elf was polite enough to let it slide. ¡°Now, about your concerns¡­ I regret to inform you that I have no way of confirming my words. The drone parasite I used on the queen, was the last one I brought with me to this planet. Yes, as you assumed, I am not from this world either. All I can say is that I plan to use the queen against her sister queens. Should we fight this war together, her actions should be easy enough to observe. Also, there are a lot of queens out there. It is always possible that she will fall before the war ends. If that happens then you have no cause for worry. If she stays loyal to me throughout the eradication of the locust threat, however, I¡¯d hope you can take that as proof the conversion is permanent.¡±


    It was probably a surreal sight, to anyone who might come across the scene. An elf and a human, sitting on the hoods of cars on the roof of a parking garage, staring each other down. surrounded by elves, goblins, Kaldarr, who very much resembled fantasy orcs, humans, and giant truck sized sparrows. Oh, and the spaceship, can¡¯t forget the spaceship. Ronin wanted to shake his head at the absurdity of his life now, but he just sat there, holding Ellanaril¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the elven lord said at last, surprising Ronin. The elf looked over at Elyria, who¡¯d been listening intently to their conversation. ¡°I believe, my dear sister-in-law will give you a fair chance now. She promised to ¡®observe you a little longer¡¯; if she finds you an honorable man after that, then I will have no troubles taking you at your word, lord White flame.¡± Ellanaril stood up then and walked to the edge of the roof. Ronin joined him a moment later, and they watched as the queen rampaged through the small number of locust drones that were in the area. ¡°I very much hope, for all our sakes, that you can control her.¡± He said with a tired sigh.


    Ronin could only nod. He¡¯d nearly forgotten that the elves had been fighting the locust invasion for months now. How hard had it been on them, how many loved ones had they lost? He glanced at Elyria, who had by all counts gone insane from grief. Suddenly, his worries about being a bad guy didn¡¯t seem so important.


    ¡°What will you do now?¡± Ellanaril asked after a time, still watching the queen¡¯s eating spree.


    ¡°I intend to salvage a few things from this town.¡± Ronin said, deciding that truth was the easiest and best course of action with the elves. ¡°Then, I plan to fly a circle around the affected area. I need to get a feel for how far the locusts have spread, and if there is any real hope of reining them in at this point.¡±  Then, since he didn¡¯t see the harm he continued, ¡°I am still consolidating my foothold in this world. I will have to leave in a few weeks, for a short time, but when I return, I hope to bring a true army with me.¡± He had observed the elves strength. They were powerful individually, but there were only fifty of them allowed down at any one time. if they couldn¡¯t be trusted, they could be dealt with. Although he really hoped it didn¡¯t come to that.


    ¡°My people also made a sweep of the area and found the fight a worthwhile one. still, any good commander would want to see the field for himself. Go then, and when you return to the wall, we will face this foe together.¡± Having spoken, he nodded to Ronin, a nod between equals this time. before walking back to his sparrow. All his people mounted up at his command, and Surrallathil and Durrallathil mounted up behind two of their fellows.


    With a shrill cry from Ellanaril¡¯s sparrow, they leapt off the roof as one. Ronin watched as they soared away, back towards the wall. he didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d made an ally just now, or an enemy. All he knew was that he had a lot of work to do, and only a short time to do it.

 Chapter Twenty-one

    Once they were out of sight, Ronin let out a sigh of relief. He wasn¡¯t built for these situations and found himself longing for the years he spent alone. Wandering around a hostile earth searching for anything that could earn him a few credits.


    ¡°Split up into teams and search the surrounding buildings.¡± He said, turning to his people. ¡°We want books, computers, tablets, weapons¡­ anything that might jumpstart our people¡¯s technological rise.¡± He then had to take a few minutes to explain what computers and tablets were, but soon enough his people broke up to hunt. Turning to Elyria he asked, ¡°I¡¯m not going to have any problems from you on this am I?¡± Her impassive face took on a slight sneer, and she all but turned her nose up at him.


    ¡°I find your grave robbing to be distasteful, but it isn¡¯t harming anyone. Don¡¯t worry ¡®my lord¡¯ if you get close to any lines, I will be sure to let you know.¡± Ronin let out an exasperated breath, looking the elf over. She was a mess. it looked, and smelled, like she hadn¡¯t eaten or bathed in days. her armor had only been partially on when they¡¯d met, after Ronin smashed her chest plate it looked even worse. She looked like a woman who was drowning in despair, her hatred of him just the life raft she chose to cling to. Looking around, he spotted Guts and the food corps just heading down into the parking garage.


    ¡°Guts,¡± he called out before he could go too far. The goblin towered over his kin, the distance making his five feet and some change look intimidating next to a standard goblins four feet of height.


    ¡°What¡¯s up boss?¡± he asked eagerly, as he jogged back over. The other members of the food corps following in his wake. Ronin grinned at the goblin, who was always so upbeat. He moved forward to meet the goblin halfway, he also wanted to create some distance between themselves and Elyria.


    ¡°Could you guys take Elyria inside? Give her a basin of hot water, soap, and a towel, along with some privacy. Check the cargo containers for a set of spare clothes and give her one of the human soldier''s spare armor sets too. While she¡¯s getting cleaned up and changed, I¡¯d like the food corps to whip her up the best meal you can put together with what we have on hand¡­ also, let her take whatever she wants from the weapons cache.¡±


    ¡°You got it boss, but¡­ are you sure you want to arm her?¡± Guts asked in a whisper, giving the scowling woman a sideways glance.


    ¡°We¡¯re in enemy territory, she should be armed. Besides, if we are stuck with her anyway, we¡¯ll have to trust her at some point.¡± Ronin replied in a whisper of his own. He just hoped his regeneration was up to the task, should she try for his life again. Moving back toward the elf; Ronin did his best to smile, despite her glare.


    ¡°Guts here is going to¡­¡± he was cut off before he got any farther.


    ¡°I heard you.¡± She snapped out in a cold tone. ¡°Elves have excellent hearing,¡± she added, flicking her gaze towards Owl five. Ronin expected her gaze to hold scorn or derision, but it just looked thoughtful. ¡°Very well, but don¡¯t think you can escape me with this tactic White flame. I¡¯ll find you shortly.¡± With those parting words she turned her back on him and walked into the ship.


    Ronin watched her go with annoyance. He was doing his best to keep the bridge open with the elves because of the locust threat. Yet, this elf was just too much. He looked down at his armor and his annoyance grew. ¡°Why did I let Owl two talk me into this awful color scheme?¡± he thought. He¡¯d cleaned the armor as best he could on the hours long trip to this place, but the surface damage was considerable. The queen might not have been able to penetrate or crush his armor, but her hard exoskeleton and sharp claws had done a number on the enamel covering its surface. He could still make out the patterns that made up the shadowlike flames. Yet it was marred with scratches, and bare metal poked through in several places.


    ¡°The prince got into fights constantly, yet his armor was always shinny and new.¡± He grumbled to himself in disgust.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Owl five asked from where she was impatiently waiting to go exploring.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Ronin said quickly. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I want to collect as much as we can quickly. We don¡¯t have much time to waste.¡± Picking up the loot bag he¡¯d grabbed from the ship he moved down the garage. It was a shame everyone here had died, but he intended to make the best of it.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Lord Ronin, I think you might want to see this.¡± Sam¡¯s voice said over the ship¡¯s coms. Ronin looked up from the operator¡¯s manual he¡¯d been reading. It had been weeks since he¡¯d had the opportunity to read anything, so when he found the manual in the glove box of the vehicle he was currently sitting in, he couldn¡¯t resist. Marking his page with a small string, Ronin laid the book on the dash and climbed out of the vehicle.


    Before he left the cargo compartment, he stopped to look back over his haul. They¡¯d grabbed several kinds of firearms, ammunition, clothing samples, an entire crate full of books and another of tablets and mobile computers. Plus, several other odds and ends. The crown jewel of the haul however, in Ronin¡¯s opinion anyway, was a six wheeled combat truck, Hunter had found. It was in perfect condition too, they¡¯d found it empty with the door open. Best guess was that they abandoned the vehicle when it ran out of energy.


    Ronin ran his eyes over the sleek lines of the mottled black and green armored truck. It had enough room in the enclosed space to seat six, with a massive gun built into the roof. It reminded Ronin of the huge barrels mounted on top of tanks. They¡¯d even found a few rounds of unspent ammunition in the weapon. dragging his gaze away from his new toy, Ronin inched his way around it towards the door. The truck was huge, too big really for the cargo compartment of the drop ship. He¡¯d made room by moving everything they could into the troop transport section, and not bringing any other vehicles along¡­ any vehicles apart from Brie¡¯s red motorcycle. Still, it was worth it in Ronin¡¯s eyes. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like the rest of the cars were going anywhere. They could always go back for more later.


    ¡°What do you have for me?¡± he asked Sam as he slipped into the copilot¡¯s seat Owl five had just vacated. They¡¯d left the seaside city a few days ago, back tracking to the Mountain¡¯s Embrace kingdom¡¯s wall before turning around and heading back the same way. They wanted to get a good feel for how far the locusts could spread. So far, they¡¯d followed the cliff wall all the way to the sea, passed the dead city where the queen was still gorging herself, and on until the sea ended at another cliff wall. they hadn¡¯t seen any area¡¯s the locusts could escape from. Only miles and miles of intermittent locust drones, swarming over a barren landscape, completely devoid of even the smallest plant or animal.


    Looking out the window, Ronin noticed that there were more drones around than there had been. There were swarms of them, climbing all over each other with the occasional queen thrown in near the wall. Out from the populated area however, there were a lot fewer of them. They¡¯d discussed it at length during the flight and decided they were likely congregating around the food. The fact that there were more of them here, as well as two queens must mean¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s another city ahead.¡± Sam said, confirming his thoughts. ¡°Based on my readings, we are heading back towards the wall. So, unless we find another opening somewhere, the sea is the only way out of this continent sized valley.¡± Ronin nodded at her assumptions. He¡¯d actually set up this whole area himself before he dropped. Dividing this giant mountain island into three, land or water, locked kingdoms. He¡¯d had to scoop large chunks of the mountain away to get the shape he wanted. His memories calling up a manual for a game called EarthCraft or something similar.


    His goal had been to start off in a relatively safe place and be able to move on to more and more difficult challenges. However, after the Kaldarr dropped in and ruined his plans, he¡¯d stopped being so confident about everything else. After all, he¡¯d had no idea about the underground city that lay right below his valley. So, what else didn¡¯t he know about? Still, he hadn¡¯t expected to find a way out of this area, besides that sea.


    ¡°Understood,¡± he said. ¡°Plus, by the way their swarming again I have a feeling there might actually be some people alive here.¡± He was excited at the thought yet dreaded it at the same time. if there were people out here, there wasn¡¯t really anything he could do for them. At least not right now. they came upon the city while he was fretting, and his worries fled at the sight of the city.


    It was a city built into the side of the mountain itself. Everything was made from steel reenforced stone and looked like it could withstand nearly anything. The longer he looked, the more details he picked out. It started to remind him of a honeycomb, built up the side of the mountain. Each section protected by a giant wall. Ronin wasn¡¯t well versed in architecture, but it looked like, as they cut the stone away from the cliff to form roads and houses, they repurposed it into those massive walls.


    ¡°Would you look at that.¡± He said, shock written all over his face. ¡°Sam, do a fly over so we can see what we¡¯re dealing with and back off some. I¡¯ll need to discuss it with everyone before I decide what to do.¡± She only nodded at his words, before cruising low over the walls. They took it all in, getting a feel for what was behind that wall. before moving away again.


    ¡°¡­So, what do you think?¡± Ronin finished after giving his team the rundown on what they¡¯d seen.


    ¡°You said they¡¯re called ¡®bugbears¡¯?¡± Guts asked, squinting at the unfamiliar word.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°They¡¯re Kaldarr sized, muscular humanoids with thickly muscled bodies, pointed ears and covered in fur. From what I know, they love fighting, working with stone and metal¡­ and fighting.¡± The Bugbears weren¡¯t one of the races he¡¯d placed in space when he had set up the world. Instead, they were one of the randomly dropped, filler races. When he¡¯d set up this second area to explore, he¡¯d set it to drop three randomly generated cities down equidistant from each other. The seaside city was home to some sci-fi influenced twist on pre-invasion earth, this mountain city was filled with bugbears. They hadn¡¯t passed another city, but odds were good it was in the middle of the landmass somewhere, odds were also good it was now a ghost town.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Do we want to make contact?¡± Owl five asked next. Raising an important question. ¡°We could make a few strafing runs across the locusts front lines. Emptying a few drums into their enemies would probably help give them a favorable impression of us.¡± that got several nods of agreement. They passed a few more ideas back and forth, but in the end decided to go with that one.


    Wanting to get in on the action this time, ronin found himself lying face down on the deck, front half hanging out a gun port. He was using a modified Kaldarr rifle, they all had been, wanting to save their limited railgun rounds for a situation that really called for the powerful, yet limited, weapons. It was still more than enough to put down the common locust drones however, and as Sam flew across the front of the stone wall, Ronin along with everyone else, emptied magazine after magazine into the swarm below.


    They had decided to empty the ship¡¯s machinegun drums twice each. At twelve hundred rounds per drum, which was nearly five thousand bullets that chewed a ragged line into the enemy. They swarmed so thickly that it was a rare round that didn¡¯t find a target. Not only that, but the few hundred rounds everyone fired from their rifles added another thousand or more casualties to the locust¡¯s death toll. By the time they¡¯d fired all the rounds that had been allotted to them, the drones had temporarily given up the attack on the wall to gather their own dead.


    ¡°Where should we drop?¡± Sam asked, once Ronin had moved back up front and they were hovering over the wall again. Ronin furrowed his brow as he checked out the wall again. It looked like the city was split up into twenty distinct districts, what he¡¯d thought of before as the honeycomb. Each separated from each other by the thick stone walls. Two of the lowest districts had already been overrun by drones, and a third looked like it wasn¡¯t far behind.


    They¡¯d discussed this during the planning session; Hunter, Guts and Owl five were all for going to the section about to fall, K3 and Karr on the other hand wanted to go higher up first. They didn¡¯t want to risk themselves before getting an accurate assessment of the situation. Ronin had heard out both sides but hadn¡¯t decided at the time, not wanting to deal with the conflict. Now though¡­


    ¡°Land in the bottom district that looks closest to collapse.¡± The swarm was preoccupied, so it was really the best time to land near the bottom. Plus, he could tell they¡¯d been fighting hand to talon down there. He wanted a chance to engage the locusts while still in relative safety. Why not do that while helping the neighbors?


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± she said moving the boxy ship forwards towards the high wall. the bottom section of districts was essentially on the ground, the buildings cut from the rock of the mountain. The wall itself was a half-circle that butted up to the mountain on either side and rose some hundred feet into the air. Ronin thought it was almost too coincidental that both the kingdom and this surviving city had walls too high for the locusts to fly over. Since it didn¡¯t really matter to the current situation however, he discarded the thought.


    Ronin looked at the many times repaired gate that passed through the walls center at ground level. It was liberally smeared with gore, so thickly that it had stained the ground and the stone all around. It looked like the locusts had been throwing themselves at that opening, only to be repelled, for months. Still, there were no bodies. As they flew over the wall, Ronin noted its thickness. thirty feet tall at the top, just like the kingdoms wall. ¡°Why are all the walls so huge?¡± he wondered again. The thoughts quickly forgotten when he saw the inside of the district gate. There was just as much blood and gore around this side as the other, only there were bodies piled up here.


    There were hundreds of them, a mix of bugbears, human, locust and elves. Ronin noted these, they were elves, but not moon elves. Their skin was darker, and they were shorter. ¡°These are likely wood elves.¡± he thought, as Sam set them down near the gate. He watched the square filling up with people as he unbuckled. Nodding to Sam, he headed back through the cargo compartment and into the troop transport section of the ship. The place was starting to get pretty crowded, and Ronin resolved to make the rest of the trip faster.


    ¡°Alright people,¡± he said as they gathered around. ¡°We dropped into a hot zone, so Karr, K1, K2 you guys head to that gate and secure it. Hunter, you and the scouts fan out and keep an eye on the crowd gathering out there. These people have had it rough, so don¡¯t let your guard down¡­¡± he gave a few more orders before nodding to K2 who was manning the door controls. He waited behind his guards as the ramp lowered and his people rushed out.


    Once he was given the all clear, K3 allowed Ronin to descend the ramp. He had gotten a little paranoid about Ronin¡¯s safety since the Kaldarr ambush and was always on guard these days. Owl five was nearby, watching his back while Guts and the food corps were hiding in the cargo area. Elyria was somewhere behind him, but he didn¡¯t bother with her. She would do whatever she wanted anyway so why bother?


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask you to call your people back from that gate stranger.¡± Called out a gruff voice from the head of the crowd. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I appreciate you thinning the herd, but we don¡¯t know you. I can¡¯t risk you opening that gate and letting those buggers in.¡± Ronin stopped looking at the gore and focused on the speaker.


    It was a grizzled old bugbear, armed with an arbalest that was as long as he was tall. He was missing an ear and an eye on his left side and was covered in so much blood and filth that Ronin couldn¡¯t tell what color his fur was. The giant crossbow wasn¡¯t aimed directly at Ronin, but it wouldn¡¯t take much to change that, and he didn¡¯t know if even his armor could stop a bolt with that much power behind it.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ronin said with a nod, Motioning Karr and the others away from the gate. At the same time, he motioned Owl five and K3 to stand down. it looked like either of them, or both, was a heartbeat away from action.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t come here to cause trouble.¡± He continued, raising his hand in the universal symbol for being unarmed. ¡°My people and I are working our way around the infested zone. Trying to find the extent of the locusts spread. You¡¯re the first people we¡¯ve found alive, so I decided to set down and see how you were fairing.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± The bugbear said. His single eye noting Karr¡¯s team with Kaldarr support backing off, and how close to violence Ronin¡¯s guards were. It looked like he decided to be diplomatic, because he handed the arbalest to a younger, but still bloody bugbear. ¡°I¡¯m Harken,¡± he said stepping forward. ¡°And I¡¯m afraid the answer is that we¡¯re not doing very good. the food situation is getting tough and¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold.¡± The word split the silent square like a whip crack. ¡°Harken, you old goat, you no longer speak for our clan. I, Halican, lead the clan now. Get back to your post at once.¡± Ronin turned around at the voice. To see a young and strong looking bugbear running down the stairs from the district¡¯s wall. his fur was a rich brown and he was armored in full plate mail and carried a flanged mace, similar to Ronin¡¯s own. He was accompanied by a dozen bugbears of similar age and disposition.


    ¡°Listen, lad I¡­¡± Harken started, only to be cut off by a slap across the face from the young Halican.


    ¡°I told you to get back to your post, you senile old goat.¡± Roared the young bugbear. Ronin compared the two, now that they stood so close together. Harken was thickly muscled, but it was starting to go slack with age. Yet, here he was at the gate where the fighting was thickest. Wearing battered armor, covered in blood from head to toe. Halican was much younger, a bugbear in his prime. His armor was of much higher quality as well, but he was up on the wall away from the direct fighting.


    ¡°Understood¡­ Patriarch.¡± Harken said with defeat in his voice, before turning towards the wall. The mixture of bugbears, humans and wood elves looked angry, but they obeyed as well. When they¡¯d started moving, the clan leader turned his attention on Ronin.


    ¡°You¡­ little runt.¡± He said, distain dripping from every word he spoke. ¡°Your ship belongs to me now. Along with the weapons, your people and all the food you brought with you.¡± he said it as if just by speaking the words, he had made it so. Ronin again had to motion K3 and Owl five back, but unlike Harken, the young clan patriarch didn¡¯t seem to notice.


    ¡°Greetings, clan patriarch Halican.¡± Ronin decided to try negotiating before doing anything else. ¡°I am lord Ronin the White flame, and¡­¡± He¡¯d used the stupid title the elves had given him, just to make himself sound more important. It didn¡¯t matter at all though, he barely started talking before the young bugbear walked right up to him. he stood over seven feet tall, and towered over Ronin who only stood around six. The crack of his palm against Ronin¡¯s face shocking everyone.


    ¡°Silence,¡± Halican screamed down at him. ¡°This is my clan, my city. Mine. Won in fair combat. So, learn you¡¯re place runt.¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± Ronin yelled as the pompous fool was winding down his speech. After the palm landed all his people had begun to move. Even the food corps, who had been supposed to be hiding were rushing down the ramp with spears in hand. Owl five already had her gun to her shoulder, and K3 had his hammer drawn back for a blow that could crack queen locust armor. turning to Harken, who seemed more like a leader than this spoiled brat, Ronin said.


    ¡°Does this fool really speak for you?¡± he asked the old bugbear. He was half tempted to leave, but a bigger temptation wanted him to just slaughter these people. still, Harken had been reasonable, he couldn¡¯t judge them all from one man.


    ¡°I told you to learn your¡­¡± Halican started, raising his hand for another blow. He was stopped dead however, when K3 stepped forward and grabbed him by the neck. Without so much as a grunt of effort, he lifted the well-muscled, fully armored beast man from his feet. where he dangled, trying desperately to free himself.


    ¡°Harken,¡± Ronin tried again ignoring the struggling fool behind him. ¡°Does. This. fool. Really. Speak. For. You?¡± he asked again, slowly, punctuating every word. Halican¡¯s followers rushed forward but were stopped when K1 and K2 moved to block their way. they were as big and well armored as K3, and these young bugbears didn¡¯t seem to want to try their luck.


    ¡°He¡­ well, he killed our last clan patriarch¡­ my son, in personal combat. Plus, he has the support of a majority of the family heads, so¡­ yes. I suppose he does.¡± He finally answered, Ronin thought he could detect shame and rage in his voice, but it was well hidden so he couldn¡¯t be sure.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Ronin said, finally remembering what he¡¯d read about bugbears. They were family oriented by nature and much of their life and honor was devoted to their clans. He even understood why the city was split up into these honeycomb districts now, and why no one higher up was helping keep this district from falling. This whole section was a clan¡­ with a healthy number of refugees thrown in, it looked like.


    ¡°K3, put him down please.¡± he said, turning around and drawing his mace and shield. He had to ask again before K3 complied, and when he did, he simply released the fool, so he fell to the ground in a clatter of armor. Ronin waited for the clan patriarch to climb to his feet before saying.


    ¡°Halican, clan patriarch of the¡­¡± he turned to Harken and cocked a brow.


    ¡°The White mane clan.¡± The old timer supplied, seeming to have caught on to what Ronin intended.


    ¡°Patriarch of the White mane clan.¡± Ronin continued, ¡°I, lord Ronin the white flame, challenge you to a trial by combat for clan leadership.¡± He honestly had no idea why he was doing this. it was stupid and unnecessary, but he was pissed off. he¡¯d been pushed around and mistreated by every group he¡¯d met since he¡¯d landed here.


    The people of Valley¡¯s pass had used him. the fat lord Charles had tried to rob him. the troglodytes had tried to eat him. the elves mistrusted him. not one time since he landed was he able to get any respect without spilling blood for it. so, fine. He would spill blood. Besides, a duel to the death was definitely something the prince would do in this situation.


    ¡°Y... you can¡¯t challenge him.¡± shouted one of the young hangers on who¡¯d followed Halican down from the wall. ¡°Not without the branch family head¡¯s approval¡­ and I refuse.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t even look at him.


    ¡°Owl five¡± was all he had to say. Owl five¡¯s railgun didn¡¯t make a noise when she fired, but the young branch head found himself without one, in a spray of blood and bone. She¡¯d shot the loud mouth right between the eyes, the powerful round driving through his skull and continuing on to imbed itself into the wall, in a puff of stone dust.

 Chapter Twenty-two

    ¡°Does anyone else have any objections?¡± Ronin asked, turning his head to scan the crowd. His eyes landed on Elyria, and he asked her, ¡°do you have any objections Elyria?¡± he caught the movement of Owl five¡¯s rifle swiveling in her direction as he asked the question but ignored it. Elyria noticed it too, however, she just looked at Owl five flatly for a second before shaking her head.


    ¡°No, my lord White flame.¡± She said, voice full of sarcasm. ¡°It¡¯s clear enough to me these people would be better off without that fool¡­ even if that means putting them in your hands.¡± Annoyed but deciding not to comment, Ronin continued to pan the audience.


    ¡°Since there are no objections,¡± he said shaking his shoulders to limber up his weapons. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡± He advanced on the clan patriarch, who was still staring at the headless corpse of his supporter.


    ¡°N..no,¡± he stuttered out. ¡°You¡¯re not qualified runt. You can¡¯t¡­¡± he had to stop speaking to raise his shield to intercept Ronin¡¯s mace swing. It bounced off with a clang, leaving a small dent in the shield. Not waiting for any more words, Ronin rode the momentum of his weapon back and around and drove it down again. another, larger dent appeared on the shield this time.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Spat the bugbear, pulling out his own mace. ¡°Qualified or not, I¡¯m going to squash you, you little runt, before I take your ship and get out of this death trap.¡± His words elicited gasps from the crowd, many of those who hadn¡¯t shown any preference for the fight now starting to lean towards Ronin¡¯s victory.


    Halican swung his mace at Ronin, who intercepted it with his shield angled to deflect the blow. Only, it didn¡¯t work out that way. there was so much force behind the blow that his entire shield arm was sent smashing into his body, and he staggered back several steps.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, runt?¡± the bugbear sneered. ¡°Did you really think the best fighter in the clan could be defeated so easily?¡± steadying himself, Ronin ground his teeth together. He resolved to get a helmet made that didn¡¯t cover his face. he¡¯d taken it off to talk with Harken but now was missing its protection.


    This clan patriarch was a lot stronger than Ronin had expected. Bringing his mace down so rapidly that Ronin could hardly follow, let alone block. Thankfully his armor was sturdy, and his body was enhanced. Otherwise, he didn¡¯t think he could have held up to the beating. Yet, after a half dozen blows, Ronin found his groove and started predicting the strikes. The next attack he managed to deflect, despite the strength behind it, and the strike after that he managed to counter with a weak hit of his own.


    From then on, the battle slowly turned from a one-sided slaughter to an even fight. from there, it again, very slowly, started to swing in Ronin¡¯s favor. Halican was stronger than he was. There was no doubting that fact. However, the bugbear didn¡¯t have the biomechanical enhancements that Ronin did. neither did he have the swarm of micro machines swimming throughout his body, repairing damaged muscles and feeding extra oxygen to his cells.


    Ronin had also trained extensively against his enhanced Kaldarr guards. All of whom were even bigger than the bugbear. So, he was already used to fighting someone with longer reach and stronger swings. He would tire eventually, but armored as he was, and fighting someone with a blunt weapon¡­ it was going to take a long time.


    ¡°Damn you, runt.¡± Screamed the bugbear when Ronin started to get in more crushing blows than he did. ¡°How are you doing this?¡± he demanded, ¡°I¡¯m the best fighter in the clan. This can¡¯t be happening.¡± Ronin felt good, listening to the clan patriarch monologuing like that. It reminded him of the bad guys in nearly every book, who would act so superior then cry foul when something went against them. it gave him renewed hope that he wasn¡¯t a bad guy himself¡­ he just had to not think about how he''d had Owl five blow off someone¡¯s head, just for speaking out against him.


    Ten minutes passed in this fashion, until it got to the point where Ronin was the only one connecting with his blows. When he realized how tired his foe had become, he doubled down, smashing his mace into the bugbear hard enough to knock him from his feet. once he had him down however, he relented and stepped back. He¡¯d worked most of his frustrations out by this point, and just wanted to be done with this mess.


    ¡°I¡¯ve proven my superiority. Do you yield?¡± he asked, looking down at the hulking warrior, heaving in a lungful of air.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way lad,¡± Harken said quietly from the side. ¡°A challenge for leadership is to the death. You must finish it.¡± Ronin turned to look at the old bear, his face was grim and his single eyed gaze as hard as steel.


    ¡°Is that really necessary?¡± Ronin asked, not knowing why he was hesitating now. He hadn¡¯t batted an eye at the other youth¡¯s death, yet somehow now, he didn¡¯t want to kill anymore.


    ¡°Look out.¡± Owl five shouted, and Ronin whirled around as Halican tried driving a dagger into his back. Thankfully, he was no Elyria, or that blade might have done serious damage. He hadn¡¯t managed to find a gap in the armor, so the knife bounced off.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Ronin said. looking at the kneeling bugbear with distaste. ¡°It¡¯s not like you didn¡¯t know what you were getting into.¡± Dropping his shield, he grabbed his mace with both hands and brought it down on Halican¡¯s head. blood splattered his face when the clan leader¡¯s head caved in, and he wanted to be sick, right there. He managed to hold it in and turned to face the crowd.


    ¡°Does anyone else challenge my right to rule?¡± he asked, already tired of the whole affair. No one spoke up for a long moment. Then, Harken stepped forward and spoke.


    ¡°I pledge my service to the new patriarch of the White flame clan.¡± Ronin had been sure he¡¯d called it the white mane clan before, but it didn¡¯t matter now. Everyone around him was repeating the old timer¡¯s words, banging their weapons into shields or spear butts into the ground. Turning a slow circle, Ronin took them all in. ¡°What have I gotten myself into this time?¡±


    *            *            *


    The reprieve they¡¯d gained by providing the swarm with an alternate food source didn¡¯t last long. Only a few minutes after the duel had ended, the locusts assaulted the gate again. K1 and K2 led the defense now, along with Karr and his soldiers. Hunter¡¯s scout team had moved up the wall and were shooting down into the swarm from above. While Ronin was being led around the city district in a quick tour, with K3 and Owl five. Elyria was somewhere nearby, but he was doing his best to ignore her.


    ¡°This is the refugee camp, patriarch.¡± Harken said, once they¡¯d reached the back of the district. They were well into the mountain now, and the ¡®refugee camp¡¯ was essentially a hole in the mountain side that hadn¡¯t been built on yet. Hundreds of humans and elves lay around in groups, a foul smell was coming out of the shallow cave, and it was clear they had been using it as a bathroom as well as a living quarters.


    Ronin frowned, looking towards the dozen or so bugbear guards who were keeping watch over the entrance. Then turned to Harken and Unyielding oak, the wood elf leader. the humans present didn¡¯t have a leader since they came from several nearby towns that had once dotted the area outside the mountain city. The wood elves, however, had all come from the same tribe. So, he was confused as to why she¡¯d allowed her people to be treated this way.


    ¡°Harken,¡± he said voice coming out much calmer then he felt. ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me this city supported five thousand people before the invasion?¡±


    ¡°Yes, patriarch. Sadly, our numbers have dwindled. Between the¡­ locusts, You called them¡­ and our food stores running out. We are down to just over one thousand clan members.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Ronin said, drawing the word out. ¡°And there are just over one thousand refugees. Only five hundred of whom are combat capable¡­ I assume this ¡®refugee camp¡¯ is filled with all those who are not¡­ combat capable?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes, patriarch¡­ you see, we¡­¡± Harken was sharp, Ronin could tell he¡¯d already caught onto his displeasure and was trying to backtrack when he was cut off.


    ¡°Even with the refugees, this city is under half capacity. There are empty houses everywhere. why are these people confined to a cave, without access to bathrooms, and guarded like prisoners?¡± his voice had risen by the end, catching the attention of the nearest refugees. They were leaning closer to listen, curiosity flickering in their hope deprived eyes.


    ¡°Patriarch¡­ No, please listen.¡± Harken said, raising a hand to forestall Ronin¡¯s interruption. ¡°What once was clan White mane is on the bottom level of our fair city. That means our status is the lowest. My son, our last patriarch, accepted the refugees from the surrounding area. He took them in when the other two clans on our level refused. As a result, we have endured while they fell. However, thanks to their presence, we have also exhausted our clan¡¯s food supply much faster.¡± He waved his hand to take in the cave filled with miserable looking people.


    ¡°When our food supply began to run short, we rationed the food to those who either couldn¡¯t or wouldn¡¯t fight. The men and women on the front lines needed the energy to defend us, after all. it was ok at first, but as food got scarcer and scarcer, those who were getting less began grumbling about it. Halican defeated my son and took control of our clan when all those strong enough to stop him had died at the wall. when he took over, he took more of the already limited food supply for himself and his followers.¡±


    Ronin could already see how the story was going to end, and it sickened him. yet, the knot of rage was still writhing around in his chest. He¡¯d been used and abused his entire life; ever since his parents abandoned him to get crystallized. Alex Dawson had bullied and beaten him with his thugs, and fellow cave dwellers had stolen his food while he was outside scavenging. When he¡¯d finally stood up for himself, he¡¯d ended up a murderer. Not only that, but he¡¯d been beaten so badly that if the crystallization guard hadn¡¯t been too lazy to do the right paperwork, he¡¯d be dead right now. the thoughts kept tumbling around in his head, to the point where he missed most of what Harken said.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°¡­the riots cost over five hundred lives, and they¡¯ve been confined here ever since.¡±


    ¡°Pathetic¡± Unyielding oak said, spitting to the side. ¡°They won¡¯t fight the enemy at our benefactor¡¯s door. Yet when they aren¡¯t given free food, they attack us. They¡¯re lucky we feed them at all, we should have tossed them over the wall and rid ourselves of the burden.¡± Ronin turned his attention to the Wood elven leader. Her skin was a mottled yellow/green, with dark brown hair braided into hundreds of tiny braids, gathered together in a tail that reached her waist, and eyes the color of meadow grass. She would be attractive if it wasn¡¯t for the perpetually angry glare, and her hard name.


    Wood elves had a similar naming convention to goblins, in that they named themselves after an attribute or characteristic. All of theirs were nature themed however, and they could change throughout their lifetimes.  Harken had introduced her as, Petal dancer, before she¡¯d corrected him. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t bending well to her people¡¯s new situation, and it was reflected in her new name. ¡°What is it with insane elven women?¡± Ronin thought to himself, as he tried to reign in his own anger. If what they said was true, then these people didn¡¯t deserve his sympathy.


    It was a philosophy he¡¯d learned by heart in the caves. If you wanted to eat, you needed to work for it. Anything you ate that you didn¡¯t work for, was food taken from the mouth of someone who had worked for it. The anger bubbled up again at the thought, and he had to consciously push it back down.


    ¡°Very well.¡± He said at last. ¡°One thing I can¡¯t figure out, however. Why aren¡¯t you working together with the other city districts? There are nearly two dozen more cities farther up who aren¡¯t even engaged yet. Why don¡¯t they help you?¡± he understood clan loyalism, but this was extreme. Who could stay safe in their city while their fellows died below them?


    ¡°A failing of our clan structure I suppose.¡± Harken said grudgingly. ¡°We were pretty safe here before, so, we¡¯d end up fighting each other. As a result, there are no connecting paths between clan cities. They couldn¡¯t help us now even if they wanted too, and they don¡¯t, I¡¯m afraid.¡±


    ¡°Then why the massive walls?¡± Ronin asked, the question having been burning in the back of his mind since he saw the massive kingdom wall.


    ¡°ha-ha, for the dinosaur¡¯s patriarch.¡± He said with a laugh, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever seen a rampaging tyrannosaur? They can all but climb right over these walls if they get enough momentum up.¡± having heard the answer, Ronin supposed it was obvious.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ronin said in response. ¡°I¡¯ve seen enough, let¡¯s get back to my ship. I¡¯ve got a few things to iron out with my team.¡± Walking back through the nearly deserted city, Ronin couldn¡¯t help but marvel at its beauty. The stonework was amazingly done, with patterns carved into its surface at random. It looked like every home had a different design, carved based on the whims of the homeowner. It was just a shame that the beauty of this place couldn¡¯t defend it from invasion.


    Entering the square, he¡¯d landed his ship in, Ronin looked around. He¡¯d asked Guts to set up a cooking station near the ship, where he and the food corps were busy cooking up a simple yet large meal for the city defenders. While K1 and K2 were holding the gate, Ronin thought he should feed the soldiers and let them get a few hours of sleep. Many of those same soldiers were already passed out on the ground. It looked like they had simply lain down where they were after the duel and fallen asleep from exhaustion.


    ¡°Get something to eat, and some sleep.¡± He told Harken and Unyielding oak once they reached the line. ¡°My people will hold the gate until you¡¯re fully recovered¡­ Guts and his team can help with the injured as well, so get them around after you¡¯ve had a meal.¡± He added as an afterthought before he walked up the ramp and into the ship.


    ¡°¡­ So, what does everyone think?¡± he asked his team sometime later after he¡¯d filled them all in on what he¡¯d discovered. He looked around at the familiar faces; K3 and Owl five, Samantha and Guts. Even the ever-sour Elyria, whose expression wasn¡¯t as angry right now, was present. Only the team leads were absent, busy supervising the wall.


    ¡°I think we should get in the ship and go.¡± Owl five said without preamble, ¡°leave these fools to their fate. Why should you help them, when their own people just watch as they get slaughtered?¡± it was a sentiment Ronin had a hard time discounting. He thought these people had a backwards system too.


    ¡°I think we should take them back with us.¡± Samantha said, piping up for the first time in one of these meetings. ¡°There are a lot of strong fighters out there, plus¡­ have you seen the armor, and the engravings on the buildings? These people are naturally born artists. What could they accomplish for you if you had them under your command back home?¡± she pointedly didn¡¯t look at Owl five while she talked, Owl five on the other hand was glaring daggers at her.


    Ronin looked between the two women curiously. He¡¯d noticed a coldness when he¡¯d woken up in the copilot¡¯s seat the other day, but eventually he just shook it off. whatever they had going on between them wasn¡¯t any of his business. Now, Sam¡¯s suggestion, however, had some merit. Owl two was preparing for the invasion of the undercity right now. Ronin had plenty of goblins, but what he didn¡¯t have were many trained fighters. The bugbears were seven foot tall fully armored tanks, while the wood elves were trained and experienced rangers. Some five hundred or more of each, who could fight.


    ¡°I agree boss,¡± Guts said from where he leaned against the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look,¡± he said as Owl five glared at him. ¡°Right now, the boss has a few hundred goblins who aren¡¯t worth much more then working in the fields. Yet less than one hundred fighters. We need these people, just as much as they need us.¡±


    ¡°My scout teams are worth just as much as any elven rangers.¡± Owl five shot back, ¡°we also don¡¯t have to worry about their loyalty... Unlike some elves I could name.¡± she added, not looking at Elyria.


    ¡°Sorry Brie,¡± the normally taciturn K3 said. ¡°But I¡¯m going to have to go with Sam on this one too.¡± he ducked his head at her scowl but continued. ¡°I¡¯m not knocking the goblins here; they are by far the most loyal followers lord Ronin has. But let¡¯s be honest, only about one in five are smart enough to swing a shovel the right way. These people are talented and saving them might go a long way to engender loyalty. Besides, they need help. Any good person would save them if they could.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know if that last remark was aimed at him or Owl five. In either case, she stopped glaring and looked away. Unwilling to argue the point any further.


    ¡°Whatever,¡± she muttered drawing one of her long knives and fiddling with the edge.


    ¡°My people tried to save our woodland kin,¡± Elyria chimed in. ¡°Months ago, when we first noticed the locust pod falling past our ship in orbit¡­ they refused.¡± Ronin looked at her while she talked, she¡¯d removed the armor that bore his colors, replaced with wood elf leathers and a wood elf bow. He didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d managed to come up with those, but he couldn¡¯t help a smirk at how quickly she¡¯d gotten out of the borrowed gear.


    ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Ronin asked when she didn¡¯t say anything else. He didn¡¯t mind her input if it was productive. Yet even after he asked her to elaborate, she just shook her head and looked away. ¡°Thank you for your input.¡± He said, deciding to take her speaking civilly to him as a win and move on. ¡°Now, how do we get them back to the valley?¡± he posed the question to the whole group.


    ¡°We can fit a whole group in the ship, if we dump your truck.¡± Owl five said with some spite. She looked to have gotten over being outvoted, but she couldn¡¯t resist getting another dig in anyway.


    ¡°The truck will be valuable to the war effort.¡± Ronin said with a straight face, ¡°however we can get along ok without that red bike¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe we could think outside the box.¡± Owl five quickly added before Ronin could finish. He chuckled, and she stuck her tongue out at him. eliciting a laugh from everyone else present, even Elyria¡¯s lips twitched slightly at the pair. After everyone had gotten in a little laugh, the rest of the planning session went more smoothly. Within an hour, they had a tentative game plan for how to evacuate the city.


    ¡°Even with the modifications, and using both flight one and two, it¡¯s going to take more than a week to evacuate everyone.¡± Sam said once they had gotten a plan together, ¡°will you be able to hold on that long?¡± they¡¯d ended up moving into the cramped cargo compartment so they could close the hatch. The noise of battle was intense. Ronin didn¡¯t know how these guys had managed to hold them back using melee weapons and bows.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to.¡± He said with a shrug. ¡°I wanted some experience fighting the locusts hand to hand anyway¡­ looks like I¡¯ll get my wish at this rate.¡±


    ¡°Such a fool,¡± Owl five muttered from where she sat atop her new toy. They didn¡¯t know how the vehicles worked yet, but they¡¯d gathered enough information that Owl two should be able to figure it out.


    ¡°Oh, lighten up Brie,¡± Guts shot back. ¡°You know you wanna fight just as much as he does. You¡¯re just worried he might get hurt is all¡­¡± the end of his sentence trailed off as he dodged the helmet Owl five chucked at him from a nearby crate. Shaking his head, Ronin got up. He enjoyed the goblins banter most of the time, but he was still in a foul mood.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the prep work to you guys. K3 and I have an appointment at the gate.¡± He said before waving and leaving the ship behind.


    Walking through the multitude of sleeping forms laying around his ship, Ronin approached the gate. Looking it over as he drew nearer, he was concerned about what he saw. The gate had been made of heavy wood, reinforced with metal banding, but it had been shattered at some point. Now the area was piled high with large stones, boxes filled with ore, more crates that looked like they had sand in them, along with who knew what else. They hadn¡¯t been able to completely plug the gap again, so they¡¯d created a choke point that only let one or two locusts in at a time. K1 and K2 stood shoulder to shoulder in the opening, crushing exoskeletons and kicking them out of the way. Karr and his squad stood around on top of the barricade, shooting down around the two Kaldarr. Every few seconds the choke point would get filled with bodies and they could take a break while the locusts pulled their dead out.


    ¡°Next lull in the action swap out with us.¡± Ronin said as he and K3 arrived at the gate. Ronin and Owl five were the only true cyborgs left, now that Owl three and four had died, with Owl two being an android. After them, however, was K3, who¡¯d been implanted with a slew of Owl three¡¯s body parts. Owl two hadn¡¯t spared him any pain either, and changed out a lot. Thankfully the pod had put him back in shape in a few days. So, with their added abilities, Ronin suspected the two of them could hold the gate alone for at least a day, and he planned to find out real soon.


    When the gap became plugged again, K2 swapped places with K3. They didn¡¯t have time for more however because the tide of bodies rushed in again shortly after. The next time the gap was clogged with locust corpses it was Ronin¡¯s turn, and he jumped down as K1 backed up. K3 had his tower shield held over the gap as he situated himself, but pulled it back when Ronin nodded, he was ready. With a clatter of exoskeleton on stone, a pair of locust drones rushed through the gap.


    K3 smashed his hammer into the first and ronin caught the second on his shield. He followed up the block with a blow from his mace, but it had been a mistake to block first. There was already a second wave of drones following right behind the first. K3 covered for him that time, dealing with the second wave by himself as Ronin smashed his first opponent down.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said a bit embarrassed as he readied himself for the next wave. He needed combat experience, knowing it was the only way for him to improve. He smirked, because thankfully, there was an entire swarm of it, ready to deliver itself right to his door.

 Chapter Twenty-three

    The next twenty-seven hours passed in a blur. The first few hours were a bit rocky, while Ronin adjusted himself to this type of combat. Yet before long the pair had developed a rhythm. Ronin and K3 were like a single machine of death. One would block the incoming wave, while the other would crush their attacker¡¯s head. Then they would switch off, one attacking, the other defending. Ronin felt almost like they were dancing; his mace coming down while K3¡¯s shield came up, his shield coming up while K3¡¯s hammer drove home.


    he was getting tired, beyond tired actually, but his body had gotten into a routine. It wasn¡¯t hard for him to keep the tempo once they got into their rhythm. He¡¯d intended to continue until his body failed him, but he was called out early. His team had expedited the ships conversion and were now ready to go. he had to give last minute instructions and see them off. So, with a call for Karr and K1, he and K3 rotated out of the gap and moved back into the square.


    The first thing Ronin noticed upon exiting the kill box, was the stunned and almost terrified faces of Harken, Unyielding oak and Elyria. They were standing on the closest building, at a vantage that allowed them to witness the people fighting at the breach. He didn¡¯t know if it was the amount of time they¡¯d spent fighting or the gore that covered him from top to bottom, but he considered it a good thing that they were nervus. Having his people understand just how strong he and his team were might give them pause, should they consider anything nefarious.


    Instead of commenting or calling out, he just gave them a little wave as he walked past. Ronin noted idly that Harken¡¯s fur was actually white, without all the blood that had been caked into it. His feet were sloshing around inside his fitted boots as he walked. So, he really hoped this would be quick. He wanted to clean up and grab a few hours¡¯ sleep before he went back to the gate.


    ¡°Ready to go, Sam?¡± he asked his pilot when he¡¯d reached the ramp. He didn¡¯t board, not wanting to get his filth all over everything, but he did look around from here. the inside of the ship looked about the same, but on top of the ship was a different matter.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Sam said gesturing upwards. ¡°It didn¡¯t take us as long as we feared to build the platform. It turned out the clan had an entire building filled with readymade timber. Not sure what the used it for though, since everything here is made from stone or steel.¡± She said with a shrug, leading Ronin and K3 on a quick trip around the ship.


    They couldn¡¯t cram more than fifty or sixty people into the troop compartment without overcrowding. However, the ship was essentially a giant box with wings bolted on. So, they¡¯d fashioned a platform of wood, with a railing around it and added it to the top of the ship¡¯s hull. Sam would have to keep her speed and altitude down, and it would be hell on their energy reserves, but it would allow them to ferry close to two hundred people at a time.


    ¡°How did you decide who was going to be in the first group?¡± Ronin asked, looking at the people sitting in the troop compartment and on top of the ship. it looked like the majority of them were young children and their mothers. There was a distinct lack of elderly in the city, but there were a number of healthy-looking men on board as well. That made him curious. The women and children he could understand, but why these men who could be used on the wall?


    ¡°We interviewed them,¡± Sam said. ¡°At first, we tried to be nice about it, but there were too many conflicting stories¡­ like who¡¯s kid someone was, or if someone had any useful skills or not. So, Owl five ordered us to collar them before their interviews and just order them not to lie.¡± Sam shrugged, ¡°Seemed a bit cruel at first, but it sure sped things up. the kids where an auto include, of course. The women are the young one¡¯s mothers. They had to agree to put their kids in our training school before they were given a seat on the first ship. as for the men,¡± here she paused and shrugged again. ¡°They are the biggest trouble makers. We collared them and ordered them not to cause any trouble on the way back, but we figured we¡¯d better get them out of here. To prevent any trouble for you at a bad time.¡±


    Ronin nodded, made sense to him. besides, he really didn¡¯t care who went out first. he¡¯d be staying until the very end with his team, so it didn¡¯t matter. They¡¯d all arrive before he would. He finished the round of the ship, then spent a little time talking to the six members of Karr¡¯s squad and the three members of the scout squad who had been tasked with going back with this group.


    ¡°I appreciate you taking this assignment,¡± Ronin said. he glossed over the fact that they hadn¡¯t been asked, thinking it was nicer to just say thank you. ¡°We needed a few trustworthy people on board, people who could handle themselves in case of trouble. Can¡¯t have them stealing our ship now, can we?¡± he asked in a joking tone. He turned to one of the scouts next for a more pointed conversation.


    ¡°Song,¡± he said nodding at one of his longest serving scouts. ¡°You ok to do this?¡± he asked her seriously.


    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± She said with a salute, ¡°I will not fail you.¡± he¡¯d selected her as his emissary at the wall. Sam would drop her, and K2 for protection, off at the human kingdom¡¯s wall on their way back through. She was the most well-spoken goblin in his scout team. It also didn¡¯t hurt that she had a lovely voice. Leaving K2 there was a bit of a gamble, knowing how much the elves didn¡¯t like the Kaldarr. Yet, he couldn¡¯t leave any of Karr¡¯s men there. They¡¯d been former soldiers at the wall, and he didn¡¯t want to risk them being recognized.


    ¡°I have no doubt of that,¡± he said with a smile. Before adding on a little last-minute advice. ¡°Don¡¯t risk yourself up there. Just let them know what¡¯s happening out here, and that we will be delayed in our return by a week or more. Gather what information you can, but don¡¯t risk your safety for it.¡± she nodded gravely at his words, even though she¡¯d likely been told all this already.


    Giving K2 an encouraging pat on the arm, he couldn¡¯t comfortably reach his shoulder, Ronin talked with him for a moment as well. Before nodding to Sam and backing away. The quicker they left, the quicker they would return. He hoped Song¡¯s mission went well, he even wondered if some of the elves might fly over to lend a hand. He doubted it for some reason, but one never knew.


    ¡°Got any food ready for us, Guts?¡± Ronin asked, after the ship had left. they needed to get something to eat, then get cleaned up and sleep. Before they could go back to the breach again. accepting a plate of food, he sat down with his bodyguard and began to scarf it down.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Owl five?¡± he asked as he ate. Wondering at her not being around for the ship¡¯s departure.


    ¡°She¡¯s up on the wall with the scouts,¡± Guts said. ¡°She conscripted a few of the locals to reload their spare crossbows between shots, now that the ammunition for the rifles is gone.¡± Dang, Ronin had expected the ammunition to run out quickly, having only had time to make ten thousand rounds or so. Still, he expected it to last more than one day.


    ¡°How are the bolts working out?¡± he asked, trying not to focus on the negative.


    ¡°Great actually,¡± Guts replied. ¡°Owl two made them out of the same rat metal that he made your guys armor out of. the cross beam is super short but the speed of the bolt it can fire is comparable to a bullet. The girls can¡¯t even crank the string back without a ¡®gear reduction¡¯ or whatever it¡¯s called¡­ anyway, since we had to unload some of the gear, Owl five has four crossbows per scout up there. Three people are taking turns winding them up while the scout fires. It¡¯s still slower than the guns, but we¡¯ve got a lot more bolts.¡±


    ¡°Got ya,¡± Ronin said. he still didn¡¯t understand why she hadn¡¯t come down, unless it had something to do with Sam still. He did have to marvel at those crossbows though. Guts was right, they were amazingly built. Small enough for the four-foot-tall goblins to use easily, they packed quite the punch. The weapon was impossible to cock by hand, due to the strength of the crossbeam. Owl two had needed to make special cranks for each weapon to make loading possible. It functioned something like a mountain bike with gears that reduced the amount of strength needed to cock the weapon. Of course, the tradeoff was that it required far more cranks and a lot more time to load.


    The bolts were also something they had in excess. Where the bullets had to be manufactured to tight tolerance, using hard to manufacture materials, the bolts were just printed from a solid chunk of steel. Owl two had been repurposing the wrecked Kaldarr ships to crank them out by the dozen. They¡¯d brought crates of the things with them for this trip.


    ¡°Does she want to get more people up there shooting?¡± Ronin asked knowing the elves were likely great shots. ¡°We could pass out more of the spares and ramp up the kill numbers.¡±


    ¡°No boss,¡± Guts said after a pause. ¡°She said they¡¯re fine, besides, we don¡¯t wanna blow through all our bolts on the second day.¡± Ronin still had the feeling that something else was going on with her, but again he let it slide. He was too tired to worry about that now anyway.


    ¡°Alright, Guts. I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± he said with a shrug, ¡°Now, where can we get cleaned up? I need a bath and a nap, so we can get back into the action.¡± Guts led them to one of the stone houses, and showed them inside, where a pair of bathtubs had been filled with steaming water. Then showed them where they could sleep, before taking his leave again. they¡¯d pulled a few of the dead locusts inside the walls and he wanted to get back to his experiments with them.


    ¡°Think he¡¯ll come up with anything from those bodies?¡± Ronin asked K3 as they settled into the tubs to soak.


    ¡°The carapace is sturdy. It could make good armor, for less vital troops¡­ the talons could also make adequate swords. Perhaps he wants to outfit the goblin troops with them?¡± K3 speculated, washing gore from the short grey bristles that covered his head.


    ¡°I could see that,¡± Ronin said. examining the Kaldarrian from the side. ¡°Just as long as he isn¡¯t trying to cook them, I¡¯ll be fine with whatever he comes up with.¡± Owl two had done a number on K3 when he implanted him with Owl three¡¯s organs and muscle tissue. Not to mention his eyes and¡­ various other parts. Yet, his grey skin was free from any scarring. The eyes fit cleanly into his head, and he didn¡¯t show any signs of trauma at all. Ronin was relieved to see it, even after so many days outside the pod. He¡¯d worried Owl two had gone too far with his enhancements. Especially considering how rudimentary their equipment was right now.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok sir,¡± K3 said suddenly, startling Ronin out of his thoughts.


    ¡°I know you are.¡± Ronin said quickly, to cover his embarrassment at having been caught staring.


    ¡°No, really sir.¡± K3 persisted, looking over at Ronin at last. ¡°Owl two did me a favor, with the upgrades. It¡¯s my job to keep you safe. now that I¡¯m stronger, faster, can see things that were too far away before plus can see in the dark¡­ I¡¯m much more capable to do my job. Besides, I need to be able to keep up with you, what kind of guard can¡¯t keep up with his charge. Am I right?¡± he asked with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s actually a shame they were ready to leave so quickly,¡± he added working a rag between his massive toes. ¡°I was looking forward to seeing which one of us could last longer at the breach.¡± He added with a sly wink Ronin¡¯s way.


    ¡°Oh, now you¡¯ve done it.¡± Ronin said, deciding to let go of his worries for his friend. ¡°Once we get some sleep and some breakfast, we¡¯re going back to that gate. Once we get there we aren¡¯t leaving until one of us passes out from exhaustion.¡± He slapped the now pink bathwater to emphasize his point.


    ¡°Deal,¡± K3 said with a deep throated chuckle of his own.


    Once their bodies and their equipment had been tended to, the pair lay down in an attached room. two members of the squad were there to stand guard for them while they slept. They received little more than an acknowledging nod, before the pair were fast asleep.


    When Ronin woke the next day, he felt refreshed. Not as alert as if he¡¯d spent the night in his pod perhaps. Still, the exercise followed by the food and sleep had done him worlds of good, in clearing his mind from the anger that had tormented him since he arrived in this world. it had been clinging to him for so long, that he hadn¡¯t even noticed it until it was overwhelming him.


    ¡°You look better,¡± K3 said upon seeing Ronin. ¡°It looks like combat agrees with you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Ronin smirked. ¡°Not that what we were doing was really combat. It felt a lot more like a chore than a fight.¡± He had learned a lot, but the locusts were just so single minded in their desire for food. Not much thought was needed to crush them, when they didn¡¯t fight back effectively.


    ¡°That is how you should fight.¡± K3 said shaking his head in disagreement. ¡°Set the field in your favor and choose the moment to attack. Sure, it would be more thrilling to face that horde in the open. But they would have overrun us in the first hour that way. doing it like this, however, maximizes our damage while minimizing the risks.¡±


    Ronin looked at his normally quiet friend. He¡¯d spoken more in the last little bit than in the weeks prior combined. Maybe it was that he had finally gotten a chance to let loose in a fight. also, it could have been that he was the only one around so he didn¡¯t feel the need to step back for others to talk. Ronin didn¡¯t know, but he didn¡¯t mind either way.


    ¡°You know something,¡± he said in wonder. ¡°That sentence, taught me more about fighting effectively than all the training Owl two and Benjamin put me through.¡± He said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Actually, sir.¡± K3 said, scratching the thick bristles on his head. ¡°It is because of their training that allowed you to see the value in my words.¡± Thinking about that, Ronin had to nod.


    They ate breakfast before moving back to the breach in the wall. Ronin was once again disappointed that he didn¡¯t get a chance to talk with Owl five, but he shook it off. she would come around. he also shook off Harken and Unyielding oak¡¯s attempts to talk to him. He still wasn¡¯t too happy with them but did tell them that they would have a meeting after he finished with his next round at the gate. They weren¡¯t happy, but let it be. So, only a short time after waking up, Ronin and K3 once again found themselves knee deep in gore.


    *            *            *


    Swing, crunch, pull out the corpse, block for K3, swing, crunch. It was the new rhythm Ronin had gotten into over the last thirty-four hours. Guts had contacted him shortly after they¡¯d started their one-sided massacre. He¡¯d asked that Ronin and K3 start pulling in the locust corpses, since he¡¯d found a use for them. Ronin didn¡¯t ask what that use was, only communicating to K3 that they needed to somehow gather them up.


    Surprisingly, once they started pulling in the odd body, the locust swarm got even more riled up and aggressive. Communicating with each other using their telepathic link, Ronin and K3 determined they were angry at being denied the biological material from their fallen companions. Taking that as a good sign, the pair worked out a method to pull in one out of every two corpses. During the last day and a half, Ronin had no idea how many bodies they¡¯d pulled in, but it had to be a lot.


    During the next surge, K3 slipped in his grab for a corpse. Ronin covered him with his shield, but they missed the grab. The locust drones pulling their fallen brethren back from the gap. Two waves later, Ronin slipped up. taking a talon to the helmet that scored a deep scratch into the metal surface. they were getting tired, and Ronin figured it wouldn¡¯t be long until they had to pull back. He was just debating how long they should continue when he heard the rattle of machine gun fire.


    Realizing the ships must have returned, he motioned for K2 and a bugbear warrior who¡¯d been standing by for their turn. They traded partners while the locusts were distracted by the ships and hopped out of the kill box.


    ¡°Patriarch,¡± Harken said from his position on the nearby roof with Unyielding oak. ¡°It sounds like your people have returned. Does that mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry Harken,¡± Ronin said cutting the man off. ¡°I need to get cleaned up and meet the ship. but I¡¯ll ask Guts to whip us up something to eat and we can talk over a meal. Is that acceptable?¡± It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t like the two leaders, he just didn¡¯t want to deal with them just now.


    ¡°¡­ of course, patriarch. We will be waiting by the ships for you.¡± Harken said, a frown on his scarred face. Unyielding oak looked ready to attack him, but she always looked that way, so Ronin didn¡¯t really care.


    ¡°You really should talk to them,¡± Elyria said jumping down from the building¡¯s roof and falling into line with Ronin and K3 as they headed towards the house they¡¯d bathed in the other day. ¡°They are good leaders, and their people look up to them. they are also scared.¡±


    ¡°Scared?¡± Ronin asked, as shocked at her talking to him as he was at her words. ¡°What are they scared of? We¡¯re getting them out of this mess, and they haven¡¯t lost a single soldier since we got here.¡± he couldn¡¯t understand what they had to worry about.


    ¡°That.¡± Elyria said, pointing to a mound of corpses. Ronin stopped walking as he stared at it. there must be¡­ ¡°There are close to four thousand locusts in that pile¡­ four thousand. The two of you killed them all in just over a day. They were watching you fight; they know you only pulled in every second Locust killed. They¡¯re scared of you, White flame.¡±


    Ronin looked into her eyes as she spoke. He was surprised to see the hatred that had been burning in them wasn¡¯t as strong. It was still there, but it had been mostly replaced. Replaced by wariness and, maybe a little respect? He wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see the problem.¡± He said, continuing his walk towards the house. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to save these people.¡± Nodding to the pair of guards at his door, he strode inside with K3 and Elyria in tow. Reaching the tub, he began removing his armor.


    ¡°The problem, White flame is that you look like a bigger monster than the locusts. They want reassurance that you¡¯re not taking them away to live a worse life than they have here. if they don¡¯t get it there could be trouble.¡±


    ¡°I already said I¡¯d talk to them after I talk too Sam and Eric.¡± He said, finishing on his armor and starting to remove his blood-stained clothes. he did go ahead and put in a call to Guts though, to get a table and food ready for a meal. ¡°I¡¯m grateful that you came to me with this, but¡­¡± he was cut off by a shrill scream.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Elyria cried, staring at him in horror.


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin asked, looking down at himself in confusion. ¡°I¡¯m taking a bath.¡±


    ¡°How dare you,¡± she said emphasizing her words with a slap to his face. before she turned her head away, face going red. ¡°I should kill you for this.¡± she snarled, but she was already leaving the room. Ronin felt his cheek, and looked after her, stunned.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± he asked a chuckling K3, who had stripped from his armor but was still fully clothed.


    ¡°Sometimes, my lord.¡± The giant said between chuckles, ¡°I think you must have some goblin in your ancestry.¡± He said, finally getting undressed. ¡°Most races who consider themselves civilized. Humans, elves, bugbears, even Kaldarr, don¡¯t expose their naked bodies to the opposite sex unless they are in a relationship with them. heck, most don¡¯t show their naked bodies to members of the same sex either. Except while bathing perhaps in a public setting¡­ she likely thinks you were making some kind of, sexual advance on her.¡±


    ¡°Lovely,¡± Ronin groaned as he climbed into the tub. ¡°That¡¯s just what I need.¡± he muttered; Brie¡¯s scarlet hair framed face coming to his mind for some reason. She still hadn¡¯t talked to him, and he had a feeling this incident was going to make her grumpy.


    ¡°Sam, Eric.¡± Ronin called a short time later, after he had cleaned up and moved back out to the ships. ¡°How was the flight?¡± he looked at the drop ships while he talked. They had been heavily modified since he last saw them. now giant platforms covered the tops of each. They could likely hold several hundred people on each ship now. It wouldn¡¯t get them all, but one more trip should see them all safe.


    ¡°Greetings, lord White flame.¡± Sam said with a smile. Eric mirrored her words, with a sideways glance at his fellow former slave. ¡°We dropped off the first batch, and somehow, Owl two already had platforms ready to add to the ships by the time we arrived.¡± She said with a shake of her head. ¡°That man is shockingly well prepared. I wonder what his face looks like?¡± she added under her breath.


    ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Ronin said, glossing over the talk of Owl two¡¯s face. he didn¡¯t actually have one, being entirely mechanical in nature. The armor he wore was his actual body. Still, Ronin wasn¡¯t surprised she was curious. She worked closely with Owl two on the breeding program. ¡°Get with Karr on loading the next batch, I believe he should be free¡­¡± He talked with them a little longer, before excusing himself for his meal with Harken and Unyielding oak.


    When ronin entered the square around the gate, he was directed to another nearby house by one of the soldiers. he stopped to inhale a breath of food flavored air as he entered, K3 doing the same behind him. moving further into the stone house, he saw Harken and Unyielding oak seated at a table with Elyria. She wasn¡¯t looking at him, and her moon silver face still held a tint of pink.


    Guts was behind the table with another member of the food corps. They were working over two huge cauldrons, which bubbled with boiling water. One looked like plain water, while the other contained a mix of herbs and spices. Likely what was flavoring the air.


    ¡°Hello, Harken, Unyielding oak.¡± Ronin said as they rose to their feet at his entrance, ¡°Please, sit down.¡± he said, motioning to them to be seated. ¡°Elyria,¡± he said to the elf who hadn¡¯t stood up. ¡°I apologize for my lapse in judgment, K3 has informed me that the way I was raised¡­ differs slightly from how most people were.¡± He had to fight to prevent grinding his teeth together at the words. He¡¯d lived his whole life until now on a planet that desperately wanted to be rid of humanity. Where things like nudity weren¡¯t considered beyond whether a person was cold or not. ¡°I beg your pardon in the matter, rest assured it won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    He honestly wasn¡¯t interested in apologizing to her. Yet, he really didn¡¯t need the misunderstanding straining things with Owl five any further. Besides, he was stuck with this elf. Unless he decided he didn¡¯t need the help of the moon elves that was, and for the time being at least, he did need them.


    She didn¡¯t respond to his words, but her expression did look at least a little mollified. Harken and Unyielding oak stared on in confusion, obviously not having heard about the incident. Guts on the other hand, held in a snicker. Ronin doubted the goblin knew what was going on either, but he always laughed whenever Ronin screwed up. it was part of his charm¡­ and Ronin wanted to strangle him for it sometimes.


    ¡°Now,¡± he said taking his seat at the table while K3 took up position at the door. ¡°I also owe the two of you an apology.¡± He didn¡¯t want to do this either, but again, ¡®needs must when the devil drives.¡¯ A saying that Markus used quite often, when he had to do something unpleasant. ¡°I had intended on speaking with you earlier about where we will be going¡­¡± he then spent a few minutes telling them about the valley, and the underground city that they would be going too.


    His story cut off abruptly, when Guts pulled a bright red arm out of the caldron, and placed it on the table.

 Twenty-Four

    Ronin stared in open mouthed shock at the bright red arm on the table in front of him. It looked just like one of the locust manipulator arms, apart from the color. Guts had pulled out a small rotary tool and was busy scoring a line down the length of the arm.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± he asked in bewilderment.


    ¡°Just watch, boss. You¡¯re gunna love it.¡± Guts said having traced a line from shoulder to elbow, then elbow to wrist, he picked up a small hammer. ¡°You see, I¡¯ve been talking to some of the locals. Trying to come up with new recipes.¡± He paused to bring the hammer down on the cut he¡¯d made in the exoskeleton. It cracked apart, exposing white meat with a pink tinge that was billowing steam.


    ¡°One of the villagers said he¡¯d visited that seaside city. He called it Andy¡¯s Reef, anyway he told me about this dish he had there called crab legs. Well boss,¡± as he spoke, he was scooping out the steaming meat and placing it onto the four seated people¡¯s plates. ¡°We didn¡¯t have any of these crabs, but from the description¡­ I thought, why not? I¡¯ve named them ¡®locust limbs.¡¯ Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve already tasted everything, its safe.¡±


    ¡°You condone the eating of your enemies?¡± Unyielding oak asked, her face a mask of disgust. Her hair wasn¡¯t pulled back today, so the multitude of tiny braids was framing her angry face.


    ¡°Yes, I too have issue with this, Patriarch. If this is the way you handle your affairs¡­¡± Harken said, eyeing the plate with distaste.


    Ronin looked at the pair. Then to Elyria, whom he expected to raise an issue, but hadn¡¯t. she was still sitting with her face turned away from him, the red tinge still on her cheeks. Ronin was worried about that, hoping he hadn¡¯t screwed up his potential alliance with the moon elves with a simple bath. The reaction of the other two, however, was somewhat annoying.


    ¡°Really now?¡± he asked, picking up his fork and breaking a piece of the meat free. ¡°For a city who¡¯d lost so many people to starvation, I¡¯d think you wouldn¡¯t object to the mindless food delivering itself to your door.¡± Honestly, he didn¡¯t want to eat it either, and in private would have scolded Guts for this food choice. He couldn¡¯t do that now though, not in front of these people. So, he instead popped the meat into his mouth, after blowing on it a few times.


    ¡°What do you think sir?¡± Guts asked, having pulled out another arm. This time he retrieved it from the caldron that was filled with herbs and spices and was busy opening it up with his tools.


    ¡°Hhmm,¡± Ronin made a thoughtful noise as he chewed. It was surprisingly good. the texture was soft yet somehow the meat stayed together. While the flavors seemed to explode out from the meat with each chew.


    ¡°Right?¡± Guts said, putting some of the seasoned meat on his plate. ¡°Try this one. that same guy told me I could change the flavor depending on how it was boiled. So, I had to try it.¡± Reaching out with his fork again, Ronin sampled the new piece of meat. It had all the same flavors as the first, but with added spice. His eyes watered a little at the strength of the herbs, but it was quite good.


    Looking over at his dinner guests, Ronin was pleased to see that Elyria had sampled the meat and Harken was eyeing it thoughtfully. Unyielding oak, however, was looking increasingly irate.


    ¡°Lord White flame¡± She said, her voice quavering with rage. ¡°My people have been fighting for our lives for months. Our forests are gone, completely eaten away by those monsters. our elders are gone, our children nearly so. The tribe that once contained tens of thousands has been reduced to less than one. my people are scared and tired. they need assurances¡­ yet the man who ¡®saved them¡¯ spends his days sleeping and slaughtering. When he finally bothers to speak with me, he feeds me the flesh of those who caused so much suffering?¡± she¡¯d risen to her feet during her tirade, backhanding the plate across the room. she stood there, chest heaving with exertion as she glared murder at Ronin.


    Ronin sat where he had been, staring at her. He¡¯d motioned K3 away when she¡¯d risen, not wanting the situation to escalate, but he was now reconsidering. What was it about him that made so many people treat him this way? Alexander had bullied him, when all he¡¯d ever wanted was to read his books. The towns people¡­ his mind was quickly traveling down the old roads of self-pity that he was coming to be all too familiar with. Like before, he was turning that self-pity to anger. His fingers twitched in the direction of his mace, when a new voice spoke out.


    ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t recognize me, Petal dancer.¡± Elyria said, placing another bite into her mouth. She seemed calm and clear headed for the first time since Ronin had met her. ¡°I am, or was, Elyriaaril. Wife of Allanaril, leader of the moon elves.¡± Her face flushed, and for a moment he thought she might cry. Then Ronin noticed she was reaching for a glass of water and that she had sampled the spicy meat. Clearing her throat, she continued.


    ¡°We came to you months ago, when the first of these locusts appeared. We told you an invader had landed in your forest, and that they would devour you all if you didn¡¯t let us eradicate them¡­ do you remember me now, Petal dancer?¡± She asked, raising to her feet. ¡°I dislike the White flame as much as you do, but to blame him in this situation is purely unjust. He is doing everything in his power to save people he doesn¡¯t know and has no kinship with. While you, you knew the whole time what was coming yet refused to let us into your lands to help you.¡±


    Ronin was floored. He looked at Elyria wide eyed. It was the most he¡¯d ever heard her say since he¡¯d met her. At least the most he¡¯d ever heard without a long line of invectives added in and aimed at him. she stood there, poised and confident, and he wondered if this was who she had been before she¡¯d lost her husband. At least that was what Ronin assumed had happened anyway. she still hadn¡¯t told anyone her story.


    ¡°You knew, Petal dancer. You knew¡­ you knew as well, Harken.¡± Elyria said, rounding on the old bugbear. ¡°We came to the clans after we left the forest, and Andy¡¯s reef. We told you what was coming. Not one of you believed¡­ I asked the White flame to meet with you, because I thought that you had learned from your mistakes, and wished to work with him to save your peoples... I guess I was wrong.¡± She turned her attention on Ronin then, and her eyes narrowed while her cheeks turned pink.


    ¡°My apologies to you, White flame.¡± She said, doing her best not to choke on the words, or at least that¡¯s how it looked to him. ¡°For wasting your time. Save these people if you will, but know that if you chose not to, it will have been justified.¡± Having spoken her peace, she turned towards the door. only having taken one step however, she turned and scooped up her plate before leaving the house.


    Everyone stood or sat in silence for a long moment. Looking at each other after the moon elf¡¯s outburst. When the silence was finally broken, Ronin wished it would have remained.


    ¡°What¡¯d you do to her boss?¡± Guts asked, with a snicker. ¡°She¡¯s starting to act like Sam and Brie.¡± He finished, popping a chunk of meat into his own mouth. ¡°Man, this is so good.¡± his words seemed to have at least broken the ice, because Harken let out a deep breath and Unyielding oak sat back down. She still looked angry, but the rage that had been burning in her eyes had dimmed some.


    Ronin looked at the pair with new eyes. ¡°So, that¡¯s what she meant when she said her people had tried to save her woodland kin.¡± Ronin mused silently as he recalculated the situation. He didn¡¯t know why she¡¯d done it, but Elyria had strengthened his position with the elven and bugbear leaders with her story.


    ¡°As I was saying,¡± he said picking up his fork and resuming where he¡¯d left off, before Guts brought out the locust limbs. ¡°I will be moving you to my home valley. There, you will become my citizens. You may keep much of your autonomy, but you will be MY citizens.¡± He was tired of playing nice with everyone around him all the time. ¡°Or¡­ I can leave you here. Contrary to what you seem to believe, I don¡¯t actually have to save you. I¡¯m here to help you, but I won¡¯t be dictated too by you elf, or anyone else.¡± He finished, taking another bite. ¡°This really is good, Guts.¡± he said with a nod towards his personal cook.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Was that a good idea, sir?¡± K3 asked after the meeting. Ronin had spent close to an hour with the pair, answering their questions and settling their minds about the move. ¡°You started out so strong, then ended up placating them anyway¡­ they might not take you seriously.¡± It was a concern to Ronin as well, so he didn¡¯t hold back in his answer.


    ¡°Honestly, K3.¡± He said with a shrug, ascending the stairs up the wall. ¡°I have no idea what I¡¯m doing. We just need to get them back willingly, and Owl two will take it from there. I¡¯m sure he already has an integration plan set up and ready to go.¡± the Kaldarr nodded at those words, but didn¡¯t pursue the conversation, since they had reached the top of the wall.


    Owl five was up here, laying prone and firing down on the swarm below. All the scouts were here, along with several of the city¡¯s refugees. It was just like he¡¯d been told; they were set up with reloaders so they could continuously fire their weapons. The scouts all looked tired, but since Owl five hadn¡¯t stopped, they wouldn¡¯t either. Still, Ronin could see the fatigue building up in his goblins.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough for today.¡± He said, walking over to the group. ¡°Guts has come up with a new dish, go get some then get some sleep. There will be plenty of locusts here in the morning.¡± He continued to talk to his people as they rose and stretched. Nodding to him gratefully as they filed down the stairs from the wall.


    ¡°Owl five,¡± Ronin called out as she made to follow her people down. ¡°A word, please.¡± Annoyance stabbed at him when she tried to slip passed him, but he squashed it. she stopped where she was, and as the last person left the wall, K3 moved to block the steps. Giving the pair some privacy.


    ¡°What can I do for you sir?¡± she asked, face covered by her helmet. Ronin sighed, looking at her in exasperation.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°You can start by removing your helmet,¡± he said. ¡°Then, you can tell me what¡¯s been going on with you lately.¡± He watched her as she unbuckled her helmet, but she wouldn¡¯t meet his eyes as she spoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean, sir.¡± She said her pink eyes on the floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that,¡± Ronin said angrily. ¡°You¡¯ve been avoiding me for days. I want to know why?¡±


    ¡°Really sir?¡± she asked, anger appearing in her eyes now too. ¡°Why do you care? The ships are back. Why don¡¯t you go talk to that pilot of yours? You¡¯ve been spending an awful lot of time in there lately. Or, why not go talk to that elf? You were quick enough to strip for her this morning¡­¡± she all but screamed the last words at him.


    Ronin sighed, looking at his angry team mate. Was this jealousy? Why though, he hadn¡¯t done anything wrong, or at least he didn¡¯t think he had. Ok, the situation with Elyria might have looked bad, or so he was told. Samantha, however? He¡¯d only been spending time with her because she was his pilot and he wanted to see where they were going. What was wrong with that?


    ¡°Brie,¡± he said slowly, not sure exactly what he wanted to say. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to figure out the locust problem. I needed to be in there to view the swarm and the landscape¡­ as far as Elyria, well that was an accident. And¡­¡±


    ¡°An accident sir?¡± Brie said, disbelief dripping from her words. ¡°Who ¡®accidentally¡¯ strips in front of a woman who hates them? I ask again, why are you bothering me? You have those other two women to talk to.¡± She turned away from him, her green cheeks darkening in a blush. Ronin frowned, why was this happening. He just wanted to talk to her, why was she acting this way.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± He said at last, ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to talk to you Brie. I enjoy talking to you, I also respect your opinion. But for the last few days, you haven¡¯t been around. Even when I look for you. What do you want me to do?¡± this whole conversation was stupid. Ronin had no idea what was wrong with her, or why his chest felt so tight at her attitude. All he knew was that he didn¡¯t like how he was feeling right now, and he wanted her to stop being so cold towards him.


    ¡°Was there anything else, sir?¡± she asked, back still to him. Her shoulders had hunched when he¡¯d told her he¡¯d been trying to talk to her, but she hadn¡¯t caved. Ronin ran his fingers through his hair, in frustration, before answering.


    ¡°No, Owl five.¡± He said, becoming lord White flame once again. ¡°That will be all¡­¡± before he¡¯d even finished talking, she¡¯d slipped passed K3 and was sprinting away down the stairs.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Ronin asked K3 as he watched her go. Unsure of what was going on.


    ¡°Women sir,¡± K3 said with a shrug. ¡°Our Owl five is more delicate than she likes to let on. Give her a little time and show her you care more for her then the women around her¡­ show her, mind, don¡¯t just say it¡­ and she¡¯ll come around.¡± Ronin looked at his guard once Owl five had disappeared. Not understanding what he was talking about but deciding to at least try it.


    ¡°Alright, K3.¡± He said, heading towards the stairs himself. ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time for this anyway¡­ we have a few more days of this to go, and I¡¯m exhausted. Let¡¯s go get some sleep.¡± Nodding his approval for that idea, K3 fell in behind Ronin and they headed back toward the house they¡¯d been sleeping in.


    As they descended the stairs, they watched as the ships lifted off the ground. They were loaded down with people, all the remaining refugees along with some of those who¡¯d been fighting. Ronin hoped they¡¯d hurry back. They would be able to leave this place after one more trip. He watched as the ships cleared the wall above. Then turned his gaze back towards the stairs leading down. Before he could take another step, however, he felt the entire wall shudder.


    He stumbled, catching himself on K3¡¯s outstretched arm, and the side of the wall. They¡¯d only made it half way down the one-hundred-foot-tall wall. So, they had a perfect vantage as the queen landed on it. She swiped her huge talons at the ships, who had to dodge wildly to avoid the blades. Ronin winced as one or two of the refugees fell off the ships and plummeted into the waiting swarm below.


    Having missed her target, the locust queen looked down into the city. The remaining soldiers were screaming at the sight of her and had already begun to scatter wildly. Ronin cursed as she spread her wings and leapt down from the wall, smashing buildings as she landed. With a sweep of her giant talons, she dropped another stone building. Reaching out with a manipulator arm, she snatched up one of the fleeing bugbears. His bulky body looking miniscule in her giant hand. Lifting him to her mouth, Ronin felt the crunch more than he heard it, thanks to the distance.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± he said looking down on her. He¡¯d seen the queens in the distance, but they¡¯d been busy fighting one another so he hadn¡¯t paid them much mind. It looked like that fight was over now, if the scars on this queen¡¯s body were anything to go by. She must have won the confrontation, and thus the right to enter the feast first.


    ¡°Sir, we need to get you out of here.¡± K3 bellowed, pulling Ronin up the stairs again. ¡°If we get up the wall, we can get you onto the ship and¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ronin shouted pulling his arm free. ¡°Our whole team is down there. Besides, we have a duty to these people now.¡± Truthfully, he only had Owl five on his mind as he spoke. Somehow, however, he didn¡¯t think that was a good enough reason for K3 to let Ronin risk his life for. ¡°We have to take her out. She¡¯s injured, so we have a chance.¡±


    Looking down he could tell the queen was in rough shape. One of her manipulator arms was missing, and gore dripped from several rents in her armored exoskeleton. A shadow from above blocked out the sun, as flight one flew back over the wall. Ronin watched the queen¡¯s head snap up as the ship appeared, jumping to the side as a rocket flew from the dropship.


    The valuable projectile smashed into the ground where the queen had been standing just moments before. Demolishing the rest of the building and causing the fleeing soldiers to scream and duck down, to avoid the stone fragments that were now flying everywhere. Undaunted, he watched as Sam opened fire with her machine guns. The occasional tracer round showing the bullets path as they ripped a pattern across the queen¡¯s body. Pushing her back, but not damaging her further.


    With a powerful leap, the queen rocketed towards the ship. Sam was forced to dodge the incoming swing again. More passengers falling to their deaths at the wild maneuvering.


    ¡°Sam,¡± Ronin screamed into his coms. ¡°Sam, stop. You¡¯re killing your passengers and you already know the ships guns aren¡¯t strong enough. Get going, Take those people back to the valley. We¡¯ll handle the queen. Just hurry back.¡±


    ¡°But sir¡­¡± she said, anguish in her voice.


    ¡°Just go,¡± Ronin interrupted her plea with a shout. ¡°We¡¯ll handle this.¡± He heard her frustrated shout over the still open coms, before she shut them off. The ship turned around in midair and rocketed away over the wall and out of sight.


    ¡°You might have saved the people on the ships, boss.¡± K3 said from beside him, ¡°but how exactly do you plan on saving the rest of us?¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t blame him for being upset. They¡¯d had a chance to get him to safety, but he¡¯d just thrown it away.


    ¡°Who knows,¡± Ronin said with a shrug. Shouldering his mark V railgun for the first time in what felt like weeks. ¡°But I¡¯ll think of something.¡± ¡°I hope,¡± he added silently in his head as he opened fire on the queen.


    The railgun rounds penetrated the queen¡¯s armor. Causing her to let out a scream of pain and rage. She whipped her head around, looking for the source of the pain. Spotting Ronin on the wall, she rocketed towards him. With another curse, Ronin let the Rifle drop as he quickly scrambled out of the way. The queen impacted the wall with a boom. Causing Ronin to stumble and sending rock dust billowing up around them.


    Cursing himself for a fool as he watched his rifle tumbling down the stairs, Ronin readied his shield and drew his mace. He activated the taser setting, though he doubted the weak current would even hurt her through that thick armor. Before he could advance on her, K3 raised his own rifle from beside him and let off a half dozen quick shots into the queen¡¯s side.


    She screamed again and aimed a swipe at the pair with her taloned arm closest to them. The Kaldarr retreated up the wall, dragging Ronin along by his equipment harness. The steps that had been cut into the stone of the wall had broken away at the queen¡¯s impact, leaving the pair stranded on the wall. The queen, however, didn¡¯t even seem to notice. She clung to the wall with her giant limbs, beginning to crawl upwards towards the tiny prey who dared harm her.


    ¡°Here sir,¡± K3 said passing his rifle over to a confused Ronin.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Ronin asked as he accepted the weapon. Watching as K3 pulled his hammer and shield off his back. ¡°No, oh no. That¡¯s a bad idea.¡± He tried to stop his guard, but it was too late. With a cry, the Kaldarr warrior launched himself down the stairs. Directly into the waiting arms of the queen.


    Ronin watched in horror, expecting his friend to be sliced in two before he could even reach his target. Just as the queen was rearing back for her swing however, she let out another scream of pain. Forgetting about the charging K3, she turned her head in the opposite direction. Ronin followed her gaze to see Owl five, who was rushing back up the stairs. She had her own rifle in hand and was firing the weapon as quickly as she could pull the trigger. Round after round impacted the queen, the small wounds beginning to add up as gore seeped from her body to slick the stairs below.


    Her attention fully focused on Owl five, the queen failed to notice as K3 leapt the final stretch down the stairs. He held his hammer above his head in a two-handed grip, and his body bowed backward as he built up all the momentum he could. With a sickening crunch, the hammer imbedded itself into the queen¡¯s head.


    She shrieked in pain, the deafening noise drowning out all other sounds. She batted her taloned arm backwards, trying to dislodge her unwanted passenger. K3 hung on, swinging around seventy feet above the ground, holding onto the handle of his hammer to keep him from falling.


    ¡°Ronin.¡± The scream from Owl five brought Ronin back to himself. He¡¯d zoned out as the fight had begun in earnest. Grinding his teeth together at another failure on his part, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder. It took him a few seconds to connect K3¡¯s rifle to his own targeting reticle. Still, he took the time to make the change. He didn¡¯t want to be firing blind so close to his people.


    Once the cross appeared in his vision, ronin aimed in at the place where K3¡¯s hammer had broken the armored plates of the queen¡¯s head. Squeezing the trigger repeatedly, he watched the round counter tick down in the corner of his eye. He was trying to shoot her directly in the brain, but she wasn¡¯t making it easy. Jerking around in pain and rage, the queen wouldn¡¯t stay still. New wounds popped into existence on her head and face as he fired at her, but they lost much of their power having to punch through her exoskeleton. Cursing, Ronin started walking closer. If he couldn¡¯t hit her from here, then he would get right up close and personal before he blasted her brains apart.


    ¡°Stay back.¡±


    ¡°No, don¡¯t.¡±


    The simultaneous shouts from K3 and Owl five didn¡¯t even slow him. Ronin couldn¡¯t stand back while his people risked themselves. Not when the heat was on. It was like he became someone else in the fires of battle. Someone who had to be right in the thick of the action.


    With a shout of his own, Ronin launched himself through the air. Landing on the queen¡¯s back, he steadied himself by driving his hand into the wound the hammer had created. The new intrusion caused her to throw her head back in rage and pain. Ronin rode the motion, being flung out over the city below, holding on with only one arm. Until she stopped leaning backwards and tilted forwards again, trying to regain her own hold on the wall.


    Again, riding the motion, Ronin leaned towards her, slamming the rifle directly at the hole in her head. With a scream of rage, he pulled the trigger as fast as he could. Sending the rounds directly into her skull. The queen shuddered at the first shot, wildly bucking her body, but by the fourth she¡¯d quieted down. By the time he reached the tenth round, her grip on the wall had slackened.


    He was still squeezing the trigger on the empty rifle as the queen slid away from the wall. As he dropped with her and K3, Ronin¡¯s eyes met those of Owl five, who was still on the stairs. They both had their helmets on, so they couldn¡¯t actually see each other. Still, Ronin felt like he could see into her at that moment. Before she disappeared from view, and they crashed into the city below.

 Chapter Twenty-five

    Ronin woke with a start. Sitting up, he reached for his mace as he looked around wildly. His mind was a blur, what had happened? He¡¯d been fighting the queen¡­and¡­ and they¡¯d fallen. She¡¯d landed right on top of him and¡­


    ¡°I thought we talked about this.¡± Came a quiet, feminine voice from beside his bed. For that¡¯s where he was, Ronin realized only just then. He was lying in the bed he¡¯d slept in the other day. Blinking away his confusion, Ronin looked towards the speaker.


    ¡°I told you; you need to work on not passing out after every fight. Didn¡¯t I?¡± Brie said, from where she sat on the edge of his bed. Ronin blinked in surprise, when he noticed that she was also holding his hand.


    He looked down at her forest green fingers intertwined with his. It was the first time that he could remember seeing her hands. Normally, she was completely armored. Except when they were eating or talking together. He could feel the warmth of her hand now, and he froze up, not wanting to scare her into letting go.


    ¡°What¡­ um¡­ is K3 ok?¡± Ronin said, panicking slightly and just spitting out something. Anything, to break the silence. He cursed himself afterwards, why hadn¡¯t he said something about her? Though he really did want to know what had happened to his guard.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine.¡± Brie said with a soft smile. Not seeming to think there was anything wrong with him asking about his man. ¡°He is just there,¡± she said pointing to the other bed in the room. ¡°He¡¯s still out though. Was further down and got more of the queen¡¯s weight on him. Still, should be up and about soon enough.¡± Ronin sighed in relief, looking at the sleeping giant. Then turned his attention back to Brie.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Ronin said then. Not really because he was sorry for anything, it just felt like the right thing to say in this situation. ¡°I¡¯ve been¡­ really focused on preparing for the¡­ um¡­ the underground city raid and I...¡± His stammered apology was cut off, with a slim finger against his lips.


    ¡°I understand,¡± she said soothingly. ¡°I understood then too, really. I was just¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ it made me angry that you¡­ I really enjoyed our time in the tunnels.¡± Ronin was having a hard time following her line of thought, but he thought he understood the last part. It had been simpler back when they first arrived. Just a few of them, adventuring¡­ Now, it seemed like he was busy all the time. Had it really only been a few months since then? It felt like longer.


    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± Ronin said taking her hand from his lips into his free hand. Now, she held one of his hands, and he held one of hers. ¡°It seems like everything grew so fast. From not wanting to kill a few goblins, to¡­¡± he trailed off, looking out the window at the bustling town square. There were cook pots set up in rows, and everyone was waiting in line for their locust limbs. ¡°What an awful name,¡± Ronin thought. Still, it kept the people in his growing¡­ kingdom? City state? ¡­ fed. Ronin felt warmth radiating out from his hands, raising a flush over his whole body. He felt his mind tingle and he couldn¡¯t form any more words.


    He¡¯d read a Japanese light novel once, about a high school couple. Nothing really happened from beginning to end, but it had left him feeling warm and fuzzy all the same. Still, there was a section in that book about holding hands, they¡¯d made it up into such an ordeal. Ronin had laughed at the time, but now he was starting to understand.


    ¡°Listen, I¡­¡±


    ¡°I wanted¡­¡±


    They both started talking at the same time. Pausing and smiling at each other.


    ¡°Sorry you go¡­¡±


    ¡°You first¡­¡±


    They did it again, both starting to giggle. Before Ronin motioned with his head for her to start.


    ¡°While I wasn¡¯t talking to you, I realized¡­¡± before she got more than a sentence in, the door banged open.


    ¡°Boss, your awake.¡± Guts said as he strode in with Harken and two bugbear females. Ronin and Brie snatched their hands apart at the sound of the door, like they were children caught doing something wrong. Guts didn¡¯t seem to notice and kept right on talking. ¡°So, I was talking to Harken about how busy you¡¯ve been lately, and he said why not get some help? Well, I told him how busy everyone in our party was. And that¡¯s when he let me know about Safie and Vasylia here.¡± Guts continued pointing at the young bugbear women.


    ¡°Thanks Guts,¡± Ronin started to say feeling a chilly glare coming his way from beside him on the bed. ¡°But I don¡¯t really need any assistants right now.¡± He wanted to politely shut this down as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Oh no boss,¡± Guts said. ¡°You don¡¯t understand. You see these aren¡¯t assistants¡­ they¡¯re your wives.¡± Ronin glanced at Brie beside him. Her chilly glare had become downright glacial. ¡°Harken told me all about it, you can ask him yourself.¡± He finished pointing at the old bugbear. Ronin turned his own glare at the old man, who cleared his throat awkwardly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, patriarch.¡± He said, with a shifting glance between Ronin and Owl five. It seemed that the old man had picked up on the tension in the room, even if the goblin hadn¡¯t. ¡°You see¡­ when a new patriarch takes over the clan, he inherits everything that used to belong to the former patriarch. This includes things like his house,¡± Harken stopped to motion around the house they were in. ¡°Their weapons and armor, any livestock they might have had, and¡­ their wives and children¡­¡± He got quieter as he spoke, until he trailed off into awkward silence.


    ¡°Yea boss,¡± Guts said enthusiastically. ¡°I¡¯ve already gone through the rest of the stuff you got. It¡¯s quite the haul, considering Halican hadn¡¯t been patriarch for more than a few weeks. You got both his and the prior patriarch¡¯s stuff. Safie here was Halican¡¯s wife, and Vasylia was Harknor¡¯s¡­ that was the old patriarch¡¯s name.¡± He added pointing them out. ¡°They didn¡¯t have any kids either. So, they can spend all their time taking care of you, isn¡¯t it great boss?¡± Before Guts had even finished, Owl five had shoved passed him and left the building.


    ¡°What¡¯s with her?¡± Guts asked, looking after her in confusion. At about that time, K3 sat up with a grunt, and glared at Guts.


    ¡°You really need to learn how to read a room, little friend¡± he said pointedly. Making Ronin wonder just how long the giant had been pretending to sleep, while listening to Ronin and Brie talking. His face flushed in embarrassment, and he turned his attention to the newcomers for something else to focus on.


    Safie was slender for a bugbear. With soft curves emphasized below the thin blue fabric she had wrapped around herself like a robe. She was adorned at her waist, neck, and wrists with silver chains with plates hanging from them, that jangled sweetly when she moved. Her hands looked soft, and her silky white fur looked like she spent hours a day brushing it. She had an aloof, uninterested expression on her pretty face.


    Vasylia, in stark contrast had mottled fur in rich chocolate brown and black. It was covered with heavy plate armor that was full of cuts and scratches. What fur he saw underneath looked matted down with blood and sweat. She was thickly built, with pronounced muscle and there wasn¡¯t much femininity to be seen from her. Her face was drawn in a glare, which alternated between Ronin, Harken, and Safie.


    ¡°Patriarch White flame,¡± Harken said to break the ice. ¡°This is Safie, and Vasylia.¡± Pointing to each in turn, he introduced them again. ¡°Safie is the late wife of our latest patriarch Halican. She is considered a rare beauty by our kind.¡± He said, doing a poor job keeping the distaste from his face. ¡°Vasylia, is my daughter in law. She¡¯s a skilled warrior, and good in the forge.¡±


    *            *            *


    ¡°How did my life end up this way?¡± He asked K3 over helmet coms sometime later. He¡¯d finally escaped the confrontation with the bugbears and his over-eager cook and was now back in the gate breach with K3. They¡¯d had to make a few rounds before they could escape to combat, but now that he was here, he didn¡¯t plan to leave it again until the ships came back for the final trip.


    The queen had to be dealt with, the issue of eating the locusts as well. Everyone except the fighting wood elves were stuffing themselves to the brim with the white meat. Even they were only holding back because of Unyielding oak. Ronin didn¡¯t think it would take long before they started to cave. The bugbears in contrast, were now wholly won over to his side. The aid during their difficult time, saving them from a cruel leader and now giving them food, had secured their loyalty. All except for his two new wives anyway.


    ¡°Vasylia told me that she wouldn¡¯t submit to any man who hadn¡¯t bested her in combat.¡± He ranted, bringing his mace down with enough force to burst the locust¡¯s skull. He tossed it behind him to a pair of eager hands before shield bashing another one. Yet, he never stopped talking throughout. ¡°Like, what does that even mean? When did I ask for any of this, let alone for some woman I¡¯ve never met to submit.¡±


    K3 wisely held his tongue while Ronin ranted. Helping cover for any lapses in his lord¡¯s concentration. Ronin noticed but chose not to comment because he hadn¡¯t finished getting everything off his chest yet.


    ¡°So, now I¡¯ll have to have some kind of grappling duel with her. To prove I¡¯m worthy to be her husband or whatever. I can¡¯t believe all the strange customs there are out there¡­ at least I managed to postpone it until after we get back to the valley.¡± He chucked a locust corpse behind him with such force that it knocked the bugbear who¡¯d been waiting to catch it right off the crate. He gave the poor man a perfunctory ¡®sorry¡¯ before getting right back to his rant.


    ¡°Still, she¡¯s better than that other one. That Safie.¡± He was grinding his teeth together while he spoke, words all but unintelligible. ¡°She actually told me that she doesn¡¯t cook, clean or work the forge. But she¡¯d be happy to warm my bed as long as I could provide her with the lifestyle, she has become accustomed to¡­ not just that. Oh no, she said she¡¯d warm my bed under the condition that I was ¡®proportional to a bugbear¡¯ like she couldn¡¯t clearly tell I¡¯m more than a foot shorter than the average bugbear.¡± K3 looked like he wanted to speak up at that, But Ronin went right on without giving him the chance.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°When did I ask for this?¡± he asked again, looking at his bodyguard. ¡°It¡¯s not like I even want them in my bed to begin with¡­ When did it come to this? All I wanted to do was earn enough credits to save Markus, while having a little adventure¡­ I feel like I¡¯m stuck now, trying to live up to everyone¡¯s expectations, yet all the while knowing I¡¯m not good enough.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t talk to you, would she?¡± K3 asked after Ronin had finally fallen silent. Touching on the real reason, Ronin was so upset. He didn¡¯t really care about the bugbears or the opposition from the wood elves. He was angry because Owl five had run away and wouldn¡¯t answer his coms.


    ¡°No.¡± He said, slamming his shoulder into a charging locust with enough force to crack its exoskeleton. ¡°I can¡¯t reach her. Not only that, but my responsibilities have me too busy to even try. Yet, at the same time, I¡¯m upset at her for getting so bent out of shape over something that I have no control over¡­ but my chest is just so tight.¡± He really didn¡¯t understand relationships. Back in the caves there had only been nine kids born within five years of himself, of those only two were girls. Add to that his desire to avoid his peers at all costs. Found him reading books to escape from his day to day life¡­ added up to his current state of cluelessness about the opposite sex.


    ¡°Give her time my lord,¡± K3 said as he continued to battle beside Ronin. ¡°She¡¯s very young, and considering her sexual inhibitor doesn¡¯t work on you, its no wonder she¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Ronin said interrupting the Kaldarr. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°Lord? I said she is very young and¡­¡±


    ¡°No, the part about her inhibitor not working on me?¡± Ronin asked, interrupting him again. His head was spinning, to the point where he missed an incoming attack and suffered a shallow cut for it.


    ¡°Watch out,¡± K3 shouted getting his shield up between Ronin and the attacker. He didn¡¯t say anymore until they had gotten back into the rhythm of combat. Then, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I Didn¡¯t realize you didn¡¯t know.¡± He went quiet again, but Ronin had gathered himself and waited for him to continue this time.


    ¡°I heard her talking with Owl two about it while he was upgrading my combat effectiveness.¡± An over simplification if he was referring to the butchery the android had put him through. ¡°She said she was having trouble controlling herself around you but didn¡¯t understand why. She¡¯d been on the inhibitors her whole life it seems and didn¡¯t understand the feelings she was having. Owl two told her that outside influencers couldn¡¯t affect the pair of them in regard to you. Some kind of anti-betrayal system put in place at their forming, or something? ¡­ I didn¡¯t really understand that part.¡± He said with an apologetic shrug.


    Ronin was floored, but at the same time it explained everything that had been happening with Brie lately. She was always flipflopping between hot and cold where he was concerned. Getting close to him during a meal, then putting her helmet on and ignoring him for the rest of the day. Waving at him while running laps but refusing to talk with him when he went over. He¡¯d thought she might just be a tsundere, another term he¡¯d learned about in the high school light novel he¡¯d read. Yet, that didn¡¯t seem to be the case at all.


    ¡°This whole time¡­¡± he muttered. His anger had abandoned him, and he only continued to fight on thanks to the muscle memory he¡¯d gained over the several days he¡¯d spent in this spot. ¡°She¡¯s been dealing with unfamiliar emotions that she can¡¯t control.¡± He swung his mace and shield on auto pilot, unknowingly increasing his kill count even more.


    ¡°¡­Sir?¡± K3 was trying to ask him something, but he tuned it out. He knew the man meant well, heck, he couldn¡¯t mean ill, even if he wanted to. Still, this wasn¡¯t news that he¡¯d wanted to hear. ¡°Sir, she wasn¡¯t complaining¡­ she just wanted to understand¡­¡±


    ¡°And so what?¡± Ronin muttered, partially to himself and partially to answer K3¡¯s words. ¡°She can¡¯t control her own feelings around me¡­ even if she truly did like me, I¡¯d have no way of knowing if it was really her feelings or a result of her biology¡­ I¡­¡± he trailed off again. No longer interested in talking.


    The next few days passed in a blur while Ronin came to terms with what he¡¯d just learned. Thankfully, he was kept too busy to wallow in self-pity too much. He washed, ate, slept, and killed until the ships finally returned. Owl five had come to see him once, but he¡¯d brushed her off saying he was tired. Likewise, his ¡®wives¡¯ also came to talk with him. He left standing orders with his guards after that to turn them away. He was so fed up with the women in his life, it was almost a relief when Harken approached him while they were loading the final ships.


    ¡°Patriarch,¡± he said with a bow. ¡°We have nearly finished loading our people onto your vessel. However, news from the clan directly above us has come down. They wish to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And how exactly do they plan to do that?¡± he asked in mild curiosity. They hadn¡¯t had any contact with any of the other cities since the start of the conflict. Since each of the cities was virtually an island city of its own, contact wasn¡¯t possible with so many enemies around.


    ¡°They, eh¡± Harken paused, anger clearly registering on his face. ¡°It appears they had a small tunnel dug into our city some time ago. One of their representatives has come through and wants to talk to the owner of the ship.¡±


    ¡°Perfect,¡± Ronin said with a tight smile. ¡°Lead the way,¡± he said motioning the old bugbear to take him there. He¡¯d been looking for anything to keep his mind off his own problems, and this seemed like just the thing he needed.


    ¡°Do you intend to help them?¡± looking around he saw Elyria shadowing them as they walked. He hadn¡¯t heard her approach at all, and from the way K3 subtly repositioned himself, he hadn¡¯t either. The elf was just as sneaky as Owl five, making Ronin fervently hope to stay on her good side. He didn¡¯t think he could survive an assassination attempt from her while she was thinking clearly.


    ¡°Help them?¡± he asked, not slowing his pace at all. ¡°Do you think I should?¡±  he hadn¡¯t spoken with the moon elf in several days, not since she spoke for him at the dinner meeting with Harken and Unyielding oak. He hadn¡¯t been avoiding her, and he didn¡¯t think she had been avoiding him. Their paths just hadn¡¯t crossed.


    ¡°What I think doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She said a bite entering her words. ¡°I don¡¯t get to make the calls, you do. That¡¯s why I want to know what you plan to do.¡± He stopped walking at those words and turned to face her. She¡¯d continued forward a few steps before coming to a halt, so they stood face to face in the stone streets.


    ¡°What you think does matter, Elyria.¡± He said seriously. ¡°I met with Harken and unyielding oak at your word. They fell into line after that meeting, in large part due to your word.¡± He wasn¡¯t just saying that to placate her, it was true. ¡°You said you would kill me if I crossed the line. Well, the people I have around me are wonderful, loyal friends. But they wouldn¡¯t tell me if I was getting close to any lines. They¡¯d just happily cross them with me¡­ So, I need you to tell me what you think. In a way, it¡¯s really up to you whether you end up having to kill me or not.¡±


    Ronin didn¡¯t know why, but in that moment, he felt closer to the elf than any of the friends around him. Precisely because he knew she would tell him her honest opinion, instead of just going along with whatever he decided. He felt unstable, after recent events, and needed something to cling to. Why not an elf who hated him? after all, wasn¡¯t that what she was doing to him?


    ¡°So¡­ should I save these people Elyria?¡± they looked into each other¡¯s eyes for nearly a minute, each sizing the other up, until.


    ¡°No.¡± she said, looking away from him. That¡¯s all she said, before turning and walking back the way she¡¯d come.


    ¡°Good enough for me.¡± He said to her retreating back, as he also turned around and made his way towards the higher clan¡¯s representative.


    ¡°Patriarch White flame,¡± the representative said, bowing low at his approach. She was a young, attractive, by bugbear standards anyway, woman with silver fur. She stood a little shorter than most of her kind, only around six and a half feet tall. Wearing a thin purple robe very similar to Safies, which matched her amethyst eyes, they caused him to instantly dislike her. He¡¯d learned enough about bugbear customs by this point to know that outfit was intended to beguile him, and he didn¡¯t like it.


    ¡°I have come on behalf of the gilded lily clan. We would like to ask for your aid in evacuating our people from this place. As a second-tier clan, we have much to offer that the White mane clan did not. My matriarch has sent me down here to personally show you how deep our gratitude can be.¡± She said, smiling with pearly white teeth. Ronin noticed her canines were longer and sharper than humans. He supposed the look she was giving him was supposed to be seductive. Perhaps it was, she had a commanding presence, but he still couldn¡¯t get the image of Safie out of his head when looking at this woman.


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± he said at last looking her over. ¡°Then let me ask you¡­ lady representative¡­ how long the tunnel you used to get down here has been open? You see, my people tell me that it has been there for some time. Yet, you sent no support to the clan prior to now. Even after my people came, there have been no soldiers, no food supplies, no offers to help evacuate civilians away from the fighting. Or am I perhaps mistaken?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Patriarch White flame, we¡­¡± she began dipping into an even lower bow that seemed to accidentally loosen the robe she wore.


    ¡°Save it, please.¡± Ronin said, cutting her off. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase here, shall we.¡± He said not wanting to deal with any more lies or manipulation. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough room to evacuate your whole city on my ships¡­. Yes,¡± he said stopping her from speaking, ¡°I could make another trip. But I won¡¯t. It would cost me more of my energy supply than I am willing to waste on people who cared nothing for their fellows before there was something in it for them.¡±


    ¡°Am I to understand then patriarch, that¡­¡± she started again, her expression struggling to stay pleasant.


    ¡°You are to understand, that I have room for forty-five more people.¡± He said cutting her off once again. ¡°I will take forty of your children, aged between eight and twelve years old. Along with five adults to help settle them into our schools before joining my military ranks. That is the offer on the table, you may take it or leave it, but I will only give you an hour to decide. After an hour passes, we leave. Send down more than five adults and my men will cut them down. Now, if you will excuse me.¡± Without even bothering to ask the woman¡¯s name, or hear what she might have to say, he turned and strode away.


    ¡°Sargent Karr, could I trouble your squad to handle this please?¡± he asked Karr, who had been standing by for the meeting. ¡°Bring the scout team in as well, I want guns or crossbows on that tunnel. If there is even the slightest hint of betrayal, light em up.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Karr said, slamming his fist into his chest in the Owl team salute. Before he began barking orders at his men. Ronin continued walking away, knowing the situation would be handled satisfactorily with Karr in charge of it. He was a solid soldier and took his orders seriously. He was also good on his feet and could adapt to unexpected situations. ¡°That¡¯s probably why Owl two picked him to babysit me, come to think of it.¡± Ronin thought with a smirk for how far sighted the android was.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t want to save them?¡± Elyria asked, materializing out of nowhere again, to walk in pace beside Ronin. K3 looked at her sideways but didn¡¯t interfere.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± Ronin said looking back at her cold, inquisitive face. ¡°That clan is going to die. All I did was offer to take some innocent kids. Kids old enough to be separated from their parents, yet still young enough to be impressionable. If they send any at all, they¡¯ll make a great addition to my future armed forces.¡± He didn¡¯t hold back in telling her what he had been thinking. True, they¡¯d have to be raised and cared for, six to ten years before they could enter active service. In that time, he was sure several of them would prove to be better suited to work outside the military. That didn¡¯t change the fact, however, that he would use them to better himself, and gain points for Markus.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Was all she said, looking over at him. Her face was still as inquisitive as ever. It might have been a trick of the light but for a second Ronin thought it didn¡¯t look quite so cold.

 Chapter twenty-six

    ¡°¡­Its our last trip out. So, fill the ship to the top with everything we can bring out of here.¡± Ronin was back at the ships, helping to coordinate the final loading. They already had all the people accounted for, now they just had to find out how much equipment they could add. The more weight they added, the harder the strain on the engines and the more energy it would burn. Still, this place represented a gold mine in artisan tools and forging equipment.


    ¡°How much longer should we wait for the gilded lily?¡± Guts asked, from his position at flight one¡¯s ramp. He was helping the people on board and making sure they had everything they needed, since they wouldn¡¯t be getting back off again.


    ¡°Patriarch,¡± Harken called out from behind him. ¡°I really need to formalize my title, and the chain of command.¡± Ronin thought bitterly. Getting called; sir, boss, patriarch, lord Ronin, my lord, White flame, my lord White flame¡­ it was getting old. Sometimes he didn¡¯t even know if they were talking to him or not.


    ¡°What is it, Harken?¡± he asked, turning around to find the old bugbear at the head of a large group. Ronin looked them over, the gilded lily clan¡¯s representative stood at the front of the group. She was no longer dressed in thin robes, instead she wore leather armor that had been reinforced with small steel plates. She also had a military style saber at one hip and a long dagger at the other. Ronin thought she looked much more at home in the armor, as opposed to the robes.


    ¡°Patriarch,¡± she said with a bow. ¡°I never got a chance to introduce myself. I¡¯m Lily, the matriarch of the gilded lily clan. As specified; I¡¯m here within the hour and have brought four adults and forty children between the ages of eight and twelve with me.¡± After she was finished speaking, Ronin turned his attention to the group she¡¯d brought with her.


    All of them were female. The adults were armed and armored the same as lily. The children wore civilian garb, but they all carried a bundle that held two sabers and two daggers. One set of wood and one of steel, he frowned at that. They hadn¡¯t brought any food, yet they brought training swords. Frown still in place, he turned back to lily.


    ¡°Hello Lily.¡± He said, ¡°the armor suits you better than the robe.¡± The grown women bristled at his words and many of the young kids took in shocked breaths or whispered amongst themselves. It took Ronin a moment to catch on to the problem, but when he did, he laughed. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t call her ¡®matriarch¡¯ Lily. That¡¯s because the moment she steps onto that ship, she¡¯s no longer your leader. I am.¡± He swept his gaze across all those present before turning them back to Lily again.


    ¡°We understand, patriarch.¡± Lily said, causing the muttering to instantly die down. ¡°We have no qualms with this. I simply wish my clan¡¯s traditional fighting method be kept alive. Those you see before you are the most talented youths that my clan had to offer, along with their teachers.¡± She motioned from the youngsters to the adults before continuing. ¡°You mentioned that you would be enrolling our children into a school. I thought, what better way to contribute than to give that school a few new teachers.¡±


    Not being able to find fault with her logic, Ronin only nodded. Motioning them to get on the ships. He did split them up, however, the kids into one ship and the adults into another. He could hardly believe they¡¯d just shown up without some double cross planned though, so he turned to Harken to ask about it.


    ¡°No, patriarch.¡± The old bugbear said, shaking his head. ¡°She didn¡¯t try to argue or bring down more than you stipulated.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Ronin said scratching his head. ¡°Why is she being so accommodating? I expected at least a little fight from them.¡± He looked back at the warrior women as they boarded the ships without complaint and frowned. He couldn¡¯t help the feeling that there was a shoe about to drop somewhere.


    ¡°She, uh¡­¡± Harken started to say before he hesitated. When Ronin looked at him directly however, he continued. ¡°She had a spy network set up in our clan. They saw you fighting with your bodyguard for nearly two full days without rest, then your battle with the queen¡­ Lily is a prudent woman, Patriarch, she knows she couldn¡¯t best that monster and is likely just happy you offered her as much as you did.¡±


    Ronin supposed that was plausible, but it didn¡¯t explain everything. Still, why look a gift horse in the mouth? He¡¯d go with it for now and see how things worked out.


    ¡°Get yourself loaded in, Harken.¡± He said at last, looking to the helpful bugbear. ¡°Once we finish the last of the loading we¡¯re leaving.¡± Having said his peace, Ronin ascended the ramp and moved through the crowded ship to the cockpit. Nodding to Sam as he entered, he slipped into the copilot¡¯s seat and waited for the ¡®all clear¡¯ from his people.


    The ride back to the wall was made in relative peace. There were simply too many people and too much gear on board to risk a confrontation with a queen, so they stayed well above their range. There were a few fights, due to lack of space. Ronin tried to let them slide, since everyone was crowded, but he did have their names noted down. If there was more trouble going forward from them, he¡¯d have it taken care of.


    Reaching the wall, Ronin had his people set the craft down in the same burnt-out neighborhood they¡¯d landed in before. Worming his way through the increasingly frustrated bodies inside, he exited the craft to find the elven lord waiting for him. He had twenty sparrow riders with him this time and he looked angry.


    ¡°Lord White flame,¡± he said with heat in his voice. ¡°I¡¯d like an explanation about that abomination you placed down outside the wall.¡± So much had happened since they¡¯d passed through here that Ronin honestly had to take a second to remember what the elf was talking about.


    ¡°Oh, you mean the crate I dropped outside the walls?¡± he asked with a smirk. ¡°Sure, what do you want to know about it?¡± thinking back to the surprise Owl two had cooked up, Ronin chuckled in anticipation. He¡¯d wanted to see it in action, but circumstances being what they were it hadn¡¯t happened.


    ¡°Think carefully about what you say next, White flame.¡± Ellanaril was clearly angry, but Ronin didn¡¯t understand why. ¡°What was the intended purpose of that box?¡± the sparrow riders around them were readying their weapons, heat in their eyes as they stared at him. Anger began coursing its way through Ronin at the threatening posturing. With a gesture, he motioned his own people to get ready.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions, elf.¡± Ronin said with heat entering his own voice now. ¡°But mind yourself. I¡¯ve done nothing to offend you, or your people and I don¡¯t appreciate your attitude.¡± Why did everyone around him constantly question his motives? He¡¯d never done these people wrong, yet here they stood obstructing him. With nothing but bows and oversized chickens.


    ¡°Stop your measuring contest boys.¡± Elyria snapped from the ship¡¯s ramp. ¡°Ellanaril, if he¡¯s done something I get the pleasure¡­ I mean, I¡¯m duty bound to execute him myself.¡± She said testily to her brother-in-law. Then turning to Ronin, she snapped ¡°Don¡¯t overestimate your abilities, and know your place.¡±


    Jumping down from the ramp she took an arrow from the quiver she¡¯d picked up and an arrowhead from a pouch at her waist, she then snapped it onto the arrow. Pressing a button, she activated the arrowhead with a beep. Then fired it side on, at a thick wooden hitching post. Ronin stared in amazement as a footlong beam of radiant energy shot out from the arrowhead in all four directions. When it contacted the post, it zipped right through. Like there was nothing there at all.


    ¡°Try to remember you¡¯re a small fish in a very big pond, White flame.¡± Elyria said as the beam split into four pieces and fell apart. Ronin was left speechless at the moon elves technology level. He¡¯d been fooled entirely, having seen nothing out of them besides big birds and bows and arrows. Swallowing his anger, he did his best to ignore the smug elven woman staring him down.


    ¡°Lord Ellanaril,¡± he said turning his attention back to the elven leader. ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive me¡­ it¡¯s been a trying few days.¡± He had to grind his teeth together to stop from cursing out Elyria, who¡¯d snorted with laughter as he apologized. ¡°Now, what questions do you have for me?¡± It was as far as he was willing to bend. If the elf didn¡¯t reciprocate, at least a little, they¡¯d have it out right here.


    ¡°What is wrong with me?¡± His temper had been flaring up almost daily it felt like. ¡°Is it the stress, or is the power I¡¯ve gotten going to my head?¡± He didn¡¯t know, but he resolved to work on it. A few successes didn¡¯t make him all powerful. A reality that Elyria had helped to drive home. He glanced at her where she was retrieving the arrowhead. At least they seemed to have limited numbers of those destructive tips.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Ellanaril said motioning him towards a stone staircase imbedded in the giant outer kingdom wall. Turning to his people, Ronin told them to go back into the ship. All except K3 who followed him up the stairs. It was a long climb, and the wall and the stairs looked very similar to those from White mane clan city. Ronin wondered if the bugbears had built this wall as well. It wouldn¡¯t surprise him if they had. Their ability to work stone was quite remarkable.


    He''d managed to calm himself down by the time they reached the top. His temper having settled down thanks to his focusing on the wall¡¯s craftmanship. It bothered him a little that he was surrounded by elves with only K3 for backup. Still, he really didn¡¯t know what they were so upset about. Hopefully this was just a misunderstanding that could be cleared up quickly.


    ¡°Well, White Flame.¡± Ellanaril said with a tilt of his head, once they¡¯d reached the outer edge. ¡°What do you have to say for yourself?¡± Ronin looked out over the tide of locusts, taking in the sight for a long moment.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The cargo crate he¡¯d dropped off sat close to the wall. Four turrets swiveled around, one on each corner. Around the crate, in all directions lay a sea of corpses that extended three hundred yards in all directions. There was another fifty-yard no-man¡¯s-land surrounding that massive mound of locust bodies, where the locusts refused to enter. It provided an area of wall nearly one thousand feet long that wasn¡¯t being constantly assaulted by the swarm. After taking it in, Ronin turned to Ellanaril and asked.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem?¡± he wasn¡¯t being snide, he honestly didn¡¯t know what the issue was. The crate was doing what it was meant to.


    ¡°The¡­ the problem, White flame¡­ is that those locusts died, screaming in agony. I want to know what is in that box and why you put it out there.¡± Ellanaril said, having a hard time getting the words out around his rage.


    ¡°Listen,¡± Ronin said holding up his hands in a calming gesture. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t understand the problem, it¡¯s just flea and lice powder.¡± He said with a shrug, ¡°My assistant developed it to help disinfect the goblins we¡¯ve been rounding up from the cave. He just dialed it up several fold and put it in tanks. There are a few air compressors in that crate that pump up air pressure and when the turret detects movement, they spray the powder at it¡­ the locusts eat their dead too, so we get added exposure.¡±


    ¡°You use poison as a weapon?¡± Elyria, who was at his side, snapped the question at him, as if he¡¯d committed some awful taboo.


    ¡°No.¡± Ronin said flatly, ¡°I use poison to kill bugs. What are these locust drones except really big bugs? And don¡¯t act so self-righteous Elyria, I haven¡¯t seen any fleas or lice on you. If the life of insects is so precious to you, why not feed them with your flesh?¡± she glared at him but didn¡¯t say anything in response. Turning from her, Ronin faced Ellanaril.


    ¡°What is the problem, Lord Ellanaril? With that one box, I¡¯ve freed the defense of this wall for nearly one thousand yards. That¡¯s people you can use elsewhere to save lives, that¡¯s time your people can rest, that¡¯s munitions you¡¯re not wasting. Dead is dead, Ellanaril. Does it make it better to lose your people killing them the slow way? because it doesn¡¯t make it better for me. I lost two good men to Kaldarr my first day on this planet. If there¡¯d been anything I could have done to prevent their deaths, I would have.¡± Ronin said seriously. He knew the prince would never have used poison. Yet, he wasn¡¯t able to bring himself to let more of his people die when he could avoid it.


    Ellanaril stared into his eyes during his explanation and continued to do so for another minute afterwards. Ronin just stared back at him, honestly curious what the elf would say. He never found out however, because another voice spoke up before the elven lord could.


    ¡°No.¡± It was Elyria speaking from where she stood behind him. ¡°I¡¯ll gloss over most of what you said, White flame, because you truly believe what you''re doing saved lives. I understand the loss myself; we all do¡­ still, don¡¯t ever do anything like this again. There are some lines good men just don¡¯t cross.¡± Turning to Ellanaril, she said ¡°Please get my things¡­ get Allanaril¡¯s bracer as well.¡± She added solemnly, staring into her husband¡¯s brother¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Elyria, you can¡¯t mean to¡­¡± the elf lord started to protest but was cut off before he could finish.


    ¡°I swore an oath, brother.¡± She said seriously. ¡°He walks a fine line, but nothing he¡¯s done so far has crossed it¡­ without an excusable reason anyway. Besides¡­ there are, circumstances.¡± She added a light tinge of pink entering her face. Ellanaril, noticing the color, darted a furious glare at Ronin.


    Ronin just shrugged, not having any clue what was going on. Cursing himself for adding so many diverse cultures into such a small geographical zone. With so many different customs and belief systems, he never knew how someone was going to take what was normal to him, the wrong way.


    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡± The elf ground out eventually, seemingly not finding in Ronin¡¯s face whatever he was looking for. ¡°Your sister and her husband will be accompanying you for the time being.¡± He added in a tone that brooked no argument. Elyria frowned but said nothing, Ronin didn¡¯t comment either because he still didn¡¯t understand what was going on. He did have other questions, however.


    ¡°Where is Song and K2?¡± he asked, looking around. ¡°I sent them here days ago to relay information and answer your questions. Where are they?¡± The way Ellanaril looked down at his question caused Ronin to go on alert. Glancing at K3, he squared his shoulders readying himself to act.


    ¡°Peace, White flame.¡± Ellanaril said with a sigh, ¡°I detained them when they arrived. In order to question them about the poison box.¡± Rage blazed in Ronin¡¯s eyes at those words.


    ¡°For all our sakes, Lord Ellanaril. I pray that you haven¡¯t harmed my people.¡± He said the words calmly, more calmly than he felt at any rate. Yet, his vision was going red at the thought he¡¯d sent his people here to be tortured.


    ¡°No, we simply detained them. They didn¡¯t know anything about the box, so we let them be. I¡¯ll have them brought to your ship before we even make it down the wall.¡± Ellanaril said, having the grace to at least look like he was sorry.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said, secretly relieved. He didn¡¯t want to lose anyone else, but he dreaded a war with the elves. Especially after what he saw that single arrow do. What else did they have up their sleeves that he hadn¡¯t seen yet? Turning around, he walked directly for the stairs. He¡¯d had enough politics for one day.


    ¡°White flame,¡± Elyria¡¯s hand on his arm stopped him on the first step. ¡°This was a misunderstanding, yet one that shouldn¡¯t have happened. We apologize for our transgressions, and I offer a gift in return for any suffering your people may have experienced.¡± Pulling him along by the arm, she pushed passed a protesting Ellanaril and strode down the stairs.


    He followed her, in confusion as she moved passed his ships and into a large Wearhouse building in the burned-out zone. Upon entering, Ronin stopped dead in his tracks, despite the hand trying to pull him along.


    ¡°What is this?¡± he breathed out in confused excitement. Not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not.


    ¡°It¡¯s my gift to you, as compensation for the misunderstanding.¡± Elyria said, she didn¡¯t look happy, and Ronin could tell her opinion of him hadn¡¯t changed. Still, she was committed to her oath whatever that was, and wouldn¡¯t violate it.


    ¡°K3, please go get Sam and Eric. We need to look it over and get it ready to go back with us.¡± Ronin said to his guard, who albeit unhappily, left the warehouse to return to the ship. Once he¡¯d gone, Elyria excused herself as well, she said she needed to collect her belongings. That left Ronin alone, to walk around his gift.


    It was a Kaldarr vessel. However, it was smaller and sleeker than the shipping crate shaped troop transport dropships. This was a proper gunship. As Ronin walked around it, he took it in with a smile. If he had to guess, it likely sat fewer than twenty people. Yet it¡¯s more aerodynamic frame let on that it was a much faster ship. It also sported a pair of machine guns, each attached to a swivel mounted chair. Four missiles and a large barreled gun on a turret mount that would look right at home on top of a tank.


    He remembered the gunships in the book he¡¯d gotten the Kaldarr from. They were inferior to their enemies¡¯ crafts, but they were sturdy and packed quite the punch for their size. Ronin felt like a kid who¡¯d just been given a piece of candy for the first time.


    ¡°What is it my lord¡­¡± Sam asked as she rushed into the warehouse. She was being trailed by a somewhat less excited Eric, while K3 brought up the rear escorting Song and K2. Ronin pointed at the ship and spoke.


    ¡°Would you guys¡¯ mind looking it over? Check for any damage, energy levels, all that good stuff. Also, is there anyone on board that can fly either flight one or this craft? I¡¯m going to need a pilot.¡± Having finished talking with his pilots, he turned and walked swiftly to his people.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± he asked his recently imprisoned people. He clapped K2 on the arm before placing his hands on Song¡¯s shoulders with a reassuring squeeze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said looking into her eyes. ¡°I hope they didn¡¯t mistreat you. If so, we will deal with them accordingly.¡± The excitement at the new ship was being replaced with the anger he¡¯d been feeling before he¡¯d seen it.


    ¡°No, my lord,¡± Song said in her clear, musical voice. ¡°They asked us questions about the crate, but you hadn¡¯t told us anything about it. Once they realized we couldn¡¯t tell them anything, they just locked us up.¡± She looked down then and lowered her voice, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I failed you, my lord. It was my first solo mission, and I failed.¡± K2 was also bowing his head in defeat.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± he said lifting Song¡¯s chin and thumping K2 on the chest. ¡°You two did exactly what I asked, neither of you could have done anything different. Because neither of you was to blame for the crate. That was on me.¡± He reassured them for a little longer, before bidding them to wait outside the ship. They had hundreds of people still crammed on those ships, and he needed to make this quick. Turning around he walked up the stairs that had folded out of the hatch when Sam had opened it.


    ¡°What do you think guys, and why is it so small in here?¡± he asked the pair, who were busy going over the controls in the cockpit. Just like the drop ships, this vessel had an enclosed two-person cockpit. Directly behind it was a small compartment filled mostly with ammunition. A hatch on the floor opened on the tank gun turret. Two seats in the walls opened onto the machine gun turrets. Behind that compartment was another small compartment with six chairs. Three on a side facing inwards. The ship was only half the size of the troop transports, yet the inside space was nonexistent.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Sam said with excitement at his question. ¡°This ship has a full charge. The magazines are full, as are the missile and piercer rounds. It looks like the pilot left the ship, flew right to ground, and landed here.¡± She said with a beaming smile. ¡°As for the size, well this is a fighting vessel. It¡¯s thickly armored against enemy fire and has larger energy cells for longer engagement time.¡± She was almost bouncing with excitement as she explained the crafts features.


    ¡°Samantha was a gunship pilot more often than a dropship pilot my lord.¡± Eric said in way of explanation. ¡°She can pilot one of these things as good as anyone. As for flight one, Owl five has been working with me in her off time. She¡¯s familiar with its operation and shouldn¡¯t have a problem flying it back to base.¡± A fleeting feeling of annoyance flashed through Ronin¡¯s mind at the thought of Owl five working one on one with Eric. The thought was unreasonable however and he quashed it soon after it surfaced. Owl fives inhibitor worked just fine on everyone else. It was only him where she lost control.


    ¡°Very well,¡± he said forcing a smile. ¡°Eric, would you go touch base with Owl five and get her refamiliarized with flight one. Sam, go get anything you need from that ship. This will be your new bird going forward. K2, get K1 and move to flight two. I want you to pick up the crate. If they dislike our help that much, they can fight on this front themselves.¡± Having finished giving orders, Ronin and K3 left the warehouse.


    ¡°I hope you found your people and your¡­gift¡­ to be in order?¡± Ellanaril asked when he had rejoined the elf.


    ¡°I did,¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°That ship will go a long way to evening the odds against the locusts.¡± He looked up at a shadow swooping down from above. It was Elyria on the back of a sparrow. She was also trailed by a second sparrow, who had several large bags slung across the saddle.


    ¡°Are you ready to go, White flame?¡± Elyria called from her mount. Clearly impatient to be on the way. Another pair of shadows circled above, Ronin recognized her sister and her husband up there. He didn¡¯t really like the idea of housing two more elves, but he didn¡¯t think it wise to argue the point.


    ¡°As soon as my people get the gunship running, we can be on our way.¡± He said with a nod, ¡°will you be riding with me or flying your sparrow?¡± He already knew the answer from the way she was patting the bird, but it was only polite to ask.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been cooped up in that Kaldarrian scrap heap for long enough.¡± She said, spitting to the side. At least for this trip, I¡¯ll be flying with my girl Sprout here.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ronin said, bidding his farewells and walking towards his new ship. He fought to keep the grin off his face as he looked at the well-armed and armored ship. There was a lot of work waiting for him back at the valley, but he¡¯d muddle through somehow. Right now, though, he just planned to enjoy the ride.

 Chapter twenty-seven

    Reclining in the copilot¡¯s seat, Ronin grinned as they flew. He was enjoying Sam¡¯s whoops of excitement as much as the flight itself. She clearly preferred the gunship to the dropships, and Ronin had to rein her in more than once when she started edging the speed up.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to light er up,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°But right now, we need to stay with flight one and two. Besides, Owl five is flying flight one. I don¡¯t want to put too much pressure on her with so many people on board.¡± His emotions were still a jumble regarding Owl five. He¡¯d put them on the back burner of his mind though because he had too many other things to worry about.


    ¡°Ok boss,¡± Sam said with a pout. ¡°But you¡¯re gunna love having this baby as your primary ship. She¡¯s fast, agile¡­ well more agile than the dropships anyway¡­ and packs a punch. We¡¯ll need to train up a few dedicated gunners. It takes three people to supply this puppy with ammunition and keep the guns firing. With that big tank gun back there, the queens¡­¡± Ronin let her ramble on about the ship as he looked out the window. He was glad Sam was happy with the gunship. Morale was an area he knew he needed to focus on. With so many new people coming to the valley, it would be more important than ever.


    Flying over the valley, Ronin saw several armed and armored figures on top of the inner wall. Then he saw the gardens. There looked to be hundreds of goblins swarming over them, pulling weeds and swinging shovels. Then they passed the mine, more armed and armored men stood guard outside of there. Ronin frowned, wondering why there were so many people on guard duty. Upon reaching the camp, Ronin looked down at the milling mass of people in a daze. It hadn¡¯t struck him until now, just how many people they were bringing back compared to how small the tent city was.


    Settling down beside flight one and two, Ronin bid farewell to Sam and exited the craft. Outside the ships he saw several humans, some collared and some not, holding clipboards and shouting.


    ¡°Line up please, one at a time off the ship. Find one of us with a clipboard and report here before departing. We¡¯ll need your name, age, sex, profession, along with a few other details to get you settled into our temporary camp.¡± Looking at the speaker, Ronin recognized the captain of Charles¡¯s Guard. The man who¡¯d called him a peasant and threatened him. The thing he really noticed, was that the man wasn¡¯t wearing a collar. Frowning darkly, Ronin approached the man. Causing the wood elf, he''d been interviewing to take a step back.


    ¡°Captain Frank,¡± Ronin said pulling the man¡¯s name from somewhere in his memory. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you in a collar?¡± he asked the question directly, not bothering with niceties.


    ¡°My lord,¡± the startled man said with a deep bow. ¡°It¡¯s just Frank now, my lord.¡± He said with an uncomfortable expression, ¡°ah, the collar¡­ Owl two put me and a few of the boys on parole, for good behavior, sir.¡±


    ¡°Good behavior?¡± Ronin asked with a raised brow.


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Frank was quick to explain, ¡°you see, not all of us was happy with the way we were doing things back with lord Charles. It was just how it was though, so we did it. But, after coming here and seeing how you did things. Well, it got a lot of us thinking on how it could have been before. So, when it came to training or our work details, we gave it our all to show we was loyal. Owl two noticed, said we deserved a chance to prove ourselves. And since we could read and write, he sent us here to help sign in the new recruits.¡± He said, finishing with another bow.


    ¡°I see,¡± Ronin said thinking about what he¡¯d been told. ¡°Very well then, Frank. Keep up the good work, I look forward to the day you get off parole for good.¡± With a nod to the now beaming man, Ronin walked back over to his party. He didn¡¯t know how to feel about those men being uncollared. He would have to talk to Owl two about it, but for now, he needed all willing hands to help carry the load.


    ¡°Welcome back, my lord.¡± Owl two said, having appeared out of nowhere. ¡°You¡¯ve brought back more mouths for us to feed I see.¡± Sarcasm didn¡¯t come across well on the android¡¯s monotone voice synthesizer. For a moment, Ronin contemplated getting the android an upgrade, then discarded the notion. He didn¡¯t think he could handle that much snark, even from his irreplaceable assistant.


    ¡°Hello, Owl two.¡± Ronin said, with a wan look around. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it out in the field, but we really don¡¯t have enough room for all these people, do we?¡± The dinosaur hide houses they¡¯d gotten from the small town were over-flooded with people. Smaller tents had been set up at random and there were several more people just laying on the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s worse than that, lord Ronin. They¡¯re starving.¡± The android said with a sweeping gesture around the tent city. ¡°The valley can¡¯t support this many people. We¡¯ve already hunted as much of the local wildlife as we can safely take. The farms should go a long way to alleviate the problem, but the crops won¡¯t be ready for several weeks. With the addition of the refugees getting off the ships now, I¡¯m afraid there will be rioting soon.¡±


    ¡°Well, damn.¡± Ronin thought, thinking through his options. The lake at the center of the valley had fish. There were mushrooms and giant ants from the mushroom forest. The river underground was also filled with odd-looking fish the trogs had been eating. He ran those ideas by Owl two while he kept thinking. Guts, who¡¯d wondered over during the conversation piped up.


    ¡°What about the trogs?¡± he asked, ¡°from what Grub was telling me they¡¯re still thoughtless rage monsters.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would go over well with our elven guests.¡± Ronin said with a shake of his head. The stink they made over eating locusts¡­ now that was a thought. He turned it over while Guts piped up again.


    ¡°How about their eggs then? Those haven¡¯t hatched either and they¡¯re still dropping them. And what about those big rats? There¡¯s a ton of them up there now.¡±


    ¡°No, Guts.¡± Ronin said again. ¡°Though if you¡¯re right and they haven¡¯t shown any improvement, we need to cut our losses there. Those beasts eat more than we can afford to feed them. But what about locust limbs?¡± he said, posing his own question. ¡°There is a lot of edible meat on one of those bugs. We could send flight two back to the bugbear clan city with K1 and K2 along with a group of soldiers to farm more meat.¡±


    ¡°I agree, my lord.¡± Owl two said. ¡°I¡¯ve just finished reviewing all the data you brought back with you.¡± Ronin tried not to whistle at his assistant¡¯s processing speed. It was a good thing, it meant that Owl two could always be up to date on everything. At least he hoped it was a good thing anyway.


    ¡°There are several things that require our immediate attention. The first and foremost priority however is food.¡± Owl two took charge of the conversation then after his few minutes of silence. A few minutes in which he absorbed a weeks¡¯ worth of information. ¡°We have already been fishing the lake, lord. But we haven¡¯t utilized the mushroom forest for food yet, I¡¯ll put together a team of scouts and food corps. The stone carver rats are inedible I¡¯m afraid. The heavy metal toxicity in their blood would do more harm than good.¡± He continued to spout off thoughts and insights that Ronin had to strain to follow.


    ¡°I will dispatch the trogs immediately. I had wished to break them, but there are plenty more in the undercity if I want to try again. Unfortunately, we can¡¯t fish in that river. Not until we conquer the undercity anyway. We would be discovered right away. The locust limbs though. That¡¯s an idea I hadn¡¯t already thought of. Good job Guts,¡± Owl two praised. ¡°I¡¯ll get both dropships loaded up with a mix of our men and the most helpful members from the new group. If we keep them busy than they shouldn¡¯t find it to hard to stay loyal to us.¡±


    ¡°Lord Ronin,¡± he said once he¡¯d wound down a little. ¡°I suggest you get some sleep in your pod. You have been on your feet constantly and you will be needed at your peak to assist with matters in the camp. I will deal with the food situation based on what we discussed here. But be ready to solve more problems when you wake up.¡± having finished speaking, Owl two strode off without a backwards glance.


    ¡°Well then,¡± Ronin said with a shake of his head. ¡°Guess I¡¯m going to go get some sleep.¡± He might have argued, seeing just how hectic everything was, but he was tired. The trip had been an emotional rollercoaster, as well as incredibly taxing on his body. A few hours in the pod would do him a world of good. Nodding to his people, Ronin set out for the cave with K3 in tow.


    The entire place was a cluster. He didn¡¯t know how they could possibly settle everyone in. The valley just wasn¡¯t large enough. There was the town of valley¡¯s pass, but Owl two hadn¡¯t put anyone in there for some reason. He¡¯d have to just trust his assistant; sleep was his order for the day. Arriving at the southern tunnel he found it guarded by a mixed group of human soldiers and Kaldarr warriors.


    They bowed low at his approach and moved aside. Ronin noted that none of the humans wore collars and one of the four Kaldarr didn¡¯t either. It looked like the loyalty conditioning that they¡¯d been putting the men through was having an effect.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said giving the men a salute. ¡°Your service is greatly appreciated during this hard time.¡± He was parroting the star ship captain with the words, but they seemed to work. Smiles and nods broke out between the warriors, and they all stood a little straighter. Moving passed them, Ronin found that the whole cave had been marked out of bounds. He was relieved, if someone untrustworthy got their hands on some of the Kaldarr weapons they¡¯d stashed in here. Well, he didn¡¯t want to think about it.


    ¡°Make sure you get someone else to stand guard.¡± He told K3 when they reached the pod. ¡°You need to sleep as well, and I can¡¯t have my right hand too tired to fight with me.¡± The Kaldarr snorted at the jab but nodded his head.


    Climbing into his pod, Ronin let out a relieved breath. He¡¯d made it home. He knew that tomorrow was going to be a nightmare, but he couldn¡¯t worry about that now. The comforting hiss of pressurizing air lulled him to sleep within seconds.


    ¡°¡­ that¡¯s why I think we shouldn¡¯t pursue that course of action.¡± Benjamin said thumping his meaty fist on the hardwood table.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°But the food corps is proof the training is effective. Besides, it gives everyone something to do.¡± Guts shot back glaring up at the military man.


    Ronin kneaded the flesh between his eyes as he tried to suppress the growing headache. The meeting was dragging on far longer than he was comfortable with. He looked at his self-proclaimed personal cook. Guts was arguing with Benjamin about the benefits of offering schooling to anyone who wanted it. Benjamin on the other hand, thought they should focus on military drills to get everyone ready for the upcoming campaign.


    Letting their voices drone into the background, Ronin took a moment to look around the room. Owl two was seated across from him like normal, next to Benjamin. Guts sat to Ronin¡¯s right since Owl five was off flying flight one on the food gathering mission. That left Samantha, who¡¯d stayed as his pilot and was present for her participation in the goblin crossbreed experiments. Harken, who¡¯d become the spokesperson for the White flame clan¡¯s people, and Unyielding oak for the wood elves. Finally, there was Elyria, who never strayed far from his side, and Lily¡­ who claimed that she was his new wife, since she submitted her clan to him.


    That was another headache all on its own. Ronin had been shocked that morning when his pod opened and he¡¯d found Safie, Vasylia and Lily all standing around. They¡¯d been arguing over who was first, second and third wife. Being held back all the while by a confused scout team. Ronin had thought six guards was a little overkill, but he hadn¡¯t managed to hold onto the thought with the commotion taking place.


    The results had been Lily as first wife, Vasylia as his second wife, and Safie coming in third. That¡¯s why Lily was at this meeting. Strangely enough, Owl two had endorsed the coupling strongly. Telling Ronin, it would tie him to the bugbears tighter than putting collars on them all could have. Though he did warn him that it would take longer.


    ¡°I chose who among my clan would live or die under the understanding that there was to be a school for them to attend.¡± Lily said, speaking up for the first time. Ronin looked over at her, she was wearing the thin purple robes again but had the dagger sheathed at her waist as well. Ronin supposed it was some custom or another from her clan.


    ¡°I understand that it might be difficult, but we simply can¡¯t spare the manpower on that when the people are starving.¡± Benjamin said with fraying patience. Ronin looked to Owl two and Elyria, who were the only ones who hadn¡¯t spoken out on the issue. Owl two was just sitting there quietly, who knew what his computers were processing behind his helmet. Elyria, in contrast, had her chair tipped back on two legs and had her feet resting on the wooden table. She was twirling her knife between her fingers carelessly and staring at Ronin meaningfully.


    ¡°Ahem¡± Ronin cleared his throat to get the others¡¯ attention. He didn¡¯t know what Elyria meant by that look, but he knew he needed to do something. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Benjamin.¡± He said, deciding to just go with his gut. ¡°But I told Lily there would be a school. I also told Guts that we¡¯d teach the goblins about first aid, and cooking and well everything else.¡± He paused, looking around at the other faces present. ¡°I know we¡¯re in a tight spot, thanks entirely to me bringing back more people than we could sustain.¡± He decided that taking full blame was only fair, since it was his fault.


    ¡°However, we have them here now. I agree that we need to make capturing the undercity our number one priority. But the food shortages and the non-combatants being left to their own devices caused a civil war in the old White mane clan. I don¡¯t want that to be repeated here. Maybe they can¡¯t fight¡­ or won¡¯t¡­¡± he added for Harken and Unyielding Oak¡¯s benefit. ¡°But they can make clothes, forge armor or tools, work in the mines, or the fields, hell we¡¯ll be swamped with Locust bodies soon. we can make armor and weapons from their exoskeletons and talons. It¡¯s not as good as steel, but we could arm more people faster that way.¡± He looked around at everyone again.


    ¡°We have a few good people who know how to do a few vital tasks. We also have a lot of untalented people who don¡¯t know how to do anything. That¡¯s the whole reason for having a school. It¡¯s no different than the drills you want to run Benjamin. Only for different skills. We¡¯ll be attacking the undercity soon enough, until then, I want everyone busy.¡±


    There were murmurs of agreement from a few of those seated at the table. Benjamin didn¡¯t look happy, but he nodded his agreement. While Lily actually reached over and squeezed his hand. That was a strange experience, to be sure. The reaction he was most interested in, however, was Elyria¡¯s. Unfortunately, her expression had blanked again, and he couldn¡¯t read anything in her eyes.


    ¡°Understood my lord.¡± Owl two said from where he had been sitting like a statue until now. ¡°I¡¯ve been tabulating options for either side of this debate and now that we have settled on a course of action, we need to decide who will lead each group. You mentioned forging armor or weapons. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have someone in our original camp with this skill, any suggestions for the post of smithing instructor?¡± He gestured at the map of the valley, to the area around the landing cave. There were so many statues clustered there that Ronin could hardly see the map below them.


    ¡°Vasylia,¡± Harken said after the silence had dragged on for over a minute. ¡°She is very talented and loves the craft. She would make an excellent teacher.¡± Ronin had a hard time seeing the gruff woman as a good teacher.


    ¡°That sounds wonderful,¡± Lily said with a smile. ¡°It will be good to have my sister wife in such a high position.¡± Since no one had any objections or other candidates that one was easy to settle.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Next, we need an herbalist, a medic, a tanner, a potter¡­¡± Owl two continued his list until Ronin started to forget the first professions he¡¯d mentioned.


    ¡°Time out, Owl two¡± he said with a raised hand. ¡°Let¡¯s just take it one at a time. The rest of us don¡¯t have your head for numbers and memorization.¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself, I was keeping up just fine.¡± Elyria said with a scoff, causing Ronin to pinch the bridge of his nose again.


    ¡°¡­ So, an herbalist. Who do we have in mind for that?¡± he asked, ignoring her entirely.


    ¡°I¡¯m an herbalist,¡± Elyria said, shocking Ronin. He turned his attention to take in the elf with a frown.


    ¡°Elyria?¡± he said her name as a question, not sure if he¡¯d heard her correctly.


    ¡°I said, I¡¯m an herbalist. Having trouble hearing now too?¡± she said with a glare. ¡°I won¡¯t do it full time, so you¡¯ll need somebody else too, but when I¡¯m not following you around, I¡¯d enjoy teaching young minds the love of plants.¡± Ronin looked at her again, sitting with her feet up and her chair tipped back. She still had the same untrusting expression on her face, but since she¡¯d gotten her own equipment back, she looked different. Ronin couldn¡¯t put a finger on it but, she looked, more refined perhaps.


    She wore silks in a smoky grey and her silver armor had been patterned in flames. Ronin didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d had time to have her wardrobe redone in his colors, but the moon elf wore it well.


    ¡°My people are also well versed in herbology.¡± Unyielding oak said after Elyria had finished. ¡°We may not be as advanced as our celestial kin, but the wood elves know the forest. We also have candidates for the medic, tanner, and tracker positions.¡±


    ¡°We have several excellent crafters among our people as well. We can teach stonemasonry, carving, and the best way to get usable blocks from a quarry.¡± Harken said when Unyielding oak had finished.


    It looked to Ronin that neither the bugbears nor the wood elves wanted to be outdone by any of the other races present. Which was fine by him, because in short order they¡¯d filled all the teaching positions. After that it was just a matter of ironing out class size and attendance, while being sure there was plenty of time left for Benjamin¡¯s drills.


    ¡°Good.¡± Owl two said once that subject had been settled. ¡°Now, we need to discuss our hierarchy and titles. Lord Ronin has expressed concern that he doesn¡¯t have a formal title. Also, that we don¡¯t have a name for our settlement.¡±


    ¡°A little vain, isn¡¯t it?¡± Elyria said with a sneer, ¡°wanting a formal title, I mean?¡± Ronin wasn¡¯t the only one at the table to shoot the elf a dark look. Lily seemed to take the moon elf¡¯s presence as a personal insult, while Guts and Benjamin looked like they wanted to boil her alive. Ronin felt gratified at their support, but he didn¡¯t want to make waves with the moon elves if he could help it either.


    ¡°Not the reason I brought it up.¡± He said patting the air with both hands in a calming gesture. ¡°White flame, lord white flame, my lord, patriarch¡­¡± he rattled off a few of the titles he¡¯d been given, ¡°half the time I¡¯m not even sure if their talking to me or not. I¡¯d just like to settle on one title so that everyone knows what to call me. Not only that, but we never named our settlement. I¡¯ve just been referring to it in my head as the valley, or home.¡± He shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with wanting to name his home.


    ¡°Will you be retaining the valley once you¡¯ve captured the undercity?¡± Unyielding oak asked sharply, eyeing him like a predator eye¡¯s prey. He knew what she wanted. The wood elves had lost their home, and unlike the bugbears, the concept of living underground didn¡¯t excite the elves.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet Unyielding oak.¡± Ronin said, ¡°honestly this valley doesn¡¯t even belong to me. It belongs to the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom and if it wasn¡¯t for the locust war, I¡¯m sure they would be at our gates already, asking for it back.¡± Her eyes tightened in anger, but before she could say anything he continued. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t want the elves to have use of the forest or that we intend to force you underground.¡± He said placatingly.


    ¡°But honestly, you must already know that this place isn¡¯t naturally sustainable. It¡¯s too small for the population you have for starters. Plus, the dinosaurs populating this place aren¡¯t native to the area.¡± Ronin could tell from her expression that she already knew this, so he finished by trying to give her a little hope. ¡°You can access the forest while we¡¯re still here. The more people you have teaching classes on various woodland activities the more of your people will get to explore¡­ also, Owl five and I discovered a small opening near the mushroom forest that led out onto an actual forest. We didn¡¯t explore it since we didn¡¯t want to open up a possible avenue of attack, but I can have a scout team take you down and show you. Once we capture the city, we can explore that forest. Perhaps it¡¯s unclaimed¡± he said with a shrug.


    He honestly had no idea; the forest might just as easily be inside the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom as well. He had the feeling somehow that it wasn¡¯t though. Benjamin and Charles had been heading from the southern towns to the northern ones, where they planned to escape from the kingdom by some secret route. Only Charles had known the route unfortunately, but the fact that there was one somewhere in the mountains led Ronin to believe the forest he¡¯d seen was actually outside the kingdom itself. At least he hoped it was, there was little adventure to be had in the kingdom¡¯s backyard.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Unyielding oak said. She didn¡¯t sound happy, but she didn¡¯t look like she was ready to fight over the matter either. ¡°I will ask one of my own scouts to accompany your team down for a look. We know forests, just the sight of the trees and the smell of the air should be enough to tell him if the place is inhabited or not.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Now, perhaps we can get back to the matter at hand.¡± Ronin was annoyed and grateful at his assistant. On the one hand, he¡¯d changed the subject but on the other he was such an ass about it.


    ¡°Can we even name a place we might be leaving boss?¡± Guts asked, scratching his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point,¡± Harken said. ¡°Perhaps we should name the group instead of the place? We named our cities after our clans. What you have here patriarch isn¡¯t a clan, but the naming convention could stand.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re like an organization then¡­ like a cartel?¡± Sam asked, speaking out for the first time. Ronin looked at her, wondering about that. She was normally more animated than this when he talked to her. She was giving Lily a cold look as she spoke, ¡°Why can¡¯t the women around me get along?¡± Ronin asked himself with an internal sigh.


    ¡°This rabbles more like a syndicate.¡± Elyria said, ¡°There¡¯s goblins, Kaldarr, humans, bugbears, elves and a slew of crossbreed kids running around. Not to mention the hobgoblins and batlins you said you plan to add into the mix. A group of organizations, or races in this case, coming together for a common cause.¡± She got several nods at that.


    ¡°It should have White flame in it somewhere,¡± Guts added. ¡°I know the moon elves started calling you that because of the armor Owl two designed for you boss. But it sounds really cool, besides everyone is already calling you that anyway. I¡¯ve heard people talking, ¡®did you see the White flame¡¯s battle with the queen? He leapt onto her back eighty feet off the ground and put that weapon right into her skull¡­¡¯ and things like that.¡± Again, more mutters of agreement. Though the mutters this time caused Ronin to feel like his face was actually aflame. He¡¯d hoped ardently to avoid that name, it sounded so pretentious.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it to a show of hands, shall we?¡± Owl two said, taking control of the meeting again. ¡°All in favor of our group being called the ¡®White flame syndicate¡¯ and our lord to be ¡®Lord Ronin the White flame¡¯?¡± Every hand went up around Ronin, and he knew he¡¯d never escape the name now.

 Chapter Twenty-eight

    ¡°Excellent,¡± Lily said with a wide smile that showed off her long canines. Ronin didn¡¯t know if he was more amazed at how white her teeth were, or how she avoided biting her tongue. ¡°A syndicate. It perfectly encompasses all our different races nicely; don¡¯t you think husband?¡± Ronin thought it was an ok name, but not perfect, as for being her husband... He was stopped from commenting by Owl two.


    ¡°Yes, it is adequate. Now, thanks to the new ship we need to adjust your security detail my lord.¡± He continued, moving right on to the next thing. ¡°The ship can seat a total of eleven, two of which will be yourself and Samantha here, but who will take the other nine seats? I think it wise to keep your party at a level that allows for you to travel together at all times.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Harken said with a nod. ¡°You¡¯re our overall military commander, my lord.¡± He continued, trying out the new title for the first time. ¡°But you have people to command those forces for you. It seems clear from my observing you so far that you are a, lead from the front, kind of man. So, the people you have around you need to be able to keep up.¡± Ronin listened to the old bugbear and had to admit that he had a decent point. He didn¡¯t enjoy large groups that he had to track and manage. He preferred the smaller groups and the missions that took them out to new places.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°K3 is an auto include, as well as Guts here as my personal chef. Who else would you all suggest?¡± He had a few ideas of his own of course, but he wanted to know what everyone else thought.


    ¡°It would only be proper for every race in our syndicate to be represented.¡± Unyielding oak said looking around the table as if daring anyone to contradict her. ¡°The elves of my tribe have been reduced to near extinction, but we aren¡¯t gone. My son will represent us on your team, my lord.¡± Ronin nodded; he hadn¡¯t known she had a son, but he wouldn¡¯t deny her the opportunity to represent her people.


    ¡°I will be on your guard detail as well.¡± Lily said with a smile, looking at Ronin in a way that made him feel like a rabbit before a fox. ¡°I¡¯m no longer a matriarch, and thus no longer am weighted down by responsibilities. In order to gain my position at my age however, my martial abilities are the best in my clan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be by your side as well boss.¡± Sam said with a beaming smile, though the glint in her eye when she glanced at Lily was anything but pleasant. ¡°I¡¯m your pilot after all.¡± Lily didn¡¯t seem to notice the glare, her eyes never leaving Ronin after she¡¯d told him she¡¯d join his guard.


    ¡°Would you two cut it out?¡± Elyria said, still reclining in her chair. ¡°I swear, are all the women around here blind?... Well, whatever, you¡¯re not getting rid of me regardless. Among other things, I haven¡¯t found a good enough reason to kill you yet, White flame. So, don¡¯t get too comfortable ladies.¡± She said with a laugh.


    Neither Sam nor Lily reacted well to her outburst. Yet again, however, Owl two broke in before things could go too far off track.


    ¡°I see. So, that¡¯s K3, Lily, Samantha, Guts, Hellebore, and Elyria. That leaves the three open positions. I will reserve one for Owl five, though I may have other missions for her. Frank will take one, he¡¯s proven himself a capable man. For the last two, we¡¯ll find another wood elf and bugbear to fill the roles.¡± Ronin had to think about two of the names before he remembered. Frank must mean Charles guard captain Frank, and Hellebore must be the name of Unyielding oak¡¯s son.


    ¡°I have a few good men and women; I¡¯ll submit their names to you for consideration.¡± Harken said to Owl two when he was finished.


    ¡°I will do the same,¡± Unyielding oak echoed right behind him, not willing to be outdone. Again, Ronin was grateful for how competitive the pair were being. If he could find a way to use that competitiveness¡­


    ¡°Excellent,¡± Owl two said having knocked another thing off his list. ¡°That only leaves¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t wish to interrupt the meeting, honored Owl two,¡± Unyielding oak said, cutting him off midsentence. ¡°However, there is a matter I¡¯d like to discuss before we adjourn this meeting.¡± Her face had darkened, and her posture had hunched in, it looked to Ronin like she was gearing herself up for a fight.


    ¡°By all means,¡± Ronin said before Owl two could comment. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± He really wanted to know what had the blunt elf looking so nervous.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much you know about my people, my lord.¡± She began, looking Ronin squarely in the eye. ¡°But elves have a special connection with nature. We¡­ bond with nature in a way other races do not. Like our kin, the moon elves, we wood elves used to have a small wildcat species that we raised as companions¡­ they were to us what the sparrows are to Elyria¡¯s tribe¡­ We lost them all to the locusts.¡± She said, pain evident in her face and voice.


    Ronin glanced at Elyria, half expecting her to make some sort of jab at her kins pain. To his surprise, her face looked as grave as he¡¯d ever seen it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± Ronin said with a dip of his head, ¡°What is it that you want from us?¡± He sympathized with her, but he didn¡¯t see what it had to do with this meeting.


    ¡°Lord Ronin,¡± she said, squaring her shoulders. ¡°We saw the white goats being butchered for food when we came in. I¡¯ve since sent out a few scouts to discreetly observe them in the fields¡­ I know that it¡¯s a poor time to ask such a question, with the food problems we are facing, but, I would request that the goats stop being harvested for food and given to my people. I would have them become our replacement for the wildcats we lost.¡±


    That was a bit of a shock. Ronin hadn¡¯t known what to expect there but an elf asking for those huge, horse-sized shaggy furred goats wasn¡¯t it. In the books he¡¯d read on elves they¡¯d been all about beauty and elegance. He¡¯d read about dwarves riding goats into battle, but elves? Well, he supposed these goats were actually large enough and strong enough to carry an elf on their backs, but¡­


    ¡°What do you think, Owl two?¡± He asked, turning to his assistant. ¡°We¡¯ve done a number on their population already, are there even enough to recover the species at this point?¡± Ronin didn¡¯t really mind if the elves took them. It would keep them from going extinct in the valley if nothing else. He actually liked the goats; they reminded him of his first day in this world. He¡¯d asked the town¡¯s people to tan the hide from his first group kill. In the attack he¡¯d forgotten about it, but Emil had it delivered to him afterwards. It was on the bed he rarely used. A memento of Owl three.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re fond of the goats my lord,¡± Owl two said. His words caused a flicker of concern to cross Unyielding oak¡¯s face. ¡°So, I¡¯ve been doing my best to control the number of them we¡¯ve killed. Apart from some poaching after the refugees arrived their numbers are solid.¡± Both Harken and Unyielding oak winced at the pointed reminder of their people already breaking their new lord¡¯s rules. ¡°Elves have a way with animal husbandry though.¡± Owl two continued, ¡°how about this; you can take control of the goat population. But in return, you help us bring our population of chickens and rabbits up, and help train our people how to care for them properly?¡±


    ¡°Done.¡± Unyielding oak said without hesitation. ¡°I hadn¡¯t realized lord Ronin was partial to the goats. I assure you we will take good care of them.¡± Again, Ronin was a little annoyed that Owl two had made the decision, but he had asked for his opinion. Besides, Ronin would have just given them over. At least Owl two had gotten something for them. He made a mental note about that, never give anything away for free when someone would be willing and eager to pay for it.


    ¡°Good,¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°I look forward to seeing what you can do with them.¡± His mind wandered a little then, and he saw himself and his party adventuring through the mountains using giant goat mounts. Perhaps someday, just for the fun of it, but he had a gunship now. No way was he traveling by goat when he could go by air instead.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl two said. ¡°Then there is just one more matter before we set out on our tasks.¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t read his tone, but he could read Benjamin¡¯s expression. It had hardened while Owl two was speaking, and Ronin suspected trouble.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, trying to control his expression.


    ¡°Lord Ronin, since the refugees¡­ No, they are our citizens now. Since our new citizens arrived, several of them have caused trouble. There have been the poachers who killed our goats and some dinosaurs against orders. However, that isn¡¯t all. We¡¯ve also had several instances of theft, fighting and murder. Also, we¡¯ve detained men for, inappropriate actions against our goblin population. Specifically, the females.¡± At Owl two¡¯s words, everyone at the table bristled.


    ¡°Who?¡± Unyielding oak demanded. ¡°Was it my people? If so, I can assure you¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord Ronin, I hadn¡¯t heard about this, I will handle it immediately¡­¡± Harken said simultaneously.


    ¡°Animals.¡± Lily chimed in, looking ready to kill.


    Ronin looked at Guts and Elyria, neither of whom had spoken. Guts looked angry, but his expression also told Ronin that he had faith that Ronin would deal with the problem. Elyria¡¯s expression on the other hand, was as unreadable as ever. He was beginning to associate that expression with her testing him.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two.¡± Ronin said, taking a deep breath. ¡°What actions have been taken against these individuals?¡± He wanted to know what actions Owl two had already taken before he announced anything of his own.


    ¡°Everyone caught doing something I suspected was against your wishes has been detained and collared. I¡¯ve locked them up in the damaged ship previously occupied by the trogs, with orders to sit still and wait.¡± Ronin nodded at that; he couldn¡¯t argue with that course of action.


    Sitting back in his chair, Ronin pinched the bridge of his nose again. Digging his finger and thumb into his eyes to relieve the stress headache that was threatening to overwhelm him. The others waited for him to think in silence, something he was grateful for.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last. ¡°What was stolen?¡± He decided to start with an easy one.


    ¡°Food, my lord.¡± Owl two answered promptly.


    ¡°Food.¡± Ronin repeated, ¡°I suppose the goats were killed because the men were hungry as well?¡± He asked with a raised brow. At Owl two¡¯s affirming nod, he said ¡°very well, I can understand and even accept that. They had been starved half to death when we¡¯d arrived, I¡¯d want to eat too when food became available. Cross check their names with the ones I had noted down on the trip back for fighting. If none of the names match, then let them go with a warning.¡± He didn¡¯t want to set a precedent of tyranny on the first day of his syndicate.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Very well, and the others?¡± Owl two asked. Ronin looked around the room and saw a few nods and shrugs at his decision. Not too bad then.


    ¡°The murder, what were the circumstances?¡± He asked next.


    ¡°The victim tried to steal food from the killer, it didn¡¯t end well for him.¡± Benjamin answered this time, causing Ronin to raise a brow at him in question. ¡°I was there for the incident my lord.¡± He said by way of answer. ¡°The girl¡¯s human sir and under twenty, from what I saw, it was self-defense.¡± Benjamin was implanted with a parasite drone, so his loyalty couldn¡¯t be questioned. In addition, he was a career military man who understood violence.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°Then take her into your forces. If she¡¯s that willing to kill, I don¡¯t want her left to her own devices. Teach her how to control herself and direct her towards our enemies.¡± Again, more nods. Except for unyielding oak, she clearly didn¡¯t think the punishment was harsh enough for the crime. Ronin understood where she was coming from and didn¡¯t mention it.


    ¡°Were the goblins harmed?¡± Ronin asked at last, getting to the delicate issue. A large chunk of his inner circle were women. They were all such skilled fighters that it was almost comical thinking about someone pulling something like that on them. The goblin women of the worker class were different, however. They were small, weak, and helpless. Depending on strong males to survive.


    ¡°Their fine, my lord.¡± Sam answered, leaning forward. ¡°I¡¯ve been working closely with the goblins for the child raising program, so Owl two gave them to me to look after¡­ honestly, the act of procreation is so commonplace among their kind that they weren¡¯t traumatized at all. They stayed with me for a few hours to ¡®have a meal¡¯ then let me know that they had to get back to work in the fields.¡± She shrugged, clearly not happy about what had happened but also unwilling to lie about the condition of her charges.


    ¡°Thank you, Sam.¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°Still, the victims ¡®don¡¯t really care¡¯ isn¡¯t good enough for me.¡± He looked back at Benjam¨ªn and Owl two, ¡°Kill them.¡± he said coldly.


    ¡°Think that¡¯s appropriate?¡± Elyria asked, her face still unreadable. Ronin turned to her and looked her in the eye, before turning to each of his people in turn.


    ¡°I want the White flame syndicate to be a safe place for its citizens.¡± He said, voice even. ¡°Stealing food and defending oneself is understandable if not condonable. However, there can be no excuse for this kind of activity. The men weren¡¯t under the influence of any mind-altering substances, since we didn¡¯t provide them with any. They didn¡¯t do it because they were hungry, or for fear of their safety. No, there was no excuse but evil in that action and I won¡¯t have evil cropping up in my city. So, kill them.¡±


    ¡°Very well my lord.¡± Owl two said, but ronin¡¯s eyes were fixed on Elyria. He was looking her in the eye, daring her to challenge his decision. He was disappointed, however, she only gave him a slight nod, before looking away again.


    ¡°With that out of the way, I have a few assignments for everyone. Please complete them as quickly as possible. We will meet again this time tomorrow to further discuss the state of our syndicate.¡± After speaking, Owl two turned to Ronin. ¡°I will have the execution set up for tomorrow my lord. Someone will call you when its time for you to execute the prisoners.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Ronin asked with a bit of shock. He hadn¡¯t planned on making a big public production out of it. He¡¯d just expected Owl two to just have them shot and disposed of. Like what Ronin assumed he¡¯d done with the trogs.


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± The android said with a nod, ¡°this will be the quickest way to show your people that you will protect them, as well as show those who would violate your laws what awaits them.¡± Looking around at his other advisers he saw them all nodding along with owl two¡¯s words.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± he said squaring his shoulders. He¡¯d ordered them to be killed after all. It wouldn¡¯t be right to just expect someone else to carry the burden of delivering that sentence.


    ¡°Good. Then for the rest of today, I want you to walk around and see your people. See them and let them see you. A lot has changed since you left to check out the locust threat and you should become familiar with what is happening here. After you¡¯re done, return to your tent. You and your wives have to settle a few matters to make everything official by their customs.¡±


    ¡°Right, the submission by wrestling thing.¡± He said, glancing over at Lily who was giving him a wicked smile. He got a bad feeling, looking at her grinning face. So, he decided to deal with it the best way he knew how, ignoring it. ¡°Ok,¡± he said to Owl two, ¡°guess I¡¯ll be on my way then.¡± Turning to the rest of his people he bid them a good day, and turning to Lily, he bid her goodbye until later.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl two called out before he exited the tent. Turning around Ronin looked at his assistant questioningly. ¡°You wanted these,¡± he said holding out a leather pouch. With a laugh, Ronin took the pouch and flipped it open. It was a deck of cards, but they were different than his ¡®people of the valley¡¯ deck. The back of these cards were black, with grey and then white flames at their tips and read ¡®White flame syndicate.¡¯ Shaking his head as to how the android had known what name they would choose; Ronin flipped the top card over to view what it held. He laughed out loud when he saw the figure, it was the locust queen he¡¯d captured with the drone parasite. He¡¯d left her to recover and hunt locusts on the outskirts of the swarm.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl two.¡± Ronin said switching the deck out for his old one and handing it over. ¡°You know you¡¯re going to have to switch everyone¡¯s out now, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± The android said with a bow. ¡°I was gratified to see how effective the game was at bringing you and Karr¡¯s squad together. Show them off, I will have more prepared by dinner time. Here, for k3.¡± He said handing over another set, from a box he¡¯d had under the table.


    ¡°Where too?¡± K3 asked when he exited the command tent. Ronin looked around the inside of the cave. Where they¡¯d landed was nearly devoid of people, and the hard sided tents they¡¯d set up. There was only the command tent, the leadership tents, the drop pod, and a bunch of Kaldarr scrap metal. The rat experiments were also set up here, Ronin assumed that was to keep the people from eating them. His eyes paused when they passed the Kaldarr armored suits, still standing in rows like metal terracotta soldiers.


    ¡°Remind me to have an armor gallery erected at some point,¡± he said to K3. ¡°I think it would be fun to look back at all the different sets we¡¯ve seen along our travels.¡± After seeing his bodyguard¡¯s nod, he continued by answering his question. ¡°We¡¯re going to make a round of the camp.¡± He said, heading towards the south tunnel. He didn¡¯t know how it had happened, but that was the one everyone used the most. ¡°I need to check on the people. Oh yea,¡± He added with a grin. ¡°Owl two made us a new game. Here¡¯s your deck.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± K3 said with a nod, taking the deck and falling in line behind him. Ronin glanced back at him, deciding he should take in his guard too. He was a towering eight feet of muscle and steel, looking a little strange as he switched out the tiny, to him, cards from his belt. His armor was black enameled steel with dark grey, then light grey flames licking up towards his full faced helmet, they were lighter than standard armor yet still darker than Ronin¡¯s own flames. K3 generally kept his helmet on, looking like a fully armored medieval knight ready for battle at any time.


    The enhanced Kaldarr warrior also carried a large equipment harness, loaded with gear. A mark V railgun slung across his back and a pair of pistols belted at his waist. One was a non-lethal II the other a Kaldarr revolver equivalent. He rounded his armament off with the massive seven-foot slab of inch thick steel that served him as a tower shield and his giant war hammer that he held slung over his shoulder most of the time. The man screamed intimidation.


    ¡°What¡¯s up boss?¡± He asked when he noticed Ronin taking him in.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Ronin said with a chuckle. ¡°Just excited to play a game with the new cards is all.¡± He added by way of explanation. Turning his head to watch where he was going, Ronin entered the southern tunnel.


    It was the same as it had been, except that the floor had seen a lot more traffic. Looking up, he saw the ceiling mounted turret still in place where Owl four had put it when they¡¯d first landed. That brought back memories, and he smiled sadly as they exited into the sunlight.


    The area around the cave had been cleared of trees and was now filled with the wooden framed dinosaur tent houses. Ronin counted close to fifty of them, and he wondered where they¡¯d all come from. There hadn¡¯t been many more than that in the village, and he¡¯d seen most of the tents still there during his fly over. In between the larger tents were smaller ones. These were made from a variety of materials and hadn¡¯t been put up with any thought behind their placement. Ronin assumed these were tents the refugees had brought with them.


    He stood there watching as the group that had been in the meeting trickled out behind him and started yelling orders. He watched Benjamin gather up the sergeants he still had in camp and begin to give them instructions. Likewise, Harken and Unyielding oak were doing the same thing to their own followers. Wind blew towards Ronin, carrying a variety of smells. He wrinkled his nose at them, turning his head around, looking for the source.


    First, he saw a group of food corps goblins cooking in giant pots over several fires set up in a circle. He could smell the food being cooked along with the wood smoke. That wasn¡¯t so bad, but he could also smell human, or humanoid at least, waste. Moving forward, his feet sank into the well-traveled path. The original grass had been completely turned up and nothing remained but a growing trough of muddy dirt.


    ¡°This place could use some cobble stone,¡± he muttered in annoyance, still following his nose. He wasn¡¯t twenty feet from the nearest tent when he came upon the latrine pit. It was filled and had been poorly covered over with dirt. He continued forward to find a second and third pit that were still in use. In fact, there was a human man setting on a board suspended over one of the pits even now. This caused Ronin¡¯s frown to deepen.


    The caves he¡¯d grown up in had been light on modesty, but even they¡¯d known not to set up latrines so close to their living environments, lest it poison their water supply. Nodding to the man who was now sitting awkwardly on his board, Ronin turned away. Walking through the tents he met with and talked to several of the dejected looking people.


    ¡°Is it true that you¡¯re working on getting us a whole new city?¡± One bedraggled looking bugbear asked, from his place on a fresh cut tree stump. There was a child sleeping in his arms, so Ronin didn¡¯t begrudge the man not getting up at his approach.


    ¡°It is, for the child¡± he said with a smile, giving the man a piece of jerked iguanodon from his waist pack. ¡°We¡¯re working hard at readying our forces for the push. We¡¯re working hard to get everyone fed first though.¡± Accepting the meat, the man bowed his head as Ronin continued on around the camp.


    Meeting a group of soldiers on a break, Ronin pulled out his new deck and showed off his queen card. The men and women got excited right away, and asked when the new cards would become available. He¡¯d been tempted to play a game right then and there, but these people were supposed to be training, so he just told them dinner time and bid them keep up the good work.


    Later on, during his travels, he came across Hunter and her squad. They were enjoying a quick meal in the shade of a giant pink leaved tree. Not being able to resist, Ronin squatted down in front of the head scout and pulled out his new deck.


    ¡°Care for a rematch?¡± He asked with a sly grin on his face. The cruel smile that split her little green face was enough to make Ronin reconsider, but it was too late. He spent a comfortable hour with the scouts, loosing two games to Hunter before he called it quits and moved on. K3 patted him on the back consolingly. The goblin woman was vicious. Ronin would know better than to take her on again until he¡¯d gotten in a bit more practice.


    All in all, his trip around the tent city was a little disheartening. The ground was turned unto mud from the countless feet that had trodden on it. There were latrines too close and not dug deep enough, hungry people everywhere, not enough clothing or washing facilities to go around. That was a concern too, not the smell, though that was bad enough, but how unwashed bodies cramped together like this could attract bugs and disease.


    He caught sight of Elyria and her two elven companions flying overhead as the light faded and he made his way back toward the caves. He also caught sight of Unyielding oak, working to calm an over excited goat she¡¯d bound on a line. The wood elves gathered around her looked excited and as happy as he¡¯d ever seen them. ¡°Good,¡± he thought watching them work. ¡°At least it isn¡¯t all doom and gloom. Even in these hard times, there are rays of light.¡± He had to remind himself of that, as he walked through the empty cave towards his tent.


    Leaving K3 outside, Ronin entered his tent alone to find all three of his bugbear wives waiting for him. All of them, even Vasylia wore the thin robes that could almost be seen through. They each had a different expression as well. Lily looked shy but excited, Vasylia looked uncomfortable, and Safie looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.


    ¡°Welcome home, my lord.¡± Lily said gesturing him inside. Her smile was predatory, and Ronin could only assume she was looking forward to the confrontation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just get this over with,¡± Vasylia said uncrossing her muscular arms and flexing her fists. She looked like she was hyping herself up to pummel him.


    ¡°Ugh, do I have too?¡± Safie asked from where she sulked, seated on the edge of Ronin¡¯s desk.


    Ronin sighed. He didn¡¯t really know what this whole ¡®fight to submission¡¯ was all about, but he could already tell he wasn¡¯t going to enjoy it.

 Chapter twenty-nine

    Ronin groaned as he hauled himself out of bed the next morning. Stretching his body, he cracked his neck to loosen up the pressure. His whole body hurt. He hurt in places and ways he didn¡¯t know it was possible to hurt in. Rolling out of bed, he stumbled to his feet and looked around. The place was a disaster zone.


    ¡°At least I didn¡¯t have too many possessions in here,¡± he said aloud as he took in the piles of clothes, armor, weaponry, and books that littered the floor. His desk had been tipped over along with his chairs and their contents were strewn in among the rest of the debris. Even his bed hadn¡¯t escaped unscathed. It was a sturdy wooden framed thing, made from local timbers. The mattress was a dinosaur hide that had been stuffed with wool and topped with several blankets. Each made from either wool or fur covered hides from various animals.


    He gaped when he realized the sturdy frame had been broken. He thought that must have happened when Vasylia had thrown him across the room. That woman was brutal, and all to eager to fight with him over whether she would be submitting to him as his ¡®wife¡¯. He shook his head in wonder. Such a strange custom the bugbear had. No wonder all their furniture was carved out of solid stone.


    After changing his clothes, Ronin exited his tent to find K3 standing on guard duty. The Kaldarr had his helmet on, so Ronin couldn¡¯t see his face, but he had the feeling the giant was smirking at him.


    ¡°What?¡± he snapped at the giant. Then, feeling guilty at taking his embarrassment out on him, he asked. ¡°Did you switch out with someone else last night? I told you not to pull all night shifts on duty.¡±


    ¡°I kept watch all night boss,¡± the Kaldarr said with laughter in his voice. ¡°I wasn¡¯t about to let anyone else listen to their lord getting it handed to him by his three loving ¡®wives¡¯¡­ besides, you know as well as I do that we can go for days without sleep in the middle of battle. I was just standing here, so I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t argue the point. He was also a little relieved that no one else heard what had transpired.


    ¡°Thanks man,¡± Ronin said, clapping his guard on the back. ¡°Though it was only two wives. I¡¯ll not be dealing with Safie again.¡± He frowned as he remembered how rude she¡¯d been at every interaction they¡¯d had. Until he was unable to take it anymore and had said he rejected her as his wife. Apparently, that was a big deal, because Lily and Vasylia had taken her away after that.


    ¡°Yea,¡± K3 said a frown in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that was such a good idea boss. It might cause trouble for you going forward.¡± Ronin frowned at his friend, not wanting to believe it could be that big a deal.


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± he said at last. ¡°But so what if it does. I couldn¡¯t deal with her talk forever.¡± He was starting to regret his actions a little, but she¡¯d brought what had happened on herself. ¡°So, what¡¯s our first move this morning?¡± he asked, figuring Owl two would have contacted K3 over a sleeping Ronin with his marching orders. That was strange, the lord receiving his orders from his assistant. Ah well, it couldn¡¯t be helped unless Ronin wanted to take over the monumental task that Owl two was dealing with around camp¡­ and he definitely didn¡¯t want to do that.


    ¡°A bath sir,¡± K3 said letting Ronin change the subject without complaint. ¡°You should really wash up and change your clothes, along with cleaning your armor before you go out today.¡± Ronin frowned, wondering if he really smelled all that bad. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it sir, its completely normal after that much activity. The bath tent is just over there,¡± he said pointing ¡°once you¡¯re cleaned up and changed Owl two wants you to make another round of camp before your meeting starts.¡±


    Nodding his head at that, Ronin gathered up some fresh clothes and his armor cleaning supplies and made for a bath. He sniffed himself under the arm as he walked, trying to see if he could detect what K3 was referring to too. He smelled something odd on himself he supposed, but not having smelled it before he didn¡¯t recognize the odor. It probably was a good idea to just get himself cleaned up after all. He¡¯d have a nice soak to clear the negative thoughts from his mind.


    Once he¡¯d cleaned his body, changed his clothes and donned his armor again, Ronin felt like a new man. The aches and bruises from last night had faded thanks to his advanced recovery rate and he was ready to start the day. He wondered what the bugbear women were up to today but shook the thought aside just as fast as it had surfaced. He didn¡¯t need the distraction right now, so he put last night¡¯s confrontation completely out of his mind.


    ¡°Should I clean up the tent before we go?¡± he wondered aloud as he came back out of his tent again, in fresh clothes and clean armor.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, boss.¡± K3 said falling into step behind Ronin. ¡°The food corps will have it cleaned back up in no time. They really love taking care of you sir, it would be a shame to deprive them of the opportunity.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know how he felt about that, but it was true that the corps Guts had put together from the working-class goblin men was highly loyal to him and happy to do any manual chores if it meant helping him out.


    ¡°Very well¡± Ronin said, giving in. ¡°Let¡¯s go make our rounds then.¡± With a nod to each other, the pair exited the southern tunnel and entered the chaos of the valley once more.


    Ronin¡¯s expression darkened upon exiting the tunnel and viewing the tent city. The people were agitated, several of the bugbears were yelling and pushing each other. A large group of them was forming in an open space, and Ronin felt a sinking feeling inside when he realized that it was centered around Safie.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± he asked, as he made his way forward towards the group. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the group was made up of Halican¡¯s old followers. They were armored and were raising their weapons against the scout teams that had reacted to the ruckus. It looked a little comical, the goblins who weren¡¯t any taller than four feet, facing off against the bugbears who stood around seven feet tall. Ronin knew that the size difference wasn¡¯t everything, with the powerful crossbows Owl two had designed, the scout team was more than a match for anyone. At least until they entered melee range.


    ¡°What is going on here?¡± Ronin repeated loudly when he¡¯d reached the area where the bugbears were congregating. Looking around he also saw that Lily was present with her four warriors as was Vasylia surrounded by a small knot of warriors, most of whom had seen too many years to be considered fighting fit.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord,¡± Lily said stepping forward to meet him. ¡°I tried to contain the fall out, but when you rejected Safie as your third wife her family decided they wouldn¡¯t follow you anymore.¡± Ronin looked at her in confusion.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, trying to come to grips with what he was seeing. It looked like over one hundred, fully a third of the fighting capable bugbears were gearing up for combat.


    ¡°The clans are formed from families, my lord.¡± Vasylia said in Lily¡¯s place, ¡°These men here are what¡¯s left of my family. Harken,¡± she gestured towards the old bugbear who¡¯d just arrived on the scene with another fifty or so men, fully half of which were either too young or too old to be effective in combat. ¡°Is leading what¡¯s left of his family. We were brought together by marriage, and marriage has kept us together. Without that marriage, Safie¡¯s family feels no need to stay under your banner.¡±


    Ronin nodded to her in thanks, looking at the different groups of bugbears who were gathering on the field. Only the group around the glaring Safie held a majority of young healthy-looking men. The others were all either too young or too old. Leading Ronin to the belief that they¡¯d stayed out of combat while the other families did the fighting and the dying. Only having the courage to act like this because they believed no one could oppose them now.


    ¡°Is this really what you want?¡± he asked Safie as he saw three full squads of Benjamin''s men march into the square. They were armed with Kaldarr inspired rifles and the grizzled Benjamin walked at their head, a sour look on his face.


    ¡°What I want?¡± Safie shrieked, a hint of insanity in her eyes. ¡°Of course not you fool. I want to lead this rabble back in my clan city. I want to be rid of you furless abominations. I want to go back to before all this happened¡­ but I can¡¯t do that now can I? thanks to you, I can¡¯t even retain my position as the lowest of your wives. So, I¡¯m leaving with my family. We¡¯ll find somewhere else to call home. Away from you stinking elves and human filth.¡±


    This had all escalated too fast. Ronin thought back to the night before, when he¡¯d told her he¡¯d had enough of her slandering him and Vasylia. He¡¯d told her he hadn¡¯t wanted her as a wife if that¡¯s how she was going to be. Lily and Vasylia had tried to warn him that it wasn¡¯t a good idea, but how could he have known that a few words could cause this? he stood there pondering what to do as Owl two, Hunter, Guts and the rest of his inner circle that weren¡¯t out on the ships arrived.


    ¡°Safie,¡± he began slowly. Hoping he could salvage the situation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I told you to leave ok, can we just calm down and talk about this?¡±


    ¡°How can I calm down?¡± she asked, her voice getting higher pitched as she screeched at him. ¡°Your men have detained seven members of my family, including my older brother and I¡¯m told you plan to execute them yourself today. You kill my husband, ruin my dreams, now you plan to kill my kin and only brother and you want me to calm down?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin thought, trying to understand what she was talking about.


    ¡°The men who attacked the goblins, my lord.¡± K3 said helpfully from beside Ronin, having noticed his confusion. ¡°They¡¯re locked up in the damaged drop ship along with a few others who stole food and one kid who killed somebody.¡± Hearing K3¡¯s explanation, it was clear his bodyguard didn¡¯t know Ronin had already been informed about them. He nodded his thanks before turning his attention back to the growing disaster in his camp.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Quite the dilemma you¡¯ve created, White flame.¡± Elyria said from right beside him. He didn¡¯t know when she¡¯d gotten there but her comments were as useful as ever. The wood elves were filing into the area now too. It looked like everyone who¡¯d been brought back via the ships was now in attendance.


    ¡°Your brother and his friends committed crimes against their fellow syndicate members.¡± Ronin said trying to keep his voice calm. ¡°I didn¡¯t force them to do that, no more than I forced Halican to demand I hand over my people and my ships when we first arrived at your clan city. Our customs aren¡¯t the same, Safie. But I¡¯m trying to be respectful of them while we work everything out.¡± He didn¡¯t think his words were having any effect on her, but Owl two¡¯s voice coming from right beside him confirmed it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord,¡± he said as he arrived beside Ronin at last. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that this family of bugbears were so unreasonable. I¡¯m afraid that there is no making her see reason at this point.¡±


    ¡°Oh yea?¡± Ronin snapped angrily. ¡°So, what would you suggest then?¡± He was angry and didn¡¯t really intend to take it out on his assistant, but the android didn¡¯t seem to be bothered by his tone, only acting on his words themselves.


    ¡°Everyone who isn¡¯t involved with this situation, please move behind our lord¡¯s position.¡± He said, projecting his voice out over several speakers that Ronin hadn¡¯t seen before. The volume of his words filled the entire camp and anyone who hadn¡¯t known about the confrontation would now. ¡°Do it now, thank you.¡± The android said again when people hesitated to move.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ronin asked Owl two, worried that he knew exactly what he was doing.


    ¡°Anyone involved who wishes to withdraw from this conflict please drop your weapons and move to this side of the line.¡± He said, now directing his words at the members of Safie¡¯s family. None of them reacted to his words, just sneering and shouting at him to return their kin.


    ¡°I¡¯ve cleared the field, my lord.¡± Owl two said turning to Ronin again. ¡°It is up to you to give the order.¡± Ronin stared at the more than one hundred able bodied fighters who were standing in front of him as he listened to Owl two¡¯s words.


    ¡°Lily,¡± he said turning to his first wife desperately. ¡°Is there anything I can do to stop this coming to blows?¡± his face fell when she shook her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord.¡± She said sadly, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that even if you hadn¡¯t lost your temper with her last night that this would have happened anyway. We can be very protective of our families, and she¡¯s lost too much to back down now.¡± Ronin nodded, looking back at the men and women gathered against him sadly. He didn¡¯t understand it, he didn¡¯t want to understand it, but it was what it was. Unslinging the railgun from his equipment harness, he turned to his people.


    ¡°Fire on three.¡± He said, sighting on Safie¡¯s head. He didn¡¯t want her to have to suffer, so he planned to take her out himself. ¡°One, two, three.¡± The simultaneous cracking of gunfire and the twang of crossbows split the air. They were also joined by several dozen arrows, and Ronin was gratified to see that Unyielding oak and her people had joined in at his order to fire.


    It was over in a matter of seconds. The bugbear¡¯s unable to hold up against the combined fire of Ronin¡¯s more advanced weaponry. He tried in vain to get the sight of Safie¡¯s head exploding out of his vision, but it was stuck there. He knew that it would be haunting his nightmares for a long time to come.


    ¡°A pity,¡± he heard Elyria saying from beside him. When he turned his angry glare on her however, she was nowhere to be seen. He didn¡¯t know where she¡¯d gone, but he was glad she hadn¡¯t taken issue with the massacre. He was having a hard enough time coming to terms with how quickly all those men and women had been killed as it was. He really didn¡¯t want to deal with her on top of that.


    ¡°Food corps,¡± he called out and was relieved to see that Guts stepped up without hesitation.


    ¡°Yea boss?¡± he asked, banging his fist against his breast plate in the Owl team salute.


    ¡°Can you get this mess cleaned up please?¡± he asked, looking back at the pile of bodies in disgust, most of which was aimed at himself. ¡°Pull their equipment, get it cleaned up and into the cave. Then bury them somewhere out of the way.¡±


    ¡°You got it boss,¡± Guts said with another salute. He began barking orders at his own people who jumped to action right away. It was a shame the goblins were so small; they really were the best people he had. Shaking his head Ronin turned around.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry this happened and that you had to see it.¡± He called out to the men and women who were staring in shock at the hundred some bodies that had been living breathing people just moments before. Perhaps they¡¯d expected some kind of protracted battle to take place here or something. Sadly, with firearms at their disposal, there wasn¡¯t much chance a group armed with maces and war hammers was going to put up much of a fight.


    ¡°Go back to your tents. We¡¯ll get this mess cleaned up soon enough.¡± He continued looking at as many faces as he could. ¡°I didn¡¯t do this happily, nor easily. But I did it all the same. Because I¡¯m committed to the safety of our forming syndicate. I want this to be a safe place for our people. Not only from our enemies, but from within as well. I won¡¯t tolerate behavior that can harm our people. Thank you all. I won¡¯t abuse your trust.¡± It wasn¡¯t much of a speech, but he wasn¡¯t really in the mood for speeches. He just told them what he felt, let them do with it what they will.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to my tent,¡± he told Owl two. ¡°I want to take care of the criminals as soon as possible though, so once you¡¯ve got them out send someone to get me. I don¡¯t want to draw this out. Let¡¯s get it over with so we can move on from this bloody day.¡±


    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± Owl two said with a bow. His bow was repeated by all those who were still present, and Ronin returned to the southern tunnel only minutes after he¡¯d exited it, feeling the weight of their stares on his back as he left.


    *            *            *


    Ronin hadn¡¯t been seated at his desk for very long when a goblin runner came to get him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes in frustration. He¡¯d expected at least a little longer to collect himself before he had to go back out there. Thanking the goblin, whom he didn¡¯t recognize, Ronin got back on his feet and left his tent.


    ¡°Are you ready for this?¡± K3 asked him, when he exited. He supposed his face must look pretty bad. Perhaps he should start wearing his helmet again all the time? he¡¯d stopped wearing it outside of combat because he was always talking with people now, and not being able to show expression had been hampering him.


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± he shot back, a little irritated at the question. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said after a moment. ¡°All those people, K3. They¡¯re dead now. We wasted so much time and resources getting them here just to kill them? what¡¯s worse, though I feel like a villain even mentioning it, is that they were the lion¡¯s share of the able-bodied bugbears¡­ this is going to hurt our combat effectiveness a lot.¡± They walked in silence for a little while before K3 answered.


    ¡°Will it though?¡± he asked, the question startling Ronin out of his daze. ¡°Think about it sir. Why was that family the least effected by the locust war? Why was that family entirely responsible for the goblin attacks? How effective in combat do you think they would have been for you, since they didn¡¯t even fight for their own home? From a practical standpoint sir, I think you removed a problem before it could rear its head.¡±


    Ronin nodded at the words. They were likely true, and someday he might come to believe them. Right now, however, he couldn¡¯t get the image of Safie¡¯s flopping body out of his mind. Why did this have to happen? it felt like it came out of nowhere. There wasn¡¯t any build up to a betrayal like he read about in the books¡­ no, his people had arrested a few malcontents, he¡¯d refused a vial woman an honored position, and they¡¯d revolted. He pondered on that, wondering how he hadn¡¯t known anything beforehand.


    ¡°K3,¡± he said grasping at an idea that he¡¯d overlooked before. ¡°I¡¯m too disconnected from the people here.¡± The grunt K3 gave him at those words meant it was obvious to his guard, but Ronin hadn¡¯t realized it before now. ¡°That¡¯s why Owl two wants me to go spend time with them, to play cards with them¡­ it might not have prevented what happened here, but it might prevent something like this from happening again¡­¡± his mind was a blur, thinking about how the prince and the captain each handled situations with their men.


    ¡°I should probably have an information network set up as well,¡± he mused. ¡°In the stories, all the important people have spies who can inform them of when things like what happened today are brewing¡­ I was too removed from the situation to have noticed anything, but if I¡¯d had ears on the ground, I might have noticed¡­ the poor living conditions, the poorly dug latrines. We¡¯ve all been focusing on the battles but ignoring the people.¡± He was rambling now, and he knew it. Still, K3 just walked silently beside him, throwing out the occasional grunt to show Ronin that he was listening.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to make a trip out to the queen soon, but apart from that¡­ Owl two and Benjamin can focus on preparing for the undercity battle. I¡¯ll spend the next few weeks with the people.¡± They¡¯d exited the tunnel at that point, so Ronin stopped talking but his head was still buzzing with ideas. He wasn¡¯t any good at this leadership business, but he was going to try his best. He scoffed to himself; he hadn¡¯t even thought about the points the bugbear massacre would cost him. Perhaps that meant he was at least headed in the right direction.


    He didn¡¯t need to be told where to go. The large crowd of people was sufficient to lead him. He glanced at the field where the bugbears had died. It was still covered with bodies. Goblins were hard at work, rolling the giant forms onto wheeled carts and hauling them away. There were just so many of them, and so few of the food corps that it was likely to take a while.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Ronin said politely to a group of mixed races who were blocking the path forward.


    ¡°Shove off pal, I was here f¡­¡± a big bugbear started to say as he turned to face the interloper. The words died in his throat however when he noticed who¡¯d been addressing him. ¡°My apologies, lord white flame.¡± He said bowing deeply and backing away. He bumped into other people as he backed up, causing a wave to go through the crowd as the people noticed who was there and backed up themselves.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said inclining his head at the people. He moved through the opening they had created for him, his feet sinking into the muddy dirt of the path. He had to get this taken care of, he was sure it was harming morale.


    Exiting the crowd into a circle they¡¯d formed, Ronin looked on to see Benjamin at the head of a group of prisoners. There were twenty of them, but none of them were bound. Instead, each had a collar around their neck that bound them in place more securely than any ropes could.


    ¡°Greetings lord Ronin,¡± Benjamin said with a deep bow that all his men and a few in the crowd mirrored. ¡°The prisoners, my lord.¡± He continued, gesturing behind him at the collared people. There were more than ronin expected. He hadn¡¯t asked when Owl two had been telling him what had been done. Twenty people? that seems like a lot for only being here a few days.


    ¡°Thank you, lieutenant.¡± Ronin said with an incline of his head. Turning in a slow circle, he addressed the gathered crowd. ¡°I know this is a bad time for a trial.¡± He said in a carrying voice, ¡°but is there ever a good time for one? these people have done wrong by their fellow syndicate members and will be judged accordingly.¡± Walking up to the first person in line, an old human, Ronin stopped in front of him and asked. ¡°Lieutenant, what is this man charged with?¡±

 Chapter thirty

    ¡°Theft, my lord.¡± Benjamin called out in a voice meant to travel. ¡°He took food from his fellows after he had already eaten his share.¡±


    ¡°Please I...¡± The old man tried to speak out in his defense, but the collar gave him a jolt that quieted him down instantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak unless the lord asks you a question,¡± Benjamin snapped at the old man. ¡°I was quite clear on this point already.¡± Ronin resisted the urge to tell him that wasn¡¯t necessary, he¡¯d already decided to let those who¡¯d stolen food go with a warning. He resisted the temptation; this wasn¡¯t just for these twenty men and women. This was for all his people, to show them that he could be ruthless and merciful. He hated it, but there it was.


    ¡°In these trying times,¡± Ronin began addressing both the man and the crowd. ¡°Where food is scarce, and we¡¯ve had to leave our homes behind due to the locust threat. It is understandable that we want to get everything we can¡­ still, we can¡¯t devolve into theft. This time will pass, and when it does, we will be all the stronger for it.¡± He looked the old man in the eyes for a long moment before pronouncing. ¡°I warn you, not to do this again. but for now, I¡¯ll let you off with a warning.¡± Having said his peace, Ronin reached out and unbound the man¡¯s collar. The bracelet he wore on his wrist causing it to open when he hit the release, due to the proximity.


    ¡°Thank you, lord White flame.¡± The old man said with a deep bow, he was trembling so badly that Ronin thought he might collapse, but he made it away and disappeared into the crowd as soon as Ronin nodded for him to go.


    ¡°Lieutenant Benjamin, what is this woman accused of?¡± Ronin asked the next person in line. She was also elderly and again was accused of stealing food. He let her go as well, but when he moved on to the third person the answer changed.


    ¡°This man was caught violating one of the goblin women who was charged with delivering food to the newcomers, my lord.¡± A gasp went up from the crowd, it looked like not everyone knew what the people here had done. Ronin stared at the bugbear man in front of him for a long time. He was young, strong and would have made a good soldier.


    ¡°Answer me honestly,¡± Ronin said in a cold tone. ¡°Is what the Lieutenant said true?¡±


    ¡°No¡­aaagghh¡± The man dropped to his knees and shrieked in pain as the collar punished him for lying. Without another word, Ronin pulled the mace from the loop at his waist and swung it up and around, bringing it down on the still screaming man¡¯s head. The sound cut off as his head crunched beneath the swing. He¡¯d hit him with enough force to crack queen armor, and his head didn¡¯t stand a chance. The crowd muttered at the swift killing. Some jeered while others cheered, but most just looked on in silence.


    Ronin didn¡¯t say anything, just moved on to the next person in line. It was a wood elven boy who looked no older than ten. Elves aged differently than humans though so Ronin couldn¡¯t be sure. He felt deeply sorry for the lad though, because when he came to a stop in front of him the already crying boy wet himself on the spot. Ronin quickly freed him when the crime was announced as stealing food, and even gave the boy a piece of jerked iguanodon from his own pack. The kid ran away, still bawling, with the meat clutched tightly in both hands. Ronin watched him go, making a note to discuss with Owl two how age played a role in determining one¡¯s guilt. That kid was far too young to be lumped in with these adult criminals.


    Ronin moved his way down the line, either releasing or killing the accused. When he¡¯d gone halfway down the line, he encountered a human girl in her teens. She wasn¡¯t crying or trembling or anything else he¡¯d seen up till now. She was glaring at him like she wanted to rip his throat out with her teeth.


    ¡°The accused killed a bugbear man who was trying to take her food, my lord.¡± Benjamin said at his question. ¡°So, this is the girl he wanted to save.¡± Ronin thought looking her over. She had spirit, he¡¯d give her that. The fact that she¡¯d killed a bugbear man too, that wasn¡¯t an easy feat even if the fellow was half starved. The physical size difference alone made it an arduous task, and she¡¯d done it over a bit of food.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± he asked the girl who hadn¡¯t stopped glaring at him since he stopped in front of her.


    ¡°What do you care? Your just gunna kill me.¡± She said, spitting into Ronin¡¯s face. The collar activated then, shocking the girl from her feet. Ronin wiped his face clean of spittle while he waited for her to stop screaming and rise back to her feet.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± he asked again, not really bothered by the show of defiance. Again, she spit at him and again she was shocked. By the third repetition however, she gave in and answered him.


    ¡°My names Rachel, you bastard.¡± She spat the words at him but refrained from actually spitting. She almost seemed surprised when she wasn¡¯t shocked again.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Rachel, my name¡¯s Ronin.¡± He said with a smile.


    ¡°No shit, dumb ass.¡± She said in reply. ¡°You¡¯re the ass hole who took us from a shit filled cave where we were starving to death and dropped us in a shit filled forest where we¡¯re still starving to death.¡± Ronin blinked at her candor; he didn¡¯t refute her words though because they were true. He¡¯d put far too much faith in Owl two to take care of everything. He¡¯d assumed the android would handle it all, but he hadn¡¯t. At least not everything. He clearly didn¡¯t put as much importance on things like bathrooms and clean clothes for noncombatants as he did for the soldiers.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said shocking the girl and causing a gasp from the gathered people. ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared to take you in. I made the same mistake the White mane clan did, in taking in people I couldn¡¯t support¡­ would you have preferred to die in that filthy cave then?¡± he asked, looking around he included all the gathered people in the question.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t prepared for so many people. It¡¯s true¡­ I took you in anyway. In a few more weeks we¡¯ll have a city to call our own. Perhaps I should have waited until then to collect you, would you have lasted?¡± he continued, asking them all. ¡°This situation is just as new to me as it is to all of you, and I¡¯ve made mistakes. Look at what happened today. Could it have been avoided? Perhaps¡­ if I¡¯d have let the people, I brought here¡­ brought here to save, abuse my people, and steal the food I was providing to others¡­ No, I made a mistake with your living conditions and for that I apologize. But I won¡¯t let you hurt my people and let it pass.¡±


    ¡°That being said,¡± Ronin added turning back to Rachel. ¡°I¡¯ll need people around who are willing to call me on my bullshit. People like you Rachel, so how about it, will you join my forces? Someone with your abilities will rise high, you¡¯ll be able to tell me when I¡¯m being a dumb ass. So, we can avoid any more mistakes.¡±


    She stared up at him, not speaking, while the crowd muttered around them. Ronin couldn¡¯t hear all their words, but he gathered that some approved of what he¡¯d said while others were skeptical. That was ok, Ronin planned to prove his words to them. So, he waited, looking calmly into the young girl¡¯s eyes for her to answer.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said at last. The glare never leaving her face, ¡°but there better be more food for the soldiers than for the rest of us, or I¡¯m out.¡± He nodded gravely at her words, reaching up to unclip her collar. Before he hit the release however, he paused.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you at your word, Rachel.¡± He said staring into the blue eyes that were partially hidden by a ragged mop of brown hair. ¡°Please don¡¯t make me regret it.¡± With a snap, the collar was off, and he tossed it aside. ¡°Report to the Lieutenant, soldier.¡± He said before moving onto the next person in line.


    The rest of the sentencing passed without incident. He released thirteen people and killed seven. Their bodies were left to be picked up by the food corps. After he¡¯d finished, he watched Benjamin laying into his new recruit. He smiled at the look on Rachel¡¯s face, she looked ready to kill but she was following orders. He hoped she would make it, in fact, he thought he should enroll all the kids around her age into the military. He¡¯d read once about a draft that had taken place back on earth. All the men aged at least eighteen were forced into military service. That made him frown.


    ¡°Hey, K3?¡± he asked, looking back at his bodyguard. ¡°Back on my old planet, there was a custom of enrolling only the men into combat. I haven¡¯t seen any Kaldarr soldiers who were women either, but here I¡¯ve seen several women who make better soldiers then men¡­ why is that?¡± In his own life on earth, there hadn¡¯t been any wars. There weren¡¯t enough people to fight them, but in all the books he¡¯d read the men were typically the ones fighting. He hadn¡¯t seen anything to explain the difference.


    ¡°Well, my lord.¡± K3 said, scratching his bristly beard under his helmet as he thought about it. ¡°There are several races present here that likely weren¡¯t present in your world. Species makes a difference. Look at the goblins, the men were more aggressive while under the influence of their sex drive, yet the women proved more capable of combat when it was removed. Even though they are long distance fighters. That¡¯s a bit of an outlier though honestly because normally it¡¯s that added aggression that makes for good fighters¡­ hmm.¡±


    ¡°On Kaldarr, women aren¡¯t included in our military because they are giving birth to new soldiers. I believe they were in the military once. But having young men and women in close proximity, led to unexpected pregnancies that disrupted campaigns. Also, from a breeding perspective, one man can father children with several women at a time, while women can only bare one child at a time. So, it makes since to send out the more disposable of the two into combat where they might die, especially when they tend to be more aggressive anyway.¡± The giant shrugged his shoulders, ¡°Honestly though boss, I have no idea. That¡¯s just a guess based on what I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Ronin said thinking about his words. ¡°You have a point; it would be crippling to our next generation if we removed all the breeding aged women from the civilian population. Especially at this point in time, when we are so limited on numbers as it is. Later down the road however, it won¡¯t be that big a deal.¡± He thought about the ramifications of that as well. Would the women come to resent being held back, not understanding why it was done at some point in the far future? Or take for granted the fact that they didn¡¯t have to fight? or worse yet, would they take for granted the fact that they didn¡¯t have to fight while resenting it? what a double standard that would be. Eh, this speculation was pointless; he was stalling, and he knew it.


    ¡°Come on then,¡± he said with a sigh, ¡°let¡¯s go to the meeting. I want to see what Owl two has to say, then we¡¯ve got work to do out here.¡± He moved back through the crowd, no one barred his way this time, they all stepped aside as he passed, mixed looks of fear and respect in their eyes. Ronin didn¡¯t know how to feel about them. He¡¯d been a nobody back home on earth, so the looks now caused him to feel awkward.


    They moved quickly through the throng, coming out to the other side and entering the southern tunnel. They nodded at the Kaldarr on guard duty before entering the cave once again. He¡¯d spent more time here lately than he¡¯d intended, but that was about to change Leaving K3 outside, Ronin Entered the command tent and found he was the only one there. He supposed he must be early, so he took the time to go over the map in detail.


    Looking around at the command room, Ronin smiled at all the books. There were several shelves of them in here along with a few reading chairs. This tent was unlike his own in that it was lit with several LED lights that brightened up the room, letting anyone inside view the table sized map more clearly.


    He hadn¡¯t spent much time on it before, just taking Owl two¡¯s word for everything. Now, he looked at the figures on the map and compared them to the key hanging on the wall. The key showed each figure beside a description and a number letting him know what each represented. Deciding he¡¯d check out the actual numbers, he picked the figure of a goblin swinging a shovel. The description beside it said, ¡®worker class goblin¡¯ and the number was fifty.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said looking down at the map. ¡°So, each one of the figures of a goblin swinging a shovel equals fifty of the little guys.¡± He counted eleven such figures, clustered mostly around the fields. ¡°There are five hundred and fifty of them?¡± Ronin was shocked, they must have emptied the mushroom forest to get that many worker class goblins. That was what they¡¯d wanted to do, but still the number astounded him.


    The next figure on the key was a goblin wearing a chef¡¯s hat and holding a cleaver. This one represented the food corps and had a number ten beside it. Indicating that each figure represented ten members of the food corps. Looking over the map he only counted four of these figures. Only forty? That seemed really low, considering how many goblin workers there were. The last goblin type figure on the key was the goblin scout. It was represented by a female goblin in scout armor holding a crossbow. Each figure represented a single team of six members. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how they¡¯d settled on six members per team, but it had stuck.


    Looking over the board, he counted them up. There were sixteen crossbow wielding figures on the board. That was, he had to think, ninety-six? There were almost one hundred of them, far more than the food corps members. Thinking about it, Ronin realized that the numbers actually made sense. The crafter class goblins were actually goblins with hobgoblin blood, so there were fewer of them to begin with. Added to that there were fewer males in general and all the food corps members would have been alphas of their respective groups¡­ yea, which added up. Still, it was a shame they had to capture an average of six and a half goblins to get one who was more useful than a laborer.


    The next figure was a human soldier, it represented a squad of ten men. He counted nine of them. Unfortunately, the next figure was of a human sitting on the ground with their head between their hands. This was a human noncombatant and each figure represented fifty individuals, there were seven of those. Following the humans on the key was the figure of a wood elf holding a bow. This represented a combat capable elf and each figure represented fifty people. Ronin counted ten of them, putting their numbers at five hundred. The following figure of an elf sitting with their head between their hands was also for fifty people but there were only four of them on the board.


    ¡°It looks like the elves are the most combat capable force so far.¡± Ronin mused looking at the figures. It didn¡¯t surprise him to see these numbers. From what he¡¯d gathered, Unyielding oak had been brutal on her people when it came to their survival. She hadn¡¯t wasted energy on those who couldn¡¯t keep up, and where the people revolted in the town. She¡¯d been the one to put the most force into quelling the uprising. ¡°The elves represent a huge advantage; I just need to find a way to bring that home.¡± He muttered while counting the figures again.


    After the goblins, the humans, and the elves, the last race that was present in any significant numbers were the bugbears. They had two figures representing combat capable units. The first one was a young muscularly built male with full plate armor and a large mace. Each of these figures represented fifty bugbears in the prime of life. The second combat capable unit showed an older bugbear man with his hand resting on the shoulder of a young boy. This one also represented fifty combat capable units, but these were either too young or too old to be proper soldiers.


    Of the first, Ronin counted three figures. Of the second there were four. That put the combat capable bugbears at around three hundred fifty, though only one hundred fifty of them were competent soldiers. The final bugbear figure was of a bugbear seated on the ground, again with his head between his hands. Each of these represented one hundred and Ronin counted five of them.


    ¡°I¡¯m really going to have to talk to Owl two about these figures.¡± Ronin muttered as he looked them over. Sure, they might not be combat capable, but that didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t have value. The sad pose they were in just made them look like victims. He knew in that group, however, were several talented artisans and trades people. Just waiting for a chance for their skillset to shine. He¡¯d find them and bring them out.


    The last humanoid figure on the key was of a Kaldarr. There was only one of these figures on the board and it represented all thirteen of the captured Kaldarrian warriors. K1, K2 and K3 each had their own figure to show they were a piece of higher importance. Under the Kaldarr, was the figure of an armor-plated rat. Naturally, this indicated the stone carver rats and each figure represented ten individuals. Ronin counted three figures, two of which were inside the cave. While the other was inside the mine tunnels along with a goblin scout figure and a human soldier.


    ¡°Now what are you doing in there?¡± he wondered, looking at the group. He hoped the rat experiments were paying off. He¡¯d have to poke his head into the tunnels to check on them.


    Having finished looking at the figures of people. Ronin looked to a second key that showed equipment. He didn¡¯t look at each of these as carefully as he had the first ones because most of them weren¡¯t particularly important to the survival of the settlement. Like the figure of a crate with a ¡®K¡¯ on it that represented one hundred Kaldarr stun weapons. Or the one with the figure of an oven that was an actual oven. They¡¯d used it to jerk meat by the literal ton when they¡¯d still been trying to meet Charles¡¯s demands. There were still several that interested him.


    The armed and armored truck he¡¯d picked up from Andy¡¯s reef for one. It was tucked away inside the cave; the truck was too big to fit inside the tunnel, so they must have dropped it in through the opening the pod had fallen in from. There were also the two wagons that Benjamin and Charles had ridden in on. He looked around for a minute, before he saw the two figures representing the ankylosaurs that had pulled the carts in the first place. He¡¯d worried for a moment that they¡¯d been eaten, but he found them penned up just outside the town of valley¡¯s pass.


    While scouring the map, he also came across the figure of the hobat Hunter had captured. It hadn¡¯t been on the key, perhaps because there was only one of them. It was inside the cave as well. Strange, Ronin hadn¡¯t seen him out there, he¡¯d have to go out and look. He had actually forgotten about the hobat since they¡¯d brought it back. Owl two hadn¡¯t brought it up either¡­ another thing the android hadn¡¯t mentioned. They were adding up, and Ronin was going to have to do something about that.


    ¡°You look hard at work, for once.¡± Elyria¡¯s sarcastic voice pulled Ronin from his deep study of the map he¡¯d been conducting. It only surprised him a little to see her sitting in her chair, balanced on two legs with her feet on the table. He hadn¡¯t even noticed her arriving, yet here she was, kicking back at her ease.


    ¡°Trying,¡± he said not bothering to comment on her jab. ¡°It¡¯s becoming clearer to me by the moment that I¡¯ve been failing as a leader.¡± He continued to look from the key to the map. Trying to fix everything in his memory so that he could follow up on it later.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good thing,¡± she said dropping her chair back down on two legs to lean closer to him. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing rounds of this place since I got here, and I¡¯d be lying if I said you were doing a good job¡­ you¡¯re not doing the job at all though are you? you¡¯re just letting that tin can do all the work while you run around acting like a hero.¡± She snorted and tipped her chair back again.


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin asked with his own snort. ¡°Not going to threaten to kill me over how I handled the Safie situation?¡± He said the words flippantly, but he was actually curious about her opinion. She was a real bitch most of the time, but she usually had useful advice when he bothered to listen to her.


    ¡°No,¡± she said fiddling with her knife. Ronin winced when he looked at it, remembering how it felt to have it hilt deep in his chest. ¡°You were trusting the machine too much; a problem I see you¡¯re working on correcting now. But apart from that, you did the best you could in that situation. You handled the animals who molested your people correctly, in my opinion at least. And the way you handled Safie last night was¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Ronin interrupted her. ¡°You were listening to that?¡± his face flushed as he remembered how hard he¡¯d had to fight to keep Vasylia from caving his head in, and Lily from breaking his nose.


    ¡°Yea,¡± she said with a careless shrug. ¡°I was listening. Apart from an obvious lack of technique, I¡¯d say you handled yourself well¡­ anyway, the way you Handled Safie was about as good as you could. You didn¡¯t let her continue to walk on you and you didn¡¯t let her brother go when she threatened you. What more could you have done?¡±


    ¡°I could have let them leave.¡± He said, his face flushing brighter at her jabs.


    ¡°True, you could have. But where would a trouble making family, like that get its food if they left the valley? By settling in at the nearest town and robbing the people there blind, that¡¯s how. Something tells me you already knew that. No White flame, you do plenty wrong as it is, to go blaming yourself for the few things you manage not to screw up too bad.¡±


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said again glossing over her barbed complements. ¡°So, what should I do now?¡± he asked her, watching her twirl the knife between her fingers so fast it whistled.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± she said with a sneer. ¡°That¡¯s on you to figure out buddy boy. I will tell you that I think you¡¯re on the right track now though. You saw some problems, you solved a few and are educating yourself on the overall picture¡­ What you choose to do next will be telling, I can¡¯t wait to see if I get to kill you for it or not.¡± She said with a dazzling smile.


    ¡°Ah, good you¡¯re already here.¡± Owl two¡¯s voice entered the tent, cutting off any retort Ronin might have made to the beaming moon elf. ¡°The others are coming shortly, so we can get this meeting underway.¡±

 Chapter thirty-one

    ¡°We¡¯re all here now.¡± Owl two said in his synthesized monotone. ¡°Let¡¯s begin with a recap of what happened today.¡± While the android recapped what Ronin already knew, he looked around at those present. The line up was the same as the day before, except for Samantha. She¡¯d skipped this one because she was needed back with the children. That still left, Guts, Elyria, Lily, Benjamin, Harken and Unyielding oak. Ronin took them in under the bright LEDs that provided constant light, making it easy to see and read each of their expressions.


    ¡°¡­ additionally, I¡¯ve passed out standard White flame syndicate decks to all the new combatants who wanted them.¡± Ronin perked up at that. He¡¯d intended to get right into his desires, but this was a good place to start.


    ¡°Only the combatants?¡± He asked with a frown, ¡°and what does a standard deck consist of?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but add curiously.


    ¡°A standard deck consists of sixty random cards, my lord. Ten common rarity characters and ten common rarity equipment cards. These are cards of the noncombatants and the worker class goblins for characters and the equipment cards are things like shovels and wood axes. Then there are seven cards each of uncommon rarity cards. These are soldiers or scouts for characters and their level of equipment. Such as battle axes or scout armor. Finally, each also includes three cards of the rare category. This category includes highly placed people such as Benjamin or harken here and three cards of their equipment. The other twenty cards are standard ration cards. This let¡¯s the individual make a standard forty card deck with enough cards left over to trade with their fellows.¡±


    ¡°That sounds reasonable, it encourages people to interact with each other. While the random nature of the decks will get people feeling competitive and give them the desire to play and trade with people, they wouldn¡¯t ordinarily talk to.¡± Benjamin said with a nod. ¡°The forces will enjoy the privilege.¡±


    ¡°I agree that it¡¯s a great idea, but you didn¡¯t answer my first question Owl two.¡± Ronin said, staring at the android.


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Owl two answered promptly. ¡°Only the combatants. I want it to be something for everyone to aspire to. If they get this privilege and no one else does, it will encourage the rest to join up.¡± He explained, while Benjamin nodded along beside him. Harken and Lily on the other hand, didn¡¯t look as convinced.


    ¡°I see,¡± Ronin said tapping his fingers on the map. He glanced at Elyria who was staring at him blank faced, and he knew she was evaluating him. ¡°What about the food corps, who are in charge of feeding your soldiers?¡± He asked, ¡°How about the elderly, who can no longer fight? What about the artisans who will be responsible for creating your armor and weaponry once we get their crafting zones set up?¡±


    ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t mean any disrespect but¡­¡± Benjamin started but Ronin rolled right over top of him.


    ¡°Tell me, Benjamin. What about the children to young to go to war, with nothing better to do than play a game featuring their favorite fighters with their elderly grandparents¡­ but no, they won¡¯t get that privilege will they?¡± He was being sarcastic and he knew it, but he was unhappy about how Owl two and Benjamin had handled the situation so far and he planned for it to change.


    ¡°Am I to understand that you want us to provide decks to everyone who wants them my lord?¡± Owl two asked, while Benjamin frowned unhappily.


    ¡°You are indeed to understand that Owl two,¡± he said with a nod.


    ¡°Very well, the extra printing time will take away from creating new munitions. So long as you are aware of that. Not to mention the materials we need to feed into the fabrication unit to make the cards themselves. Though they aren¡¯t hard to get gathering them is time consuming.¡±


    ¡°What materials are required and who is gathering them now?¡± Ronin asked matching Benjamin frown for frown.


    ¡°The cards are made from a heavy card stock that is processed from a specific breed of forest tree. Then there are the inks to print the colored pictures. They are gathered from various leaves and plants in large quantities for the fabricator to break down into the dye needed for the cards. Lastly the card is covered with a hard wax coating that is produced from the bark of another tree. These materials are gathered by the scout teams, and it eats into their training time.¡± Owl two rattled off, as if any of those things was particularly difficult.


    ¡°Really?¡± Ronin said with a smirk. ¡°Well then, it¡¯s a good thing we have a large number of noncombatant personnel with nothing better to do than gather leaves and dead branches, don¡¯t you think?¡± He asked with a tilt of his head.


    ¡°Understood, my lord.¡± Owl two replied. Benjamin also nodded when Ronin looked at him.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said with an incline of his head. ¡°Now, I have a few things I¡¯d like to go over since we are all already here.¡± He said, getting up from his chair and walking around the table slowly as he spoke.


    ¡°Firstly, I did as you asked and walked around the camp. Thank you for that suggestion, Owl two, without it I wouldn¡¯t have noticed how poor the living conditions of the people are¡­ tell me, why is it that it was too much trouble to have proper latrines dug?¡±


    ¡°Sir,¡± it was Benjamin this time who answered Ronin. ¡°We have several proper latrines, dug out around our military tents. It was another...¡±


    ¡°Another privilege for the people who enrolled in our military?¡± Ronin finished for him.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Benjamin said clearly unhappy at being called out on it like that.


    ¡°Lieutenant Benjamin,¡± Ronin said quietly looking the man in the eye. He was beginning to remember why he hadn¡¯t wanted to waste one of his parasite drones on this man. In fact, he might have to use the control features of the drone if the man didn¡¯t straighten up. Though he really didn¡¯t want to do that.


    ¡°Yes sir?¡± Benjamin asked at his pause.


    ¡°If I¡¯d only wanted the combat capable people fed and cared for, do you think I would have brought back everyone or just the people I wanted?¡± He asked in that same quiet tone. ¡°That goes equally for you, Owl two. You know that I intended to build a community here. That was the entire point of gathering the goblins, why are you going out of your way to anger our citizens?¡± As Ronin got going, his mind started making connections it hadn¡¯t before. Why hadn¡¯t he noticed that the living situation had been done deliberately? The android was far too competent to make such a mistake.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord.¡± Owl two said without skipping a beat. ¡°I will see to it that the problem is taken care of. In the meantime, however, I think you should go check in on the queen you captured and¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Owl two.¡± Ronin said, cutting the android off. ¡°I will take care of it myself. But I will need a few things from you. For starters, is my truck running?¡± He asked having come up with an idea while going over the map.


    ¡°It is sir, the battery system was much easier to reproduce than the Kaldarr system. I¡¯ve even reloaded the turret mounted tank. Though I hardly think now is the right time to utilize¡­¡±


    ¡°Good, then I¡¯ll ask Sam to get it out for me. I¡¯ll need you to show me how it works after this meeting, Owl two. Next, I¡¯ll need two heavy duty axils and good tires for off road. I will be constructing a trailer for the truck and want good weight bearing capabilities. I will need this done by the day after tomorrow. Can you do that Owl two?¡±


    ¡°It is possible sir, however¡­¡±


    ¡°Perhaps Owl two, you forgot our positions somewhere along the way.¡± Ronin said raising his voice for the first time. ¡°I¡¯ve been taking your lead up until now because I hadn¡¯t had a clue on what I was doing. You somehow have interpreted that as you being in charge here, rather than being my assistant. Well, that ends here¡­ in case the contents of this meeting have somehow escaped your understanding, I am angry about how the people here were treated. I am angry that my wishes have been ignored. For goodness sakes man, you put a ten-year-old in the damaged dropship with rapists and murderers. What the hell?¡± He wasn¡¯t, quite, screaming by the end but it was close.


    ¡°Sir, I think your being¡­¡± Benjamin said.


    ¡°Silence.¡± Ronin commanded and Benjamin shut his mouth with a snap. ¡°Get out of here. Do twenty laps around the entire valley at your best speed. While you¡¯re doing that, I want you to think about your place here and the ¡®privilege¡¯ I¡¯ve given you. I haven¡¯t restricted your freedom at all, because I wanted your honest opinions on how to lead my men. Not to argue with me when I¡¯ve given a clear order.¡± Once he¡¯d finished speaking, Benjamin leapt to his feet and sprinted from the room.


    ¡°Was that necessary?¡± Owl two asked, not having budged an inch from where he¡¯d been seated the whole time. ¡°The youth was eighteen, considered an adult by human standards. Nothing I¡¯ve done has¡­¡±


    ¡°I said silence.¡± Ronin ground out between clenched teeth. ¡°Make my wheels and axils, make more cards. Stop assigning special privileges to the soldiers. From now on, I want a written account from each of you at the end of the day stating what you¡¯ve done that day. This is not a punishment; this is simply me wanting to be informed as best as I can be to make difficult decisions.¡± He looked at each of his people in turn, they all nodded their heads at his words. Although some did so with more hesitancy than others.


    ¡°Good.¡± Ronin said, moving back to his place at the table. ¡°Owl two, I forbid you to influence the parasite drones or the mother drone from today onward. You are not to issue orders or change orders I have given through them nor are you to use them to communicate telepathically without express permission from me ahead of time.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know if that was necessary or not, but he didn¡¯t like how close Owl two and Benjamin had gotten lately. This should at least break up any potential plots and keep the android from gaining control of the queen locust. Ronin wanted to be the only one who could control her. For numerous reasons.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Owl two said giving no hint about his thoughts.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Now, please continue.¡± Ronin said as he sank into his chair again. He knew he¡¯d over done it by a long stretch, but he¡¯d had an awful day. Safie¡¯s headless body twitching on the ground kept playing on repeat through his mind, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it could have been avoided.


    The rest of the meeting passed without further incident. Benjamin hadn¡¯t returned, but the valley was big, and Ronin expected it to take the man several hours to finish his laps. Once it was over, he told Owl two to go wait for him by his armored truck and asked Unyielding oak and Harken to remain behind for a moment.


    ¡°What can we do for you, my lord?¡± The old bugbear asked warily, no doubt wondering why they¡¯d been held back.


    ¡°I wanted to apologize for what happened today, both this morning and at this meeting.¡± Ronin said with a frown. ¡°I know you have strong views on the civilians Unyielding oak, but I firmly believe that they will be a benefit to us if utilized properly.¡¯


    ¡°No need to apologize, my lord.¡± Harken said, with a seated bow. ¡°I would be lying if I said I was happy about the way our young and elderly were being treated, but I¡¯m relieved to see that it wasn¡¯t by your order. Just let me know how I can help.¡±


    ¡°I agree with the old bear,¡± Unyielding oak said. ¡°I heard what you said this morning to Safie. About how starving the civilians and doing a forced take over of the clan played a large part in their taking up arms against those of us fighting to defend them¡­ I won¡¯t say that I agree entirely with what you said, but it gave me something to think about.¡± She bowed before leaving the tent.


    ¡°Harken,¡± Ronin called as the bugbear made to leave as well.


    ¡°Yes, my lord?¡± He asked, popping his head back through the flap.


    ¡°I will need some talented wood workers to assist me in building my trailer. You¡¯ve seen my truck, right?¡± He asked just to be sure, when the bugbear nodded, he continued. ¡°Good, will you get some people together and begin collecting and processing the wood? We will be hauling crushed stone back from the mines, among other things.¡± Ronin instructed and after Harken nodded, let him leave with the rest.


    ¡°Well, look who finally grew a pair.¡± Elyria said, not having shifted from her chair. Her feet were no longer on the table, instead she was slowly kicking them up and down, to maintain her balance on the rear two legs. ¡°You know getting on your military leader that strongly will have repercussions, right?¡± She asked without looking at him.


    ¡°Yes,¡± ronin said with a sigh. ¡°But what choice did I have? He wouldn¡¯t let it drop, and I couldn¡¯t let them back me down the first time I spoke out against what they wanted.¡± He was so tired of leading, his mind flashed back to the day dream of his party riding the giant goats through the mountains. Away from all the politics and infighting he was forced to deal with now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not arguing that point,¡± Elyria said still balancing on two chair legs. ¡°I just want you to understand that every action has consequences. Fortunately, I think you got to those two before they got too far out of control. As long as you stay consistent going forward, I don¡¯t think the fall out will be too bad.¡±


    ¡°Well, thanks.¡± He said, and meant it. She was quickly becoming his best sounding board.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me,¡± she said glancing at him at last. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when you did something stupid, but I won¡¯t stop you from doing it. If it¡¯s something too bad, I¡¯ll kill you before you even know you¡¯ve screwed up¡­ so, don¡¯t screw up. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I got it.¡± He said with an eye roll. He believed she would do exactly what she said, he just couldn¡¯t stay afraid of the threat forever. ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else? I need to have Owl two show me how to use my new truck.¡± He said rising to his feet and looking back at her.


    ¡°Boys with their toys.¡± She said with a chuckle, ¡°species doesn¡¯t matter at all when it comes to certain things.¡± Doing a back flip over the still balancing chair, the slender moon elf was gone from the tent before the chair had a chance to hit the floor. Snorting, Ronin picked up her chair and tucked it back under the table before going out to meet Owl two.


    ¡°What have you done to it?¡± He asked in horror when he beheld his beautiful truck. The damned android had repainted the beautiful mottled black and green camouflage into the black with grey and white flames of his new syndicate.


    ¡°I redid the paint to match your colors, my lord.¡± The smug android said, in a monotone that nevertheless let Ronin know that the android knew exactly what he¡¯d done. ¡°Now, are you ready for your instructions? I¡¯ve recalibrated the batteries to run off energy we can easily create from the pod or the Kaldarr ships, so as long as you don¡¯t stray to far you will be able to recharge the truck whenever you want to.¡±


    ¡°I also loaded out the turret with new rounds. The gun shoots something pretty close to earth¡¯s 120 mm x 570 mm tank round. The truck wasn¡¯t built to house the ammunition however, so I was only able to get twenty rounds safely inside. When I was reworking the battery system I¡­¡± this was the normal annoying Owl two that Ronin actually liked. The one who got into his experiments to the point that he forgot about the work Ronin had asked him to do¡­ That made Ronin pause. Perhaps the Android was programed more as an experiment assistant rather than a military one? that would explain a few things, but not all. Ronin would have to think on that.


    ¡°¡­ SO, what do you think?¡± Owl two finished some twenty minutes later.


    ¡°Sounds like you did a thorough job, Owl two.¡± Ronin said with praise in his voice. ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you show me how to drive it?¡± Over the last twenty odd minutes of staring at the truck, Ronin had to admit that it looked rather intimidating now, but there was no way it would remain inconspicuous in a woodland or grassy environment. Of course, realistically speaking, there was no way a truck in a medieval world would be inconspicuous so, did it really matter?


    Once he¡¯d finally gotten all the instructions he needed, a task that only took another three hours. Ronin had to fetch Sam to put the truck outside for him. Once that was done, Ronin was feeling tired again. Owl two suggested he return to his pod, but Ronin wanted to sleep in his bed tonight. It just seemed right to sleep normally when that¡¯s how all his subjects rested. Upon returning to his tent, he found that it wasn¡¯t empty.


    ¡°Greetings, my lord.¡± Lily said with a bow. She was holding a bundle in her arms, and Ronin looked at it before he addressed her.


    ¡°Hi, Lily.¡± He said with a weak smile. ¡°I hate to be rude, but it¡¯s been a really long day, and I just want to get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Understood my lord.¡± She said with a bow, ¡°I didn¡¯t come to disturb your rest, however. I came because Owl two just finished the project I¡¯d asked him to help me with, and I wanted to bring it to you myself.¡± After she finished speaking, she opened the bundle to reveal a goat hide. Looking around, Ronin noted that the goat hide that Owl three had killed wasn¡¯t on his bed anymore. He began to get angry, wondering what she¡¯d done to it, but she jumped to explain before he could say anything.


    ¡°I am sorry if I over stepped, husband.¡± She began, ¡°however after hearing that you were partial to the goats, I asked around to find out why. When I learned that it was a goat that you first hunted upon coming to this world I understood. When I realized it was this goat in particular, and that your deceased party member was the one who shot it¡­ well, I talked to Owl two. He ran it through that magic machine that you sleep in sometimes.¡± She shook out the slightly off-white hide, bringing it over for Ronin to see it clearly.


    ¡°He did something with ¡®carbon fiber¡¯ and ¡®nanites¡¯ to strengthen the material. It will also selfheal now when damaged¡­ I have no idea how that works, but it does.¡± She said with an excited giggle. ¡°Anyway,¡± she said getting herself back under control. ¡°I thought a white cloak for your white flame armor would be the perfect touch. Even more so since this hide has sentimental value to you, husband. The head is also detachable and has been fitted around your helmet. So, it can function as the cloaks hood or simply as decoration when you are fully outfitted with your helmet.¡±


    Having finished speaking, she draped the cloak over his shoulders. It had two silver clasps in the shape of tongues of fire, connected with a silver chain and latched onto the front of his shoulder guards. Once she¡¯d put it on him. She picked up a mirror that he hadn¡¯t noticed before, because it was laying face down on his bed, and held it out before her. Looking at his reflection, Ronin had to admit the cloak looked rather good.


    The shaggy white hide hung around his shoulders down to his chest, but thanks to the size of the animal it also covered his back all the way down to his thighs. It reminded Ronin of the sheep¡¯s hide Vikings from earth wore around their shoulders in several of the books he¡¯d read about them. It also stood out against the black armor and matched well with the white flames that tipped the grey fire that covered it. All things considered; he liked it. A thought struck him then that made him worry.


    ¡°Unyielding oak¡­¡± he began but Lily was already ahead of him.


    ¡°I talked to her after I learned the history of the hide. She understands kinship and the power a hunt shared between comrades can bring. She welcomed the idea, in fact she seemed very proud that you have such a strong connection to the beasts her tribe is working to make their new spirit animal.¡±


    Ronin blinked, not sure if it was worth that much notice to him. Still, he¡¯d be lying if he said he didn¡¯t like the look, or the reminder of his first day in this world.


    ¡°Thank you, Lily.¡± He said, and meant the words.


    ¡°Of course, husband.¡± She said with a smile that showed off her gleaming white teeth. Laying the mirror down on the bed again, she gently took Ronin in her arms for a light hug. It was a hug meant to comfort and nothing more. Before she stepped back, picked up her mirror and gave him a shallow bow. ¡°Rest well, my husband.¡± She said before leaving the tent.


    Ronin watched her go, not sure what he was feeling in that moment. Well, he knew he was tired. He didn¡¯t really need to sleep every night, but after the day he¡¯d had, he wanted the escape sleep offered him. There would be plenty of work to keep him busy starting tomorrow.


    Stripping out of his armor, he cleaned each piece as it was removed. The habit had become so ingrained in him now that it was just as relaxing for him to clean his armor as it had once been for him to read a book¡­ well not quite, but it wasn¡¯t too far off. Having finished, he ran his fingers through the clean fur of his new cloak and smiled. It really was a nice gift. Laying out on his freshly fixed bed, Ronin closed his eyes and let sleep take him.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Are you sure this is wise?¡± K3 asked again as they walked down the southern tunnel the next morning.


    ¡°No,¡± Ronin said with a smirk. ¡°But I¡¯m doing it anyway. We have a few weeks before we need to march on the undercity. Last time I had a few weeks to prepare, I used them to train my body to the exclusion of all else. This time, I plan to use them to get to know my subjects a little better.¡±


    ¡°But the risks,¡± K3 tried again only to be cut off.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I have you for,¡± Ronin said with a laugh, patting the giant on the back with his bare hand. It was no small wonder K3 was worried, Ronin was dressed in a set of workers clothes he¡¯d asked Guts to get for him the night before. They didn¡¯t offer any protection from attack whatsoever, and very little from whatever work he was likely to do either. Still, Ronin was committed to this course of action.


    The Kaldarr on guard duty stared at him as he exited the gate, one even made a move to stop him before he saw K3 walking in step with him. Seeing the enhanced Kaldarr clearly on guard duty let the guards know who Ronin was, and he smirked as he passed them because he could hear their whispers.


    ¡°Was that the White flame?¡± One asked his fellow, with a jostling sound that indicated he¡¯d elbowed him in the ribs.


    ¡°Yea, I think it was.¡± Answered his fellow guard. ¡°That was K3 following him anyway so it must be.¡±


    ¡°He looks so small outside his armor, yet he¡¯s so strong. I¡¯ve sparred with Lord Ronin before; he was able to overcome my attacks with raw strength alone. I don¡¯t get how¡­¡± their voices trailed off as Ronin got further away, but he still chuckled at their conversation. ¡°If they only knew,¡± he thought. Recalling how he¡¯d grown half a foot and gained fifty pounds of muscle after his crystallization. They might think he was small, but he didn¡¯t feel small. Even when surrounded by all these giant Kaldarr and bugbears.


    ¡°Should I have them punished boss?¡± K3 asked once they were out of ear shot of the guards. ¡°They should know better than to talk about you like that.¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± Ronin said with a wave of his hand. ¡°That¡¯s part of the reason I¡¯m doing this my friend. I want these people to know I won¡¯t execute them for breathing too loudly when I¡¯m nearby.¡±


    ¡°Very well, but I still say this is a waste of your time.¡± Ronin laughed, but ignored his friend. They¡¯d reached their destination, and Ronin accepted the shovel from the waiting Guts.


    ¡°Ready to begin boss?¡± The food corps leader asked him with a grin, holding his own shovel. The goblin was small, by human standards. About the size of the average woman, but he was also filled with nanites. He¡¯d be able to keep up with Ronin for several hours at least. Which was good, because they had a lot of work to do.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ronin said with a grin. ¡°These latrines aren¡¯t going to dig themselves.¡±

 Chapter Thirty-two

    The sun was hot, beating down on Ronin¡¯s head as he dug. He was already starting to sweat, and it had only been an hour. Drops of perspiration beaded up on his forehead and he wiped them away with the back of a dirty hand. Looking down to find that he¡¯d barely started, Ronin grinned. He felt great, getting out and actually doing something to help these people himself. It was weird, but digging a bathroom felt more fulfilling than slaughtering a thousand locust drones had.


    ¡°How deep are you planning to go?¡± K3 asked, since Ronin had stopped working. The latrine he was working on was currently two feet wide by just over seven feet long. He¡¯d currently dug down about a foot.


    ¡°The raised seats I asked Harken to make are eight feet long and seat four. I¡¯m basing this on a picture book of an old war earth had. couldn¡¯t read the title, but it had a diagram for one of these. It¡¯s going to be two feet by seven and a half feet by six feet deep. We¡¯ll need to make thirty-two of them by days end.¡± Ronin said with a smile, driving his shovel back into the ground.


    ¡°Thirty-two¡± K3 asked, from where he stood on guard duty nearby. ¡°Why so many?¡± The Kaldarr looked even bigger from a foot below ground level, and Ronin had to crane his neck up to see his friend¡¯s helmeted head.


    ¡°That book said you needed enough bathrooms to support five percent of the soldiers at any given time. We¡¯ve got roughly twenty-five hundred people. Each of these pits will support four people, so that¡¯s thirty-two pits.¡± He said proudly, having worked the math out himself. He¡¯d still needed a piece of scratch paper, but his mind was sharper than it had been on earth. He¡¯d never have been able to do that before.


    ¡°Seems like fairly useless knowledge to have.¡± K3 said with a chuckle, ¡°Our ships had plumbing, when the tanks were full, we just vented them into space¡­ shame we couldn¡¯t just conquer the Kaldarr ship.¡± They¡¯d had the discussion weeks before, K3 had said the ship was more than large enough to support all their people.


    ¡°Like I said before,¡± Ronin said with a grunt, flinging another shovel full of dirt out of the pit. ¡°We need to build a solid core of fighters, armed well enough to make an attack on the Kaldarr mother ship feasible. If we went up there now, we¡¯d get slaughtered¡­ trust me, I¡¯d love to get my hands on a ship. But we have to settle everyone in before we can devote the fabrication unit to producing that level of equipment.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t see why you are so focused on rescuing all these people. From what Owl two and five have said, originally you just wanted to travel around and adventure.¡± K3 wasn¡¯t criticizing, he just didn¡¯t understand Ronin¡¯s reasoning. Ronin wasn¡¯t going to explain how he was doing it to earn credits outside this world that technically wasn¡¯t even real, so he just shrugged with a smile.


    ¡°If you have enough time to watch and talk, you have enough time to dig and watch instead.¡± Guts said from his own pit, some distance away. His pit wasn¡¯t as large as Ronin¡¯s, but he was digging industriously.


    ¡°Can¡¯t Guts,¡± K3 said with a laugh, ¡°I¡¯m on guard duty.¡±


    ¡°Yea, yea,¡± Guts said with a laugh of his own. ¡°I got your guard duty right here.¡± He added with a shake of his fist.


    The three friends laughed together. It looked like Ronin wasn¡¯t the only one who felt good about the work they were doing. Of course, it was always possible they were simply happy he was feeling better. He¡¯d read that people could take their cues on how they felt from their leaders, without even realizing it. Ronin vowed to improve his own attitude going forward. If there was anything to that, then he¡¯d be making his people happier just by being happy himself.


    ¡°We¡¯re here, sorry it took so long boss.¡± Ronin poked his head out of his now three-foot-deep hole to see that Hunter had arrived with her scout team. ¡°We found a group of people willing to gather the resources for the cards, but Unyielding oak wanted to put someone on the team too. She was concerned that novices would damage the forest too much or something.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± K3 asked, looking down at Hunter and her scout team from his towering height. ¡°And what¡¯s with the shovel?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for you, big boy.¡± Hunter said with a wicked laugh. ¡°The boss asked us to get a few civilians out gathering card supplies so we could spot you on guard duty.¡± She elaborated, holding out the shovel. ¡°So, here ya go. Find a spot and start digging.¡± The shovel she held was larger than she was, but she¡¯d been training her body for months now and held it out with ease.


    ¡°Really boss?¡± K3 asked, looking down at Ronin. Ronin couldn¡¯t see his face through the helmet, but his voice was plaintive. ¡°I¡¯ve got my armor on and everything¡­¡± a lovely sound filled the air, and everyone turned to take in Song, who was laughing.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got you a change of clothes, so don¡¯t complain so much.¡± She was holding out a bundle of clothes, which were nearly identical to the workers¡¯ garb Ronin and Guts had on, except several times larger.


    ¡°It¡¯s a conspiracy I tell you,¡± K3 grumbled as he took the bundle and the shovel. ¡°Ok fine, no need to twist my arm¡­ Give me a minute boss, I¡¯ll change and be right back.¡± Stabbing the shovel into the ground, the giant jogged off to his tent.


    ¡°Thanks Hunter, Song, all you guys.¡± Ronin said with a smile at his first scout team. It might have been better for morale if he¡¯d picked a different scout team to keep watch for him. Still, he¡¯d been working with Hunter since day one. He looked at her team, Hunter, Song, Soft step, Whisper, shadow, and breeze.


    Whisper, shadow and breeze were the goblins Owl five had picked from the second batch of goblins they¡¯d recovered, to fill out the first scout team. Ronin hadn¡¯t talked with them much, again preferring to interact with Hunter who¡¯d been around longer. He thought about his tendency to stick with the familiar people he¡¯d come to know. It was comfortable, but it wasn¡¯t the way to make more friends.


    ¡°I¡¯m back. Hope you don¡¯t expect me to finish at the same time as you two, you¡¯ve got nearly two hours head start.¡± K3 said as he jogged back over. Ronin looked at the grey skinned man. Outside his armor, he had dark eyes, and his hair and beard were black, thick, and bristly. The book that had described them said it was like a pig¡¯s, Ronin had no idea having never seen a pig. The kaldarr¡¯s thick muscles bulged as he drove the shovel into the ground on the other side of Ronin from guts.


    ¡°With as big as you are?¡± Guts called out jokingly, ¡°if you don¡¯t catch up to little old me, I¡¯ll be embarrassed for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh man, that sounds like a challenge.¡± Ronin said with a chuckle, ¡°looks like we are going to have to step it up.¡± The three laughed again, before redoubling their efforts. They dug for another hour, finishing the pits and turning them over to the carpenters that Harken had sent by to cover them over with the raised seats.


    ¡°Alright boys,¡± Hunter called out once they¡¯d marked out their next three pits. ¡°You¡¯re all starting from the same point, and I know how fast you three recover, so I don¡¯t wanna hear about how you were digging longer, Guts.¡± She added with a finger wag at the Goblin. ¡°So, starting now I wanna see who can finish this pit the fastest.¡±


    The three of them started digging. Honestly it was an unfair competition, Guts was only around five four, and he hadn¡¯t had any muscle upgrades. Still, the goblin laid into his digging with a will. Ronin dug at a steady pace, not wanting to leave the goblin too far behind, but K3 had no such compunctions. He attacked the ground with his shovel like it owed him credits. Flinging dirt out in a constant rain that grew into a small hill in minutes.


    ¡°No fair, you long armed freak.¡± Guts complained light heartedly as he tried his best to keep up. Ronin and the scouts all laughed as they watched the pair going at it.


    ¡°Uh¡­ lord, ah¡­ flame?¡± called a soft voice, which had the scouts instantly on alert. They stopped laughing and had their crossbows out so fast, one could be mistaken for thinking they¡¯d been holding them the whole time.


    ¡°No, stop.¡± Ronin said, looking up at the elven boy, who¡¯d been on trial the other day. He was dressed in rags without any shoes. His dark hair was a matted mess filled with leaves and twigs and his face was covered with dirt. He was holding a leather pouch and trembling in fear at the goblin women who weren¡¯t any taller than he was.


    ¡°Hi Dandelion,¡± he said, remembering the name Benjamin had called him. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± he asked gently. Looking around to see that there were several other people who¡¯d been gathering around slowly without his noticing.


    ¡°I¡­ I wanted to, to say¡­ thank you for getting me out of that scary place¡­ and, thank you for the food and¡­ for these pretty paintings.¡± He said holding up the leather pouch. It was a White flame syndicate deck. The kid had called them paintings, hadn¡¯t anyone explained what they were to him?


    ¡°Of course, Dandelion,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s a game, did the person who gave it too you tell you how to play?¡± he asked, pointing at the cards.


    ¡°Um, no my uh lord flame.¡± The kid said looking like he was afraid he¡¯d done something wrong. ¡°He just said they were from the flame¡­¡± tears were welling up in the kids¡¯ eyes. Ronin wondered what the poor kid had gone through in his life to get here all alone.


    ¡°That¡¯s ok Dandelion,¡± he said reassuringly. ¡°This is Song,¡± he continued motioning her to come closer, ¡°she¡¯s called that because she has such a pretty voice.¡± He said introducing her to the kid.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Hello Dandelion,¡± Song said waving to the kid. She blushed a little when Ronin complemented her voice but didn¡¯t comment.


    ¡°She¡¯s really good with the paintings¡­ would you like her to teach you how to play? I¡¯d love to play a game with you after I finish my chores if you think it¡¯s fun.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ ok.¡± The kid said with a shy smile at song. Ronin had picked her to tutor the kid for the same reason he¡¯d picked her to represent him to the moon elves. She was pretty, well spoken and had a beautiful voice. She was a good shot with her bow too, but she lacked the vicious streak that Hunter and Soft step had.


    ¡°Great,¡± she said with a dazzling smile bringing her elbows tight to her sides and shaking her hands around in excitement. ¡°Let¡¯s come sit over here so we don¡¯t get any dirt on us, ok?¡± she asked gently, holding her hand out for the elven boy to take. Ronin watched them move together to a downed tree stump, where she started explaining to him how his cards worked.


    ¡°Oh, wow.¡± He heard her saying as he got back to digging. ¡°You have an Elyria card. She¡¯s super strong!¡± The crowd moved in closer as she spoke and pretty soon, they were getting out their own cards. Trying to figure them out based on what Song was saying.


    ¡°Breeze, Shadow, would you and Whisper please go among the people gathered around us and explain how to play the game? Hunter and Soft step will be able to guard me well enough on their own.¡± He asked with an encouraging smile. The girls looked to Hunter for permission before they did as he asked. That was good, he probably should have asked her himself first to respect the chain of command. After they turned away, he shot her an apologetic look, to which she only shrugged.


    ¡°Looks like Owl two did exactly what you told him too boss,¡± Guts said having to stand on his toes to see over the lip of his pit. ¡°Think he needs another reminder on how to¡­ behave?¡± He asked, crawling up and out of the pit. ¡°I win by the way,¡± he said sticking his tongue out at K3.


    ¡°What?¡± The Kaldarr said with shock. Ronin snickered at the surprised giant, who¡¯d stopped working when Dandelion had shown up. Guts on the other hand, had kept right on going. ¡°Now, how is that fair?¡± He asked in mock outrage.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine guys.¡± Ronin said, partially to calm them down and partially to answer the question about Owl two. ¡°It¡¯s my fault, I forgot his limitations and just let him do whatever he wanted, without supervision for too long.¡± He tossed his shovel out, before doing a vertical jump to exit the six-foot-deep hole.


    ¡°Showoffs,¡± Guts muttered as K3 repeated the move.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point though boss,¡± K3 said as he watched the goblins teaching the mixed group how to play White flame syndicate. ¡°Benjamin and Owl two have been getting away with whatever they want for quite a while.¡±


    ¡°Yea,¡± Ronin said not knowing what else to say. ¡°That¡¯s why we have some catching up to do. It starts with toilets, then we¡¯ll work on the other living conditions¡­ Owl five should be back tomorrow with the food, which will help a lot.¡± He shrugged, unhappy himself but knowing they could only do one thing at a time. ¡°Come on, we have a lot of these to finish.¡± He said motioning his men back to work.


    *            *            *


    The sun was setting by the time the trio finished the last latrine. They¡¯d put several around the camp near the cave, a few out around the garden fields and the last two next to the mine. That¡¯s where they were now, having finished digging the final pits. Harken¡¯s carpenters were just now putting the raised seats over the pits. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, just a box with four holes in it. But it allowed his people a place to sit down while they used the bathroom, and a wash bucket to clean up afterwards.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Owl two hadn¡¯t given the workers near the fields a proper latrine.¡± Guts said spitting to the side, and wiping his grime covered mouth. ¡°It¡¯s got nothing to do with military service. Those working-class goblins are growing our food. How is he going to just let them go wherever they want like that?¡± K3 nodded at the words. Truth be told, Ronin was pissed about it too, but he¡¯d fixed the problem. That was all they could do at this point.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Song called out from the forest¡¯s edge where she was coming out with Dandelion and the other three members of Hunter¡¯s scout team. ¡°We had so much fun playing that we forgot you wanted a game ¡®Lord White flame¡¯.¡± She said emphasizing the title for Dandelion¡¯s benefit. Poor kid hadn¡¯t even known Ronin was the boss of the whole camp. He¡¯d just thought he was a nice man who¡¯d taken pity on him.


    ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Ronin said with a grin, ¡°you ready to take me on little man?¡± He asked, leaning down to look Dandelion in the eyes. The kid turned away from him however, pressing his head into Song¡¯s shoulder and refusing to look at Ronin.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with him?¡± Ronin asked Song with a frown. Looking at the kid who¡¯d been beaming just a second before.


    ¡°She¡¯s, just shy boss,¡± Song said with a heavy emphasis on the word ¡®she¡¯. Ronin blinked, looking closely at the kid while K3 and Guts burst into laughter behind him. They stopped quickly when Hunter gave them each a glare hard enough to strip leaves from a tree.


    ¡°Right,¡± Ronin said not seeing how the kid could be a girl, she looked just like a young boy¡­ of course he¡¯d gotten the goblin\Kaldarr girl confused with a boy too so who knew. Maybe he was just blind¡­ ¡°Sorry Dandelion,¡± he said with a weak chuckle. ¡°I¡¯ve been out in the sun too long swinging this shovel. How about we go get something to eat and play a game afterwards huh?¡± The kid perked up at the mention of food, but she still didn¡¯t look at Ronin as she followed his team back towards the camp.


    K3 made to take them passed the communal food distribution center where the food corps were handing out the day¡¯s rations. Ronin stopped him with a grunt though, and the whole group got into line. None of them were wearing their armor, so they didn¡¯t draw very much attention from the crowd. That is, until they reached the front of the line.


    ¡°Lord White flame,¡± squeaked a frightened food corps cook. ¡°AH I¡¯m so sorry, my lord.¡± He added as he fumbled the soup bowl and spilled a portion of the weak broth at Ronin¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Ronin said with a grin as he picked up the dropped bowl and presented it to the cook to be filled.


    ¡°My lord, no I uh, let me get you a new bowl at least.¡± The cook said, reaching for the bowl.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Ronin said with another forced chuckle. ¡°Just fill this one up, we¡¯ve been digging all day and this bowl is a lot cleaner than I am.¡± Ronin was doing his best to come across as likable, but he didn¡¯t have any experience at it. So, he didn¡¯t know how he was doing.


    ¡°Put a little extra in my friends bowl, will you?¡± He asked pleasantly when Dandelion lifted her bowl shyly. The cook nodded his head as he complied with Ronin¡¯s request.


    There were murmurs starting all around them as people came closer to watch their lord eating with the civilians. Owl two and Benjamin had done an excellent job the last few days making these people feel like second-class citizens. So, they thought it was odd to see him here, without armor and covered in dirt.


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t that the team who was digging the new latrines?¡± A voice carried over on the breeze, ¡°why is everybody staring at them? I know that Kaldarr is big, but he¡¯s got nothing on the K brothers.¡±


    ¡°Shut up you idiot,¡± hissed another voice. ¡°That¡¯s the White flame, and that Kaldarr is K3. Rumer has it the lord got angry that Benjamin neglected us and made him run laps.¡±


    ¡°No way, really? But why are they¡­¡± the voice faded away into the growing mutterings of the crowd as they gathered around to watch, as Ronin ate the thin soup.


    ¡°Benjamin isn¡¯t really popular with this bunch, is he?¡± Guts asked with a chuckle, ¡°serves him right. I still can¡¯t believe we found the workers shi¡­ I mean using the bathroom in the vegetable fields.¡± The goblin changed what he was saying mid word, when he looked over at the small form of Dandelion sitting in their midst.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a nice man,¡± the girl said as she slurped her soup down. ¡°The metal box smelled really bad, and we didn¡¯t get to eat at all the whole time.¡± Ronin looked at the kid sadly.


    ¡°Hey Dandelion, do you know anyone in camp? Any relatives, or friends that you stay with?¡± He asked trying to sound casual.


    ¡°Nope,¡± she said seemingly unconcerned. ¡°My mom died when we were running from the forest, and my daddy died in the town trying to get us something to eat. The other elves stopped talking to me after that.¡± She¡¯d emptied her bowl and was staring at it sadly, when Ronin passed his over to her. She was hesitant at first, but eventually she took it and began drinking it down.


    ¡°Hunter,¡± Ronin said quietly to his head scout. ¡°When we¡¯re done here, I want you to take Dandelion into the scouts. Check with Owl two or maybe Frank, there are probably more elven kids that got abandoned after the food riot. Gather them in and separate out the girls. Pick a team and put them in charge of training. I don¡¯t want these kids to starve or get abused out here alone.¡±


    ¡°Guts,¡± he continued looking to his food corps leader. ¡°I want you to take in all the boys. Add them to the corps, and make sure they learn everything you can teach them.¡±


    ¡°You got it boss,¡± they said in unison. The wood elves had lost more of their population to the locusts than anyone else. From tens of thousands living freely in the woods, they¡¯d been whittled down to less than one thousand. It had made them hard, and they¡¯d abandoned those who couldn¡¯t keep up. It meant that those who were left were the strongest their species had to offer. It also meant that anyone who was weak was left behind.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He said with a nod, knowing his goblins would take care of the kids.


    ¡°So, are you ready to lose or what?¡± Dandelion said with a giggle, holding onto her deck of cards. ¡°Hunter told me to say that to you,¡± she said, a flush climbing up her cheeks.


    ¡°Yea, let¡¯s do it.¡± Ronin said with a smile, looking around as the crowd¡¯s muttering grew when he pulled out his own deck.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t those the pouches the soldiers were handing out this morning?¡±


    ¡°Yea, I tossed mine away when I saw there was no food in it. What did they expect me to do with those things anyway? Not like I know how to read.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a card game the soldiers play, you idiot. I heard the White flame got angry we didn¡¯t get one and made them hand them out¡­ see, I¡¯ve got a card with Guts on it¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh wow, it looks just like him¡­ damn, I wonder if I can find where I threw those?¡± Several chuckles echoed out as the unfortunate man ran off to find his cards. Ronin tried not to sigh. Elyria was right again, his dressing down of Benjamin and Owl two was causing problems. He just hoped this was as bad as it got, he really didn¡¯t want to try to run this place without them. Owl two was irreplaceable, for his technological knowledge if nothing else.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ I have to start with a ration card.¡± Dandelion said after she drew her hand of cards from the deck. She looked through them and placed a card that showed a loaf of bread onto the table.


    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll do the same.¡± Ronin replied placing his own ration card down. His showed a canteen on it. All the ration cards were the same, game wise, but there were several different food items shown on them.


    ¡°Hehe, since I have a ration card out, I can afford to feed a common citizen.¡± The girl said with a smile as she laid a goblin worker on the table. Ronin tried to hide his smile when he saw the goblin worker, since he recognized it.


    ¡°Darn,¡± Ronin said looking at his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t have any common citizens in my hand, so I¡¯ll lay another ration.¡± He said laying down a card that showed a large fruit covered in purple spikes.


    ¡°Uh-oh,¡± Dandelion said putting down another card with bread on it. ¡°That means I get to attack you directly. Go White hair, attack him.¡± Dandelion said shoving the card forward an inch or so.


    ¡°Ouch, just a few more of those and I¡¯ll be out.¡± Ronin said with a wince. ¡°I just drew a character card though, so I can fight back now.¡± He said putting his own goblin worker onto the table. He didn¡¯t recognize this one. It was a fellow called busted nose; poor guy, looked like it had happened more than once.


    ¡°Better get ready,¡± the little elf said coming out of her shell a little more with each round. She¡¯d put down her third ration card. ¡°I¡¯m about to place my Elyria card. Song said she¡¯s a rare card and really strong.¡± The little girl said happily putting the card down next to White hair. Ronin hadn¡¯t seen an Elyria card before, she was dressed in her smoky grey silks with her white flame patterned silver armor on. She had a hand placed on a cocked hip and was smirking out of the card in a very lifelike manner.


    ¡°Oh wow, she does look really strong.¡± Said a voice from right beside Ronin¡¯s ear, which made him jump. He jerked his head around to see who it was, but he¡¯d recognized that voice already.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Dandelion said with happy surprise, ¡°you¡¯re on my card.¡±

 Chapter Thirty-three

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry boss, I¡¯ll take good care of her.¡± Hunter said after she¡¯d escorted him back to the cave entrance. ¡°I¡¯ll be getting with Owl two once I get her settled in. Me and Guts will have all the wood elven kids that got abandoned taken care of soon...¡±


    ¡°Dang right we will,¡± Guts said nodding his head along with Hunter¡¯s words.


    ¡°Thanks guys,¡± Ronin said with a smile. Before he turned and entered the cave with K3. He¡¯d had to be careful to be sure he lost that game. It was a shame that his opening hand had been such a good one, he¡¯d pulled himself and the locust queen. He was considered rare, but the queen was an epic card. The only one in the deck apart from a few epic gear cards like his truck and flight one.


    ¡°That was well done, White flame.¡± Elyria said once the three of them were alone. ¡°Getting that poor orphaned kid out in front of everybody and letting her beat you at that game.¡± She laughed darkly, ¡°One could almost think you were just one of the people. You even ate with them and everything.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your point, Elyria?¡± Ronin asked tiredly. ¡°Yes, I ate at the camp mess to seem more relatable, and yes, I played the game with her to show how much fun it would be¡­ but so what? Owl two and Benjamin didn¡¯t explain what the cards were for. I¡¯d rather see them playing a game then getting into trouble. But I didn¡¯t take Dandelion in because of any plot. The kid needed someone to take care of her.¡±


    ¡°Dandelion¡­ do you know why she has that name?¡± Elyria asked Ronin, then proceeded to answer before he could say anything. ¡°Because dandelion seeds are among the farthest traveling seeds there are. The wind picks them up and away they go. That¡¯s what she is, a lonely forgotten Dandelion seed being blown about on the wind.¡± She said, her hands fluttering around as she walked as if mimicking a seeds flight.


    ¡°Not anymore.¡± Ronin said flatly, ¡°Guts and Hunter are going to gather up all the lost seeds and plant them in out of the cold.¡± They¡¯d reached the little tent set up behind his pod at this point and Ronin entered with Elyria and K3 still trailing him.


    ¡°Doing that out of the goodness of your heart I assume?¡± Elyria pressed, her voice sarcastic.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Ronin said thinking about the credits the kids could net him in addition to their plight. ¡°Though I¡¯d be lying if I said it didn¡¯t play a part in it. Those kids really do need someone to take care of them. But the reason I gave you over Lily¡¯s kids holds true as well. In a handful of years, those kids are likely to be the most loyal soldiers in my army.¡±


    ¡°You know what?¡± Elyria asked, her voice going serious. ¡°I don¡¯t think I believe you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a bath now Elyria,¡± Ronin said. ¡°So, unless you would care to join me?¡± He asked as he pulled the grime covered shirt over his head.


    ¡°In your dreams,¡± he heard her say, but she was gone by the time he¡¯d gotten his shirt off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to feel about that woman.¡± K3 said as he began to undress for his own bath.


    ¡°You and me both.¡± Ronin said, climbing into the hot water. It had been a long day, and he was tired. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t rest yet.


    ¡°We still going to go check out the mine after we get cleaned up?¡± K3 asked, scrubbing dirt out of his hair.


    ¡°Yea, but I want to poke around the cave for a bit first and find the hobat. The map showed his figure being here, and the fact that Owl two hasn¡¯t mentioned him at all since he came back has me a little curious.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t need sleep every night, so he planned to use his nights to catch up on the duties he¡¯d neglected.


    ¡°You know boss,¡± K3 said looking over at him. ¡°You weren¡¯t here when the ships started dropping the refugees off. In fact, we didn¡¯t get here until the last ship back. It¡¯s not like you were off having a vacation or anything, you were working hard. And even after we got back, you didn¡¯t take a break, you realized the people were being mistreated and went right after helping them¡­ So, try not to beat yourself up like you¡¯re some huge failure alright?¡±


    ¡°I know all that, up here.¡± Ronin said pointing to his head, ¡°but in here I feel like I failed.¡± This time he touched his chest. ¡°Since day one, I¡¯ve been going off halfcocked to the next big thing, leaving Owl two behind to take care of everything. I never even thought to check up on him. What if we¡¯d had the gun ship before we got back to the wall? We wouldn¡¯t have come back with the others, we¡¯d have kept going. Leaving all the people we brought back for Owl two and Benjamin to deal with.¡± K3 only grunted, knowing Ronin was right. They might have come back to a food riot of their own if that had happened.


    Having finished getting the dirt off himself, Ronin climbed out of the water. Wrapping a towel around his waist he nodded to K3 before he headed back to his tent to get his armor back on. The sun hadn¡¯t quite set yet, so he had plenty of time. Entering his tent, Ronin finished drying off and hung the towel by the door. He knew it would be taken care of by someone later. Then he went about the time-consuming process of putting his under armor, then his armor on, piece by piece. When he was finished, he topped it off with his new cloak. It would be the first time he wore it outside, and he was excited to feel its weight on his back. The goat¡¯s face with its swept back horns had him feeling a little like a fantasy Viking, but it would be a lie if he said he didn¡¯t feel cool despite that.


    ¡°Looking good boss,¡± K3 said as he exited his tent to find his guard already waiting for him. The Kaldarr was dressed the same as ever, in his white flame armor, full faced helmet, and with his massive hammer and shield.


    ¡°Thanks, you too big guy.¡± Ronin said with a grin, ¡°now let¡¯s go find that hobat.¡±


    The pair started the search at the southern entrance, deciding to do a complete walk through. Looking around, Ronin could see the dropship in the middle of the cave. To his right, towards the northern tunnel, he could see the command tent. While straight ahead was the massive scrap pile and the standing suits of armor.


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s clearly not in the command tent.¡± He said with a chuckle, ¡°let¡¯s check out the scrap heap. I¡¯ve been wanting to look through there anyway.¡± At K3¡¯s nod Ronin moved forward, moving his way through the standing suits of armor. They stood three rows deep with ten suits to a row for a total of thirty suits. He¡¯d remembered there being more of them, but as he looked, he saw that these were complete sets. Owl two must have been repairing them, using the worst damaged sets as material to salvage the best ones.


    ¡°This is great¡± he thought as he looked at them. ¡°I thought it was a waste due to their size, but some of these would fit the bugbears with a few modifications.¡± That was good, because they were still short on high-end equipment. Passing through the armor field, however, left him a little disappointed.


    ¡°This really is just a pile of scrap,¡± he said after walking around for a bit. Almost everything was the twisted wreckage of the two Kaldarr dropships that had been destroyed by Owl five. ¡°He isn¡¯t here regardless, lets move on.¡± He said to K3 who was back in his bodyguard persona.


    The next stop on the trip around the cave was the stone carver rat enclosure. It was a large room made from the material Owl two had found the rats didn¡¯t like to eat. Inside the large area were several stacks of cages holding individual rats as well as a few that held a mother and a litter of babies. There weren¡¯t any experiments going on at the moment, so they were all locked safely away in their cages. All except the ten that were off at the mine. Ronin still planned on looking into that when he was done in here.


    Not finding anything, they moved on around the outside wall. The next area of the cave contained several large stacks of crates. Many of these were brought in from the caravan Benjamin had arrived on while several others looked like they had been printed from the drop pod fabrication unit. Each was labeled with the contents they supposedly held. Out of curiosity, Ronin popped the lids off a few of the larger ones to double check.


    They each held exactly what the labels indicated. Mostly ammunition, weapons, armor and the trade goods they hadn¡¯t found an immediate use for filled the crates. Not that Ronin had honestly expected to find the hobat in one of these crates. He¡¯d changed his goal to include exploration somewhere inside the scrap heap. Realizing that he¡¯d spent far too much time ignorant about his own camp. Clamping the lids back into place, Ronin moved on.


    The pair were now mostly around the small cave, coming up to the tents. There were ten of them in the cave still. One was the bath house he¡¯d been using. Although he hadn¡¯t thought about it before, the fact that the room held four tubs indicated that it was a communal building and not solely for his use. He hadn¡¯t thought about that prior for some reason. He¡¯d have to start knocking before he just strolled in, wouldn¡¯t want to walk in on anyone and make them uncomfortable.


    ¡°Hey, K3¡± he asked turning to his Bodyguard.


    ¡°Boss?¡± The Kaldarr asked, still scanning their surroundings. Even here K3 was keeping him safe. Ronin didn¡¯t know who the big guy thought was going to attack them here, but it seemed like a good habit to develop.


    ¡°Who do all these tents belong to anyway?¡± Ronin asked, feeling really dumb. He¡¯d gone right to his pod like a good little boy when Owl two suggested it, and since then he¡¯d been in one meeting or another until he discovered just how badly the people had it. ¡°Stop focusing on that,¡± he told himself angrily. He knew he¡¯d messed up; all he could do now was move forward.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°That one belongs to you.¡± The giant said helpfully, pointing at Ronin¡¯s tent. He continued before Ronin had a chance to say anything though. ¡°The next one is being used by K1, K2 and myself. Next to our tent is the one assigned to your bugbear¡­wives.¡± He said the last word with an exaggerated wink.


    ¡°Very funny,¡± Ronin said. ¡°How bout the next row?¡± He asked, looking at the nine tents set up in a three-by-three grid.


    ¡°You¡¯re no fun boss,¡± K3 said with a chuckle before continuing. ¡°The one closest to your tent in the next row belongs to Elyria¡­ she said she needed to be close¡­ in case she needs to kill you.¡±This time the words were accompanied with a grimace.


    ¡°Let it go, big guy.¡± Ronin said with a half-smile. They both knew that the elf was mostly safe, despite her sharp tongue. Still, for someone whose life¡¯s mission was to keep Ronin safe, he understood K3 had a hard time letting her so close.


    ¡°Next to her is one Owl two gave the visiting elven couple.¡± K3 continued pretending like he hadn¡¯t heard anything. ¡°The last one in that row belongs to unyielding oak¡­ neither she nor the elven couple have used the tents yet, but it was thought diplomatic to let the leadership have them.¡± As they talked the pair moved through the tents until they arrived at the final row of three.


    ¡°Harken was given this one. Like the elves, he hasn¡¯t used it. I think they are too worried that their people will cause trouble if they don¡¯t keep an eye on them.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t like hearing that. Still, they hadn¡¯t been back here for very long. He hoped to have the camp settled down before too much longer.


    ¡°How about the final two?¡± He asked when K3 finished speaking. ¡°Let me guess, Benjamin and Owl two?¡± He added with an edge to his voice.


    ¡°No,¡± the Kaldarr said with a shake of his head. ¡°Owl two doesn¡¯t sleep. He has to recharge occasionally though, and he does that in his pod. Benjamin chose to bunk with his men, and Sam and Eric both chose to sleep on their ships when they¡¯re not on childcare duty. No, the last two tents are taken up by a rotating scout and food corps team. Owl two wanted to have them close at hand in case you required something¡­ and the food corps members take care of the cooking, laundry, bath water and so on.¡± He finished his explanation as they passed by the last tent.


    ¡°So, three of them are empty and two of them are for the help,¡± Ronin thought. ¡°Well, three of them if you count the K brothers as help.¡± He added with a smirk, not being able to think of his people as ¡®help¡¯ for very long. It just wasn¡¯t how he thought of his people, regardless of their actual jobs in the cave.


    ¡°Thanks big guy,¡± he said as they moved passed the tents and arrived at the northern tunnel entrance. ¡°That¡¯s everything in here then.¡± He said with a sigh, looking around the small cave.


    ¡°Not quite sir.¡± K3 said, pointing towards the center of the cave. ¡°There is also the shop.¡± frowning, Ronin motioned K3 to lead the way to this shop. K3 led the way back to the drop pod, where he stopped at a work bench next to the fabrication unit. The side that held the unit faced the back of the cave, towards the rat enclosure. Ronin looked at the bench with a frown, it was just a wooden bench with an enclosed storage space beneath the table. A place to work on whatever was being run through the fabricator and to store the raw materials that hadn¡¯t been fed into the unit already.


    ¡°Is this bench the shop?¡± He asked, not knowing what his guard was getting at. His question trailed off as the Kaldarr looked around casually before pressing a few inconspicuous buttons and shifting the bench out from the pod, revealing a stone staircase. ¡°What the hell?¡± He asked, looking down the stairs. It wasn¡¯t a long way down. Perhaps thirty feet or so, where the stairs ended, and he could see flat floor stretching out of sight.


    ¡°Owl two built this place a while ago, he brought me down there to work on my upgrades. I think he stores all the sensitive stuff away down there.¡± K3 said, motioning Ronin to proceed him down the stairs.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I know about this?¡± Ronin asked as he moved his way downwards. Getting angry again at the secrets his people had kept from him.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± K3 said from behind him on the stairs. ¡°It never occurred to me that you hadn¡¯t known about it before. Owl two didn¡¯t treat it like a secret, and he¡¯s your assistant, so¡­ well, anyway¡­ I¡¯ve only been down here a few times while he was working on me after the ambush.¡±


    Reaching the bottom of the staircase, Ronin paused to look around. The shop was a small square room, perhaps twenty feet to a side. The walls were lined with shelves and a large work bench took up a large part of the room¡¯s center. There were a variety of things filling the shelves; ranging from odd bits of tech brought back from Andy¡¯s reef, including guns and tablets. To the bodies of stone carver rats and plant matter from the forest. Nearly all the important equipment they¡¯d brought down on the dropship was here too, including his deceased companion¡¯s weapons and armor. Oh yea, there was also an android standing at the workbench. Typing at high speeds on one of the recovered tablets.


    ¡°My lord?¡± Owl two asked, continuing to type as he turned to their entrance. ¡°What brings you down here? If you give me a moment, I am almost done updating the operating system on this primitive device you brought back with you.¡±


    Ronin stared at the android, speechless. Rage started to bubble up again at the thought of his people keeping more secrets from him. Even K3, the one he was closest too, knew about this place. His mouth worked, trying to come up with something to say.


    ¡°Oh, very good, I see you are wearing the cloak. Lily came down earlier and grabbed it from the tank.¡± Owl two said motioning to a large square tank that looked a lot like a hundred-gallon fish tank. Except this tank was filled with an undulating silver mass of metallic¡­ liquid? Ronin shook the thought aside; the tank didn¡¯t matter. What mattered was his people keeping secrets from¡­


    ¡°Wait,¡± he said startled. ¡°Did you say Lily came down here to pick up the cloak?¡± He asked, pointing his finger at the floor of the workshop. She¡¯d only been here a few days; how could she know about this place too?


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Owl two said without inflection, ¡°she brought me that goat hide and asked if I could perform my magic on it. I explained to her in detail that what I do isn¡¯t magic, but I¡¯m afraid she simply couldn¡¯t comprehend. Still, she was so excited to give you a gift that I couldn¡¯t refuse. It seemed like a good idea anyway, so I used the nanites I collected from Owl four¡¯s under armor and infused them into the cloak. It will now act like armor and help reduce damage taken from blunt and bladed weapons. Besides¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± Ronin said, raising his hand to stop his assistant. ¡°Why is it, Owl two, that even a newcomer like Lily knows about this place when I don¡¯t?¡± He asked, heat coming into his voice.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Owl two asked, ¡°we have talked about my work several times over the months. Where did you think I did all that? I might have shown you earlier if you¡¯d shown any interest in the process, but since you didn¡¯t seem to care I never bothered you with it.¡± Ronin blinked at that, taken momentarily aback. It was true that he hadn¡¯t really worried about how Owl two made the things he asked for.


    ¡°What about the key code K3 used to unlock the staircase?¡± He asked, coming back on track after a second.


    ¡°All our most precious and irreplaceable equipment is stored down here, my lord.¡± Owl two said, ¡°as the prior day¡¯s bugbear problem and execution amply demonstrated, we can¡¯t trust everyone that you brought back with you. Why wouldn¡¯t we lock away the dangerous things?¡± That took the wind out of Ronin¡¯s sails. He supposed it only made sense to lock away the weapons. The rebel bugbear might have actually posed a threat if they¡¯d had better equipment.


    ¡°Fine. I guess I can¡¯t argue those points. Especially if Lily has been down here too¡­ but where is the hobat?¡± He asked, looking around the shop. There was a lot of cool stuff down here. He didn¡¯t recognize most of it but thought there were some of the more delicate items from the Kaldarr drop ships along with several items from Andy¡¯s reef, including the motorcycle Owl five had wanted. Thinking of her caused Ronin¡¯s chest to twinge uncomfortably. He was pretty sure she would be back today, but he didn¡¯t know how he would talk to her. That went doubly true now that he was ¡®married¡¯ now too. ¡°Gosh, my life is so strange anymore.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh,¡± Owl two said drawing the word out. It sounded very odd in his synthesized voice. ¡°Unfortunately, the hobats are exclusively loyal to the ruler of the city. Trying to get anything out of it, even with the collar on, was impossible. It ended up starving itself to death without giving us anything worthwhile¡­ unless you count how hard they are going to fight us when we go to take the city that is.¡± Owl two moved over to the undulating mass of metallic silver in the fish tank as he spoke. Picking up a pair of tongs, he dipped them into the liquid and pulled up a familiar hide.


    ¡°Hunter heard about the cloak Lily asked me to make for you. She asked if she could get a cloak too. Since she captured the hobat and is the de facto leader of your scout teams I saw no reason to refuse that request.¡± Owl two let the hide slip back into the silver liquid, that Ronin now suspected were actually an untold number of tiny nanites. Setting the tongs back down, the android turned to him.


    ¡°I see that you are upset my lord.¡± He said, giving a slight dip of his head. ¡°I apologize for the oversight. Had I realized you cared about my work process and not simply the results. I would have told you about my workshop.¡± Ronin sighed, beginning to recognize the android¡¯s emotional manipulation for what it was¡­ Still, he had a hard time staying angry. The tin can had a point after all, he really hadn¡¯t cared how Owl two made his gear.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said at last. ¡°Tell me about your current projects then.¡± Ronin regretted the words as soon as he spoke them. The android¡¯s eyes quite literally lit up as he began walking him through each of the experiments he was currently working on. Nearly three full hours passed before Ronin was able to make his escape. Owl two was still talking when K3 swung the work bench back over the staircase.


    ¡°I gotta tell ya boss,¡± K3 said as they made their way out of the cave. ¡°I don¡¯t think Owl two was ever meant to be in charge of anything but a lab.¡± The poor Kaldarr had been bored out of his mind. he¡¯d ended up just standing by the stairs while Owl two moved from shelf to shelf to show Ronin their contents.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡± Ronin said with a sigh, ¡°he does hide things from me, but most of the time it¡¯s because he didn¡¯t think it relevant. Like now, I was ticked I didn¡¯t know about the workshop¡­ but he went overboard telling me about everything he was doing down there in great detail. He wouldn¡¯t have done that if he was trying to hide something¡­ I¡¯m not sure what to do going forward. It¡¯s clear that Owl two and Benjamin aren¡¯t suited to lead in my absence, but who is? I can¡¯t always stay here, and even if I did, I¡¯m not much better at it then they are.¡±


    K3 only shrugged, apparently, he didn¡¯t have an answer either. They walked in companionable silence from the cave. Ronin¡¯s mind distracted by all he¡¯d seen in the workshop and on how to lead his people going forward. He nodded absently to the guards who saluted them as they passed. His mind was running through everyone in his inner circle. Trying to find someone who was suited to a leadership role.


    ¡°Sir?¡± K3 asked after a while.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Ronin answered the question with a questioning noise of his own. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Are we still heading to the mine sir?¡± K3 asked now that he had Ronin¡¯s attention. ¡°We spent a long time in the workshop, at the pace we¡¯re going it will be day before we get there. Do you want to run, or take the truck sir?¡± Ronin¡¯s eyes lit up at the idea of driving his truck for the first time, but he ultimately shook his head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s run.¡± He said at last, ¡°I¡¯d love to take the truck, but it¡¯s the middle of the night. Driving it through camp right now would cause a commotion.¡± That was doubly true since he hadn¡¯t driven it before. Now didn¡¯t seem like the best time to experiment.


    ¡°Understood,¡± K3 said with a nod. ¡°Then shall we make it a race?¡± Ronin grinned as he looked up at his friend. The unhappy thoughts fleeing his mind as he anticipated the competition.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said taking off in a dead sprint. ¡°Go,¡± he belatedly called back over his shoulder. Laughing as the Kaldarr cursed and tried to catch up.

 Chapter thirty-four

    ¡°Not fair,¡± K3 huffed out once he¡¯d caught his breath again. The pair had covered the several miles to the mine in a dead sprint. For their enhanced bodies, which meant the six or so miles through the forest had taken them around five minutes to traverse.


    ¡°Ha-ha,¡± Ronin laughed having arrived only a few seconds before the Kaldarr. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re complaining about.¡± He said with a grin, ¡°with those long legs of yours¡­ if I hadn¡¯t gotten a head start, you¡¯d have beaten me without question.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m also wearing an extra hundred fifty pounds or more in armor boss.¡± K3 complained good naturedly. ¡°What¡¯s that if not a handicap?¡± Despite the banter and how out of breath he was, Ronin watched him take in their surroundings. They nodded to the guards as they walked the last few feet to the mine opening. A pair of humans, a Kaldarr warrior, a bugbear woman, and a food corps goblin made up the guard detail.


    ¡°Lord white flame,¡± the Kaldarr said as the sound of fists smashing against breast plates filled the air. The bugbear and kaldarr had metal plates over their chests while the rest had ankylosaur plates, so the sound was a discordant clatter. Still, Ronin returned the salute with a nod and a smile.


    The area around the cave mouth was now surrounded by a ten-foot-tall mound of gravel. It was wrapped around the opening in a semicircle, another ten-foot thick. The guards had been using it as cover, laying prone and staring out into the woods with rifles in hand.


    ¡°Good work,¡± he said looking each of them in the eyes once they¡¯d gathered around him. ¡°K3 and I have come for an inspection, don¡¯t worry about his complaints¡­ he¡¯s just a sore loser.¡± He added with a wink, trying to further his image as a likeable leader. His jest got a few chuckles, but he had the feeling they were more forced than genuine. Ah well, it was a start. The way their eyes flicked over to K3 made him think they were more worried about offending the giant, than humoring the boss.


    ¡°Of course, my lord.¡± The Kaldarr said with another salute. ¡°There are several scout teams down in the mushroom forest along with some of the wood elves. I don¡¯t think any of them are due back tonight however, so you will likely only encounter the digging detail.¡± After speaking, the warrior moved back to clear the path to the mine. Ronin noted as he did, that he wasn¡¯t wearing a collar. That made him smile. He hoped to do away with the collars entirely soon, since willing followers worked harder than forced labor. Quite the departure from his views on them just a few weeks ago.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said before turning his attention to the mine opening. K3 had entered while he¡¯d addressed the guard leader to check for threats and was just now motioning Ronin to enter.


    ¡°How you going to throw me under the drop ship like that boss?¡± K3 asked as they moved away from the guards. Ronin smiled at his friend as he looked around the mine entrance. The initial opening had changed, and it had been opened a lot since the last time he¡¯d come in here too. The tunnel had to have been expanded to a good thirty-foot arch and the floor had been flattened. A stack of giant tree trunks was just off to the side, and Ronin could see several more being used to support the roof of the tunnel.


    ¡°Oh, quit whining,¡± Ronin said with a chuckle. ¡°And tell me, why is Owl two opening this tunnel up so much? It looks big enough to drive a pair of my trucks down side by side with room to spare.¡± He wasn¡¯t complaining about that, it would be great to bring some armored trucks down. However, if they waited until the tunnel was done, they wouldn¡¯t meet his deadline.


    ¡°Not sure boss,¡± K3 said with a shrug. ¡°Maybe the digging detail will know.¡± Without anything better to go on they moved deeper into the room sized arch. It didn¡¯t take them long to come upon a bugbear man pushing out a wheel barrel filled with gravel. The bugbear didn¡¯t even glance at them, just hurrying passed towards the entrance. A bit later, a human man went by with another wheel barrel of gravel. The pair shared a look and broke into a jog, too curious to walk any further.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Ronin said once the digging detail came into view. It wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d expected, though thinking back on it, he should have. He saw the scout team along with the human soldier squad. They were patrolling the area, but they weren¡¯t alone.


    A dozen people of varying races were shoveling gravel into waiting wheel barrels. Once they were full, they would be wheeled away towards the cave entrance, likely to be added to the huge semicircle of crushed stone around the entrance. What was surprising however were the diggers. As he suspected, it was the rats, but he hadn¡¯t expected just how quickly they were going at it.


    Another of the light emitting machines was set up in the center of the tunnel. It projected out blue and red lights that blanketed the tunnel. The floor was covered in red lights, while the walls and ceiling were blue. Ronin watched a rat on the ceiling chewing away, dropping chunks of gravel onto the floor below. Until it reached a certain point and the light projection turned red. It instantly stopped chewing at the rock there and moved over to another spot that still had blue light.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that something,¡± K3 said with a low whistle. ¡°Wonder if they could do statues?¡± He added with a chuckle. ¡°We could have a life size ¡®Lord white flame¡¯ at every¡­¡± he cut off sharply when Ronin kicked him in the shin. Not that he was at all affected through his thick plate armor.


    ¡°You just stop right there,¡± Ronin said with a growl. ¡°The wrong person hears you say something like that, and it just might happen for real.¡± He shuddered, thinking about rat crafted statues of himself all over the place. ¡°Besides, how would it look if they started building my statue before we managed to feed everybody?¡± He shuddered again at the riot something like that could spark.


    ¡°Sorry boss¡­ still, this is something else.¡± Ronin nodded at the words, as he watched the ten rats swarming around the tunnel. They chewed a wheel barrel¡¯s worth of gravel every minute, but they were still only cat sized rats digging a thirty-foot-wide tunnel.


    ¡°Why are there only ten of them down here?¡± Ronin wondered aloud, ¡°there are at least twenty more back in the cave. If they were all going at once the progress would be much faster.¡±


    ¡°They will only work for so long before they get full and need to rest, my lord.¡± A goblin scout Ronin didn¡¯t recognize answered from his side. She¡¯d approached while they were looking but hadn¡¯t said anything while they talked. ¡°We have them on three-hour rotations with three rotations off with three teams of ten. They don¡¯t get fed between shifts, so they get three hours to eat and nine hours in their cages. The food corps will be along shortly with the replacement batch and will return these rats to their cages. It¡¯s not ideal, but the next generation are only a week or so away from joining the work force. We¡¯ll be able to ramp up production then my lord.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°It looks like you are already getting a lot done. The tunnel is much longer than I would have expected for such a short time.¡± He really wanted to ask why they were making the tunnel so big but didn¡¯t think it a good idea to broadcast to his people that their boss didn¡¯t know what was going on in his own camp.


    ¡°Has there been any issues with the rats attacking the workers?¡± He asked, noticing the rats avoiding a pair of workers shoveling gravel into a cart. The sight of them so close to the rats gave him flashbacks to when White hair and the others had been eaten alive in this vary tunnel. The thought made him shudder involuntarily.


    ¡°No, my lord.¡± The scout said, raising her hand to show off a large bracelet. ¡°Everyone working with the rats is given one of these at the beginning of our shift and has it collected after our shift ends. Whenever one of the stone carvers gets too close, it makes a special beep on their collars. If they keep coming after hearing that noise, the shock they get is enough to knock them out. We haven¡¯t had an incident since the first one got knocked out¡­ although, we did have a worker who rushed the rats, knocking them out for fun. Owl Two took care of that one, we haven¡¯t seen him since then. It was cruel, watching them flop about and scream.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ronin said with a nod and gestured for the scout to get back to work. He wondered if he should follow up on this worker Owl two had disappeared, but eventually decided he didn¡¯t really care. Self-defense was one thing, but deliberate torture wasn¡¯t going to be allowed. Besides, these animals had been bred in captivity and hadn¡¯t ever hurt anyone.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen enough,¡± he said to K3 once the scout had left. ¡°I don¡¯t know why the tunnel has to be so big, but it looks like Owl two has this, at least, well in hand.¡± He turned around and started jogging back up the tunnel.


    ¡°At least the work tomorrow will be easy now. I wasn¡¯t sure how we were going to get the gravel you wanted.¡± K3 said as he caught up and fell into step a foot behind Ronin.


    ¡°True,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s starting to come together, as long as Owl five gets back tomorrow with a drop ship full of locust limbs I¡¯ll be able to sleep easier.¡± The people he¡¯d brought back were still starving. He needed to feed them before their hunger outweighed their common sense.


    ¡°How is that going by the way boss?¡± K3 asked, his voice coming out as gently as his massive chest would allow. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t get a chance to talk before she left but¡­¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to talk about it.¡± Ronin said cutting K3 off. ¡°She couldn¡¯t control her emotions. Anything she thought she was feeling, can¡¯t be trusted¡­ and now, with Lily and Vasylia¡­ the whole wife thing¡­ I should have stopped it, but Owl two was all for it and I didn¡¯t want to lose the bugbears¡­ Now, it feels wrong to even consider Brie in that way.¡±


    ¡°Marriage isn¡¯t a custom my people follow,¡± K3 said glossing over how Ronin said he didn¡¯t want to talk about it before talking about it. ¡°Men go to war, women raise children. I guess it didn¡¯t make sense for them to tie themselves to a man who would likely die on campaign¡­ Goblins don¡¯t get married either. Nearly all a clan¡¯s children are produced by the alpha¡­ and from what I¡¯ve heard from Elyria it seems like moon elves mate once and for life.¡± K3 stopped talking as they jogged out of the tunnel and bid the guard¡¯s farewell. The pair moved in silence until they were a hundred yards into the forest.


    ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡± Ronin asked, not sure where his guard was going with that line of thought.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± K3 said with a shrug. ¡°I guess I was just pointing out how every race does things differently, and we have at least five of them. So, try not to think in terms of right and wrong. When to one race you¡¯re doing the right thing and to another you are committing a crime¡­ We¡¯re the white flame syndicate,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°I know the boss, he¡¯s a pretty good guy¡­ and around here, he decides what¡¯s right and what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    Ronin thought about that as they jogged back to camp. He¡¯d read books from before the fall about ¡®social constructs¡¯ and how they weren¡¯t real, and people could be anything they wanted to be regardless of anything else. He didn¡¯t buy into that theory, having spent his whole life on earth fighting for survival. A lot of the things he read about sounded like drivel made up by people who had more food and free time than they knew what to do with. So, they had to play pretend to keep themselves entertained.


    Still, K3 had a point too. This wasn¡¯t pre-invasion earth where there were only humans. This was a world filled with all kinds of strange creatures who all thought in different ways. Not only that, but Ronin oversaw everyone here. That didn¡¯t give him the right to tell them their beliefs were wrong, but it did give him the power to do what he believed was right.


    ¡°Thanks man,¡± he said after a while. He hadn¡¯t settled his problems yet, but he at least had a new perspective to look at them with. ¡°Enough of that, we¡¯ve got too much to do to be worrying about this. let¡¯s check in on the damaged drop ship. I want to be sure Owl two cleaned out all the trogs and isn¡¯t holding anyone else prisoner in there. Then I want to make a quick round to see how far along the teaching areas are coming.¡±


    ¡°You got it boss,¡± K3 said as he sped up to match Ronin¡¯s new pace.


    *            *            *


    ¡°You guys are up early,¡± Guts said as he approached. The big goblin was rubbing his eyes and yawning. Ronin looked over from where he was helping Harken attach the new trailer to his truck. Dawn¡¯s first rays were only now cresting the valley¡¯s walls, but Ronin and K3 hadn¡¯t slept at all. They¡¯d spent the whole night inspecting the camp to check the progress of all the projects they¡¯d been meeting about in the command tent. What they had found was disappointing.


    ¡°Guts,¡± he called out jumping off the low sided trailer. ¡°I hope you got a good night¡¯s sleep. Because we have a lot of work to do today.¡± Ronin said clapping his small friend on the shoulders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like the sound of that,¡± Guts said looking over at the new trailer. ¡°Is this what you wanted?¡± He asked looking at the four wheeled monstrosity. It was set up off the ground some three feet on big wheels. The bed had foot deep sidewalls and was some ten feet long and wide, not including the hitching post that connected it to the back of the truck. The entire thing was made from thick cut logs on a metal frame. It looked like Owl two had welded it together from bits of Kaldarr dropship.


    ¡°More or less,¡± Ronin said with a grin. ¡°I don¡¯t want to push the truck too hard, and if we pile too much weight on the thing it¡¯s liable to sink into the ground and get stuck. But don¡¯t worry about that right now, I¡¯ve got a big task for the food corps.¡± Ronin said, changing the subject.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± Guts said, standing up straight and saluting. His sleepy manner of a second before replaced in an instant with calm professionalism. ¡°We are always at your command, my lord.¡± He finished with an incline of his head. In times like this, Ronin didn¡¯t know if it was their friendship talking, or the parasite drone, but he appreciated it all the same.


    ¡°At ease my friend,¡± he said with a chuckle. ¡°Owl five is due back today from the food run. I¡¯d like you and the corps to gather up and get ready to cook enough locust limbs to feed the whole camp. These people have been waiting long enough, think you can handle it?¡± He asked, still grinning. Knowing that Guts would be up for the task.


    ¡°You mean I¡¯ll be forced to cook instead of shoveling gravel all day with you and the big lug over there?¡± Guts asked in mock hurt tones. ¡°Well boss¡­ it¡¯s a sacrifice, but for you I¡¯ll do it.¡± He said with a wink and another salute. Before running towards the cave, calling for his men as he went. ¡°See ya later boss.¡± He shouted as he ran, like he was afraid Ronin might change his mind and make him shovel instead.


    ¡°Lucky little¡­¡± K3 muttered as he walked over to Ronin. ¡°We¡¯re ready boss.¡± He said as Ronin turned away from his goblin chef and looked at the small group, he¡¯d had K3, and Harken gather early that morning. He¡¯d asked K3 to gather the thirteen kaldarr and Harken to gather twelve of his most loyal clan members. Including the old bugbear that made thirteen of either race. Ronin looked over their hulking figures, each dressed in work clothes and holding tools meant for digging. He took a deep breath before addressing the crowd.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming,¡± he said in a voice meant to carry. ¡°Many of you have had very little sleep, and I apologies for that. Still, you represent a vital part of our little community. I plan to spend the day improving that community, and I ask that you accompany me in that task.¡± He felt awkward, knowing his speeches were terrible. Not that it was entirely his fault, having never given any before he¡¯d entered this pocket world.


    ¡°The camp is turning into a mud pit. Fortunately, we have plenty of gravel to fill in the low spots and make our living space more habitable. Unfortunately, it¡¯s several miles from here. The truck is going to make the task easier, but it¡¯s still going to be a lot of work¡­ work I would rather not do alone¡­ so what do you say, willing to help me out?¡± He finished lamely. Looking around pleadingly.


    The kaldarr muttered in agreement, shuffling their feet, and hefting their tools. They looked as uncomfortable listening to his speech as Ronin had been giving it, and all to ready to just get to work. The bugbear on the other hand looked at each other and glanced at Vasylia, who was standing among them holding a shovel, and Harken who had just finished attaching the trailer to the truck.


    ¡°Of course, husband.¡± Vasylia answered for them all, heads nodding in agreement with her words as the bugbears took her lead. ¡°You lead, we will follow.¡± She added with a small smile of encouragement. Getting muttered agreement from the men and two other bugbear women who had shown up to work.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He said simply, bowing his head in gratitude. ¡°Now, climb into the trailer and hold on tight.¡± He said with a grin, heading to the truck¡¯s driver seat and climbing in. He¡¯d expected Vasylia or Harken to join him and K3 in the truck but they both jumped into the trailer with their clan members, before nodding to him that they were ready. Accepting their choice without comment, Ronin climbed in and waited for K3 to join him before putting the truck into gear and slowly heading out to the mine.


    He took it slow, but they still made good time, arriving at the mine entrance in a quarter of an hour. Everyone hopped out once the truck stopped. He noted that several of the bugbears looked slightly motion sick but that the kaldarr had held up just fine, being used to motorized travel.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Ronin called out as he exited the truck and stood before them. ¡°Nothing complicated here folks. Put the gravel into the trailer, just try to keep it evenly spread to avoid any weight problems.¡± After getting nods from those present, he set to work, shoveling the loose stones for all he was worth.


    The others set too as well, and they worked in silence for a while, save for the sound of rocks crunching into the wooden trailer bed. Once it was full, they all climbed back in and headed back to the camp, where they spread the stone around the clearing. Climbing back into the trailer, they headed back to repeat the process.


    Once they had gotten into a rhythm; filling the truck and riding back to dump it, Ronin gave a subtle nod to Harken and K3. The pair nodding in turn before they struck up conversations with the others, Harken addressing the kaldarr and K3 the bugbears.


    The conversations didn¡¯t happen quickly, but soon enough the two groups were talking to each other without their leader¡¯s encouragement. Ronin smiled as he listened to the small talk. They discussed their White flame syndicate decks, their weapon preferences, how the farming was coming along. He got so engrossed in their conversations that he¡¯d zoned out of his own surroundings. The shadow that loomed over him snapped him back to himself, worried that he was about to be attacked, he stumbled back a step raising his shovel to guard himself.


    ¡°ha-ha, a little jumpy are we husband?¡± Vasylia asked loudly, smiling at the others as they stopped to see what had happened before getting back to work with smiles of their own at her words. Ronin chuckled, doing his best to calm his racing heart and reassure his people that he was fine.


    ¡°It seems that your plan is starting to work husband.¡± She said, moving closer to him and lowering her voice. ¡°Bring some of your more valuable people together and get them on friendly terms with each other through shared labor. I take it this was the goal the whole time?¡± She asked as her powerful arms, accustomed to swinging a hammer, shoveled the heavy gravel with little effort. Ronin looked at her, not really surprised she¡¯d seen through his decision to bring the kaldarr and bugbears together.


    ¡°That is part of it.¡± He admitted as he continued to shovel as well. ¡°Though the work we are doing is necessary too¡­¡± his words were interrupted as the shadow of the returning dropship swept over them on its way back to camp. ¡°Good,¡± he said turning back to his work. Deciding to focus on the task at hand, rather than the goblin scout who had just flown in. ¡°The food corps are already set up and waiting for the harvest. The people will be relieved to eat all they can today.¡± He tried to ignore the sideways look his bugbear ¡®wife¡¯ was giving him as he continued to shovel.


    ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± She asked softly enough that he could pretend not to hear if he wanted to.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to talk about.¡± He said with a shake of his head. ¡°Right now, I just want to finish this task so that I can get onto the next one¡­ and hopefully get my people more comfortable working as a group while I¡¯m at it.¡± He added as he looked over the group of fantasy and sci-fi creatures, he had somehow brought to life in the pocket world he had designed to let him play the hero. He snorted at that thought. Wishing he could play the hero, but knowing he didn¡¯t have the luxury, thanks to his oldest friend who was even now dying back in the caves he had once called home.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get to work.¡± Vasylia said, thankfully not prying any deeper. ¡°It looks like this load is full, so what do you say?¡± She asked, a shy half smile crossing her strong-featured face. ¡°Let me drive back?¡± Ronin looked up at her large frame, thick fur matted to her body as she worked just as hard as any of the men around her and snorted.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡± He said with a smile, happy for the distraction from all the problems he had to deal with in the few weeks he had left before he had to go to war¡­ a war he had to win before he met Leo Dawson again.

 Chapter thirty-five

    Ronin waited until the command tent had emptied of his council before he slumped into his seat and rested his head in his hands with a tired groan. He¡¯d been burning the candle from both ends for the last week and a half to get his people organized and his command structure ironed out. He felt completely wrung out, not having slept a wink in that whole time. Only staying the course because he knew there wasn¡¯t anyone else who could carry the burden for him. Besides, Markus was counting on him.


    ¡°Really?¡± An all-too-familiar voice asked from the chair beside him. A chair he knew for a fact had been empty when he¡¯d put his head down just seconds ago. ¡°You¡¯ve only been working at this for a little over a week, are you already calling it quits?¡± Ronin looked up with another groan. To stare at the leaned back Elyria, twirling her dagger between her fingers, smirking wickedly at him.


    ¡°Damn it Elyria, do we really have to do this now?¡± He asked with exasperation, knowing the elven woman wouldn¡¯t leave until she¡¯d had her say, yet unable to keep the complaint from his voice. ¡°We just got done with the meeting. A meeting that I noticed you showed up late to and then just glared at me whenever you thought I wasn¡¯t looking.¡±


    ¡°Who said I thought you weren¡¯t looking?¡± She asked as she propped her feet up on the desk. ¡°Besides, it isn¡¯t my job to tell you what to do.¡±


    ¡°No, its just your job to judge every decision I make and kill me if you don¡¯t like what I choose. Despite how hard I¡¯ve worked these last two weeks.¡± He snapped back, sitting up and glaring at her. His tiredness getting washed away in a flood of irritation.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± The slender elf said, dropping her feet to the floor and leaning forward to look him in the eyes. ¡°But did you bother to notice through all that work you did over the last week that you are still alive?¡± Ronin was shocked by her now intent gaze, leaning back in his chair and furrowing his brows at her sudden intensity.


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± He asked, unsure of where this conversation was going.


    ¡°You seemed quite dispirited during the meeting; I figured you needed a wakeup call. This isn¡¯t a race White flame, the people are fed. Slow down a little bit before you burn yourself out¡± she said with a shrug, leaning back in her chair. Ronin barked a harsh laugh as he in turn leaned forward.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I¡¯m running out of time Elyria.¡± He said, running his fingers through hair that could use a wash and trim. ¡°I only have a week, at most, before I must march on undercity. And less than two weeks from then to capture it, or else¡­¡± he snapped his mouth shut, realizing he had said to much. Knowing it was too late to take it back, since he could see the gears turning behind the elf¡¯s narrowed eyes as her body tensed up, getting ready for action.


    He braced himself for the questions that he knew were coming. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a way to cover up the mistake, because there was no way the truth would work. No way she would believe that her entire world was only a program designed to help its user prepare to colonize an unexplored planet. When she finally spoke, however, what she said surprised him.


    ¡°Very well.¡± She said at length, her body uncoiling before his eyes as she relaxed back into her chair.


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin asked, unable to believe what he had just heard. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to grill me on what I meant? Rake me over the coals until I tell you exactly why I¡¯m on a time crunch?¡± He laughed bitterly as his mouth seemed to speak without his permission, because he knew the best thing he could do right now was to shut up and take the easy out. They sat there, side by side, looking into each other¡¯s eyes for long moments. Until the silence was finally broken by the now thoughtful elf.


    ¡°Oh, you are going to tell me all about it,¡± she said with complete confidence. ¡°But I¡¯m willing to wait until the undercity has been conquered. Your actions since we met have earned you that much trust¡­ No, instead I think I will help you achieve your goal. That way you wont have any excuse to stay quiet when I do ask you to tell me.¡±


    ¡°Help me?¡± He asked, his voice cracking from stress relieved. ¡°And how exactly are you going to do that? You haven¡¯t been very helpful up until now.¡± He said, doing his best to keep any accusation out of his voice. Since he had no reason to expect help from her. He watched her face take on her normal condescending smirk as she began twirling her dagger between her fingers again.


    ¡°I am going to start by telling you exactly how much you have accomplished in this last week. Since its clear you haven¡¯t recognized just how far you have come since you became the leader of these people in more than just name.¡± Ronin blinked in surprise at her words. Mind to focused on the tasks ahead of him to think about what had already been done.


    ¡°I can tell that you still don¡¯t have any idea what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Elyria said with a laugh, sweeping her silver hair behind her shoulder with her dagger¡¯s hilt. ¡°Ok, White flame, lets talk about what you¡¯ve done since we got back with the bugbears.¡± She raised her fingers as she spoke, tone gently mocking.


    ¡°First, you dug proper latrines. You don¡¯t realize just how much that helped people¡¯s morale. Second, you paved the entire camp with gravel. Getting every single tent out of the mud and onto dry ground.¡±


    ¡°Yea, but¡­¡± Ronin tried to cut in, but she talked right over him.


    ¡°You gathered up all the orphaned children. Not just the elves but the humans and bugbears as well and gave them a safe, structured environment to learn and grow in¡­ Yes, I know they are still in tents, but like you yourself said at the last meeting, that will change once we take the undercity.¡± Ronin made a motion to interrupt again but again, her words bowled over his.


    ¡°You removed Owl two and Benjamin from overall command of the camp. Putting them into positions that suited each of them much better and replaced them with someone who is beyond a doubt a better fit for the job.¡± He couldn¡¯t even argue that point. He¡¯d relegated Owl two into research and development and Benjamin was now strictly focused on training his men for the war that was almost upon them.


    ¡°Lily was already a matriarch of her clan, it only seemed appropriate to have her help out there.¡± He mumbled, looking away.


    ¡°Yes, and she is competent. But more importantly, she is loyal to you and understands how to run a community far better than either of those overly focused men that didn¡¯t even realize how bad they had botched up the community you were trying to build.¡± Elyria piled on, forcing Ronin to think about the last several days.


    ¡°You finally followed through on your promise to set up a school. Getting your chosen teachers places to teach and setting up a rotation for everyone to have a chance to learn from them. Not to mention getting the wood elves to teach your scouts more about the forest, and the plants that can be found within and their uses¡­ do I need to continue?¡± She asked, no longer smirking, making it clear that she wanted him to pay attention to her words.


    Ronin stared into her eyes, still as blue as the sapphires they resembled, if not quite as hard as they¡¯d been when they first met. His own mind was now going over the whirl of activity that had been the last several days and nights. His body could go for days without sleep, so he hadn¡¯t slept. Using every hour of every day to further prepare himself and his people for what was to come. Now that he was thinking about it, he had made strides.


    The teams they¡¯d dispatched to the mushroom forest had returned with happy news. Nearly everything down there was edible, if much of it was unappetizing for many of the syndicate¡¯s population. Not to mention, Unyielding Oak¡¯s scouts had returned, with news that the forest that could be glimpsed between the stones seemed to be uninhabited.


    He sat back blowing out a breath as his mind traveled back over the last week, taking inventory. Thanks to the food corps harvest trips to the mushroom forest, the wood elves supplying edible plants and roots from the forests above ground and Owl five¡¯s never ending hunting trips the people were now fed, at least for the time being.


    His mind shied away from Owl five even as he thought of her. They hadn¡¯t talked even once since they left the bugbear¡¯s honeycomb walled city, and she¡¯d spent all of her time since then flying to and from the battlefield with the locusts. Along with K1, K2, Karr and several rotating units of scouts, spearmen, and bugbear warriors. He shook his head, it was necessary. Regardless of how he felt, they needed to keep the pressure on the locusts. They needed the meat and exoskeletons fighting offered them, and they needed the chance to get their troops used to fighting together in mixed units.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not discount your contribution.¡± He said, partially to distract himself from his goblin scout troubles. ¡°Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed your sister and her husband flying to and from the valley ferrying refugees in from all corners of the wilds on their sparrow mounts.¡± He gave her a smirk of his own, ¡°to say nothing of how much herbology you have been teaching the orphans, or the time Surrallathil has spent helping the farmers increase the numbers of rabbits, chickens and other animals we have, through breeding and capturing new specimens from who knows where.¡± Elyria smiled crookedly as she stood up.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve finished patting ourselves on the back, I think its time that you got some sleep.¡±


    Ronin¡¯s eyes sharpened at her words, not wanting to argue but having no intention of sleeping when he had so much yet to do.


    ¡°I appreciate the pep talk, but¡­¡±


    ¡°No buts,¡± she said cutting him off mid-sentence in what was quickly becoming her habit. ¡°You haven¡¯t slept in nearly two weeks. Your mind is fried, and your body isn¡¯t far behind. Get some sleep, White flame. You need a sharp mind if you are going to be anything but a burden when the time finally comes to take that city¡­ and you can¡¯t go dying on me before I get the chance to kill you.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Ronin chuckled weakly at her words. No longer sure if she meant those words or not but unwilling to let his guard down around her completely, just in case.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said. He let out a groan as he pushed himself to his feet and looked over the map that had been steadily expanding by the day. ¡°There isn¡¯t much I can do now anyway. Not since Guts is in a food corps meeting and Owl two took my truck apart to check for stress damage from¡­¡± he trailed off, seeing something flash in Elyria¡¯s eyes at his words.


    ¡°Son of a¡­ you planned that didn¡¯t you?¡± He asked slack jawed. ¡°You set it up so that everyone was busy, and my truck was down, that¡¯s why you were late¡­¡±


    ¡°See, now I know you need sleep.¡± She said with a snort of laughter, ¡°your brain is so fried that you¡¯re making up plots and schemes where there is only coincidence and laziness.¡± She shook her head sadly, as if worried for his health, ¡°now get to bed before I have K3 carry you there.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± Ronin said with a snort of his own. ¡°As if he would listen to someone who¡¯s done her best of find a reason to kill me since we met.¡± Though even as he said the words he barely believed anymore, he headed for the door. ¡°Ok, you win. I¡¯m going to get some sleep while Owl two finishes putting my truck back together.¡±


    ¡°Excellent idea boss,¡± K3 said from his place outside the command tent¡¯s flap. ¡°As it happens, the food corps just finished filling the tubs with fresh hot water. How about we swing by there for a quick wash on the way to your tent?¡± The modified kaldarr looked down at his glaring charge, with a grin so wide Ronin caught every inch of his friend¡¯s tusks jutting out from his lower jaw.


    ¡°Traitor,¡± he muttered as he trudged passed the grinning kaldarr and headed towards the bath tent. ¡°Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t remember this.¡± He said with a half-hearted glare at his bodyguard.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Move, now!¡± Hunter hissed as she darted through the obstacle course Owl two had designed and constructed for the troops to practice their undercity assault. The team leader was currently ducking and weaving her way between scrap metal barricades and old cast-off tents, which had been set up to mock the stone streets of the city below. Her team was right on her heels.


    Ronin watched from an elevated platform as her team faced off against Karr¡¯s squad in mock urban warfare, with a twist. He winced as one of the human spearmen was taken out of the game. A swooping projection of light meant to mimic the batlins had got him from behind, causing his bracelet to light up with the red light of death.


    ¡°Damn it soldier,¡± Ronin could hear Karr¡¯s voice echoing out in rage at the loss of one of his men. ¡°How many times is that now? Do you want to die for real? For the last time, watch the skies.¡± K3 chuckled from beside Ronin as they watched the two most experienced combat teams meet in deadly combat.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe how real those projections look and act.¡± The giant said in a quiet tone meant not to carry further than Ronin¡¯s ears. ¡°When Owl two told you he could use the rat training lights to mimic arial combatants I thought he had finally lost it. But having seen it, I think its going to save a few lives.¡± Ronin could only sigh in response. He agreed in principle, the set up below was a game that he¡¯d come up with using Owl two¡¯s knack for experiments, from half remembered articles of the pre fall games of laser tag and paint ball.


    ¡°I would agree with you my friend, if we had more time¡± Ronin answered with a sigh. ¡°There¡¯s only two days left before we must march. How much can they really be expected to learn in just two more days? And even then, we will be marching on foot. The stone carver rats made good headway, but they are still weeks away from reaching the undercity. So, we won¡¯t be able to count on anything that we can¡¯t carry down there with us.¡± He finished, running his hands through his brown hair in frustration. He¡¯d decided to let it grow out a little bit, if for no other reason than running his hands through it made him feel a little better.


    ¡°Relax boss,¡± K3 said giving Ronin a reassuring wink. ¡°We cleared the mushroom forest out of all the goblins almost a week ago. Hell, we¡¯ve even managed to capture nearly a score of hobgoblins since then who¡¯d wandered across the bridge looking for their smaller kin.¡± The giant rolled his shoulders to resettle the armor on his bulky frame and continued. ¡°We can do this. The troops have been training nonstop and morale is running high. Just give them another day to practice, a day off from training to rest up and we can begin the march.¡±


    Ronin shook his head in frustration, knowing the kaldarr was right. He looked on as Karr scraped out the win, thanks to his larger squad size and the tight confines, and the next two teams took the field. These teams consisted of a group of five bugbears and six wood elves. The bugbears dominated the elves in close combat but were so woefully unprepared for the batlin¡¯s sneak attacks that the elves claimed the win in the end. Their bows doing a number on the arial threat.


    ¡°You might be right.¡± Ronin said, ¡°I just wish we had more time.¡± He muttered the last words under his breath but could tell K3 had caught them anyway. The kaldarr stayed silent though, not one of his people had pressed him on why he was in such a hurry to take the undercity. For which he was grateful. He could have made any number of excuses; from their housing shortage to the locusts that might any day come swarming over the wall and eat them all alive. Still, he was glad he didn¡¯t have to lie to his friends.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head back. We have one more meeting to sit through before we can head out.¡± Descending the platform, the two climbed into the armored truck and left the training field. Ronin grinned as he felt the power thrumming beneath his feet. It was all he could do some days not to tear around the valley as fast as this thing could go, forgetting his stress with the exhilaration of speed. Not that the armored truck could go all that fast, well not at least and maneuver worth a darn in the crowded valley.


    They drove in companionable silence through the now much improved camp. Looking out at all the people they had managed to save in one way or another. Elves and bugbears from the locusts, goblins from their drive to reproduce, humans from lives of slavery or death on the walls. Even the kaldarr were living better lives than they would have if they had stayed the way they¡¯d been before. Ronin frowned, thinking about their syndicate¡¯s latest additions, and turned to his constant shadow.


    ¡°How are the hobgoblins integrating into the fold?¡± He asked, only having spent a little time around the newest additions with all the work he¡¯d been doing.


    ¡°They are coming around.¡± The kaldarr, who had spent just as much time working as Ronin, yet nevertheless still seemed to know more about what was going on around them then he did, chuckled. ¡°The sexual inhibitors helped quell their primal desires, but they are smarter than goblins and were used to being on the top of the food chain. It¡¯s going to take some time before they fit into our group, but it should be possible.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Ronin said as the truck neared the cave entrance. ¡°They¡¯re built similarly to humans, though much thicker in the limbs, and from what we¡¯ve managed to gleam about them over the last weeks, they will be an excellent addition to the army once they settle in.¡± His thoughts continued to swirl around the undercity¡¯s inhabitants and the battle that was to come, and the locust war that would have to follow closely behind.


    ¡°My lord.¡± The caves guards said in unison, as they snapped to attention at his approach. Ronin idly wondered when they had the time to get so good at the synchronized movements as he returned the gesture, fist resting against his chest as he nodded in greeting and entered the cave. K3 chuckled as he repeated the gesture and followed him in.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been practicing.¡± He whispered as quietly as his frame would allow. ¡°There isn¡¯t much to do on guard detail this deep into the valley, so those on guard duty spend a lot of time working on their salutes and how to walk in step.¡± Ronin smiled at that, nodding his head but not saying anything when the giant pealed off at the command tent flap as he entered.


    ¡°Please, sit down.¡± He said as the occupants of the room all stood up at his entrance. He looked each of them over carefully as he walked around to the head of the table, taking in each of his advisers and the leaders of his people with approval. They had all come a long way in the last few weeks. Each seeming to be spurred on by the effort their lord had been putting into the camp.


    Lily wore her leather armor today instead of the thin purple robes she usually favored, her sleek silver fur all but covered. She smiled as he caught her eye. Harken also wore armor, though his was an old and battered set of steel plate. His white fur was matting together, and Ronin could smell the sweat and musk off the old bear. His one remaining eye was red rimmed, and his missing ear just added to his bedraggled appearance.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to insist he get some sleep after the meeting,¡± Ronin thought as he passed Guts. The chef was dressed in his leather armor, though it didn¡¯t much resemble the sleek, carbon fiber reenforced piece it had once been. Now it was covered with added pockets and pouches, filled with cooking paraphernalia and a bandoleer covered with knives and spoons. The huge goblin even wore a chef¡¯s hat that clashed horribly with his flame red hair, in place of a helmet. Beside him sat Owl five, the half-blooded goblin woman was a little shorter than Guts, who had been extensively modified from the nanite injections.


    Her hair was just as red and her teeth just as pointed, but the slope of her ears wasn¡¯t as pronounced. She still wore her starting equipment, the carbon fiber/metal composite plates and under armor having been redone into the white flame colors but otherwise the same. She still carried her knives and the mark V railgun slung over her back. The only addition to her attire was the hobat hide cloak she¡¯d donned, dyed a deep grey. Ronin, trying not to focus to much on the woman, just nodded politely and looked at the cloak as he walked by her seat. The large bat ears sticking up from the hood.


    After Lily had fashioned his giant white goat cloak, they had suddenly become all the rage among the troops. Once Hunter had gotten her sinfully soft hobat cloak from Owl two there had been a rush on the mushroom forest foraging team positions. Everyone is doing their best to bag a batlin to get a cloak of their own. Ronin smirked at how excited everyone had been and just how many fleshing knives Owl two had been forced to turn out when leather working became so popular. He had no doubt there would be thousands of batlin fur lined clothes out there by the time the undercity was conquered.


    Unyielding oak gave him a quick nod of greeting as he passed by the yellow/green skinned elf. Her hair was still done up in a hundred tiny braids, her meadow grass green eyes were still hard, but he thought they might have softened a little in the last few weeks. Beside her sat Samantha and Benjamin beside her. The humans also wore black carbon fiber impregnated armor, styled with the grey to white flame pattern that everyone wore.


    Sam smiled brightly at Ronin as he walked by her seat. Benjamin only nodded, still a bit sour over having been made to run laps. He¡¯d gotten over it for the most part, however. After Ronin had removed him from civilian concerns and had a good long talk with the man during a sparring session¡­ a sparring session where the more experienced fighter had mopped the floor with his boss. Ronin thought that, as much as anything, had helped relieve the tension the older man had been feeling.


    Next up was Elyria, not seated at the table but leaning against a tent pole, holding an open book. The slender woman smirked at him and gave a two fingered salute as he neared her. Her normally tied back silver hair falling loose around her shoulders, the hard blue eyes now softened a little in mirth. Her smoky grey silks matched the others armor nicely. Ronin thought it a shame that she¡¯d changed from silver and blue, it had matched her hair and eyes perfectly. He stumbled at that thought, frowning in confusion as to why his mind would even go there. He shook his head at the elf who was now frowning at him in confusion before walking past her as well.


    The last member in attendance was Owl two. The android had repainted his chassis in white flame colors but otherwise also looked the same as when Ronin had first seen him outside the drop pod. He kept all the records of the camp and helped where he could but was no longer in charge of the settlement. The machine spent nearly all of his time down in his lab, working on the fabricator, or tinkering with the tech they¡¯d brought back from Andy¡¯s reef.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl two said in his mechanized monotone as ronin took his seat at the table. ¡°Are you ready to finalize our plans for the invasion?¡±

 Chapter thirty-six

    Ronin sighed as he relaxed into the heavily padded and reinforced wooden chair. He¡¯d taken Elyria¡¯s advice and gotten some sleep, but that had been days ago, and he hadn¡¯t rested since. Taking the time to look each of his people in the eyes, it looked like it wasn¡¯t only Harken who needed to get some rest.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s get this over with.¡± He said at last, ¡°but once this meeting ends, I want everyone here to get a few hours¡¯ sleep.¡± He raised his hand to forestall any complaints before he continued, ¡°I plan on getting a few hours of sleep myself. We need to be fresh for the march¡­ now does anyone have anything to say before we get started?¡±


    He paused to give his advisers the chance to speak up. They hadn¡¯t had many of these meetings since he had yelled at Owl two and Benjamin, but since he¡¯d been reading their daily updates, they hadn¡¯t needed to gather as often. If he had questions about what they were doing, he would just address them individually. The one-on-one time had helped develop their interpersonal communication as well.


    ¡°I think we are all set boss,¡± Guts answered for everyone after a long beat of silence. ¡°We already have a pretty good idea what¡¯s required of us, anyway, so just lay it on us and we¡¯ll let you know if there are any problems.¡± Ronin smiled internally as the others nodded their agreement. Guts might not be the best fighter or tactician in the room, but he had a way with words that helped lighten anyone¡¯s mood. The white chef¡¯s hat that clashed so horribly with his crimson hair was always amusing to see too.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said taking a deep breath. He¡¯d still not gotten used to public speaking. Even in a setting like this, and on days like this one, he knew he¡¯d have never managed to bring all these people together if they were still in the real world. He¡¯d only managed it because this was his world, and the people he created were predisposed to following him. At least, that¡¯s how he thought it worked. It gave him mixed feelings; on the one side he felt like a real leader, on the other he felt like a kid playing pretend with real people¡¯s lives.


    ¡°Actually, my lord,¡± Owl two cut in before Ronin had a chance to continue. ¡°I just received new information from a drone I sent down for reconnaissance.¡± The android stood from his seat and moved to the door where a panting K2 was waiting with a large roll of papers.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said accepting the papers before returning to the table. ¡°The feed came back just as you entered, and I sent a message to K2 asking him to grab the prints from the fabricator.¡± He explained as he moved figures to make room on the large map table.


    ¡°It must be important if¡­¡± Lily started before her words were cut off by the android¡¯s monotone.


    ¡°If I am interrupting the meeting? Yes Lilly, it is very important.¡± Owl Two finished for her as he stepped back. Ronin leaned forward to get a better look at the series of pictures that covered the large page. From left to right they showed a view of the mushroom forest, then the deep ravine filled with trogs and flowing water. The next picture showed a close up of the waterfall, and the one after that showed a much darker image of a tunnel. He frowned looking at the image before he realized due to context clues that the drone must have passed through the waterfall.


    The following picture showed a tunnel filled with shallow water and several troglodytes wading through it at knee height. The one after that showed a cave about the size of the one, they were now in. that must be the spawning grounds for the mass of trogs. The next picture in line was a surprise, causing him to ramp up the magnification in his eyes to see it more clearly.


    It was a giant steel gate. Large enough to allow flight one to fly through, covering a tunnel just as large. The next picture was much closer, and showed the bars of the gate were too thick and close together for even the trogs to pass through. The drone didn¡¯t have that problem, and the next picture showed another long corridor. That was the last picture on the page, and Ronin looked up at Owl two questioningly.


    ¡°The drone only managed to send back one more picture before the connection was cut.¡± The android said as he slowly laid down and unfurled the paper still held in his hands. It only held one picture but this one took up the whole page and showed the tunnel, ending in a massive drop off. A drop off that opened into a cave so big Ronin couldn¡¯t see the entire thing from the picture angle.


    Ronin blinked, this wasn¡¯t a cave, it was a bunker. Made of worked stone with lights shining overhead from the ceiling¡­ or maybe hanger would be a better term, thanks to the giant spaceship that was parked right in the middle of it.


    ¡°How big is that thing?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but ask, since he couldn¡¯t even see the far edge of it from his vantage point. ¡°And¡­ What manner of ship is that? I don¡¯t recognize it at all.¡± He furrowed his brow in concentration. He¡¯d paid a high price, much too high a price in hindsight, for every ship he¡¯d had brought into existence and this ship wasn¡¯t on that list.


    ¡°The ship isn¡¯t in my database,¡± Owl two said. ¡°But as for size, it is every bit as large as the kaldarr or moon elves¡¯ ships that are currently orbiting this planet. Larger, depending on the shape and proportions of the vessel.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible.¡± A shocked Elyria said, dropping her book and advancing on the table. ¡°Ships of that size can carry thousands of passengers and are far, far too large to enter or leave an atmosphere¡­¡± she trailed off, looking at the pictures. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize the design either.¡± She breathed, looking more shocked than Ronin had ever seen her when she turned to him and said, ¡°we have to get down there.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± K3 said. Ronin looked up to see him standing over the table as well. When he raised his brows in question the giant hooked a thumb over his shoulder. ¡°K2 relieved me so I could see the ship,¡± he explained. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize the ship either. I agree with Elyria, we have to get down there.¡±


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Alright, then¡­¡± Ronin started to say before a flashing blip on the interface screen he normally did his best to forget existed, flashed a priority call. ¡°¡­ Excuse me guys, I need to step out for a moment.¡± He said, ignoring the concerned expressions on his friend¡¯s faces as he made a beeline for the exit, knowing K3 was following him, but not paying him any mind as he rushed back to his tent.


    ¡°How did you get through to me here?¡± He asked without preamble once the tent flap had closed behind him. Looking at a holographic projection of Leo Dawson that he hoped only he could see.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you too¡­ son.¡± The grey suited man said with a crooked smile. He looked the same as he had twenty years ago when Ronin was a child. Running his gold lion ringed hand over his slicked back hair and holding a glass of wine. The very definition of charismatic charm.


    ¡°Are we being overheard?¡± Ronin asked, glancing around his room, and knowing as he did, he wouldn¡¯t see anything if there were spies in the system software.


    ¡°Not from my end.¡± Leo said with a shake of his head. ¡°I just want to keep it fresh in your mind who you¡¯re supposed to be from now until our goal is reached.¡± He said with a slight frown, as if to remind Ronin the reason they were here was because Ronin had killed Alex, Leo¡¯s actual son.


    ¡°From now?¡± Ronin asked with confusion, ¡°but I still have at least two weeks in here¡­ I can¡¯t leave yet. I need to¡­¡± Ronin said franticly before getting cut off with a sharp glare.


    ¡°Not anymore you don¡¯t,¡± Leo said dispassionately. ¡°I just found out about a party being thrown for the contestants and it starts in an hour. Attendance is mandatory. And since I know you don¡¯t have any clothes for the occasion, I had to pay a tidy sum to break in here to get you and your escorts early.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ what do you mean escorts?¡± Ronin said, mind floundering under the new deadline and grasping onto anything he could to keep afloat.


    ¡°It¡¯s a party for the contestants to meet and show off to each other, not to mention make connections that could have far reaching implications to our future dealings. Each contestant will bring two of their favorite girls¡­ or boys¡­ from their worlds to show off at the party. They will act as the waitstaff while we meet and greet and will join our team during the trial itself¡­ and before you ask, No I didn¡¯t know about this beforehand¡­ so hurry up son, settle your business, grab two girls you trust to have your back and will look good in a dress and let¡¯s go. You have five minutes, then I¡¯m bringing you and the two people closest to you out of here and into your apartment¡­. Oh, and don¡¯t bother with weapons or gear. They will let us know what we can use, and I¡¯ll be providing your attire for the party.¡± Having said his piece, the hologram disappeared, leaving Ronin alone with his thoughts roiling in turmoil.


    ¡°What am I gunna do?¡± He said out loud as he paced franticly back and forth in the tent, pulling at his finger length hair like a mad man. ¡°If I don¡¯t take over the undercity soon then Markus is going to die. But Leo Dawson isn¡¯t going to give an inch. In five minutes, he¡¯s going to pull me out of here and then what do I do? I could pause the simulation, pick up where I left off when the competition is over but then I¡¯ll not get the credits I need to save Markus¡­ but if I let it play¡­ I won¡¯t be here to aid in the battle¡­ gahh.¡± He grunted out his frustration as he turned again, only to find a glaring elf standing in his tent, hands wrapped tightly around the haft of her bow with an arrow resting gently on the string.


    ¡°Who was that man?¡± She asked through gritted teeth. Ronin was surprised to see a trace of fear on her normally placid face. He glanced down at her bow, hoping against hope that today wasn¡¯t the day she made good on her promise to kill him.


    ¡°Elyria, listen I don¡¯t have time to explain right now but¡­¡± he said, raising his arms before him in a calming gesture when she snapped.


    ¡°I Know, I heard and saw everything. What I am asking you White flame is who that man was?¡± she nearly shrieked the last four words, and Ronin was sure was going to be the end for him.


    ¡°Settle down, please.¡± He said, looking again at her bow. She only then seemed to notice she was holding it and put it away, much to Ronin¡¯s relief. Once he was sure she wasn¡¯t going to kill him, he explained. ¡°He used to be the leader of the village I came from when I was a kid. He¡­went away when I was young. Now, I¡­ owe him a favor¡­ and he has come to collect, but¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡± he explained as best he could without revealing secrets that would take too long to explain.


    ¡°That man is dangerous,¡± she said. Her hands reaching, unconsciously it seemed, towards her bow again. ¡°A monster in man¡¯s clothing¡­ we have to be careful around him.¡± After she finished speaking, she settled down. Drawing her dagger, she spun it between her fingers, going from one hand to the other in seamless grace.


    ¡°I know I¡­ wait, we?¡± Ronin asked with some confusion.


    ¡°Of course, fool.¡± Elyria said with a scoff that somehow set Ronin at ease. ¡°I am here to watch you, can¡¯t very well do that if you go traipsing off out of my sight now can I?¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I need¡­¡± he was floundering again, and he knew it. Elyria had given him something to hold onto for a moment, but he was starting to remember the predicament he was in.


    ¡°I know,¡± she said cutting him off again. ¡°You know Owl two has this whole cave bugged right? By this point he already knows exactly what¡¯s going on and is sending Brie over here as we¡­¡±


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl five said as she walked through the tent flap K3 was holding open for her. She had donned her helmet again and could have been mistaken for another android for the lack of expression her helmet displayed. ¡°I¡¯m ready to go.¡± She looked it to; her mark V was held in both hands and she was scanning the tent as carefully as she did the cave walls during the trip they¡¯d taken together into the dark.


    ¡°¡­Ok, I¡¯m confused¡­ what is¡­¡± Ronin tried to say again before Elyria once again cut him off.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious, White flame?¡± She asked flippantly, ¡°Owl two isn¡¯t a fool. He heard that monster tell you he¡¯d take whoever was closest to you in five minutes. Since we don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be gone, you can¡¯t take Lily or Unyielding oak, they are too important to the war effort. You could have taken Hunter or one of her scouts but she¡¯s more than five minutes away. That leaves Sam, Brie, and a handful of goblin workers¡­ Do the math.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ right¡­¡± he said still not caught up to current events.


    ¡°Wait,¡± he thought. ¡°Owl two has been spying on me. I thought I told him to¡­ oh never mind.¡± He had to keep the bitter thoughts at bay, he was running out of time here.


    ¡°Owl two, listen up.¡± He called out into empty air, though he was looking at K3 who was still holding the tent flap, while he spoke. ¡°Lily is in charge while I¡¯m gone. Her and K3. Differ to them on all things unless you are sure it goes against my wishes. Then take it to the council to decide¡­. What else¡­¡± he muttered while he thought furiously. ¡°You know the plan, move fast, and take over that city. Once it¡¯s secured, I want you to look into that ship, but don¡¯t risk the city to do it. Secure the people first.¡± After that he addressed his words to K3.


    ¡°I¡¯d feel a lot more comfortable if you were coming with me big guy.¡± He said with a less than confident smile. ¡°Look out for everyone will ya?¡± He asked, but before the kaldarr could respond, the world went dark.

 Chapter thirty-seven

    The next thing Ronin saw was a pop up asking him how he wanted to proceed with the timeline in his world. He read down the list quickly, trying to decide the best way to get the credits he needed, without letting the whole place get away from him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± He heard Leo ask, in his too calm voice. Followed by an ¡°easy now girl. There¡¯s no need for that.¡± Worried that either Owl five or Elyria was about to get in trouble with the older man, Ronin hurriedly spun the counter up so that the next day would be a month in his pocket world and slapped accept.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± He asked with shock as his credit pool plummeted far further than the thousand credits it should have cost. Franticly opening the screen back up he gaped in shock.


    ¡°Alex, son please call this goblin off me before I¡¯m forced to hurt her. We need to go.¡± Ronin Ignored the voice as he looked with horror at what he¡¯d done. In his haste, he hadn¡¯t added a month to his pocket worlds time dilation¡­ he¡¯d added a year. He tried to come up with some way to undue his mistake, but his interface winked out before he could, and he looked up to see a ¡°locked¡± message. Leo had somehow disconnected him from his screens.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± He snapped, anger starting to bubble up in his chest. Before he could act in any fashion, he felt a restraining hand on his arm. Looking over he saw Elyria holding onto him and shaking her head.


    ¡°Bad idea, white flame.¡± She whispered, facing Ronin but looking at Leo. ¡°Just let it go, whatever it is. We¡¯re pushing our luck right now. Call Five off, and let¡¯s just do whatever he needs from us.¡±


    Ronin wanted to argue, as he wondered just how many days had flown by in his realm during this short exchange. Wondered if his people were even now engaging the undercity¡¯s forces. After taking a deep breath, he nodded and stepped back. She was right. He owed Leo a debt, or at least the older man believed he did, and if he wanted to get out of it the best thing he could do was just help him out with whatever it was he needed.


    ¡°Very well.¡± He said at last, ¡°Brie please put that down and leave him alone.¡± He said with some surprise when he looked towards the door to find Owl five holding a fork to Leo Dawson¡¯s neck. He was standing still, almost indifferent to the situation, but Ronin could see how close to action the man was. For the first time, he really got a glimpse of why he scared Elyria so much.


    It was in the way he stood, still and almost calm, yet coiled so tightly that with the lightest of provocations he might spring into action. Owl five was no slouch, he knew all too well how deadly she was, but her lethality came from bullets and blades in the dark. Not from close in your face savagery. If it came to blows, he knew who would win the current standoff.


    For the longest moment, he didn¡¯t think she was going to listen. Then, all at once, the tension went out of them, and they took a step apart. Feeling relieved, Ronin took in the people in his room for the first time. Leo looked the same as always; a sharply dressed and fit man in his forties wearing a grey suit with a black tie. When he took Elyria and brie in though, he got another shock.


    ¡°What are you two wearing?¡± He asked in confusion. The pair of them were dressed just like he was, blue jeans and a white tee shirt. Just like his, the shirts were snug, pressed tight to their bodies. However, they had assets that were barely concealed by the thin fabric. Thanks to his upbringing, the sight of women¡¯s bodies normally didn¡¯t bother him, but he felt a stirring somewhere inside himself at the sight of these two women in particular. For a long moment he just stared at them, until they, confused, looked down on themselves and noticed what he had been staring at.


    ¡°What?¡± Elyria shrieked, turning away from him, but not before he felt a stinging slap on his face. Owl five was slower to understand the problem, but she too turned a darker shade of green and turned away from him.


    ¡°Oh wow,¡± Leo said with a chuckle. ¡°What is this, middle school?¡± Ronin didn¡¯t get the reference at first, but then the strange memories he got while on the ship explained the context to him and he grinned, realizing how silly they were acting. ¡°Here,¡± Leo threw the girls each a jean jacket, he¡¯d pulled out of nowhere. ¡°Put these on if it bothers you that much. We have an appointment with a tailor to get you all properly outfitted¡­ if we can ever get there.¡± He said, anger starting to creep into his abnormally calm tone.


    ¡°Right,¡± Ronin said looking at Leo. ¡°Sorry, let¡¯s go.¡± Elyria and Brie had hurriedly thrown on the jean jackets and were nodding their readiness as well. It was a surreal sight for Ronin, as he moved past them towards the door. He¡¯d never seen Brie out of her armor, not once. She looked smaller than he expected. As for Elyria, apart from the first day they¡¯d met, she was always dressed in silks, and her engraved silver armor. He almost couldn¡¯t reconcile the haughty elf in her normal finery with this blue jean clad slender woman.


    ¡°Pick up your tongue and put your eyes back in white flame, or I swear¡­¡± Elyria said, trailing off into ominous silence as Ronin passed her.


    ¡°Hey sorry, you both just look so different to¡­¡± Ronin trailed off as he walked out of his hotel room for the first time. ¡°Wow.¡± He breathed, unable to hold in his awe at the magnificent sight that met his gaze.


    They were in a futuristic hive city. Organic towers of crystallin vegetation soared high into the sky, interspersed with human buildings that had a distinct sci-fi twist. Flying cars flitted between the buildings that rose into the clouds where he could just make out what looked like a floating castle far overhead. He flexed his eyes to zoom in for a better view, but it didn¡¯t work. Confused, he gave himself a once over.


    He looked as fit as ever, his body thick with cybernetically enhanced muscles and bones. Flexing his knees, he jumped straight up. In his pocket world, a standing jump like this should have seen him clearing the ground by a good five feet, but he didn¡¯t get more than a foot off the ground.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on,¡± he said out loud to no one in particular.


    ¡°Noticed already huh?¡± Leo asked from where he was still holding the door for the girls. ¡°The public areas restrict enhancements beyond the bounds of what the human body is capable of. So, that fancy cyborg body you crafted for yourself isn¡¯t good for anything out here.¡± He finished with a smirk.


    ¡°But¡­Why?¡± Ronin asked, feeling unbalanced and weak without the mechanical strength he¡¯d gotten so used to over the last few months.


    ¡°Why?¡± Leo repeated with a frown. ¡°Because some people have given themselves much more power in their personal realms than you chose to take. The destruction someone in a building sized mech could cause in this city doesn¡¯t bear thinking about. Besides, getting into this ship isn¡¯t easy. No one wants to risk their immortality on some random noob having a bad day when they¡¯re out for a walk¡­ now hurry up. We¡¯re late.¡±


    ¡°Right, sorry.¡± Ronin said stepping aside to let the girls out, before part of Leo¡¯s explanation clicked in his distracted mind. ¡°What do you mean, risk their immortality? I thought crystallization was forever¡­¡± he trailed off, thinking of how hard he¡¯d fought to avoid death in his own pocket world. He wondered about that as Leo let out a real laugh for the first time. It came out more a bitter sounding bark, but Ronin could feel it was genuine.


    ¡°How did you survive four months alone in your realm with that attitude boy?¡± He asked with incredulity evident in his tone. ¡°Crystallization converts us from flesh and blood into the crystalline matrix of the ship¡­ we¡¯re like data stored in a computer from pre fall earth.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ronin said with a confused frown. ¡°We¡¯re data saved into the ship¡¯s matrix. Doesn¡¯t that mean we¡¯re immortal?¡± Even as he asked the question, he felt his heart sinking with dread for some reason he couldn¡¯t put his finger on.


    ¡°No boy.¡± Leo said, motioning them towards a taxi that had flown in from the sky to land right in front of his door. He didn¡¯t say another word until they were all seated in the insanely large cab. It was more like stepping into a small sitting room, complete with chairs and a coffee table with a steaming carafe setting between four cups. Ronin looked around in awe. The room was well furnished with plush chairs made of beautifully engraved hardwood. Portraits of fantasy landscapes covered each wall, and the floor was covered in a carpet so thick he found himself sinking as he stepped inside.


    ¡°Get us all a glass would you girl?¡± Leo said casually to Brie, who glared daggers at the man but complied when Ronin gave her a nod. He didn¡¯t want Leo getting distracted before he finished his explanation.


    ¡°So?¡± He prodded gently once everyone had a cup of surprisingly good coffee and seated themselves around the sitting room. ¡°How is it not immortality?¡± He caught Elyria¡¯s eye and shook his head. The elf was clearly on the verge of some kind of meltdown, he just hoped she could hold it in for a little longer.


    ¡°Oh right,¡± Leo said having set his cup down after the first sip, to conjure his wine glass from thin air. ¡°The system was designed to grant the beetles immortality. They would crystallize before the ship left and they could spend whole epochs in safety. Even when reaching their intended target planet, if their newly formed crystallin bodies died, they could simply reload the latest backup of themselves into a new one from ships stores. They could even produce offspring¡­ unfortunately, we aren¡¯t beetles boy. We¡¯re humans, and our physiology isn¡¯t wholly compatible with the ship¡¯s systems. We can be saved into the system, we can get new crystallin bodies, we can even live for as long as our vessels intact¡­ but we can¡¯t have kids and we can¡¯t survive death. Our human minds just won¡¯t accept that coming back is possible. Some people theorize it¡¯s the human soul refusing to allow us to skirt our fated end. Dying in here erases your file completely. No save points, no do overs.¡± He punctuated his explanation with a long sip of red wine before he leaned back into the comfortable looking chair.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ve had enough.¡± Elyria said, jumping to her feet and glaring at the two men. ¡°What the hell are you talking about? This is crazy, it¡¯s impossible. When our ship dropped from hyperspace close to that little planet, we assumed it was just a fault with the engines since we couldn¡¯t leave. Then we figured there was some gravity anomaly or something because of the other ships stuck in orbit¡­ but this? You¡¯re telling me¡­ what? That entire world is just some code in some giant crystal computer? That I¡¯m¡­¡± Ronin waited as she trailed off at the look of sympathetic pity on his face. Leo on the other hand only shrugged and nodded.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± He said with another sip, ¡°I paid extra for a time dilated cab. It¡¯s a five-minute flight to the tailor, but I gave us an extra hour so we could talk. So, get it out of your system girl.¡± He looked completely at his ease, but Ronin noticed how he had coiled up again. He was like a taught string, ready to fly into action with the slightest provocation. Elyria noticed it too, because instead of attacking the man, something Ronin was almost certain she¡¯d do after his casual disregard, settled back into her seat.


    ¡°What do you think about this nonsense?¡± She asked, turning to Brie who had picked up a stir spoon at some point and was looking at Leo warily. ¡°It can¡¯t be real; we¡¯ve just entered some kind of advanced virtual reality or something right? Maybe locked in those pods you Owl members use?¡± When she was addressed by the elf, Brie didn¡¯t move more than a tiny shrug, attention still focused on the older man across from her lord.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always known,¡± she said simply. ¡°Our lord created the owl team to accompany him into his newly created world. Knowing my background was created for me, or that I didn¡¯t exist more than 4 months ago doesn¡¯t make me any less real, or my duty any less clear.¡± Her statement silenced the whole room. Even Leo Dawson tipped his head to the half goblin, impressed by her dedication.¡±


    Ronin was also silenced. The news that making it into the ship didn¡¯t make him immortal had floored him. Sure, he¡¯d done his best not to die in his pocket world. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he always thought even if he died it wouldn¡¯t be the end. That he¡¯d wake up back in his hotel room, maybe short a few credits but alive and well. It was what had given him the strength to throw himself into battles over and over again in place of his people, because he could come back when they couldn¡¯t¡­ or at least he¡¯d thought so.


    When Brie confessed to already knowing everything, his world was rocked again. He¡¯d never brought it up with them before, but he¡¯d assumed that the owl team had just been given false memories or something. Not that they knew all about the real world, or why they were created.


    ¡°Unbelievable.¡± The elf said, sitting back down. She suddenly looked much more like a lost teenaged girl than the bad ass elven warrior Ronin knew her to be. ¡°So, my history¡­ My husband¡­ you, created it all?¡± She asked, looking at Ronin, rage hardening her eyes into sapphire chips of ice.


    ¡°No.¡± Surprisingly the word didn¡¯t come from Ronin, but from Leo. ¡°We have very little control over the worlds we create. Apart from those special few made during world creation, like the goblin here.¡± He said motioning to Brie, ¡°everything else is just a framework of concepts we want implemented. The ship¡¯s computer takes it from there. The boy had no say over who or what was created in his world apart from this ¡®owl team¡¯ and perhaps a few geographical changes. Unless he wanted to blow through credits like they were water, anyway...¡± He said, trailing off with a small glare for Ronin.


    Before Ronin could ask why he was sticking up for him, or Elyria could lash out again the man spoke up, answering the question himself.


    ¡°Look, I understand how overwhelming this can be. I¡¯ve dealt with this before. In fact, the two ladies I¡¯ll be bringing to the party were born in my own personal realm. If you would like to talk with them about their experience, I know they will be accommodating¡­ just don¡¯t take it out on Alex, ok?¡± He said with as close to a sympathetic smile as Ronin had ever seen from the man. ¡°We are heading into enemy territory. I wouldn¡¯t have bothered with someone so green to the ship if I¡¯d had any choice. I planned to put my son into a time dilated world and leave him there for as long as it took, for him to grow up enough to be of assistance in this competition¡­ but¡­ due to circumstances outside my control, which wasn¡¯t an option.¡± The glare he sent Ronin¡¯s way that time was anything but small.


    To Ronin¡¯s surprise, Elyria didn¡¯t lash out again. Instead, she stood up and made several laps around the small room before sitting back down.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she said looking at Leo. ¡°We aren¡¯t done with this conversation, White flame,¡± she added with a glare of her own Ronin¡¯s way. ¡°But I can set it aside until the task has been completed¡­ so, tell me, what are we getting ourselves into?¡± A real smile blossomed on Leo¡¯s face at those words, and he chuckled into his wine glass before speaking.


    ¡°I was worried when they changed the rules,¡± he said turning his attention to Ronin. ¡°But now, I think we might actually stand a chance.¡±


    *            *            *


    ¡°Why did we have to come to a tailor for this anyway?¡± Ronin asked Leo, once he¡¯d been fitted with a suit that matched his ¡°dad¡¯s.¡± ¡°You materialized the jackets you gave the girls at my hotel, why not just do the same with the suits?¡± He continued, looking into the mirror at the well-fitted suit he now wore. He¡¯d hated the white flame pattern Owl two had fabricated for him, but now. He had to admit, it looked fantastic.


    ¡°Because boy.¡± Leo said with a sigh. Ronin could tell the constant questioning was taking a toll on the man¡¯s, controlled calm, but he couldn¡¯t contain himself. ¡°You can materialize anything you can envision and have the credits to produce. Talented as I am, I¡¯m no tailor. I could put a suit on you, sure. But it wouldn¡¯t fit nearly so well or have the exact color vest to match your personal realm colors, or a tie that fits with your complexion or the tint of your eyes or whatever tailors use to determine what makes a good suit. Remember this son, when you want a professional level job¡­ go to a professional.¡± Ronin could only nod, the words made sense, even if he couldn¡¯t prove it one way or the other.


    ¡°And these?¡± He asked, raising the silver goat headed mask, complete with swept back horns over his face. Where it stuck securely in place, without any straps or latches.


    ¡°Everyone who is anyone is invited to the masquerade itself. That doesn¡¯t mean everyone is invited to participate in the competition¡­ not the real competition anyway.¡± He said, taking a deep pull from his wine glass. ¡°We¡¯ll go, we¡¯ll mingle, and when the time is right someone will collect those of us who need to be collected and take us somewhere else¡­ just¡­ try not to embarrass me boy and keep your girls in check. They¡¯re supposed to be your escorts, not fanatical bodyguards or realm natives who seem to hate you as much as they¡­ just keep them in check, ok?¡± He said, clearly stopping himself from saying something else.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this White flame hating native,¡± Elyria said stepping out of the fitting room. ¡°I already told you; I¡¯ll keep myself in check until I can have the Lordling alone for a while.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know if he would have commented on that statement or not, because the sight of Elyria stole the words from his mouth.


    She was dressed in smoky grey silks that, though translucent and form fitting, still concealed her torso completely. The fabric was patterned in dark flames, that slowly lightened as they licked up her body to a grey so light it was nearly white on her shoulders. Her silver hair had been done up into elaborate braids, silver chains with small sapphires studded throughout. A pair of engraved chopsticks crossed in the back of her head, also in silver. As were the earrings that dangled small blue stones from her pointed ears. Black high heels with silver buckles adorned her feet and a nearly transparent black scarf rounded off the outfit. It was draped over her shoulders and speckled with silver pins that glistened like stars when she moved.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± She asked, bringing a silver mask shaped like a glaring sparrow, into place over her pink tinged face.


    ¡°Um¡­ Wow, you look¡­¡± Ronin said, momentarily lost for words, as he stared at the elven woman.


    ¡°Put your eyes back in, White flame.¡± She said, a snap to her voice that reminded Ronin this woman wasn¡¯t really on his side. ¡°I¡¯m not one of your bugbear wives, or one of the goblin groupies you have hanging over your every word.¡±


    ¡°You clean up well,¡± Leo said. Having apparently decided to come to Ronin¡¯s aid once again. ¡°It looks like you were born to live this kind of life.¡± He finished with a nod and a tip of his glass.


    ¡°Until a few months ago, I thought I was.¡± She muttered, so quietly the men were able to pretend they hadn¡¯t heard her. ¡°Come on now Five,¡± she said turning back toward the dressing rooms. ¡°Let¡¯s see what they came up with for you.¡± Brie didn¡¯t come out right away, but with a little more coaxing she finally made her appearance.


    ¡°Well,¡± Leo said with a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly what I was expecting, but it fits I suppose. It will just appear like you brought one escort and a servant with you. Might be for the best, with her size and build, she will be easily overlooked.¡± Ronin had to agree with the older man¡¯s estimation. Still, he couldn¡¯t help being disappointed.


    Brie was dressed in a solid black pants suit, with a grey turtleneck on that reached her ears and a pair of matching gloves that disappeared into her sleeves. The black dress shoes were also long enough to be covered by her pantlegs. The only accessory she wore was a long thin silver chain, looped around her neck at least three times, which ended in a diamond shaped pendant. Nothing of her skin could be seen apart from her face, and that was quickly covered when she put on her mask. A featureless, smooth piece with two narrow eye slits. It was painted with the white flame colors and had an attached vail, also in black, that covered her crimson hair.


    ¡°You look great, Brie.¡± Ronin said with a smile, ¡°But why aren¡¯t you wearing a dress?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but add the question, even as he said it though, he knew it had hurt the girl¡¯s feelings. A certainty that was instantly confirmed by her next words.


    ¡°Please, my lord.¡± She said in a clipped tone he hadn¡¯t heard, or missed, since they¡¯d been at the bugbear¡¯s honeycomb city. ¡°I am on duty, so refer to me by my code name.¡± Ronin deflated inside a little at her words, thankful that his own face was covered to hide his pain. Leo¡¯s face was still exposed though, and the pity in his eyes was evident enough for both of them.


    ¡°Very well, Owl five.¡± He said with a nod after a moment where he gathered himself, no longer as excited as he had been a moment before. ¡°Are you confident you can perform your duties adequately dressed as you are?¡± He asked, wondering what she would say.


    ¡°The only weapon I could get access to was this small chain flail,¡± she said fingering the silver chain around her neck. ¡°The material is sturdy and the diamond sharp, it will serve as a garrote should the situation warrant as well. Still, I recommend caution. My body isn¡¯t as strong as in your pocket world.¡± She said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°Well damn,¡± Leo said with another chuckle. ¡°She¡¯s got spunk if nothing else. You could have done a lot worse than her boy; I¡¯ll tell you that. Just make sure she doesn¡¯t kill anyone important, ok?¡± He added, putting his own golden lion headed mask into place.

 Chapter thirty-eight

    Lily


    Lily frowned in exasperation when she entered the area set up to mimic the undercity¡¯s streets. Despite all her efforts to get them to rest, the goblin scouts were still going after their training like it was a priceless opportunity that would never come again if they didn¡¯t continue to push themselves.


    ¡°Good evening, Song.¡± She said with a smile, coming up alongside the much shorter woman to watch the latest scout teams to face-off against one another. The goblin nodded at her presence but said nothing. ¡°Still hard at work I see,¡± she continued in an affable tone. The patriarch¡­ Lord White flame, had only been gone for three days. She¡¯d extended the march date so they could come to terms with his sudden disappearance, but today was supposed to be their rest day.


    ¡°I hope you and your people will be able to get enough rest, Song.¡± She said, deciding to push a little harder. ¡°Barring any further complications, we plan to march in the morning, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, lady Lily.¡± Song said, her melodious voice washing pleasantly over Lily¡¯s ears despite the stern tone. ¡°I assure you, we of the scouts will do our part.¡± Having spoken, the diminutive goblin Woman moved away from Lily to greet the losing team with reprimands and the threat of extra laps if their next run wasn¡¯t better.


    Lily sighed and shook her head. The White flame, her husband, was by far the single most savage and deadly man the former matriarch of the Gilded Lily clan had ever met. Despite that, his leadership skills were abysmal. He¡¯d bitten off way more than he could chew in a crazy attempt to create a syndicate made from a myriad of diverse and, in some cases, incompatible races. She didn¡¯t think he even realized just how tenuous the threads were, that bound these people together.


    Most of the wood elves would have long since left, if they had a safe forest to run to. The bugbears weren¡¯t as unified a force as he seemed to think either. The bonds of marriage and obligation the only thing keeping the old White mane clan together. If it wasn¡¯t for that grizzled old Harken and her husband¡¯s second wife, Vasylia, keeping pressure on the other family heads¡­ Lily was sure the bugbear faction would have fractured already. She shook her head in frustration at her people¡¯s ignorance. They didn¡¯t have anywhere else to go and their numbers had dropped too low to contend with the other races in this too small valley.


    It didn¡¯t help either that she¡¯d pushed for the position of first wife. At the time, it seemed the most advantageous move, set herself up in a position of power to keep her charges safe in an unfamiliar camp. Yet, with the benefit of hindsight, letting Vasylia take that most coveted position would have helped cement the bonds of loyalty between the White mane clan and the White flame syndicate more effectively. Since she was, herself, an outsider to that clan. Despite being from a clan a tier higher in their city hierarchy. With only her four closest and most loyal followers, and forty young girls that needed looking after, she had been tied completely to the White flame¡¯s banner.


    She smiled as she recalled the conversation where he demanded she submit completely to his will. He was fresh from the battlefield, still tired and high on the blood of his foes. Lily had personally watched him for days from the walls of her own city, as he slaughtered thousands of enemy drones before challenging one of their queens to mortal combat, on the steps of their own city wall. His strength was undeniable, and at the time she¡¯d thought he knew exactly what he was asking of her, when he demanded her submission. Only later did she find out that his political acumen was next to non-existent. By that time, it was too late for her to negotiate her position.


    She was bound to him now. Unless she wanted to forgo any hope of future power and set off on her own. Her sense of duty to her charges wouldn¡¯t let her do that. No, for better or worse, she would rise or fall with her husband. Still, she couldn¡¯t help being a little resentful.


    The wood elves had been at odds with the bugbear for centuries, so she counted herself lucky Unyielding oak was even willing to work with her as much as she was. The bugbears of clan white mane were pulling at the frayed threads of their unity with every passing day. The human refugees from a dozen villages and towns were squabbling at each other, each trying to get their former settlements people a higher position on the sinking ship. Thankfully, not everyone was only out for themselves. She smiled widely as she continued to watch Song ream out her troops. She had to practice that smile, after all, her human husband liked looking at her canines.


    ¡°Vara,¡± she called over her shoulder to her second in command. ¡°Go get Jewel, Amber, and Syl would you? I¡¯m going to get us signed up for the next few rounds¡­ let¡¯s show these scouts what a real team of fighters is capable of.¡± The sleek, silver furred bugbear woman started to bow, before changing it to a white flame salute. Then she hurried off to get her sisters.


    Lily walked forward with a confident roll to her hips, sharp smile still in place. The goblins might be the smallest, weakest member of the Syndicate, but they made up for it in shear, stubborn, loyalty. She would have preferred the backing of her own kind over these waist high goblin scouts. Still, they were warrior women, just like her former clan, and she would use whatever tools she had at her disposal to keep her position intact.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    Lily stretched her tired body to work some feeling back into her sore muscles. It had been far too long since she let loose like that. Her duties as her clan¡¯s matriarch had kept her from doing more than an hour or so of daily saber practice per day, and she had gotten rusty. Still, between her and her people they¡¯d managed to walk away undefeated, even after they started running two scout teams together against her.


    The bugbear women had played it off as best they could, but the goblins had come close, damn close in some cases to beating them. If they hadn¡¯t been drilling together for years in the saber and dagger style their clan was known for, they might not have come out on top every time. Quite impressive, when she considered these goblin women had only been training together for just under four months. She shuddered to think what they could do in the undercity if they were given just a few more weeks to train. She shook her head again in frustration. Why did they have to move so quickly?


    ¡°Matriarch,¡± Jewel called out just before she entered Lily¡¯s tent in the camp. She appreciated being given a tent inside the cave to share with her sister-wife, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to part with the sisters she¡¯d grown up with in the Gilded Lily clan.


    ¡°It¡¯s just Lily now Jewel.¡± She said, her voice patient as she could make it. ¡°We have talked about this; I don¡¯t want anyone thinking I¡¯m making a power play. So, please just call me Lily.


    ¡°Of course, Matri¡­ Lily.¡± Jewel said, with a scowl. ¡°Anyway, Owl two and Benjamin would like to speak with you, if you have a moment, my lady.¡± Jewel said, clearly taking issue with lily¡¯s perceived demotion.


    Lily looked down at herself with a tired sigh. She was dressed in her leather armor, armor that Owl two had secretly worked his magic on to make it as durable as any of the white mane¡¯s heavy steel plate suits. He¡¯d managed the feat without changing the look of the armor at all, it would be a sad surprise indeed to whoever tried an assassination attempt on her. Still, she was sweat soaked and not dressed for a meeting with the council. She wondered if she¡¯d have time to take a bath and get changed before her meeting, but judging from the hurried look on Jewel¡¯s face, the matter must be urgent.


    ¡°Very well, Jewel.¡± She said, gathering herself together for another round of politics. ¡°Lead the way please,¡± she said with a smile. The two men she was going to meet with were both brilliant in their chosen fields. Yet, thankfully, they were little better than novices when it came to the type of clan politics that Lily excelled at. She didn¡¯t need to be dressed up to impress these two. Owl two wouldn¡¯t notice at all, and Benjamin would appreciate the training she¡¯d been doing even more than if she¡¯d shown up well put together.


    ¡°You asked for me?¡± She said a few minutes later, entering the command tent, to find the human Benjamin and the enigmatic Owl two were the only ones in attendance. Her eyes lingered on the permanently helmeted man as she found her normal seat. Her mind played with an old problem, trying to figure out what he was. He didn¡¯t smell like any race she¡¯d come into contact with before. In fact, he smelled like the truck her husband loved driving around the valley, or the flying ships¡­ perhaps that was because he was always working on them in his armor?


    ¡°We did.¡± His strange monotone snapped Lily out of her musings. She must have been more tired than she thought, losing focus in her chosen arena.


    ¡°What did you want to talk about?¡± She asked. ¡°And with just the three of us?¡± She added, pointedly looking around the empty room.


    ¡°There are two main points we wished to discuss with you, Lady Lily.¡± The helmeted man said without inflection. ¡°The first is that we can extend the deadline to march by several weeks, perhaps a few months if we feel it¡¯s prudent.¡± Lily leaned back in her seat at those words, wondering what made Owl two so confident.


    ¡°Really?¡± She asked, looking to Benjamin for cues, because reading anything from owl two was useless. ¡°I was outside the tent the day my husband vanished¡­ not left mind you¡­ vanished into thin air along with his assassin and that crazy moon elf.¡± She said, her tired mind letting her speak more candidly than she might otherwise have done. Taking a deep breath, she reeled herself back in. ¡°By crazy moon elf I of course mean her near fanatic devotion to her people, and to keeping my husband on the straight and narrow path.¡± No, damn it. That didn¡¯t sound any better than just calling her a crazy elf.


    ¡°What makes you think we have more time?¡± She said at last, not able to pick anything up from Benjamin¡¯s countenance either.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°I am in tune with my lord¡¯s, time frame.¡± Owl two said, unhelpfully. ¡°I knew the time frame was almost at an end before, but now I can feel it¡¯s been extended by several fold.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Lily said skeptically. ¡°You can feel, that we have more time. Why should I take that as more important than the words my husband said before he left us?¡± She¡¯d be lying if the idea of another month didn¡¯t excite her, even with that extra time, she didn¡¯t know if they could do what he wanted of them.


    ¡°I have been with Lord Ronin since the beginning,¡± Owl two said. ¡°I am aware of his actions on a level that goes beyond the physical. But I understand your concern. Then let me put it to you this way. Lord Ronin was on such a tight schedule because he wanted to complete the march on undercity before he had to leave us. He was unable to reach that goal before he was required for his other business, and now we have enough time to properly prepare.¡± The strangely monotoned man hadn¡¯t moved and inch the entire time he talked. It almost looked to Lily like she was listening to a statue, rather than a flesh and blood person.


    ¡°I will go one step farther to convince you by bringing up my second point however.¡± He continued speaking, even when Lily made to interject on the last statement. ¡°As things stand, the White flame syndicate is doomed.¡± After saying that last, dire, line he fell silent.


    ¡°Doomed?¡± Lily asked when it became clear that he didn¡¯t intend to elaborate. ¡°We might not be completely prepared, but I hardly think we would be doomed.¡± Truthfully, she thought no such thing, still, the promise of a new home was the only thing holding them all together.


    ¡°Come now, lady lily,¡± Benjamin said, speaking up for the first time. ¡°You know as well as I do how fractured these people are. They aren¡¯t ready to fight in a coordinated army, even in a straight-line charge at the enemy. Most of them would break and run the moment they made contact. And you know as well as I do that, we aren¡¯t in any shape to make a straight-line charge. The batlins would destroy our lines before we made it halfway to the city walls.¡± His gaze was intense, and his voice pitched to play to her sympathy. She didn¡¯t know what their game was, but she knew they were after something.


    ¡°I can¡¯t disagree with you on principle.¡± She said, deciding to feel them out a little further. ¡°But what can we do, even if we train for another few weeks, we¡¯d have a hard time overcoming the odds stacked against us down there.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Benjamin said with a winning smile. The lines that age and a lifetime of fighting had carved into his face looking much deeper at the gesture. ¡°We need time to train. Time to gather those like-minded forces within the syndicate together. To make a plan that results in, not only victory, but an overall more positive direction for our people to move in going forward.¡± Lily didn¡¯t blink, not so much as a batted eyelash as she heard Benjamin talking about what sounded a lot like treason.


    ¡°What exactly are you suggesting, counselor Benjamin?¡± She asked, her voice neutral and her face calm.


    ¡°Nothing as ominous as his poorly phrased sentence sounded, I assure you.¡± Owl two cut in, still sitting motionless as a stump at the table. ¡°Merely that there are untapped founts of potential in the syndicate that have, as yet not made themselves known to us as a whole. A sizable portion of our population who feels that their talents haven¡¯t been utilized to the fullest extent possible.¡±


    Lily, not knowing what would or wouldn¡¯t be safe to say, simply nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Benjamin said cutting back in. ¡°Owl two hears everything that happens around here. He¡¯s been gathering those untapped elements together, slowly. We just need a little more time to get them prepared. Time, we hope you can buy for us by giving those little gr¡­ the scouts, some extra missions to free up training time with the simulators.¡± He really wasn¡¯t as well versed in diplomacy as he thought he was, Lily thought with an internal sigh she didn¡¯t show the two men.


    ¡°But, why not?¡± She asked herself before answering. ¡°Why not at least see what they¡¯re up to? Owl two at least, is no fool. If he¡¯s involved with this, then it must be for my husband¡¯s benefit.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need to hear a little more before I can make an informed decision on what you¡¯re asking me.¡± She said cautiously. Leaning back in her chair as casually as she could manage. It was strange, for as clandestine this talk was turning out to be, she¡¯d have thought the lights would be dimmer. As it was, the LEDs lit every corner of the large command tent as if they were outside at noon. Such a marvelous invention, but not suited to the current mood.


    ¡°Again, I fear our military commander¡¯s lack of tact might have given you the wrong idea my lady.¡± Owl two said without inflection. ¡°Let me explain a few things, and if you see merit in anything I have to say, I only ask that you visit this tent, shortly after midnight.¡± Moving for the first time since she entered, Owl two placed his finger on a large tent that had been set up as a communal gathering place to play and trade the card game her husband had invented for his people.


    ¡°¡­I can do that, if I agree with what I hear.¡± She said at last, committing to at least that much. There were still three hours till midnight, so they had time to convince her.


    ¡°Thank you, my lady.¡± Owl two said, moving his finger back to the exact location from where it had been resting before he moved to point at the tent. ¡°Now, as I am sure you are aware the goblin¡¯s have been widely accepted as the White flame¡¯s favorite race among the syndicate. Even though most of them are¡­¡± As he continued to talk, Lily began to nod her head, because everything he was saying made a mad kind of sense.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    ¡°¡­that¡¯s why I think we need to stamp them out!¡± the voice she heard upon entering the tent made her reconsider this entire venture. If that was the leadership of this movement, then it was already doomed. Moving through the sizable crowd, Lily found a seat at one of the magically smoothed and polished wooden tables that had been created in the ¡®fabricator.¡¯ She tugged the hood a little lower over her face, not wanting to be recognized unless she chose to act.


    The speaker was an absolute brute of a human. Standing well over six feet tall and thick with muscle. Despite his size, he still looked diminutive beside the bugbears present. A fact Lily could see galled him greatly. He stood in a small clearing at the center of the tent, where the tables had been pulled back to make a clearing.


    ¡°Thank you, Thomas.¡±  Said another human man, raising to his feet and ushering the much larger man back into his chair. Lily took in this new man with a trace of surprise. She recognized his blonde hair and slender build. The man smiled out at the crowd for a while, letting the muttering die down a little before he began his own talk.


    ¡°I know many of you feel similarly to our friend Thomas here.¡± He said with an indulgent smile for the man who had spoken before. ¡°I don¡¯t mind telling you that my heart was stirred during his impassioned speech either¡­¡± he was moving while he spoke, walking around the small opening in the middle of the tent and smiling or nodding at people as he passed. He waved his hands to casually emphasize his words as well. Lily had to admit, his showmanship was exceptional.


    ¡°¡­It was a moving speech. Still, I can¡¯t help but feel that it isn¡¯t our goal to rise by putting others down.¡± He said, moving to the center of the circle and slowly turning as he spoke. ¡°No, my friends. I believe that we shouldn¡¯t think of ourselves as better than our goblin allies. We aren¡¯t here because we want to put ourselves above them. I think we just want to be recognized as their equals. After all, don¡¯t we all have talents, and strengths of our own? Don¡¯t we all bring something to this syndicate that deserves admiration and acceptance? Aren¡¯t we, the humans, bugbears, and wood elves with a trade, as worthy of our lord¡¯s notice, as those who learned how to swing a sword at an early age, or shoot a bow a little better than we can?¡±


    Lily could tell that his words were gaining traction with the crowd. A crowd that was made up entirely of the three races he¡¯d spoken about. There wasn¡¯t a goblin of any breeding present, nor were there any Kaldarr or moon elves.


    ¡°Yea,¡± shouted a voice from the crowd. ¡°I¡¯ve been a blacksmith for fifty years. I know metal like I know my own palms. Yet who is it with the fancy workshop? The lord¡¯s second wife! Her skills fall far short of mine, yet I don¡¯t even qualify to use her forge. I¡¯ve been relegated to carrying wood to the fires while she teaches goblin spawn and unwanted wood elf brats how to make cutlery.¡± There were several cheers from the crowd at that outburst, but there were also a few muttered curses from the wood elves present.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about your smelly forge young man, but I¡¯ve been an animal trainer for three centuries.¡± Called out a wood elf who hadn¡¯t cursed the old bugbear. ¡°I¡¯ve practiced my trade since before your grandfather was born, but what do I get to do for the great White flame syndicate? Teach farmers how to properly care for chickens. Chickens! As if they required more than some land to forage on, and a place to lay their eggs. It¡¯s an insult to my ability, I should be working with the white goats. But no, only Unyielding oak and her favorites are allowed to touch the White flame¡¯s ¡®gift.¡¯ As if any human can tell the wood elves what animals we can or can¡¯t work with.¡±


    There was an uproar at that. It seemed that even here, with tempers running high, insulting their new lord, was more than most of these people were willing to do. Lily was glad to see that. It meant at least that most of them didn¡¯t see him as the direct cause of their suffering.


    ¡°Friends, friends.¡± The young blonde man said loudly, patting the air in a calming gesture. ¡°We know things have been rough, but please remember¡­ we won¡¯t get anywhere by blaming each other based on our race alone. That type of thinking is what¡¯s gotten us into this mess to begin with.¡± He said with a winning smile. ¡°We need to rise above those differences and come together to make our syndicate the best place it can be¡­ for all of us; Human, bugbear and elf alike.¡±


    ¡°What about the kaldarr?¡± Called a human man wearing the uniform of the guard. ¡°I work with several of them, and they aren¡¯t too happy about the way they¡¯ve been held out of the fighting for so long.¡± There were a few muttered agreements, about how strong an ally the kaldarr could be as the man spoke.


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± snapped the blonde man, his face going hard. His words quieted the crowd, who looked at each other awkwardly as his eyes bulged and he started heaving for breath.


    ¡°Please, pardon my husband.¡± Said a sweet voice from the crowd, as a lithe bugbear woman moved into the circle and took the panting Eric¡¯s hand. ¡°You all know his situation. Forced to live under the yolk of slavery by those brutish, grey-skinned monsters. I beg you to pardon him as he relives the trauma, they inflicted upon him.¡±


    She was really laying it on thick, but the crowd was eating up her words. More likely, the supple curves of her lithe, tan fur covered body, barely concealed below a shear white robe, was capturing the crowd¡¯s attention. She looked very much like the late Safie, complete with the jingling disks of silver hanging from her waist and wrists. Lily recognized her as the former wife of the family head the White flame¡¯s assassin had killed with a shot to the head.


    ¡°We are all here because we want equality. We desire freedom from the overbearing hands of those who would keep us down. The white flame¡¯s lackeys like Harken and unyielding oak, not to mention those gruesomely mutated kaldarr warriors who stick so close to his side, are the ones we need to be mindful of, if we are ever to gain our fair share of the spotlight in our lord¡¯s eyes.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ how do we get a chance to ever show him what we can do?¡± Asked a subdued voice from the crowd as everyone nodded along with the beautiful bugbear woman¡¯s words.


    ¡°that¡¯s an excellent question, my friend.¡± Eric said with a fresh smile, having collected himself once more. He gave his wife¡¯s hand a squeeze and kissed her cheek in a way meant to convey affection to the crowd. ¡°Thank you my dear.¡± He said before turning to the man who¡¯d spoken out. ¡°The quickest way to get his attention is to¡­¡±


    ¡°Let me handle that.¡± Lily said rising to her feet and throwing off her hood, to the gasps of the crowd. She¡¯d learned enough, and this was the perfect time to intercede. Owl two was right, this situation could benefit from her touch. ¡°I¡¯m sympathetic to your plight, and now, when my husband isn¡¯t here to handle this himself, it falls to me to ensure you all get the attention you deserve.¡± She finished, moving forward to take her place in center stage, as she flashed the crowd her brightest, winning smile.

 Chapter thirty-nine

    ¡°Are we ready to go?¡± Ronin asked once Leo had donned his golden lion mask. Oddly enough, he got the feeling the man was putting on his true face, rather than covering it up. With a frown, Ronin looked over the well-dressed monster. No, he was just a man. A well-muscled man, standing around five foot eleven. He was at a height with Ronin, yet that extra inch and the decades of experience Leo Dawson had over him, were like an insurmountable gap between the two men.


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Leo said lifting his wine glass to his mask. Ronin frowned, curious at the gesture, until the glass passed right through the mask, as if it wasn¡¯t there. Ronin couldn¡¯t see through it, but he assumed it met the man¡¯s lips, because he tilted the glass back and the level of the wine went down. ¡°My escorts arrived while you kids were getting dressed. They will be coming in momentarily¡­ and yes, your mask will do the same thing. We exist in a crystallin matrix where the rules of reality don¡¯t always apply, remember?¡±


    ¡°¡­This is¡­ it¡¯s just too weird¡­¡± Elyria muttered, bringing her fingers to her own glaring sparrow mask, and letting out a slight gasp when they passed right through. ¡°¡­ I, I need a moment.¡± She said, yanking her fingers away from her face and hurrying back into the fitting room.


    ¡°You might have been better served to bring an escort who was a little more¡­ stable.¡± Leo said, in what Ronin did his best to convince himself wasn¡¯t a growl.


    ¡°I was in a meeting, sequestered from nearly all my population. With a five-minute deadline, my options were limited.¡± Ronin said, not wanting to appear meek in front of this man.


    ¡°¡­ Yes, I suppose they were at that.¡± Leo said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. ¡°Listen son, I can¡¯t emphasize enough how important tonight is. Not only for me, but for you and your personal realm as well.¡± He dropped his hand with a sigh and took another sip of wine, ¡°there are several factions at play here, and I am far from the most powerful among them¡­ Ah, here they are.¡± He said, the last four words sounding almost relieved.


    Ronin followed his gaze to the exit room to see a pair of women walk through it. He blinked, doing a double take to be sure he¡¯d seen right. The women who¡¯d just walked in were six foot tall and covered in golden fur. That on its own would not have caught him off guard, after all the bugbears were also covered in fur. These women however, unlike the bugbear, didn¡¯t resemble thickly built furry humans with sharp canines. These ladies had the heads, hands, feet, and tails of actual lions.


    ¡°My king,¡± they said in unison dipping low into a bow. Their voices came out in a deep rumbling purr that Ronin swore he felt from across the snow white and empty room. ¡°Sorry for our tardiness, customs were waiting outside your residence with accusations of our vehicle having been illegally obtained. It took some time to prove our innocence.¡± The slightly larger of the two said, and the pair bowed again.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Leo said looking like some of the tension he¡¯d carried had now relaxed. ¡°My enemies are trying to get me disqualified before we even arrive. Keep your eyes open, there will likely be further attempts.¡± He said, causing Ronin to wonder exactly what was going on.


    ¡°Of course, my king.¡± Replied the lionesses once more.


    ¡°Ah, Before I forget, this is my son Alexander. Though he fancies himself a bit of a warrior and has been calling himself Ronin of late.¡± Leo said, waving his hand towards Ronin like an afterthought.


    ¡°Prince Alexander,¡± the lionids said. Giving him a shorter bow. Ronin bowed back, taking them in with his eyes. They barely looked humanoid at all, and if they were to crouch down beside a normal lion and remove the leather straps that were their only clothing, Ronin doubted he¡¯d be able to tell the difference.


    ¡°Just Ronin, please.¡± He said politely, ¡°and you are?¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have names,¡± Leo said when the lionids didn¡¯t answer. ¡°They are part of my pride, and only the leaders of a pride earn the right to a name¡­ Now, go and get my son¡¯s escort from the fitting room. She is having trouble adjusting and may need some reassurance. Still, make it quick. I want to arrive before any more misfortune befalls us.¡± The lionids entered the fitting rooms the moment Leo finished speaking, making Ronin curious what the man¡¯s pocket world as a whole was like.


    Ronin looked at Brie while he listened as the women talked in the other room. He couldn¡¯t hear any words, but he could feel the rumbling purr that accompanied their speech all the way in here. She was standing close by, fully on guard and ready to act at a moment¡¯s notice. For a moment, he wondered what happened to the girl who had flirted with and comforted him when he¡¯d first arrived in his world. Perhaps she¡¯d only thought of that as her duty. A duty he no longer needed her to perform now that he¡¯d entered a political marriage.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m coming.¡± Elyria said, exiting the near coffin sized and featureless fitting room between the two much bulkier women. ¡°I¡¯ve got to say White flame, I¡¯d thought you were overbearing at times but, seeing the way your father treats his people, I take it all back.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± Ronin almost told her Leo wasn¡¯t actually his father, but thankfully he was cut off by the man in question. Before he could divulge that secret.


    ¡°Good.¡± He said, releasing his wine glass, to fall almost a foot before it disappeared. ¡°The car is just outside I trust?¡± He asked, already moving, in a tone that implied the car had dang well better be just outside. Ronin took another look around before following him out. He didn¡¯t know what tailor shops normally looked like, but this empty white box wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d expected. Heck, he¡¯d never even seen a tailor, the clothes had just appeared on his body once he¡¯d stripped down in the fitting room. With a shrug, he followed Leo Dawson and his escorts, who were still flanking Elyria, outside. Owl five bringing up the rear.


    The car was indeed just out front. A sleek black sports car, with only two doors that looked too small to fit even three people, let alone six. It had landed on the lily pad that grew from the organic tower they¡¯d just left. Looking down, Ronin couldn¡¯t even see the ground. Now, that was strange¡­


    ¡°Hey, Si¡­ dad?¡± Ronin called out to his host, who was already climbing into the parked car. ¡°When we went into the tailor¡¯s shop, it was on ground level, and the building was reminiscent of a pre fall skyscraper¡­ now its¡­¡±


    ¡°Best not to think too hard on things like that.¡± Leo said from where he stood, upright, inside the car. The car whose roof only came to his waist before he¡¯d ducked in. ¡°The public areas are somewhat fluid and tend to change. Now get in the car, if we¡¯re late I won¡¯t have any further need of you.¡± The not-so-subtle threat got Ronin moving faster. He was nearly tripping over Elyria and the lionesses in his rush to get to the car.


    The inside was decorated like he¡¯d expect the office of a mafia don to look. Based partially on his own knowledge gained from reading while still on earth, and partially from the ship generated memories that randomly fed him tid bits of data, from time to time.


    ¡°Come in and have a seat.¡± Leo said from where he¡¯d seated himself behind a solid wood desk. It was bigger than the car they¡¯d just climbed into. Ronin followed his instructions, sinking onto the sinfully comfortable cushions of a two-seater couch beside Elyria. While he took in the rest of the wood paneled office.


    It was dimly lit with candles, hung from brackets mounted directly to the walls. Candles that, despite flickering from the wind of their passage, gave off steady and unwavering illumination. The wall directly behind Leo¡¯s desk was covered with a portrait of Leo himself, several years younger. It was clearly painted before he¡¯d crystallized, though Ronin didn¡¯t know how that was possible. He was thin, balding and his smile showed a few missing teeth. The woman beside him looked just as bad, if not worse. Her dark hair was thin and stringy, much like Alexander¡¯s had been, and her smile was missing at least as many teeth as Leo¡¯s.


    Ronin remembered her faintly. She¡¯d been Leo¡¯s wife back in the caves and had died when Ronin was only eight years old. He couldn¡¯t remember her name, but he remembered her kindness. Mrs. Dawson had been a bright light in the darkness of the cave, and her husband had been a nice man too¡­ before she died. The surge of memories Ronin received from seeing the picture took him off guard, so he was glad he¡¯d already sat down. That was strange, the memories of his early life weren¡¯t that clear. Where had that come from, more ship inspired knowledge perhaps?


    He took in the rest of the office with a quick sweep of his gaze. A few more portraits decorated the walls on either side of the desk, but they were landscapes. His eyes lingered on the bookshelves, but he knew for a certainty he wasn¡¯t going to be given the chance to peruse them. The entry wall was empty, apart from the door. It was also crafted from solid wood, carved in the likeness of a lion, and sporting an engraved brass knob.


    Neither Owl five nor the two lionids sat down on the two remaining armchairs. Instead, they each moved to stand in a guard position behind their respective masters. Ronin thought it was a little over the top, a sentiment Elyria seemed to share because he heard her faint snort of derision from where she was seated beside him. He felt a sense of relief at the sound. The elf had been unnaturally passive since they¡¯d left his pocket world.


    ¡°Alright, listen up because we don¡¯t have a lot of time and I only want to say this once.¡± Leo said once everyone had settled in. ¡°We¡¯re going to a masquerade ball. Where they will announce the contest. The contest will be real, it just isn¡¯t the contest we will be participating in.¡± He said, running his fingers across his golden lion rings. Ronin noted for the first time that the palm side of the rings consisted of a bar that spanned the length of his hands.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the specifics. Just getting the invite in the first place was hard enough. But I do know when they come to collect us, they will do so with a sign. I don¡¯t know what form it will come in, but the sign will be three interwoven circles on a gold disk. When you see that symbol, all you have to do is follow the one who presented it to you. Understand?¡± Ronin frowned at the older man, glad that, at the moment he was wearing a mask hiding his expression.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°He¡¯s nervous.¡± Elyria whispered softly, mirroring Ronin¡¯s own thoughts. ¡°Dear lady Luna, what could make a man like him nervous?¡± Ronin felt as much as saw Elyria come back to herself in that moment. She¡¯d been set adrift since they¡¯d arrived, but something about seeing the powerful Leo Dawson show even the slightest anxiety had anchored her.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°Will I be bringing Elyria and Owl five with me to the meeting room?¡± He added, hoping to clarify now so he didn¡¯t make a mistake later.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to that.¡± Leo said, leaning back in his chair. ¡°I have just conveyed everything to you, nearly word for word, how I heard it myself. Just follow along quietly when the time comes. Don¡¯t draw attention to yourself. If they want your girls to come along, they¡¯ll let you know. I think it¡¯s just as likely we were told to bring them to provide a pleasant distraction for our absence, however, so don¡¯t get your hopes up.¡±


    ¡°And your enemies?¡± Elyria asked, her confident tone creeping back in. ¡°They delayed your car. Will they try anything else tonight?¡± Leo eyed her from behind his lion mask for a long moment before he replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s likely they will,¡± he admitted. ¡°Though I am hopeful once we make it inside, we¡¯ll be free of their interference.¡± As he finished speaking, a soft chime echoed throughout the office. ¡°We¡¯re there.¡± he said, rising to his feet and moving towards the door. His escorts fell into step beside him, now sporting featureless, golden half masks, which covered their eyes. ¡°Just remember, you are my son. Everything you do, everything, reflects on me. So don¡¯t embarrass me, and most importantly, don¡¯t show any weakness to anyone.¡±


    With those parting words, he stepped out the door, and onto a red carpet. It led across a narrow bridge and towards a castle straight out of the prince¡¯s adventure. Ronin looked down with a hard swallow, realizing in that moment they were on the floating island in the sky he¡¯d spotted a few hours, or perhaps minutes, ago. Depending on how much time dilation they¡¯d been exposed to. He gulped as he stared at the intimidating castle.


    Not wanting to be left behind, Ronin took a step forward, before he was stopped by a throat clearing just behind him. Turning around, he saw Elyria standing there, her arm extended.


    ¡°I¡¯m your escort tonight, White flame.¡± She said in an overly sweet tone that had his hackles rising. ¡°From the time we step out of this¡­ car¡­ until the time we are safely back inside it, I will be stuck to your side as if glued there. Do you understand?¡± She asked as she hooked her arm into his. ¡°Your father fears this place. So, for now at least, we¡¯ll watch each other¡¯s back.¡±


    ¡°Right¡± he said, taking her arm more firmly in his own and giving a brief nod to Owl five before he walked out onto the narrow carpet covered strip that separated him from miles long drop to the ground. ¡°Here we go then.¡±


    Their trio caught up to Leo¡¯s quickly enough, since they¡¯d been stopped at a red velvet rope just outside the castle doors. Two hulking brutes stood to either side of the entryway with their arms crossed, scowling down at the lion masked man.


    ¡°I asked you for your invitation.¡± The one on the left said, apparently for the second time. ¡°This is a private party, not just anyone can enter.¡± He continued with an evil smirk.


    ¡°You know as well as I do, my car being given clearance to park, is proof I¡¯ve been invited.¡± Leo growled.


    ¡°Is that right?¡± The question drifted from the double doors leading into the castle, where a weasel faced man dressed in a tan suit had just emerged. ¡°Because that would mean the car was the one invited to the party, instead of an upstart like you boy.¡±


    Ronin frowned. The man didn¡¯t look a day over thirty, why had he called Leo an upstart boy.


    ¡°Fabius.¡± Leo said with a snort, ¡°I should have expected something as petty as this was your handiwork.¡± With a theatrical sigh, Leo lifted his right hand, palm up. A holographic projection of a globe, with a band wrapped around it, appeared to float just above his palm. Squinting slightly, Ronin was able to make out the words ¡®father, son invitation.¡± Written on the band.


    ¡°Urgh,¡± grunted the talkative brute on the left. ¡°It¡¯s legit sir, we gotta let him in.¡± He didn¡¯t look any happier about it then the now scowling Fabius. Who glared at Leo, lifting a black crows mask from his waist. Putting it on, he walked back inside without a backward glance.


    ¡°How droll,¡± Elyria said in an aristocratic accent, as the bouncer lifted the rope for them to enter. ¡°That mask dear, did you see it? The dreary thing didn¡¯t even match the suit. Are you sure this is the finest party this city has to offer?¡± Ronin just stared at her in shock, while Leo let out a snort of laughter, as Fabius stumbled across the doorway¡¯s threshold.


    ¡°Quite right my dear,¡± he said. ¡°Now, bring that wayward son of mine along and let¡¯s get to the party, before Fabius drinks all the good wine.¡± Ronin, realizing only a beat later than Leo that Elyria was playing a role, let out a snort and, channeling his inner Alexander, answered with a drawl of his own.


    ¡°Right you are father. Come on dear, let¡¯s see what this place has to offer.¡± The firm squeeze Elyria gave his arm after he spoke, letting him know he might not have come off as natural as he¡¯d hoped. Ah well, maybe he¡¯d go for the strong silent type instead.


    When Ronin stepped through the double doors, he was transported into a dark room. Before panic could set in, he found there was light all around, it was just much dimmer than the sunlight outside. Leo and his two lionid guards, or escorts, were standing right in front of him and with a look over his shoulder, he noted Owl five¡¯s presence as well.


    ¡°Please move away from the teleportation pad, to make room for our next guests.¡± A calm, soothing voice said from just beside him. Before he could look in that direction, however, Elyria had firmly guided him away from the platform they¡¯d been standing on.


    ¡°This place is¡­ fascinating.¡± She breathed as they walked behind Leo¡¯s group, making their way deeper into the dark room.


    They were on the outside of a massively high, domed room. Like a strange gothic mixture of an auditorium and cathedral. Lit by hundreds of candelabras suspended in midair. A thick mist swirled around knee height, with occasional eddies that ballooned up to swallow people where they stood. There were two sets of pillars, some fifteen feet apart and away from the outside of the round room¡¯s walls. They arched together, and out to the outer wall. Leaving a hundred-yard dome in the center that had been set up as a dance floor, with food tables and a seated rest area. Surrounding that open space were two much darker rings, created by the pillars, with plenty of little nooks a few party goers could sneak away too. In the dim light, Ronin thought he could see several people taking advantage of those nooks before the mist thickened and swirled up to shroud the sequestered party goers from his view.


    ¡°Privacy screen,¡± Leo said, no doubt guessing what Ronin was thinking. ¡°The mists don¡¯t block line of sight unless the individuals themselves don¡¯t wish to be seen. Allows for private deals and secret meetings to take place right out in the open¡­ or a quick tryst with your, or someone else¡¯s, escort should the mood take you.¡± He said with a deep throated chuckle, seeming to have relaxed now that they had finally made it to the party.


    Ronin didn¡¯t need the glaring sparrow mask to turn in his direction to know such a tryst was never happening. Still, he was intrigued by the mists swirling around their legs. It gave the whole place a mystical feeling that reminded him of the magic systems in his favorite books.


    ¡°What a shame the pocket worlds couldn¡¯t be set up with magic¡­¡± he said wistfully, thinking about how much fun it would be to fling fireballs instead of bullets at his foes.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Leo asked, a frown clear in his voice. ¡°You can have magic in your personal realms. It just has to be integrated at the time of creation. The first realm I ever created had a magical system implemented. I still visit that world from time to time¡­¡± he said, trailing off before clearing his throat. ¡°Anyway, go mingle. I have a few people I need to see before anything important happens. Be careful, and don¡¯t look weak.¡± After he finished speaking, he was off in a swirl of mist.


    Ronin looked after him with an anxious gaze. Not only for being left alone, but for opening his mind to the possibility that magic was real in this place¡­ and that multiple pocket worlds were possible. How did one even go about getting a second world?


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s mingle a little. Stay quiet and let me do the talking.¡± Elyria said, leading him along by the arm.


    He was more than happy to be led around the domed room. Elyria chatted and made small talk with masked people neither of them knew, while Ronin took in the towering statues that surrounded the dome, and the marvelous painting on the ceiling, that somehow changed as they moved from section to section.


    ¡°¡­is that so? I¡¯ve always preferred to grow them from seeds myself. I realize the process can be enhanced of course. Yet, watching them grow under my own care brings me the most satisfaction.¡± This from an old sounding man with a middle-aged body. Ronin was fairly sure Elyria had picked him to speak with because he was wearing a mask patterned like oak bark, which had maple leaves growing from the edges. Something the man had done on purpose it seemed, to see who would notice. If the conversation they¡¯d been having about the proper way to grow strangler fig indoors, was any indication.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl five said appearing at his side from nowhere. Her black pants suit and grey turtleneck and gloves helped to blend her seamlessly with the dark misty room. ¡°Please, have something to eat.¡± She continued, holding up a tray delicately set with finger foods and a glass of wine. Only one glass, Ronin noted. Sure, that the slight to the elf was fully intended, causing him to sigh internally.


    ¡°Thank you, Owl five,¡± he said reaching for the tray. When he was jolted violently from behind.


    ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going, you damned grounder trash¡­¡± shouted an angry voice behind Ronin who only avoided a collision with the tray and Owl five holding it, because of how swiftly the goblin woman moved. Before he¡¯d even righted himself, she¡¯d set the completely undisturbed tray down on a nearby table and was holding a butter knife she¡¯d acquired from somewhere to the aggressor¡¯s throat.


    Ronin couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s face behind the bull mask he wore, but he saw the man freeze when the tip of the blunt utensil touched his exposed neck.


    ¡°Oh my,¡± said the old man with the oak and maple mask, into the ensuing silence. ¡°You really stuck your foot into it this time didn¡¯t you Philip?¡± He asked the bull masked man, who now that Ronin had a second to look, was dressed in much the same fashion as the old man.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry dad,¡± he said still unwilling to move away from the knife wielding servant. ¡°But, uh, do you think you could get this demi human off me, please?¡±


    ¡°Demi human?¡± Ronin asked, still processing the fact that he¡¯d been assaulted by their conversation partner¡¯s son.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. How silly of me.¡± The old man, who Ronin now remembered was called Stanly, said with a smile in his voice. ¡°I forgot that you have only been crystalized for a handful of days¡­ at the request of your father, for this vary ball.¡± The accuracy of his words sent alarm bells ringing in Ronin¡¯s mind, and he reoriented himself to face Stanly as Elyria backed up to stand beside him.


    ¡°You see, I¡¯d had this whole elaborate scheme planned out to trick you into attacking my son. But thankfully, you took care of that on your own.¡± He continued, with an honest to goodness evil chuckle.


    ¡°What are you talking about, I didn¡¯t attack him. He rammed into me.¡± Ronin said with a sinking feeling.


    ¡°Oh, I know, but your demi, or sub, human¡­ that is to say, any living sentient born inside a world owned by a person crystallized from earth, is the property of said individual and is thus considered to be an extension of that individual.¡± Stanly said the words as if quoting them directly from a rules book. ¡°Subject to either a fine or an honor duel, should the aggrieved party feel the provocation warrants such a duel.¡± The man said with glee, ¡°and I think it is warranted. Don¡¯t you Philip?¡±

 Chapter forty

    ¡°Damn right I do,¡± Philip said with an attempt at his father¡¯s evil chuckle. ¡°Now get this subhuman off me so I can kill you.¡± Ronin stared in dumbfounded shock at the arrogance in that tone.


    ¡°This is absolutely insane. What makes you think I would agree to a duel? Aggrieved party? You hit me; my retainer hasn¡¯t harmed you in the slightest. If anything, I¡¯m the aggrieved party here.¡± Despite the shock and the feeling of wrongness this encounter gave him, a sliver of anger was working its way into his voice. Who did this pompous fool think he was to call Brie subhuman.


    ¡°Save your breath young man,¡± Stanly said still chuckling. ¡°I¡¯ve called for one of the castle¡¯s staff to review the footage and render judgment. They will be arriving at¡­ ah and here they are.¡± Right on cue, an elegantly dressed woman arrived beside them and bowed.


    ¡°I am sorry for the delay; I received your call and have pulled up the footage in question.¡± With those words a holographic recreation of the incident began to play on the surface of a nearby table. It showed quite clearly that Philip had walked directly towards Ronin, but at the last moment, turned his head as if looking for someone and slammed into him without actually looking. Ronin¡¯s tumble and Owl five¡¯s quick action rounded out the clip.


    ¡°It seems that you are correct sir,¡± the woman said with a shallow bow. ¡°The collision was indeed accidental, and the demi human clearly overreacted with potentially lethal force. The fact it is still holding the knife to your son¡¯s neck is proof enough of that. I render the honor duel approved.¡± With a wave of her hand, a fifteen-foot circle of light rose up from the floor next to Ronin and Philip.


    ¡°Once you step into the circle, all bodily restrictions will be disabled. Only melee weapons and non-powered armor will be summonable from personal realms. The duel will be carried out under the honor dual codes sanctioned by the city. The loser forfeits all ship given assets upon defeat. Any and all damage inflicted upon either party by the other or any demi humans under their command outside the bounds of the circle will result in the immediate execution of the offending party. You may begin at any time.¡± She spoke the words with such mechanical familiarity that it was clear she¡¯d said them more than a few times. Once she¡¯d finished speaking, she turned and left the scene.


    Ronin just stared at the flowing circle of light in complete confusion. What the heck was going on? They¡¯d been having a conversation one second, and the next he was being challenged to a dual that he couldn¡¯t decline. Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be more lead up to these kinds of things? A blood feud with years of history, a woman who¡¯s affections both parties desired? Something, anything to explain why this was happening to them.


    ¡°Best let him go Five.¡± Elyria said, moving slowly over to the shorter woman¡¯s side. ¡°If I understand correctly, you so much as nick him with that now, we¡¯re all dead. Best to let your lord handle this in the ring. You know as well as I what he¡¯s capable of.¡±


    ¡°What he¡¯s capable of? Ha-ha,¡± laughed Stanly, with Philip joining in. ¡°When Fabius asked me to do him this favor don¡¯t you think I did my homework first? Alexander Dawson, thirty-six years old. Lived in some no name cave settlement for his entire life. Mother died when he was nine, father left to be crystalized when he was eleven. Has never learned to fight, always having his flunkies bully the other cave dwellers, has never been on even one scavenging run. Surviving only off the gifts of credits his father sends back to him. Crystalized less than a week ago for the sole purpose of allowing his father entrance to this very party¡­ so, my dear sparrow, what can he possibly be capable of?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Philip laughed as he jumped into the circle of light. As he turned to face them, his chest was covered with a thin leather jacket and a rapier appeared in one hand and a long straight dagger appeared in the other. ¡°While I, on the other hand, have had several years training in the art of the dual¡­ so please, Alex, come into the ring and show me what you¡¯re capable of.¡± Ronin sighed. Fabius had sent him. He wondered just what Leo had done to anger the man to this degree. Still, it looked like this was going to happen. He looked at his opponent, how strong would he be after several years of training.


    ¡°Come on White flame,¡± Elyria whispered at him from a foot away. ¡°We¡¯re starting to draw a crowd. Just get in there and let him stab you, his honor will be satisfied, and we can move on with the party.¡± Since Ronin couldn¡¯t really find any fault with that logic, he shrugged and walked into the circle.


    As soon as he crossed the light border into the ring, he could feel his nanites waking up and his cybernetic implants thrumming with power. He hadn¡¯t noticed how much of his strength he was missing when he¡¯d arrived in his hotel room, but now the difference was clear as day. Ronin flexed his hands, getting a feel for his strength again. He could sense his armor, his round shield and his mace waiting, just out of sight. Ready to be called to his hands, but he didn¡¯t reach for them. Not yet anyway, first he¡¯d like to try and finish this diplomatically.


    ¡°Alright Philip,¡± he said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯m ready, so come and get your honor back.¡± The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the rapier flashed in with a thrust that took him in the shoulder. The dual wielder gave the blade a twist, having to grunt with the effort of cutting through his enhanced muscles, before pulling the blade back out again.


    ¡°Is this really all you can do?¡± The man with the bull-headed mask asked with derision. ¡°You didn¡¯t even see that blow coming, to say nothing of dodging it. This is going to be more fun than I thought.¡± Ronin ground his teeth together at the pain in his shoulder. It hurt, yes, but he¡¯d been shot with heavy Kaldarrian slugs on more than one occasion. This was nothing in comparison. He could feel the nanite machines worming their way through his bloodstream even now, working to close the wound.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said holding his hands up in surrender. ¡°You got me, you are clearly the better fighter. I apologize for my retainer¡¯s actions and hope that moving forward we can forget this¡­¡± he couldn¡¯t even finish speaking over the laughter that echoed in from all sides.


    ¡°Does he really not know?¡± He heard someone ask.


    ¡°He mustn¡¯t, or else he wouldn¡¯t be trying to worm his way out like a coward.¡± Replied a second voice.


    ¡°As if it was as simple as getting a little flesh wound to satisfy an honor dual.¡±


    As they talked, Ronin began to get a bad feeling, but before he could act on it, Philip came darting forward again and drove the dagger into his other shoulder before twisting and pulling away again.


    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t he put on any armor or even taken out a weapon?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but if he doesn¡¯t get on it soon, he¡¯s likely to die without landing a single hit.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me sir,¡± he heard Elyria say. ¡°I seem to be missing something here, could you explain to me why he can¡¯t withdrawal after honor has been restored with first blood?¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t see who she¡¯d asked, but he heard the response clear enough.


    ¡°Because all honor duals are to the death. Loser gets erased from the ship¡¯s memory, that¡¯s it, the end.¡± Ronin¡¯s blood ran cold at that news, as he grit his teeth against the pain of the rapier slicing under his ribs. The wound wasn¡¯t deep enough to hit his intestines, but it stung all the same.


    ¡°A death match?¡± Elyria asked, as Owl five tried to move through the circle of light, only to be flung away by some invisible force. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit extreme? That man pushed R... Alex, and somehow gets to kill him for it, does this happen often around here?¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha you should tell your friend that there¡¯s no getting into a circle once the dual starts¡­ and I heard the official give the pronouncement. Stanly clearly bought her off, but in a perfectly legal way. He¡¯s been doing shit like this to new arrivals for well over a century. It¡¯s just your boy¡¯s bad luck he was targeted is all.¡±


    Ronin backed up until he hit the circle of light. It stopped him as surely as a brick wall would have. Philip only laughed and sliced him again.


    ¡°Is this really the best you can do?¡± He asked again as his blade tore open the flesh just above Ronin¡¯s knee. ¡°I knew I was going to kill you as soon as I knocked you to the ground. You didn¡¯t even see me coming, so how could you fight back? But I didn¡¯t think I was going to prove to the whole gathering what a coward Leo Dawson, the Lion himself, has for a son. No one is going to want to deal with him now ha-ha. In one fell swoop, I¡¯ll collect your personal realm for my own and put your dear old dad out of business, for good.¡±


    Ronin¡¯s eyes narrowed at the taunt. He didn¡¯t know what Philip meant about taking his pocket world, was that even possible? What did that woman say? All ship granted assets will be forfeited to the winner? So, if he lost¡­ his entire world, his people, and his ability to save Markus would be taken away by this callus, laughing man? Rage boiled in his veins at the mere thought. The fact Leo had clearly told him not to embarrass him barely registering in his mind as his vision went red.


    ¡°Here, have another one to the guts¡­¡± Philip said as he pushed a few inches of the rapier¡¯s tip into Ronin¡¯s body, just below the sternum. His tongue failed him, and he trailed off when Ronin took a large step forward. Driving the narrow blade deep into his own body. ¡°What the hell are you do¡­¡± before he could even finish the question, Ronin had grabbed the arm holding the rapier with his left hand. On instinct as much as anything, Philip thrust the arm holding the dagger right at Ronin¡¯s chest.


    Philip was fast, fast enough to have caught Ronin off guard with the first few strikes. Still, he hadn¡¯t enhanced his physical body the way Ronin had and as such couldn¡¯t match Ronin in the speed department. Snapping forward, Ronin grabbed the hand thrusting the dagger and squeezed. The cry of pain his attacker let out was gratifying in the extreme, but it was nothing compared to the whimpers that soon followed.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Philip gasped out in shock and pain as Ronin slowly twisted the hand holding the knife back towards its wielder¡¯s neck. ¡°Hey, let¡¯s talk about this, ok? I cut you pretty good right, honor was clearly satisfied. We can call it quits and go our separate ways, ok.¡± His body bucked wildly as he tried to free himself from Ronin¡¯s iron grip. Sadly, his normal human body wasn¡¯t a match for Ronin¡¯s cybernetically enhanced strength.


    When thinking back on this moment later that evening, Ronin would think about why he moved so slowly. He didn¡¯t think he was doing it out of cruelty, or the thrill he got while listening to Philip and his father beg him to stop. He guessed it was because he wanted to save the people in his pocket world. Years later, when he thought about this moment, Philip¡¯s face was overlayed with a skinny, malnourished goblin woman¡¯s and it would make him sick¡­ Right now, though, all Ronin saw was red. As he moved the dagger up into Philip¡¯s jaw.


    At first, he thrashed around, begging Ronin to stop. After more than half a minute had passed, he was forced to stop begging because the dagger had speared his tongue. Another half minute passed as he pushed the blade upwards and Philip tilted his head back as far as it would go, until he was supporting the man¡¯s entire weight with his arms, and still he pushed.


    Ronin spent three whole minutes pushing that dagger into his enemy¡¯s brain. Only stopping when his opponent went limp. Then, the circle, along with Philip¡¯s body and all Ronin¡¯s own injuries disappeared, as if they¡¯d never been there at all.


    ¡°What have you done?¡± Screamed a hysterical Stanly, who rushed Ronin the second the light barrier died. Owl five darted forward, but Leo Dawson got there first. Putting his own body between Stanly¡¯s headlong charge and Ronin, who was only now blinking his way back to conscious thought.


    ¡°Be careful Stanly,¡± Leo growled. His voice bestial in the now silent hall. ¡°If you go over there and touch my son, after honor has been satisfied¡­ he just might challenge you to a dual¡­ on second thought, go ahead.¡± With the words, he took a step back and to the side, motioning the dead Philip¡¯s father to go ahead. He didn¡¯t have to think about his choice for long, with a curse he turned and fled the ballroom.


    ¡°Are you ok, my lord?¡± Owl five asked, running one hand over his body, checking for the wounds he¡¯d suffered while simultaneously scanning the crowd, still holding the butter knife. ¡°That was unnecessary my lord. As your property, it would have been well within your rights to have me kill him in your stead.¡± Ronin only smiled at her from behind his mask, knowing her words came from a place of concern for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said once she¡¯d satisfied herself, he wasn¡¯t injured. ¡°Thank you for your concern, Brie, it means a lot¡­ but you are no one¡¯s property.¡± He didn¡¯t actually see her blush since she wasn¡¯t showing any skin at all in this outfit. Still, he could almost feel it in the way she stepped away from him, as if he might burn her if she touched him.


    ¡°As touching as this is,¡± Elyria said moving over to his side. ¡°I think we should move away for a while, before¡­¡± she stopped speaking when a glowing orb appeared in front of Ronin throbbing a dull white color. ¡°What¡¯s that thing?¡± She asked, voice a whisper. Ronin only shrugged, not knowing either.


    ¡°It¡¯s your spoils from the battle.¡± Leo said, walking over. ¡°You earned everything Philip had when you killed him in an honor dual¡­ but the girl is right, we need to get out of here for a while so the crowd can settle down. Come on, I have a few people I would like to introduce you too anyway. Just touch the orb to absorb it, you can deal with it later.¡± without another word, or even a look back, he turned and strode away.


    Ronin and his two escorts glanced at each other in question for a few moments. Before they shrugged, not knowing what else to do, Ronin reached out and lightly touched the orb. It flashed brightly and disappeared. He felt as much as saw the notification blinking in his interface, but he ignored it for now as he jogged after Leo. Elyria, and Brie in tow.


    * * *


    The next two hours passed in a blur. Quite literally in some cases. Between the post-fight anxiety clouding his mind and the obscuring mists that blanketed the hall, Ronin caught very little of what transpired. Leo was making his rounds, explaining as he moved who was who. Some of the people he pointed out were friends, on those occasions he stopped for a brief chat and to introduce his ¡®son¡¯ to them. Those encounters were the exception to the rule, however. The vast majority of the people he pointed out were enemies.


    ¡°That¡¯s Aurex,¡± he said at one point, nodding his head at a man in a black martial arts gi. It was glistening in the faint light as he moved, thanks to the thousands of tiny scales that covered the whole piece. Combined with the black dragon mask he wore; he looked rather eye catching. ¡°He¡¯s Fabius¡¯s firstborn son and the one who entered the competition with him. Don¡¯t let the peacocking he¡¯s doing with that ridiculous outfit fool you. He¡¯s the real power behind the pair.¡± Ronin nodded his head, still half lost in his thoughts and only paying periphery attention.


    ¡°Are you paying attention, boy?¡± Leo asked him with a growl, leading the group to an empty table and seating himself. ¡°I mean it, he¡¯s not someone you want to mess with. Don¡¯t go getting a big head because you beat that brat of Stanly¡¯s. If Aurex had been the one to place that challenge, you¡¯d be dead before you had the chance to get your head in the game.¡± He emphasized his point by jabbing two fingers towards Ronin¡¯s chest. A move that elicited a flinch from Owl five, but no one commented on it. She¡¯d been on edge since the dual.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± Ronin said. "I¡¯m just distracted. At first it was because of the fight and getting dragged here from my prebattle planning¡­ but now, now I¡¯ve remembered what the time dilation in my pocket world allowed me to forget.¡± He idly picked up a cracker covered with orange gelatinous balls from the tray Owl five had thoughtfully brought along with them and bit into it as he spoke. The flavor made him wince, but he finished the cracker in its entirety before he continued speaking.


    ¡°The reason I was so set on conquering the undercity in the first place. You see, when A¡­ when someone from my cave was ready to crystallize, they stole everything they could from everyone. Including our oxygen tanks and pumps and a crystallin tree seed I had managed to collect that very day¡­ anyway, they planned on selling it all when they got to the crystallization tower. Along with their flunkies as slaves to get a good start on their life up here. Though I suppose you already knew all that.¡± He said with a wave of his hand at Leo, who stiffened but remained silent.


    ¡°Well, Markus. He, well he didn¡¯t actually raise me, but he was there for me after my¡­ when I was growing up. Anyway, he tried to stop them. Because, without our oxygen tanks and masks, or anything worth trading to get new ones our whole community is going to die. Well¡­ the guy, had one of his goons shoot Markus for getting in the way. I had only just gotten there and couldn¡¯t stop them, though I made sure they couldn¡¯t do it again¡­¡± He stopped, realizing too late that he was telling Leo that he¡¯d helped kill his son. The man only motioned for him to continue his story however, as he summoned his ever-present glass of wine. So, having needed to get the story off his chest for months now, Ronin carried on,


    ¡°When the teleportation pad activated, I was the only one on it who was still alive. Though that guy did a number on me with my oxygen tank. Broke my fingers, hands, arms, jaw, and I don¡¯t even know what else before Markus shot him. When we arrived at the crystallization tower, I was too messed up to speak and was on my way to death¡¯s door. Thankfully, the guard was too lazy to write up the proper paperwork and just sent me through as the person who was supposed to crystalize that day.¡± He picked up another cracker, having forgotten how awful they tasted, as lost in his story as he was.


    ¡°When I got into my hotel room, I was so out of it I didn¡¯t even know what was real anymore. I¡¯d made it to the ship. A dream for so many living and dying on that toxic planet¡­ but I¡¯d almost died doing it. The guard said something about turning my world into an adventure paradise and I just ran with it. Blew all my credits on the first day, before realizing that real life isn¡¯t anything like stories. Half my team died in the first battle we were in¡­ and when I went to take a break, I got a call from Penny.¡± His voice broke on the words, and he gratefully accepted a glass from Owl five before he continued.


    ¡°She said Markus was dying. Only had at most two days to live. He needed crystallization if he was going to make it¡­ but I¡¯d spent all my money on a stupid fantasy world. That had already killed two of my people¡­ So, I cranked the time dilation up as far as I could afford and set about trying to make the credits Markus needed¡­ yet, somehow, I forgot in the months I spent there, that today is the second day. I don¡¯t even know if he is still alive or not, and I¡¯m stuck at this party, unable to do anything to help him.¡± He finished his story, feeling hollower and more worn out than at any time since that first day in this new life.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Leo said leaning back in his chair. ¡°And you said that Markus is on death¡¯s door?¡± He queried, stroking his golden rings again.


    ¡°Yea, I tried to get a message off to him while you were showing us around, but the only way to do that is to go through the guard. Who didn¡¯t pick up.¡± Ronin admitted, slouching down in his chair. He did his best to ignore the sighs of the women who¡¯d been listening to his story, and the slight motion of Elyria¡¯s hand. He didn¡¯t know what she¡¯d planned to do, but she¡¯d thought better of it and put her hand back down.


    ¡°I see.¡± Leo said, tossing the rest of his wine back and standing up. ¡°Excuse me for a moment, I need to make a call.¡± Without another word, he strode away into the obscuring mists.


    ¡°We should kill that man,¡± Brie said in a quiet hiss after he¡¯d left. ¡°He has no respect at all, after a story like that he just walked away.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elyria said in a thoughtful tone. ¡°He seemed really agitated while the White flame was talking, let¡¯s just wait and see what happens.¡± She¡¯d grabbed a wine glass of her own from a passing waiter and was taking minuscule sips every so often as she looked around. ¡°This really is a wonderful place. If only my husband were here to see it¡­¡± that sentence was followed by a much larger sip from her wine glass.


    ¡°Gentlemen, ladies, and, well everyone else.¡± A voice echoed throughout the dome, which had brightened up a little bit near the center of the dancing area. ¡°We are about to begin the contest in honor of my last-born son¡¯s crystallization. I am so happy to have so many fathers and their sons come out to join us in the celebration. I couldn¡¯t think of a better way to honor my son¡¯s arrival than this.¡± Ronin¡¯s eyes were drawn to the now brightly lit dance floor, where several dancers appeared.


    ¡°In honor of the occasion, I¡¯ve brought several specimens from my own personal realm out to entertain you all this evening. Please, come. Enjoy the show, when the dance is over, we¡¯ll get to the competition.¡± Ronin never did see the figure who¡¯d been speaking, but once the dance began, he scarcely cared.


    There were thirty dancers on the floor, made up of fifteen couples. One half of each pair was a masculine figure of a tree. Ronin didn¡¯t know how a tree could look masculine, but they did. Ten feet tall and thick limbed, their bark was a silver grey, and their branches had sparce golden leaves. They bent and twisted, moving around the dance floor on exposed roots that somehow functioned like feet. Despite how fascinating the tree dancers were, however, nearly every pair of eyes were focused on their partners.


    Beautiful, green skinned women, with brown bark patterning all over their exposed skin. Which, thanks to their being clothed with no more than five of the golden leaves a piece, was a lot of exposed skin. Their hair was thick, falling down to their knees and growing small leaves. Ronin was reminded of a weeping willow¡¯s branches as they swayed about. Their movements weren¡¯t quick, but they flowed so smoothly as they dipped around, between, above and below the swaying branches of their partners that Ronin couldn¡¯t tell where one ended and the other began.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be,¡± Elyria said in an awed whisper. ¡°They went extinct many eras ago, before our people left for the stars.¡±

 Chapter forty-one

    ¡°You recognize them?¡± Ronin asked, surprised at her tone. She¡¯d talked with him quite a bit since they¡¯d met, most of those talks involved her killing him in one way or another. He¡¯d heard her angry, resentful, mournful when her husband came up¡­ but this was the first time he¡¯d ever heard such awed wonder in her voice. Even with the mask, he could tell she was moved.


    ¡°Yes,¡± she said in a reverent tone. ¡°My race was born on the moon of a gas giant. Like the fifth planet from the sun in the system your planet is in. It was a forest moon, filled with every manner of life imaginable¡­ until the planet became unstable. Our ancestors believed it wasn¡¯t a natural phenomenon but caused by one of the races that lived on an adjoining moon¡­¡± she told her story in a whisper, as if speaking to herself as she watched the dance.


    The green skinned women dipped and spun, shook their heads, and climbed over their partners. The tree men dipped, swayed, and spun around on their exposed roots. As they danced, a resonance began to fill the air. A vibration that spoke of latent potential and the promise of nature¡¯s power unrestrained. Like every movement they made caused a buildup of static, and one wrong move could touch off an explosion on the dance floor. The dancing pairs rode this wave of power, feeding off each other to make the pressure ever higher.


    ¡°¡­the dryads were the mothers of the forest. Their husbands, the mighty oakkin. As the forests died, the last of them gathered and danced a dance of sacrifice. Giving up their lives to join into a new entity, a colossal entity that could take our people away from our dying moon and too a safer place¡­¡± Ronin listened raptly, all the while never taking his eyes off the dancing dryads or their partners the oakkin, as they moved, he felt as if he could see the story in his mind. As if the creatures before him were performing a recreation of the death of their moon.


    ¡°¡­as the eras passed, the ship seeded the planets we came across with its offspring as well as our own. Just like on your planet, White flame, the ship dropped its seed pods and we descended with it. Our task to stay with and nurture the seedlings for however many generations it takes, until it matures, and we can leave the now enriched planet once more.¡±


    ¡°Cute story,¡± Leo said having returned at some point, his guards flanking him. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that none of that actually happened. Your race, at least in your flavor, only came into existence a few days ago.¡± As he spoke, he took his seat again at the table.


    ¡°What the hell is your problem?¡± Brie snapped, causing the lionesses to bare their fangs at her. ¡°Can¡¯t you just let her enjoy the show?¡±


    ¡°I suppose that was a bit out of line,¡± Leo said with a dip of his head. ¡°I just get touchy when the topic of conversation is giant seeds being rained down on a planet for its ¡®enrichment¡¯ of course.¡± Brie leaned forward, but Ronin waved her back. As much as he disliked Leo¡¯s bedside manner, he¡¯d be lying if he said he hadn¡¯t gotten an uncomfortable twist in his guts when Elyria talked about how her ship had infested his planet with giant tree seeds.


    ¡°Well,¡± the elf said as the dance ended and the oakkin, dryad couples bowed in unison. ¡°I choose to go with Five¡¯s answer from earlier in the night. Just because my background was created for me, doesn¡¯t make me any less real.¡± Leo had the grace to dip his head at those words.


    ¡°You will get no arguments from me on that point,¡± he said. ¡°We might have originated from different sources of code, but we all exist together in the same crystallin matrix after all.¡± That was more of a concession than Ronin expected him to make. For some reason, he¡¯d pegged Leo Dawson as a human¡¯s first purest.


    ¡°What did you think of the show folks?¡± The speaker was now visible, if shrouded in mist. Having appeared on a stage behind where the dancers had performed. It rose from the ground to hover several feet in the air, as seamlessly as if it had always been there. ¡°Once we welcome my son on stage and talk about the contest, I¡¯ve brought you all together to partake in, we¡¯ll be auctioning them off in pairs. Along with all the escorts you and your fellows brought in tonight with that purpose in mind¡­ and don¡¯t worry about the laws restricting personal realm¡¯s natives from leaving your worlds or entering the worlds of others. Just like for the pair you each brought with you tonight, I¡¯ve personally paid the taxes and commissioned all the paperwork myself. Anything bought from this auction will be fully compatible with your personal realm, I guarantee it.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t understand the gasps from the crowd at those words, but it seemed like the people were excited.


    ¡°Realm natives aren¡¯t usually allowed to leave their worlds. To bring them out requires special permits that cost a fortune in ship credits and an extended period of time to obtain. Part of the reason the old-world president got so many of the ships most wealthy and powerful together like this is the promise of that auction.¡± Leo said, leaning forward to speak quietly for Ronin¡¯s benefit.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t understand.¡± He said with a shrug, not wanting to just agree in case this was important later.


    ¡°It takes a lot of the ship¡¯s computing power to make the code from a personal realm compatible with the ship¡¯s default city simulation. Even more to make them compatible with another realm. Power that is needed to run vital functions elsewhere. Remember when I told you that you could have magic in your world, but only if you set it up that way?¡± Ronin nodded with interest at that.


    ¡°Well, this is a work around to that rule. If your realm doesn¡¯t have magic, you can¡­ at great expense, import a creature that does. Given time and the right breeding, it¡¯s possible to bring that trait out in others¡­ call it a hobby of the obscenely wealthy.¡± Leo said as he sipped wine right through his mask.


    Ronin frowned, trying to come to grips with what he was being told. Elyria didn¡¯t seem to care about anything other than the words the shrouded form on the platform had said originally, however.


    ¡°White flame,¡± she said gripping his arm tightly. ¡°We have to get one of those pairs.¡± She¡¯d leaned over the small table and grabbed his arm in both her hands, and although he couldn¡¯t see her face, he knew her eyes would be wild with desperation from her tone alone.


    ¡°¡­ I, I don¡¯t have that much money.¡± Ronin said after considering his options and her words. ¡°And the money I do have, I need to spend on my friend Markus, if he¡¯s even still alive.¡± The dryad¡¯s dance had helped relieve the stress he¡¯d been feeling, but now that it was over that stress was creeping back in again.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± she said not giving up. ¡°They are the very pillar of our racial heritage. Bring a pair of them back to the syndicate, set them up in a forest and give the moon elves access to them in good faith and I can guarantee you the cooperation of my kind through the duration of the locust war, and against any foe who might think to invade your lands, lest they harm the dryad.¡± Ronin was tempted by that, he really was. Still, it didn¡¯t change the facts.


    ¡°I wish I could Elyria, even if it didn¡¯t benefit me at all I¡¯d still do it for your people¡­ but I wasn¡¯t lying, I really don¡¯t have that many credits.¡± He watched her deflate at his words, slumping back into her chair as if all the life had gone out of her in that moment.


    ¡°Well, actually kid¡± Leo said with a shrug, ¡°you might have more money than you think. You took out Philip tonight. And although he wasn¡¯t a big fish in the upper echelons of power, he did have a lot of money. Check your interface.¡± With a frown, Ronin checked the notification that had been beeping at him, that he¡¯d been ignoring, since it had shown up.


    ¡°Wow,¡± he said with a whistled. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of zeros¡­ we might be able to at least bid on one with this amount of money.¡± He offered up with a shrug.


    ¡°And here,¡± Leo said as he pulled a card from thin air and flicked it at Ronin¡¯s face. He flinched away at its approach, but before he could try to dodge or catch the card it came to a halt in midair before him. Reaching out he took the card and could visualize a balance of one million credits. It was some kind of bank card.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Ronin asked in bewilderment.


    ¡°We agreed that I¡¯d pay you a million credit¡¯s when we won the contest. Honestly, I hadn¡¯t really intended on giving you anything. I only needed you long enough to get me through the door. But I¡¯ve taken a shine to you boy. And after your story, I went out and looked into what you said. Turns out my parenting skills might have been worse than I thought¡­ anyway, take that for now. But you might want to stick around for the contest anyway, I¡¯ve heard a few things¡­ this is important.¡± Ronin just stared at the man in the lion mask. It was like he was a whole different person.


    ¡°I, I would actually like to find out what¡¯s going on at least¡­ but Markus¡­¡± Ronin said, unsure as how to answer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Markus, boy,¡± Leo said. ¡°We go way back, and I wasn¡¯t about to let him die just because you didn¡¯t manage your credits properly.¡± The feeling of relief Ronin felt at those words were beyond his ability to express. Before he got the chance to say thank you, he was interrupted.


    ¡°Your glasses,¡± said a neutral voice from beside the table. Ronin blinked, caught completely off guard by the voice. What was going on?


    ¡°The guy on stage brought his kid out and asked that drinks be passed out so everyone could toast to his health.¡± Brie said helpfully from where she stood behind his chair. Even seated, he was taller than she was, but the competent power in that woman was undeniable.


    ¡°Ah, yes.¡± Ronin said as they each took a glass. There were only four of them on the gold platter, the server held them out to Elyria, Ronin, and Leo and the larger of the two lionids. Brie and the other lionid weren¡¯t offered any.


    ¡°honored guests,¡± the server said still in that neutral tone. ¡°This way if you will.¡± They said as they tipped the wine tray down to reveal the interwoven circle pattern that was the sign to follow.


    ¡°Oh, right¡­ but Brie¡­¡± Ronin said.


    ¡°But the auction¡­¡± Elyria said at the same time in a hiss.


    ¡°What about me?¡± Brie added to the confusion.


    They each looked at the others, confusion warring with amusement at their simultaneous outburst.


    ¡°Wow, you kids are something else.¡± Leo said with a shake of his head. ¡°Transfer however much of Philip¡¯s capital onto the card I gave you as you think is prudent and give it to the little girl. She can stay here with my remaining escort and vote for you in the auction. And you, girl, don¡¯t worry about Alex. I¡¯ll keep an eye on him myself.¡± That seemed to tie up all three of their worries, though Brie¡¯s body language said she wasn¡¯t completely on board still.


    ¡°Gentlemen, lady¡­ this way please.¡± The neutral tone was beginning to have an edge, but Ronin ignored it for just another second.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Ronin said moving all the money over that he¡¯d gotten from the foul Philip. ¡°I put it all on here, try for a dryad, oakkin pair. If there is anything else up for auction that we can afford and you think we could really use¡­ just do what you think is in my best interests, ok?¡± He said as he turned away from her.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t get into any fights Five,¡± Elyria said as she moved to take Ronin¡¯s arm. She gave the smaller woman¡¯s shoulder a squeeze as she passed. ¡°You get the dryad for me, and I¡¯ll keep an eye on your lord for you, deal?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Deal,¡± brie said as she brushed the hand off her shoulder, though Ronin noticed she did it gently.


    ¡°You kids really are something else,¡± Leo said with a chuckle as he took the lead in following their server, his guard a half step behind. ¡°Just remember that you¡¯re still my son. So, try not to embarrass me, and again. Don¡¯t provoke any duels in here ok, we¡¯re heading to the big leagues.¡± He reiterated the point a final time, as the server pointed them into a misty nook. Walking inside, found them teleported away.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    ¡°You sure about this?¡± Hunter asked from across the desk. ¡°You already delayed the march by a month. I understand the reasons you gave for that, and at the time agreed with them. But then you sent the K brothers back to the honeycomb along with all the remaining kaldarr. Not to mention Vasylia and Harken with their best people. If you send the scouts out too, then who¡¯s going to be here to watch your back? You have to have realized that Eric and his bugbear woman are stirring up trouble in the camps.¡±


    Lily sighed a little at the mention of the honeycombs. It wasn¡¯t what her people referred to the well defended and fortified city states that connected and climbed the mountain. Yet, it was the name the White flame¡¯s people had chosen to give it. She couldn¡¯t even disagree, since from the air it really did look like a giant honeycomb carved into the mountain side. It was amusing in a strange fashion. If only her current duties were half so funny.


    They were in the tent that had been earmarked for Lily to share with Vasylia. Now it served as her office, complete with a big desk made of welded scraps from kaldarr dropships, but that was fine. It did the job, and she¡¯d found that she needed a quiet place to keep her records. Perhaps her husband could just fly by the seat of his pants when it came to running the settlement, but it wasn¡¯t the most efficient method.


    ¡°I am Hunter,¡± she answered in a patient tone. ¡°Eric and Andona might be a little overzealous, but they¡¯ve pulled together a large number of the people we¡¯d written off as noncombatants and have them fired up to train and run drills. That¡¯s why they have gotten so much of the training course¡¯s time lately. Conversely, your scouts and the kaldarr and bugbear are already quite well versed in battle. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve asked you to undertake these missions while we train up the rest of the army.¡± She repeated the words again, as if she hadn¡¯t recounted those same lines a half dozen times during the conversation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t hear you Lily,¡± Hunter said voice still even, but tone rising an octave. ¡°I just don¡¯t agree. If you want to blood those people the best way to do it would be on the walls of the honeycomb, but battling simulated foes in mock combat with no stakes¡­ and this mission, with the rats and the transportation you want us to use, why¡­¡±


    ¡°Listen Hunter.¡± Lily said, cutting the shorter woman off before she could go over the entire mission brief, again. ¡°I know it seems strange, but I just need you to trust me on this one, ok? I promise this is going to strengthen the White flame¡¯s position in the syndicate. Even if you can¡¯t see all the pieces in play, they add up. I just need you to follow these orders and soon you¡¯ll see why it was necessary.¡± That was a gamble, since she knew how loyal the goblins were to her husband. If it worked then this conversation would end and she¡¯d get to move on to the next part of the plan, if it didn¡¯t then she¡¯d have to deal with Hunter in a less pleasant way.


    ¡°Alright Lily,¡± Hunter said at last after several long moments of staring her down. ¡°I¡¯m going to trust you, so please, don¡¯t make me regret that choice.¡± Having spoken her piece, Hunter got up and left the dino hide office behind.


    ¡°Well, that could have gone better.¡± Lily muttered to herself as she let out a relieved breath. Hunter was one of the wild cards she¡¯d worried most about. She was completely ruthless and loyal to a fault. Lily suspected if it wasn¡¯t for the physical augmentations Owl five had been given, Hunter would be the more deadly of the pair. Still, it had worked out in the end. She rubbed her stomach, perhaps the stress was getting to her, since she felt a little queasy.


    She looked over her notes as she planned her next steps. Eric hated the kaldarr more than anything, so the first thing she¡¯d had to do was get them out of the valley. She¡¯d wanted to send them to the wall, but the moon elves didn¡¯t like them either. So, she¡¯d been forced to find another war front. Since the entirety of the middle continent had been eaten right down to the bedrock the only front there was left were the honeycombs.


    Next, was Andona¡¯s hatred of the old White mane leadership. That amounted to Harken and Vasylia¡¯s families. Since she already had a ship heading to the honeycomb, she added them to the roster. After all, it only made sense to send the respected bugbear¡¯s along to bridge the gap between the kaldarr and the higher clans.


    Next on the list of problematic individuals was Unyielding oak. The poor elf had been damaged by the loss of her forest, clan, and their animal companions. What was left of her race wasn¡¯t a unified whole, they¡¯d come from different sections of the vast forest. All funneled together as they were forced into the bugbear city to escape the locusts. Unyielding oak¡¯s faction wasn¡¯t the only one in the valley, just the strongest.


    Another had been made up of the abandoned kids that had been clinging to the fringes of the race, trying to make it as best they could in a group who had given up on them. In a stroke of brilliance that Lily didn¡¯t think was actually done on purpose, the White flame had taken in all the orphans¡­ from every faction. Though he¡¯d started with the wood elves. That act of kindness, on top of his pure physical might. Showcased as he slaughtered 10,000 locusts and a queen in mortal combat, cemented her loyalty to him forever. She was as unyielding as her name implied.


    Having claimed the strongest warriors, and the youngest unwanted children. All that had been left behind were the elves who either couldn¡¯t fight or wouldn¡¯t for whatever reason. It was still a sizable number, well over a hundred. They¡¯d fallen easily into Eric¡¯s growing camp of followers, and his charismatic nature and desire for equal treatment for all, had them shaping into a fighting unit worth paying attention to. So good in fact that it was almost funny, considering they were on the outs with their kind to begin with because they didn¡¯t want to fight.


    So, in order to give them the opportunity to grow, Unyielding oak had to be removed from the picture. It had been easy enough to accomplish, once Owl two found a nearby valley that had a small population of the giant goats they¡¯d adopted as their companion animal. All she¡¯d had to do was make a dropship available and subtly push for Unyielding oak to lead the expedition herself to empty the valley of the loyal wood elves.


    She¡¯d sent a team of food corps along with each expedition, leaving only ten of them behind in camp. Ten who, including their leader Guts, would be leaving soon with Hunter and her remaining scouts. The only intact forces left in the valley belonged to Benjamin and Eric. Once Hunter left, the real work could begin. She only hoped she was doing the right thing. Her husband was a savage man with a good heart. Still, his leadership ability wasn¡¯t adequate to the task that she¡¯d found herself facing. She had to act, and, if her position ended up becoming stronger in the process¡­ so be it.


    She worked for several more hours then as night fell, she stopped for the day. Rolling the notes into a tight tube she slid them into a thumb print activated scroll case Owl two had given her for sensitive information. Once that had been tucked safely away into a drawer, she made her way outside the tent and the cave.


    The camp was as empty as it had been since she¡¯d arrived. Since Eric had wanted the normal goblins removed as well. That hadn¡¯t been a real problem to accomplish. Since they¡¯d already been living at the farm, she¡¯d just made it official. Owl two was having a field day on the poor goblin women. He must have had a stash of genetic material ready and waiting because the day after the White flame had left, he¡¯d artificially inseminated every goblin female in the entire camp.


    They had begun giving birth to the new generation only the day before, so the odd, helmeted man had been fully preoccupied with his crossbreed experiments since then. Lily still had a tough time with his methods, but the goblins were more than happy to do their part for the syndicate. She¡¯d even sat down with several of them and had more than one hours long talk with them. To them, being pregnant and giving birth to new children was what they were responsible for. They saw it as their job, she didn¡¯t think she agreed, but they had all given consent, and that was what the White flame had stipulated.


    As she walked through the camp town with Jewel and Vara at her back, Lily took in the people living in their syndicate. It was easy to forget sometimes that despite the infighting between the lord¡¯s advisors, most of the people here just wanted to live in peace. The forges were pumping out smoke and the clanging of hammers. The leather workers were turning the hides from hunted prey into usable pieces of either armor, equipment, or clothing. All the hides except the goat hides. Those had been outlawed to kill, and all the hides they¡¯d gathered up to that point had been collected with generous compensation to their owners. Unyielding oak had plans for them, but she¡¯d left before Lily could ask.


    Set up beside the metal and leather works was a new craft that utilized both the others. Several crafters who had been put out of work thanks to the locust threat got back into work by crafting the locust¡¯s carapace. The locust¡¯s green exoskeletons were thick and resistant to damage. Most of the troops couldn¡¯t damage them with an arrow or sword unless they hit a join or had the lord or his follower¡¯s absurd strength. So, naturally it made good armor.


    Owl two had taken much of the guess work out of it when he ran experiments on the carapace brought back by lord Ronin the first time, they¡¯d encountered the creatures. He determined that a fine tooth saw and a hole making tool called a drill bit would be the ideal tools to fashion the armor with. Because trying to cut it or break it gave suboptimal results. He¡¯d used his magic fabricator to make one hundred drills and saws and anyone who checked out space in the carapace works could use them freely.


    The plates were sawed into half palm sized rectangles and small holes were drilled around the edge. Thin cord from the leather works was used to connect them. Lastly, buckles made at the metal works were used to tie it all together, into an overlapping plate armor called lamellar. It covered the chest, back, shoulders, and thighs of the wearer. It was remarkably effective in battle and the materials were readily available, coupled with the short creation time, the camp had been turning the plates, buckles, and cord out by the crate load.


    Passing the industrial district, Lily did a stop in at the games tent. It was filled with young adults and older citizens who couldn¡¯t work due to age or injury. There were several tournaments running at all times of the day as people got further carried away with the game, they¡¯d started calling POWFS or POWF. Which stood for ¡®people of White flame syndicate.¡¯ Nodding at a few people, and stopping to watch a few hands be played, Lily exited out the other side of the tent and continued on her rounds.


    The next area she entered wasn¡¯t nearly as cheery as the last. There were no children playing games, or industrious men and women working to better the community anyway they could. This section of the camp was where Eric and Andona had set up their tents. It was right beside the training fields, and as Lily approached, she could see a team running through the mock streets. They weren¡¯t facing any opponent other than the diving batlin projections, and they were losing, badly.


    ¡°Come on you bunch,¡± shouted a clearly drunk bugbear. A bugbear who, if her memory served, had been the head guard of Andona¡¯s family estate back in the honeycomb¡­ dang, now she was thinking of her former home that way. She shook her head to clear it of the random thoughts and observed the other soldiers closely as she came to Eric¡¯s command tent.


    Everyone was drunk. Thanks to a beer and spirits run Andona had insisted they take back to her home city, to raise morale. Lily hadn¡¯t disagreed. She¡¯d been after the crafting tools left behind more than the booze, but still it was a worthwhile trip. Although it looked like Andona¡¯s people were going to raise their spirits, right up until they ran out of them.


    The men and women sat around, laughing and celebrating because the goblins and kaldarr were finally gone. Bugbears, wood elves, and humans¡­ far more of the latter group, though nearly half the numbers present were a mix of bugbears and wood elves. They wore a mixed match of armor. From the ankylosaur leather with bone plates, the full plate steel the wealthy of the honeycomb had favored, if missing a few pieces, to several sets of the newest lamellar armor.


    Their weapons were an eclectic mix, like their armor. Many had weapons brought with them when they escaped to the valley, but the majority were armed with locust talons. Having either been made into short swords or spear tips.


    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t the lady of the hour.¡± Called out a visibly drunk Thomas, where he leaned against Eric¡¯s tent post. ¡°Got all those green buggers out of here finally, have you?¡± He said, words slurred around the mouth of a bottle. ¡°Bout time, you promised us you¡¯d do it a month¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Thomas.¡± Eric said, exiting his tent at the rantings of his guard. ¡°Lady Lily, please come in.¡± He gestured for her to enter and held the flap aside for her as she ducked inside.


    ¡°Is it done?¡± He asked once they were alone.


    ¡°I noticed your people have all been drinking,¡± she said by way of answering. ¡°Will you be able to carry out your end like this?¡±


    ¡°How long do we have before they start coming back?¡± Eric shot back, not giving into her pointed look.


    ¡°Samantha will return with the dropship in two weeks. If you can take her when she gets back, then you have all the time you need. Without the pilots, the ships don¡¯t fly, right? ¡­ That leaves only one scout team keeping an eye on undercity. Nothing your people can¡¯t handle I assume?¡±


    Eric¡¯s only answer was an ear-to-ear smile.

 Chapter forty-two

    When Ronin¡¯s vision cleared after the teleportation, he found himself in a large circular room. Stepping off the pad, he looked around, he was on the tallest layer of a semi-circle that stepped down towards a podium set at the center of the floor on the bottom row. Each layer had a set of desks, each set up to hold four people with a set of stairs between each of the desks. The ship implanted memories were telling him this was a pre fall college lecture hall. Several of the desks were already occupied and more people were flowing in from other teleportation pads around the hall.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even tell what¡¯s real and what isn¡¯t anymore.¡± Elyria said as she stepped off the teleportation pad to join him in looking at the room. ¡°It¡¯s like the rules I thought I knew about the world simply don¡¯t apply anymore.¡±


    ¡°Oh, the world outside this simulation works much like you are used to.¡± Leo said as he joined them, his escort right beside him. Ronin just couldn¡¯t get over how lionlike she looked. Her proportions, the size of her head and paws, it really looked like a lion stood up on its hind legs and put on a golden half mask.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that we aren¡¯t in the outside world anymore. Out there, we had no power, but in here, we have as much power as we can take for ourselves. Now, come on. Based on who I see sitting on various levels, and the fact they put us up here, I¡¯d say we¡¯re in the nosebleeds. Can¡¯t say that I¡¯m surprised, though it would have been nice to be lower.¡±


    ¡°The nosebleeds?¡± Elyria asked, as she turned her masked face in Ronin¡¯s direction. He hadn¡¯t ever heard the term before either, but again his ship given knowledge came to his rescue. As they filed their way into four of the seats on the top row, he explained.


    ¡°Pre fall, at sports events or shows, the highest seats were called nosebleeds because of the high altitude. It¡¯s a bit derogatory since the high seats generally had the worst view of the stage and were the cheapest and easiest tickets to get.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard you reference this ¡®fall¡¯ several times.¡± Elyria said as she took her seat beside him. ¡°What are you talking about exactly? You never really explained and what I¡¯ve picked up from out of context comments doesn¡¯t make much sense to me.¡±


    ¡°There will be a presentation shortly that should help answer your questions madam.¡± The server who¡¯d brought them through the teleporter said with a shallow bow as they were seated, before they turned and left.


    ¡°Well, there you go,¡± Leo said while looking around himself. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what all they will tell us here, after all everyone who¡¯s here already knows most of the tale, but still¡­ damn, Fabius and Aurex are here. The bleeders got the next row down.¡± Ronin followed his line of sight down to the row below, where the two men were taking their seats.


    Neither of them looked up at them, even once. Ronin knew that had to be a slight to Leo, but the man was containing himself well. Only having summoned his wine glass again, that he was taking large sips from regularly. They sat in silence after that, waiting as the lecture hall filled up, and a strong looking man in a crisp suit took the podium, and smiled up at them all with a winning grin, which contained every tooth the man had.


    ¡°Welcome, to you all and thanks for making your way here this evening.¡± He said in a powerful voice that carried all the way through the room without seeming need of amplification. ¡°I thought we could start the night off with a short film documenting how we got to this point¡­¡± there were a few dissatisfied mutters from the lower seats, and the man bowed his head in smiling acceptance before continuing.


    ¡°I know everyone here already knows what I¡¯ll be showing you tonight. But as this same video is playing in the ballroom right now, and many of you will be making your way back there after this meeting, I thought it would be best if we showed it here too. So that if anyone references it, you will know its contents and can pretend as if you never left the hall at all.¡± That answer mollified whoever had raised the objection, because after a few more introductory words, the man stepped off, and away from the podium as a giant screen filled the entirety of the back wall.


    The screen showed the crystallin ship flying through space, there was nothing visible around it but empty blackness. After a beat, the camera angle changed to the ship¡¯s bridge. An asymmetric cavern that looked like a mass of crystals of varying shapes, sizes, and colors had been dropped in at random. A screen flickered to life on the bridge, showing the empty blackness of space, before zooming in on a tiny dot. As the dot grew, Ronin realized it was the earth.


    Once the planet had taken up the entirety of the screen, he heard a beeping noise. The camera zoomed back out to show the ship, launching millions upon millions of green, football sized crystallin tree seeds towards the earth in a staggered wave. Ronin couldn¡¯t help but clench his fists as the camera followed after the swarm, as they flew through the void.


    In no time at all, they arrived at the green and blue planet. The first wave impacted the atmosphere in a burning wave of fire as they slammed into the ground from pole to pole. The planet slowly rotated and moved as the following waves entered the atmosphere, until the entire surface of the planet had been covered with the craters of seed impacts.


    There were several angry mutters from the crowd when the camera zoomed in on the earth¡¯s surface. Showing the devastation, the blanket of seeds had caused to the cities, and the populations they contained. Most of those present had seen this before, or a facsimile of it, but watching their home be attacked still caused a reaction, even two centuries later.


    Time sped up. A month or more passed while rescue teams searched the wreckage for people who¡¯d been trapped in collapsed houses. It showed a team collecting several of the seeds that had buried themselves deeply into the earth, and how scientists studied them to little result. Then, approximately six months after the seeds hit the earth, they started sprouting.


    Ronin watched as first one sprout shot up from the ground, then a second, then a tenth, then millions of them were shooting into the sky at frightening speed. For a moment, he thought the time had been sped up again, until the shot panned in on one of the shoots growing with visible speed right through a lab where it was being tested. The scientists either watching on with fascination or running away as it grew.


    Ronin marveled at the technology level his people had obtained before the fall. As the trees began sucking in the atmosphere¡¯s oxygen and spitting out the toxic gasses the crystallin beetles breathed, they combated them with every military device they could bring to bear. Hundreds of the fast-growing trees were destroyed. By flamethrowers and axes at first, then by rockets and bombs as they continued to grow. Near the end, they even resorted to nuclear bombs in some of the less inhabited areas of the planet.


    They did everything they could, and it worked, to a point. There were just too many of them. The millions that they¡¯d missed continued to grow beyond even the mighty redwoods until the world was covered with the crystallin trees that could even be seen from orbit, and as they grew, the rest of the planet died.


    Elyria let out a little gasp beside him as they watched scene after scene of dying plants, animals, and people. Until there was nothing left on the surface but the giant, crystallin trees. All the remaining members of the earth¡¯s population had been forced underground, into sealed bunkers or caves. Only able to venture onto the surface with the help of breathing masks.


    Then, the crystal ship arrived in orbit. Thousands of crystal drop ships entered the now partially terraformed atmosphere. They sparkled brilliantly, beautifully in the sun as they came down. When the crystallized bodies of the beetles emerged from the ships, Ronin blinked in shock. He¡¯d heard the beetles were humanoid, he¡¯d always assumed that meant they were human sized as well, but they weren¡¯t. The beetles were huge creatures, each easily the size of a locust queen, and similar in appearance to one as well. He was forced to reevaluate the scale of the dropships now, since each of those things held more than ten of the beetles comfortably.


    One ship landed in the heart of what had once been a thriving metropolis. Once the beetles had disembarked, they started chittering at each other in a language that Ronin didn¡¯t understand. Still, he could see the horror mirrored in their every move. They got on to some communication system and before long every beetle on the planet and in the ship were clicking and clacking at each other in rapid agitated tones.


    ¡°I guess it actually was an accident.¡± Ronin breathed the words out in as quiet a tone as he was capable of and was surprised when he felt Elyria¡¯s hand slip into his own. She gave him a comforting squeeze, before retrieving her hand again, but the warmth of her concern stuck with him as the scene shifted again.


    Time had passed. Ronin didn¡¯t know how much, but the beetles had brought down with them the larva that would become the tree¡¯s caretakers and protecters at some point, and they were already beginning to spread across the gigantic tree¡¯s trunks. The beetles had already begun construction on what looked like a termite mound but constructed of pure crystal in all the colors of the rainbow. It looked like they had successfully taken over the planet. Until the first bomb dropped.


    What followed was a rain of all the remaining bombs that humanity still had, hidden away in underground silos. Directed at the mounds the giant beetles had been constructing. Then, before the dust had even settled, a swarm of what remained of humanity rushed up from the ground in a wave of half starved, breathing mask equipped fury.


    They took down the crystallin beetles in any way they could. Guns, flamethrowers, grenades, heck some were smashed apart with hammers. The beetles didn¡¯t fight back either, not one of the giant glittering bugs raised so much as an antenna against their human attackers, until there were only a handful left alive, captured and bound.


    Then the camera showed humans climbing into the dropships, forcing the remaining beetles to fly them up to the mothership. Where they commenced the slaughter. Until there were only a few beetles left in existence, captured, and tortured until they explained how the ship worked.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    What followed was a fast-forwarded version of how humanity came to occupy the ship. How they first crystallized themselves into the ships crystallin matrix. How they discovered they could give themselves crystal bodies like the beetles, and how they discovered the teleportation technology. Putting a pad into each of the surviving human settlements¡­ and how they discovered that the ship didn¡¯t contain enough mass to house all of humanity. How more materials were needed from the trees that had killed their world, to bring more people up or make new bodies.


    ¡°This is where the video in the ballroom stops.¡± Said the smiling man who¡¯d retaken his place at the podium at some point and had paused the video. Right now, the last world president is explaining how we need more resources to bring more of humanity onto the ship. How they decided to make that resource gathering mission into a contest. How everyone in that room will be given a free crystal body to venture down to the earth again to collect as many resources as they can in two months. And how the winner will be given several wonderful prizes onboard the ship¡­ but this isn¡¯t where the video ends. Now, I¡¯m going to show you the rest of it.¡±


    The video started playing again. From a shot inside this very room, with the crowd that was actually present. It zoomed out, through the ship made entirely of a variety of crystals out into space, where it panned around and zipped off into the void. The planets and asteroids of the solar system flashed past as the camera¡¯s lens captured it all in a blink. Until it came to rest on a new alien ship. The gathered members gasped in unison as they saw the vessel.


    Ronin and Elyria gasped right along with them, but in their case, it was for a different reason. Because they recognized that ship. Part of it anyway. It was the spitting image of the picture they¡¯d seen in the command tent just moments before they¡¯d been forced to leave the pocket world for this party.


    ¡°This ship belongs to a race that quite frankly we can¡¯t pronounce the name of. Thanks to the beetle¡¯s archives, however, we were able to identify them.¡± A picture of a humanoid lizard, reminiscent of a trog, only larger, more muscled, and more intelligent looking began to rotate around the screen. It had a sort of orange and red Mohawk, or haired ridge that ran from the top of its head down to its tail. ¡°We¡¯re just calling them lizards, since that¡¯s clearly what they are. And according to the beetles, they¡¯re mortal enemies with nearly all the known races in this sector of the galaxy.¡± The screen zoomed back towards the beetle ship as the man continued to speak.


    ¡°They¡¯re coming to earth, right now. We discovered them only a handful of days ago and have been scrambling for a response ever since. Unfortunately, thanks to the data we¡¯ve uncovered in the ship¡¯s stores, it looks like these lizards are here to wipe out the beetles and take the planet for themselves¡­ I say unfortunately because they won¡¯t stop there. They will wipe this planet of all life when they arrive, including ours. We wanted to flee using the beetle ship, but the damn beetles destroyed its engines before we captured it completely.¡± The camera was now zoomed in on the moon as it slowly rotated around while the man spoke.


    ¡°Thankfully, we have options.¡± He said as a space station came into view on the moon¡¯s surface. ¡°We¡¯d been working on this long before the beetles got here. After we took their ship however, we abandoned the project. Thanks to the dropships, we could get to and from the planet and the ship with no problem. But the drop ships don¡¯t have the ability to fly in open space. This ship does¡­ we plan to strip the beetle ship of many of its components to get our own craft space worthy, and to allow us to grow our own crystallin matrix on board. So, we¡¯ll be able to bring our personal realms over to that ship. Giving us a way to survive the flight as we hightail it out of here before the enemy arrives.¡± The screen went blank once more, and all eyes focused on the speaker again.


    ¡°That¡¯s the real mission. While the people in the ballroom scramble to collect as many resources from the trees as they can, you will steal those resources and fly them up to the moon. And before you go thinking this is a free lunch, I¡¯ll be honest and tell you. There isn¡¯t enough room for everyone here on that ship. Even crystallized, we¡¯ll be lucky to house half of those present here, in this room. So, it¡¯s a competition for you too. Only half of you will be able to come on board, the half who brings in the most resources¡­ I hope you are ready to work for your tickets, ladies, and gentlemen.¡± As the man finished speaking, the room erupted into loud angry shouting.


    Ronin let out a breath, as he slouched back into the comfortable chair in Leo¡¯s car office. The meeting had dragged on for another hour, an hour where everyone yelled at each other nonstop. Eventually, they¡¯d gotten their crystallin body appointment scheduled and had been told they could go. Returning to the ballroom, they¡¯d spent another hour mingling and pretending to be excited about the contest they would be doing starting on the following day.


    ¡°I honestly can¡¯t believe you gave her your entire wealth.¡± Leo said from behind his desk as he looked at Brie¡¯s purchases. ¡°I mean, seriously girl. Can you explain what you were thinking with these because I¡¯m coming up empty.¡± They¡¯d removed their masks after the party, though Ronin¡¯s team had kept theirs, and the look on Leo¡¯s face was somewhere between exasperated and exhausted. Without even looking at Leo, Brie turned to Ronin and raised her brows. Indicating that she¡¯d only speak if he willed it.


    ¡°Go ahead Br¡­ Owl five.¡± Ronin said, with a shrug. He¡¯d be lying if he said he didn¡¯t want to know too. ¡°Tell us what you got at the auction and what your thoughts were while getting each. Then we can talk about what happened in the secret meeting of the ship¡¯s elite.¡± He couldn¡¯t help the bitter note that crept into his tone at the last sentence, though he did try hard to conceal it.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl five said from where she stood behind his chair. Moving around into the opening she first pointed to the dryad and oakkin pair hunched down in the corner closest to the door. ¡°Firstly, I acquired the dryad and oakkin pair that Elyria wanted. They don¡¯t have names, or much personality yet. As I understand it, they won¡¯t start developing that until they get a home grove of their own.¡±


    ¡°Thank you again for doing this,¡± Elyria said from where she was seated beside the dryad. She¡¯d been as nice as Ronin ever remembered seeing her, and he wondered how long it would take for her to return to her normal self.


    ¡°Next, I picked up this ogre mage.¡± She continued pointing at the other corner by the door where a ten-foot-tall blue skinned ogre sat cross-legged on the ground. He had one horn jutting up on the left side of his forehead and long white hair flowing down past his shoulders. Two large tusks stuck up from his lower jaw like a kaldarrian¡¯s and he was bare chested. The rippling muscles of his chest and arms on full display. He was wearing only a pair of heavily armored pants and a heavy set of steal bracers. Resting on his shoulder was a giant kanabo, the eight-foot-long metal club studded with blunt spikes across the upper two thirds of its length.


    ¡°His name is Staz, and he can cast three cantrips and one stronger spell. I¡¯m given to understand that each ogre mage gets a random assortment of spells at birth, so it¡¯s a bit of a gamble really.¡± She said with a smile.


    ¡°Ok, the tree I get, but why the ogre? Sure, they make great tanks on the battlefield, are hard as hell to kill and can heal faster than most people can hurt them, but he cost three million credits. What plausible reason could there be to justify that amount of money?¡± Leo probed again, getting a glare from the ogre in question but the giant didn¡¯t respond beyond that.


    ¡°Because our head researcher has been performing goblin breeding experiments on a huge scale. I listened to what you said about magic being inheritable and with his size and strength coupled with the potential to produce magic offspring, I think Owl two will have us an army of them within the year¡­ besides, the person I was bidding against wanted to skin him to make blue leather book bindings to match his office¡¯s wall color. That was far too wasteful.¡±


    Ronin listened to her explanation with interest, looking over at the giant ogre before getting up and walking over to stand in front of the massive man.


    ¡°Hello Staz,¡± he said putting his hand out to shake. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I hope that we can get along going forward, and that you can help look out for my people back home. I in turn, will make sure you are treated with respect for your efforts.¡± The ogre stared at Ronin and his outstretched hand for nearly a minute before finally reaching out and grasping it with his own huge hand.


    ¡°I heard about you, White flame, from the little one,¡± he said in a surprisingly clear voice. ¡°If she was telling the truth, then you will have no trouble from me.¡± Ronin nodded solemnly as he shook the proffered hand, and noted with happiness that the ogre didn¡¯t try to crush his hand in some power display.


    ¡°Alright, what else you got?¡± Leo, who was taking his frustration out on Owl five after the meeting, asked belligerently.


    ¡°Next, I picked up a huge pile of cast off, high end, tech parts. There was too much to transport all of it, so I paid someone to drop them off at my lord¡¯s room.¡± she said with a chest thumping salute.


    ¡°What good will a bunch of cast offs do?¡± Leo asked with a snort, looking at the already sizable pile of junk piled all around his car. ¡°Not like this junk works, otherwise that old fool wouldn¡¯t have let go of it so easily.¡± Ronin frowned, wondering if it would do more harm than good to ask him to tone it down a little.


    ¡°Because¡­¡± Owl five said, spinning around and facing the older man squarely. Her eyes boring holes into his. ¡°Each of these pieces was created using highly refined and advanced technological materials that we simply can¡¯t produce yet in my lord¡¯s realm. The fabricator, however, will have no trouble breaking it down into usable material for the high end nanites we¡¯ll need to enhance our best fighters and equipment.¡±


    Leo didn¡¯t have anything negative to say to that. Something Ronin didn¡¯t find difficult to believe because he was actually ecstatic when he thought about what Owl two could do with all those nanites. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t go as far as he¡¯d like, but if he could enhance even a few more of his most trusted people, then the wars to come as they took the planet back from the enemies he¡¯d so thoughtlessly created, would be less costly in lives.


    ¡°Not bad girl¡­ Ok, so how about the box. I¡¯m assuming you saved the best for last?¡± He asked pointing at the jewelry box resting on the coffee table.


    ¡°I did, save the best for last.¡± Owl five said as she picked up the box and presented it to Ronin. ¡°This is what is known as a storage ring.¡± She said as he opened it to see a golden ring with three precious stones set into the flat surface. ¡°Each stone represents something different that can be stored at a rate of 1/1,000 pounds. So, every 1,000 pounds of anything you put into the ring, will weigh only one pound while on your hand.¡± She said, moving over excitedly to point.


    ¡°The ruby is the standard storage zone for all things nonorganic. The sapphire stone is for living creatures, as they explained it, it¡¯s like a stable inside where they are kept comfortably until you call them out. You can also put plants inside and they will remain alive as well. The emerald stone is another storage compartment but for organic material. So, your metal weapons will go into the ruby, but any animals or monsters you kill, or food and drink, will go into the emerald stone. My understanding is that this separation is less desirable than some of the more advanced rings on the market, but that the limitations made the ring several times cheaper than one that could just except everything into one compartment.¡±


    Ronin stared down at the ring in wonder. He¡¯d read so many stories about these types of artifacts back on earth, but never thought he¡¯d be able to have one of his own. His fantasy of going off into the mountains on goat back with his closest friends, and just leaving everything behind just got a little more logistically possible with this.


    ¡°Thank you, Brie.¡± He said, his voice catching a little on the last word. ¡°You picked out exactly what we needed, and this ring¡­ just, thank you.¡± He started to rise, he wasn¡¯t sure why, if it was to give her a hug or even a kiss, thanks to his happiness, but she stepped away from him even as he leaned forward, and he rested back into his seat. With some of the wind having gone out of his sails.


    ¡°Leo,¡± he said looking over at his host. ¡°Do we have time to run this stuff back to my pocket world before we head to our appointment? I¡¯d like to record a message for my people and send this stuff, and our new people into my pocket world. I¡¯m sure they could make better use of them then we can where we¡¯re going.¡± Leo looked around his cramped and overcrowded office with a look of exasperation before turning his head back to Ronin with a wry grin.


    ¡°We¡¯re already halfway to your hotel room.¡±

 Chapter forty-three

    Lily


    It had only been a few weeks since Eric got the run of the valley, and it showed. The camp was getting dirty again without the goblins doing all the menial chores and the food corps doing the daily cooking. Lily sat in her office, with a pair of disgruntled moon elves. It was quiet since the cave was no longer the center of the camp¡¯s leadership.


    Owl two came and went, as did Benjamin and a few of their errand runners, but everyone who used this cave was gone. That was the reasoning Lily used anyway, when she and Owl Two had a pair of steel gates hammered into the north and south tunnels that were the only way in and out of the cave. Apart from the hole in the roof. Those gates where the reason for the elf¡¯s current visit.


    ¡°Lady Lily,¡± Surrallathil said, her mouth a stern line. ¡°When we left to check in with our people¡­ and yours¡­ we were worried that all the White Flame¡¯s most loyal followers were being shipped out of camp. A worry that you assured us was unwarranted. Now, only a few weeks later, we return to find the outliers of the camp have become its de facto leaders, and you, the actual leader in the White flame¡¯s absence, huddled up inside a locked cave while your people are being abused.¡± Lily twitched at the accusation, since there was more truth in it than she cared to admit.


    When she¡¯d first heard Owl two¡¯s plan, she¡¯d been skeptical. Then, after hearing Eric speaking in the games tent, and the reaction he was getting, she knew there was more to the movement than a few angry malcontents. There were dozens of them. So many, in fact, that if she hadn¡¯t decided to act the decision would have been made for her soon enough. Still, she never would have imagined just how far they were willing to go.


    ¡°Did you get a reply to the letters I asked you to deliver?¡± she asked, glossing over the accusations and glares, in favor of the real reason behind this visit.


    ¡°¡­yes, we got them.¡± Surrallathil said with a sigh, holding out an elegantly crafted scroll case. ¡°But Lily, please tell me there¡¯s a good reason for all this. The white flame is a good man, and from what we¡¯d seen of you up until recently led us to believe you were good too, so we didn¡¯t mind ferrying a few of your people around, but Lily, the camp is getting out of hand. Samantha will be returning today; she left the wall only a few hours after we did. Why not just ask her to¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Surrallathil.¡± Lily said, cutting her off with a tired smile after she¡¯d glanced through the letters in the scroll case. ¡°These letters told me everything I needed to know. Sadly, it seems like things might take just a bit longer than expected. Listen, I appreciate all that you have done for us, and I wish I could give you assurances, but right now I have to keep things close to the vest. Though, you¡¯re right about the state of the camp. You two should go back to the wall, at least until things settle down here. I will promise you, without reservation, that the moment Elyria gets back, I will send word to you immediately.¡±


    The trio talked for another half hour before the elves agreed to go back to their people on the wall. After the meeting, Lily walked them to the exit. She felt the accusatory gaze on her back the whole way, as they passed the wall mounted turrets, and she pressed her thumb to the locking mechanism on the gate to let them out.


    She stood there for long minutes, watching them fly away on their giant sparrow mounts. Feeling even more unsure about her chosen course of action. Since her eyes were already trained in the direction of the wall, she was able to see the dropship, as Samantha flew back home from her mission with the wood elves, then Hunter and the scouts. Lily breathed a sigh of relief, as she saw the ship inbound. Shouldn¡¯t be much longer now, just a few more days, a week at most.


    Closing the gate with a clang and giving it a tug to be sure it was tight, Lily walked out towards the area set aside as farmland. Vara was her guard today, and she fell into step behind Lily as she walked away from the cave. Samantha would need to land the ship and bathe away the dust of the long trip before she reported in. While she waited, Lily figured she might as well go see how Owl two was coming along.


    When she arrived at the farm, the first thing she noticed was just how busy the place was. They were closing in on 1,000 goblins in the camp now, more, if one included the horde of babies that had just been born. They moved around with purpose, as they tended the fields. Pulling weeds, sprinkling water-cans hauled on carts from the valley¡¯s central lake, tilling up new soil and mixing in all the refuse from animal pens and other sources of fertilizer that Lily was just as happy not thinking about.


    A group of them were tending to the ankylosaurus that had hauled Benjamin and his brother Charles¡¯s wagons when they¡¯d first arrived. It looked like now was one of their twice weekly wagon pull exercises. Benjamin¡¯s men led the session, but the goblins helped out as they could. She watched in awe as the lumbering giant pulled the locust queen sized wagons around the outer fields of the valley. They did the exercises to make sure the animals didn¡¯t forget what was expected of them, but also to let the huge beasts blow off some steam. Their pens were quite cramped for dinosaurs as big as they were.


    Leaving the outer area of the goblin camp behind, Lily walked deeper into the field of tents. Here, the goblins were hanging wet clothes brought back up from the lake after being washed. Stretching brained hides to loosen it from rawhide into soft hide, scooping the excess goop out of the locust carapace for the crafters, and a dozen other menial chores that didn¡¯t require much thought or organization.


    Lily passed these hard-working goblins as well, walking right into the heart of the bustling camp. Where she found Owl Two, standing like a statue, in front of a group of goblin children that all looked to be somewhere between ten and sixteen years old. Odd, considering she knew they were all only around the four-to-five-month mark.


    They were the first batch of hybrid goblins that Owl Two had bred, back before he¡¯d told the White flame about his experiments. These were the original kaldarr, trog and human half-breeds, along with the pure-blooded goblins that were born around the same time. There were no bugbear or wood elven children in this group, but Lily knew there were several of them to be found in later batches. The pure-blooded goblins looked the oldest, followed by the trogs. It seemed that the blood mix there, didn¡¯t slow the aging down by much, meaning that the trog hybrids likely wouldn¡¯t live much longer than ten years, just like the goblins. The kaldarr were younger, closer to twelve in appearance versus the older kids sixteen. The human children looked the youngest at around ten, meaning they would live much longer than pure blooded goblins, if still considerably shorter than a human.


    Seeing that the research addicted Owl five was busy, and knowing he wouldn¡¯t be distracted until his task was done, Lily leaned against a nearby barrel filled with something she chose to not think about and watched. The kids were being tested in a variety of ways, the original villagers of Valley¡¯s pass along with the first refugees to the valley were helping out with the testing and had been since the start of the experiments.


    A few of them walked between the kids, who were lined up in two short rows, and handed out a small puzzle. It was a simple puzzle, made of two twisted nails, once each child had one, they were instructed to separate the two nails without damaging them. The human and kaldarr kids managed without too much trouble, and the pure-blooded goblins gave it a good try, but weren¡¯t able to figure it out until showed how by an instructor. After that they did it themselves. The trog kids on the other hand, didn¡¯t even try. One ripped the nails apart with brute force, while the other two present just threw the puzzle away once they realized it wasn¡¯t edible.


    ¡°Good,¡± Owl two called out once everyone had either solved, been helped, or refused to solve their individual puzzles. ¡°Now, the spoons if you will.¡± Owl Two said, as the instructors gathered up the nails, passed out a spoon to each child, and placed a wooden egg into it. Lily recognized this test easily enough. It was a hand eye coordination test; the kids would have to move about with the eggs in their spoons without dropping them. She cracked a smile looking at the wooden eggs. She remembered they¡¯d originally used chicken eggs, but the goblin pure bloods and the trog kids would eat them before they¡¯d even heard what the rules were. So, Owl two had switched them to wooden eggs. It was a little comical, though she felt dirty admitting it, the first time they were handed out and a trog kid bit into the egg. In this test, the goblin, human and kaldarr kids did just fine. Again, it was the trog kids that wouldn¡¯t cooperate with the instructors at all.


    She watched with interest as the kids threw leather balls at a target, swept the ground with wicker brooms, and were tasked with putting differently shaped objects through the matching shaped hole in a wooden board. There were questions as well, simple things like how many fingers am I holding up or what did you have for breakfast. In every test the human and kaldarr performed the best. Though the goblins seemed predisposed to cleaning tasks and took to it like they were born for it.


    The trog kids failed almost every test. Only even bothering to try perhaps one in five times. That was until they started the combat trials. When the instructors broke out the wooden swords, shields and the padded armor and helmets the kids wore when sparring with each other or the instructors, their lightly scaled faces lit up with enthusiasm. They even beat out the kaldarr, who were bred for war. Lily was stunned every time she watched this display.


    When they were smaller, the trogs wouldn¡¯t use weapons at all, attacking with their bare claws. That was enough to net them the win too, before the kaldarr and human kids got good enough with the weapons to keep them at bay with their wooden shields, while whacking them with their wooden weapons. Once they realized how much more they could hurt their target with the sticks they took to them with a will. Beating out the rest with pure ferocity, but still falling short of the kaldarr in tactics.


    Having seen enough, Lily motioned for Owl two, who came over to join her after the last tests were performed and the kids had been given their meals.


    ¡°I would like to know your thoughts on the experiment so far.¡± Owl two said in place of a greeting.


    ¡°Any answer I give will be inconclusive, considering that neither the wood elf nor the bugbear children were in the test.¡± Lily said, knowing Owl Two¡¯s desire for clarity. ¡°With that being understood, the trog children are a liability and shouldn¡¯t be considered going forward. The human children are the most well rounded, and intelligent of the bunch, and the kaldarr are the strongest and the best in combat.¡± She said, ticking points off on her fingers.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± Owl two said, his monotone giving nothing away. ¡°And the goblin pure bloods?¡± he asked, again in that same monotone, but the fact that he was asking the question at all made Lily stop and reevaluate the experiments.


    ¡°They are very good at menial tasks.¡± She said at last, really thinking about what she¡¯d seen. ¡°Almost too good. It really looked like they were born for the type of work we have them doing here in the camp.¡± She said at last, thinking about how well they performed anything related to cleaning, anything that wasn¡¯t overly complicated anyway.


    ¡°Or created for it.¡± Owl two said, only elaborating after Lily gave him a cross look. ¡°I am beginning to think the races in that underground city aren¡¯t there by accident.¡± He said without inflection. The goblins are too good at cleaning, they¡¯re genetically compatible with nearly every species I¡¯ve been able to test them with. Their fire red hair makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint, none at least that I can determine.¡± Lily nodded at this, but Owl two wasn¡¯t done.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°The hobgoblins are much smarter, stronger and seem to be bred to think tactically during combat situations. Though from what I¡¯ve gathered, their time in isolation in that cave has made them lazy without anyone to fight. The hobats and batlins are mirror images of the hobgoblins and goblins, except the batlins are essentially animals following the sonic orders given to them by the hobats without question. Even the trogs are very reminiscent of guard dogs. They are aggressive and territorial to a fault, but they still understand spoken words, even though they don¡¯t speak themselves. I am beginning to think someone had a hand in all five species creation.¡±


    ¡°Do you think it has something to do with the sh¡­¡± Lily began before she was silenced with a sharp gesture.


    ¡°I do, but I¡¯ll thank you to keep that topic of discussion for when we are safely inside the cave.¡± He said without emotion.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Lily said, her ears burning a little under the rebuke, more so because she knew it was warranted. ¡°Anyway, I came here to let you know that Samantha is back from her trip, and I got replies to the letters we¡¯d sent out.¡± She said with a non-to-subtle topic change.


    ¡°I know,¡± Owl two said. ¡°I already read the documents when you pulled them from the case, and I also saw Samantha returning earlier. Eric has already imprisoned her, after discovering that she¡¯d locked access to the ships and the White flames truck upon returning.¡±


    ¡°He did what?¡± Lily yelped, getting the attention of Vara, who took a few steps forward before being waved back again. ¡°What do you mean she¡¯s been imprisoned, Eric¡¯s never gone that far before. And why didn¡¯t you mention this to me earlier?¡± She really had a tough time understanding her husband¡¯s assistant sometimes. He was highly competent and knowledgeable, yet at the same time so oblivious to the most basic of things¡­ remarkably similar to her husband in that way.


    ¡°It was to be expected.¡± Owl two said with a shrug more imagined than seen. ¡°She locked him out of the ships. Without them, Eric and his people are just as locked in this valley as the personnel we sent away are locked out of it.¡± He said as soulless as ever.


    ¡°Yes but¡­ oh, never mind.¡± Lily said, knowing Owl two wouldn¡¯t give at all in a situation like this, and since the information had been shared now, arguing about it was pointless. ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± she asked instead.


    ¡°Once more, I ask you not to talk about sensitive matters outside the cave.¡± Owl two said unhelpfully. He¡¯d come a long way in understanding social cues, if some of her husband¡¯s stories were to be believed about his early days with this man. Still, it was hard to believe that when he was acting so obstinate, seemingly out of ignorance.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Lily said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m going to go see her, you finish up what you¡¯re doing here and meet me in the cave when I¡¯m done. Don¡¯t forget to bring Benjamin, I¡¯m sure he will have forgotten everything we¡¯ve been doing by now, too busy making his men run drills or something.¡± She said with a distracted roll of her eyes, as she turned away from Owl two, who¡¯d already returned to his experiment. He¡¯d be in the cave by the time she got there, Lily had no doubt. How he managed it was a mystery, but he always knew when they were ready for him there. Motioning to Vara to follow her, Lily retraced the path she¡¯d walked into the goblin camp, back towards the base camp. This time, at a much quicker pace.


    ¡°What are you planning to do?¡± Vara asked as she matched Lily¡¯s quickened stride. ¡°You already declared yourself an ally to Eric, if you¡­¡±


    ¡°I am going to talk to him and Samantha,¡± Lily interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything yet, other than what Owl two said, and we both know he sometimes glosses over vital details.¡± Though, even as she said the words, Lily didn¡¯t believe them, and she quickened her stride even more.


    ¡°Good evening, Eric.¡± Lily said as she and Vara entered his command tent. ¡°How goes the training?¡± She asked as she settled herself into a chair. Eric looked up at her from the game of POWF he was playing with Andona and Thomas. With a smile that lacked the polished warmth he¡¯d shown at the meeting those weeks ago. Now, there was a trace of anger in it.


    ¡°Good evening, Lily.¡± He said, laying his cards face down in front of him on the table and swiveling around to look at her directly. ¡°I¡¯m glad you stopped by actually.¡± He said, his angry grin sharpening. ¡°I saw the dropship returning some time ago and had expected Samantha for a meeting. You don¡¯t happen to know where she¡¯s gone off to by chance would you?¡±


    Lily¡¯s mind froze at the words, but she did her best to maintain her outward composure. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, readjusting her posture as she used the time to think. He¡¯d taken Samantha away because she¡¯d locked him out of the ships¡­ Or at least that¡¯s what Owl two had said. Now either Owl two was lying and had abducted Samantha for some reason, or Eric had in fact taken her and was trying to defect blame. Lily felt confident that if Owl two had feared Samantha posed a danger to his lord or the syndicate that he would have indeed taken her. Still, he wouldn¡¯t have shifted blame to Eric. No, he would have just told her what he¡¯d done and why as if it was obvious.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I haven¡¯t.¡± She answered at last, having decided that there was little point in doubting Owl two. ¡°I was coming to see if she was with you. I asked her to get with me when she returned as well, I was thinking about taking a trip to the wall in the next week or so. Should I get some people out looking for her?¡± she didn¡¯t have to try very hard to make her voice sound concerned.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be necessary,¡± Eric said. ¡°She¡¯s only been gone a few hours, it¡¯s likely she¡¯s just taking a bath, or catching up with some friends. I¡¯ll get a few people looking for her myself¡­ I know you are working with limited resources these days, since all the men in camp are mine. I wouldn¡¯t want you to overextend yourself.¡±


    Lily blinked at the thinly vailed threat. She¡¯d known it was a risk, letting him assume so much control of the camp, but she didn¡¯t think he¡¯d come after her position so quickly.


    ¡°We¡¯re all on the same team, the lord White flame¡¯s team.¡± She replied with a sweet smile, ¡°but speaking of the men, how is their training coming? Will they be ready to take on the tunnels when the others get back?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my men,¡± Eric said. Lily couldn¡¯t help noticing the emphasis on the word ¡®my.¡¯ ¡°They will be ready for battle long before the others return.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it. This camp is nice, but it¡¯s nothing compared to the castle underground. High walls, thick gates, a swarm of batlins to protect and serve whoever sits upon the throne. It¡¯s a shame my husband wants to conquer the place by force. When a more, gentle approach, could win the crown without any bloodshed at all.¡± After speaking, she stood up and made her way to the tent flap Vara was already holding open for her.


    ¡°Thank you for the audience, Eric. I know you have many obligations on your time, so I¡¯ll leave you too it. Do let me know if you find Samantha, won¡¯t you?¡± she exited without any further words being exchanged, and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she reached the open air again.


    That had been a risk. Eric wasn¡¯t a fool, and her redirection hadn¡¯t been subtle. Still, Lily had seen the look in his eyes when she¡¯d mentioned the castle underground. Hopefully, it would capture his attention for a while and give her more time.


    ¡°My lady, I¡­¡± Vara said as they walked away from the tent, her face clouded with anger.


    ¡°Not now, Vara.¡± Lily said with a sigh, ¡°come on, let¡¯s go get in a few hands at the games tent. I¡¯d like to get a feel for how the people are holding up.¡± A reluctant Vara nodded, and the pair entered the gaming tent, both hooded to at least try to maintain a low profile. It was less crowded than usual, but even louder than normal. Thanks entirely to the team of people seated in the center table.


    Lily recognized them as the team who¡¯d been running, and failing, the test simulation the last time she¡¯d visited Eric. There were two human men wearing locust lamellar, two wood elf men wearing what looked like a mix of leather and bark armor, and a female bugbear. She was clearly the leader and was decked out in a mixed set of leather and steel lamellar.


    ¡°Why do you insist on playing with those foul goblin cards, Tupelo?¡± One of the humans asked one of the elves with disgust as the later took another point off his ¡®life bar.¡¯ ¡°They¡¯re not fit to be in our camp, let alone our deck.¡± The elf just snorted, as he turned two ration cards and dropped another pair of the worker goblins on the table.


    ¡°Because¡± Tupelo said with a grin as he indicated that his turn was over. ¡°They¡¯re cheap to play and the trade is full of them¡­ your just jealous you can¡¯t play any of those high-power cards since you don¡¯t have the rations to feed them. Besides, it amuses me to watch such small creatures take down big strong men like you, Mike.¡±


    ¡°Shut the hell up tree hugger,¡± Mike said and spit on the ground. ¡°Enjoy it while you can, cuz soon enough there won¡¯t be any of those ugly goblins running around.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough Mike,¡± the chocolate brown bugbear woman said. ¡°We¡¯re all on the same team here, and if we¡¯re ever going to get our shit straight, we need to work with each other, not fight like a bunch of children.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think you are to tell me I¡¯m acting like a kid, Andessa? You think just because you¡¯re Andona¡¯s cousin you¡¯re important around here? shit, you look more like one of those shaggy White mane bitc¡­¡± his words were cut off when Andessa slammed her large fist into his mouth.


    ¡°What did I tell you about calling me that?¡± Andessa asked the writhing Mike, who ignored her as he felt around in his mouth. ¡°I assume that means you pass, so, I¡¯m going to play Hunter, with a Mark V railgun¡­ and before you even consider talking about this card, I¡¯d like you to think how well you¡¯d fair if she came for you, railgun or no.¡±


    Lily watched the exchange with a bit of sympathy for the woman. Bugbear weren¡¯t all the same, there were subtypes within their race, similar to how there were diverse types of elves or humans with differing skin tones. Also, just like humans, some of the bugbear subtypes were more desirable than others, depending on social norms. In the white mane clan, the norm was large, thickly muscled frames covered with thick wavy to curly fur that ranged from three to six inches in length.


    In her old Gilded Lily clan, short soft and sleek fur covering lithe swift bodies was more often found. A human who¡¯d visited from Andy¡¯s Reef several years ago had once said in her hearing that White mane bugbears were like a type of house pet, they kept back home called a Maine coon. While the bugbears of the gilded Lily clan were like their Siamese. Lily hadn¡¯t actually seen either of these animals before, but being compared to a house pet by a furless human hadn¡¯t sat well with her. That gentleman had found himself outside the clan¡¯s wall in short order.


    The other clans had even more subtypes within their walls, and each and every one of them would intermarry between them. Hence why the old White mane had so many short hair bugbears. It was a normal part of clan life, but sadly, so was looking down on those whose body type didn¡¯t match their own.


    Lily took in the rest of the guests inside the tent. Some were still playing their own games, ignoring the loud antics of the team in their midst. Others were trying to look like they were playing but were actually just waiting for an opportunity to leave without making it obvious. Deciding to stay and listen for a while, Lily pulled out her own leather deck holder and began shuffling her cards. Vara, who¡¯d sat with her instead of standing at her back, to sell the cover did the same with a low sigh.


    When Lily had arrived at the camp and heard about the card game her husband to be commissioned for his people, she hadn¡¯t appreciated the idea at all. The people were starving. Why would they care about a game when their lives were so difficult? Yet, it turned out that because everyone was having such a tough time, the game took off so well. Playing casual games or making bets or trades went a long way to pass the time. Without much of the black-market activity that normally happened in times of strife. Of course, it helped that the valley was drug and alcohol free¡­ that was, before she¡¯d let Eric bring it in.


    ¡°One ration card, to play gnarl tooth the goblin,¡± Vara said as she got the game started. Lily played her hand without much thought as most of her attention was paid to the table filled with guards.


    ¡°You knocked out one of my teeth,¡± Mike said as he climbed back into his chair. ¡°And it doesn¡¯t matter if that little killer could do me in or not, she¡¯s never coming back. That stupid hussy the White flame bedded has been dancing to the bosses tune and got rid of them all for him. Hell, won¡¯t be much longer before he gets rid of her too.¡± He snickered at his own joke as the other people at the table glanced around warily.


    ¡°Do you need me to knock more of your teeth out?¡± Andessa snapped at her teammate. ¡°We¡¯re not alone in here, and not everyone thinks like you do.¡±


    ¡°Who cares?¡± Mike said, spitting blood onto the tent¡¯s floor as he finished wiping his mouth. ¡°What are they going to do about it? The only people left in this damn valley who can stand up to us are Benjamin¡¯s people, and he hasn¡¯t made a peep. All he ever does is patrol and run drills. Clearly, the White flame messed up when he made that old man run laps, because it drove him right into Eric¡¯s arms, Ha-ha.¡±


    They stayed for another hour. They played three games during that time, and Vara won every one of them due to Lily¡¯s preoccupation with the other table. When the sun had truly set outside the tent, she rose, putting away her deck.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get something to eat before the cafeteria closes,¡± she said. In truth, she was planning on heading to the cave for her meeting with Owl two and Benjamin, but she felt no need to broadcast who she was, by saying as much. She¡¯d learned a lot during the game, more than she wanted to know, that¡¯s for sure. She just hoped they¡¯d be able to pull off the plan before something bad happened.

 Chapter forty-four

    Lily


    ¡°¡­believe how much hatred was in those people.¡± Lily said, having finished recounting her evening to Owl two and Benjamin. She rubbed her stomach while she spoke, all the stress was giving her an ulcer. The three of them were down in Owl two¡¯s workshop, several times expanded from the last time Lily had seen it. There were several tables set up now, many holding artifacts Lily had no understanding of but that looked delicate.


    ¡°I heard the conversation myself,¡± Owl two said, fingers at work inside a globe made from metal, glass, and string of varying colors. She didn¡¯t know exactly what he was doing but he was tightening screws and attaching the string in different spots. ¡°I¡¯ve heard hundreds of conversations in the past weeks. That hatred is exactly why we are doing this.¡± Lily looked over to Benjamin, who was busy looking at a figure covered map that was the clone of the one in the command tent. At her glance he only shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m a fighting man,¡± he said unhelpfully. ¡°I was talked into deserting by my, never to be sufficiently damned brother, mainly because I thought I knew better than my commanders how the war would turn out. Then, I let those same tendencies get the better of me again here in camp. Thankfully, Lord Ronin was here to put me back onto the right path. I can strategize, train troops, and lead them into battle, but I¡¯m not touching politics again. You guys figure out what needs killing, and I¡¯ll tell you the best way to do it, with the resources we have on hand.¡±


    ¡°Huh,¡± Lily said when the military man was done with his explanation. ¡°And here I was thinking you really didn¡¯t like the goblins. I thought it was you plotting treason when you approached me, not attempting to draw out the camps bad eggs.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I do hate those green monsters.¡± Benjamin said, flicking one of the scout figures over. ¡°They¡¯re a menace to civilized society. Breeding and eating and spreading until they¡¯re culled from the land. Count yourselves lucky the middle continent didn¡¯t have them¡­ What, don¡¯t believe me?¡± He asked with a scoff at Lily¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mean to contradict you Benjamin, but they¡¯ve been nothing but helpful since I arrived at camp. Perfect helpers and excellent scouts and cooks.¡±


    ¡°Yea figured you¡¯d think that way since the only goblins you¡¯ve ever seen have been your husband¡¯s pets,¡± Benjamin said. ¡°These aren¡¯t real goblins. They look like goblins, but they aren¡¯t. Without the ¡®nanotech¡¯ or whatever Owl two put in their heads to make them obey, the entire valley would be hip deep in goblins by now, and the rest of us would be long eaten.¡± Lily thought that was going overboard a little, but before she had a chance to speak, Owl two butted in.


    ¡°They are goblins Benjamin.¡± He said still working. ¡°I only shut off the portion of their brains that drove them beyond all reason to reproduce and spread. Their behavior: being willing cleaners and their helpful tendencies was inherent in their natures¡­ but that isn¡¯t why we are here.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lily said happy for the subject change. ¡°You are going to show us how you always know what¡¯s going on around camp all the time.¡± The helmeted man had finished working on the globe and closed up all the string inside, before turning it towards a white board that had been attached to the wall.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± he said. ¡°This is a crude reproduction of a projector. Up until now, I¡¯d been reading the drones feed internally, but since I¡¯ve finally had time to fabricate some more delicate tools and components, I thought it was only appropriate to share with you both.¡± Having finished speaking, he pushed a button on the globe¡¯s top. Cutting off the questions Lily was already preparing to ask about what he meant, when the white panel lit up with a moving picture of light.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask you again,¡± Andona¡¯s voice drifted out of the globe as the figure of the woman herself stood over a bound and battered Samantha. ¡°What are the codes to unlock the ships?¡± Lily took in the moving picture with an awed grunt. She took in the entirety of the picture, and its location, a side tunnel inside the mine, with a small nook carved in the wall. Before what was actually happening in the projection sank in.


    ¡°Go ta hell,¡± Samantha answered. Arching her head back to spit at the bugbear woman before her. Before she could, however, Andona nodded at the human, Thomas, who punched Samantha right in the teeth. She cried out in pain and shock as at least one of her teeth was knocked out.


    ¡°Now, Samantha.¡± Eric said softly, drifting over from off screen. ¡°Why are you being like this?¡± He asked, brushing the back of his palm over her swollen face. ¡°I know you¡¯re crushing over the White flame, but he¡¯s gone. Best I can tell, he isn¡¯t coming back either. Even if he does, the camps mine now. Why don¡¯t you just tell me how to unlock the ships?¡±


    ¡°Screw you, Eric.¡± Samantha screeched, spraying blood everywhere. ¡°He took us in, saved us from slavery. Gave us a home, gave us a famil¡­ mmhh.¡± Her words were cut off with a rag, cruelly stuffed into her mouth, and another wrapped around her head to keep it in place.


    ¡°I¡¯m not unreasonable, Sam.¡± Eric said with a shake of his head. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a few days to think about it. Then we¡¯ll come back¡­ and ask again. I hope you¡¯ve reconsidered by then. Because no one knows where you are. And even if they did, the only ones who would want to help you are that damn robot and the Gilded Lily sellout.¡± With those parting words, the three interrogators left the small outcropping, taking the light with them.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Benjamin and Lily said at the exact same time.


    ¡°Just a recording of a conversation that took place several hours ago.¡± Owl Two said, now working on one of the ¡®tablets¡¯ her husband had picked up from Andy¡¯s Reef. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to activate these two tablets and tie them into the drone network I¡¯ve set up around the valley. Just don¡¯t take them outside the caves.¡±


    ¡°No, Owl two.¡± Lily snapped, interested in the tablet, but pushing it away in her anger. ¡°I was asking why, if you knew, that Samantha was being tortured, you left her there?¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Owl Two said. ¡°Because it isn¡¯t time to act yet, she¡¯s fine for the time being and Eric clearly said he¡¯d leave her be for a few days. She has time, and she isn¡¯t the only one now who can fly the kaldarr ships. So, even if she¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you really think your lord would be ok with you sacrificing her like this?¡± Lily interrupted to ask. ¡°She¡¯s a member of his team, and his personal pilot. One of the first people that he saved, when he got here from¡­ wherever it is he came from. Don¡¯t take that away from him.¡±


    ¡°Actually, Owl five saved Samantha. And she¡¯s regretted it ever since. Still, I understand your concerns. I haven¡¯t written her off yet. It¡¯s just not the time to act.¡±


    ¡°Grr,¡± Lily growled out between clenched teeth. She knew he was right. Taking a deep breath, she took a step back and thought rationally. She¡¯d discarded her entire clan because she knew it gave her the best odds of surviving with her clan¡¯s legacy intact. So, why was she getting so worked up over this human woman she barely knew.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± She said at last. ¡°I¡¯m not sure why I got so worked up there, but you¡¯re right. It¡¯s not the right time, we need to buy at least another week. Two would be better, before we can act. I just didn¡¯t realize how angry these people were. Eric in particular, he had me completely fooled.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad,¡± Benjamin said. ¡°It¡¯s the White flame. He has that effect on those around him. I¡¯ve noticed, people want to do what he wants them to do. It¡¯s not across the board, just the people who would have agreed with him anyway. Still, it¡¯s an amazing ability he has. As for Eric, well, he¡¯s a lot like my brother was. Licked the boots of those in power, until he got the power himself. Then it went straight to his head¡­ We do need to hurry though. At the rate this is going, I don¡¯t think he will be able to hold them together for another two weeks.¡±


    ¡°I believe we¡­¡± Owl two was interrupted with a loud crash. The helmeted head snapped around, and he was up the stairs before Lily even realized the door was open. Now that it was, however, she could hear the deep booming voice, which echoed through the cave like the peels of thunder during the heart of a storm.


    ¡°¡­ily, Owl two, Unyielding oak, Harken, Benjamin¡­ someone get out here already.¡± Lily shared a look with Benjamin, who¡¯d already shouldered his kaldarr variant rifle. Lily drew her saber and dagger and the pair nodded at each other, before rushing up the stairs after the absurdly fast Owl two.


    Lily went up first, Benjamin¡¯s weapon was ranged so she left him behind to cover her as she darted forward. Looking around, she zeroed in on the voice and took off as fast as she could move on her soft leather boots. The noise cut off shortly after she started moving, but she didn¡¯t slow. Not until she was standing beside the now statuesque Owl two, who was looking up at the biggest man Lily had ever seen in her life.


    ¡°You must be Owl two, and Lily I¡¯m guessing.¡± He said in that deep booming voice. ¡°I¡¯m Staz. Lord Ronin sent me and them¡± he said pointing over his shoulder at the humanoid¡­ tree, and the green woman sitting in its branches. ¡°With a message and some junk for you guys.¡± As he finished speaking, Lily caught Benjamin approaching from the side, rifle trained on the blue monster.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother.¡± Staz said, turning his head towards the old soldier. ¡°No black powder weapon in that caliber has a chance at even penetrating my skin, let alone killing me.¡±


    ¡°That so,¡± Benjamin said. ¡°Bet it can at least slow you down until Owl Two gets the Mark V.¡± Lily had to respect his courage. The blue being who¡¯d named himself as Staz, was an absolute mountain of a man. She couldn¡¯t help comparing him to the second largest man she¡¯d ever seen. K3 was eight feet of solid muscle and whipcord reflexes. This brute was as big to K3 as K3 was to her husband. To say nothing of the tree, who at least had branches and large golden leaves taking up much of his bulk.


    ¡°Stand down, Benjamin.¡± Owl Two said with a wave of his hand. ¡°He¡¯s telling the truth, on all counts. He¡¯s my lord¡¯s retainer, just like I am, and Owl five. He couldn¡¯t disobey an order from lord Ronin anymore than either of us could, even if he wanted to, and he doesn¡¯t.¡± Benjamin clearly didn¡¯t understand any better than Lily did, but he still followed along and put the rifle away.


    ¡°Whatever you say.¡± He muttered, looking up at Staz with awe. ¡°So, you said you have a message for us and some¡­ junk?¡± He asked quizzically.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Yea, junk.¡± The monster said with a wave of his hand. Lily noticed the ruby flash of light as a cascade of odd artifacts flowed from nowhere onto the floor. The pile grew and grew until it reached a size that would have allowed Staz to hide inside it and kept growing. ¡°Owl five bought this stuff at the same auction she got me and those two from.¡± He said, hooking a thumb at the other pair again. ¡°She said Owl two would be able to make use of it.¡±


    Lily looked at Owl Two, who was quivering slightly where he stood. It was the closest thing to emotion she¡¯d ever seen from the man.


    ¡°Yes, yes I can indeed make use of these treasures.¡± He said, wading into the pile and coming up with what looked like a humanoid skeleton made completely of metal and string and hugging it to himself. ¡°What were lord Ronin¡¯s instructions regarding the ring?¡± The Ring? Lily looked at the giant¡¯s hand and noticed the ring with its three stones.


    ¡°I am to keep it for his return,¡± Staz said with a shrug. ¡°It has a weight reduction function but when filled it can still get very heavy. He thought I¡¯d be the best suited to hold onto it for him because of my physical might.¡± He accompanied the words with a bicep flex, which swelled up larger than Lily measured at the waist.


    ¡°Understood, could you, however, gather these priceless artifacts up and take them, gently, over to the fabricator please?¡± He was already leading the way, the metal skeleton in hand.


    ¡°What about our messages?¡± Lily asked, as the giant obligingly scooped the junk back into empty air with his ring bearing hand.


    ¡°Right, yea, here you go.¡± He said, tossing her a small black stick. She caught it on reflex but didn¡¯t know what she was supposed to do with it now that she had it in her hand.


    ¡°It will plug into the tablet I just gave you.¡± Owl Two called back to her as he moved. ¡°I¡¯ll show you, but then I¡¯ve got work to do. So, hurry up and let¡¯s get this over with.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    Several hours later, Lily sat in her tent holding the tablet close to her chest. She¡¯d watched the video numerous times already but couldn¡¯t help but watch it again. Part of her fascination with the message was entirely due to the technological level that had to have gone into it. Capturing a moment in time and being able to play it, at will, somewhere else was an absolute marvel to her. Sure, they¡¯d heard about the wonders of Andy¡¯s Reef before, but that city was on the other side of the vast forests that spanned the island¡¯s middle continent, and they had strict rules about showing their tech to other races.


    There was a section of video that was addressed to his entire command team, but there were also separate sticks that held unique messages for each of them. She smiled down at the tablet in her hands as she moved the dot back to the left side of the screen, so the recording would start to play again.


    ¡°Hello Lily,¡± her husband began, with a smile and a wave. ¡°It has to have been at least a month for you already, for me it¡¯s only been a few hours since I was taken away. They were terribly busy hours, though I suppose you already know about everything that went on already, since I¡¯m sure the council watched the other video together.¡± Lily winced at these words, just like she had the last time he¡¯d said them. She couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty over what she¡¯d done to his syndicate in his absence, even if it was for the best in the long run.


    ¡°So, I won¡¯t rehash old ground much. I¡¯ll just say that I¡¯m not looking forward to missing an entire year with all of you. Well, at least a year, it¡¯s likely to be a year and a half when all is said and done¡­ I¡¯m already rambling,¡± he chuckled. ¡°I guess I just wanted to say that I miss you by my side. Your council was helpful to me, and in the weeks to come, I will need all the council I can get¡­ Be safe and try to keep Owl two focused on the ship. I know you haven¡¯t conquered the undercity yet; it would have made things easier, but it¡¯s not required anymore. I just need to know everything about the ship. Everything, as fast as possible. Anyway, I¡­ well, I look forward to seeing you again.¡±


    That was it. Well, all she got personally from him anyway. She didn¡¯t count the message for the council. She sighed, leaning back in her chair. He hadn¡¯t said much to her, but she¡¯d seen the people in the background of the shot. She knew he was awkward when it came to personal matters, and even him saying he missed her council was touching.


    Realizing she¡¯d daydreamed enough, Lily backed out of the file with difficulty and located the drone feeds that showed what was going on around camp. She didn¡¯t know when Owl Two found the time to monitor all of these, and do all of his experiments, but she planned on getting better acquainted with what was going on in the camp herself. Since there wasn¡¯t anything else she could do until they were contacted again anyway. Thinking of Owl two, she thought why not see what the odd man was up to now. It took a few minutes, but eventually she figured out how to pull up his location.


    Owl two was in his workshop, the hulking figure of Staz seated cross legged on the floor next to the stairs. He¡¯d pulled the trailer load of junk back out of nowhere, and Owl two was going through it like a man digging through pure gold looking for platinum.


    ¡°¡­so as soon as I¡¯ve cataloged these resources, we¡¯ll get your DNA samples for the goblin experiment. I might be wrong, but Owl five has solved our manpower problem with your acquisition alone¡­ as for the dryad and oakkin¡­ well, we¡¯ll see what unique offspring they will provide.¡± Lily sighed as she tuned into Owl two talking about his experiments. Though, what had she expected, he was single minded in the extreme.


    ¡°Owl five filled me in on your obsession with goblin breeding.¡± Staz said with distaste, ¡°I know it¡¯s expected of me and will comply. Lord Ronin seems like a reasonable master, better than the fellow who wanted to skin me alive. As a sustainable source of blue leather to bind his books with, anyway. But I warn you android, I¡¯ll not procreate with goblins. Physical incompatibility aside, I do have standards.¡± Lily shuddered at the thought of the ten-foot giant together with a four-foot goblin.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem at all,¡± Owl Two said as he pulled out another skeletal arm made entirely of metal. ¡°This is such a wonderful haul. Owl five has such a good head on her shoulders¡­ anyway, I will just need to collect samples from you, I will do all the work artificially after that.¡± He moved over to a workbench that held a slew of metal body parts and added the latest find to it.


    ¡°Good,¡± Staz said without emphasis, as if settling the matter permanently. ¡°What are you doing anyway. My understanding was that you would be deconstructing this junk to make more nanomachines. Why bother cataloging it like this?¡± Lily was amazed at how clear and intelligent the giant¡¯s speech was. She couldn¡¯t say why that surprised her, just the stereotype that someone that big and muscled should be stupid, she supposed.


    ¡°True, I will deconstruct ninety percent of these devices to make raw materials for improving lord Ronin¡¯s people. But broken as they are, some of these things would take centuries of infrastructure on this planet to build from scratch. It would be a waste to destroy something, when just a little work in the fabricator could get it functional again. Now, to double back, is your regeneration good enough to allow for a sustainable source of leather like that?¡± Lily watched the ogre, or Oni as he referred to himself, shift uncomfortably before answering.


    ¡°My race is nigh immortal through our regeneration and other gifts, but lord Ronin¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry,¡± Owl two interrupted. ¡°Our lord is very fair with his followers. He would never subject you to something like that. I was simply curious. We will need to do thorough testing in the days ahead to find out your capabilities. I will need a baseline for comparison on my future goblin experiments. The message from lord Ronin also said you were a mage. I¡¯m unfamiliar with the concept. What exactly does that mean?¡± Lily smiled as she listened to the excitement that couldn¡¯t be suppressed, even through the inflectionless monotone Owl two always spoke in.


    ¡°I¡¯m an Oni.¡± Staz said, pride clear in his voice. ¡°Or an ogre mage, as some like to call my kind. We aren¡¯t mages in the strictest sense of the word, but we are all born with gifts available to us on a limited basis. They aren¡¯t something we can choose; we¡¯re just born with what we get. This is one of mine,¡± he lifted his kanabo. The eight-foot club made from solid, studded steel burst into sickly green flames that covered the weapon to the handle. ¡°This is called pale fire. It only lasts a minute, but I can summon it as many times as I like. When I strike a foe the flames leach into their bodies, dealing minor soul damage¡­ or that¡¯s what my elders said anyway. In actuality it just makes the target lethargic for a brief time. It can still be a life saver on the battlefield though, whatever it¡¯s called.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Owl two said. A thought that Lily mirrored exactly. That was magic, real magic. There were tales of such things of course, everyone had them, but this was the first time anything like this had been seen before in reality¡­ to the best of her knowledge anyway. ¡°We will have to test this as well. Now, tell me what else you are capable of, while I finish this pile, then we can get the samples¡­¡±


    Lily left the men to their talk and backed out of the feed. She was interested in what Staz was capable of, the dryad and oakkin too, for that matter. The pair weren¡¯t happy, being contained to the cave like this, but they couldn¡¯t risk letting them out. Still, Lily knew she¡¯d find everything out soon enough. Right now, she wanted to know what Eric and Andona were up to. Deciding to check in on the bugbear woman, Lily scanned through the cameras Owl two had set up, until she found her. Her spirits dropped as soon as the screen came into focus and the audio started playing.


    ¡°¡­I think Amber is a possibility, but Vara and Syl would never betray Lily.¡± Jewel said from where she sat across from Andona at a table set with cups of wine.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it a betrayal,¡± Andona said as she filled Jewel¡¯s cup from the wine jug. ¡°It¡¯s Lily who¡¯s lost her way. She abandoned her people to the locusts to save herself, and when Eric offered her power, she abandoned the people her husband charged her with protecting. She can¡¯t be trusted; besides, she keeps locking herself up inside the cave with that madman. Who knows what they are doing in there, since they locked the gates¡­ It seems highly indecent.¡±


    ¡°You have a point.¡± Jewel said, taking a sip of her wine. ¡°We had to leave our entire families behind to come live with goblins, humans, and elves. That White flame, it was all his doing. Matriarch Lily was taken in by that man somehow. Now, she¡¯s no better than that shaggy beast Vasylia.¡± Lily just stared at her tablet while the pair talked. Completely at a loss for what to think.


    ¡°It¡¯s terrible, isn¡¯t it? Has she even let you into the cave since they locked it up?¡± Andona asked again, once more refilling Jewel¡¯s cup. ¡°I only wonder because she seems to be hiding something with that, Owl two, whatever kind of name that is.¡± Andona said with distaste evident on her face.


    ¡°Hhmm?... Oh, yes.¡± Jewel said, clearly getting tipsy now. ¡°We all have thumb print access to the gates. Since we have to guard her round the clock¡­ because she¡¯s scared of her own people now.¡± Jewel had started to nod in her seat. Lily could only guess they¡¯d been at this for some time now. Although, her people hadn¡¯t had access to spirits since they¡¯d come to the camp. Perhaps Jewel¡¯s tolerance had been affected.


    ¡°That is terribly sad, isn¡¯t it?¡± Andona asked with sympathy, ¡°but, what do you mean by thumb print access? That seems like a strange way to enter a gate¡­¡± Lily ground her teeth together with rage as her friend from childhood spilled her confidence to that traitorous harlot.


    ¡°I thought the same thing when Owl two told us about it¡­ your right, ha-ha, it is a stupid name¡­ but that¡¯s what it is. There¡¯s this small black glass box where the keyhole on a normal door would be. I just press my thumb against it and ¡®click.¡¯ Door pops right open¡­ Oops¡­ gosh, I¡¯m so sorry Andona¡­¡± Jewel had spilled her wine glass as she¡¯d reached for it again, clearly drunk. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, for watered wine that stuff is pretty strong.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it, Jewel.¡± Andona said with a smile, ¡°it can¡¯t be helped, Lily hasn¡¯t let you ladies have even a sip of wine, despite getting it for us. It¡¯s like she thinks even less of her own friends than she does of the rest of us¡­¡± she was laying it on thick, but in her drunken state it looked like Jewel was swallowing it. ¡°Now, let my cousin help you home.¡±


    Andona motioned for the chocolate brown Andessa to pick Jewel up and take her out. Lily hadn¡¯t seen the burly woman before she was called over, but now that she did, she noted how unhappy she looked. It wasn¡¯t just that she was unhappy about having to carry the drunk Jewel either, Lily had noticed it at the game hall too. Andessa didn¡¯t agree with what her cousin was doing, at least that¡¯s what Lily read from that expression as the pair exited the tent.


    ¡°Well?¡± Eric asked, entering through the flap shortly after the others had left. ¡°What did you find out?¡± His patience was clearly fraying.


    ¡°Relax, love.¡± Andona said, rubbing her hands over his arm in an affectionate caress. ¡°I found out how to get through the gates.¡±

 Chapter forty-five

    ¡°Thank you again for all your help,¡± Ronin said to Leo, once Staz had departed with the recorded messages, and the dryad, oakkin couple. Ronin couldn¡¯t help but wonder how well Owl two would fair with the strong willed oni around. Somehow, he didn¡¯t think the giant would be so easy to manipulate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me,¡± Leo said. He¡¯d made his way to the door of Ronin¡¯s hotel room, but he stopped and looked back at Ronin intently. ¡°Listen kid¡­ despite what happened¡­ I¡¯ve got a good feeling about you. So, what do you say we team up for the competition?¡± Ronin stared at the man¡¯s intense gaze, for a moment he was unsure of what the older man meant.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t going to be working together as a father son team?¡± He asked at last, figuring it would be best to get clarification, than be wrong later.


    ¡°Of course, we pretty much have to it seems. But I was referring to a real partnership, not just me forcing your compliance. I think you¡¯ll have more to offer as a volunteer than as a conscript.¡± Having said this, he reached out to shake Ronin¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ronin said accepting the hand with his own. ¡°Knowing what¡¯s at stake, I can¡¯t see myself giving any less than my all anyway.¡± He said honestly, though he had a feeling Leo was after something else. A feeling that was confirmed after Leo left, simply adding that they¡¯d meet up on the outside.


    ¡°You know he plans to use you for everything you have and then throw you away, right?¡± Elyria asked from where she sat in his chair. Her feet were propped up on the desk and she was fiddling with a butterknife of her own. What was it with his escorts and stealing cutlery?


    ¡°There you are.¡± Ronin said with a smirk, stopping at the mini fridge to grab out three clear glass bottles that were labeled as ¡®craft soda.¡¯ Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what that was, but the liquid inside was a bright orange color. He shrugged, tossing one to each girl and opening his. He hadn¡¯t really read the menu, just picking something at random. ¡°I was beginning to worry about you. You haven¡¯t been yourself since we left the caves.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to say?¡± She asked, twisting the cap off her drink. ¡°I thought I was the world wise, star traveling adviser, to the foolish ruler who had good intensions, but no moral compass, or common sense¡­ then we ended up here and I realized your world was a lot bigger than mine could ever be¡­ but, thankfully¡­ I¡¯ve finally realized despite that. Your still a good intentioned fool with no common sense or moral compass.¡± She smirked right back at him as she took a swig of her craft soda. ¡°Ach, lady Luna¡­ what is this?¡± Elyria asked, making a face like she¡¯d just sucked on a lemon.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a little uncalled for,¡± Ronin said taking a drink of his own soda and wincing at its strong sugary flavor. ¡°I might not have as much experience with people as others, but there¡¯s nothing wrong with my moral compass.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh?¡± Elyria asked, setting her drink down, an arm¡¯s length away, on the desk. ¡°So, it must have been somebody else, who I saw then. Wild eyed, covered in blood, and cackling like a storybook villain, as he slowly pushed a knife into the brain of a man who stared into his eyes and begged for mercy?¡± Ronin felt an uncomfortable twinge inside at those words. He knew he¡¯d lost himself for a while, due to pain, and realized he couldn¡¯t get out of the situation. Still, to hear his actions described like that made him feel sick.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t cackling,¡± he said lamely.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± Owl five said as she polished off her soda. ¡°You were cackling. Looked totally crazy, bet that asshole¡¯s dad has nightmares tonight teehee.¡± Ronin blinked in surprised wonder as the goblin began drinking a second soda. He had to check to be sure, but yes, the bottle Elyria had just sat down on the table¡­ a table ten feet away from Owl five, was nowhere to be seen. ¡°This stuff is really good¡­ stupid elf has bad taste,¡± Owl five added. Her cheeks had darkened a shade, after the first bottle, and after the second the flush was creeping up her ears as well.


    Ronin and Elyria exchanged a glance as Owl five polished off the second bottle. She hickuped cutely, before raising both bottles to shoulder height and letting them go. Ronin winced when they hit the floor, but thankfully they didn¡¯t break.


    ¡°Why did it disappear for that jerk, but it won¡¯t do it for me?¡± She muttered, before moving fluidly over to Ronin. She had his bottle in her hands before he¡¯d even realized what she was doing.


    ¡°Um¡­ Owl five?¡± He asked tentatively, reaching out for the bottle. She smacked his hand away but moved closer to him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that anymore.¡± She said, looking up into his eyes from inches away. ¡°You haven¡¯t gone by Owl one since the first day we got here. Owl Three and Owl Four died the first week. Even Owl two. All that¡¯s required to change his designation is for you to give him a name. The Owl team is dead, and I don¡¯t want you to call me that anymore¡­ can you, call me by my name instead?¡± She asked, her voice going husky as she inched closer.


    ¡°Sure, Brie. I can do¡­¡± He began, getting more flustered as the distance between them shrank.


    ¡°No.¡± the goblin interrupted him before he could even finish agreeing to her request. ¡°That just sounds too personal¡­ call me by my last name instead, ok? It¡¯s Gunner. Brie Gunner.¡±


    ¡°¡­ sure, Gunner¡­ I can¡­ I mean, what are you...¡± the newly named Gunner was now running her hands up his arms. Her fingers were digging in just above his elbows and she¡¯d lifted up on her toes when Elyria stepped forward.


    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s enough Five.¡± The elf said, gently pulling her away from Ronin and shepherding her towards the bathroom. ¡°Let¡¯s go get you cleaned up, ok? It¡¯s been a long day and we should be sharp when the next crisis hits.¡± Pushing the shorter woman into the bathroom, she stopped just long enough to glare daggers at Ronin before closing the door behind them.


    ¡°What did I do?¡± Ronin said, but he did so under his breath, not wanting to push his luck with the clearly angry elf. Shaking his head, he pulled another bottle of soda from the fridge, and looked at the lone desk chair in his hotel room.


    It was fine for him, but he had two guests right now, and he didn¡¯t fancy having to share the bed with one of them¡­ yea, no. With a mental command he opened his interface. He couldn¡¯t help but wince when he saw his credit balance. Owl Fi¡­ Gunner, had done a number on it when she¡¯d bid at the auction. Still, he had nearly a million credits left over. That wouldn¡¯t buy him a spaceship or anything, but he could pick up a few chairs.


    Following the ship given instincts he couldn¡¯t really understand, or control, Ronin opened another tab and started searching for chairs. As he hovered over them on the list, a translucent copy of the item appeared in the room before him. It was a handy feature, and he played with it for a while. Still, he¡¯d never bought furniture before, so eventually Ronin just picked three rather cheap options that looked comfortable and plopped down in one to drink his soda while he waited.


    Less than an hour later, Gunner was curled up on his bed, fast asleep, and Elyria was reclining in one of his cheap chairs, sniffing the open top to another bottle of craft soda, this one a deep green.


    ¡°What¡¯s in this anyway?¡± She asked, taking another tentative sip. Her face puckered but it wasn¡¯t as bad this time around. ¡°I can¡¯t taste any alcohol at all, it¡¯s just too sweet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s nearly entirely made of sugar. It¡¯s just carbonated sugar. Apparently, it was a popular drink pre fall with young kids¡­¡± he shrugged at her look, ¡°I looked it up while you were busy.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Elyria said with a nod. ¡°Did you know goblin¡¯s behaved that way when they consumed a lot of sugar?¡± She asked, almost too calmly. Ronin shot her a look from the corner of his eye, not liking the tone.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± he said flatly. ¡°How would I even know; we haven¡¯t exactly been overburdened with culinary options since we arrived in that world. And I doubt the goblins have ever been exposed to this much refined sugar before. Hell, when we found the first batch in the mine it looked like they¡¯d been surviving by eating their own lice.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I believe you.¡± She said in a tone that suggested she still had doubts. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t kidding about Leo, you know.¡± She said, changing the subject before Ronin could defend himself any further. ¡°He just wants to use you. I can¡¯t imagine the man has as many enemies as he does without good reason.¡±


    Ronin sighed as he sat back in the less comfortable-than-it-looked, chair and took a sip of his orange soda. He¡¯d already suspected that Leo was looking out for his own best interests when the man had made his offer, but still.


    ¡°I know,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°But what¡¯s changed? I already agreed to help him, even though I didn¡¯t ki¡­ regardless of the circumstances. And honestly, after hearing that we have more aliens coming to take what¡¯s left of our planet away, I wouldn¡¯t sit it out even if he¡¯d let me¡­ so for now at least, I¡¯ve decided to just work with him. Besides, I have a feeling that beneath the cynical surface is a decent man.¡± Now it was Elyria¡¯s turn to eye him skeptically.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she said at last with a nod. ¡°It¡¯s clear to anyone with eyes that you two aren¡¯t¡­ well acquainted, shall we say.¡± She said, thankfully changing whatever she¡¯d been about to say at the last minute. ¡°But I think you might have a point about his character. He did save your friend after all, even before the big reveal about the new threat¡­ So, what comes next then? What all is involved with this ¡®fitting¡¯ we¡¯re waiting for.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I have no idea. I¡¯ve only ever met one man with a ship made body, and he was too busy talking and shoving me into the pod to answer questions, even if my jaw hadn¡¯t been broken at the time. But if it¡¯s anything like how I made this body, they¡¯ll just give you a list of options to choose from.¡± Ronin said with another shrug. Ignoring the look, she gave him when he said he made his current body. ¡°But what I want to know is what should I do about Ow¡­ Gunner? Do you think she will want me to keep calling her that once she wakes up? Aaahhh this is so confusing.¡± He said the last line into his hands, before he ran his fingers through his hair, feeling reassured somehow by how thick and soft it was. Quite different from the thin, frail strands that barely covered his head less than a year ago.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°We talked a little bit while I was cleaning her up,¡± Elyria said with a sigh. ¡°That poor girl, yes, you¡¯ll have to keep calling her Gunner. Regardless of what you too have going on, she really is tired of that code name after losing her team¡­ Are you sure there¡¯s nothing you can do to remove your influence on her sexual inhibitor?¡±


    ¡°Nothing that I could figure out, Owl two¡­ guess I¡¯ll have to get him a new name now too then, anyway, he said it couldn¡¯t be helped because nothing could interfere with my people¡¯s loyalty. Staz and the dryad, oakkin couple will be the same now too, after the registration process.¡±


    ¡°It really makes me uncomfortable, when the people on this ship talk about natives as property¡­ Oh, I know you don¡¯t think that way,¡± she said before he could deny anything. ¡°Still, it feels wrong. But regardless, if that¡¯s not an option, just keep doing what you have been.¡± She shrugged, ¡°it¡¯s not easy, but until she comes to terms with this there really isn¡¯t anything you can do.¡±


    ¡°I was afraid of tha¡­¡± Ronin trailed off as a screen appeared before his eyes. The slack jawed expression that he caught on Elyria¡¯s face, let him know she had one of her own. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time for our fitting.¡± He said, reaching out mentally to accept the prompt.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Lily asked a very unperturbed Owl two, who was still busy sorting through the pile of technological gadgets Staz had brought back. ¡°They are trying to get in here and using my people to do it. Can we change the thumb lock thing, so their thumbs won¡¯t unlock it anymore? Or maybe¡­¡± She continued on in this manner for some time while the Metal armored man just kept right on tinkering with his junk. ¡°Answer me will you,¡± she finally snapped, getting tired of being ignored.


    ¡°I told you already,¡± Owl two said his hands never ceasing their work. ¡°It¡¯s not time to act yet. The best thing we can do is to wait for the work to be finished. As unorganized as that bunch is, it will take them days to finally act. While they are preparing, our people will be finishing the project. I plan to finish cataloging all this equipment, collect the samples from Staz, begin breaking down the useless items for raw materials, and to fix the devices that still have life in them. Why don¡¯t you use the time to familiarize yourself with the technology we have available? If you¡¯ve devoted yourself to my lord the way I think you have, then the knowledge will be very useful for you indeed.¡±


    Lily just stared at him as he continued to work. She had no interest at all in just waiting around in here while the camp fell a part outside, not when she might be able to do something about it. Still, she¡¯d been spying on Eric and Andona through the tablet. She knew that if she was found outside the caves, she¡¯d be imprisoned.


    ¡°I have a better idea, Lady Lily.¡± Staz said, walking over with surprisingly quiet steps. ¡°Let me test your abilities with a friendly sparring match. It would serve me well to understand the strength of my lord¡¯s council, as well as give you an outlet for your frustrations.¡± Lily wanted to snap that she wasn¡¯t in the mood for a spar, but after thinking about it, she changed her mind.


    ¡°Very well Staz,¡± she said at last. ¡°Just let me get my training sword, and we¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Staz interrupted with a smile. ¡°Use live steel, your blade isn¡¯t large enough to damage me beyond surface cuts. Unless you buried the blade into my heart, and even then, I doubt it would kill me.¡± The giant said with a smirk, spinning his kanabo around slowly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my weapon either, I have excellent control.¡± Lily argued for a time, until Staz took her blade and ran it across his own bare chest. He bled, but the wound scabbed over within seconds and within a handful of minutes, only the drying blood proved he¡¯d even been injured at all. After that, her resistance died.


    ¡°Very well,¡± she said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯ll hold nothing back then, let¡¯s give Owl two some space.¡± The pair moved off until they found a relatively open spot and faced each other. Lily held her weapons; saber and dagger, one in each hand. She faced off against the giant oni, who was larger than any three of her put together, and her anxiety flared as he moved.


    He whipped the club around with blinding speed in a horizontal swing, that her training told her to deflect away with her dagger as she counterattacked with her saber. Reality told her that if she tried to intercept that blow not only her blade, but her entire body would be destroyed. Lily jumped back, deciding to dodge the blow entirely, before stepping forward to counter. Sadly, the giant¡¯s arms were longer than she was tall, and so was his club. His reach was beyond what she could deal with, and she retreated again.


    ¡°You¡¯ll not win back there,¡± Staz said with a smirk. He took a step forward that ate up five feet of distance and swung again. Lily dodged again. Followed by another swing, and another dodge. Her stress melted away as she began to get a feel for her foe. Namely, the fact that he was toying with her. That realization sparked her competitive instincts, and she darted forward, trying to get inside his reach.


    Upon reaching him, she discovered another problem. Her head wasn¡¯t even at the level of his elbow. The only target she could easily reach where his well armored legs. She slashed with her saber, before she was forced to roll away as his free hand reached for her. The hand was as large as Ronin¡¯s round shield.


    Having successfully ducked away, Lily came back to her feet and spun around to see what she¡¯d accomplished. Nothing. Her blade hadn¡¯t left so much as a scratch on the metal scales that covered the thick leather. She frowned in consternation at the lack of effect, before a grin split her face. Her canines were on full display as she reveled in the challenge.


    The battle continued for countless minutes, until she began to tire. When she raised her hand for a break, however, the giant just tossed her a canteen. She recognized it as one containing the nanites. Something her husband had called a ¡®health potion.¡¯ She tilted her head at Staz as she gasped for air.


    ¡°Owl two gave me a few of them,¡± he answered, not so much as winded from their exchange. ¡°We are going to fight until you¡¯ve drawn my blood.¡± There was so much confidence in those words that Lily couldn¡¯t help but believe him, even though she was supposed to be in charge. A thought that was laughable, considering she was trapped inside the cave at the moment.


    ¡°Very well,¡± she finally said, downing a mouthful of the flask¡¯s potent contents. ¡°I¡¯ve been spending too much time in meetings lately. To the point the scouts almost did my team in the other day, I think its time to shake the dust off.¡± Having finished speaking, she tossed the canteen aside, and darted forward.


    Lily didn¡¯t know exactly what the giant was after with this sparring session. She was taking several lessons from it though. The first being just how powerful the man was. He swung the club almost lazily, and yet it whistled through the air like a thin stick. His control was superb. He never hit her with the kanabo, always stopping just shy of impact. The metal stick had to weigh several hundred pounds, but it was like he used a sparring foil.


    She also realized that no matter how good she was compared to the rest of her old clan¡¯s members, she was completely outclassed here. Not just her, but all of her people. As few as a handful of these oni could have taken the bugbear cities already, where the locusts were stuck at the walls. She also understood that Ronin, Owl five and the K brothers could have likely done the same if they¡¯d snuck in.


    Instead of feeling defeated at the revelations, however, she grinned even wider. She didn¡¯t get to the top of her clan from giving up when things got difficult. This was just another obstacle for her to overcome. She was the former leader of Gilded Lily, the first wife of the White flame, leader of the syndicate in his absence. She would overcome this. Lily would surpass her old limitations and take the people of the syndicate with her. Every member who wished to better themselves would get that opportunity. They only needed to clear the mud clinging to their feet before they could start on that road.


    She wasn¡¯t able to cut Staz that night, or the next day. Still, she fought on. Only stopping to sleep and check the tablet feeds of her people. Vara and Syl had taken her charges to Benjamin, who¡¯d refused to turn them over to Eric. The former pilot hadn¡¯t been happy, but When Benjamin told him, he was free to come get them, he backed off. Apparently even he realized that no matter if he had a numbers advantage, Benjamin¡¯s well-trained soldiers, armed with kaldarr inspired rifles, would have ended his bid for power.


    Apart from that small display of defiance, Benjamin stayed out of politics. Letting Eric and Andona do as they pleased. Jewel had gone over to Andona willingly, Amber hadn¡¯t, but after it was made clear her options were to fall in line or be put down, she complied. The Rage, from seeing the betrayals and her own powerlessness pushed Lily on even further to improve.


    Owl two collected samples from Staz when she rested and worked at the fabricator while they fought. Lily hadn¡¯t paid him much mind as the days slipped by, but she saw the metal skeleton slowly morphing into something that resembled an armored person, as the pile shrank.


    ¡°Do you think you will be able to land a hit today?¡± Staz asked her, tone neutral. Lily knew he wasn¡¯t mocking her. He was too self-assured for that, genuinely wanting to know if she thought she could do it.


    ¡°Only one way to find out,¡± she said taking her stance in front of him. ¡°I¡¯d tell you not to hold back¡­ but I¡¯m not ready to die just yet.¡± She added with a smirk, that the giant man returned before they launched themselves forward into the fight. Well, Lily launched herself forward, Staz just took a single step.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± The monotone voice that blared through the cave was so far out of her expectation that Lily stumbled, and if it hadn¡¯t been for Staz¡¯s control she might have eaten his kanabo. Confused, she looked around, trying to understand what was going on.


    ¡°Come on, lady Lily.¡± Staz said gently, ¡°it seems our enemies are making their move.¡± She paled, having completely lost track of time as she tried to defeat the demons in her mind, as much as the blue giant before her.


    ¡°Alright,¡± she said. voice coming out steadier than she felt. ¡°Let¡¯s go see what Owl two has for us then.¡± The pair turned together and walked back to the fabricator. ¡°A shame though,¡± she said as they walked. ¡°I never did get a hit on you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Staz said with a chuckle. ¡°Your skill is outstanding, were I your size the battle would have gone differently, I have no doubt.¡±


    ¡°Yea, if only that was possible. I¡¯d love to test myself against you on an even playing field.¡±


    ¡°Wait and see,¡± Staz said wryly. ¡°You never know what the future holds.¡± Before she could even ask what, those cryptic words meant, they¡¯d arrived at the fabricator. Owl two moved down into the workshop, where he was already watching the life-sized projection on the wall.


    ¡°You should hurry,¡± he said, sounding anything but in a rush. ¡°The hands have been dealt, now we see whose cards are stronger.¡±


    ¡°A card metaphor?¡± Lily scoffed despite herself,¡± since when do¡­¡± she trailed off as she descended the stairs and took in the screen.


    Eric sat in the cave tunnel that held Samantha. His back was resting against the wall, and Andona sat nearby. Though in her case she sat on a chair instead of the floor. Thomas was also present, but it wasn¡¯t any of them that stole Lily¡¯s words.


    Samantha was a mess. Covered in blood, she was missing several teeth. The fingernails were missing from both her hands, and¡­ Lily fought back the urge to throw up, at the sight of the woman. Worse yet, or at least equally as bad. Beside the battered woman was the bound body of another person. A much smaller woman, who was bound, gagged, and beaten almost as badly as Samantha.


    ¡°Song,¡± Lily breathed in horror.

 Chapter forty-six

    Lily


    ¡°Damn it, Owl Two.¡± Lily snapped angrily as she looked at the man standing impassively next to a workbench. Even now he was tinkering with the metal figure. ¡°You knew this was happening and you said nothing?¡± Lily was furious, though in truth much of that fury was directed at herself. She¡¯d known what was happening, she¡¯d just been too scared to look in on Samantha in the last week. She clutched her mouth, feeling bile rise up in her throat. It wasn¡¯t the first time in the last few weeks that she¡¯d felt nauseous, but she forced it down.


    ¡°You went into this with full understanding of the possible outcomes,¡± Owl Two said. ¡°Now instead of retracing old ground, which will do nothing to change the situation as it now is, how about we watch the recording and see what happened.¡± Lily opened her mouth for a retort, when part of what he¡¯d said registered in her mind.


    ¡°Recording? This isn¡¯t happening right now?¡± She looked at the battered women on the screen, hoping against hope that they were both still alive.


    ¡°No, they have already decided on their course of action. I merely thought you would like to know the context of their decision.¡± Lily ground her teeth in rage at this obtuse fool, who was arguably the smartest man on the continent.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She said at last, taking a deep breath and turning back to the screen. She hadn¡¯t missed much, just Thomas kicking the downed Song and laughing, while Andona asked her questions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this again, shall we?¡± She asked sweetly, looking down at the whimpering woman. ¡°Why were you in such a hurry to rush to the traitor?¡±


    ¡°Lady Lily is no traitor.¡± Song spat, her melodious voice twisted, as she spoke through mangled lips. ¡°She¡¯s the White flame¡¯s first wife and he left her in charge during his absence. You are clearly the traitors.¡± She tried to spit at Andona, but Thomas¡¯s booted foot took her in the mouth. Lily winced at the similarities between this and when Samantha had tried to spit at her captors, and her eyes blazed into Thomas¡¯s snickering form.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry this up,¡± Eric said. ¡°We¡¯ve already gathered everyone together to take the cave. If she doesn¡¯t give us something useful soon then we¡¯ll just have to take her to the farm and let her watch as we kill a few hundred of her people.¡±


    ¡°No. You crazy¡­¡± Songs voice twisted and distorted as the entire scene started to move at high speed. Lily blinked, momentarily lost as to what had happened.


    ¡°I am running the recording in fast-forward,¡± Owl Two explained. ¡°Much of this isn¡¯t necessary until¡­ here.¡± He said as he slowed the feedback down.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Song sobbed. She was a mess, her hands were now missing a few fingers, and they¡¯d taken one of Samantha¡¯s eyes, in a bid to make her speak. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you¡­ Just, stop hurting Sam.¡± The goblin sobbed brokenly into her restraints as she spilled her secrets.


    ¡°Lily sent a small number of us scouts into the tunnels secretly when she sent us away.¡± She began, words muffled from pain and anguish. ¡°We took all the stone carver rats with us, to dig a secret tunnel into the throne room¡­ Lily wanted to take the throne without having to fight the batlins at all. I came back looking for her today because¡­¡± she paused and shook her head, only continuing when she got another backhand blow from Thomas.


    ¡°Aaahhh¡­ ok, ok¡­ I came back because we¡¯d reached the courtyard just outside the throne. All we need to do is funnel enough people through to tie up the king¡¯s guards while Lily sits on the throne and the city will belong to her.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like bullshit to me,¡± Thomas said and spit to the side. ¡°There¡¯s no way she¡¯s been doing that behind our backs this whole time.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Eric said, the gears clearly turning in his head. ¡°She slipped up, weeks ago¡­ but I remember. She said, if only her husband hadn¡¯t wanted to take the city by force. When a gentler touch was all that was needed¡­ or something like that, I can¡¯t remember exactly. She knew, she¡¯s been playing us this whole time.¡± Lily watched as he jumped to his feet and viciously kicked the goblin. He kicked her until he was forced to stop from lack of breath.


    ¡°¡­Ok,¡± he panted. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll have to split the troops, Andona you can take the cave. There are only two of them in there after all, how much fight can they really put up. Thomas and I will take the bulk of our forces down to capture the city. We¡¯ll take this one,¡± he kicked the now unconscious Song, ¡°with us to show the way.¡±


    The screen changed. They were now overlooking the training grounds that had become Eric¡¯s camp. There were over three hundred men and women gathered around. Their armor and weaponry were an eclectic mix of styles and materials, though they were predominantly dressed in locust lamellar. The troops themselves were also an eclectic mix. Most of those here weren¡¯t the cream of the syndicate crop. They were the ones who¡¯d slipped through the cracks before, who hadn¡¯t stepped up when they¡¯d been called on to do so. Only now that they were relatively safe, did they choose violence.


    fifty of the group had been separated out, and Andona stood with them. Standing close to her were Andessa and her team, Mike and his fellow human and the unnamed elf were jeering and cheering along with the crowd as Eric and Andona whipped them up. Standing a little apart from them, however, was Andessa and Tupelo, whispering quietly to each other.


    ¡°Can you get it so we can hear them?¡± Lily asked, pointing at the pair. Without anything changing that she could see, the roar of the crowd was muted as the voices of the two whisperers came into clearer focus.


    ¡°¡­isn¡¯t what I signed up for, Andessa.¡± Tupelo said, speaking into his shoulder to not be overheard. ¡°I lost my daughter to starvation in the honeycomb, after that I was too grief stricken to fight. When we came here, I wanted to enlist, but Unyielding oak lived up to her name, and wouldn¡¯t let me in. when Eric said he wanted to make us all equals¡­ well anyway, this isn¡¯t what he promised us.¡±


    ¡°I know tupelo,¡± Andessa said, just as quietly. ¡°My cousin is blinded with the lust for power. She¡¯d just gotten it in the White mane before her husband was killed. Now, she wants it back at all costs¡­ I don¡¯t want to do this either, but she¡¯s family. What do I do? Who would take me in if I abandoned my kin.¡±


    ¡°The White flame, that¡¯s who.¡± Tupelo said, ¡°Wish I¡¯d have just waited until he got back, or joined the damn food corps. I bet Guts would have put me where I belonged if I¡¯d have only asked someone other than that hardline old crone Unyielding oak. I didn¡¯t realize just how good we had it here, until Eric and Andona ¡®saved us all¡¯ from our inequality¡­ what a joke.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Owl Two.¡± Lily said, having heard enough. Her emotions still swirled with rage at what had been done to Song and Samantha, but she¡¯d been watching Andessa since she saw her team fighting in the simulations. The only team who regularly practiced, despite how the training field had been taken over by Eric¡¯s group. She, and the elf Tupelo, were good people who¡¯d just got mixed up with a bad crowd.


    ¡°If possible, can we avoid killing those too?¡± She asked, turning to her two companions.


    ¡°There are dissenters in every organization,¡± Staz said after a beat. ¡°That whole army are the ones from the lord¡¯s syndicate, and these two are just rebelling against the new organization. There are more than the two of them in there who don¡¯t agree with what their doing, but they will do their best to kill us when they get here regardless.¡± He wasn¡¯t scolding or insensitive. He was just stating facts. Lily marveled at how similar and yet completely different Staz was from Owl two. Staz thought about the people when speaking of strategy or tactics, Owl Two thought only of numbers and opportunity costs.


    ¡°I know, Staz,¡± Lily said at last. ¡°But there will be enough killing soon, let me save at least these two lives.¡± She said, doing her best to be earnest with her sparring partner.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl Two answered for them both. ¡°The two will be off limits, But this is old footage. They will be here in less than five minutes. We should get into position.¡± Lily frowned in consternation at the armored man.


    ¡°So, when you said it was time, you meant¡­ right now.¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°Ok, Let¡¯s do this.¡± It was strange, Lily had been feeling sick for weeks, just thinking about this moment. Now that it was finally here though, she felt fine.


    ¡°I will take the northern tunnel; you take the southern tunnel. Staz, if you would accompany her, please.¡± Owl Two said as he walked away. ¡°There should be no¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been over this,¡± Lily said with a wave of her hand. ¡°Just do it already, I¡¯ve got a camp to put back together.¡± With that, she nodded at Staz and set off towards the southern tunnel.


    ¡°This seems very much¡­ over contrived.¡± Staz said, once they¡¯d reached the newly installed gate on the inside of the curved tunnel. ¡°Why go through all this trouble? These people don¡¯t seem worth the effort¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Lily said with a raised hand. ¡°They¡¯re coming.¡± She could hear them, the voices echoing down the passageway. The tunnel wasn¡¯t long, but it had been naturally curved, and Owl two had exacerbated that curve to prevent people from shooting into the cave from outside. She¡¯d shushed the oni because if she could hear their voices, then they could hear his deep tones.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Ok, Jewel.¡± Andona said in her faux friendly tone. ¡°It¡¯s time to prove yourself to the cause. Everyone, group up. When the gate opens, I want everyone in as quickly as possible. We want to take them completely by surprise.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± Jewel said. ¡°But you¡¯re really not going to hurt her right? Just lock her up until she learns that she¡¯s been manipulated by that damned White flame¡¯s assistant, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Jewel. You poor stupid girl,¡± Lily thought sadly. Wishing she could tell Owl two not to hurt her but knowing it would be wrong. Jewel was an adult and knew what she was doing. Tricked or not, there was no place in the syndicate for those who would turn on their fellows.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late for cold feet now, Jewel.¡± Andona said, the friendliness melting away from her voice. ¡°Now open the gate, so we can finish this.¡±


    ¡°Bu¡­ Understood ma¡¯am.¡± Jewel said, with a sigh, that Lily could hear all the way down the tunnel, followed by the click of the gate¡¯s lock releasing. She¡¯d done it, if they all rushed in there would be no going back.


    ¡°Move, now.¡± She heard feet on stone, and then. ¡°What the¡­?¡± Lily was able to see Andona¡¯s look of shocked surprise when she rounded the corner at the head of her group. She was a cruel woman, but she wasn¡¯t stupid. ¡°Get back out, Get back out now¡­¡± the outer door slamming shut, and the near silent shots from the ceiling mounted turrets, cut off anything else she might have wanted to say.


    ¡°Again, I have to ask.¡± Staz said looking down at the twenty odd bodies. ¡°Why did you guys go through all the trouble of emptying the camp of your loyal followers. Give these, obviously unqualified, people command, let them abuse your people, and torture my lord¡¯s most loyal followers¡­ when taking them out was this easy? I think Hunter, was it? I think that Hunter could have taken them out in their beds without anyone being the wiser much easier than this.¡±


    ¡°because¡± Lily said with a sad sigh, looking at the only two people still standing in the locked tunnel surrounded by their dead Companions. ¡°My husband might be brutal in combat, and just as hard on himself as he strives for improvement¡­ but he¡¯s soft on the weak. He sees himself as the hero in a story, or that¡¯s how Owl Two put it anyway, and would never condone killing or banishing people for doing nothing but grumbling about what he¡¯d given them.¡±


    ¡°But these people, clearly planned on doing more than grumbling.¡± Staz continued for her, ¡°by setting up the stage for them to show their true colors, you cut out the cancer before they could take root and affect a larger number of the syndicate¡­ it¡¯s impressive.¡± He nodded his massive head while scratching his thick lower jaw right under his thick tusks.


    ¡°A course of action that lord Ronin should have taken, if he had been made aware of the situation. Though, if I¡¯m being honest¡­ I respect him more now, knowing he has engendered such loyalty in his people that they would jump through this many hoops to keep his sense of morality intact. Because, after they hurt his people, and broke into his home, there can be no doubt that they were the bad guys¡­ well played my lady.¡± Lily scoffed at the praise.


    ¡°It was all Owl two¡¯s plan. He got Benjamin¡¯s buy in to keep his men out of it, yet still be available in case things went sideways, before bringing me on board. I never would have been able to go through with it without his insistence¡­ and your sparring sessions to keep me busy.¡±


    ¡°¡­Um¡­ I don¡¯t want to interrupt, but¡­ what are you going to do with us?¡± Andessa asked, from where she stood beside tupelo in a knee-deep pile of bodies. The sound of a second slamming gate, and more muffled shots floated over, letting Lily know that Owl two had finished off his ¡®guests¡¯ as well.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the situation; I know you were an unwilling party to this.¡± Lily said. "And¡­ I just couldn''t bring myself to kill you all. But we¡¯ll talk about it later, for now put these on.¡± She tossed them a pair of control collars, neither made the catch in their shock and they splashed into the pooling blood. Nevertheless, they both picked them up and hurriedly snapped them around their necks.


    ¡°Now, clean up this mess. Weapons gear and anything else worth keeping from both tunnels in a pile over here. Take the bodies outside and line them up. I¡¯ll have the goblins collect them for fertilizer soon enough. After that, get cleaned up and wait for me in your tents. I¡¯ll be along soon enough.¡± The pair set to their grizzly task, knowing that to delay an order with a collar on would be accompanied by a painful shock. Having given her orders, Lily turned with Staz and returned to the workshop.


    ¡°This encounter has been concluded,¡± Owl two said once he¡¯d rejoined them in the workshop. ¡°There is still the matter of the battle for undercity to consider, however. Sadly, I do not believe that battle will go as smoothly as this one did.¡±


    ¡°Ok, can we back up a little.¡± Staz said from his cross-legged position on the floor. A position that still had his head on a level with owl Two¡¯s. ¡°I thought the plan was to trap them in the tunnels and kill them. What is happening underground? Didn¡¯t the goblin woman say there were only a few of them and they¡¯d dug a secret tunnel for you? I¡¯d say it¡¯s likely to go about as rough as it can go.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Staz,¡± Lily said running her claws through the fur on her face. ¡°I forgot I never actually told you the plan, and I know Owl two wouldn¡¯t have if you had no part to play.¡± She added, giving the helmeted head a scowl.


    ¡°The original plan was to trick them into attacking undercity. But only as a distraction. I know you haven¡¯t been down there, but we have maps¡­¡± as she spoke, Owl two pulled up an overhead map of the mushroom forest and the farmland on the far side of the river, along with the massive stone city on the far end. ¡°¡­thank you, owl two. Anyway, it¡¯s too far a distance to the city to tunnel under it in just a few weeks or months. Even with the stone carver rats doing all the work. So, we sent all our goblin scouts into the caves. They have been slowly integrating themselves into the goblin population down there and, hopefully, into the city and more importantly the castle.¡± Lily drew on the map with her finger as she pointed out the areas she talked about.


    ¡°The gorge is too wide, and deep, to easily cross and the batlins and hobats cover the entire ceiling beyond the mists of the mushroom forest. So, we worked out a way to get our people into the city, and a distraction¡­¡±


    ¡°Let me guess,¡± Staz said before she could finish her explanation. ¡°You have that tunnel set to come out right in the middle of a field or something, probably with a goblin insurgent nearby to alert the bat creatures that intruders have come calling¡­ then the goblins in the city will make a run on the castle?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much,¡± Lily said. ¡°We also had our moon elf friends do us a favor, and ferry over several elves and bugbear to the mines, and we never actually sent the thirteen kaldarr to the wall either. K1 had them set up camp in the tunnels, with several rifles apiece, and enough ammunition to down an army of batlins, to help add to the chaos¡­ we¡¯ve waited long enough. It¡¯s time to take that city for my husband. I¡¯m just sorry the plan cost our people so much pain and¡­ Samantha!¡± Lily said with a shout, ¡°I forgot about Samantha. They took Song with them, but Samantha is still in the cave and they¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already relayed a message to Benjamin,¡± Owl two said. ¡°He dispatched Karr¡¯s squad to get her. In fact, they are already on their way back. I¡¯ll do what I can for her, and I¡¯ve already got lord Ronin¡¯s pod ready for her. It¡¯s the one most closely tuned to human biology, so there is a high likelihood of a full recovery.¡± Lily felt a flood of relief at that.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°Then if you haven¡¯t already, get ahold of Benjamin and let him know I¡¯m coming out. I need to solidify my husband¡¯s rule over his people again in the wake of this tragedy.¡± They talked a bit longer, but in the end, Lily went out to be seen and reassure their citizens that Eric and his tyranny had been dealt with. She took Staz with her too, nothing like ten feet of solid muscle to make the seven-foot-tall bugbear men feel reassured.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    Lily blinked hard, trying to clear the clouds from her vision as she continued to work. It had been two days since they¡¯d ended Andona. Two days spent putting the camp to rights. They¡¯d begun moving the goblins back in with the rest of the population. Both seemed happy with the arrangement since the goblins would be taking over sanitation duties again.


    Apart from the goblin reintegration, there were the tents Eric and his people had commandeered from their fellows to build their own section of camp that had to be returned. The crafting area that had been monopolized by Eric and Andona¡¯s men to be returned to the workers who¡¯d been using it up to the point of their take over, and so many other, minor, matters that she felt best she take care of herself.


    Samantha thankfully was doing well. Owl two had been forced to transplant an eye in place of the one she¡¯d lost. But thankfully, there¡¯d been a woman in the cave attack who¡¯d had the same-colored eyes as Samantha, and Owl two had taken one of them as a replacement. Lily shuddered at that memory. Before meeting the enigmatic Owl Two, she would have sworn that taking a body part from one person and giving it to another was impossible. Yet, when he said he could do it she didn¡¯t even waste time on disbelief. Her husband¡¯s assistant was many things, but a liar wasn¡¯t one of them.


    That didn¡¯t mean she wouldn¡¯t have nightmares for years to come, as the man performed surgery on the unconscious pilot. Lily had insisted on being there, but in hindsight, she might have been happier if she hadn¡¯t been. The blood and the noises that were made during the process¡­ she shook off the thought. It didn¡¯t matter, that woman had been an enemy, and Samantha was a friend. A friend who hadn¡¯t deserved what happened to her.


    Putting Samantha from her mind, Lily focused on the task at hand. Namely, trying to talk sense into Staz, who was gearing up to head down into the tunnels.


    ¡°Listen, Staz.¡± She said, doing her best to remain calm. ¡°I want to go down there as much as you do, but they have a two-day head start. There¡¯s no way you can catch up before they get to the battlefield. Besides, the tunnels down there are tight in a few places. K3 told me once that he had to take his armor off a few times to squeeze through. I don¡¯t think you would even fit.¡± Her argument stemmed mostly from the fact that she wanted to go too but couldn¡¯t. She knew that but was too tired to care.


    ¡°Lady Lily, I respect your opinion, I really do.¡± The oni said with a shallow bow. ¡°However, lord Ronin made it clear that I was to use my own judgment before excepting orders¡­ for some reason he seemed to think, someone, might have unhealthy ideas about what I should be doing.¡± He quite deliberately did not look at Owl two, Lily noticed, not that she could disagree with his logic. It also sounded like something her husband would say.


    ¡°So, as much as I understand your frustration at not being able to come with me, I will be going. All I am doing now is simply giving you the courtesy of a warning before I go.¡± He was polite, but firm. A trait Lily was quickly coming to associate with the giant. He didn¡¯t threaten, or yell, or even raise his voice. He just spoke as if anything he said was the truth, because he had that much confidence in himself to make it that way.


    ¡°Ok,¡± she said at last, knowing she couldn¡¯t make him see reason. ¡°But that doesn''t change the fact you are too big to get down there.¡± She was just being spiteful now and they both knew it, but she had gotten used to his presence at her back. Maybe it was time to find herself a bodyguard with impressive mass. Her husband had always had K3 at his back, she wondered if he would switch to Staz. She doubted it, the pair of them had a strong bond. Staz¡¯s next words brought her tired mind back on track, she blinked hard again, not realizing she¡¯d been drifting.


    ¡°If that is your only concern, then let me lay it to rest for you,¡± the oni said with a wide grin. He then spoke a few words in a guttural language she didn¡¯t understand and started to shrink before her eyes. Over the course of a minute, he went from nearly ten feet tall exactly, to around six and a half feet tall. They were now very much of a height, though the oni was still much thicker than her in build.


    ¡°Does this set your mind at ease?¡± He asked with a wide grin that showed too many teeth.

 Chapter forty-seven

    ¡°Greetings, welcome to your body customization.¡± Was the first thing Ronin heard after he¡¯d accepted the prompt. The hotel room around him faded away to be replaced by an endless void of purest white. There was nothingness all around him, no floor, no ceiling, no walls. Just and endless expanse of nothingness. That, and Ronin, Elyria and the newly renamed Gunner standing on either side of him. They weren¡¯t moving, they looked just like statues, standing still and not focusing on anything.


    ¡°During this procedure, you will customize your body, as well as the bodies of your slaves.¡± Continued the mechanical voice, not giving him much time to acclimate to this new situation. ¡°I will help show you the options available to you, and your slaves, then provide a test site to confirm your choices, before¡­¡±


    ¡°Um, excuse me...¡± Ronin interrupted the voice, ¡°sorry to interrupt. But they aren¡¯t my slaves. So, is there any way they could pick for themselves? I¡¯m pretty sure they both know what¡¯s better for themselves than I do.¡± The mechanical voice died off as he spoke and remained silent for almost a minute. Ronin was beginning to think he¡¯d made a mistake and wouldn¡¯t be getting help anymore, when.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief.¡± The voice said, still mechanical sounding but no longer the soulless monotone that Owl two used. There was pitch and emotions in it now, the difference was striking, even after only hearing the new voice say four words. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve done thirty of these fittings today. Thirty, and not one of those humans gave their non-organically born subjects an opportunity to choose their own bodies?¡± As the voice finished speaking, a jade green beetle the size of a large dog faded into existence in front of Ronin, as the girls on either side of him stirred.


    ¡°What is going on now?¡± Elyria said as she whirled around in confusion. ¡°Where are we, this place is so beyond what I can understand.¡± Ronin saw that both girls were wielding their stolen butterknives at the void, though Gunner didn¡¯t say anything. With a sinking feeling, Ronin saw she¡¯d put her party mask back on.


    ¡°Are you feeling better now, Ow¡­Gunner?¡± Ronin asked her gently, barely stumbling over the name at all.


    ¡°I am functional, my lord.¡± Gunner said, eyes only flicking to him for a moment, before returning to scanning the space around them.


    ¡°Peace, ladies.¡± The jade beetle said, raising its front limbs and patting the air with them in a gesture that was clearly supposed to represent calming. ¡°Your lord has decided to give each of you your choice of bodies. Which I thought was refreshing, since so many of these humans are bigoted, arrogant¡­ uhm, I mean, that¡¯s why I came out in person instead of sticking with the automaton routine. So, ready to get started?¡± Between the Beetles antics and its friendly tone and demeaner, Elyria and Gunner calmed down and put their butcher knives away.


    ¡°Are you,¡± Elyria said looking at the beetle. ¡°Are you one of the beetles that came to the White flame¡¯s planet and¡­ changed it, so much?¡± Her voice didn¡¯t contain anger, it was more curiosity than anything. ¡°You look like what we saw in the video, only a lot smaller.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the beetle said, antennas drooping. ¡°I¡¯m a member of the &%$^ race. My name is ^&*$,¡± it said, the words coming out all jumbled up. ¡°But you humans can¡¯t hear and think on a wavelength that translates, so you call us crystallin, or crystal beetles. And a close enough approximation of my name is Jade, thanks to the color of my exoskeleton. Fitting, don¡¯t you think?¡± It punctuated the words by spreading its carapace wide, exposing long transparent wings, and doing a little turn about to show off its coloring.


    ¡°It¡­ um, yes.¡± Elyria said with an awkward nod. ¡°And your size?¡± She added, Ronin thought, because she didn¡¯t know what else to say.


    ¡°Oh right, sorry.¡± The beetle said, thunking itself on the head with its forelimb. ¡°It¡¯s been a really long time since I¡¯ve talked to anyone¡­ I mean in a back-and-forth kind of way, since, you know, I already told you I talked to like thirty humans today¡­ anyway, yea, the humans got weirded out when I showed up big enough to squish them under one of my limbs, so I shrunk to make them feel more comfortable. So, ready to get started?¡± The three companions looked at each other, each clearly unsure, but eventually, Ronin nodded.


    ¡°Sure, what do we need to do?¡± This was quite a bit different than what he¡¯d expected, when they¡¯d been told they would be getting bodies made for themselves and their escorts.


    ¡°Right, so here we go.¡± Jade said, doing another spin. As it came back around, a list appeared in front of Ronin¡¯s eyes. From the gasps on either side of him, he gathered that the girls saw it too. ¡°This is what is available to you, pick an option and it will materialize in front of you so you can see it. Don¡¯t worry about getting stuck with what you click on, it will triple check before we move onto the next step, so go wild and check out the options.¡±


    Blinking at the extensive list before him, Ronin scrolled down it slowly. There were more options than he thought possible. His eye caught on an entry, ¡®ogre mage,¡¯ with a chuckle, he clicked it. Before his eyes a life-sized ogre mage sprang into existence. It was ten feet tall and had his face¡­ it was also completely naked and exposed for them all to see. With the height difference¡­ there really was no getting around the fact that everyone saw everything.


    ¡°Um, Jade?¡± Ronin said as both women either gasped and looked away, or chuckled and gave a low whistle. ¡°Is there anyway we can have the materializations of ourselves covered for modesty, please?¡± He steadfastly refused to think about which woman whistled and which gasped. Nope, he didn¡¯t want to know.


    ¡°Of course, human,¡± Jade said. With a twitch of its mandibles the giant form of Ronin as an oni was dressed in a loincloth. ¡°That is the first thing that everyone always tells me to do when their avatar appears.¡± It said, moving its forelegs around excitedly.


    ¡°Please, call me Ronin.¡± Ronin said, trying to hold back a groan.


    ¡°If everyone always asks you that, then why don¡¯t you just do it automatically before anyone has to say it?¡± Elyria asked, definitely not with a trace of humor in her voice.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s the way the program works,¡± Jade said with a facsimile of a shrug. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to do or say anything about the program that isn¡¯t simple explanations, or that you haven¡¯t asked about first. Part of my probation to your species.


    ¡°Ok, thank you Jade.¡± Ronin said, looking at the oni version of himself, as both Elyria and Gunner each pulled up an ogre mage version of themselves too. With a smirk, Ronin noted that each of them was just as naked as his avatar had been.


    ¡°Clothe ours too,¡± Elyria shouted as she forcibly turned Ronin¡¯s head away. ¡°What were you looking at White flame?¡± She snapped, ¡°It¡¯s an avatar, not like our actual bodies were on display up there or anything.¡±


    ¡°Actually, the avatars are very well programmed, each of your forms has been perfectly measured and transferred proportionately into the av¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jade,¡± Ronin said over the beetle, as he pretended not to see Elyria¡¯s face go red. With a frown, he looked at his list. Several of the options had greyed out now that there where three ten-foot-tall blue skinned versions of themselves standing in front of them, ¡°Hey, Jade?¡± He asked, his tone changing as he thought.


    ¡°Why did some of my options grey out when they each made their avatars?¡± He tried to click on one of them, but it wouldn¡¯t let him do anything until he unclicked the oni. Then some of the options came back, but not all of them.


    ¡°Yea,¡± Elyria said. ¡°My list has several greyed-out options as well, though when the White flame unselected his avatar some of them came back.¡± She frowned and looked over at their masked companion, ¡°how bout you Five?¡± She asked, before trying again. ¡°I mean, did your list do the same, Gunner?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you call me five, just not him.¡± Gunner mumbled, but she nodded to answer Elyria¡¯s question.


    ¡°Excellent observation,¡± Jade said doing what Ronin swore was a happy dance. ¡°The growth pods are pre-calibrated with enough organic material to create one of my kind, before they are refilled from cloning vats from the resources brought up from our terraforming trees¡­¡± It pulled itself together with apparent difficulty and shook its head. ¡°Anyway¡­ using the organic matter available, you can create bodies up too, but not exceeding the mass of one of my people.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Ronin said nodding. He scrolled down the list and picked out a goblin body, he changed it instantly to a kaldarr¡­ he did not look good with green skin and red hair.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Gunner said, piping up for the first time without prodding. ¡°We all have avatars materialized right now¡­ So, why aren¡¯t all the other options greyed out?¡± The Jade beetle looked so happy at the question it did its dance and then rushed over to Gunner and patted her on the head with its antenna. Gunner flinched but kept herself in check.


    ¡°So many good questions today, only the original humans, the ones who came and took our ship away from us to begin with, bothered with that¡­ five of the thirty, I think? So, anyway¡­ your right. You get to make as many bodies as there is material for. If you don¡¯t have the consciousness here, then you can pull them from your stasis stone. Here, let me unlock the option for you.¡± Ronin exchanged glances with his companions again as the menu expanded to include what must be all the names of every person in Ronin¡¯s pocket world.


    ¡°Let me get this straight,¡± Elyria said, partially to the beetle but also, it seemed to Ronin, just to think out loud. ¡°The ¡®growth pods¡¯ are fitted with enough material to create a bee¡­ one of your kind,¡± she corrected herself automatically, likely in a bid not to offend their host. ¡°If the pods don¡¯t use all the material, it gets flushed away when the creation process is done. So, after we make our bodies¡­ we can, what, bring some more of our people from our world, or his world,¡± she amended with a head tilt Ronin¡¯s way. ¡°Is that even allowed? Will we get into trouble if we show up with more than the three of us?¡± That was a good question, Ronin¡¯s excitement dimmed a bit at the thought that they couldn¡¯t use the loophole they¡¯d found.


    ¡°Of course, its allowed.¡± Jade said with a nod. ¡°The people who created this event put it into the program to give themselves an advantage, but it wouldn¡¯t have been fair if they didn¡¯t make it available for everyone, would it? So, if you show up with a whole team, you¡¯ll just be setting yourself apart from those who weren¡¯t in the know and who were to dumb to figure it out¡­ sure, it might put a target on your back for the powerful and the dumb alike¡­ but still, it¡¯s pretty cool right?¡± Ronin just stared at the overly enthusiastic beetle as it danced around. It talked so fast he had a hard time catching all the words, but overall, he couldn¡¯t say he disliked the creature. Despite what its kind did to his planet, and that more than anything, surprised him.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Having gotten confirmation, Ronin couldn¡¯t stay focused on the beetle for long. He started scrolling down the list of names, looking for any he recognized.


    ¡°How much time do we get to choose?¡± Gunner asked, speaking out again. Oh man, Ronin hadn¡¯t even thought about that. What if he¡¯d gotten so wrapped up in choosing his add-ons that he didn¡¯t even choose his own body?


    ¡°This chamber is time dilated. You¡¯ll have as much time as you need. The ship has dedicated a good deal of its processing power to this venture. I mean, if we don¡¯t do something the ^%&*& will show up and kill you right along with us, am I right?¡± The beetle froze after saying that. literally, it¡¯s entire body going ridged, like it wasn¡¯t a living being anymore, but a statue. ¡°Oh, thank the great ship,¡± it said as it started moving again. ¡°You already know. I¡¯d have been erased for that little slip by now if you hadn¡¯t¡­ golly, that was close¡­ So, yea, you get all the time you need. And if you have enough material left over to bring in some more people, they¡¯ll be able to come and go for a test without affecting the timeline in your stasis stone at all.¡±


    ¡°Wow really?¡± Ronin asked, trying to take in all that the beetle had said in its rapid-fire mechanical voice. ¡°But I¡¯ve got my pocket world, eh, stasis stone? Set at a year to a day dilation right now, that won¡¯t affect it?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Jade said, ¡°the ship is using a lot of its power on this. It''s programed to protect its passengers as best it can after all, and being blown out of space with all hands-on deck would kind of go against that, ya know?¡±


    While they had been talking, Gunner had been working her way through the options available to her on the screens. Ronin had noticed her avatar changing as she picked and discarded options. She¡¯d settled on a shape similar to her own body, only it was covered in a carapace that looked very much like her scout armor, complete with helmet and equipment harness. Guns and knives were flicking into and out of existence now, as she fine-tuned her build.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to try this build,¡± she said after some minutes of working while the others just watched. ¡°How do I get into it, and where will I test it?¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t help but sigh. He didn¡¯t know if Gunner was really this focused on her duty, or if she was just distracting herself. Still, he had to admit she was very efficient.


    ¡°Oh wow,¡± Jade said as it scampered around the body Gunner had made. ¡°Interesting, a stealth build. I really like the chameleon carapace. That will help you blend right in, but you know you can¡¯t take that off like armor, right? It will actually be your body, so¡­¡±


    ¡°How do I test it?¡± Gunner asked again, cutting the beetle off mid warning.


    ¡°Oh, well ok then,¡± Jade said with a huffing noise and a flick of its antenna. ¡°There you go, little miss workaholic, have fun trying to get up there and collect resources¡­ only, don¡¯t die, ok? It¡¯s kind of for real with you non beetles.¡± At its words, a crystal tree appeared some hundred yards away from them. Towering up, and up into the pure white void. It was difficult to scale the tree in this expanse, but Ronin remembered just how big they were.


    Just like that, Gunner¡¯s goblin body, wearing the mask faded from view, and the avatar began to move. It checked itself over, pulled out and test fired each weapon, or slashed the air with the knives, then practiced reloading for another few minutes. Ronin watched the process with fascination, until Gunner nodded to herself and took off towards the city sized crystal tree.


    ¡°Guess we should get a move on too,¡± Elyria said with a shake of her head. Ronin thought she was just as worried about the goblin¡¯s mental health as he was, but she didn¡¯t say anything about it. ¡°Why don¡¯t we make sure we have our bodies picked out, then worry about how much material is left to bring in some more of the syndicate¡¯s people?¡±


    ¡°Works for me,¡± Ronin said with a nod. ¡°Thank you, Jade. I¡¯m going to check out the lists now. Can I ask you if I have any questions?¡± He finished, turning to the beetle.


    ¡°Of course,¡± it said with as cheery a tone as he¡¯d ever heard from a voice synthesizer. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for after all.¡± Doing his best to ignore his scout, who¡¯d faded mostly from his view upon reaching the tree, Ronin looked over his options in earnest.


    The list was indeed extensive, but now that he understood the mass limitations, he dialed back his options to exclude anything that was too big. As fun a thought as it was to become as powerful as he assumed Staz to be, it didn¡¯t make sense to use up too much mass. He was almost positive he¡¯d be able to bring a whole scout team in place of one ogre mage, if he went by pure body size.


    The last avatar he¡¯d pulled up before he¡¯d been distracted was that of a kaldarr warrior. He didn¡¯t know if he liked the idea of having tusks though, and realistically speaking, did this body really matter that much? He thought about that as he scrolled through options.


    After all, it couldn¡¯t reproduce, so choosing a human body or one that was loyal to the humanoid anatomy anyway, was pointless. Not only that, but the point of this form wasn¡¯t to stroke his vanity anyway. It was to gather enough resources so that he could survive the coming alien ship. Ronin had to take a breath and turn his thoughts away from that video, with his teeth ground together.


    He didn¡¯t like the idea of just abandoning everyone who was on the ship, not to mention all those who were still trapped on the ground and flying off with the rich and powerful in their escape ship. Still, what were his options, refuse to even participate? That would see him dead as surely as if he¡¯d put his Mark V into his mouth and fired off a round. No, he had to do this. Perhaps there would be an opportunity to help people once he was outside the ship, but that wouldn¡¯t happen if he didn¡¯t participate at all.


    ¡°Fine then,¡± he muttered, setting his resolve. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be pretty; it just has to do the job without being too big. People are counting on me for this¡­ even if they don¡¯t know it.¡± Having settled his mind, Ronin pulled up his own form from his hotel. A tall, well defined muscular man with a full head of hair. Then he began making changes.


    Sadly, the beetle¡¯s tech wasn¡¯t as advanced as the sci-fi / fantasy soup, he¡¯d pulled from all his favorite books. Though it was impressive enough, considering it was real. Still, his cyborg body wasn¡¯t an option. He could strengthen his bones and skin¡­ but did he need the skin? Gunner had gotten rid of it completely, or at least covered it up with a thin carapace designed to blend in with her environment.


    With that thought in mind, he started by covering himself with a thick carapace. Popping into the avatar to give it a few test moves didn¡¯t prove too helpful. It was too bulky over his skin, more like being completely covered with fingernails, or something. Popping back out, he began modifying it further. Despite his earlier words, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do away with his face, so he left that and his hands as human.


    He also kept his bone structure and human musculature, but in place of skin on the rest of his body he layered on a thick exoskeleton. It was similar to what he¡¯d had before, but the pulling sensation he¡¯d gotten while he moved around was absent. He took his time, popping into the body to feel it out, before making more tweaks. He wanted as much strength and protection as he could get, without sacrificing too much of his mobility. Sadly, the Jack of all trades was the master of none. That¡¯s what his father had told him once anyway, so he ended up having to give up power to maintain his humanoid appearance.


    Shifting into the avatar once more, he took a knife and smacked the back of it against his forearm. It bounced off, just like he¡¯d hoped, but came back down and hit him in the unprotected flesh of his hand. With a sigh, he realized that was going to be too great a weakness, so he started modifying them as much as he could, without losing his manual dexterity. When he¡¯d finished with them, it was very much like wearing his scout armor¡¯s gloves. There was limited mobility, but it wasn¡¯t bad enough to not be worth the trade off in protection.


    Stepping back into his ship body, well, he supposed that until the avatar was finalized, they were both his ship bodies¡­ anyway, stepping back into the body wearing a suit with flames on it¡­ Ronin looked over his work. Unless the testing he was about to do showed any glaring weaknesses, this was what he would likely stick with.


    It looked very much like a human in armor. White flame armor. He hadn¡¯t been able to resist, not since it had become so central to his identity in his pocket world. The body was black, with grey flames that licked up the figure and slowly lightened until the tips of each flame was a brilliant white. He¡¯d gone a little taller than he was now too, not much, just taken his five feet ten inches up to an even six feet.


    his hands and feet were also covered in the carapace. His feet looked like they were covered in heavy boots, with thick, textured soles for maximum grip. His hands looked gloved in black, that also had the flame motif etched on them, and his fingers were tipped with short claws. Nothing outrageous, just enough to provide a better grip while climbing. Since, he had a feeling he¡¯d be doing a lot of that soon.


    He¡¯d kept his human head, but had designed a sort of fold over carapace, which lay flat against his back and chest but would wrap up around his head, in something that looked very much like a helmet. He¡¯d taken the idea from Jade¡¯s wings. They were covered with a thick shell that had to be lifted out of the way for it to fly. This was a bit more intricate than that, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to give up his new face.


    Once his body was done, he selected his weapons. He knew all too well how dangerous the crystal tree monsters were, and planned to be prepared when he went up against them. So, he followed Ow¡­ Gunner, damn it. He followed Gunner¡¯s example and chose an air powered rifle, or whatever served the beetles for air anyway. Unlike hers however, his was a short-range unit that carried limited ammunition between tank refills, or change outs, but packed a bigger punch with larger rounds. He¡¯d seen the one she¡¯d picked on the list. It would reach out a quarter mile and packed enough power to punch through thick carapace once it connected, but it wasn¡¯t designed for close in work.


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe you picked one of those things as your primary.¡± He heard Elyria say over his shoulder, and knew she was talking about his kanabo, not the rifle. He looked down at the five-foot-long heavy metal stick, which had short, blunted spikes coming out all along the three-foot-long business end of the weapon. He¡¯d need both hands to wield it effectively, so he¡¯d only been able to use a small buckler attached to his left arm as a shield, but he¡¯d wanted the extra weight and power it would provide over the mace, when fighting the tree monsters.


    ¡°Well,¡± he said, turning around. ¡°I like it¡­¡± He trailed off as he caught sight of Elyria for the first time. Her transformation wasn¡¯t quite as drastic as his or Gunner¡¯s, or maybe it was, but in an unusual way?


    ¡°What?¡± She asked with a smirk, as she flared her transparent wings wide behind her. ¡°Never seen a moon elf with wings before?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ honestly, can¡¯t say that I have, no.¡± Ronin said as he took her in from head to toe. She¡¯d kept her elven body, mostly. Her torso and limbs were covered in what looked like small scales that matched the skin tone on her hands and face. She¡¯d covered the scales in her normal white flame armor, and what looked like a translucent cloak or shawl, and her back had a thin carapace backpack that hugged her tightly. Except, Ronin realized once she¡¯d spread her wings that the backpack was a protective shell that hid much of their length. What wasn¡¯t covered by the shell draped over her body like a cloak.


    ¡°They¡¯re much bigger than I¡¯d have thought they¡¯d be from some of the old books I¡¯d read.¡± He said after a long minute of staring. Not sure what else to say, since he didn¡¯t think she¡¯d enjoy complements from him very much.


    ¡°In order to lift my weight, they had to be this big.¡± She said with a shrug, ¡°besides, I¡¯ve always wanted to fly. Sparrow riding is nice, but it can¡¯t beat having wings of your own¡­ and after seeing how big the trees are we¡¯ll be working on, well let¡¯s just say I won¡¯t be as scared to get knocked off now.¡± For that, Ronin didn¡¯t blame her one bit.


    ¡°Now, if you¡¯re done checking me out.¡± Elyria said, as she shouldered a rifle that matched Gunner¡¯s. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can catch up to Five.¡± With a powerful kickoff, from legs Ronin now realized were much stronger than her old ones, she took to the air. Grinning, Ronin snapped the kanabo onto his back and clipped his rifle onto his built-in equipment harness before taking off after her in a dead sprint.

 Chapter forty-eight

    Lily


    ¡°How in the world did you do that?¡± Lily asked Staz, now on eye level with her. She stared at him in shock, even more so when she realized that his armored pants, steel bracers and even his kanabo had shrunk with him. How was something like that even possible?


    ¡°It¡¯s the strongest spell I¡¯ve got, reduce size, and it¡¯s the reason that lord Ronin¡¯s goblin got me so cheap.¡± He said with a self-deprecating smile. ¡°After all, who wants an ogre mage whose strongest spell is to make themselves smaller? My brother went for five times what I did, because his strongest spell allows him to summon giant wasps to fight for him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure why you seem upset about this,¡± Lily said with some confusion, still completely taken aback by the transformation. ¡°Someone of your size and strength, who can also fit anywhere smaller races can¡­  until it¡¯s time to bulk up and destroy them where they thought they were safe from you? That¡¯s impressive.¡± She added, meaning every word.


    ¡°Well, thank you for saying so.¡± The oni said, clearly not believing her. ¡°Anyway, as you can see, fitting into the tunnels won¡¯t be a problem for me. I can maintain this form for a total of twelve hours a day. So, if it doesn¡¯t stay cramped for longer than that, I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Lily said, remembering the argument they¡¯d been having before he¡¯d shown off his ability. ¡°Well, I guess you¡¯ve proven your point. I just¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand. It¡¯s just a shame there isn¡¯t a way for you to come with me, while staying here.¡± As the oni finished speaking, Owl two popped his head into the conversation.


    ¡°Actually, there is.¡± He said as deadpan as ever, ¡°I was going to ask you to wear this anyway, but since lady Lily also wishes to tag along, then it will serve as double incentive for your cooperation.¡± Having finished speaking, Owl two held up a harness with several of the small cameras strapped to it. ¡°It¡¯s just a camera harness, if you wear this then we will be able to see and hear, not to mention record everything that you see. Lord Ronin will no doubt wish to see the outcome of the battle he didn¡¯t want to miss as well.¡± Lily knew he was right, but she felt that last statement had been added on as more an afterthought than any real concern for his boss on Owl two¡¯s part.


    ¡°See and hear, but not talk to?¡± Staz asked without moving to take the harness. ¡°I don¡¯t mind you tagging along for the ride, but I can¡¯t have your voices popping into my ear when I¡¯m in the middle of combat. That¡¯s far too distracting.¡±


    ¡°One way audio and video only, I assure you.¡± Owl two said, finally able to hand off the harness to the giant, who was only a few inches taller than he was now.


    ¡°Very well,¡± he said, putting the harness on. It was much too large for him in his current size, but he just went back to being ten feet tall and then shrank again, when he resumed his smaller size, the harness fit him perfectly.


    ¡°That is just too convenient.¡± She said, smiling at the blue man as he was once more at her height. ¡°Now all I want to do is challenge you to that rematch you promised me, I know we don¡¯t have the time¡­ but, I¡¯ve got so much to do, how will I be able to watch him and do my work?¡± She asked the armored Owl Two, who was now holding a small box out to her.


    ¡°After lord Ronin expressed his desire to see what his people were doing on their missions, I developed this. I was only able to fabricate it now, however, thanks to the new materials I¡¯ve been given to work with. It¡¯s a contact lens and an earpiece. You can tap into the feed from the harness at any time, simply by pressing this button.¡±


    ¡°As fascinating as all this must be for someone who grew up without technology,¡± Staz said as he grew larger and turned around. ¡°I¡¯ll be off now. I¡¯ll do my best not to get in your people¡¯s way, but if they can¡¯t get the job done, I¡¯ll take the city myself.¡± With that, he was off, powerful legs pushing him onward at a speed few could match.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Lily said after he¡¯d disappeared from view. ¡°Show me how this works, then I¡¯ve got work to do, and I¡¯m sure you want to get back to your metal man, or whatever.¡± Owl two only nodded and explained how to put on and activate the contact and earpiece. It bugged her eye at first, but she got used to it after a while. Then, after Owl Two had left, she set about her own tasks again.


    Some time later, she found herself seated at her desk in the cave. Staring down at two sets of sabers and daggers. They belonged to Jewel and Amber, women she¡¯d known her whole life. They had grown up together, trained together and joined a team together with Vara and Syl, two more childhood friends. They¡¯d been instrumental in her ambitions to take over the Gilded Lily clan at the age of twenty-two. That had only been four years ago, but it felt like a lifetime now, as she stared down at the weapons through bleary eyes.


    ¡°Why did you do it?¡± She asked the silent room, as she ran her claws gently over the scabbarded blades. So many memories trapped in this steel. She smiled as her fingers passed over a nick that she¡¯d put there during a sparring match, when Amber had tried to block using her scabbard after she¡¯d been disarmed. They had been scolded something fierce when they¡¯d been caught sparring with live steel, but it was a fond memory now, or at least it had been, before the betrayal.


    ¡°Did you call for us my lady?¡± Andessa asked, poking her head into the tent. Lily had asked her and Tupelo to wait outside until she called for them. She hadn¡¯t been ready just yet, but she knew she wouldn¡¯t be ready for some time to come, so she only nodded.


    ¡°Please, come in.¡± She said, wiping the moisture from her eyes as she composed herself. ¡°Have a seat,¡± she waited until the elven man and bugbear woman had seated themselves in front of her desk before she spoke again. ¡°I¡¯ve chosen to spare your lives.¡± She said after some time of looking at the uncomfortable pair. ¡°I did, when the others thought it would be best to make a clean sweep of the traitors. As such, I feel like you are my responsibility now.¡±


    ¡°Lady Lily,¡± Andessa said bowing her head, ¡°we can¡¯t express enough our thanks, and our willingness to serve you in anyway you see fit.¡± Her words were echoed with murmured agreement and a bow from Tupelo as well.


    ¡°Thank you for that,¡± Lily said looking at the young woman before her, and the indeterminate aged elf. With them it was hard to say, he could be thirty, or five hundred, age didn¡¯t begin to show until right before their end. ¡°But since it was me who saved you, I feel like it should be me who takes the risks you both represent.¡± She sat back in her chair with a sigh, looking back down at the pair of sabers again.


    ¡°My team is now short two members,¡± she said at last. ¡°Thanks to the recent actions of those who were saved by my husband, and who repaid that favor with betrayal, I¡¯ve learned how important it is to have not only trustworthy people at my back, but an entire team of them who are ready for combat at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± She stared at the pair of them for a little while longer before she continued.


    ¡°I would like the pair of you to join a new team I¡¯m going to make. For the most part, you will just act as guards, since I will spend much of my time in administration. But there will be times when the syndicate goes to war, and I will need good people at my back¡­ the pair of you, a front-line fighter, and a ranged specialist. A goblin scout, a member of the food corps, Vara, Syl and myself to round out the team. Think that¡¯s something you can do, or would you rather be relegated to mine duty?¡± Her guests stared at, first her, then each other for long moments before Tupelo finally broke the silence.


    ¡°My lady,¡± he said leaning forward. ¡°We would like nothing more than to prove ourselves to you. Joining Eric and Andona was a mistake. One that I regretted within days of making, but after the die had been cast, I wasn¡¯t sure what to do. But¡­ like you just said, you need people you can trust at your back, are you sure you can trust us?... Oh, I¡¯m not saying we aren¡¯t trustworthy, but if you don¡¯t feel absolute trust in those who are watching your back, then you could get killed while looking over your shoulder, rather than at the enemy.¡±


    Lily stared at him for some time after that short speech. If she hadn¡¯t been sure before, honestly, she could admit that she hadn¡¯t been, she was sure now. She¡¯d liked what she¡¯d seen from these two while she had been watching from the shadows, and later by drone, and even though they had made mistakes, she could trust them at her back.


    ¡°Thank you for your honesty.¡± She eventually said, looking down at the sabers again. ¡°But smart decision or no, I¡¯ve decided to trust you. So, let¡¯s get those collars off you, and then we¡¯ll get you outfitted with proper gear. Unfortunately, the scouts and food corps are still gone, but I can introduce you to Vara and Syl and the four of you can work out a training schedule to get used to how each other fight.¡± Slipping the collars away from the pair¡¯s necks, she ushered them back out of her tent. It would take them several hours to get her new people settled in, time she hoped passed swiftly, because she wanted to check in on Staz¡¯s progress in the tunnels.


    It took even longer than she¡¯d thought, since Vara and Syl hadn¡¯t liked the idea at all. They¡¯d argued for nearly an hour, before being willing to even give the pair a chance in the simulated city, using sparring weapons only. Lily had started out with them but had retired because she was feeling sick again. She watched Vara from the corner of her eye, frowning after her as she left, but she paid it no mind. It wasn¡¯t her fault her stomach was acting up again, besides, she had been waiting for quite some time to check in on Staz.


    Getting back to her tent, Lily sat down on her bed and activated her contact by touching the earpiece that was concealed by her fur in her ear canal. She blinked rapidly as her left eye slowly shifted from seeing the inside walls of her tent, to show the tunnel walls passing by in a green blur. Her head swam as she got used to the difference, having to close her eyes to steady herself. Closing her eye didn¡¯t change the vision from her left eye though, since the device was resting on her eyeball.


    Owl Two had told her it would take some adjustment, and even explained that the cameras used night vision technology, which would make everything look green. Still, she leaned back onto her pillows and held on until the vertigo finally cleared up and she could check his progress.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The oni was moving faster than she¡¯d have thought possible through the cramped tunnels. He¡¯d long since passed the miles long section the rats had been excavating until Owl two had commandeered them to dig the tunnel around the gorge. She didn¡¯t know exactly where he was in the tunnel system, but judging by the speed he was going, he would likely reach the mushroom forest by morning. That was good because she was ready to get some sleep. Touching the earpiece again to turn it off, she was about to lie down, when she heard Vara outside her tent, calling in to her.


    ¡°Lily,¡± she said with clear hesitation in her voice. ¡°Do you mind if we come in for a minute?¡± Lily wondered who ¡®we,¡¯ were, but knew her friend wouldn¡¯t bother her for no reason, so she called out that it was ok for them to enter. Vara walked into the room a moment later, closely followed by Owl Two of all people.


    ¡°Vara,¡± Lily said, ¡°this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?¡± It wasn¡¯t that she disliked Owl Two, but having men in her bedroom wasn¡¯t something the first wife of the syndicate lord should be doing.


    ¡°Vara asked me to come by and give you a checkup, since you have been feeling sick more often as of late.¡± Owl Two said, pulling out a small test kit.


    ¡°A check up?¡± Lily asked with a smirk, ¡°that looks more like the kit you used to take samples from Staz, what do you think that¡¯s going to tell you about me?¡± Lily asked looking at the kit skeptically, ¡°I¡¯ve been a little stressed lately, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s all it is.¡± She said, waving off the concern she saw in her friend¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Then this won¡¯t be a problem for you, will it?¡± Owl Two asked, moving closer. ¡°Let me take my sample, then once it turns out to be nothing you can tell her ¡®I told you so¡¯ but if there is a problem, then we won¡¯t have to find out the hard way.¡± Before she could protest any further, he¡¯d already pushed the instrument into her arm. There was a light snapping sound, followed by a slight sting, and he was pulling it away again. ¡°Thank you, lady Lily.¡± He said as he packed up. ¡°If I find anything I will let you know, sometime tomorrow. I¡¯ve got to finish my project soon, since, I have a feeling my lord will need my services shortly.¡± Before Lily even had the chance to ask what he was talking about, the strange man had already left.


    ¡°What was that all about Vara?¡± Lily asked her friend, who was still in the tent with her.


    ¡°It might be nothing,¡± Vara said with a shrug, and if it is, I¡¯ll be sure to apologize, still, I¡¯ll feel better knowing for sure¡­ get some sleep my lady.¡± She said, and again, left before Lily could vocalize any response.


    ¡°Well,¡± she said laying back down into her bed once more. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll look forward to that apology then.¡± Yet, as she lay there, Lily couldn¡¯t seem to shut her mind off, so she touched the earpiece again, and watched Staz running like mad down the tunnel, until she couldn¡¯t stay awake anymore. The sound of the giant¡¯s feet pounding rhythmically against the stone, lulling her to sleep.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    The deep bass of Staz¡¯s voice rumbling into Lily¡¯s left ear woke her an indeterminate amount of time later. She sat up in her bed, blinking rapidly. Trying to reconcile the two different visions she was seeing, into a coherent picture. Her right eye saw only her tent, still dark, while her left eye captured the tunnels below them, made from different shades of green. She frowned, what had he said, she hadn¡¯t been awake enough yet to catch it.


    ¡°¡­what did you say?¡± She finally caught sight of the goblin scout who had been hiding in a small nook in the cave wall. ¡°How did you even see me? The traitors just went by, and not one of them even thought to look over here. Even the elves, and their eyes are sharp.¡±


    ¡°Peace friend,¡± Staz said in his calm tone, that nevertheless reverberated powerfully in the small tunnel. Lily noticed he was in his smaller six-and-a-half-foot form. ¡°I was looking for you, plus, Lily and Owl two told me where to look. As I said, I¡¯m one of lord Ronin¡¯s followers. I got to the valley late and am here to lend what aid I can.¡±


    ¡°Really,¡± the goblin scout looked him over skeptically before shrugging. ¡°Ok,¡± she said after a moment. ¡°I¡¯ll escort you the rest of the way. We¡¯re at a critical part of the operation, so keep quiet, ok pal? If I think you are going to blow the operation than I won¡¯t hesitate to put a bolt through your brain, got me?¡± Lily couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the bravado of the goblin scouts. So small, yet she had no doubt that the woman could and would make good on that threat, if she were pressed.


    ¡°Understood friend,¡± Staz said with a suppressed chuckle of his own. ¡°My name is Staz, I¡¯m an oni that Lord Ronin¡¯s scout, Owl five, freed from a difficult position. Who might you be?¡± Lily smiled at how smoothly the giant spoke, putting those around him at ease. Not for the first time, she wondered what his story was. Her husband had sent him to the valley, so knowing him it was an interesting one.


    ¡°Name¡¯s tiptoe,¡± the scout said, giving Staz a begrudging nod. ¡°Come with me then Staz, hope you can move more quietly than you look, because I will not risk my lord¡¯s mission for a clumsy oaf.¡± Having spoken her last line, Tiptoe turned and moved as silently as her name implied down the tunnel. As Staz followed behind her, Lily caught sight of another scout moving to the edge of the nook. No doubt to keep watch on the tunnel.


    As the pair reached the edge of the mushroom forest, Lily couldn¡¯t help but gasp at the sight. She¡¯d seen maps and pictures in the command tent of course, but this was almost like being there herself. The mist was thick, blocking much of her vision, but she could still see the giant mushrooms sprouting towards the caverns ceiling, like giant fungal trees.


    Tiptoe waved her hand around in front of Staz face, or as close as she could get with the more than two feet of difference between her and the oni¡¯s shrunken form. The camera angle shifted slightly, indicating the giant had taken notice. The scout then moved her finger to her own lips, making it clear there was to be no more noise as they proceeded. Staz must have nodded, because after a moment and a hard glare, the scout moved over to the edge and slipped down into the mist, Staz right on her heels.


    While the pair made their way through the mushroom forest, Lily spent her time taking in everything she could from the camera¡¯s limited vantage point. There were so many mushrooms everywhere. Some were tall as the tallest trees she¡¯d seen outside the bugbear cities. Others were more like bushes made from several waist high mushrooms whose heads fanned out into table sized balls. Still more barely poked out of the thick moss that coated everything in a layer of softly glowing greenery. It was a breath-taking sight, and she couldn¡¯t help but make noises of appreciation as she saw a moth the size of a dinner plate fluttering by on bioluminescent wings.


    Suddenly, she was forced back to the present situation as the camera dropped down. She blinked, reorienting on what the oni was doing. They¡¯d been moving to the right around the edge of the mushroom forest for the entire time, now they¡¯d reached a clearing in the mist, real close to where the river disappeared again into a downward sloping tunnel. A clearing created by the passing of hundreds of bodies, causing it to swirl up and away, revealing Eric¡¯s army.


    They were crowded around a small tunnel entrance, with five more scouts in addition to Song cornered against the cavern wall. Beside the small tunnel, were several cages, each holding a stone carver rat. Grown far larger than Lily remembered seeing them before. Last time she¡¯d seen the rats, they¡¯d been small enough to fit into her lap comfortably. Now, they had to be as long from nose to tail as the goblins were tall. Lily wondered if that was natural for the rats, or if Owl Two had been meddling with them while he bred new generations. She cracked a grin, having a feeling she knew the answer.


    ¡°You sure it¡¯s just you here, and... it goes all the way to the castle? That city is a long way from here.¡± Eric¡¯s voice drifted into her earpiece from where he stood beside Thomas. The large human was holding one of the newly captured scouts by the neck with one hand, his other firmly wrapped around the small woman¡¯s hand. Lily imagined she could hear the fingers popping as the man squeezed, because the goblin whimpered in pain before she answered.


    ¡°¡­ yes,¡± she whispered in a voice that carried in the silent cavern. ¡°There were only six of us¡­ Lily asked us to dig the tunnel just big enough for her to crawl through, and Owl two modified the rats to make them dig faster¡­ it goes all the way, I swear¡­ please¡­¡± She pleaded as Thomas dropped her now deformed hand and reached for the other one.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Eric said, causing Thomas to stop. ¡°We¡¯ll take them with us. It the tunnel doesn¡¯t go all the way to the city then you can continue were you left off¡­ grab them, and¡­ you, you and you three, bring them along, will you?¡± He pointed at several burly bugbears, who stepped forward to accept their burdens.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Lily whispered as the troops began filing one after another into the tunnel. She¡¯d known it would be dangerous for the scouts who had to play the dig team. If there was no one there than it wouldn¡¯t be very believable¡­ Still, she¡¯d hoped they wouldn¡¯t be hurt too bad. As the last man entered the tunnel, Lily sat up straighter, ready for what would happen next.


    For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, without warning, the ground in front of the tunnel exploded out in a shower of glowing moss. She gasped as two of the K brothers forced themselves out of a hole, pushing a huge slab of steel up and into the tunnel¡¯s entrance. A pair of scouts following right on their heels, holding long metal rods, they slammed through loops of steel on either side of the slab, and into well hidden recesses in the cavern wall.


    The slab now firmly in place, the K brothers, Lily now recognized K2 and K3. Backed up. The bugbear man who¡¯d entered the tunnel last was shouting and hammering against the slab, the tunnel too tight for any more of them to reach. K3 reached forward and swiveled a small round door out of the way as one of the scouts moved forward with a strange machine, which hummed and spat out puffs of thick orange smoke.


    Lily had heard about this part of the plan, but hadn¡¯t thought too deeply about it, considering all the things that had to go right for it to work. The scout pressed the nozzle of the device into the opening and the machine became much louder as it pumped the thick orange smoke into the tunnel. It wasn¡¯t lethal, but it was highly irritating, like lots of cut onions or peppers. Lily grinned as she heard the screams coming from the now locked tunnel. The only thing keeping her joy in check were the six goblin women, including the highly battered and abused Song, who were in there with the traitors.


    ¡°That went better than we had any right to expect.¡± Staz said quietly to the goblin scout who¡¯d led him here. ¡°What would you have done if they hadn¡¯t fell for it?¡±


    ¡°Watch,¡± Tiptoe said, pointing towards the clearing, that mist was already sweeping back into. K3, still visible, put his finger to his lips and let out a sharp whistle. A moment later, dozens of people came crawling out of the moss all around the clearing, each armed with a rifle or crossbow. From the mist shrouded forest, even more people poured into the space, again all armed with a ranged weapon of one flavor or another.


    ¡°We¡¯d have shot them all and went back into hiding.¡± Tiptoe said smugly, looking out at the elves, bugbears and kaldarr who were now gathered around the tunnel.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± Staz said with a nod. ¡°What¡¯s the plan now then?¡± He asked as the pair of them approached K3 who¡¯d caught sight of the blue skinned stranger and was already heading in their direction. His Eight-foot frame wrapped completely in the black steel armor, with its dark to light grey flames. Despite his vaunted rank, his flames still lacked the brilliant white that marked Lily¡¯s husband as the lord.


    ¡°The plan stranger,¡± K3 said in a gruff, no-nonsense voice as he reached them. ¡°Is for you to satisfy me that you should be here, and assuming you can do that,¡± the giant kaldarr turned and pointed out across the gorge towards the castle hidden deep within the city, set well over twenty miles away from them. ¡°Is to take that castle.¡± Lily looked out over the expansive farmland, dotted at regular intervals with the small farming communities that would take care of the fields. Her eyes were drawn to one of those communities, one that was, even now, starting to spurt orange smoke from a storage building for either crops or equipment.

 Chapter forty-nine

    Lily


    ¡°Peace friend.¡± Staz said, as K3 glared at him, and Unyielding oak approached with Harken at her side. ¡°As I told Tiptoe here, I¡¯m a member of lord Ronin¡¯s team. I didn¡¯t arrive at the valley until recently, but I came from the same place as our lord and the Owl team did.¡± Staz had to look up at K3 as he spoke, since he hadn¡¯t resumed his standard appearance yet. The kaldarr towering over him with menace that Lily had never seen from the giant before. When he had followed her husband around, he was quiet and reserved, now, he was frightening.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± K3 asked, tilting his head to the side as he observed Staz. Lily watched from her outside perspective as he took in the camera harness the oni wore, along with the kanabo and his bare chest. ¡°My lord left to help his friend Kevin out of a tight spot, he¡¯d gotten crushed under a boulder as I remember it. Do you know if he was able to solve the problem?¡± Lily blinked at the question; she wasn¡¯t aware of any such thing. Then she realized it was a trick question, meant to figure out if Staz was being truthful or not.


    ¡°To the best of my knowledge, he¡¯s fine.¡± Staz said calmly, waiting just long enough to see K3¡¯s muscles bulge, in readiness before he continued. ¡°Only, as I recall. His name was Markus, not Keven, and he¡¯d been shot by an enemy of our lord.¡± He¡¯d never moved during the questioning, not even a twitch, but Lily did. When K3 had readied himself to attack, she¡¯d found herself scrambling back on her bed, despite being days away from the kaldarr.


    ¡°Very well,¡± K3 said with a nod. ¡°Very few people know the name Markus, and of those who do, even fewer know the circumstances around what happened to him. I believe you are my lord¡¯s man.¡±


    ¡°We going to buy his story, just like that?¡± Unyielding oak asked with a scowl. She¡¯d drawn her bow as K3 readied himself but stopped before firing when he¡¯d relaxed again. Still, her nature wasn¡¯t very forgiving or understanding. Lily knew she¡¯d much rather kill a loyal follower of their lord then risk letting a spy into their midst.


    ¡°He¡¯s who he says he is,¡± K3 answered simply. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve been with lord Ronin for months. He wouldn¡¯t have told just anyone that tale, so I am choosing to believe him¡­ not to mention we¡¯re on the clock now. If we¡¯re going to take advantage of the distraction the traitors provide, we need to do it now.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Unyielding oak said with a nod, putting her bow away. ¡°So, how do you want to play this?¡± The kaldarr was clearly in charge of this operation since everyone was looking to him for his answer. Nearly all the people Lily had sent from the valley were here now. The bugbear whose loyalty wasn¡¯t in question, Unyielding oak and her fighters, the thirteen kaldarr warriors who¡¯d, after months of wearing slave collars, had decided to join in the fight, rather than be stuck as laborers. The only group that was missing were the goblins. Both the scouts and the food corps members were nowhere to be seen, apart from the lone team who¡¯d helped put the grate in place and watched the tunnel as Staz descended.


    ¡°Once they come spewing out of the barn,¡± K3 began, doing a slow circle as he spoke to address everyone gathered around. ¡°We¡¯ll break into teams and cross the bridge. Stay low and move fast, we need to get to the edges of the cave and get as close as possible to the city before we¡¯re discovered. Hopefully, the traitors will put up a fight, and the tear gas will distract the batlins long enough that we¡¯ll have a chance of getting there. Just in case, however, the kaldarr along with several bugbear and elves will remain here, to shoot into the swarm and bring their attention to the mushroom forest, rather than onto us.¡±


    Lily listened along with everyone else. It wasn¡¯t much of a plan, as far as they went. Her mind went unbidden to the truck her husband loved so much, parked right outside her tent in the cave. If they¡¯d been able to finish the tunnel all the way down, they¡¯d have been safe from all ariel foes while in that truck. That, and several other ideas came to mind as she pictured her husband¡¯s most loyal people risking themselves crossing the fields that spanned no less than twenty miles of open ground. Perhaps they¡¯d overstretched after all. This sounded less and less like a good plan.


    ¡°Put your masks on,¡± K3 continued, as he held up a strange, shaped black mask and slipped it on over his head. It was leather and had a long, slightly downward sloped point on the end that looked very much like a bird¡¯s beak. In addition, there were two round disks for eyes on either side of the beak. ¡°There is a filter at the end of the large opening, which should help eliminate the tear gas from getting into your eyes and lungs. Just remember, the canisters will give you a head start, but they won¡¯t last all the way to the city.¡± The lone scout team began passing out small cylinders, about the size of a drinking glass. They were sealed off on one end and had a tab sticking out from it. In addition, they hefted out four more of the machines that were even now pumping smoke into the tunnel.


    Lily smacked her head as she watched. How could she forget about the ¡®gas grenades¡¯ and the ¡®plague doctor masks¡¯ Owl two had made for the troops. They would get as far as they could before they were noticed, then before they were swarmed, they would release as much of the tear gas into the air as they could to keep the batlins occupied while they ran for the city. The orange smoke would also serve another purpose. To alert the goblins who¡¯d worked themselves into the city that it was time to act. Hunter and Silent step, along with Guts and all their people should have entered the city by now and be biding their time to attack when everyone was distracted by the orange smoke.


    The troops gathered round, collecting their grenades, and donning their masks. Once the scouts had emptied the small tunnel of equipment, Lily watched as they faded away into the forest. She knew they were heading to take out the guards on the other side of the bridge. The camera angle was jostled when Staz moved forward as the troops lined up.


    ¡°Hold it,¡± K3 said, putting his armored hand out in front of the oni, ¡°I believe you are who you say you are, but that doesn¡¯t mean I trust you with the rest of my people. They¡¯ve each proven their loyalty. And I won¡¯t risk their lives, just to add one more set of hands to the operation. You stay here, with the gunner team. We have plenty of spare rifles, so don¡¯t worry about not being able to help.¡± Lily frowned, not being used to this assertive version of K3, wondering what Staz would do under these circumstances.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here, for now.¡± He added, moving back from the group as they finished getting ready. A short time later, the scouts returned, motioning that it was done. Lily watched as they filed into the mists, and, once the orange smoke from the farm caught the attention of the batlins that clustered over the ceiling in the tens of thousands, they dashed across the bridge as fast as they could move, while the swarm dived down into the orange cloud.


    Lily could just make out the screams from Eric¡¯s people, as they were forced from the barn and into the open. Many were coughing violently and rubbing their eyes to clear away the smoke. Those were the first to be taken by the bats, who dove down on them like lightning strikes. After that first dive run however, the batlins didn¡¯t have it so easy. The tear gas had affected them just as it had Eric¡¯s people. many of them swooped up and away, but, blinded by the smoke, smashed directly into their fellows. Lily watched as they tumbled from the sky in their hundreds.


    ¡°Form up,¡± she heard Eric screaming over the screeching mass of batlin bodies. ¡°They¡¯re nothing more than winged goblins. Crush them. We only have to hold until the smoke clears, then it¡¯s back up to the valley for us¡­ we¡¯ll get that bitch Lily for this, believe that.¡± Lily felt a little resentful at that, sure she¡¯d helped set this up, but it was nearly entirely Owl twos doing.


    ¡°You getting this, my lady?¡± Staz said with a chuckle that rumbled through the earpiece like thunder. ¡°Looks like even here, your quite popular¡­¡± The giant trailed off as the surrounding batlins flew circles around the smoke, the larger hobats leading dozens of their smaller kin in tight circles. It looked like they too were waiting for the smoke to thin out. When, one of the hobats who¡¯d been crashed into and spiraled down to the ground far from the town, let out a screech so loud it hurt to hear, even through the speaker in Lily¡¯s ear.


    It had come down close to one of the outer walls, and as it righted itself it had seen K3¡¯s group. Only one of many, and not the first, who¡¯d charged across the bridge. The hobats, not being able to safely enter the smoke to get to Eric¡¯s people, changed tactics and flocked straight for K3 and his small group of men and women.


    The kaldarr who¡¯d remained behind saw the swarm change targets and acted instantly. They fired their guns until the magazines ran dry into the swarm, then dropped them for one of their helpers to reload as they picked up a fresh rifle, to repeat the process. The batlins fell, first in ones and twos, then the tens, before hundreds of them were raining from the sky under the hail of fire coming from the mist cloaked mushroom forest.


    Chaos erupted in their ranks, chaos that was only compounded when K3¡¯s team began throwing their tear gas grenades. As more of the field filled up with orange smoke, the batlins lost much of their cohesion. The whole time, the kaldarr shot them by the hundreds. K3 and his team were able to slip out of the swarm, and ran for all they were worth, having barely escaped without injury. The swarm however, led by another screeching hobat, had found a new target. The kaldarr continued firing as the swarm flocked in their direction. Doing everything they could to get as many of them as possible before they were forced to stop shooting and run.


    Lily watched as the batlins got closer and closer to the kaldarr line. She started whispering for them to run, but they just kept right on firing. When the hobat led swarm was less than fifty feet away, the elves and bugbear got up and fled into the mists, doing what they could to disperse and hide themselves from the winged threat. The kaldarr, in contrast, kept firing. Right up to the end, not one of them turned their backs on the enemy. Lily let out a muffled yelp as the swarm washed over the still firing kaldarr gunners.


    ¡°Brave, but foolish.¡± Staz whispered aloud. ¡°If they¡¯d have run, they could have rallied later to provide more covering fire. Now¡­ well, I¡¯d be surprised if half of them are even still alive. Still, a noble end for warriors who were forced to fight for a master they didn¡¯t choose.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°You think they died on purpose?¡± Lily asked, momentarily forgetting Staz couldn¡¯t hear her.


    ¡°Looks like lord Ronin¡¯s favorite soldier has gotten himself into trouble again.¡± The oni said, pointing towards K3¡¯s group, who had joined up with Unyielding oaks team, and were both being swarmed. ¡°Guess that¡¯s my cue.¡± Standing up from whatever he¡¯d been sitting on, the oni released his spell, and grew up to his normal ten feet. The camera gyrated around as he limbered up his arms and pulled his kanabo from behind his back. Lily grinned in anticipation of what he would do as he tore off towards the bridge, when Vara called her name.


    ¡°Lily, are you awake?¡± The words floated in through the tent¡¯s flap, and Lily cursed. The battle was in full swing, and she hadn¡¯t gotten the hand of watching through the contact and dealing with things right in front of her. She¡¯d have to turn this off if she was to converse with Vara.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy right now Vara,¡± she finally called, hoping her friend would take the hint and leave her alone. Staz had already reached the bridge, and was surrounded by batlins, who cut into his exposed chest as he pushed his way through the swarm.


    ¡°My lady, it¡¯s important.¡± Vara called insistently. Lily cursed again because she recognized that tone. It really was important, or her friend wouldn¡¯t have used it.


    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± She grumbled, pressing the button to turn off the feed as she rose from the bed and called. ¡°Come in then,¡± as she wrapped herself in a robe and moved to her chair.


    ¡°My lady,¡± Vara said as she entered the tent, Owl two at her heels once more.


    ¡°Lady Lily,¡± the armored man said just after Vara, entering her tent for the second time in as many days.


    ¡°Owl two, Vara,¡± Lily said, a frown coming over her face. ¡°I hate to be rude, but it¡¯s improper for another man to enter the sleeping quarters of a lord¡¯s wife. We don¡¯t need rumors spreading, do we?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Lily,¡± Vara said, and sounded like it. Lily¡¯s eyes sharpened on the pair once she saw how agitated her childhood friend was.


    ¡°What is it Vara?¡± She asked, getting to her feet. ¡°Is there a problem in the camp? Have the locusts broken through the wall? I knew it was a risk pulling all our people out to help in the caves, but¡­¡±


    ¡°My lady, please, calm down.¡± Vara said, patting the air in a calming gesture. ¡°It¡¯s nothing like that, it''s something that pertains only to you.¡± If Vara thought that would reassure her, she was wrong.


    ¡°Me?¡± Lily asked, getting even more riled up. ¡°Is it Andessa and Tupelo? Did they betray us already?¡± she started pacing the tent, rubbing her belly that had started acting up again with the fresh agitation. ¡°Or is it something to do with Andona¡¯s remaining family? I know they¡­¡±


    ¡°Lily, please.¡± Vara tried again, only to be cut off as Lily continued to throw out increasingly more ridiculous ideas.


    ¡°You are pregnant Lily.¡± Owl Two said loudly, cutting across Lily¡¯s babble.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ what?¡± Lily said, not sure she¡¯d heard properly.


    ¡°You are pregnant.¡± He repeated in his unfeeling monotone. ¡°Vara suspected something was wrong when you started getting sick. Coupled with the irritability, and mood swings you have been having lately, it was almost certain. Still, I ran a test to be sure. You are with child Lily¡­ Now, if there is nothing else?¡± He asked, looking at Vara. ¡°No? Then I will be going, I have a lot of work to finish before it¡¯s too late.¡± He was gone before the last of his words drifted back through the tent¡¯s flap.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ pregnant?¡± Lily whispered, sliding back onto her bed. ¡°And what does he mean, mood swings?¡± She added with a bite to her tone. ¡°Oh, my¡­ It¡¯s unexpected, we only¡­ I mean, my lord was only with me the once, when we confirmed our marriage¡­ Vasylia.¡± She jumped back to her feet again when she thought of her marriage night and her sister wife. ¡°She was with our husband that night as well. Do you think¡­ she¡¯s in the assault¡­ she¡¯s attacking the city right now¡­ oh no. Vara, what do I do?¡±


    ¡°My lady,¡± Vara said, stepping up and gently grabbing Lily by her shoulders. ¡°I understand that you have the ability to observe what is going on down there somehow.¡± She said, doing a poor job of concealing the wonder in her tone. ¡°But the undercity is two days away by tunnel. There is nothing you can do, the battle will be over before we could get a runner down there, and in your condition, you aren¡¯t going anywhere near combat again for some months.¡± Lily groaned as she flopped backwards on her bed.


    ¡°This is so unfair,¡± she said, kicking her legs in the air. She was acting like a child and knew it but let herself act the fool anyway. It wasn¡¯t every day you were told you were pregnant after all, and that your sister wife, who might also be pregnant, was two days away from you in mortal combat. ¡°Ok Vara, thank you for telling me, but I¡¯m going to focus back in on the battle now.¡± She said, coming to a decision at last.


    ¡°But my lady.¡± Vara said, brow furrowed in concern. ¡°You just got important news, and the father isn¡¯t around to tell. Are you sure you want too¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Vara,¡± Lily interrupted. ¡°But this is the best way for me to keep my mind off this, besides, Staz just arrived on the field and is trying to save K3. I must see how it goes and keep an eye out for Vasylia. No matter how it goes, I have to tell my husband what happened to his men, and his second wife.¡± Vara tried again to talk her into some other course of action, but she insisted, and before much longer Lily was back in bed. Button pressed on her earpiece as she closed her eyes.


    It took long seconds for her to regain her bearings, but when she did, she realized Staz was still in the thick of the action. She didn¡¯t know what had happened with K3 and Unyielding oak¡¯s groups, because she couldn¡¯t see either of them. What she could see was the city wall looming up before the giant, its gate being slowly forced closed by several panicked looking hobgoblins. She couldn¡¯t focus on that for long, however, because Staz was being constantly swarmed with batlins.


    He swung the kanabo so fast it was a blur. Each pass the metal club took through the air, brought numerous batlins to the ground. He was being hurt though, she could tell from the grunts he kept letting out, and the occasional splash of blood when a batlin made it past his guard to dig its taloned feet into the giant¡¯s body. The offending batlins never survived the encounter, being pulled away and crushed in the giant¡¯s free hand, but the damage had to be adding up.


    Lily was astounded by his speed. She¡¯d thought he was fast before, while running through the tunnels, but this was on another level. He ran so fast that not all the batlins who crashed into him were able to dig their claws into his flesh, because they were crushed under the combined momentum of their dives and his forward charge. Lily heard bones breaking as one batlin after another crashed right into the giant. At one point, she jumped in terror as a batlin smashed feet first into the camera she was watching through.


    It broke free of the harness, swinging around and giving her a view of the oni, before it was disconnected, and her vision went black for a second. She was able to see a moment later through a back up camera, but even once her vision returned to the swarm around them, Lily¡¯s thoughts were still stuck on the sight of Staz¡¯s flesh as he ran.


    The giant had been flayed bare. Long cuts ran down the length of his body, where long talons had dug into him, and strips of skin and muscle flapped freely as he bounced along. The blue flesh, so covered in red blood that the oni appeared purple to her eyes. She shuddered, how was he even alive, let alone still fighting and running like that? it should have been impossible, yet the giant was doing it.


    The mutilated body of her husband¡¯s newest follower wasn¡¯t all she¡¯d managed to see while the camera was flopping around though. She¡¯d caught sight of K3 and Unyielding oak, running in the giant¡¯s wake. The kaldarr was fully encased in his armor, but he still looked like a mess. Blood flowed over the black metal plates, and there were dents and a few cracks along the surface. He¡¯d also lost his helmet at some point. His face, the brief glimpse Lily had gotten anyway, was set in a determined line as he ran.


    Even as he ran, and swung his hammer at the batlins, K3 held his shield arm up and out to cover the elven leader. Unyielding oak was in even worse shape than the kaldarr, though not nearly as bad as Staz, who cut the way forward for them. She¡¯d lost her bow, but even if she¡¯d had it Lily doubted, she could have used it. The elf wasn¡¯t a wall of regenerating muscle like Staz, or a nanite infused, genetically altered warrior like K3. It was a miracle that she was still up and moving at all, let alone fighting. Blinking away the memory of what were likely the only surviving members of the pair¡¯s teams, Lily focused back on the new camera the feed had been routed through. This, at least, explained why Owl two¡¯s harness had held no less than a dozen cameras in various locations across the giant¡¯s body.


    They were drawing near to the gate, the hobgoblins pushing with everything they had to close the massive stone gate, before the raging, bloody giant could make his way into the city. Lily could tell the moment they realized they weren¡¯t going to make it, because seven of the twelve soldiers who were trying to close the gate, gave up and turned tail. Leaving only five hobgoblins who were still trying to push the gate closed. They too, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and turned to flee, but it was already too late.


    Staz smashed into the doors like the White flame¡¯s truck going top speed. The giant gate was far too big for even the oni to slam open, but its forward momentum stopped entirely, letting him slip through the gap and into the city. Three quick swings of his kanabo ended the lives of the five hobs who¡¯d been trying to escape, before he turned around to help clear the entrance for K3 and Unyielding oak as they stumbled the last few feet into the city proper.


    Thankfully, the batlins didn¡¯t follow them in. It seemed the hobat her husband had questioned all those months ago had been telling the truth. The batlins guarded the cavern, but wouldn¡¯t interfere inside the city, thinking it was the hobgoblins wish, since they¡¯d killed all those who¡¯d entered before. That didn¡¯t mean they were safe, however. Even as the battered combatants stumbled to the ground inside the gate, a rain of javelins came crashing down on them. Blocked from death only by the intervening bulk of the oni, K3 forced Unyielding oak to drink the flask he¡¯d pulled from his equipment harness. She tried resisting, but the kaldarr was much stronger than her, even at her peek and he forced it down her throat. He was likely planning on using his own nanite granted regeneration to recover, but Staz held out his own flask to the kaldarr before he could stand.


    ¡°Drink it,¡± Staz said with a grunt. The bloody javelins that clattered to the ground around him clued Lily into the fact he was pulling them from his own back. ¡°Lord Ronin has a soft spot for you, I won¡¯t be the reason you die. Now, drink. You have to get deeper into the city, and I have to go back out and save who I can before they¡¯re all killed¡­ here.¡± Lily¡¯s view was jostled even more when Staz pulled the harness off and tossed it to K3. ¡°Put this on, lady Lily is watching, or will be watching the recording if she isn¡¯t watching live. So, give her a good show of you taking this city for our lord.¡± The camera now turned around in K3¡¯s hands, Lily was finally able to get a good look at Staz¡¯s body.


    She screamed in horror, right inside her tent, having to shoo Vara away as she blinked back tears at what she saw. It was even worse than she¡¯d thought. Blood, and strips of muscle were the least of the oni¡¯s problems. One of his eyes had been clawed out, and his belly had been split. Thick, ropy intestines were spilling from his belly as he pushed them back in with one hand, while pulling out the javelins that peppered him like a pin cushion with the other.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go back out there like that,¡± K3 gasped out. ¡°You¡¯ll die¡­ None of us, not even me, can be more valuable to our lord than you. I can see you healing already, just find a place to lay low for as long as it takes for your wounds to heal, then you can try and get out of here. The boss needs¡­¡±


    ¡°The boss needs an army,¡± Staz cut in, now throwing javelins back at the hobs who¡¯d ducked for cover once they¡¯d thrown their weapons. ¡°No matter how strong any one person is, a kingdom is built from the people who make it up, not the few at the top. Now, put that on and go. Something tells me the goblins are going to need your help.¡± With those cryptic words, Staz turned, and flung himself back out into the swarming batlins.

 Chapter fifty

    Ronin drove his toe spikes into the tree bark, which, despite its crystallin appearance from a distance, looked, felt, and acted very much like any other tree¡¯s he¡¯d ever interacted with. His small team had been at the practice for hours now, happy to take advantage of the time dilation to get in as many runs as possible. During that time, they¡¯d all made several modifications to their bodies. Ronin¡¯s were all geared towards maintaining his footing while climbing and moving around the tree. His body was already covered in carapace for protection, so it had been easy to just think of it as armor and modify it some more.


    He dug the short, downwardly curved spikes on his knees and the one from his left elbow, into the bark to balance his position. So, his right arm could bring the stubby rifle to bear on an approaching wasp. The air rifle was called a PCP 1.0 and only held five rounds. The heavy, bluninch andhad a diameter of an inch, and hadn¡¯t failed to penetrate the carapace of whatever he¡¯d shot with it yet. With the relatively quiet hiss of depressurizing gas, the slug left the rifle and slammed into the helicopter sized yellow and orange wasp. Sending it from the air in a twitching tumble.


    ¡°Way to go, White flame.¡± Elyria said, from where she fluttered above him as he manually cycled in a fresh round. ¡°You¡¯ve successfully alerted them to our position.¡±  She wasn¡¯t wrong, Ronin noticed with a silent curse. A small swarm of five or six of the monstrous insects were now heading straight for them, the droning of their wings also reminding Ronin of a helicopter. Clipping the stubby rifle back onto his harness, Ronin climbed for all he was worth. If they had to take on that many at once, he needed to reach a branch where he could stand up.


    ¡°Never mind,¡± Elyria said as she continued to fly over his head. ¡°Five has covered for your screw up¡­ again.¡± Glancing over his shoulder, Ronin saw that two of the wasps were missing, and a third was already falling out of formation to tumble down the tree. The remaining three buzzed away, deciding this prey wasn¡¯t worth the cost.


    ¡°Seems so,¡± he called back as they continued upward. That had been their pattern up till now. Gunner would start the climb first, getting well into the tree and hiding before Ronin started his own climb. Elyria would cover him from the air and let him know if he was coming up on a group of the tree monsters he couldn¡¯t see from his vantage.


    ¡°Aphid nymphs around the next branch,¡± Elyria called down to him from where she was now scouting ahead. ¡°Looks like a range of first to fourth instars, but there are no adults, and I only count twenty of them. You should be able to handle this lot easily enough.¡± Ronin let out a groan at her incessant use of unfamiliar terminology.


    ¡°Which one of the twenty odd species up here are those again?¡± He asked as he climbed towards the branch in question. Ronin loved learning new things, and he thought he recognized some of the monsters from earth¡¯s old books on gardening he¡¯d seen a few times, but he wasn¡¯t an expert on them by any means. So, when Elyria started dropping her herbology knowledge like this, as if everyone knew exactly what she was talking about, he got a little frustrated.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t twenty different species up here, White flame.¡± She said with an exaggerated sigh. ¡°There are only three species; aphids, ladybugs, and wasps¡­ or at least some giant variants of those insects.¡± She lectured, flying back to hover over his head. She¡¯d done some heavy restructuring of her wings to allow for that. Now, she had two pairs of them, and they were remarkably similar to those found in dragonflies. With a protective shell that covered them while on the ground she¡¯d called an elytrum. She¡¯d changed how some of her musculature in her torso worked to make it possible, but it was mostly covered by her clothes, so it wasn¡¯t overly discernible.


    ¡°Then why do I see so many different kinds of bugs flying, crawling, or squelching their way across the branches and leaves then?¡± Ronin asked with irritation.


    ¡°Because, White flame, the wasps and the ladybugs lay eggs, which hatch into larva. Then they pupate, before turning into their adult form. While the aphids lay eggs that go through molts, as they grow. These molting stages are called instars. The aphids also reproduce asexually, but depending on the season, they can also reproduce with male and female pairings¡­ and some of them have wings during those seasons, while other adults don¡¯t¡­ so as you can clearly see, there are only three species. They just look different as they grow up.¡±


    ¡°Ok, Elyria.¡± Ronin said with a sigh, ¡°so, what one of the three species and twenty odd stages of growth am I about to climb into?¡± It was a moot point really, considering he had been climbing over the lip of said branch as he asked the question. ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s the little black ones.¡± He said, answering his own question.


    The branch was covered in a wriggling mass of black bugs. The smallest were the size of a house cat, and they grew from there to dog sized. The largest ones he¡¯d seen were the size of a pony, thankfully there weren¡¯t any of those present. Not that these guys were all that dangerous. They ate the sap from the tree and provided sustenance for the tree¡¯s actual defenders.


    ¡°I told you exactly what they were, White flame.¡± Elyria said with a huff as she landed beside him and pulled her own air rifle from her harness. ¡°How is ¡®little black ones¡¯ a better descriptive term than aphid nymphs?... Well, get too it, White flame.¡± She said with an imperious gesture at the dog sized black bugs.


    ¡°What, not going to help?¡± Ronin asked with a scoff as he waded into their midst, swinging his kanabo in controlled arcs. He¡¯d been learning just how hard he had to swing to knock the insects from the branches. It was a balance, he wanted to keep his momentum up through the swing yet didn¡¯t want to go flying off the branch himself.


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve only got so much ammunition in this, fascinating yet primitive, weapon.¡± She said with her own smirk, patting the PCP .50, the gun had much more range than Ronin¡¯s, but with half the bullet diameter. ¡°Better to save it for the big threats and leave the ¡®little ones¡¯ for you to clean up¡­ This is your chosen role after all, the team¡¯s front man, or tank as you called it, right?¡± Ronin didn¡¯t even bother with a reply as he methodically swept the branch of the immature aphids.


    They could have gone around, these particular insects didn¡¯t move that fast, and weren¡¯t really a threat to them. Still, this was training. They¡¯d already decided to take every opportunity to familiarize themselves with the trees and their inhabitants, so they wouldn¡¯t make any costly mistakes when they made it to earth. Here, they could still die, but a dropped weapon or insufficient ammunition stores weren¡¯t deadly mistakes since they could just climb down and start over.


    ¡°Understood,¡± Ronin said as he finished sweeping the branch clear. ¡°Though, you really need to get a melee weapon, just in case¡­ yes, I know you can just fly away if you get surrounded, and¡­ Yes, I know you are limited on carrying capacity due to your wing¡¯s limitations. But seriously, what happens if I get in over my head and need help, or your wings break? Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it¡­ an old saying from my planet,¡± he added with a smirk.


    ¡°Pretty sure every species has a saying that means about the same thing, White flame.¡± Elyria said, ¡°but I¡¯ll think about it. Not many weapons small enough for me to carry can pierce the armor on the ladybirds or the wasps, and the aphids really aren¡¯t dangerous enough to worry about. So, I don¡¯t really know what weapon I should carry.¡± She admitted with a shrug.


    ¡°Understandable,¡± Ronin said. ¡°Still, think about it¡­ come on, let''s go. Gunner is probably halfway to the flowers and fruits by now. I¡¯d hate to arrive to find she¡¯d gathered a dozen seeds again before we even¡­¡±


    ¡°Watch out,¡± Elyria said urgently, cutting Ronin off midsentence. He pivoted around, as she raised her gun to shoulder level and fired behind him. He heard the bass thrumming of wings a split second before he was bowled to the ground. The pressure soon lifted as he Fought for breath and struggled to his feet.


    Whirling around, he saw the car sized ladybug that had landed on him. It dropped the aphid body it had been munching on when Elyria¡¯s first shot connected. Pivoting with surprising speed it charged straight for her. That was what had given Ronin the time to get up, but now he was left scrambling to catch up. Ronin reached behind him, only to find his rifle had come loose during the fall, and he¡¯d dropped his kanabo when he¡¯d been hit.


    Cursing, Ronin charged forward barehanded. The beetle had almost reached Elyria before he¡¯d gotten up, and she didn¡¯t have a weapon. After several steps and a strong leap, he got his fingers into the crack where the ladybugs forewings, or elytra as Elyria called them, hadn¡¯t closed all the way from its landing. His blunted finger claws dug deeply into the still folding hind wings, and he ripped at them desperately. Not able to see Elyria from behind the beetle, he wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d gotten to it before it got to her. So, instead of worrying or trying to see, he just tore into the colorful monster with abandon, clawing his way into the orange goop that its lifted wing casing couldn¡¯t protect.


    Ronin lost himself in his mad frenzy, tearing past the hard exoskeleton and soon was trapped inside the car-sized monster¡¯s body. Finding himself trapped in the carapace contained pond of goop that served the ladybug for organs, brought Ronin back to his senses, and finding that his enemy wasn¡¯t moving anymore, he climbed back out.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Elyria asked once his head emerged from the beetle¡¯s body. ¡°I got the kill shot on my second round. So, what did you go swimming around in a dead ladybug¡¯s guts for?¡± Ronin could tell she was fighting not to laugh, a fight she wasn¡¯t trying all that hard to win it seemed. ¡°Ha-ha, Really White flame, what were you thinking? Ladybird blood is toxic, remember the yellow orange goop they excreted from their knees last time, which smelled really bad?... yea, you¡¯re swimming in it right now. I mean really, what were you thinking?¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Unfortunately, Ronin was all too aware of how bad he smelled. Climbing out of the dead beetle, he just wiped himself down as good as he could with his hands. When he¡¯d finished getting most of it off himself, he gathered up his pre-charged pneumatic rifle, or PCP, his kanabo, and without a backward look headed further up the tree.


    He did his best to ignore her pestering behind him. How could he admit to her now he¡¯d acted like that, because he was worried about her. Especially now, with her laughing at him the way she was, he couldn¡¯t fathom why he cared if she¡¯d been eaten alive. The only nice thing she¡¯d done for him since exiting his pocket world had been to stop threatening to kill him every other conversation. Would it really be so bad if she¡¯d been eaten?


    ¡°Come on, Gunner¡¯s waiting for us.¡± He said over his shoulder, already climbing again.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    Lily watched Staz disappear through the gates, from the swaying vantage of the camera harness still being held in K3¡¯s hands. It seemed to her like he¡¯d been frozen with shock every bit as much as Lily herself had. Since, he didn¡¯t move again until a javelin landed in the ground inches from his feet. After that, it was like he woke up again and sprang into motion.


    ¡°Come on lazy bones,¡± he said as he scooped the barely conscious Unyielding oak into his arm. The motion jostled the camera, making Lily feel sick. Since, she couldn¡¯t just close her eyes and wait for the sensation to pass. What she was able to pick up, whenever the camera got stuck between K3 and Unyielding oak¡¯s still form, was the kaldarr running at full tilt down winding and twisting alleys. Eventually coming to a stop, he jumped into a set of cellar doors that looked to have rotted away, decades ago.


    ¡°Aaahhh,¡± Unyielding oak grunted at the impact, but Lily could tell she was trying to be as quiet as possible. ¡°Damned brute, have some respect for your elders.¡± She said in a voice barely above a whisper.


    ¡°Hehe, who say¡¯s you¡¯re older than me?¡± K3 asked her as he looked out the open doors, eyes at street level. ¡°I was well into my sixth decade and passed my prime when my troop was sent to round up slaves in my lord¡¯s valley. Don¡¯t let this perfect body fool you, before lord Ronin took me in and fixed me up, I was on the decline.¡± K3 had led the troops who¡¯d attacked her husband¡¯s people? Lily hadn¡¯t known that.


    ¡°Six decades, ha.¡± Unyielding oak said with a pained chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m past my one hundred fortieth decade boy, and I¡¯m barely middle aged¡­ though I think I¡¯m the oldest member of my clan to make it to lord Ronin¡¯s side.¡± She added, her voice going bleak.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much,¡± K3 told her as he dropped back down and started to put the harness on. ¡°The boss did everything he could for both our peoples, and several others besides¡­¡± He trailed off with a pained groan as he finished putting the harness on. ¡°Think about something else, we¡¯ve only got a few minutes before we need to move, or the whole plan could fall apart.¡±


    ¡°Yea, two old warriors, battered up and half dead are going to make the difference. What we need is to get that giant blue kaldarr back in here. I¡¯ve little doubt he could single handedly seize this city¡­ though, I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m feeling much better after drinking that flask.¡± Unyielding oak admitted, flexing her arms.


    ¡°I agree, but Staz isn¡¯t a kaldarr.¡± K3 said with a shake of his helmetless head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what he is exactly, but I no longer doubt he¡¯s one of my lord¡¯s people. I¡¯ve never met anyone who could heal like that, even the boss couldn¡¯t have survived that much damage.¡±


    ¡°He was something else,¡± Unyielding oak agreed. ¡°Hope he doesn¡¯t die out there¡­ So, while I¡¯ve got you here. I¡¯ve always been curious, why did you join the White flame? I¡¯ve heard stories from some of those old humans, who survived the attack on their village. I just can¡¯t see your people switching sides like that.¡± K3 leaned back with a grunt at the question, unknowingly shifting the camera angle away from Unyielding oak¡¯s face and pointing it out into the street above their heads.


    ¡°A few reasons,¡± he said at last. ¡°I didn¡¯t participate in the initial attack. I was coordinating the assault from the rear, but when I learned there was resistance, I entered the walled village myself. It was actually me who shot the White flame back then. Thought I¡¯d killed him for sure, but he survived¡­ and his people¡­ My brothers and I get a lot of respect for our size and strength. But they were something else entirely. All the modifications the boss has, with two or three times the body mass behind it. they went through my men like a hot bullet burns through paper.¡± He went silent for a moment before continuing.


    ¡°When we¡¯d finally put the pair of them down, we thought we¡¯d won the fight. That¡¯s when Owl Two and Five arrived. Owl Five captured two of our dropships and destroyed the other three, before going down into the town to hunt us, like rats in a cage. And Owl Two, don¡¯t let his love of research fool you, that man is as crazy in battle as any I¡¯ve seen. When they captured me, I thought I was a goner. They had me, one of my sergeants and two standard ground troops.


    When they injected the nanites into my system, and the pain hit, I thought it was some vile form of torture, I¡¯d have to endure until I finally expired. Instead, I got younger, stronger, better than I ever was before. Me, and the two standard soldiers. They didn¡¯t select my Sargent for a reason, I didn¡¯t learn for some time. Later I discovered they¡¯d chosen us at random, and renamed us K1, K2 and K3. I¡¯ve followed my lord ever since.¡± Unyielding oak grunted from beside him, Lily couldn¡¯t see her, but imagined she was looking at him with incredulity.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± She asked, sounding just as unbelieving as Lily felt. ¡°They captured you, tortured you, selected three of you at random to make stronger¡­ Hell, they didn¡¯t even name you, just giving you a number and a designation letter that I assume stands for kaldarr¡­ why in the sweet forest mother¡¯s name would you follow him after that... What was your name before all this happened, anyway?¡± Lily perked her ears up at the question, she¡¯d wondered about that too for some time.


    ¡°¡­It¡¯s hard to explain,¡± K3 said with a camera jostling shrug. ¡°I know they gave us some sort of loyalty medication¡­ the same thing we gave the locust queen. Who should currently be eating drones around the edges of the largest swarms, and building up an army of her own¡­ But I don¡¯t feel compelled. I want to serve, and I¡¯ve seen enough other people, yourself included, who¡¯ve sworn to him without the medication. So, I think I would have wanted to serve, even without it. As for my men, they serve mainly to avoid manual labor, and because I was their leader before. As for my old name, it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll never use it again. K3 is who I am now, and it¡¯s a name that has gained respect at my lord¡¯s side. What about you?¡± He asked the elf, turning the question around. ¡°What made you swear to the boss?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Unyielding oak asked rhetorically, as she shifted around with muffled grunts, Lily could plainly hear. ¡°Well, when that bitchy moon elf showed up to try and get us to leave our ancestral home¡­ let¡¯s just say when it turned out she was right, I didn¡¯t take it well.¡± Lily thought that was the understatement of a lifetime, a sentiment K3 must have shared because he chuckled tiredly.


    ¡°Yes, believe me I know,¡± The wood elf said. ¡°I had to be hard, when the locusts started eating away at our eras old forest home. If I hadn¡¯t, none of us would have survived. But I think I got a little too hard. I pushed so much that only the very strongest of us made it to the honeycomb¡­ or they died propping up their weaker kin, who made it there to eat up all our food...¡± Even now, Lily heard her voice harden at the memory.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯d given up all hope until lord Ronin appeared, with his flying ship and his guns. I¡¯d thought myself a great warrior¡­ until I saw him slaughter locust drones by the literal thousand, with you by his side. After that, I wanted to follow him because of his ruthlessness. It validated for me what I¡¯d done to my own people¡­ When I found out just how soft he was¡­ I almost turned away.¡± She sounded regretful now, and Lily felt for the, much, older woman. She¡¯d been taken in by the White flame¡¯s brutality as well and been shocked at his gentle nature when the fighting ended.


    ¡°Yet, when he killed over one hundred decenters¡­ and took in all the kids I¡¯d abandoned both in the same day¡­ I realized I could still be as unyielding as the oak, without losing who I¡¯d been before. That¡¯s what won my loyalty. Because, like it or not, after this battle''s casualties¡­ my race is in the hands of those children now. The children I threw away and lord Ronin picked up.¡± Lily nearly teared up at that, feeling closer to the elven woman than at any time in the past.


    ¡°Well, them and a slew of hybrid goblin kids.¡± K3 said, ruining the mood. Lily wondered if he¡¯d gone too far when a blow to his arm shook the cameras.


    ¡°Way to bring down a good speech.¡± Unyielding oak said, though she didn¡¯t sound as angry as Lily would have expected. ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know how to feel about those experiments. But the kids aren¡¯t being mistreated, and I¡¯ve raised animals for centuries. Without a larger pool of breeding partners, my race is doomed in a few generations anyway. Not sure this is the answer I¡¯d have decided on, but¡­¡± Lily had to imagine the shrug, because she couldn¡¯t see it. After that, the pair sat in silence for almost five minutes.


    ¡°How you feeling?¡± K3 asked eventually, rising to his feet.


    ¡°Starving,¡± Unyielding oak answered getting to her own feet. ¡°But I¡¯ll make it, the worst of my injuries have closed up. let¡¯s go finish capturing this city before Hunter sits on the throne and turns this into a goblin only paradise.¡± K3 chuckled at the joke and hauled himself out of the basement. Reaching back, he lifted Unyielding oak out behind him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then, we make for the castle, we don¡¯t stop for anything unless we absolutely have too, agreed?¡± He got a nod and an ¡®agreed¡¯ in reply and they set off.


    Lily could see much better this time around, thanks to the cameras being attached to K3¡¯s armor. What she saw wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d hoped to see. There were hobgoblins everywhere. She hadn¡¯t realized there were so many, since they¡¯d been picking them off from the surroundings for weeks. They¡¯d walled off a section of the mine and had them all safely locked inside. She didn¡¯t know how many of them they¡¯d captured, but she did know that they¡¯d all been implanted with sexual and aggression inhibitors to keep them calm until the threat Eric posed had been eliminated.


    ¡°Where are all the goblins?¡± Unyielding oak asked the question Lily had been wondering about herself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± K3 said without ever slowing down. ¡°But we¡¯d better hurry, I¡¯ve really got a bad feeling.¡± They picked up their pace, running at full speed towards the castle. Lily realized there was a problem for sure, when they rounded a bend and found themselves facing an army of hobs. Who rushed the pair as soon as they¡¯d cleared the alley.


    ¡°Get out of there, get out of there, get out of there¡­¡± Lily repeated over and over as she watched the battle unfold. She couldn¡¯t see Unyielding oak for much of the fighting, but when the elf crossed the camera¡¯s field of vision, she looked as if she¡¯d been transformed into a whirlwind of blades. The dagger she held in each hand flashed out, seemingly independent of one another. They kissed the throats, eyes, underarms and behind the knees of one hobgoblin after another. Bringing them down like wheat to the scythe.


    K3 was, if anything, even more brutal. He laid about him with his giant shield, a slab of metal so thick and heavy that Lily couldn¡¯t even lift it. With each swing, he broke the bones of his attackers. Moving around his elven companion and providing her cover as she continued to sweep death through the hobs. Lily wanted to get her hopes up, but she knew there were just too many of them. As was inevitable, eventually, Unyielding oak slipped.


    Lily didn¡¯t see what happened, K3 had his back to her at the time. When the camera was next pointed her way, however, she¡¯d been dogpiled under the weight of a dozen foes. K3 tried to save her, but the attempt only hastened his own defeat. Lily watched as the camera¡¯s feed was blocked out, in a tide of yellow green bodies and yellow orange hair.

 Chapter fifty-one

    ¡°Soo?¡± The surprisingly chipper robotic voice Jade used, asked once the team had returned from the tree for the umpteenth time. ¡°Are you done yet? Honestly, this is the looongest session I¡¯ve ever done. Not that I¡¯m complaining or anything, but if you are going to do this again, can you bring in a bunch of people from your stasis stone already¡­ I really don¡¯t want to do this allll over again once they get here.¡±


    ¡°Gosh, I think I¡¯m happy with my build, how about you Gunner?¡± Ronin asked, looking over at his half goblin companion. Thankfully, she¡¯d relented and replaced her carapace covered head for her own face. Getting the same fold down style helmet that Ronin had chosen. A few of her other modifications were a little unsettling though.


    ¡°Good,¡± she replied flexing all four of her hands. ¡°After adjusting the strength of my new arms up a little bit, I can climb the tree with them while keeping my primary hands available to shoot with. Plus, I¡¯ve been working on firing a pistol from the lower arms. It¡¯s not ideal since they were really designed as a climbing aid, but I¡¯ll figure it out.¡± Ronin blinked at the long-winded explanation. She must really enjoy her new form. He thought it was a little weird, but at least the second pair of arms folded in so tight when not in use that it was hard to tell they were even there.


    ¡°Good, and you Elyria?¡± He asked his other companion, not looking directly at her, still upset over the ladybug incident.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± she replied with a wicked smile. ¡°I¡¯m just wondering why you didn¡¯t redo your armor. You looked really dashing in orange.¡± She added with a wink, which caused Ronin to flush with embarrassment.


    ¡°Yay, great, wonderful.¡± Jade said, jumping around in circles on its six legs and very much reminding Ronin of the ladybugs they¡¯d spent the last few days slaughtering on the tree.


    ¡°I think we are then,¡± he said, looking at his companions. ¡°But who should I bring?¡±


    ¡°OOOUUUGGG,¡± Jade groaned so loudly that Ronin winced at the noise. ¡°Do you have a list of names your considering?¡± It asked, holding out its two-toed foreleg as if wanting him to give it a list.


    ¡°Um, well yea I guess.¡± Ronin said, pulling up the list he¡¯d been putting together in a pop-up window. It had something like sixty names on it. ¡°But most of these people are needed to run my syndicate, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Great, thank you!¡± It said, snatching the list that supposedly only he could see, right out of the air in front of him. ¡°I can already tell you don¡¯t have enough for even half these people¡­ but whatever, at least with this many people around I shouldn¡¯t get so bored waiting on you to choose, right? Here we go¡­¡± lifting the forelimb that wasn¡¯t holding the list up, a sound like snapping fingers rent the air. The next instant Ronin was surrounded by a few dozen of his most trusted people, only there weren¡¯t sixty of them, and nearly all of them were in really bad shape.


    ¡°Vasylia.¡± The shout made Ronin turn, to find Lily moving through the crowd towards a horribly mangled bugbear woman that he only now recognized as his second wife. She was battered and bloody, missing clumps of fur and had several long lacerations running across her arms and face. Ronin blanched, realizing that she wasn¡¯t the only one who looked on the verge of death. They all did, except for Lily, Owl two, Benjamin and Karr¡¯s squad.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Ronin asked, too shocked to move.


    ¡°Guts!¡± The cry was so passionate Ronin didn¡¯t realize it had come from Gunner until she¡¯d brushed past him on her way to a battered and beaten goblin. Ronin took a step toward him, before turning to his wives. He was torn on where to go, until he saw K3. His bodyguard and confidant was in just as bad a shape as Guts and looked to have one foot in the grave. He was in a tangle of limbs with Unyielding oak for some reason, who looked even worse than the kaldarr, if that were possible.


    Ronin again took a step forward, when a voice from beside him made him pause. It wasn¡¯t so much what the voice said, but the calm tone that it spoke in. As, in this situation, Ronin couldn¡¯t fathom being so calm.


    ¡°Jade, is there anything you can do to get these people healed up?¡± Elyria asked the now madly dancing beetle. ¡°I hate to impose on you like that, but if we have to nurse all these people back to health ourselves, before we can even begin selecting candidates, I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be stuck¡­¡± Before she¡¯d even had a chance to finish her suggestion, everyone was suddenly whole again.


    ¡°Can¡¯t do freebies,¡± Jade said with a wave of its antennae. ¡°Just so ya know¡­ the healing came out of your credit pool. Buutt you have enough in there that it wasn¡¯t a huge drain¡­ well, not since you¡¯ll likely not be around much longer anyway.¡± Ronin checked his credit balance and winced. It wasn¡¯t kidding, his credits had more than halved. Still, he¡¯d trade any amount of money for the lives of his people.


    ¡°Thank you, Jade.¡± He said and meant it. ¡°I¡¯ll remember this kindness.¡± Turning to his people, he noted a few absences, and tried not to think about them too closely. Song, Soft step, Harken, even K1 was missing. Lily had grabbed Owl two and was whispering frantically to him and Vasylia, but Ronin couldn¡¯t pay it any attention, since one of his people had approached him while he¡¯d been distracted.


    ¡°Lord Ronin,¡± Staz said, coming to a halt beside Ronin. The giant was much smaller than Ronin remembered, standing in at around six and a half feet. Again, Ronin was in too much shock to pay it any mind.


    ¡°Yes, Staz?¡± He asked, somewhat dazed, before coming to himself with a shake of his head. ¡°What happened?¡± Ronin looked around at his people, now healed and getting to their feet, but clearly in a state of shock much like his own.


    ¡°You pulled us out of our attack on undercity.¡± Staz said, matter-of-factly. ¡°We¡¯d thought we had it all figured out, but the hobgoblins had played us. I don¡¯t know how, but they did.¡±


    ¡°It was my fault boss.¡± Ronin looked down at the voice, noticing Hunter for the first time. She was fully healed, but the events had clearly left an impression on her. ¡°We got cocky; didn¡¯t think they would notice us infiltrating the goblins in the city¡­ they noticed. Had us pegged as outsiders. When the king had me¡­ well, anyway¡­ he explained how we were too clean. Oh, we¡¯d covered ourselves in dirt. But we hadn¡¯t matted up our hair, didn¡¯t have fleas and lice like we used to. We didn¡¯t smell like goblins were supposed to¡­ He had us rounded up in secret¡­ and¡­ I¡¯m sorry boss, some of the girls talked. When the attack came, they were ready for it. They¡¯d informed the hobats what to look for. He made me watch¡­ it was a slaughter¡­¡±


    Ronin listened quietly, trying to accept what he was hearing, and having a hard time doing it. While he digested the news, he looked at his people. Most of them just sat or lay on the ground, staring at nothing. Some, like Owl two who was talking to Jade of all things, and Lily who moved between the troops, were the exception. Not surprising really, since they hadn¡¯t been in combat.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to go through that,¡± he finally said to the downcast scout. ¡°We¡¯ll make them pay for this Hunter, have no doubt.¡± Ronin said clenching his fists, trying to forget that this only happened because he told his people to invade someone else¡¯s city. Since that would mean this was entirely on him, and he hadn¡¯t even been there to fight with them.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl Two called from beside the dog-sized beetle that glittered like an emerald, in contrast to the group¡¯s current mood. ¡°Please, join us.¡± Giving Hunter a pat on the back, Ronin made his way over to the odd pair who both spoke in synthesized voices, but whose personalities differed so much.


    ¡°Yes, Owl Two.¡± Ronin asked as soon as he arrived, desperately hoping the android would have something to salvage this situation.


    ¡°I think I have a solution,¡± Owl two said. ¡°But it will require sacrifice on the part of our beetle companion¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right it will,¡± Jade made the closest approximation of a squeak her mechanical voice would allow. ¡°Your associate wants something big from me, human Ronin. I don¡¯t mind helping because you are soooo interesting, for a human¡­ but you have to make it worth my while. Since it¡¯s going to cost me my personal credits¡­¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t help but smile at the beetle. He¡¯d been forced to change his opinion on them a little after meeting this one. So, he listened as Owl Two laid out his idea.


    ¡°¡­Interesting,¡± he said at last, mulling over what had been shared. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was likely the best deal he was going to get, and at least it gave his people some opportunity for survival. ¡°Ok, I agree. Now for your payment¡­ truthfully, I was planning on doing this anyway when you healed my people, but if you would do us this additional favor to¡­¡± As he finished speaking, Ronin pulled up his menu and materialized a three-dimensional image. Jade stared at it for less than a second, before turning back to Ronin.


    ¡°Deal.¡± It said, without hesitation.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Remember, human Ronin, you have twelve hours¡­ not thirteen, not twelve hours and five minutes. Twelve hours¡­ ok?¡± Jade said, for no less than the hundredth time.


    ¡°Yes, Jade, thank you.¡± Ronin said with as much patience as he could muster. ¡°Ready to go everyone?¡± He asked, turning to the rest of his people. ¡°Now, remember. We only have¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­twelve hours.¡± Came a chorus of voices from his people, along with a few much-needed smiles.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± he said, with his own grin. ¡°Good luck out there¡­ I just wish I was going with you all.¡± Ronin was getting a little choked up, as he looked at all his gathered people.


    ¡°And¡­ time.¡± Jade said with another snap from its two toed hands. ¡°Goodbye everyone, hope to see at least some of you again, you know, not dead, and things.¡± Everyone disappeared with the snap of those toes, though Ronin swore they never even touched. He was left alone with Elyria and Gunner, looking down at an overhead map of the undercity. The first thing he did was zoom in on K3¡¯s position.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got em,¡± an ugly hob called out from the top of the pile. ¡°The king will have fun with this one...¡±


    ¡°Yea, might even give us a turn¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­ what the heck¡­¡±


    ¡°AAAHHH, what is that?¡± Ronin listened as they started off with congratulations on their own victory, to how they planned to celebrate, then finally, cries of surprise as the tear gas canister went off at the bottom of the dogpile.


    K3, now fully healed, and refitted in his armor, came up sporting his plague doctor¡¯s mask and a mark V railgun. There were two tear gas grenades, attached to his belt and spewing their eye searing contents everywhere.


    Unyielding oak was a little slower to regain her feet, not as muscled as her companion, to push off her attackers so easily. Still, once K3 had pulled off the first few, she cleared the rest away. She was holding a dagger in each hand and had her own pair of tear gas grenades attached to her belt. Without hesitation, she was off and moving between the hobgoblins, now frantically rubbing their eyes. Ten of them were dead in half as many seconds and the elf showed no sign of stopping.


    Ronin blinked at the speed the elf moved, he knew the temporary enhancements Jade had provided would improve the physicality of his people. Still, Unyielding oak must have been a real beast before, to exhibit so much speed and deadly precision now. The pair were a stark contrast to one another; K3, who¡¯d put away his mark V was swinging his hammer around like he was driving nails. Each swing resulted in a pasted puddle on the floor. Unyielding oak on the other hand, barely touched her targets. Just the lightest brush with her daggers was all she¡¯d need, to open an artery and send the unfortunate hob to their knees, holding whatever had just been severed. Within a handful of minutes, the entirety of the hobgoblins who¡¯d ambushed Ronin¡¯s leaders were either dead or dying.


    ¡°Good?¡± K3 asked a not even winded Unyielding oak, who¡¯d only stopped dashing about when she¡¯d run out of targets.


    ¡°All set here,¡± she replied with a blood splattered grin.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s move,¡± K3 said. ¡°We¡¯ve still got to get to the castle and end this. Most of our people are still outside, and those batlins are already tearing them apart.¡± The pair were already running as he finished speaking, both now holding mark V¡¯s. The powerful rifles didn¡¯t hold many rounds, but between the two, one hundred hobgoblins would be dead before the twelve hours ended and they had to return the weapons. To say nothing of those who would die to their blades and hammer.


    Seeing that K3 and unyielding oak had their situation well in hand, Ronin turned his attention outside the walls. He wanted to check in on Hunter, and the rest of his scouts, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to look just yet. He knew it was going to be bad, and he didn¡¯t want to know. He didn¡¯t want to blame himself for his people¡¯s suffering.


    Blinking away the thought, he focused on Staz. The oni, now fully healed, was decked out from head to toe in full plate armor. So thick and heavy that the batlins couldn¡¯t hope to penetrate it. So heavy, no lesser warrior could have hoped to wear it and still move. He¡¯d also obtained a second kanabo, and with one in each hand, the giant moved through the storm of batlins. Bodies fell all around him like rain.


    Ronin frowned, it looked like one of the batlins had¡­ yes, it disappeared. It took him longer than it should have to realize what was happening. Staz had Ronin¡¯s storage ring, and the batlin¡¯s fur was highly coveted among the syndicate members. Ronin chuckled at the sight, even amid all the death and mayhem, the oni was looking to turn a profit. The chuckle died an instant later, when the blue warrior came across a group of syndicate soldiers who hadn¡¯t made it.


    The giant did a careful round to check each one, before they disappeared into the storage ring. Ronin nodded sadly, it would be good to give them a proper send off, verses leaving them out unattended on the field of battle. Ronin sighed, somehow, he¡¯d just assumed the battle would go smoother than this. His mood continued to darken as Staz came across another group of dead warriors. When these all proved to be beyond saving as well, Ronin changed his viewpoint to hopefully find less pain.


    Sadly, that wasn¡¯t likely. He¡¯d focused on his second wife, Vasylia. Ronin frowned when he thought of her. Lily had been insistent that Vasylia not be sent back into combat. Vasylia on the other hand had been just as insistent that she was. Ronin had tried to figure out what was going on with his wives, but Lily refused to talk about it. He knew something was going on, but if she didn¡¯t want to discuss it, Ronin didn¡¯t have the time to force it out of her, so he¡¯d put it aside.


    Vasylia had been outfitted with a lighter set of the same full plate that Staz wore. Although she¡¯d stuck with a heavy Warhammer and a shield as her weapons of choice. Her group had been forced against one of the moss-covered stalagmites, which had grown into a descending stalactite. Though now that Ronin was looking from this closely, it appeared like it was a purpose-built column. Shaking that thought away as unhelpful now, Ronin focused back on the battle at hand.


    Vasylia¡¯s team was using the pillar as cover from one direction, while they fought off the batlin swarm. Vasylia and one of her clansmen that Ronin couldn¡¯t remember the name of, were the only two members of the group who¡¯d been summoned to the body fitting simulation room. So, they were the only two who¡¯d gotten healing, fresh armor, and weapons. Both bugbears had been outfitted with mark V railguns as well, but they¡¯d both run dry by this point and lay abandoned on the ground. The stack of bodies piled around the pillar gave grim testament to their effectiveness, but they were now relegated to their melee weapons once more.


    ¡°Move it in Halikor,¡± Vasylia shouted to her clansmen. ¡°We just have to hold for a little bit longer.¡± The pair was standing before the rest of their team, who were all far too battered and bloody to put up anymore fight. Ronin couldn¡¯t tell how many of the ten or so bugbears who lay there were still alive, but he knew the grizzled body of Harken, which lay just behind Vasylia¡¯s feet, had passed on. The fact he had failed to show up to Ronin¡¯s summons had proved that. Vasylia had confirmed it afterwards, the old bugbear had passed on just moments before the call had come. Ronin blinked back tears, knowing if he hadn¡¯t delayed so long to train, so many of his people wouldn¡¯t have died. The syndicate was going to be a worse place without the gruff old bear. The scene was obscured, as Halikor pulled the pin on a tear gas canister, clearing the sky around them of batlins, and giving the pair a chance to breathe.


    Wiping the last of the tears from his eyes, Ronin finally turned his attention to his goblin scouts. He¡¯d delayed long enough and had run out of people to look in on. He had to face up to reality and see how bad it had got inside the castle. Taking a deep breath, he spun his view around and zoomed over to where Hunter had been kept.


    Ronin had pulled the two scout teams he was most familiar with into the simulation room. Hunter¡¯s team had been a given, but the second team wasn¡¯t overly familiar to him. He¡¯d practiced with them, but that was it. He had expected then that there would be twelve goblins summoned. There were only six. Song and Soft step hadn¡¯t made it from Hunter¡¯s team, along with four from the second team who Ronin hadn¡¯t gotten to know well enough to remember who, was who, by name yet.


    When the overhead view entered the castle, he geared himself up to see a dungeon, or a torture chamber filled with implements of pain. What he found was actually far worse. It was a barracks, filled with row upon row of bunks. The scouts were being held in the basement of the barracks. Ready to be rounded up by any soldier who cared to walk down the stairs, and open either of the two cages that lined both sides of the room. Stairs, which were now littered with hobgoblin corpses.


    Hunter had broken the locks keeping the doors closed by the simple expedient of shooting them off with her mark V. Shadow, Breeze and Whisper along with the other teams two remaining members were moving through the mixed group of scouts and food corps, giving out sips of Ronin¡¯s nanite health potion. It seemed the hobgoblins weren¡¯t picky as to who they abused, because many of the food corps men were just as battered and bloody as the scouts. Ronin did his best to avoid looking at the corners of the cells. The crumpled bodies that filled them were more than he could handle right now.


    ¡°Heal up and get ready to move.¡± Hunter, wearing a scout suit that matched the ones Owl team had dropped in, shouted once she¡¯d ensured the hobgoblin guards were all dead. ¡°Pick these bodies clean of weapons and armor. Guts, get some of your stronger people to put it on and gather up those who can¡¯t move. My armed and armored scouts are going up now to kill our way out of here. Give us fifteen minutes head start and run.¡±


    She didn¡¯t wait for a response from the similarly armed and armored Guts. Only two of the food corps members Ronin had called had made it, Guts included. The pair of them were guarding the rest and getting them moving when Hunter and her mixed team of six scouts filed up the stairs, staggered and covering different sides of the room. Ronin followed them out into the barracks ground floor. Unsurprisingly, there were very few Hobs in residence, considering the war that was raging outside.


    Without hesitation, Hunter, who was in the lead, shot the seven stragglers'' dead with one clean shot to the head. She then motioned for Shadow and Whisper to go upstairs, while the others fanned out and covered the building¡¯s windows. Backing up the near magical viewing screen that he could only use for a little under twelve hours now, Ronin watched as the pair of scouts methodically slaughtered another fifteen hobgoblins between the second and third floors, before returning to the group on the ground level.


    ¡°All clear,¡± Shadow said with a nod, taking up her position near the door.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Hunter said with a nod. ¡°You all know the score. One shot, one kill. Get to the castle as fast as you can. Our lives mean nothing next to killing the king and claiming the throne for our lord. We¡¯ve failed him enough and lost half his army in the doing. Our sisters who are able will follow in our wake, so let¡¯s make sure to pave the way with a blood red carpet.¡± The five scouts around nodded and shook their fists at the impromptu speech, before firmly gripping their rifles and moving in a crouch into the streets.


    Ronin gulped, holding a hand to his stomach that had gone sour at Hunters words. He didn¡¯t consider what had happened her fault. It was his. He¡¯d asked too much of his people and it had led to this disaster. Months, they¡¯d planned this encounter for months, and it had fallen apart so easily. One miscalculation, just one, and it had ruined everything. It was his interrogation of the hobat, all those months ago. The hobat who¡¯d told him, they weren¡¯t in contact with the hobgoblins.


    They had gone into this with the understanding that the two races wouldn¡¯t be working together. Sneak in the goblin scouts and food corps, empty the city of all the goblins and hobs they could before sneaking the army passed the batlins, to a mostly undefended and unaware city. It couldn¡¯t have been easier. Until they¡¯d shown up on the field to find the hobs had warned the hobats, and everyone in undercity had been on high alert, scouts and food corps having been captured.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, White flame.¡± Elyria said, resting her hand on his shoulder. I was involved with the planning sessions just like you were. There was no way to know this would happen. It isn¡¯t even Hunter¡¯s fault, despite what she just said¡­ No more than it was my fault, my husband died in that kaldarr attack, even though it was my idea to talk to them about an alliance against the locusts¡­¡± The last part was muttered under her breath, and Ronin knew it wasn¡¯t meant for him, but for her own benefit. Still, he put his own hand on hers, where it still rested on his shoulder.


    ¡°That¡¯s right boss,¡± Gunner said, grabbing him by the elbow with both hands. A move that coincidentally pulled his hand from the elves. ¡°Sometimes bad things just happen. It¡¯s part of life.¡± Ronin felt grateful for the two women at that moment. They¡¯d helped to distract him, if nothing else. Still, he knew they cared for him, even if it wasn¡¯t in a strictly romantic since.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jade chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s not like a few more scouting trips, or several weeks of constantly sniping the hobats, with the eight mark Vs you had to reduce their leadership, or setting traps for the hobgoblins, or having your scout teams poison them¡­ or replacing the tear gas grenades with nerve gas or a paralytic agent... or even¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jade,¡± Ronin snapped, when it became clear the crystalline beetle had no intention of stopping. ¡°I appreciate your willingness to cheer me up, but I¡¯m feeling much better now.¡±


    ¡°Your super welcome,¡± Jade said doing a little dance. ¡°I knew I was good at understanding humans, Hehe.¡± It wasn¡¯t only Ronin who gave the beetle a disgusted look after that comment. Still, none of them could honestly say the alien wasn¡¯t trying to be friendly.


    ¡°Look,¡± Gunner said, pointing down at the screen. ¡°Hunter and her team are about to meet up with K3 and Unyielding oak.¡± Ronin turned away from the beetle, refocusing on the display. It was true, the two teams were converging on the same castle gate. It looked like the war for the city would be decided, one way or the other, very soon.

 Chapter fifty-two

    When the two groups saw one another, Ronin thought there would be a shootout right there. Each of them had spent the entire run through the city, shooting everything they saw move. Thankfully, they were able to rein it in. Only one of the unnamed scouts let off an accidental shot, which went high as Unyielding oak ducked from reflexes enhanced several fold, thanks to Jade¡¯s meddling.


    ¡°What the hell.¡± She called out angrily from her prone position. ¡°Save the bullets for the bad guys.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± the scout said, rubbing the back of her helmet in a clearly bashful display. ¡°Orders were to paint the town red, wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± Hunter said, waving off any further words. ¡°How are you all sitting on ammunition? I¡¯ve got seventeen rounds left.¡±


    ¡°Fifteen.¡±


    ¡°Twenty-three.¡±


    ¡°Twelve.¡±


    The numbers came raining in as each scout and then K3 and Unyielding oak gave their ammunition counts to the scout¡¯s leader.


    ¡°Alright, K3.¡± She said once she¡¯d thought over the counts. ¡°You¡¯ve got the most rounds at thirty-one. So, why don¡¯t you trade with Stone. She¡¯s only got twelve, and she¡¯s also the best shot we¡¯ve got. Once we get inside, I¡¯m afraid you will have to play front man for us to keep the hobs back while we put fresh holes in them. So, no point hogging the fullest rifle since you¡¯ll have your hands full.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± K3 said, Handing Stone, the scout who¡¯d almost shot Unyielding oak, his rifle. ¡°Keep it. Twelve shots aren¡¯t worth the time it will take me to get my hammer and shield out, once their gone.¡± He said, waving off her attempts to hand her rifle over.


    ¡°Ok then, anyone injured?¡± Hunter asked next, when no one said anything, she nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s do this. K3 you¡¯re on point. Unyielding oak, you stick to his back and kill anyone who tries to get around him. Then Shadow, Whisper, and Stone you take the center position, shoot them as they come in, try to conserve ammo but don¡¯t let too many converge on K3 at once. Whisper, Moss, and I will bring up the rear. We¡¯ll not help you clear the way; we¡¯re going to keep anyone from coming in behind us. Got it? Ok good, let¡¯s move.¡±


    Ronin could see from his vantage point, the area right behind the gate was free of hostiles. The team made it all the way to the castle walls without being spotted. In fact, Ronin could tell they wouldn¡¯t encounter any enemies until they reached a moss and mushroom filled courtyard near an outer door. He counted two hobs, reclining against a pair of pillars carved into perfect squares. Time had taken a toll on them, but they looked structurally sound.


    Ronin marveled at the view he had. He could see everything, see through everything. Walls, roofs, low or no light, didn¡¯t matter. All he had to do was reach out and move the screen around with his mind. He could even move from one of his people to another, just by thinking about them. He had already mapped out the most secured and quietest route through the castle to the throne room¡­ Yet, no matter how much he could see, he couldn¡¯t tell his people any of it.


    ¡°Pretty neat huh?¡± Jade asked, waving its arms around as it spoke. ¡°It cost me over ten billion credits. I had to save up for a few thousand years to be able to afford it. I think it was worth the money though since I love to watch the¡­ breath of life trees, I think is the closest translation. They grow at different speeds you know, depending on location on the planet, sun exposure and a whole bunch of other things. After the initial growth phase, it takes decades for any noticeable growth. So, I¡¯ve been following it in real time across the globe, it¡¯s fascinating stuff¡­¡±


    ¡°It really is, Jade,¡± Ronin said. Not so much interrupting, as redirecting. ¡°But I noticed I can¡¯t seem to talk to my people, why is that?¡± If he could only tell K3 and the scouts that there was a guard sleeping under a wide brimmed mushroom¡­ No. Stone got it with a silent shot that took it under the jaw.


    ¡°Ohhh¡­ That was a good shot, why do they call her Stone though? I¡¯d think her name would be Good Shot or something like that¡­ And I didn¡¯t buy that option. I wasn¡¯t in a command position, so I didn¡¯t have many responsibilities. In my stasis stone I was free to do whatever I wanted. The old boss didn¡¯t really care what most of us got up to¡­ I mean the whole, ¡®use your time between here and the new planet to practice being a settler,¡¯ thing made sense on paper. But let¡¯s be real here guys, no one used it for that. I used mine to grow trees. And just in case you didn¡¯t know, trees don¡¯t talk¡­ I mean the #$&%$(¡­ I mean the ¡®ladybugs¡¯ are sometimes fun to talk to, but they don¡¯t really talk about anything other than fighting off the ¡®wasps¡¯ and eating ¡®aphids.¡¯ Golly your language comprehension limitations can be vexing sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Her name is probably Stone because she was good at throwing them. Before my team pulled them from the caves, they lived¡­ well, like this.¡± Ronin panned over to a group of goblins, hiding inside a house. They were filthy, wearing rotting batlin or lizard hides as clothes, and were keeping themselves busy by eating bugs off each other, while the battle raged outside. He didn¡¯t linger on them, moving instantly back to the castle, but it was enough to remind him that what he was doing would be beneficial to these people in the long run.


    ¡°Ohh wow¡­ Yea, I understand now why you¡­¡± Jade prattled on, Ronin didn¡¯t really mind. He had the strong feeling it had been denied company for an exceptionally long time. Besides, the minor distraction it offered him, kept him from brooding on how many of his people had already died.


    ¡°The castle clearly wasn¡¯t made by any of the races currently inhabiting the caves.¡± Elyria said, bringing the conversation back on track. ¡°The stonework is too perfect. Many of the pieces are carved from one giant piece of stone. I haven¡¯t seen any tools capable of the task, or anyone capable enough to do the work. It¡¯s odd though, there aren¡¯t any decorations or engravings. It¡¯s just a stone city, with sharp corners and square edges.¡±


    Ronin looked at the castle, furrowing his brow in concentration. It was indeed made from large pieces of stone, carved into square blocks. These blocks formed pavers, pillars, and were stacked on each other to form square buildings and walls. Everything was square, all the walls were of an even height, width, and depth. Even the roofs of the houses were flat, forming blocks resting in neat rows. Heck, even the alley ways K3 had run down were in straight lines and the intersections were at perfect nineties.


    ¡°It looks really neat and orderly,¡± he said at last with a shrug. ¡°But is it really all that strange?¡± He figured it must be when Elyria looked at him with incredulity.


    ¡°Is that strange? White flame, have you never been to an actual city before? I know you¡¯ve been to the human capital¡­ granted it was partially abandoned and burned, and the bugbear honeycomb, not to mention Andy¡¯s reef¡­ So, how can you not think this is strange?¡± Ronin thought about that for a second, before replying.


    ¡°The human capital was made primarily of wooden buildings with stone foundations and thatched roofs. Valley¡¯s pass was made entirely out of dinosaur hide tents, the honeycomb is a solid stone city carved from the very mountain and crafted so every building is a unique work of art. As for Andy¡¯s reef, well that¡¯s just a ¡®modern¡¯ metropolis with a sci-fi slant¡­ what¡¯s so strange about a stone city that¡¯s been well laid out?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ actually have a point.¡± The moon elf said with a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking at everything through the lens of my people¡¯s home ship. There, everything is very much in tune with nature. Lots of curves and rounded edges, living buildings and wind chimes¡­ I suppose everything here is odd to me.¡± Ronin thought about the moon elves home ship. It was a large oblong sphere, that he thought was open on the inside, and contained a small forest world. A ship design that was death to everyone inside if the haul was breached, but it seemed to work for them.


    ¡°Hey, Elyria,¡± he said, wondering about something for the first time. ¡°Your people sent down fifty fighters didn¡¯t they, why only fifty? Surely there are thousands of moon elves up there. Why not send down a few hundred to help wipe out the locust threat?¡± Ronin already knew they couldn¡¯t. He¡¯d set it up that way on purpose to reduce the cost of bringing so many ships into his world¡¯s orbit. But it was so strange for them to follow those rules, that he had to ask what their rationalization was.


    ¡°This system is super weird.¡± Elyria said after a long pause, where she visibly collected her thoughts. ¡°We were forced from our hyper transit and dropped into this backwater, and for some reason, we can¡¯t leave.¡± As she talked, the trio continued to watch the screens.


    K3 was stronger than ever, smashing hobs to paste as he ran at a near dead sprint through the halls. Unyielding oak ran right behind him, any hobgoblin who survived his hammer, fell to her daggers. The scout teams were spread out now, checking into each room as they passed, and killing hobs by the score. Three of them had run dry of ammo, having replaced their mark Vs with the javelins the hobs seemed to favor, but that didn¡¯t slow them down. Being able to resupply after every kill was a fine way to keep stocked with fresh projectiles. The only problem was they¡¯d missed a turn that would have taken them straight into the throne room. They¡¯d still get there, eventually, but they would be well out of ammo by then.


    ¡°¡­ So, we were stuck. Whatever strange phenomenon that pulled us from hyper in the first place, won¡¯t let us leave the system. Worse yet, of the nine planets your system holds, only the one is habitable¡­ but another anomaly surrounds it. There is a barrier that encompasses your world, which won¡¯t let us drop more than fifty people onto the surface. It¡¯s completely unexplainable with any tech we have. Only fifty, but if any of us die¡­ like my husband did¡­ another is free to come down.¡± Her voice had gone husky, and Ronin pretended not to see the tear she wiped away. ¡°Thankfully,¡± she continued, ¡°The barrier is weakening. We¡¯d pushed an additional person through for a total of fifty-one, by last communication. And we project it will have failed entirely, within another two to three years.¡± Ronin was jolted completely from his observation of his people¡¯s life and death battle, and an icy trickle of dread creeped its way down his spine at those words.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± He asked, breathlessly. ¡°The barrier is failing. More of you have been able to come down?¡± If that was true, the implications it had were¡­ terrifying.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Elyria said with a nod. ¡°A good thing too. We¡¯ll be able to wipe out the locust threat, before it makes its way off the huge island, we¡¯re located on¡­ Though its likely they will have found a way onto the third large landmass that has been locked from them by the steep mountain and the sea at Andy¡¯s reef by then¡­ but my people won¡¯t be stuck up there anymore. Sure, we could land on the other planets, but they are lifeless rocks or gaseous swamps that wouldn¡¯t work well for us.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°¡­ Elyria,¡± Ronin said. ¡°How many other ships did you say were also trapped in this system with you?¡± He asked the question calmly, already knowing the answer.


    ¡°Nineteen.¡± She said, brow furrowed at his tone. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing our weapons don¡¯t work in this system though, because some of the other races stuck up there are really nasty¡­ like the kaldarr¡­¡±


    ¡°So, in two years¡­¡± Ronin interrupted, ¡°my planet is going to be flooded with twenty advanced races¡­ many of whom have reputations that aren¡¯t very savory?¡± What had he done? His people were getting wiped out by hobgoblins and winged goblins. Who was he going to protect them from countless advanced races, races that had advanced weapons, coming down on mass in just two years? Two years that he¡¯d be gone off world, for at least half of.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Elyria said, having grasped the problem.


    ¡°You human analogs are so silly. Can you not even count? How many fingers am I holding up?¡± Jade asked, holding up forelimbs with their two-clawed toes. ¡°This system only has nine planets, this is true. But Your system, the one in the stasis stone, has ten.¡± It twirled around and shot its forelimbs into the air with a ¡®ta-da¡¯ as a projection of a solar system appeared in the air above them. ¡°See, there are ten planets. Oohh look, you can even see those twenty ships flying around¡­ wow they really like the new planet, don¡¯t they?¡±


    Ronin and his companions gaped in open mouthed shock at the projection. It was a near perfect copy of Ronin¡¯s own earth, from the cretaceous period. Pangea had been split up, but the continental drift was still starting, so the land masses were close together. The planet was in the same orbit as Ronin¡¯s world, only shifted around the sun about a quarter revolution away. It was orbited by its own moon¡­ Also, twenty ships of various origins were bearing down on the world on mass.


    ¡°Looks like there are no restrictions to landing on that world¡­ mmmhhhmmm, let¡¯s see¡­ acquired from Philip, in an honor duel¡­ Wow, you humans¡­ almost extinct and your still killing each other.¡± Ronin blinked, well at least that explained where the mystery planet had come from. The screen zoomed in to focus on the new planet.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± he breathed, looking at the infrastructure that covered the world. ¡°The whole planet is covered in cities, fairly high-tech cities too, though I don¡¯t see any space fairing capabilities.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± Gunner said. ¡°It looks like they are on a technological level with Andy¡¯s reef. It will get messy.¡±


    ¡°Why would it get messy?¡± Jade asked, swiveling its whole body around on its six legs to look at each of them in turn.


    ¡°¡­ because Jade.¡± Elyria said after a while of silence, ¡°many of the races on those ships are war loving peoples. Like the kaldarr¡­ there¡¯s going to be war on that planet very soon.¡±


    ¡°Ooohhh¡­ barbarians.¡± Jade said, modulating the mechanical tone to sound like a whisper but cranking the volume so that it would be impossible for the three not to hear it.


    ¡°Perhaps we are,¡± Ronin said with a sigh of resignation. ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s just me. I crafted each one of those races from my old world¡¯s fictional writings¡­ I¡­ caused so much suffering.¡±


    ¡°Hey, human,¡± Jade said, patting him on the back. ¡°Look on the bright side. All those ships are going to be too busy slaughtering Philip¡¯s population of¡­ let me see, eleven billion¡­ now, to worry about your planet¡¯s small, separated communities.¡±


    ¡°¡­ thank you, Jade.¡± Ronin said, fighting back the urge to shoot the beetle. ¡°That made me feel, just, so much better.¡±


    ¡°Of course, human.¡± Jade said with a mechanical lilt. ¡°We¡¯re $%&#, I mean ¡®friends¡¯, after all.¡±


    ¡°Look,¡± Gunner said, pointing down at the undercity overview. She¡¯d spent most of the conversation closely following what the scouts were doing. As Ronin should have been, he admonished himself, looking down at the screen again.


    K3 had just forced open a huge stone door, one of a set that led directly into the throne room. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t decided to push them open together, since once a gap appeared in the doors no less than thirty javelins flew at it. K3 was well armored, and had his shield up, so he wasn¡¯t harmed. Still, the number of foes packed into that room gave even the temporarily enhanced giant pause.


    ¡°Where¡¯s moss?¡± Ronin asked, counting the scouts. There had been six of them, now he only saw five. None of them were carrying mark Vs anymore either. Each scout was now armed only with their daggers.


    ¡°She¡¯s dead,¡± Gunner said flatly. ¡°Guard ambushed her from an alcove, and her mark V was empty. Sloppy mistake, I taught them to always keep a count of their rounds.¡± Ronin knew better than to think she didn¡¯t care about Moss, just because of her tone. Brie Gunner was a lot of things, but uncaring about others wasn¡¯t one of them.


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve finally made it to my throne room. I have to say I¡¯m surprised; I thought the batlins would keep you all out of my cit¡­¡± The hobgoblin king, a giant specimen who must top six feet, wearing an oversized, tattered cloak made from several stitched together hobats said. He had started a monologue, of all things, when he had to jump aside to avoid a thrown javelin. ¡°What the¡­¡± Ronin¡¯s people didn¡¯t wait once the door was open, other than a quick glance around to ascertain the enemy. They saw fifty hobgoblins dressed in black lizard scale mail, holding javelins, and armed with round shields and cutlasses, before bursting into action.


    The two groups met in a flurry of blades, the hobs organized and shoulder to shoulder, while only K3 and Unyielding oak had stayed together on Ronin¡¯s side. The scouts had split up as soon as they¡¯d entered the room, trying to work themselves into the enemy ranks. A strategy that immediately showed its weaknesses, as a pair of hobs blocked the dagger thrusts from breeze, the first one to reach the line. While she was being tied up, a third hob rammed his cutlass into the gap between her helmet and chest armor. Dropping her to the ground in a writhing tangle of limbs.


    She didn¡¯t go alone, having gotten her own dagger into the armpit of the hob who¡¯d stabbed her, bringing him down with her and creating an opening that Hunter took full advantage of. The scouts¡¯ first member darted into the opening before the hobs could close ranks, and blood started to spray. A similar scene had taken place on the other side of the hall from the entry door. Shadow led the charge there, with Whisper bringing up the rear. The shield wall stopped Shadow, with two blades entering her torso, but she managed to bring down one of her attackers, creating an opening that Whisper and Stone slipped into, bringing death to the hobgoblin ranks.


    Ronin winced in sympathetic pain as two of his people went down. He didn¡¯t know if they were dead, or just injured, but either way they were out of this fight. His eyes jumped from battle to battle, the scouts, who had also been enhanced by Jade, wreaked havoc among the hobs. While K3, with Unyielding oak at his back, moved slowly through the tide of bodies, swinging his hammer like an unstoppable boulder rolling down a hill. No one who¡¯d been hit with that hammer got up again, and those who were close enough to be hit but were missed, got a quick slice to something vital from the elf.


    The hobgoblin king looked on in shocked horror, as his troops were demolished around him. He¡¯d backed up the dais stairs, until his back was resting against a stone throne. It was just as featureless and free of ornamentation as the rest of the castle, though the hobgoblin had thrown a few batlin hides over it for comfort.


    ¡°Help me,¡± he called out, looking to an upper corner of the room, where a trio of hobats hung upside down from poles that looked purpose build to serve as perches. ¡°I¡¯m the king of the city. I¡¯ve claimed the throne¡­ you must protect me.¡± He was nearly shouting by the end, Ronin focused on the king and the hobats while his people worked their way through the royal guards.


    ¡°You wish for aid from the colony?¡± One of the hobats asked, flapping its wings on the perch.


    ¡°Yes, damn it. Get down here and help me.¡± The king shouted as he prepared and threw another javelin towards the slowly approaching K3, who deflected it with his heavy steel shield.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the hobat said, dropping from the perch and flying out the window.


    ¡°Wha¡­ Where the hell are you going?¡± The king demanded after the fleeing hobat.


    ¡°You requested aid from the colony,¡± one of the two remaining hobats said. ¡°Our brother messenger is going to get aid.¡± It also flapped its wings while it spoke.


    ¡°No, damn it.¡± The king bellowed, throwing his third and final javelin. ¡°I want you, the messengers to help me. Right here and now.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the second messenger, dropping from the perch and heading out the window after his companion.


    ¡°What is wrong with you?¡± The king shouted, now brandishing a long narrow sword at K3, and holding a buckler in his off hand.


    ¡°You requested we help you immediately, my brother is going to ask for permission from the colony.¡± The final hobat said with a flap of his wings.


    ¡°Of forget it,¡± said the hobgoblin king, spitting to the side and shaking off the cloak of hobat fur. To reveal a set of lizard scale armor, which looked much thicker than the normal sets his men wore. ¡°This is exactly why I forbid you lot from entering my city in the first place.¡± K3 had reached the dais by that point and moved in to end things with one clean hammer blow. Only to be completely sidestepped by the hobgoblin king.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to do better than that.¡± He said with a sneer, blade flicking out to bounce off K3¡¯s helmet. The strike had come dangerously close to the small opening that served as a visor. K3 stepped back, suddenly more waery of the big hob. The hesitation didn¡¯t last though, and Ronin watched as he moved in again, swinging the hammer around in a horizontal arc.


    The king leaned back, helping the blow along with his buckler, not so much blocking or redirecting, just assisting it on its way past him. He then followed that up with another strike from his narrow blade. This time, the thrust penetrated the narrow gap in the helm and pierced into K3¡¯s helmet. Ronin couldn¡¯t see how much damage had been done, but the sword came away bloody.


    ¡°K3,¡± Unyielding oak yelled, vaulting up the dais to block the follow up stab attempt from the king while the kaldarr stumbled back. What followed was a dance of blade and shield so fast that if Ronin had been a standard human, he doubted he¡¯d be able to follow it. The hobgoblin king was incredible, even more impressive considering the fact that Unyielding oak had been temporarily enhanced by Jade somehow.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty good,¡± the king said after over a minute of neither side being able to strike a blow. ¡°But you won¡¯t be able to beat me before reinforcements arrive, you know that don¡¯t you? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to cut your losses now and get out of my city?¡± It was clearly a delaying tactic, designed to get inside Unyielding oak¡¯s head and make her hesitate. Unfortunately for the hobgoblin king, Unyielding oak wasn¡¯t subject to uncertainty, or second guessing herself. She was as ridged in her convictions as the mighty oak. She might break if pushed too hard, but she would never bend.


    ¡°Save it,¡± Whisper said, as she joined the fight. ¡°We knew what coming here could mean, we¡¯ll capture this city for our lord or die in the attempt.¡± The king was proving to be a match for both women, using his shield, and the narrow blade, independently of one another to block and counter the pair, even positioning one or the other of them to intercept blows meant for himself.


    ¡°Oh yes, your ¡®lord¡¯,¡± He mocked, opening a deep laceration across whisper¡¯s wrist. The goblin was forced away, when the dagger in that hand fell free from her spasming grip. She dropped the other dagger to staunch the bleeding. ¡°It¡¯s a shame he¡¯s too much of a coward to come in person. Perhaps I¡¯ll have to march on his city when I¡¯ve finished with the lot of you. Should be easy pickings once all the fighters are dealt with.¡± As Whisper fell away, Stone slipped in to cover her role, since nearly all the guards had been dealt with by this point.


    During the entire exchange, the king hadn¡¯t allowed himself to move away from his throne. Should one of the combatants get too close to it, he¡¯d head in and cut them off. Hunter, having finished off the final guard, vaulted onto the dais herself, just as the doors were pushed open and another twenty plus hobgoblins burst in, accompanied by the sounds of the king¡¯s laughter.


    ¡°What will you do now?¡± He asked mockingly, deflecting an attack from Hunter, and sending his blade forward to score a shallow cut across her cheek. ¡°The longer this fight goes on, the worse off the lot of you are, and now I have more me¡­¡± He was cut off abruptly when K3, having dropped his massive shield and hammer, smashed into him at full speed. The blow knocked the pair completely off the dais and gave Hunter the chance to dart forward to plant herself on the empty throne.


    ¡°NOO!¡± screamed the hobgoblin king, as the entire room shook. There was a flash of light from beneath the throne itself and Hunter¡¯s screams of pain joined the kings.

 Chapter fifty-three

    ¡°What the hell?¡± Ronin muttered as he watched the stone castle trembling. He wondered if the phenomenon was relegated to the castle, or if the entire city was shaking. With a mental command, the view zoomed way out, so he could see the city from above.


    The initial impression he got, thanks to Elyria pointing it out, was that the stone city was a perfect square. A stone square that was vibrating, uniformly. Thanks to his vantage, he was able to witness the batlins and hobats, who all screeched as one, and gathered for a long flight around the city. Ronin watched speechlessly as they all left the field and returned to the ceiling. His people left alone, to pick up the pieces of the battle.


    ¡°How theatrical,¡± Jade said, throwing itself up on its hindmost legs, and waving its two forward sets of limbs around. Before it fell back to the ground, with the sound of stones scraping on glass. ¡°The entire city was built on a single, solid foundation of stone. You can easily tell from this angle that the entire thing is moving up and down a fraction of an inch. Just enough to cause this show, and from the batlin¡¯s display, it must be the signal that a new ruler has been chosen¡­ zoom back in already, I wanna seeeee.¡±


    Ronin did just that, moving the view back to the throne room. Where the brilliant white light was still emanating from the throne, Hunter was sitting on. They watched anxiously, as the lead scout screamed. Her muscles were writhing under her skin, and it looked like she was growing¡­ Something was happening to her, something remarkably like what had happened to Guts and the K brothers when they¡¯d been injected with the nanites, Ronin had brought for the express purpose of improving a body.


    ¡°There¡¯s a conduit of power under the throne,¡± Jade said, pointing with a forelimb. ¡°Here, let me just¡­¡± Control of the screen left Ronin¡¯s mind as the view shot away through the stone floor. Following some trail visible only to the beetle. When the footage came to rest again, it was centered over the ship, that was hangered far below the undercity.


    ¡°Oh my,¡± Jade said, staggering back dramatically and clutching at its thorax. ¡°That¡¯s a lizard ship¡­ but, how¡­ wait a minute¡­¡± Ronin took the opportunity to engrave the ship into his mind. He had only been able to see a small section of it before, thanks to Owl Two¡¯s drones, and the one in the party¡¯s video had been grainy.


    The ship looked like a pyramid of square boxes. The base layer was constructed of nine boxes, with another four boxes stacked on top of them. It looked like there were connections and mounts for another box to sit on top of the second layer to make a three-row pyramid, but it was missing. What¡¯s more, many of the lower boxes looked damaged. Ronin didn¡¯t have long to look at the ship, since Jade panned the view around the hanger, then moved it back up the tunnel Owl Two had found.


    ¡°Oh my,¡± it said again once it reached the trog nest. ¡°How did we miss this? The lizards made it to this planet first, but it looks like they had sustained damage, an asteroid maybe?... Before hiding their ship and leaving in their command module¡­ hold on,¡± the view shifted again. To another earth, this one covered in crystal trees from pole to pole. Jade moved around until she found a mountain very much like the one they were in, except Ronin hadn¡¯t scooped huge chunks of this one away to build his valley kingdom.


    ¡°Holy moly, there¡¯s one in my stasis stone too¡­ no wonder they¡¯re here now. Oh boy, oh boy¡­¡± It had zoomed into the mountain, and sure enough, an exact copy of the ship was there, lying deep below the surface.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± Elyria asked, resting her hand on the agitated beetle¡¯s green crystallin carapace. ¡°What does that ship being there mean?¡± Ronin thought Elyria already had a good idea, but it was smart to figure it out from the beetle itself.


    ¡°It was here when we did our scan, some ninety million of your years ago. I don¡¯t know how we missed it¡­ if we hadn¡¯t been conquered by your race, deprived of bodies and locked in our stasis stones unless we agreed to help you humans¡­ we¡¯d have been caught completely off guard when the lizards arrived¡­ not like what actually happened was much better, now that I think about it¡­ anyway, the lizards are actually a genetically engineered race, created by a race that was called the $&#@$... Gahh, well, the elder race I guess is a close enough translation, anyway they needed a race of warriors to¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry to interrupt Jade,¡± Ronin said trying to stay polite. ¡°I really want to know what you are about to tell us, and I realize that it will be important soon, but can we go back to the throne room now? I need to know what is happening to my scout.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, sure¡­ just giving you primitive humans an inside look at the galaxy you were too ignorant to even know existed. A history that¡¯s older than the very planet our colony ship now orbits, but ok¡­ we¡¯ll go back to watching your %$&*%(#... computer¡­ generated underlings¡­ no problem.¡± As it spoke, the beetle had returned control of the viewing device back to Ronin, who¡¯d refocused on the throne room even before it finished its tirade.


    ¡°Great, thank you Jade.¡± Ronin said absently, as he caught sight of Hunter on the throne. She¡¯d grown at least a foot, and looked even more deadly than before, if that were possible. She was draped over the throne, and Stone was tending to her, while K3 held a rapidly withering hobgoblin king up by his armor. It looked like they had returned just in time to catch the end of another monologue.


    ¡°¡­ hope you¡¯re happy, little one.¡± He said, the strong features of his face slowly being replaced by deep wrinkles. His yellow orange hair was turning white, as his body lost mass. He was clearly aging before their eyes. ¡°For, although I was the king for centuries, gifted with eternal youth and strength above my peers¡­ it was more like a prison for me. Forever bound to this room. Forever knowing, that should I stray too far from my throne, another of my brethren would sit upon it and become king¡­ What will you do, little goblin? When your master comes to¡­ collect the city, you¡¯ve won for him?... Because giving it over¡­ means your¡­ death¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll die.¡± Hunter said simply, looking down with disgust at the now ancient looking hobgoblin. ¡°Where he goes, we¡¯ll be there to pave the way¡­ with our bodies if we have too. Because that¡¯s what White flame scouts do.¡± The former king had died before Hunter finished her speech. Something Ronin wished he could do right then because the embarrassment of being talked about with so much reverence was more than he could handle just then.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Jade said, swiveling their body around to look sideways at Ronin. ¡°Are you like, super handsome for a human¡­ because I don¡¯t see it. Or did you drug that poor creature?¡± Ronin frowned, not sure what to say when.


    ¡°Ha-Ha-ha¡± Elyria burst into laughter, slapping her thigh, and pointing at Ronin. ¡°She has a point White flame.¡± She said, wiping away tears of mirth from her brilliantly blue eyes. ¡°No, Jade. He¡¯s not bad for a human, but he¡¯s certainly no prince charming¡­ He is good to his people though.¡± She said, then added ¡°oh don¡¯t give me that look five. I said he wasn¡¯t bad for a human, ok?¡± Before bursting into laughter again.


    Ronin, face flushed red with embarrassment all the way to his ears, risked a quick glance over to Brie. She was also flushing, but glaring daggers at Elyria. Ronin¡¯s sense of embarrassment grew, but he resolved to do something about the half goblin woman. He wanted her on his team but keeping her so close to him wasn¡¯t good for her mental health.


    ¡°Thank you, ladies.¡± Ronin said, when Elyria¡¯s laughter started to die down. ¡°But we have more important things to worry about right now.¡± He motioned back to the screen, where he¡¯d left the throne room behind, returning to the barracks cellar, where he found the aftermath of a bloody struggle.


    ¡°Guts,¡± Gunner gasped, when the camera focused in on Ronin¡¯s goblin friend. The big goblin¡¯s own guts were spilled halfway across the room. He was still alive, thanks only to the nanites and the extra enhancements Jade had given his people in exchange for the prize he offered it. One of the food corps was busy helping to push them back into his abdomen through the cut that had split it in the first place. Tearing his eyes away from his friend, who looked like he would be fine, Ronin glanced at Brie. She¡¯d reacted similarly on prior occasions when Guts had been hurt.


    Thankfully, most of the goblins who¡¯d been left in the cellar were still alive. Judging from the pile of bodies on the stairs, and where Guts was laying, Ronin guessed they¡¯d been trapped in the basement before they¡¯d been able to escape, and his friend had held them off at the base of the stairs while the scouts shot over his shoulders. A few of the scouts and food corps members who were in better shape than the rest were dragging the bodies off the steps. Trying to make a path for them to leave from.


    Moving outside, Ronin found Staz. The giant was just as bloody and covered in lacerations as the last time Ronin had seen him. The oni was moving slowly, but steadily through the battlefield, storing every body he came across in Ronin¡¯s storage ring. It looked like the weight was beginning to affect even the massively powerful Staz, but he kept at it. A guilty part of Ronin¡¯s mind was grateful for that. Since many, if not all, of the batlin pelts would be beyond saving if they weren¡¯t stored away until they could be properly processed.


    Ronin was grateful that the city shaking seemed to result in an immediate halt to the fighting. The hobats and their smaller kin returned to the ceiling, and the hobgoblins laid down their arms and surrendered. The battle for undercity had been hard fought, but it was over, and Ronin¡¯s people had won.


    *            *            *


    Lily


    Lily had been walking laps around the cave, since shortly after she and Owl Two had been returned. It was a lot harder to focus on the contact lens when she was moving about, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to sit still. The battle had ended several hours ago, and she just wanted Ronin to call them back to that strange white place, with the giant tree. She knew he¡¯d said twelve hours, but that seemed like an eternity to her just then.


    She¡¯d tried spending the time with Owl Two, to pick his brain about what he thought was happening below them. The odd man wouldn¡¯t even acknowledge her presence. He had been focused on the metal man in scout armor he¡¯d been building for the last week or more. Lily still didn¡¯t know why he was wasting so much of his time building a statue of himself, with Owl One written on the chest plate, but he refused to do anything else.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Come on, husband.¡± She chanted, knowing the time had to be almost up. She rubbed her belly, unsure whether she was going to tell Ronin about the baby. They had entered a contractual marriage on her own insistence, and apart from one night together, one she¡¯d insisted upon, he¡¯d not shown any romantic interest in her at all. She knew there was respect between them, but not love. So, she wasn¡¯t sure if him knowing about the baby, before he left on a yearlong campaign, would be beneficial for him or not. Between one step and the next, Lily disappeared from the cave, and reappeared in the empty white place that housed the giant tree.


    Lily¡¯s arrival was once more accompanied by screams of pain. Not as many as the last time she¡¯d been called away unexpectedly, but they were still there. Just like last time, everyone who¡¯d come injured, was cured. Looking around, Lily spotted Vasylia and rushed to her side.


    ¡°Sister, how are you feeling?¡± She asked upon reaching the larger woman. She¡¯d done everything she could think of to convince the White flame¡¯s second wife not to go back into combat. Not when they didn¡¯t know if she was pregnant or not. Vasylia had insisted, however. She¡¯d been there, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Harken, when her former father-in-law had been killed. She wouldn¡¯t leave the rest of her people to die.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, lady Lily.¡± Vasylia said, with a dip of her head. Lily sighed at the subservient attitude. Vasylia might have been the wife of White mane¡¯s former leader, but she wasn¡¯t inclined to leadership. She was a fighter, and a smith. Politics didn¡¯t interest her; in fact, they intimidated the powerful woman. So, she¡¯d been happily deferring to Lily in all matters as the White flame¡¯s first wife.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Lily said at last, changing the subject to the battle, as the huge crowd settled in. There were far more people called to this meeting than the last, and once her husband began gathering the councilors together, she made her fair wells to Vasylia and moved to join them.


    ¡°Thank you all for your hard work.¡± The White flame said, opening the discussion. He paused then, to look around at everyone who¡¯d gathered. Benjamin, Samantha, Guts, Owl Five, Unyielding oak, Hunter, Elyria, Owl Two, and¡­ Owl Two? Lily stared in incomprehension. How could there be two of them, did it have something to do with this strange place?


    ¡°I see you were able to finish on time,¡± the White flame said, with a nod to his researcher. ¡°Good, we aren¡¯t going to have anymore time given to us. Jade is already pushing the bounds of what they¡¯re comfortable with by gathering everyone here like this¡­¡± He trailed off, turning to Hunter and giving her a deep nod of respect.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Hunter said before he could continue, slamming her fist into her chest in the owl team salute. She¡¯d grown considerably but was still over a foot shorter than Lily herself. ¡°I am prepared to relinquish the throne to your rightful rule.¡± A look of pain passed across her husband¡¯s face, there and gone so swiftly she almost thought she¡¯d imagined it.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary, Queen Hunter.¡± He said with a dip of his head. ¡°When I first met your people¡­ a few things happened that I deeply regret. Yet, after that, I resolved to create a goblin town. Well, the undercity is a little larger than I¡¯d originally anticipated, but it fits perfectly. And who better to lead the goblin people, than a goblin queen? I¡¯m entrusting the city and my people to your care.¡± He finished with a smile, that he turned to encompass both Guts and Owl Five as well. ¡°Apart from Benjamin, Unyielding oak and Lily, along with the other racial leaders, you will also have Brie Gunner, Our Owl Five, and Guts, our resident chef to assist in getting the city up and running again smoothly.¡±


    ¡°But you are the leader of the syndicate.¡± Hunter said at the same time as, both Guts and Owl five spoke up.


    ¡°No, I am on your guard detail,¡± from Owl Five.


    ¡°Why does it sound like you¡¯re planning on leaving us for good?¡± Came from Guts, and it was a sentiment Lily could sympathize with. The look on his face, the way he was speaking, it looked more like a goodbye meeting than a, ¡®I¡¯ll be gone for a while¡¯ meeting.


    ¡°Relax, please.¡± He said, patting the air with his palms. ¡°I will remain the leader of the syndicate, but the syndicate can be mobile. We need a leader for the city we just conquered, and who better than the goblin scout queen who seized the throne, and ended the war?¡± The White flame spoke softly, but Lily sensed no give to his words at all. It made Lily frown with displeasure; she was his first wife. Someone who¡¯d already been responsible for leading the people in his absence, why was he offering the throne to a scout with no political experience at all?


    ¡°You heard, didn¡¯t you, my lord?¡± Hunter said, quietly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I, along with every other scout under your command, have given our lives over to you. So, what if giving you the throne causes my death? I could die at any time, in any future battle. Either way, my death will be for you, my lord.¡± Ah, of course. Her husband would never take the throne away from one of his own, not if it meant their death.


    ¡°Thank you, Hunter.¡± Ronin said, placing his hand on her shoulder. ¡°That means more to me than I can put into words¡­ But that is only part of the reason¡­ War is coming. To this world, and to the world I come from. I must leave for my own world within the hour, and I might very likely die there. What¡¯s more, this world could end if I fail to prevent it¡­ Owl Two will fill you in later, so let it go for now please.¡± He said to quiet the mutters of his councilors who didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. Lily included among them.


    ¡°Yet, even if everything goes perfectly in my home world. War will still come to this world; from mistakes I made in the past. In just two years, we¡¯ll be open to invasion. To say nothing of the locust threat that would have swept the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom already if it wasn¡¯t for the brave men and women standing before me, working tirelessly to defend the wall, along with our Moon elf ally¡¯s, who¡¯ve been at it a lot longer.¡± A line Lily clearly saw was added to placate the openly agitated Elyria.


    ¡°Oh golly, look at the time¡­¡± The jade green beetle said, tapping its ¡®wrist¡¯ with its other forelimb for some reason.


    ¡°Sorry, Jade.¡± The White flame said, with a sad smile. ¡°The point is, even if I live through my world¡¯s war. I won¡¯t be able to come back here and live happily ever after. I have so many messes to clean up, worldwide¡­ So, no this isn¡¯t goodbye, Guts.¡± Ronin said, clapping his friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Just the reality of the situation. Because even when I come back, it will be to gather my strength for the next battle. Strength I am counting on all of you, who aren¡¯t becoming full residents of the city, to have prepared for me¡­ Now, I don¡¯t have much time. So, I¡¯d like to ask the following people to accompany me into war. Also, there are a few things that I really need you to focus on in my absence.¡±


    Lily waited, while her husband gathered a small group of fighters. Far fewer than she expected him to take, based on the conversation they¡¯d had twelve hours ago. Yet, considering how many people had died in the battle for undercity, it wasn¡¯t surprising that he¡¯d chosen not to strip the best fighters from who was left.


    Next, there was almost a fight, as he told Owl Five that she wasn¡¯t going with him. Lily didn¡¯t follow every aspect of the conversation, but he got Owl Two involved, who did¡­ nothing¡­ that Lily could see, but after that, Owl Five and Guts started looking at each other differently than before, and the argument stopped.


    ¡°Are you upset?¡± Lily asked Staz as she joined the warrior to watch the argument. ¡°I would have thought our lord would have taken you with him, at least. Your strength is undeniable, and I can¡¯t believe that K3, as strong as he is, will do a better job watching my husband¡¯s back.¡± Lily had ideas, but she phrased the question like that deliberately, to draw the giant out on the topic.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Staz asked, looking down at her. ¡°I spoke with my lord, briefly, about the situation already. There are mass restrictions that prohibit my inclusion. But I have a strong feeling I would have been left behind regardless.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Lily asked, not having been aware of any restrictions, mentally factoring them into her view of Ronin¡¯s choices.


    ¡°Several things,¡± Staz said, fingering the tricolored ring he wore. ¡°One of them is this ring. With it, and my strength, I can act as a mule to whatever team I¡¯m a part of, when we take the fight to the locusts. My strength and regeneration abilities being a second. Not to mention my DNA, the android seems so interested in. But the main reason, I believe, is because I get along well with you, Lady Lily. My lord is your husband, and why wouldn¡¯t he wish for you¡­ or someone close to you, to be protected as well?¡± Lily blinked, did that mean her husband already knew she was with child and leaving the baby a guard, or was he worried about her alone, and Staz had suspected something?


    ¡°I see,¡± Lily said, dipping her head to the oni. ¡°In either case, I for one am happy with your continued presents.¡± She walked away from the too smart giant, as he chuckled behind her. She chalked a point into his column after the verbal bout, extremely happy that he was on their side.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s up with the guy dressed like you?¡± Lily asked Owl Two, a few moments later, when she joined him, and motioned towards the second person in the room dressed identically to him, standing with her husband¡¯s chosen group.


    ¡°Knowing this was coming, I created a copy of myself. Lady Lily, you are aware of this, you saw me working on it for several days now.¡±


    ¡°The metal man you¡¯ve been tinkering with. Sure, I saw it, but what of it, not like something made from metal and strings can become a person, right?¡± Lily said with a light chuckle.


    ¡°My lady¡­ I believe there has been a misunderstanding, on your part.¡± Owl Two said, turning to face her directly. ¡°I am an android. An artificial intelligence, housed in a body of metal and wire or strings as you said. I can, and did, create a copy of myself out of the advanced materials Owl Five acquired for me. Well, I suppose she goes by Gunner now, but I digress.¡± Lily just stared at her conversation partner.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± she said, the pieces starting to click into place for her. ¡°You aren¡¯t a person at all, you are a metal creation who can walk and talk and think?¡± So many things made sense now if her husband¡¯s researcher wasn¡¯t really human. His behavior, the strange voice, how he never removed his armor or even his helmet.


    ¡°One could argue that being able to walk, and talk, and think, made one a person, couldn¡¯t they?¡± The metal creation asked her in response. ¡°But I understand your confusion. Your civilization is so primitive compared to the one I was designed in, that to you it must seem like a magic trick, or a lie¡­ To answer your original question, however. My lord needs me to assist in his mission, with technical details he is ill equipped to understand. At the same time, to unravel the mysteries of the ship under the undercity. He also, whether he knows it or not, needs me to continue breeding him an army. Because when the inevitable happens, we are going to need troops. And all the doubts being cast my way at my methods will be justly responded to then. So, I copied myself to perform both duties for him.¡±


    As much as Lily wanted to argue that last statement, she couldn¡¯t. Not when she looked around to see just how few fighters they had left. Between Eric, who¡¯d died with all his men, and the batlin swarms, they¡¯d lost well over half their fighting numbers. The hobgoblins and the hobats would go a long way to make up for the deficit, but not enough, if constant war was in their future.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Lily said, looking at the ¡®android¡¯ with understanding for the first time. It, he, really had been working in her husband¡¯s best interests. Even when he¡¯d been purposely neglecting the other syndicate members, she suspected. What better way to get a caring man like the White flame, to step up and get involved, than to show him people who were suffering. ¡°I wasn¡¯t made my husband¡¯s queen, but you will have my full support in the year he will be gone, preparing for what comes next.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my lady.¡± Owl Two said with a shallow dip of his head. ¡°Though, I am afraid our lord will be gone for somewhat more than a year.¡± Lily looked at the android, but decided now wasn¡¯t the time to ask. Not when her husband was preparing to leave.


    They watched, as lord Ronin the White flame winked out of existence, together with his hand selected troops, off to parts unknown. Lily sighed, it felt like the end of an era. Despite all the work they had before them, and knowing he would return to them someday. She couldn¡¯t help but feel that this was the last time Ronin would be one of their people. He¡¯d saved them all and given them a home. Now, he was moving on to the next adventure. That thought made Lily smile at last, Because, regardless of how the man called Ronin saw himself. To all the people he¡¯d saved, he was a true hero.

 Chapter fifty-four

    Ronin twitched. A full body muscle spasm, which brought him to awareness. He blinked, opening his eyes, or at least tried to. They were covered with some kind of sticky liquid, and he couldn¡¯t see anything. Ronin tried to lift his hands, to wipe away the offending fluid, but found they were restrained. Not only were they restrained, but he could feel more of the dense liquid sloshing around his arms, and legs as well, when he tried to move them.


    Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how much time passed, as he hung there, suspended in the thick slimy substance. His head was foggy, so it was hard to think, and his muscles would keep spasming rhythmically. First his entire body, then his fingers and toes, arms, and legs, he could even feel his organs constricting in his chest. It wasn¡¯t painful, not exactly, but it wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience either.


    Gradually, his head cleared, and his body stopped twitching. Then, when he was just starting to consider how to break free of this dark prison, a dim light began emanating from the floor he was floating inches above. It was extremely faint, but gradually brightened until Ronin could make out his surroundings through the thick pink liquid, he was submerged in. The realization that he was breathing in the pink sludge caused him to momentarily panic. Thrashing about and trying to hold his breath, until he remembered he¡¯d been breathing, whatever this was, just fine until he¡¯d realized it, and he tried taking a tentative breath. Slouching back against his restraints in relief, Ronin was thankful he could breathe just as easily now as if he had been in the open air. The act of breathing itself might have been a little more work, having to draw in thick fluid instead of a gas like oxygen, but it was barely noticeable.


    Blinking proved useless in clearing his vision, so Ronin just did his best to take in his surroundings, peering out through the thick pink fluid. At first, all he saw were tubes and hoses, connected to his body at various points, which disappeared up into the blackness where the light didn¡¯t reach. Then, as his eyes adjusted, he saw further away. Blurry blobs floated all around him in the slime filled room. Each slowly becoming clearer in his eyes until he recognized the nearest blob as Elyria.


    She was still unconscious, but she was going through whole body spasms, which had the thick fluid churning around her lithe body. The four wings so reminiscent of a dragonfly¡¯s, twitched and bounced right along with the rest of her body. Ronin was happy to see the elytra hadn¡¯t survived to her final body choice. The hard forewings were just too creepy. At least this way, he could picture her like a fairy from an adventure novel, instead of some weird bug/elf hybrid.


    Looking at her, Ronin could get a better understanding of how he himself was being restrained. She had on what looked like a harness of thick ropy tentacles that branched off an even thicker arm. This arm rose from the floor and kept her from moving her torso, regardless of how much her limbs twitched and spasmed. In addition, there were several tubes and hoses connected to her body at various points, each looking to be pumping in, or sucking out something. Ronin couldn¡¯t tell through the gloom and the thick, translucent, fluid. The sight of it made him queasy, and he just wanted to get out of¡­ whatever he¡¯d found himself in.


    As he struggled, churning the liquid even further, the other blurry lumps that he knew were his people started to twitch. Now that he knew what to look for, Ronin recognized Karr and K3 a little further away. The rest of the bodies were too far, and to obscured, with the sloshing sludge for him to make out. Panic was setting in, when he heard a thunking noise, followed by a sucking sound, as the fluid formed a twister that buffeted Ronin and his people as the fluid drained away. Soon enough, Ronin found himself coughing up the last of the fluid as he gasped in a deep lungful of sterile air.


    The restraining tentacles didn¡¯t release him, but the arm did lower enough so that his feet were touching the ground. Ronin was almost thankful the living harness hadn¡¯t let him go, with how weak he felt at that moment, he was sure he¡¯d have face planted on the slime covered, biomechanical floor. A floor Ronin stared at, while he caught his breath, and stabilized his shaking legs.


    It was still covered in the thick pink fluid, which was slowly oozing its way towards the floor drain. It was bumped and ridged, with tubes and pipes running throughout that looked very reminiscent of veins and arteries. What¡¯s more, the surface was pulsating gently. Each throb reminded Ronin of the heartbeat of some vast beast. It was mirrored on the walls and could be felt through the soles of Ronin¡¯s bare feet. Bare feet that nevertheless looked to be booted in heavy, spiked, chitin boots of deepest black with grey flames etched into their surfaces.


    ¡°I¡­ Really didn¡¯t¡­ think¡­ you would actually do your skin, like¡­ that.¡± Elyria said, her voice coming out in ragged gasps as she too fought for breath. Ronin glared at her, though her bedraggled appearance made him rein in his agitation. Her face was covered in a mix of the thick sticky pink fluid, and her own spittle. Her long silver hair, normally worn braided for combat or loose in casual settings, was a matted mass, caked to her face and plastered to her scalp. Her wings were stuck together and hanging limply, covered in the slimy substance.


    ¡°I could say the same thing to you,¡± Ronin said with a smirk. Her translucent, dragonfly wings had been patterned in dark to light grey flames. The tips were so light they were almost white, but not the brilliant white of his own flame covered armor. He wondered at the sight of those wings. Not only had she permanently donned his colors, but she¡¯d also stayed true to the syndicate¡¯s brief tradition, of only Ronin¡¯s flames being tipped with white. While his lieutenants had off-white flame tips and the regular members were grey.


    ¡°Don¡¯t flatter yourself.¡± Elyria said, her bedraggled face bordering on scorn. ¡°It¡¯s politics. The rest of your people have flames, so it would be abnormal if I didn¡¯t. Plus, I¡¯m your ¡®escort.¡¯ I should be viewed as one of yours to avoid unnecessary attention.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Ronin said, ¡°and the colors?¡± He asked, looking pointedly at her.


    ¡°What?¡± Elyria said with a shrug, ¡°the color puts me on a rank level with K3. A leader in the group. Again¡­ your escort, why would I be a grunt?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s just¡­ hurtful.¡± Karr said, between coughing and gasping for air. Once he¡¯d gotten his breathing under control, he thumped his carapace covered chest. ¡°I¡¯ve got just the lightest of grey tones. By syndicate standards that makes me a sergeant. But all my boys and girls, plus the scouts, even Sam, our pilot, are wearing grey flames. No good comes from calling those at your back a grunt, lady.¡±


    ¡°Forgive the slight, Sergeant Karr.¡± Elyria said with as much dignity as she could muster under the circumstances. ¡°It was a slight intended only for your lord. Not aimed at either you or your people.¡± She dipped her head in apology, causing a large sticky clump of hair to flop forward and bounce back into her face. Karr gave a weak chuckle at the show, before grunting in acknowledgement.


    ¡°Although it should be an even worse offence to insult my lord, even over my person. I know you and the White flame have a¡­ special relationship, shall we say. So, no harm done miss.¡± Ronin was sure the pink tinge on the moon elf¡¯s cheeks was just the residual slime still clinging to her face, because there was no way she¡¯d blush over a comment like that.


    Blinking away as much of the fluid as he could, Ronin took a moment to focus on the sergeant. He hadn¡¯t worked with the man in several months and was curious to see how he fit his new body. Granted, as filthy and bound by living tentacles as he was, it might not be the best time for it. Still, Ronin couldn¡¯t help but look him over. He was a nondescript man, short hair that could be either brown or blonde, eyes that could be grey, blue, or hazel depending on how they hit the light. He was of average height for a human man, standing a few inches under six feet. At any time, he could take his armor off and blend into any human crowd. He was so nondescript, Ronin had to wonder if he¡¯d done it deliberately. Minus the leaves the man chewed religiously, that stained his teeth a deep red color.


    Of course, that didn¡¯t apply to this version of the man. His teeth were clean now, but apart from his head, he was nearly identical to Ronin. Since, each of the nine people under his command had copied Ronin¡¯s armor, complete with retractable carapace helmet. The only difference between his body and there¡¯s was a few inches of height here and there and the color of the flames that covered their bodies.


    ¡°The bosses love life aside,¡± K3 said unnecessarily, Ronin thought, as he tugged on the tentacle harness. "How are we going to get out of here?¡± The eight-foot tall kaldarr was easily the largest person in their group, and despite his considerable strength being applied to the task, he couldn¡¯t budge the thick slime covered appendage at all.


    ¡°One of my kind will be along shortly to release us and explain the next steps to you, humans¡­ and wow, can I just say how strange it is to have a body this small? I mean sure, I agreed to it since it was either this or stay locked up in the ship¡¯s %&#@ storage while the lizards blew it up, but dang. It¡¯s really weird.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t even need to look to recognize that voice.


    ¡°Thank you, Jade,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°That is good to know. We¡¯ll just wait for them then.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know why the beetle was so set on having a body, especially when it was only a fraction of the size of its original form. Yet the jade green beetle had spent a vast number of credits helping Ronin in his last battle, as well as getting a few extra concessions from the ship, to receive one.


    No sooner had he said that the tentacles wrapped so tightly around his torso slackened. They unwound from his body slowly, curling in on themselves as the large arm like appendage retracted into the floor. Ronin, finally able to move his arms more than a few inches, immediately wiped his eyes to clear it of the liquid.


    ¡°Gahh,¡± he hissed in pain, as the blunted claws he wasn¡¯t used to having, dug into the flesh of his face.


    ¡°Smooth,¡± Elyria said, fluttering her wings to clear them of slime. Subsequently flinging it all over Ronin and those closest to her. ¡°¡­oh gosh¡­ sorry about that.¡± She said in a tone that just dripped sincerity.


    ¡°My lord,¡± an unfamiliar voice said from Ronin¡¯s elbow. Turning away from the wickedly grinning elf, Ronin took in the speaker. They were, in all respects, identical to Ronin. Apart from the sergeant grade flames that covered their armor, and the fact that their helmet was engaged. ¡°Xerox here, reporting for duty.¡± They continued in the same voice that Ronin didn¡¯t recognize at all.


    Ronin stared blinking into the vaguely goat head shaped helmet, as he tried to figure out who this could be. He idly wondered if it had been too much, to shape the heads like that¡­ then he remembered, even if this wasn¡¯t the adventurer¡¯s life he¡¯d fantasized about, he could dang well customize his armor any way he wanted. That thought made him nod to himself in satisfaction.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Xerox?¡± Elyria said, still wiping the pink sludge from her body. ¡°Aren¡¯t you Owl two, what¡¯s with the name change?¡± Oh, Ronin felt like slapping himself. Of course, it was Owl Two, there couldn¡¯t be anyone here he didn¡¯t ok to bring, and the android was being given a biological body. So, naturally Ronin wouldn¡¯t recognize it.


    ¡°Lady Elyria,¡± the not-android said with a shallow bow. ¡°I am the copy my original created of himself. He designated me Xerox, so our lord wouldn¡¯t get us confused with his¡­ so much on his mind.¡± Xerox finished, with zero subtlety.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Ronin said, absentmindedly wiping more fluid from his armor. ¡°Why did he name you Xerox though? I¡¯ve never heard that name before.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a name,¡± Elyria said with a snort. ¡°It¡¯s a synonym of the word copy¡­ a little on the nose, but it sounds better than just naming you Copy I suppose.¡±


    ¡°Indeed¡­ lady Elyria.¡± The biological version of Owl Two, Xerox, said with clear discontent in his voice. Ronin grinned, at last, he¡¯d be able to get a handle on his assistant, turned head researcher¡¯s, thought processes by his tones. Something he¡¯d never been able to do with the synthesized monotone the android had been forced to use in his pocket world.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you formally, Xerox.¡± Ronin said with a dip of his head. ¡°Now, can you give me an update on how we left the pocket world? Do you know how much time has passed out here? Anything else worthy of note going on, and what does your face look like?¡± Ronin was spit-balling questions, not sure what the biological computer would consider worthwhile, and what would be considered not worthy of mention.


    ¡°This is my face, lord Ronin.¡± Xerox said, bringing his blunted claw tipped finger up to touch the helmet that should have covered his face. ¡°I deemed it unnecessary to provide such a weak point in my armor¡¯s defenses. Since our diet is mostly liquid in nature, eating shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Sadly, my computational abilities, as well as much of my memory storage has been denied me in this¡­ crude¡­ biological, body.¡± He all but spat the word ¡®biological¡¯ as if it was too dirty to keep in his mouth any longer than he had to. ¡°Still, I know a few things from my conversations with the Jade crystallin beetle, and some of the preparations put into place before we left...¡±


    ¡°Well don¡¯t keep me in suspense.¡± Ronin said, making a rolling motion with his hand to keep the man talking. Though he had to admit he was disappointed that he, once again, was denied the ability to see his researcher¡¯s face¡­ and what did he mean about liquid diet?


    ¡°It has been seven days since we disappeared from the white room. A corresponding number of years have passed in your ¡®pocket world.¡¯ Although I do not have anything to report on that elapsed time, I feel confident that my original will have compiled significant data on the research project you assigned him before we left.¡± Everything was said as matter-of-factly as Owl Two spoke, yet Ronin could now detect the notes of pride and superiority coming through clearly. It was so clear, in fact, that he almost missed something important.


    ¡°What?¡± He said with a yelp, moving forward and grabbing Xerox by the shoulders. ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s been a ¡®corresponding number of years¡¯ it should have only been one year and a few days. Seven years¡­ what about the locusts, the ships in orbit? So many things could have happened in that long¡­ how long did you set it to do that for?¡± He shook the man he still thought of as an android as he spoke, becoming increasingly frantic with each question.


    ¡°You clearly ordered me, or my original anyway, to gather the information about the ship at all costs. You had to know, and my original agreed completely, after sifting through the new data Jade supplied us. So, we did as ordered, and extended the duration of the time dilation. With monetary assistance from our crystallin beetle acquaintance. We need that information, my lord. Even if it costs us the entire undercity, because ¡®all costs¡¯ include that simulated world¡­ I only extended the duration by ten days. Ten days for ten years of research. If my original can¡¯t collect what you need in ten years, then I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible to discover in any length of time.¡± The conviction in Xerox¡¯s voice was unmistakable, he believed what he was saying. Hearing that tone, Ronin slumped back in defeat.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­ Lily, she¡¯s¡­ I thought I could go back home¡­¡± Ronin was devastated at the news. He¡¯d come to view the valley and its people as his home. He had only known them for a few months, but he¡¯d felt comfortable there. Now, with seven years, soon to be ten, passing for them in there¡­ he wouldn¡¯t have a place to come back to, assuming he lived long enough to return at all, and he was going to be a father. He¡¯d known, thanks to Owl Two. Yet he hadn¡¯t said anything because Lily wasn¡¯t sure how to bring it up. When he¡¯d left, he thought he¡¯d be back before the baby was old enough to know he was ever gone¡­ but now. He was just like his own father. Abandoning his child to go adventuring in another world. The thought made him sick.


    ¡°Ten years? But, my sister¡­ she must think I¡¯m dead¡­ my poor Sprout, she wasn¡¯t a young sparrow, she¡¯ll have died of old age by now¡­ How could you do this, haven¡¯t I lost enough?¡± Elyria was across the room and holding Xerox by the neck with her bare hands, squeezing for all she was worth. She¡¯d moved so fast that Ronin hadn¡¯t had time to react. Thankfully, Xerox was well armored, and Elyria hadn¡¯t given herself any natural weapons. With her current strength, and no weapons, she couldn¡¯t harm him at all.


    ¡°I am sorry for your loss,¡± Xerox said, not sounding sorry at all. ¡°But a small clarification. I didn¡¯t do anything; it was Owl Two who arranged this. A small distinction, I grant you, but a very real one. Now unhand me, Elyria of no house. Because, even if my lord doesn¡¯t understand the oath you swore, I do.¡± A look of shock, and revulsion passed across the elf¡¯s face, and for a moment, Ronin thought she would go berserk. Then, she let go of Xerox, and stepped back.


    ¡°What?¡± Ronin asked.


    ¡°It is of no consequence, my lord.¡± Xerox said, once Elyria had released him. ¡°A matter of elven honor that I have no interest in, as long as I am left unmolested.¡± Ronin blinked at the clear threat in those words. Was that emotion Ronin heard in his voice? Perhaps being biological now was messing with the android¡¯s normally composed demeanor.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Ronin said, after looking at Elyria and clearly seeing she didn¡¯t want to talk about it. ¡°How is everyone else doing? Any hiccups with the new bodies?¡± He asked the room at large, not forgetting for a moment the ten years he¡¯d lost in his pocket world but knowing that now wasn¡¯t the right time to grill Xerox over it. Not while everyone was still covered in this nasty slime, anyway.


    ¡°Mmnmmnmm¡­ I¡¯m doing great,¡± Jade said, as it scooped copious amounts of the slimy fluid into its mandibles. ¡°Why isn¡¯t anyone else eating the enhanced nutrient fluid? It¡¯s been perfectly calibrated to provide the new body with everything it needs to function at full capacity¡­. Plus, mmnmm¡­ it¡¯s delicious.¡± Ronin almost gagged at the sight of the dog sized beetle gorging itself on the pink slime.


    ¡°Yea, there is no way.¡± Elyria said, covering her mouth with both her hands. Ronin was inclined to agree.


    ¡°Jade, are you telling me¡­ this is the liquid diet Owl¡­Xerox was talking about?¡± He asked the happily slurping beetle.


    ¡°Yep.¡± It replied, apparently happy with that answer.


    ¡°Jade is correct my lord.¡± Xerox said, picking up the beetle¡¯s explanation. ¡°It is an enhanced and purified fluid derived from crystal tree sap. I suggest that we all eat as much of it as we can. It will give us an edge over those who do not consume any, since this enhanced version will jumpstart these bodies¡¯ metabolism. Do not worry, my lord, the flavor will be palatable.¡± After he finished his explanation, a tube extended from the goat headed helmet, at about the mouth¡¯s location, and sucked up the pink fluid. Ronin stared in fascinated horror, as Xerox fed, and the beetle munched away. He didn¡¯t want to, but he really didn¡¯t want to be weakened in front of Leo¡¯s enemies.


    ¡°Here goes nothing,¡± he said, holding his breath as he licked the palm of his hand experimentally. He winced in anticipation but was pleasantly surprised at the flavor. The nutrient fluid had an herbal, minty flavor, mixed with sweet berries, and he found himself taking another lick. ¡°Well guys,¡± he said, looking at his small troop of followers. ¡°I won¡¯t force anyone to eat this, but it really isn¡¯t bad. I¡¯m going to take Xerox and Jade¡¯s word that this will be beneficial, however, and eat as much as I can before¡­ whatever happens next.¡± Having given his first rousing speech in a real body, he set to eating the unappetizing looking, yet surprisingly tasty, slime.


    He was timid at first, slowly licking portions of the fluid off his hands. Yet, with each mouthful, a feeling of warmth and vitality began circulating throughout his body. Hunger, he hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d even been feeling flared up, and he found himself scooping the slime off the walls and slurping it down with just as much abandon as Jade was.


    ¡°Well,¡± K3 said, crouching down and scooping some of the pink fluid from the floor. ¡°If it¡¯s good enough for the boss, it¡¯s good enough for me.¡± That got him eating the nutrient fluid as well. The giant setting about eating broke the dam, and all the rest of Ronin¡¯s people started feasting on the rapidly draining fluid. Even Elyria tucked in, she¡¯d done her best to be discreet about it, but Ronin smiled as he saw the hunger take her. Then she was scooping it in as fast as she could.


    ¡°Greetings, humans.¡± Said a bored sounding voice, and the roof peeled back to show a ruby colored crystallin beetle. It looked just like Jade, apart from the color¡­ and the minor fact it was fifteen feet tall while on all six feet. ¡°My name is Ruby,¡± it continued, as bored sounding as before. ¡°I¡¯ll be walking you through the clean up pro¡­ sister? What the $*$#)$ %$*#(@)# $*$@.¡± It changed to the incomprehensible language that Jade used sometimes, and the pair of them started an animated conversation that Ronin couldn¡¯t have hoped to follow. He just watched in confusion as they danced around and waved their limbs.


    ¡°Jade is explaining our agreement to the one calling itself Ruby.¡± Xerox said quietly at Ronin¡¯s shoulder. Interpreting the strange noises and wild gesticulations. ¡°She is convincing the big one that what we have offered is worth the risk of letting me and Samantha slip away into the ship with her.¡± Ronin frowned, looking sideways at this wildcard follower of his.


    ¡°You can understand them? Wait, what agreement?¡± He asked suspiciously, still eating as much nutrient fluid as he could scoop up. ¡°I agreed to give her a body, that was it.¡± Though he honestly hadn¡¯t known the beetle was female until now. ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t been plotting and making promises in my name again and why do you want Sam?¡± Ronin was already getting a bad feeling about this, just knowing Xerox wasn¡¯t any different than Owl Two when it came to scheming.


    ¡°Yes, my lord, I can understand them. Not all my processing power has been lost to me, thankfully.¡± Xerox said, as he continued to eat as well. Ronin swore the stuff was addicting, but he couldn¡¯t deny how good he felt with each additional mouthful. ¡°As to the agreement, Jade and I came to an understanding. Do not worry my lord, I did not promise anything that we were not already prepared to do. I am merely taking advantage of the resources one of the original owners of this vessel can offer, in exchange for the opportunity to save some of the crystallin beetles. A pacifist species that your human leaders, my lord, have already sentenced to die when this ship is destroyed.¡±


    Ronin let out a deep, frustrated sigh. The damn android was at it again. He knew exactly what buttons to push, to make Ronin putty in his hands. Still, those buttons always worked on Ronin because they were valid. He couldn¡¯t just turn his back on a species who¡¯d been imprisoned by his people for the last two hundred years¡­ even if they did inadvertently cause the death of his planet.


    ¡°Fiiinnneee¡­¡± He said at last, dragging the word out into a groan. ¡°What are we doing this time?¡± One of these days, the android was going to go too far, and Ronin or one of his followers, was going to put him down. Until he was prepared to do that, however, he¡¯d just have to deal with the man¡¯s mad schemes.


    ¡°Excellent decision my lord.¡± Xerox said, his voice now dripping with sarcasm, making Ronin miss the monotone. ¡°It is simple, we are going to¡­¡±


    ¡°No way, sister.¡± Ruby said flinging its arms about wildly. ¡°I¡¯ll not do it, even for you. What you¡¯re asking me to do risks my very freedom, a freedom I cherish so much that I couldn¡¯t think of anything I¡¯d rather do than show these fleshy blobs to the metal cans that wash highly tasty nutrient fluid down the drain. Even though none of the fools ever consider eating the delicious¡­ oh,¡± it said, finally looking at Ronin¡¯s group for the first time, all of them stuffing their faces on the pink slime. ¡°Well, at least this batch has their heads on the right way¡­ they even covered themselves with proper carapace¡­ Ok sister, I¡¯ll do it¡­ After you¡¯re finished eating, humans, follow me to the ¡®shower rooms¡¯ where you will get all cleaned up. The gear you humans need to do, literally everything, is waiting for you there when you¡¯re done too¡­ and a¡­ mind sharing?¡± It asked, already dipping its forelimbs into a remaining puddle of fluid.

 Chapter fifty-five

    Ronin groaned with pleasure as he stood under the hot water. The heat was barely registering through the carapace armor, but it felt amazing on his head, face, and neck. It had taken a while to get out of the growth vat, for that¡¯s what the large living room had been. A container designed to grow one Beetle body at a time. Thankfully, they were huge, and there was enough biological material in the vats to grow twenty human sized brains. Mass factored in as well, but not as much as the rare materials needed to construct a working brain.


    Turning his face up, he scrubbed his finger length hair, being careful not to dig into his scalp with his blunted claws. Once the feeding frenzy had started, none of his people had wanted to leave until they¡¯d scoured the growth vat clean of all the large accumulations of fluid. When they finally left the vat, that had been set in a long line of similar vats in a massive hanger, the shipping container had been set up just outside as a portable, communal, shower room. It looked cheaply built and a bit worse for wear, but the water was hot, and the lack of privacy didn¡¯t matter to anyone since none of their bodies were naked anyway.


    Ronin just hadn¡¯t seen the point. These bodies couldn¡¯t reproduce, and they weren¡¯t here on a pleasure trip either. He¡¯d designed his body for combat in the trees, and all his people had copied his model. The scouts had chosen to emulate Gunner, with her chameleon armor and four arms. While Elyria was the only real stand out, even she hadn¡¯t bothered overly much with her normal anatomy. Sure, she still had the overall body shape and proportions that she had in Ronin¡¯s pocket world, but she¡¯d covered everything vital in a layer of small but concealing white scales. Wiping the water from his eyes, Ronin took a moment to look over the two rows of ten shower heads and take a head count of his people.


    There was Elyria, who¡¯d chosen the shower right next to his. Ronin scoffed, swearing the elf did stuff like that just to annoy him. K3 was just behind him, guarding Ronin¡¯s back. That made him smile. He¡¯d missed the kaldarr in the time they¡¯d been apart, and he could tell by his smooth movements the months the warrior had spent away from him hadn¡¯t been wasted. Beside K3 was sergeant Karr, the nondescript man humming to himself as he cleaned away the last remnants of the pink fluid.


    Ronin thought he¡¯d been promoted before he¡¯d left, but since he only led a squad of nine men and women, lieutenant was more rank than was required¡­ Though, Ronin thought a sergeant led five troops and a staff sergeant led nine or ten. Not that it really mattered what Benjamin and Owl Two chose to name the ranks really, and besides, sergeant was easier to remember than staff sergeant.


    Moving his eyes past sergeant Karr, Ronin took in the five men and four women in his squad. He didn¡¯t recognize any of them, having told Benjamin and Karr to pick the best people they had in small group tactics for this mission. He made a mental note to get to know them this time, since on earlier trips into the caves he hadn¡¯t bothered to even learn their names.


    Beyond them Xerox showered next to Jade. The pair were talking animatedly in the beetle language. Ronin didn¡¯t care for that, knowing that if Owl Two, under any name, was hiding something from him, it would be something he didn¡¯t approve of. Grinding his teeth together, Ronin fought back the rage he felt over losing ten years in his pocket world. Even now, his unknown child would be six or seven years old, by tomorrow they would be seven or eight. It was maddening, but it was done now. He couldn¡¯t change it, and he needed Xerox and Owl Two¡¯s technical acumen if they were all going to survive what was coming.


    Tearing his eyes away from the alien and android pair, Ronin took in the final three occupants of the shower room. Samantha had copied his armor design, and looked much bulkier in the carapace covering than she had in the leathers she¡¯d once worn. She was also avoiding him. He¡¯d gotten a brief report on Owl Two¡¯s many crimes from K3, so he understood why. It still broke his heart to see her acting so timidly. Another thing the android would have to answer for. Shaking his head, Ronin focused back on the present. Sam had attached herself to the two scouts Ronin had brought for the team.


    He had wanted to fill up the roster with a full twenty people, but after the battle was over, he couldn¡¯t find two people who¡¯d survived. That he was both familiar with and who wasn¡¯t needed to protect or lead the city. That had left him with Stone, the sharp shooting goblin scout he¡¯d first learned about during the attack on undercity. She¡¯d shown good judgment, excellent ranged abilities, and a spunky attitude that he thought the group would benefit from. That left Whisper, the only member of Hunter¡¯s original squad who¡¯d survived the battle. She didn¡¯t talk much, moved quietly and would fade into the background of any group unless called upon for something.


    Nodding to himself, Ronin thought he might have gotten a good team composition this time. He had his pilot, a long-ranged gunner, short-ranged stealth specialist, tech specialist, team of grunts for lack of a better word, and his personal bodyguard, along with the elf who kept him on the straight and narrow. Much better than his first team selection.


    ¡°Why are you staring at the girls and smiling like that, White flame?¡± Elyria asked, giving him an elbow shove. ¡°They¡¯re covered in bug shell armor, can¡¯t be that exciting to watch them showering¡­ please, tell me that¡¯s not your thing. Because I don¡¯t think I can take that.¡± Ronin sighed, realizing he¡¯d been wearing his happiness over his choices too openly.


    ¡°No, Elyria.¡± He said, as he turned around to K3¡¯s and Karr¡¯s chuckling. ¡°I was just looking over the troops. I think we have a fine team here.¡± That statement got nods of agreement from his troop¡¯s leadership, until the whole shipping container was rocked violently, and the water stuttered off for a second before it came back on.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you done yet? I finished eating the leftover enhanced nutrient fluid almost two minutes ago¡­ what¡¯s taking you so longggg?¡± Ronin stuck his head out the door to see the giant form of Ruby, dancing around wildly, and it looked like, accidentally running into the shower room during a turn. He frowned, not finding it difficult to believe anymore that a race like this had accidentally wiped out an entire planet¡¯s ecosystem. They¡¯d probably been so excited to press the button and get onto the planet that they¡¯d just, whoops, nearly murdered Ronin¡¯s entire species. He took a deep breath, knowing he was still on edge about the time dilation. He hoped there was going to be a fight soon, he needed an outlet.


    ¡°We¡¯re just finishing up now,¡± he said loudly, to be heard over the beetle''s own clatter. Ronin had wanted a longer shower, but the enjoyment had been severely reduced now, thanks to his mood. ¡°Come one everyone, let¡¯s go get kitted up¡­ Then we can meet up with my, dad, and get this show on the road.¡± He only stumbled a bit when calling Leo Dawson his dad. Wondering when he¡¯d get the chance to see his actual father, and knowing he was too afraid to ask after his parents.


    ¡°Ok, now this is just too much.¡± Elyria said with a laugh when they¡¯d all gotten dried off and gathered around the crates holding the gear they¡¯d requested. She was looking at Ronin, who¡¯d just opened a crate filled with white fur cloaks made from¡­ well he wasn¡¯t sure what¡­ but that had been made to match his goat hide cloak exactly. ¡°What is this, a cercus?¡±


    Not bothering to reply to the jab, Ronin threw his cloak over his armor. It fit perfectly, the shoulder, and helmet clasps snapped into ready made notches he¡¯d designed into his body. With a flexing of muscles, he¡¯d never had as a human, he forced the carapace sections that rested on his chest and back to restrict. They snapped together, covering his head with a built-in helmet. Just as expected, the goat hide¡¯s head, complete with horns, had fitted itself to the helmet perfectly. Looking himself over, he couldn¡¯t help but feel like a Viking from ancient earth. Sporting white fur covered black armor and a helmet that was made from an actual goat head, or a close enough approximation of it anyway.


    ¡°My lord has a flare for the dramatic, but the fur substitute is very sturdy and will act as an extra layer of defense.¡± Xerox said, putting on his own cloak. ¡°Scouts and Elyria, you each get a PCP .50, two long daggers, two PCP .25 pistols and a canteen of nutrient fluid. Karr, you, and your squad each take a PCP .25 carbine and PCP .25 pistol, there is a short spear and round shield in there for each of you as well. Sam, Jade, we only get the canteens and cloaks should you want one, since we aren¡¯t going down to the planet. K3, my lord, you each get a PCP 1.0 rifle, and a PCP .25 pistol. There is also a pack of standard gear in there for everyone, that includes things like a mess kit, fire starting tools, flashlights, the normal things. Now if there are no more questions? Good, Let¡¯s be about it then people.¡± He finished with a ¡®my lord¡¯ and a shallow bow to Ronin.


    ¡°Seeee,¡± Ruby said. ¡°This guy knows how to get things moving¡­ now, chop chop humans, they are already gathering without you.¡± The giant red beetle said with a tap to an imaginary watch.


    ¡°You have everything you need?¡± Ronin asked Xerox and Samantha, while the rest of his team was gathering their equipment. ¡°It¡¯s going to be several weeks before we can return, and you are supposed to be hiding up here while you work.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, friend human Ronin.¡± Jade said, patting him on the back, ¡°I will be here with them the whole time, and I¡¯m known amongst my kind to be a forethinking and upright sort of beetle. There won¡¯t be any problems.¡± That didn¡¯t exactly make Ronin feel any better, and the fact that Sam wouldn¡¯t meet his eyes made him feel even worse.


    ¡°It will be fine, my lord.¡± Xerox said with another shallow bow. ¡°You just worry about gathering enough resources to feed the ship, we¡¯ll do what we need to up here and be ready for you when you return.¡± Not having anything else to say, Ronin only nodded and bid them farewell. As the trio walked away from the group into the darkness of the massive hanger they were in, Ruby made a huge show of turning her back and whistling nonchalantly. Repeating over and over again in a loud voice.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything, I don¡¯t see anything, there is definitely not anything to see behind me right now.¡± Ronin fingered his rifle, wondering if anyone would notice if the school bus sized, loud mouthed beetle, suddenly died. He was certain the PCP 1.0 would penetrate. The slugs had a diameter of an inch and were an absolutely massive round. It was two times the size of the scouts PCP .50 while the PCP .25 carbines Karr¡¯s squad had, being only a quarter of the size. Granted, they carried ten times more ammunition and could fire in semi-automatic mode, while Ronin¡¯s gun required manual cycling and only held five rounds. He sighed, it was a nice thought, but the beetle didn¡¯t seem to be a bad person, just really, really, annoying.


    ¡°Alright Ruby,¡± Ronin said, once Xerox, Jade and Sam disappeared into the cavernous hanger. ¡°We¡¯re ready to go.¡± He¡¯d shouldered his rifle, along with the kanabo and buckler, and had his backpack on. They were as ready as they were going to get.


    ¡°Let¡¯s goo then.¡± Ruby said, striding off into the hanger at a pace Ronin and his followers were hard pressed to keep up with. They managed, however, thanks in large part to the enhanced nutrient fluid they¡¯d consumed. That was Ronin¡¯s theory anyway, because he could still feel the energy coursing through his body after the meal.


    They ran for over an hour, passing one growth vat after another. Ronin watched as more beetles helped new batches of humans get out of the vats and into the shower units that seemed to have been set up in front of every vat. Ronin had yet to see any of these people eating the nutrient fluid, however, he saw plenty of beetles diving into the empty vats as soon as the last human disappeared into the showers. Another fun fact about these groups. Not very many of them looked like they were from one team. Ronin noted that they were congregating in groups of six. Leading him to believe that these father son teams had only arrived with their party escorts. He wanted to ask Ruby about it, but the beetle was way too big, too fast, and too loud to ask anything that he didn¡¯t want to be heard.


    Eventually, Ronin spotted a large metal building that looked something like an aircraft hangar. Which was ironic because they were in an enormous hanger right now. Except the one they were approaching looked to be of human origin, being made from metal sheets and not living matter. Reaching the building at last, Ronin could tell it had been here a while. Just like the cargo containers that made up the showers, this building must have been constructed something like two centuries ago, when the ship had first been taken.


    ¡°And here we are,¡± the beetle said in a singsong voice once she¡¯d delivered them to the building¡¯s front door. ¡°Go on in, the rest of your team is already inside¡­ oh I almost forgot, don¡¯t kill anybody on the ship, ok. Because if you do, the ship¡¯s AI will shut off your body¡­ not a big deal for us beetles, since we¡¯re backed up, but it¡¯s lethal to you humans, ok bye.¡± With that final, dire warning, Ruby turned around and ambled away.


    ¡°Gosh, almost forgot?¡± K3 muttered from beside Ronin. ¡°Hope there isn¡¯t anything else she, actually, forgot to mention. Not like it¡¯s a big deal or anything, just a death sentence.¡± The warning not to kill anybody, actually had everyone grabbing their weapons more tightly than before.


    ¡°Ok, you guys,¡± Ronin said motioning for them to all calm down, ¡°This is just a meeting, relax, we¡¯ll get our info and leave¡­ Just, don¡¯t engage with anyone. Be polite and smile, we have a lot of enemies here thanks to Leo, my dad, try not to let them work you up, ok.¡± That warning made, Ronin entered the old metal building, K3 right on his heels. He heard the snicking sound of thirteen helmets closing behind him. He grinned, knowing despite what he said, all his people were prepared to fight.


    Entering the giant metal building through a sliding door large enough to drive his truck, Ronin paused to look around. There were several hundred people present, standing in small groups of six people, all the way up to groups holding forty. The numbers making it clear who¡¯d either already known about the growth vat¡¯s batch function, or those smart enough to figure it out. He could feel all those groups eyeing him and his people as he entered, judging him just as he was judging them.


    ¡°Well, I guess it really is a cercus in here.¡± Elyria said, from where she¡¯d come to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Ronin knew what she meant immediately. Everyone here had styled either their own bodies, their clothes, or both in some outlandish fashion or another. One group, consisting of forty members, were dressed head to toe in what Ronin could only describe as futuristic gothic. They wore black clothes, men in black leather with long coats covered in silver buckles. The women in dresses or robes of similar black, with matching buckles. They were all wearing black makeup in some form, either in tear tracks running down their faces, or as eye liner and lipstick. Each also carried a black and silver rifle, along with what must be night vision goggles and black tactical looking backpacks.


    Another group of six, consisted of a man and a woman, wearing top hats and long brown coats with gears and clocks covering them. Each wore fingerless gloves, and the man had on a backpack that looked to have a smokestack rising out of it. They each wore a pair of pistols at their belts that looked like they¡¯d come right out of a novel about pirates. Flanking both the man and the woman were a pair of clockwork robots, one of each pair was equipped with a sword arm and shield arm, while the other had two guns instead of hands. They were clearly wearing some variation on steampunk novels equipment.


    ¡°Here I was thinking you¡¯d all look ridiculous wearing jet black armor covered in a flame pattern with goat hide cloaks covering you up like some barbarian tribe out for conquest.¡± Elyria scoffed, as she looked around at all the strange people around them. ¡°I see Leo, come on, White flame, let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡± She¡¯d offered him her arm as she¡¯d spoken, Ronin looked at it in confusion for a moment before he remembered she was his escort at the party. With a snort, he took her arm, not sure that it mattered anymore, but going along with her anyway.


    ¡°Us?¡± He asked, looking over at her while they walked through the crowd. ¡°What about you, I noticed you are wearing a pretty fancy set of leaf patterned half plate armor yourself, in my colors too.¡± he smirked when she swatted his arm. It looked playful from a distance, but there had been real power in that blow. Good thing his body was now equivalent to a suit of armor, because he barely felt the hit connect. ¡°Of course,¡± he added, ¡°it¡¯s all politics, I get it.¡± He followed his statement with a wink, which caused Elyria¡¯s cheeks to turn red. He¡¯d have to watch it, looked like he¡¯d made her mad that time.


    ¡°Stop that,¡± she said with a glare. ¡°We¡¯re almost to Leo¡¯s group, and it looks like he has as much a flare for the dramatic as you do.¡± She said, nodding her head in front of them. Ronin followed her nod forward to see what she meant. Well, she wasn¡¯t wrong. Leo looked impressive.


    He was much larger than he¡¯d been in the simulated version of the ship¡¯s city. Close to seven feet tall, and had transformed himself into a golden furred lionid, with a thick mane fanning out from his suit jacket. Ronin had to do a double take at the sight. The man was a giant humanoid lion, with bare feet that looked more like thickly clawed paws, big hands that also sported retractable claws, and was wearing a smoky grey suit that matched well with his slate grey eyes. He didn¡¯t carry any weapons that Ronin could see either.


    He was surrounded by a pride of lionids. Doing a quick count, Ronin came up with fourteen female lionids dressed in leather straps, and five giant, horse sized, winged lions. Again, he didn¡¯t see any weapons among them, apart from their claws anyway. Many of those around Leo were eyeing his group warily, despite the rules against killing on the ship. Leo either didn¡¯t notice, or didn¡¯t care, because he had eyes only for Ronin¡¯s approaching group.


    ¡°Good,¡± he said with a nod and an extended hand for Ronin to shake. ¡°I was worried you wouldn¡¯t figure out the trick with the growth vats. This will give us an edge over the regular contestants.¡± Ronin accepted the shake, thankful for his powerfully armored fingers, as he felt the power in the older man¡¯s grip.


    ¡°Father,¡± Ronin said, not slipping up this time. ¡°Have you been here long?¡±


    ¡°Only an hour,¡± Leo replied, releasing his hand, and turning to Elyria. ¡°Greetings to you as well, lady.¡± He didn¡¯t crush her hand in his giant paw but lifted it to his lips for a gentle brush with his whiskers, before releasing her as well. ¡°I hope you¡¯ve managed to keep my wayward son on track, since last we met?¡± One of the lionids behind him, the largest, growled deep in her throat when Leo¡¯s lips touched Elyria¡¯s hand. At the sound, Stone raised her rifle to her shoulder in one fluid motion. Simultaneous glares from both Leo and Ronin had their people settled down quickly. While Elyria smiled and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°Greetings to you, Mr. Dawson.¡± Elyria said with a curtsy, which looked incredibly out of place to Ronin, but one he had to admit was elegant for a winged woman wearing light armor. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about our boy here, he knows what¡¯s expected of him.¡± She said, straightening back up and giving Ronin a predatory smile. To which Ronin could only sigh in resignation, marveling at how quickly she had diffused the tension.


    The three of them exchanged small talk, looking at those around them as the building continued to fill up. Another hour had passed when Fabius and his son Aurex passed them by. Ronin shuddered, looking at the group. Fabius looked like a giant, human crow hybrid and was followed by nineteen men and women that looked just like he did, but his son had gone a different route.


    Aurex was covered in black scales. Had claws on his hands and feet, sharp fangs that protruded from his mouth and a pair of antlers jutting from his long black hair. What was even more eye catching than that, was the eighty-foot-long Chinese flood dragon the man was riding. It was covered in black scales just like Aurex, was wingless and had the body of a snake, but stood on four stubby legs. Its head and mouth were abnormally large for the diameter of the body and sported a pair of long whiskers and antlers jutting up in place of horns. Ronin had to wonder how such a thing was even possible, it was way larger than a crystal beetle, but no, it wasn¡¯t larger, just longer. It was long and twisted around like a snake as it moved. Aurex must have used every spare scrap of material that was left after he¡¯d made his own body to form this monster.


    They didn¡¯t linger, it looked like the pair was making a round of the entire building, likely to check out the competition. As they passed by Ronin and Leo¡¯s groups, however, they did slow. Fabius looked directly at Leo with as evil a smile as a man with a beak was capable of, while Aurex stared daggers at Ronin with blood red eyes as he rode his black dragon by. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d done to offend the man, but he hoped they didn¡¯t meet up on earth, because that dragon looked incredibly dangerous.


    ¡°You just make friends everywhere you go, don¡¯t you, White flame?¡± Elyria asked quietly as she too watched the small group walking by. Ronin could only nod as he watched the dragon snaking its way through the gathered people, who moved quickly out of its way. Thankfully, only a few minutes passed, before the lights dimmed, and the same charismatic man, who¡¯d explained the lizard¡¯s approach to them, began speaking through a sound system that filled the entire building. Ronin smiled because it looked like it was time to begin.

 Chapter fifty-six

    ¡°¡­ now that all the preliminary stuff is out of the way. Let¡¯s get down to the real meat and potatoes, shall we?¡± The announcer said with an affable smile, after several minutes of recapping what they¡¯d already learned. Turned out, this wasn¡¯t everyone who¡¯d been given crystallin bodies for this event, only the ones who knew about the lizard threat. Ronin couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how many thousands of humans would soon be walking the earth¡¯s surface. For perhaps the first time in centuries.


    ¡°Before I say any more, I¡¯d just like to remind you all that killing aboard the ship will result in your immediate execution.¡± An ominous way to begin, that had the crowd rustling with agitation. ¡°Right then. Now, as I said before, there isn¡¯t enough room on the escape ship for everyone. Only about half of you will make the cut. So, look around you people. Each, and every one of those here are your competition. If any one of them does better than you at collecting resources, they get a seat. Understand?... Now, I¡¯m not telling you all this, so you go on a killing spree to reduce the numbers.¡± He stopped at that to give a theatrical chuckle and a huge wink to the crowd.


    ¡°We really do need those resources, if we don¡¯t get them, and fast, none of us will be going anywhere.¡± Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how he did it, but the man could modulate his tone and his posture to really suck in the crowd. He knew, because it was working on him, until Elyria gave a loud snort and a few muttered comments to point out the manipulation. ¡°So, if you have any grudges that need to be settled between you, that¡¯s fine. All I¡¯m saying is wait until after we¡¯ve gathered what we need before you act on them, ok?... Now, each of you will be assigned a dropship. It¡¯s extremely wasteful, and under any other circumstances we¡¯d never do it, but¡­ since it¡¯s the end of the world and all, we figured why not go all out. That being said, I think we¡¯ve covered everything, so off you go. Good luck and good hunting. There are guides waiting outside to take you to your ships.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a blood bath,¡± Leo said as they filed out of the giant metal building. He didn¡¯t sound upset about that; Ronin noted as he looked at the smiling lion faced man.


    ¡°Try not to sound to upset about it,¡± Elyria joked as they followed a man dressed like an old English butler, towards an extensive line of dropships. Ronin heard the big lionid woman growling again, but it was so quiet the group chose to ignore it.


    As they neared the beetle¡¯s dropships, Ronin nearly stumbled on the uneven, bumped, and ridged floor, when he finally got an up-close look at them. They were huge. Each easily as big as the metal aircraft hangar they¡¯d just left. Each brilliantly colored, in a myriad of reflective hues that caught every bit of the weak light in the hanger deck. Shocked for a moment, Ronin had to remind himself just how big the beetles were. As long as a school bus, but easily twice the diameter. If ten or more of those monsters were to fit comfortably into a dropship, it would have to be equally large in scale.


    Leaving the bowing butler behind at the ramp, Ronin and Leo¡¯s groups jogged up the long incline and into the ship¡¯s troop compartment. It was just as big inside as it was outside, and similar to the beetle¡¯s ship and the growth vats, the outside was hard and resembled multicolored crystal, while the inside looked to be made of living matter, with veins and arteries pulsating with fluid, along the muscle like walls, gently beating to some distant heartbeat. Looking around at the living, or at least alive, ship, Ronin took in the cavernous space.


    There were ten swimming pool sized depressions, spaced evenly throughout the compartment, five on a side. Each depression had several of the large tentacle covered arms that had held them up in the growth vats, around its rim. Ronin frowned, wondering what they were for, until he realized they must be a sort of nest or cradle for the beetles to lay in while the ship flew. Sort of like the shock frames with their harnesses the kaldarr ships had in their troop compartments.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this cozy.¡± Leo said with a deep throated snort. ¡°Gnash, take a few of the girls and patrol around the ship until we¡¯re ready to leave. Don¡¯t hurt anyone but keep the other contestants away from the ship.¡± After the big lionid woman, who¡¯d growled at Elyria, bowed, and left, Leo turned and explained to Ronin. ¡°Chancellor Nero made it clear that we weren¡¯t to hurt each other on the ship, but that doesn¡¯t mean someone couldn¡¯t put a bomb or something in our engines.¡± A chilling thought Ronin hadn¡¯t even considered.


    ¡°Now, tell me. Why did you show up with five fewer men then you could have brought? Your team looks well put together, but it would have been more effective if you¡¯d have brought an entire team.¡± Leo asked, clearly not as worried about antagonizing Ronin now that they were outside the public eye. Ronin frowned, not happy about having to go back to playing a secondary role to this man, but under the circumstances¡­


    ¡°We were wrapping up a war when the summons came.¡± Ronin said, without any elaboration. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to bring anyone I didn¡¯t trust completely, but a lot of my people died in the fighting. Of the ones left I trusted, most of them had to be left behind to run my syndicate. So, I chose to stick with who I knew I could rely on.¡± He made no mention of Xerox and his small team. No point risking an operation that was such a long shot anyway.


    ¡°Reasonable,¡± Leo said with a nod. ¡°In your position, I¡¯d have likely done the same. You, or your followers at least, seem so competent that I sometimes forget that you¡¯ve only been on the ship for a handful of days, even with time dilation. Just remember, some of our competitors have been in their personal realms for up to two centuries. Add in their own time dilation, some of the people gunning for us are tens of thousands of years old.


    That realization staggered Ronin, and he had to pause and do some mental math. Ten thousand years was a conservative estimate if they had the credits to burn. He was suddenly feeling much less confident. Still, he had been on the back foot since he¡¯d entered this cutthroat world. What was another handicap? He had faith in his people, and knew they¡¯d be able to pull through this, somehow.


    ¡°Now, the ship¡¯s AI will do all the work of steering for us. I¡¯ll get a destination put in¡­ I think we should take a quick trip home. On the way down, you can tell me about your team composition, and we¡¯ll find the best way to integrate our forces together. Looks like it was a good idea for me to bring so many gryphons, since the only arial unit in your squad is your fairy queen here.¡± Elyria, who¡¯d been taking a drink of nutrient fluid from her canteen, began to cough heavily at the comment. Her eyes even teared up and she was forced to spit out a mouthful.


    ¡°Be careful with that stuff,¡± Leo said, mostly ignoring her. ¡°We won¡¯t get any more until we get down to the planet and harvest some from the trees.¡± Ronin winced in sympathy at elyria¡¯s red face, hoping the nutrient fluid they¡¯d been given in the canteens wasn¡¯t awful. That would be a real bummer, after how good the pink enhanced fluid had been. As he sniffed at his own canteen, K3 gave out an exasperated sigh for some reason.


    *            *            *


    The trip to the planet didn¡¯t take very long. Ronin was a little disappointed that he couldn¡¯t watch as they dropped to the planet of his birth, but the dropships didn¡¯t have windows. It seemed the Beetles counted on their advanced AIs to do nearly everything for them. Once they¡¯d landed and the hatch had opened, however, a wave of nostalgia slammed into Ronin so hard he had to sit down, right there on the ship¡¯s ramp.


    He was home. The ship had set down halfway between the water filled entrance to the caves he¡¯d lived in his whole life, and the crystal tree he¡¯d spent so many years farming. The one that had given him the crystal tree seed that had gotten him crystalized in the first place. Tears filled his eyes as he breathed in the sweet, flower-scented air. Air, the last time he¡¯d been here had been so toxic to him. Now, even breathing in the crystallin trees perfume filled his body with vitality. The crystal beetle¡¯s translation of ¡®breath of life tree¡¯ made more sense to him now.


    ¡°Your home is beautiful.¡± Elyria said, taking a deep breath of the sweet air and smiling up at the brightly colored crystallin tree.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t our home,¡± Leo said, spitting off the ramp. ¡°Not anymore, this sickly-sweet scent is enough to kill one of my kind in just a few breaths, should they be foolish enough to expose themselves to it. No girl, our home is long dead. This is the beetle¡¯s planet now¡­ at least for a little while longer anyway.¡± Tilting back his head, Leo let out a mighty roar, one so powerful that ronin swore he¡¯d felt it through the soles of his feet. ¡°Come on, I¡¯m sure that tree was your old stomping ground too, right boy? How bout we go clear it of the filth before we go down?¡±


    Oddly enough, the idea of clearing that tree of the monstrous guardians, which had once thwarted so many of his attempts to gather the valuable materials hidden up there, filled Ronin with fierce determination. Wiping his eyes, he climbed to his feet and nodded.


    ¡°What do you say to a little competition?¡± He asked with a vicious grin, looking at the older man, who¡¯d once led the community he¡¯d grown up in. The man who¡¯d taken his parents away with him, and even now hadn¡¯t mentioned them to him. A man that Ronin both thought he needed to survive what was coming, and feared would be his own downfall should he lose focus. Now was as good a time as any to take the man¡¯s measure. After all, Leo might have investigated Ronin¡¯s pocket world, but Ronin had no idea of what Leo was capable of. The lion man stared at him for a second, as if he didn¡¯t understand the question. Then his face split into a wide grin that showed a mouth full of sharp teeth.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°You¡¯re on kid,¡± he said with another roar, taking his suit off. He undid one button at a time until he was standing there, dressed in the leather straps his people wore. ¡°You and me, starting right here right now. One of your people will follow me and vice versa. The rest of our teams can follow to watch our backs and to count kills, but not to interfere. We go until there¡¯s nothing left alive on that tree, whoever gets the most kills wins. Deal?¡± He asked, handing his suit to a nearby lionid. Ronin looked over at the Crystal tree, which was larger than any four pre fall skyscrapers stacked together. There must be thousands upon thousands of bugs up there. Yet all he could do was grin as he nodded.


    ¡°You heard?¡± He asked his team, who had gathered around at the lionid¡¯s roar.


    ¡°We heard¡­ but it sounds a little ridiculous.¡± Elyria said.


    ¡°You got it boss,¡± K3 said at the same time. Elyria rolled her eyes as the giant kaldarr had a quiet word with Karr, who began barking orders to the rest of the troops.


    ¡°K3, why don¡¯t you shadow Leo and keep track of his kill count for me?¡± Ronin asked after a moment of consideration. K3 and Elyria were the only ones he felt comfortable detaching on a duty like that. One of the scouts would have also been a viable choice, but they were so much smaller than Leo he was afraid they wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with the seven-foot-tall humanoid lion. Since he couldn¡¯t exactly order Elyria around, K3 was his only real choice. Besides, he trusted the kaldarr to observe Leo Dawson closely, to get an accurate understanding of his combat prowess.


    ¡°Yea boss, I¡¯ll be happy too.¡± K3 said with a nod.


    ¡°Good, you can take Blue. She¡¯s the largest of the gryphons and should have the least amount of trouble with your weight.¡± With a whistle, Leo had one of the winged lions trot over, it looked identical to the rest of the gryphons to Ronin, except it was wearing a blue collar around its neck. K3 looked at Ronin questioningly and at his nod, pet the lion a few times before climbing on her back. She was an impressive beast, thickly muscled and with powerful wings. Ronin couldn¡¯t wait to see just how much damage one of these beasts could do in combat.


    ¡°One of my pride will fly behind you, she won¡¯t get in your way, just count your kills. She¡¯ll only step in if you need help, but I¡¯ll consider that a loss.¡± Ronin nodded, understanding, and agreeing. Turning to Karr, who was overseeing his squad as they sorted equipment from the ship, he raised a brow.


    ¡°Go ahead my lord,¡± Karr said with a smile. ¡°We have a few things to prepare, and we¡¯ll be along.¡± Not sure what they were doing, but long passed ready to go, Ronin only nodded.


    ¡°Ok then, you ready?¡± Leo asked, at Ronin¡¯s nod, he also smiled. ¡°Go.¡±


    Before the word had finished echoing through the sweet, mint scented air, the pair were off and running. Ronin felt his cloak billow out behind him as he ran, and he couldn¡¯t help but laugh in exhilaration. He was running as fast as he¡¯d ever run in his pocket world and was pleased to note that this body was at least as fast. That was, until he looked over and saw Leo racing away on all fours.


    The man¡¯s stride wasn¡¯t that of a normal lion. It reminded Ronin more like how a rabbit ran. He¡¯d leap forward on powerful legs, then slap the ground with his hands to propel himself forward, while his legs moved up under him again for another leap. It looked awkward, and inefficient, yet with each leap the man covered at least ten feet and was quickly leaving Ronin behind.


    Cursing, Ronin increased his pace. It was no use though, there was just no way he could run faster than Leo could bound. Deciding that he would be learning how to run like that, and that now most definitely wasn¡¯t the time to practice, Ronin did the next best thing and lengthened his stride. He was still running, but each step propelled him farther than the one before. He ran for everything he was worth, through the ankle-high grass that sparkled in all the colors of the rainbow, that now covered most of the planet. At least within the reach of the crystal tree¡¯s branches. Outside their spread, Ronin had heard the ground was barren wasteland, devoid of all life. That thought spurred him on ever faster, and though he wasn¡¯t catching up, he at least wasn¡¯t losing ground anymore.


    ¡°This is silly, you know that right?¡± Elyria asked, from where she flew along in a near hover above him. ¡°What will it prove if you go and get yourself killed in this tree?¡± Ronin had known she was there, thanks to the constant buzz of her wings, but hadn¡¯t said anything since she hadn¡¯t, but now that she had, he responded.


    ¡°By itself, nothing.¡± He panted, slightly out of breath. ¡°But it¡¯s a chance to bond a bit with our partner¡­ and¡­ I spent my entire life climbing this tree, Elyria.¡± He said, trying to say what he wanted to without sounding silly. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything but run, every time I met even an aphid, because I couldn¡¯t defend myself¡­ I, and Leo too I suspect¡­ just want some of that power back.¡± Elyria eyed him as he bounded forward in silence for a while.


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± she said at last. ¡°I¡¯ve got you covered, White flame, so don¡¯t hold anything back.¡± Having spoken her peace, Elyria moved back up to hover over his head. Strange as it was to admit, her approval gave him an extra burst of speed, his goat hide cloak billowing out behind him.


    Leo reached the tree before Ronin did, and with his claws fully extended ascended the trunk almost as quickly as he¡¯d run across the ground. Ronin cursed again at the speed the other man moved. He was a golden blur of motion that Ronin couldn¡¯t hope to catch. As he dug his toe and knee spikes into the trunk, and pulled himself up with his blunted claws, Ronin decided he¡¯d just have to make up the time in his killing speed. After all, he was armed, and the kanabo had much greater reach than Leo¡¯s claws, no matter how fast the man was.


    He kept right on thinking that, until an aphid rain began to fall around him. The black bugs ranged in size, from stone carver rats to the size of Owl five¡¯s motorcycle. He flinched as he thought of Gunner but pushed the thought aside as soon as it surfaced. He could wallow later, right now, he had an enemy to fight, and a contest that he intended to win. Staggered, when an aphid the size of his torso slammed into his unprotected head, he only grunted and constricted the muscles that controlled the carapace helmet. It snapped into place, and he made a mental note to do that sooner. If that had been an enemy projectile, he might very well have died just then.


    Ronin reached the first horizontal branch in under five minutes. A feat that had taken his human self of just a brief time ago several hours to accomplish. Doing a quick scan, Ronin saw quite a few aphids out on this limb. Leo had bypassed it, in a desire to climb higher. Ronin debated if he should do the same. There was no way higher from out on the branch, he¡¯d have to run out along the limb, kill the aphids and then run back to get higher. Leo had clearly decided not to waste the time, but this was a contest to see who could kill the most enemies, not who could climb the fastest. Decision made, Ronin unslung his kanabo and ran at the hapless aphids, just standing around, unaware of what was coming.


    Wading into the mass of black bugs, so busy eating that they didn¡¯t even notice that death had arrived, Ronin swung his club. Moving the weapon in tight arcs, each stroke took the life of an aphid. By the time he¡¯d reached the end of the group, Ronin thought he knew why Leo had skipped this branch. The aphids weren¡¯t a challenge at all. It was literally as easy as squashing a bug. They didn¡¯t fight back at all. Shaking his head, Ronin resolved to move higher up to fight the more dangerous ladybugs and the highly territorial wasps¡­ Just as soon as he finished this swarm. No point in wasting the trip he¡¯d made to the end of this branch after all.


    Time passed, as Ronin climbed and killed. He¡¯d lost sight of Leo a long time ago, but he occasionally caught a glimpse of K3 riding the gryphon blue, high above him. Elyria was still hovering above him. She¡¯d stopped several times to rest her wings, but the lionid riding another gryphon wearing a green collar was never far away. He¡¯d just finished off another batch of aphids, when he heard a noise, he¡¯d been longing for. The low droning buzz that foretold the arrival of a ladybug.


    Looking up expectantly, Ronin saw not one, but three of the car-sized monsters flying down from above. That was odd, he didn¡¯t remember seeing them move in groups during the simulation. Not wanting to face all three at once, Ronin unclipped the PCP 1.0 from his carapace harness and sighted on the approaching bugs. He waited until they were almost upon him, then pulled the trigger. The sharp hiss of escaping air and a slight recoil being the only sign the gun had fired. Well, that, and the nearest bright red beetle dropping from the air, one of its elytra broken off and spinning away, shattered from the bullet¡¯s impact.


    Pumping the manual slide under the barrel, Ronin racked in another round, turning the gun on the next ladybug in line. This one was too close to drop, and once the round took it, the beetle fell to the wide branch Ronin was currently standing on. He leapt back, to avoid the still wildly flapping wings, reattaching his PCP 1.0 to his back and drawing his kanabo.


    The third, and final, ladybug landed with a loud clattering as it shook its elytra and snapped its mandibles at Ronin repeatedly. He assumed this was a challenge, so he obliged with a war cry of his own, rushing forward with a downward swing of his club. He connected with a solid crunch, cracks spreading across the bright red shell. That hit alone wasn¡¯t enough to put the beetle down, and it darted forward in a short-range burst of speed on its six legs. Catching Ronin in the mandibles that were large and strong enough to crunch one of the dog-sized aphids into small enough pieces to swallow.


    He felt his armored exoskeleton creaking dangerously under the pressure, as he frantically tried to get in another blow. He¡¯d been caught too close to the beast and didn¡¯t have the room to swing the kanabo. So, he let go of the weapon and jabbed both his clawed hands into the beetle¡¯s eyes. His hands swimming in the orange goo that served as the creature¡¯s blood, Ronin felt around for anything vital to the ladybug. His fingers closed around something solid that was too big to get in his closed fist. Not finding anything else, Ronin tugged on the hard object.


    It came clear of the ladybug¡¯s eye with a sucking sound, and the beetle dropped the instant it was removed, like a puppet that had its strings cut. Not sure what had just happened, Ronin looked at the orange gore covered item in his hand. Wiping away some of the bug¡¯s inner goop, he found that it was a softball sized roughly round crystal. That looked translucent on the outside but was pink inside. Like a geode, without the surrounding rock.


    Unsure of what he was looking at, Ronin took a few steps over to the second dead ladybug on the branch and plunged his still gore covered hand into its eye, fishing around until he came out with a near identical crystal. The shape was off, and the pink interior was deeper in the center than the first one he¡¯d grabbed. The body of an aphid dropping onto the branch from above reminded him of what he was supposed to be doing and he tossed the strange crystals into his bag, before curiosity got the best of him again. Approaching the aphid, he split the creature¡¯s head between his hands and, sure enough, found a thumbnail sized crystal in its head as well. With a confused shake of his head, he added it to his bag, reloaded his rifle, gathered his kanabo, then began his climb once more.


    Another pair of ladybugs were flying his way, but a new sound caught his ear. A rhythmic thumping, so reminiscent of helicopter blades, let him know there were wasps inbound.

 Chapter fifty-seven

    Ronin rolled to the side as a wasp came in. A move that he likely wouldn¡¯t try again since it required him to drop the five-foot long kanabo. There were six helicopter-sized wasps in the group that had flown down to engage him, and they were quick. He¡¯d shot three of them, and one of the ladybugs. That had reduced their numbers, but made his rifle useless, until he had a chance to reload. The remaining wasps were making diving attacks, while the second ladybug hemmed him in and restricted his movement. He knew the giant bugs were engineered as part of the terraforming package, along with the crystal trees. So, it didn¡¯t surprise him too much when the two main critters on the tree worked together so well.


    There were the aphids, whose only job was to be eaten. The ladybugs, who were well armored and slow. Then the wasps, who were extremely fast and agile, and packed a real powerful sting. The aphids were fed on by both larger species, and the ladybugs and wasps had an ongoing war that kept their populations under control. Until someone disturbed the tree that is, then they¡¯d follow some built in code and work together to end the threat.


    Ronin couldn¡¯t fault the tactics; in fact, he was taking notes. If he hadn¡¯t been able to kill the other ladybug before it reached him, the pair of them would have tied him down while the wasps pumped him full of venom. He could already see teams of five, consisting of two bugbears and three wood elves or goblin scouts. Hemming in an enemy and raining death from a distance. His fantasies were cut off when the ladybug darted forward in a short burst of speed and snapped its mandibles at him. Thankfully, he¡¯d seen the tactic just minutes before and was able to dodge backward in a, more or less, controlled fall, which brought him back into contact with his club.


    Grabbing the weapon, he sprinted away from the ladybug, who despite its quick dashing attacks, wasn¡¯t very fast over a distance. Once he¡¯d made a little space between him and the group¡¯s tank, Ronin looked at the sky. Just in time to dodge as another wasp dove at him, stinger extended. Having learned his lesson last time, Ronin didn¡¯t roll away, instead he jumped to the side, swinging the kanabo as he went. The wasps were fast and incredibly agile, but they weren¡¯t very sturdy. So, when his kanabo connected with the nearest wing, it broke under the blow.


    Ronin turned to face the charging ladybug as the newly crippled wasp went into an uncontrolled spin and slipped out of sight over the edge of the branch. That was four down, two wasps remained, and the beetle. Who, Ronin was about to end. Raising his club up over his head, he leapt forward, bringing the weapon down on the ladybug¡¯s head with as much power as he could bring to bear. The sickening crunch as the weapon broke carapace, and the slurping sound as the orange slime inside was churned would have made Ronin sick if he hadn¡¯t done this several times before. Now, he didn¡¯t even bother shaking his weapon off as he pulled it free and went right into an upward swing, hoping to catch a diving wasp in a surprise counterattack.


    The wasps liked to achieve a minimum height advantage before they dived. So, Ronin had been able to get a basic idea of how long in-between each diving attack he had, to get ready for the next one. This time, he¡¯d gotten pretty close. Not hitting the wasp with a clean hit, but still catching the extended stinger and knocking the wasp off course, so that it crashed directly into Ronin, instead of just over his head.


    The impact drove Ronin clean off his feet, and into a gap in the crystal tree¡¯s thickly barked trunk. From a distance, the bark didn¡¯t look any rougher than the apple or cherry tree the monstrosity resembled. When climbing on it, however, the smallest depressions in the bark were large enough to drive his truck through. This made climbing both more difficult and easier, since he had plenty of hand holds, but it was more like climbing up and down rough bark hills. They¡¯d been fighting on the uppermost portion of the bark, and when they¡¯d collided, the pair tumbled into a house sized valley in the surface. The shift in terrain highly favored Ronin, as the wasp fought from the air.


    Fighting for breath after the fall took the wind from his lungs, Ronin struggled to capitalize on his enemy¡¯s momentary distraction. The wasp¡¯s stinger had been deflected away, and for the time being at least, it hadn¡¯t gotten its wings back under control. Digging his fingers into the wasp¡¯s abdomen, Ronin repeated his feat from training with the ladybug, and burrowed his way into the giant insect¡¯s body. It was disgusting, but when his enemy was the size of a helicopter and he was squashed between it and the solid surface of the tree, what else was he going to do? It wasn¡¯t like there was anything vital for him to attack from this angle. That just left inflicting as much damage as possible, and hoping it was enough to put the beast down.


    The wasp¡¯s exoskeleton proved to be much weaker than the ladybugs. It was almost too easy to tear apart once he¡¯d gotten inside. After he¡¯d killed the wasp, Ronin found himself wedged into the crack in the bark, the heavy wasp keeping him pinned down as he was drenched with the yellow goop that was the creature¡¯s blood. Struggling inefficiently for a few seconds, Ronin reached his limit and just burrowed his way through the wasp, climbing from its body and now close enough to the top of the crevice to easily climb out.


    Instead of going right back on the attack, Ronin crouched low, keeping his head out of sight. Wiping his hands clean as best he could, he pulled the PCP .25 from its holster. Checking his grip twice to make sure it wouldn¡¯t slip from his bug gut covered fingers, Ronin leapt out, searching the sky for the final wasp. Unfortunately, his count was off, and he was caught completely off guard at a fresh ladybug¡¯s dashing charge. He¡¯d been captured by the mandibles before he could even think to dodge.


    Ronin was ok with that this time, since with the car sized beetle¡¯s bulk blocking him from the sky, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the wasp for a few seconds. He wasn¡¯t sure if the small gun would penetrate the thick red armor of the ladybug, so Ronin bypassed it entirely. Shoving his hand into the creature¡¯s mouth, while the mandibles tried to crush his own armor. Ronin pulled the trigger five times in quick succession. Emptying half the small, air powered pistol¡¯s ammunition right into the beetle¡¯s soft interior.


    The creature was dead, it just didn¡¯t know it yet as it thrashed around, trying to rid itself of the pain. Ronin was thrown clear, and as he hit the ground he continued to roll, until he was lying prone on his back facing the sky. The wasp was already mid-dive, stinger extended directly towards his chest. Raising the pistol once more, Ronin fired off the last five shots, aiming as best he could from this position. He wasn¡¯t sure how many times he¡¯d missed, but at least one round must have connected, because the wasp lost control of its flight, pitching forward into a tumble. Ronin only had time for a silent curse, as the second wasp in as many minutes slammed into him at full speed. Only this time, there was no convenient valley to fall into.


    He took the impact full on, feeling like the windshield on his armored truck, as the massive bug splattered on and all around him. The force behind the hit was intense, and he could feel his own exoskeleton creaking under the pressure. Thankfully, it had been a wasp, and not a ladybug, because the heavily armored beetle wouldn¡¯t have broken so easily. Ronin would have been the one splattered instead. Feeling like this was becoming a bad habit, Ronin dug his way out of the splattered internals of the exploded wasp. He dropped his helmet, to catch his breath, and see what was going on around him. Since the clear carapace he¡¯d constructed for eyeholes had been smeared liberally with yellow goo.


    The coast was clear, for now. Ronin wanted to just take a minute to catch his breath and relax. He¡¯d been going for hours, and the sun was already setting to the west. Making it difficult to see due to the glare. He couldn¡¯t stop though; he was too high in the tree. Ladybug and wasp encounters were becoming more frequent, and he wasn¡¯t certain, but he thought he¡¯d seen a group of wasps flying out of a hole in the tree¡¯s trunk, perhaps three hundred yards up. If he¡¯d found a hive, then his kill score would skyrocket, since he could kill more of them by limiting the space the wasps had to maneuver.


    With a groan, Ronin forced himself to his feet, and moved around the battlefield, picking up his weapons and collecting the crystals from his fallen foe¡¯s heads. He still didn¡¯t know what they were, but he¡¯d read enough books about beast cores, to at least have an idea, and he didn¡¯t want to miss out on any opportunity if he was even close to the mark.


    Picking up his rifle, Ronin unscrewed the air tank that served as the gun¡¯s buttstock and screwed it into the compressor he¡¯d taken from his bag. A low hum filled the air as the compressor forced air into the cylinder. The PCP, or Pre-Charged Pneumatics were essentially super-charged pellet guns. The PCP 1.0 held enough air for fifteen shots, so technically, he could reload the weapon three times in between fills, but he¡¯d learned his lesson about that mentality a long time ago, and refilled the tanks and reloaded the weapons to full capacity at every opportunity.


    While the tank charged, he reloaded both his weapons, checking them over for damage. A cracked airline would be all it took to render the weapons inoperable. Once the first tank finished refilling, he swapped out for the smaller gun¡¯s tank and topped it off as well. With everything checked and repacked, he took a few drinks from his canteen. Something he¡¯d been holding off doing since he¡¯d seen Elyria¡¯s reaction to it. Surprisingly enough, it tasted surprisingly good. It wasn¡¯t quite as sweet as the enhanced nutrient fluid, but it still had a minty, refreshing flavor.


    Putting the canteen away, Ronin stood. He could feel a refreshing wave flowing through his body from the drink and was ready to continue the climb. Looking up, he spotted Elyria flying circles overhead. Close to her, was a lionid woman, riding on the green collared gryphon. With a grin, he waved up at them, before turning around and heading back to the main trunk of the crystal tree. The branch he was on was wide enough to fit the entire village of Valley¡¯s pass on it, and he was excited to see just how much of the tree had been hollowed out to accommodate the wasp hive.


    Reaching the main trunk, Ronin searched for one of the many low spots in the bark. They were like valleys or tunnels that he could climb up to avoid the sight of the wasps. They were often filled with aphids, feeding on the trunk, or ladybugs and their larvae eating the aphids, but he had a better chance of reaching the hive unseen if he made his way up out of view. With a flex of new muscles, Ronin snapped his helmet closed again, the white goat hide now dyed a bright yellow orange, as he started the three-hundred-yard climb.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Naturally, he couldn¡¯t make it completely unmolested. A ladybug larva was busily eating the smaller aphids above him. The bug was about as long as an adult ladybug, but it was black with orange spots instead of red with black spots and was lacking the thick shell and wings that an adult sported. The tradeoff was that they moved much faster. They were so different from their adult versions in fact, that if Elyria hadn¡¯t spent several hours schooling him about bugs of all types and how they reproduced and molted or pupated or whatever, Ronin wouldn¡¯t have believed they were the same species at all.


    Thankfully, there was only the one he saw, and instead of wasting time fighting the creature on the vertical surface, Ronin pulled out his PCP .25 pistol and shot the larva once in the head. It was a shame he couldn¡¯t collect the beast core, or bug crystal¡­ bug core? Since the larva fell away from the wall and dropped to the branch below after he¡¯d shot it, he didn¡¯t want to take the time to loot every corpse. Especially since he didn¡¯t even know if the crystals had any value.


    Wading through the massive group of feeding aphids, he considered taking a few minutes to wipe them out. Wanting to reach the hive, he settled for knocking them from the wall as he passed them, but not going out of his way to do so. That small action still resulted in several dozen dead aphids before his climb ended at an opening into the tree, surrounded by a woody parchment, or paper that felt waxy to the touch, but still quite sturdy.


    Lifting his head over the lip, he looked inside. Elyria had explained how these creatures made their nests, so he understood how the hive had formed. The wasps had chewed into the tree trunk, taking the chewed wood debris, and mixing it with their saliva to create the waxy parchment that filled the entrance. Somehow knowing, took much of the mystery and excitement out of it for him, but Ronin wasn¡¯t on an adventure, or at least he kept telling himself that.


    Hoisting himself over the lip and onto the hive entrance¡¯s floor. Ronin pulled out the PCP .25, slipping in an extra bullet to top it off. He would venture into the hive until it got narrower before he found a place to hide. Then, he¡¯d just shoot the wasps as they swarmed around him. Nodding to himself, he snuck his way deeper into the hive and found a crack in the waxy wall, which led deeper into the tree¡¯s trunk. It was large enough to walk into, but much too small for any of the giant wasps to crawl in. Happy with his choice, Ronin settled in and waited for a group of wasps to fly by.


    It didn¡¯t take long, a group of six flew into the hive and right past his hiding place. With a smile of anticipation, Ronin sighted in on the lead wasp¡¯s head and pulled the trigger¡­ What happened next would likely be on his list of eternally remembered mistakes. He was sure Elyria at least, would never let him live it down, because he¡¯d heard the term ¡®kicked the hornet¡¯s nest¡¯ before as a child. It was a saying that indicated he¡¯d done something wrong. Ronin just didn¡¯t understand how unbelievably crazy they really were, when their home was invaded.


    The first wasp died without too much fuss, the second one followed right along, but by the third, the entire tree seemed to quiver in fear with the beating of wasp wings. They swarmed down from above, filling the entrance and searching wildly for whoever had invaded their home. Now, Ronin had watched the battle for undercity. He thought he knew what a swarm looked like. The batlins, however, didn¡¯t hold a candle to the wasps. They flew so tightly packed and in such tight circles that it was impossible to see between them. It was like looking out into a wall of bodies, so thick he could no longer see daylight.


    With a gulp, he debated whether he should try and hide or stick to his original plan and shoot them from hiding. Doing some quick mental math let him know there was no way he had enough bullets to down this many wasps. So, deciding discretion was the better part of valor, he hunkered down to wait out the storm¡­ right up until he was noticed that is. Before he had the chance to blink, the small opening that was big enough to park a car in, was surrounded by angry insects, who were already chewing away at the edges of the hole. Ronin¡¯s heart sank as he watched the wood being chewed away at a speed, he didn¡¯t think even possible, and knew the decision had been made for him.


    Panicked, he fired all ten shots from his pistol without taking the time to aim properly. The swarm was so thick that he was sure he¡¯d still killed several wasps, but not all the ones chewing at his hiding spot. Taking a breath, he reloaded the weapon. Doing his best to aim with his shaking hands, he fired again. One round after another, each trigger pull, resulting in a wasp¡¯s death. Their bodies choked the crack, and for a moment, he had a reprieve. Until they were dragged away by their comrades, who eagerly took their place.


    Reloading again, Ronin fired another ten rounds. The tenth bullet barely did any damage since the tank was now empty. He cursed himself for a fool to not bring one of the PCP .25 carbines along. It wasn¡¯t much larger than the pistol and he could likely have fit it into his equipment harness. The small longarm that he¡¯d equipped Karr¡¯s squad with held one hundred rounds and was a semi-automatic design. That would have been one hundred wasps dead before he¡¯d even needed to reload. Of course, there were more than one hundred of them out there.


    Removing the tank, he hooked a hose directly from the compressor to the pistol. That would allow him to avoid recharging the tank. It also slowed down fire speed for a second and a half between shots as the gun built up the necessary pressure to fire, but it would have to do. Ronin only had two hundred rounds for the handgun on him anyway, and hopefully he¡¯d come up with a way out of here before he ran through them all.


    The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. He¡¯d shoot the pistol, kill a wasp, and wait the eternity and a half for it to repressurize before shooting again. Each wasp wouldn¡¯t be in position long enough to do much damage, but the small nibbles to the opening were adding up. Ronin had contemplated switching to his kanabo to bash their heads open instead, knowing he could do that much faster. The limbs that reached ever further into the widening hole dissuaded him from that course of action. It would only take one mistake to be pulled out into that swarm and he¡¯d be dead. He just held on as best he could, fighting to maintain his calm over the deafening buzzing of thousands of wings.


    He couldn¡¯t hear anything, not even his own breathing or the many curses that escaped his mouth as he fought for his life. Nothing but the angry buzzing, until a monstrous roar rent the air, so loud the wasps went quiet for a split second. They continued to swarm the next moment, their wings and clattering jaws creating a deafening cacophony, but Ronin thought their numbers had thinned somewhat. Not exactly sure what that roar signified, Ronin continued to fire his small caliber weapon at the wasps, hoping desperately that Leo hadn¡¯t attacked the hive from outside. Without cover, there was no way he¡¯d avoid getting stung.


    Ronin had gotten stung during training. It wasn¡¯t an experience he ever wanted to repeat. The wasp¡¯s stingers were sharp. They had to be, to pierce the thick ladybug armor, and the venom was potent too. It had eaten into his muscles so quickly, that if he hadn¡¯t downed an entire bottle of his nanite healing potion right away, he probably wouldn¡¯t have made it. Thankfully, that time had been in the simulated test world, Jade had been able to fix him up, for a fee, and he¡¯d gotten right back into the fighting. That wouldn¡¯t be an option out here, in the real world. Getting stung might not be a death sentence normally, but trapped in the hive like he was¡­ it would be bad.


    Another earth-shaking roar reached his ears. Sure enough, that was Leo Dawson¡¯s lionid roar. Ronin hoped like hell that he was about to be saved. He hoped equally as hard that nobody would be hurt because of him and his bad decisions again. The swarm thinned out even more, enough that he thought he could risk using his kanabo. He knew he could achieve a faster kill rate with the heavy club, so he holstered the side arm and unclipped the spiked metal club from his back.


    Moving to the opening, he started crushing wasp heads, as fast as he could swing. There was still no way he was getting out of the hive, but he didn¡¯t let that deter him from trying. He was positive now, as the swarm thinned even further, that he was getting help from outside, and there was no way he¡¯d let anyone else die for him while he just sat around and waited. As he swung, he was reminded of the honeycomb, and how he¡¯d killed locusts, day in and day out, to keep them away from his people. That experience had been a little different though, he¡¯d had K3 back then.


    He missed the giant¡¯s stalwart presence, and his giant shield, really could use that shield right now. The buckler he had strapped to his arm was the next best thing to useless. He laughed, despite himself. He¡¯d done it again. Equipped himself with a weapons loadout that was woefully inadequate to his needs. At least he¡¯d armed Karr and his squad better than he¡¯d armed himself. They at least had larger guns, more ammo, and bigger shields.


    The swarm had thinned out enough now that he could see daylight again. He strained his eyes in between swings, hoping to catch a glimpse of who, if anyone, was coming for him. Sure enough, after another minute or two of frantic killing, he caught sight of a figure moving through the crowd. It was Leo Dawson, and he was terrifying. Ronin was almost pulled from his hiding place, when he missed a swing because he was too busy staring, to aim.


    He was violence incarnate. Moving so quickly through the swarm of wasps that none of them had time to sting him. His large golden furred body had been stained yellow with wasp gore, and he moved through them like he was dancing. Each step left a dead wasp behind him, each leap dropped another foe. Leo was using all four limb¡¯s claws as his weapons, leaping from wasp to wasp, sometimes not touching the ground at all between kills as he tore through them like a buzz saw. His charge was so impressive that Ronin almost missed the double handful of lionids who raced in behind him.


    Each of them moved like quick silver, lacking the mighty power that Leo possessed but not any of the grace. Ronin was sure, when he¡¯d seen the suited lion man Leo had transformed into, standing there, free of weapons of any kind, that he now held the advantage. That belief was now fully dispelled. The man had killed more wasps in the last minute and a half than Ronin had since the encounter started. The numbers were only growing too.


    Once the final lionid cleared the entrance, Ronin caught sight of his own people. Well, he saw K3 entering the hive, and drawing out his massive shield and his large hammer. No one else entered besides him, but the rain of wasps that began to fall around the giant for no apparent reason, let Ronin know they were there, supporting him from a distance.


    Shaking his head to clear it of the shock he¡¯d felt when the lion entered the hive, Ronin rushed out to meet his rescuers. They¡¯d cleared enough of the swarm away from him that he felt confident he wouldn¡¯t be overrun the moment he stepped outside. Determined not to fall any further behind Leo, he tore into the swarm himself, swinging his kanabo like a demon. Ronin was strong, and becoming more skilled with his weapon, but he was seeing firsthand what subjective centuries of hard-won battles could do for a person. Leo didn¡¯t waste any moves at all, each twitch of his whiskers was carefully calculated to result in the death of an enemy, or he didn¡¯t make the move. It was like watching a real hero battling, a thought that made Ronin¡¯s mood sink, even further than getting himself and his people into this situation had already.


    When Leo reached Ronin, he tried to talk to the older man. It was like the lionid hadn¡¯t heard him at all though, because he didn¡¯t even spare Ronin a glance. He passed right on by, followed by his pride, as they continued to kill the wasps. K3, finally back at his side, gave Ronin a brief nod, as he too continued to cut down the flying foes. He at least didn¡¯t go further, only taking his place at Ronin¡¯s side. With a sigh, Ronin decided he might as well follow Leo deeper inside. He¡¯d be dead without assistance, and he wanted to see what else the lionid had up his sleeve.

 Chapter fifty-eight

    Ronin collapsed in a boneless heap beside the bisected body of the hive¡¯s queen. He heaved for breath, completely exhausted after several hours of fighting his way through the wasp hive. He couldn¡¯t believe how devastating Leo Dawson was in melee combat, the man was like a machine. He¡¯d never stopped moving the entire time. Each step, each swing of his claws, regardless of what limb they were on, resulted in a dead or disemboweled enemy combatant.


    With the last foe down, the absence of the helicopter thudding of wasp wings was deafening. All he could hear was his own ragged breathing, and the pounding of his heart¡­ He could also hear Leo and his pride¡­ celebrating, the victory, but he did his best to ignore those sounds. So, when he heard the beating of wings, he forced his tired body into a standing position, kanabo held in both hands, but with the tip resting on the ground, since he was too tired to raise it until he saw the foe. Who was flying directly for him at full speed, faster than he was going to be able to react.


    Elyria slammed into Ronin¡¯s chest with full force, sending the pair of them crashing to the sturdy, if pliable, floor of wasp spit bonded wood pulp. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if she was attacking him or not, for a few frantic seconds as she grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head to one side, then the other. He realized she was checking him for injury when she ran her fingers over his armor and checked both his arms. Satisfied he wasn¡¯t hurt, and still sitting on his chest, she swung her arm back and delivered a resounding smack to the side of his face that left him seeing double.


    ¡°What the hell were you thinking?¡± She practically screamed the words into his face. ¡°Walking right into the hive like that, you¡¯re lucky no one was killed. Without Leo, you at the very least would be dead. Probably the rest of your people too as they tried to save you. Really Ronin, what were you thinking? Even when the wasps are the size of your thumb, you never go poking their nest, because if enough of them swarm, they can kill you. I mean, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve never seen a wasp before, you¡­¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t.¡± Leo said, cutting into the conversation. ¡°Look around you girl. This is the world he grew up in. Do you see any normal sized¡­ anything? There¡¯s rainbow grass around these enormous, size defying trees, aphids, ladybugs, and wasps¡­that¡¯s it. That¡¯s everything that¡¯s still alive on the entire planet, at least on the surface anyway¡­ He¡¯s been crystallized for a week, regardless of time dilation, that¡¯s just not enough time to overcome a lifetime worth of deficient knowledge¡­ But I had to save you, so that means you lost kid. Better luck next time, yea.¡± Having finished speaking, Leo joined his pride in looting the bodies of their cores. Ronin really wanted to ask about those, but Elyria wasn¡¯t done with him yet, it seemed.


    ¡°Ok, fine.¡± She said, ¡°Use that excuse again. That still doesn''t explain why you didn¡¯t put on a comm before you left the ship. If I¡¯d have been able to talk to you, I could have told you not to walk into a hornet¡¯s nest like a damned idiot.¡± Ronin blinked in surprise at that revelation.


    ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t even know we had comms.¡± He said after a while, the excuse sounded lame even to his own ears.


    ¡°Of course, you didn¡¯t, because once again, you left all the thinking up to that manipulative tin can. Who does his absolute best at every turn, to usurp control of your organization away from you, and you do nothing to stop him. This is the reason you needed Five around. With her here, she¡¯d have forced the radio down your throat before letting you run off on your own like that¡­ For the life of me, why did you leave her behind, and why did she agree to stay? Do you know what would have happened to our world if you died, to your people, to me?¡± She spoke the last with exasperation, at least she didn¡¯t sound as angry anymore, Ronin thought as he replied.


    ¡°Look, Elyria, I¡¯m sorry ok. I didn¡¯t know we had comms, but you¡¯re right, I should have. I do tend to let Owl Two do all the thinking for me. I just get so overwhelmed. I haven¡¯t found my rhythm yet; it¡¯s been one crisis after another since my world ended.¡± He took a deep breath, not sure how she was going to react to the next bit. ¡°And, as for Brie¡­ Well, not being able to control her feelings, or urges, for me was getting in the way of her work. Besides, with Hunter the new queen of undercity¡­ Well, she told me once, when we first discovered undercity, that she wished for a city completely ruled by goblins, where her kind could live safe¡­ Once we¡¯d secured that, I didn¡¯t want to take it away from her.¡±


    ¡°Understandable,¡± Elyria said with a frown. ¡°But that still doesn''t explain why she agreed to stay behind.¡± Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what to say, and he was starting to get a little uncomfortable with her straddling his chest, so he cleared his throat and spoke.


    ¡°Do you mind, if we finish this conversation on our feet?¡± Elyria blinked, looking down at how she was sitting, and her face went red. She¡¯d eased up the pressure on him, when her face filled with resolve, and she settled back down.


    ¡°Oh no, White flame.¡± She said with a defiant shake of her head. ¡°You aren¡¯t going anywhere until you¡¯ve answered all my questions.¡± Ronin looked to K3 for help, but the giant seemed fascinated with something on the other side of the room from where they lay and wouldn¡¯t meet his gaze. With a sigh, Ronin gave up and explained.


    ¡°Look, she was making me uncomfortable, ok. I¡­ thought I had feelings for her, well, I did have feelings for her, but when I realized that she couldn¡¯t control her feelings, it¡­ weirded me out. I¡¯ve never been around many girls, alright. Growing up in the caves was, well we¡¯re going there soon, you¡¯ll see. Anyway, then we met Lily and Vasylia and the political marriage happened, and I felt even weirder¡­ So, when I noticed how close She was with Guts¡­ Well, I had Owl Two shut off their sexual inhibitor, but only where the other one was concerned. They can feel desire for the other now, and¡­ since it¡¯s been the better part of a decade, now¡­¡± His voice choked up at the last, and he had to clear his throat. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they had a whole family by now. With the undercity being goblin ruled, it would be great if they did.¡±


    After he¡¯d finished speaking, Ronin just lay on his back, looking up at Elyria. She sat on his chest, staring down at him with an expression he couldn¡¯t quite read. It seemed to be equal parts exasperation, disbelief, and¡­ approval. Her mouth moved, opening, and closing several times as she searched for words before she finally spoke.


    ¡°You know, White flame¡­ When I swore that oath, to follow you tell my last day¡­ I was sure you¡¯d prove yourself to be a villain. I was in such a bad mental space back then, that all I wanted to do was die. I made you my ticket to the grave. A coward¡¯s way to die without compromising my honor. I goaded you at every turn, even going so far as to attack you, in such a way that you or your people would have little choice but to kill me¡­ When you didn¡¯t, I realized I¡¯d made a mistake. That I might end up spending the rest of my life having to follow you around¡­ I hated you for that. But, in the months since then, and after coming to this place with you¡­ I can see that, despite being a hopeless dimwitted moron, your heart is in the right place. I can¡¯t fault what you did for Five, doubly so when I see what it cost you to do it¡­ I still miss my husband, terribly so, but seeing what you are fighting for, makes me not mind being stuck at your side, quite so much.¡± Ronin stared up at her, as she stared back down at him. He supposed he should be grateful that she was coming around, but her delivery was just¡­


    ¡°I mean, wow.¡± Leo said as he plunged his hand through the queen¡¯s eye socket in search of her core. ¡°I¡¯ve seen some awkward courtships in my time, but this really takes the prize.¡± As he spoke, he was busy ripping a basketball sized core, in a pink so deep it looked like blood, from the queen¡¯s eye. ¡°Would you two mind saving the rest of us the agony of watching this disaster, and just get a room already?¡± The words ¡®get a room,¡¯ had barely left his mouth before Elyria was up and off Ronin. Her wings buzzed angrily as she shot across the chamber, hovering right in front of the lionid.


    ¡°Listen, I do not¡­¡± A growl from the gore splattered murder monster shut her up, and she flew backwards a few feet from reflex before she was able to stop herself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Leo said hefting the giant crystal and tossing it to a member of his pride. ¡°I get it, you are quite a bit older than he is, and have had some stuff happen to you. He¡¯s fresh from the caves and a bit of an idiot about life. If you don¡¯t want to move forward, again, I don¡¯t care. But don¡¯t come at me like that girl... We¡¯ve got important things to do, so try and focus on that instead.¡± Ronin could see the effort Leo was putting into restraining himself. It looked like getting in his face was a terrible idea. A fact that should have been clear to anyone who¡¯d watched him butcher the airliner sized wasp queen with his bare hands ought to have realized. Then again, Elyria hadn¡¯t been in here for much of the fighting. Still, it was a little hurtful that everyone around him thought he was stupid.


    ¡°Can we just finish collecting the crystal cores and get back to the ship?¡± Ronin asked, not really in the mood to be here anymore, not when no one respected his intelligence, and his own bodyguard didn¡¯t stand up for him. ¡°What are they for anyway?¡± He added, not being able to help his curiosity, despite the situation. It looked like both Leo and Elyria were happy enough with the topic change since they exchanged a glance and a nod before moving apart.


    ¡°The ¡®crystal cores¡¯ are the main ingredient to the enhanced nutrient fluid that is used to grow new bodies. It also is used in the biological engines on the ship and, well all over the place.¡± Leo said, pulling another core from a regular wasp¡¯s head. ¡°Nearly everything runs from stuff produced by the crystal trees. Even these bodies, we¡¯ll be drinking the tree sap to sustain ourselves going forward. Well, these cores are a¡­ refining organ, I guess. Listen, it¡¯s all rather technical and doesn¡¯t matter all that much for us right now. Long story short, the beetles engineered the bugs this way, to help them process the tree sap into something stronger¡­ like making syrup from sap I suppose. We¡¯ve got machines on the drop ship that will do the same thing, at a 1,000 to 1 gallon ratio of sap to enhanced nutrient fluid.¡± He¡¯d clearly lost his patience with the conversation.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get these things harvested. We¡¯ve pretty much cleared out the tree, so we should be able to connect the sap collector and processing unit up to start resource collection. We¡¯ll leave most of our men out here to keep an eye on it while we go check out our old home.¡± Ronin, along with K3 and Elyria both nodded, and they set about the seemingly endless chore of crystal core collection.


    *            *            *


    Clearing the wasp hive of cores took the rest of the night. Even then it was only possible because the gryphons acted as porters, to ferry up empty bags and take full ones back down with them. Apparently, there was a whole list of¡­ parts, that they wanted to rebuild the human ship on the moon. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure when they¡¯d covered that, but he just chalked it up to him not paying attention. As he helped his and Leo¡¯s people harvest all kinds of body parts from the wasps along with their cores. They also collected sections of heart wood from deep inside the tree¡¯s core. They¡¯d gotten lucky, in a way, by taking out the hive, because the queen¡¯s chambers were near the center of the tree. They were able to gather several hard to come by resources from that alone.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°It¡¯s really not that hard to gather this stuff,¡± Ronin said while he helped Leo hook a sap gathering machine to a fresh shoot. They¡¯d have to move it daily, once it sucked up all the nearby sap, to keep production high. ¡°Why aren¡¯t people down here all the time, gathering this stuff? Seems like there would be enough built up already if we¡¯d done that.¡± He said as he finished hooking up the hoses to the huge container. It looked like transparent plastic but was probably something they¡¯d grown in the ship.


    ¡°Tell me boy,¡± Leo said, pulling back the huge drill he¡¯d just run into the shoot and stabbing the end of a hose into the hole that was already willing up with green sap. ¡°Why would anyone want to be down here in this dead world, when they could be a king in their own private world-spanning kingdom? Sure, there are a few hundred people who got crystallized, earned enough credits to get a body and then came down here to try and live. Some become leaders to human settlements, those are the few places on the planet where people live halfway decently. Others go exploring old human ruins, to try and keep the past alive¡­ but most people who come down here, give up on whatever foolish notion that brought them here to begin with, and they go back up to live in their personal realms.¡±


    Ronin pondered at the tone and the cynical way Leo had given the explanation. He wondered if Leo might have been one of those who¡¯d come down, only to give up and head back to the ship. He would never ask that question though, not with the way the older man was glaring at the machine, already filling the clear container with sap.


    ¡°I think our people can finish up from here,¡± he said, turning back to ronin after a tense minute of silence. ¡°What do you say we head back home? Grab your bodyguard and your girlfriend and let¡¯s go.¡± Knowing it wouldn¡¯t do any good to refute the accusation, Ronin only sighed and nodded. A brief time later, Ronin, Leo, Gnash, K3 and Elyria set off towards the flooded cave entrance. Four of them on gryphon back, Elyria flying along beside them.


    ¡°This the spot?¡± She asked, after they¡¯d landed at the small pool that butted up against the boulder.


    ¡°It is,¡± Ronin said. He had seen this pond a thousand times. Yet somehow it looked different to him through his new perspective. It looked small, and inconsequential, when before it had been the bulwark that kept out the toxic atmosphere brought by the crystal trees.


    ¡°The water level looks low,¡± Leo commented. Ronin checked the fill line they¡¯d added to the rock. It was just an inconspicuous scratch, but it was enough to let them know when they needed to bring up more water from the underground spring. That was a time-consuming effort, but without doing it, their air would escape, and they¡¯d all die.


    ¡°It does.¡± Ronin said, wondering how bad things had to have gotten for them to not fill the pond. Worry had already started to gnaw at him. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go check on them.¡± He Slipped on a slim air mask, since ironically, the air inside the cave that had kept him alive his whole life, would now kill him if he breathed too much of it. Before nodding to K3 and diving into the pond. Swimming to the bottom, he ignored the lead rope he¡¯d once used to haul himself through the tunnel and instead, relied on his own power to swim the gap. He was through in only a few strokes, leading him to marvel once again at his new body.


    When his head broke the surface, the first thing Ronin did was look towards the ancient chair that had been Markus¡¯s guard post for so many years. It was empty, and the small LED that had illuminated the area was nowhere to be found. Thankfully, Ronin still had his night vision, even though the telescoping and mapping functions didn¡¯t work outside his pocket world. He stared at that empty chair, until he felt K3 nudge his leg from below and knew he needed to climb out of the pool.


    Waiting by the small pool, Ronin looked at the dingy, wet, mold and mildew covered walls as he drip-dried and waited for the rest of the team to immerge. For some reason, he couldn¡¯t keep his eyes away from that rickety old chair. His eyes kept getting drawn back to it, and he couldn¡¯t help but see his old friend Markus, reclining there with his old rifle, grey hair tied back as he smiled up at Ronin.


    ¡®Hey kid, find anything good out there this time?¡¯ The words drifted to his ears from the past, and he jumped a little when Elyria touched his arm.


    ¡°You good?¡± She asked, looking at him with concern. ¡°We¡¯re all here, if you wanted to lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that this was Markus¡¯s seat, and I was taken back for a while.¡± He said with a wan grin. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s this way.¡± Ronin led them along the winding and twisted paths into the cave. Passed the ponds that grew their algae, only a few of which still had functioning lights. Passed the bathroom cave, where Ronin was grateful, he was wearing a breath mask. Even passed the bathing area, there was no one to be found.


    Until they reached the communal area where the cave¡¯s people congregated. There were a few people gathered around a small LED light, huddled together for warmth. It wasn¡¯t hard to see why either, they didn¡¯t have any of the heat retention blankets they¡¯d once owned. None of the solar powered water heaters, or the drying machine that made the algae bars possible. They were also thin, even more so than Ronin remembered when he had been here last. Was it only a week ago, a handful of days or half a year? He honestly couldn¡¯t remember anymore.


    The people were in such poor shape that Ronin, Leo, and their escorts were almost upon them before someone noticed. To Ronin¡¯s horror, it was Penny, Markus¡¯s wife, who looked up through sunken, hollow eyes and saw them first. She had never been a large woman, but now she was downright skeletal. She opened parched lips that split and bled as she spoke.


    ¡°Am I going crazy from hunger, or is our little Robert come home again?¡± Penny made a few false starts as she tried to stand, a few of the others sitting around the light looking up at Ronin and his group, but several more not having the energy to bother. Once on her feet, Penny stumbled over to Ronin, who met her halfway in a careful embrace. He was afraid to squeeze too hard because he didn¡¯t want to hurt the emaciated woman. She looked so small and frail in his arms that Ronin was having flashbacks of another malnourished woman with green skin, that he¡¯d shot in the chest not so long ago.


    ¡°Penny, what happened, it can¡¯t have been that long since I left.¡± Ronin asked, doing his best to remove the dead goblin from his mind.


    ¡°It really is you¡­¡± Penny said, her voice trailing off, having tired herself out from the short walk. ¡°Not much to tell really,¡± she said with a feeble shrug. ¡°When Alexander took all our things to the teleportation pad, Markus tried to stop them. Then you boys had a shootout, and you disappeared with all our stuff.¡± Penny said helplessly, ¡°what were we supposed to do after that? We¡¯ve been slowly starving and freezing to death since that day. I¡¯m just so grateful you were able to get Markus out before he died. Thank you for that, Robert.¡±


    She motioned for him to set her back down in the circle of her fellows, none of whom had the desire or the energy to interact with the newcomers, beyond a few inquiries for food, before they realized they were crystallized and wouldn¡¯t have human food. What little life that had been in their eyes, died after that. It was all Ronin could do to stop himself weeping for these people he¡¯d left behind. Left behind, and spent the money earned from their suffering to bring evil and suffering into his own world. He felt sick at what he¡¯d done. What made it all so much worse was that he saw no way to help them. Turning away from the small group, Ronin moved further into the cave.


    He walked, aimlessly for some time, before finally coming to a stop in front of his own small cave. His door was gone, as were all his treasures. Still, a few traces of him remained, in the smooth patch he¡¯d worn into the rock with countless hours of rubbing sand against the stone. In the rock drawings he¡¯d made by scraping stone against stone. He looked at the drawing of the prince with his ten followers and couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly. Getting on his knees, Ronin crawled inside the tiny alcove. He barely fit, thanks to his greater bulk and the carapace armor he¡¯d equipped himself with. Finally settling down into his old position, the one he spent so many years in, pumping up his air tanks and reading crazy stories of adventure, Ronin started to cry. Great wracking sobs that he couldn¡¯t stop.


    For a long time, Ronin sat, huddled up in the cave he¡¯d spent the first thirty-five years of his life in, and cried. He cried for himself, for everything he¡¯d been forced to endure. For the mistakes he¡¯d made and the friends it had cost him. For the parents who¡¯d abandoned him at the age of ten. For the baby he¡¯d abandoned without even realizing it. For the woman who¡¯d born that baby, a woman he might have come to love, given enough time. For the half goblin that he was almost sure he had started to love, and the friend he¡¯d let her go to after he¡¯d realized how close they were.


    Ronin cried and cried. Once the flood gates had opened, he couldn¡¯t stop them. He cried for earth, the planet, and her people, who¡¯d been destroyed by accident, by a careless race of alien beetles. He cried for the beetles, who¡¯s carelessness had relegated them into slavery to the people they¡¯d almost killed. He cried because after everything they¡¯d been through, their planet was going to be invaded again soon. This time, by aliens who wouldn¡¯t destroy them by accident, they¡¯d do it on purpose. He cried because, no matter what he did, Penny and everyone he¡¯d ever known for his entire life, were going to die.


    Eventually, Ronin¡¯s sobs slowed down, and he was able to breathe again. The inside of his mask had been completely fogged over, and he had long lost the ability to see beyond it. As he calmed down, however, an anti-fog fan of some kind turned on, and cleared his view. To his shock, Ronin found that he wasn¡¯t alone in the tiny alcove. He wasn¡¯t sure when she¡¯d come in, or how she¡¯d even fit, But Elyria had curled up beside him. The moon elf had her head on his shoulder, and both hands wrapped tightly around his arm. Ronin could tell she¡¯d been crying as well, from the tracks that covered her cheeks. Though, she now had her eyes closed, and Ronin wondered if she¡¯d fallen asleep. Until he shifted, and she spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯m now surer than ever, that I didn¡¯t make a mistake when I swore my life to you, White flame.¡± She said, not letting him go, only clutching him tighter. ¡°I spoke with Leo and Penny for a moment before I came to find you.¡± She continued, in a quiet voice. ¡°I never understood, I couldn''t understand¡­ when you said you lived in caves¡­ I understand now, White flame, and I have nothing but respect for you. Going forward, we¡¯ll work together to correct some of your intellectual deficiencies, perhaps make it so you¡¯re not a complete moron in a few decades¡­ perhaps a century.¡± Ronin just looked at the determined moon elf, her silver hair draping loosely over his black armor, and her deep blue eyes piercing into his own. Ronin was unsure how to feel, or what had brought on this sudden change in Elyria.


    ¡°Now, have you got it all out?¡± She asked, giving him a thump on the shoulder. ¡°Because we have a lot of work to do if we are going to save these people, and you can¡¯t do it sulking in your bedroom.¡± She added with a smirk, backing out of the alcove and offering Ronin her hand. Ronin just stared at it for a moment before looking at her.


    ¡°It won¡¯t matter though,¡± he said at last. ¡°Even if we save them now, the lizards are coming. There¡¯s no guarantee we¡¯ll even be allowed to leave on the ship, and even if we are there¡¯s no way we¡¯d be able to bring them along.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Elyria asked, her hand still extended to him. ¡°The locusts were knocking at the gates of the honeycomb, your people, and me, told you to ignore them and focus on your own settlement. You ignored them then, fought an unbeatable foe off for days and saved hundreds of lives. How is now any different, other than you have Xerox working on contingencies now? You¡¯ve got the ability to make a difference to these people, the White flame I know wouldn¡¯t hesitate to lend a hand to people in need.¡± Ronin thought about her words for a long time, before finally responding.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last. ¡°You¡¯re right, whatever happens tomorrow, we¡¯ll help who we can today.¡± Mind made up, he reached out and clasped Elyria¡¯s still outstretched hand in his own.

 Chapter fifty-nine

    Climbing out of his old alcove, Ronin saw K3 standing with his back turned, looking down the passageway. Without turning around, the giant dipped down and offered Ronin a hand up. He smiled at the silent support of his friend and bodyguard. When he accepted the hand and was pulled up, he was nearly moved to tears at the reassuring squeeze K3 gave him before letting go. It meant more to Ronin than he could say, to have people at his side, who cared about him. He hadn¡¯t had that before. Markus and Penny looked out for him, but in the caves, everyone pulled their own weight, or they died. It wasn¡¯t like having a family, and thanks to Alexander, he¡¯d never had any friends his own age.


    Clearing his throat, Ronin looked between his two closest supporters. One, bound to him by nanite imposed loyalty. The other sworn to him by her own honor and oath. He didn¡¯t like what that said about him, but if he was being honest, he still didn¡¯t understand exactly why Elyria was there. So, it wouldn¡¯t be fair to judge himself too harshly at her presence. Shaking away the negativity, he focused on what he had to do next. There were people who needed his help, he could wallow in his inadequacies later.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back,¡± he said at last, voice only cracking a little. ¡°We need to talk to Leo about what we do next.¡± Ronin just hoped the former cave leader would be on board to help, because helping these people would be a whole lot harder if he wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°¡­always wondered what happened to them. So, they didn¡¯t make it.¡± Ronin heard Penny¡¯s voice drifting down the corridor, as he approached the communal area. ¡°It¡¯s such a shame, we did the best we could for him, but without his¡­¡± Ronin stumbled at the words, catching his foot on a loose stone, which clattered away down the tunnel. His heart caught in his chest, as he wondered who Penny was talking about.


    ¡°Yes, it is a shame.¡± Leo said cutting her off with an abrupt subject change. ¡°I spoke to Markus before we left the ship, he was doing well. Adjusting to his new personal realm. I gave him a few pointers, since it¡¯s easy to make mistakes if you don¡¯t know what to expect.¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Dawson,¡± Penny said her tone changing completely at the new subject. ¡°We¡¯d always dreamed about getting crystallized together one day. But the cost was so prohibitive, and from what I understand, we wouldn¡¯t have gotten to enter the same world together anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Leo said, Ronin had sped up and had now rounded the corner and saw him nodding his head. The lionid looked massive beside the shrunken old woman. ¡°It¡¯s the personal realm that costs all the credits. Since, the ship must grow a new one for every new crystallized person. If the powers-that-be would allow more than one person into a single realm, then we could upload as many as we wanted, with only a small cost to the ship. That doesn¡¯t fit the agenda of the powerful though...¡± Leo visibly bit his tongue, before changing the subject again. ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you come show me around, and tell me about my boy. I know he caused a lot of trouble near the end, but how were his early years?¡±


    Ronin, who¡¯d been hung up on exactly who they had been discussing just now, came to a dead stop when he heard the last few lines. His mind spun; questions of his past forgotten as he contemplated this new thought.


    ¡°Guys,¡± he said, not turning around. ¡°Is there any way for us to contact Xerox? I¡¯ve got an idea, but we can¡¯t do it without his help.¡± Spinning around, he stared at them with new hope blazing in his eyes. He might just have a way, if only the android could make it work.


    Elyria and K3 exchanged glances, Ronin caught the move, and under other circumstances, he¡¯d have been happy they got along well enough to do that. As things stood now, however, he was just impatient for an answer.


    ¡°We can.¡± K3 said at last, with some hesitation. ¡°But all communication is likely being monitored. He gave us a way to get in touch with him, but it will only work twice. Once for the message to go up, and then for his response to come back down. After that, he will need to work at setting up a new, untraceable line. He told us not to use it except in an emergency, but it is possible.¡± Ronin was both gladdened and angered at the news.


    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s great, but before we get to that,¡± he said, frowning. ¡°Why is it that I never know what¡¯s going on? It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t pay any attention at all. Yet still, every time I have a question, you guys already knew the whole time. When do you find the time to learn this stuff? I mean, you¡¯re always with me, damn it, and I don¡¯t know anything it seems.¡±


    ¡°Take a breath, White flame.¡± Elyria said with a scoff, ¡°it¡¯s not like we hide things from you. You just get too focused on one thing, or space out and completely overlook stuff. A lot of it is in the context, clues that you just don¡¯t have the background on the subjects to pick up. Now, quit sulking and tell us what you want to do already.¡± Ronin glared at them for another second before relenting, he was too excited to worry about it too long.


    ¡°Ok, so, it just hit me when I was listening to¡­¡± As he spoke, the looks on their faces went from curious, to speculative, to interested, before landing on approving. He waited once he¡¯d finished speaking, for them to share another look, before one of them spoke.


    ¡°Ok, I think it¡¯s worth making the call. If Xerox can do it, then he can let us know in a return message once it¡¯s all set up. That might take a while though, so I suggest we start working on the other parts of the plan while we wait. We¡¯ll need to go back to the ship to make the call though, so when you finish up here, we¡¯ll go.¡± Elyria was the one who spoke, but K3 was nodding his approval as well.


    ¡°Great, then let¡¯s go talk to Penny and Leo.¡± Ronin said, having committed entirely to his plan. Forgetting all the negatives as best he could, Ronin focused on what he could do. The self-imposed tunnel vision was the only way he¡¯d managed to accomplish all he had so far. Now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about any inconvenient mistakes he¡¯d made. He had a goal now, reaching it was all that mattered.


    *            *            *


    Surprisingly enough, it hadn¡¯t taken much convincing to get the former and current cave leadership on board. Penny had already resigned herself to a slow death, so anything that gave her and her people a chance was worth a try to her. Leo, whom Ronin thought would at least offer a token resistance, also agreed right away. They¡¯d cut their visit short, promising to bring back some food as quickly as they could, and headed back out of the caves. Their goal, a now fallen human holdout.


    ¡°How far away did you say the city was?¡± Ronin asked, some hours later as the crystal ship flew them away from where Ronin was born and raised. Once again, he bemoaned the lack of windows in the vessel. Since it meant he couldn¡¯t see where they were going.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± Leo said, from his position on the floor, surrounded by his pride. They were all laying together in a pile in one of the swimming pool-sized depressions, either napping or grooming one another. After the battle, and crystal core collection was done, everyone had cleaned up and was now relaxing. While Leo¡¯s people slept, Ronin¡¯s people were playing a few games of POWF. Using several upturned barrels as improvised tables. Ronin had laughed out loud, when he realized Xerox, or Owl Two, had talked Jade into giving everyone an oversized deck of the syndicate¡¯s signature card game. It had been added to the bags as an ¡®essential relaxation tool¡¯ of all things.


    ¡°Come on White flame, get your head in the game.¡± Elyria said, turning three ration cards and dropping a rare equipment card with a PCP 1.0 onto a random uncommon human soldier that Ronin didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°We¡¯ll get there when we get there, now unless you want to lose your locust queen card, I suggest you pay attention¡­ and can someone tell me how that tin can got these cards made with our current equipment on them? It¡¯s scary how much that android seems to know about¡­ everything.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Ronin said, turning his head back to the game. ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to put her in the pot, she¡¯s an epic. What are you putting up for grabs, if you want my epic?¡± He asked, finally paying attention, ¡°K2 is an excellent soldier, but his card is only rare, not worth an epic. Either add another rare to the pot or swap for an epic.¡±


    ¡°You should really relax and pay attention to what¡¯s going on around yourself boss.¡± K3 said, turning four ration cards and dropping two uncommons on the table. The first was an elf named Tupelo, and the second was a set of green scale armor, called locust lamellar. Again, Ronin didn¡¯t recognize the elf, but he¡¯d seen the armor in the battle for undercity. ¡°When we started the game, you pulled the card on the top of your deck for the winner¡¯s pot. I know you¡¯re worried about the people from your home, but this blind focus of yours is what makes you miss things, and people to criticize you.¡±


    Ronin looked at the kaldarr warrior, the giant gave advice so infrequently, that when he did, Ronin always paid attention. If his friend thought he needed to relax, then Ronin would try it. After all, they would get there eventually, and losing his strongest epic card simply because he wasn¡¯t paying attention would be a crime. He took a deep breath, observing the cards on the makeshift table.


    Elyria had the lead in damage capability, the PCP 1.0 was like shooting a sledgehammer from a rifle. Subsequently, K3 had the advantage in defense. Thanks to both Tupelo and the goblin scout he¡¯d played last round, having armor cards equipped. Making it more likely Elyria would target him over the giant, because the strikes would do more damage.


    Looking down at his own cards, Ronin counted out five common worker goblin and human farmer cards, and an equal number of ration cards. He didn¡¯t even have any equipment cards down. He really hadn¡¯t been paying attention to the game. Taking another breath, he looked at his hand. He had a K1 card which was rare, he could play him for three ration cards and a suit of uncommon armor for two, or he could play two weapon cards. It just depended on who he wanted to focus on. Nodding to himself, Ronin focused his mind on the game. Ready to put the city out of his head until they arrived. Just as he picked his first weapons card, a light ringing echoed throughout the ship, heralding their arrival at the city.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°See how easy that was?¡± Elyria asked with a cackling laugh, ¡°all you had to do was not think about it, and we got there.¡±


    ¡°Ha, ha, ha.¡± Ronin said in pretend laughter, ¡°so funny, Elyria. Ah well, guess we¡¯ll have to stop here. Better luck winning my queen next time.¡± He added, making a move to collect his cards.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t,¡± she said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. ¡°There has to be consequences to your actions, or else you¡¯ll never learn. Back me up on this big guy.¡± She tossed over her shoulder, to a bemused looking K3. Ronin glared over at his friend, who had the grace to look away, but he still said.


    ¡°She¡¯s got a point boss, it¡¯s this type of stuff that you need to work on. Maybe higher stakes will help you improve¡­¡±


    ¡°Traitor,¡± Ronin mumbled, but he left his cards where they were. ¡°Fine, but I don¡¯t want to hear any crying when I win this game.¡± They continued to banter as Karr and his team, along with the pair of scouts formed up, having put their own cards away already.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good way for the troops to pass the time.¡± Leo said, joining them by the drop door. ¡°I¡¯d like to learn if you¡¯re willing to teach me. Perhaps I¡¯ll introduce something similar to my own people. It was interesting to see your soldiers sitting around playing cards, and not trying to sneak off to find booze or to find a quiet corner.¡±


    ¡°Heh, that¡¯s because Owl Two injected all the troops with sexual inhibitors before the trip.¡± Elyria said in a voice meant not to carry. ¡°He was thrilled at the benefits the goblins showed and figured that fighters didn¡¯t need the added distraction anyway.¡± Ronin was appalled at that news; he¡¯d had no idea.


    ¡°He did what?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s also a good idea.¡± Leo said at the same time.


    The pair exchanged glances, before they shrugged it off. Now wasn¡¯t the time for this anyway.


    ¡°From what I remember, much of this city was encapsulated with a metal frame that had glass panels glued in with rubber, to protect the people from the atmosphere. It worked for quite a while too, they survived the entire apocalypse. The city only fell something like fifty years ago, when a crystal tree seed, they¡¯d brought in to experiment on, sprouted in the middle of the enclosure. This wasn¡¯t the biggest human city, but it was well known. So, keep an eye out for other participants.¡± Leo said as the door slowly opened.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Ronin said as the door cleared his field of vision, and he could finally see. They¡¯d landed in the middle of what had once been a human metropolis, nearly everything looked as old and unattended as it actually was, but near where their ship had come down was different.


    There were four skyscrapers that had been built in a square, one at each corner of the block. Between each building, a metal frame had been built. Filled with countless panels of glass, so filthy he could barely see through it. It wasn¡¯t a dome, like the books talked about, but it looked better preserved than the buildings outside. Ronin couldn¡¯t tell how they¡¯d hung the ceiling, but they¡¯d managed it somehow. More proof that humans could adapt and overcome almost anything, almost.


    Since, right in the middle of one of the skyscrapers, a crystal tree had sprouted up through the building and shattered that corner of the enclosure. Ronin looked up at that tree with wonder. It was huge, bigger than the 350-foot-tall building it sprouted from, but it was far smaller than the tree he¡¯d grown up near.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the tree?¡± He asked, looking at the stunted crystal tree.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Leo responded with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s only fifty years old. The one by our cave is two hundred years old. They grow fast, but they still need time to do it.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the scouts out there, I¡¯ll do a few laps around in the air as well. It¡¯s possible there are survivors, or others from the ship. Just keep your radio on you this time, ok.¡± Elyria said, as she launched herself from the ship and into the sky. Nodding at the wisdom of her words, while ignoring the snark, Ronin called.


    ¡°Stone, Whisper, would the pair of you mind doing some recon please?¡± If you see any weak malnourished humans, try not to kill them, but if you come across anyone who isn¡¯t wearing a mask, stay clear. If you can avoid being seen that would be for the best, if not¡­¡± He trailed off meaningfully.


    ¡°I think you are forgetting the small fact that we landed our ship right outside their front door.¡± Leo said as the scouts moved down the ramp to explore the ruins. Anyone with eyes, or ears for that matter, knows we¡¯re here. Scouting seems a little unnecessary at this point.¡± With those words, he moved down the ramp himself, followed by his troop of female lionids. All of whom carried bags filled with tools.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point,¡± K3 said when Ronin looked at him questioningly. ¡°It¡¯s always a good idea to get a feel for the surroundings, but I think we¡¯re safe enough to start work on the panels at least.¡± Nodding his head at the giant''s council, Ronin motioned for the rest of his people to get to work. They¡¯d come equipped with everything they¡¯d need, or at least everything they could find, to gather the glass and the metal frame it was mounted on.


    Ronin ran his fingers across the glass, feeling the heavy layer of dust flake off under his fingers. His hands weren¡¯t as hard as the rest of his body, but they were still covered in carapace armor, so he had to be careful not to scratch or break the glass. Slowly, he worked his hand in a circle until he¡¯d cleared a large enough area for him to look through. What he saw on the other side saddened him greatly.


    The remains of a park lay inside the sealed city block. The skeletal forms of dead trees and bushes dotted the area, along with the actual skeletal remains of many people. Everything was dark and dead, except the multicolored rainbow hued grass that spread out from the crystal tree to the extent of its branches in all directions. It looked so beautiful, covering the dead remains of one of humanities last holdouts, that it was difficult to remember it was the cause of that death in the first place. Ronin¡¯s heart ached for a world and a life he¡¯d never known. That no one born after the world fell would ever know. A world that had been stripped from them by beautiful, crystallin death.


    ¡°How do we get the panes out?¡± He asked K3, after he¡¯d had his fill of looking. Not surprisingly, K3 and Elyria were the only ones in his group with any knowledge of modern technology. So, Ronin was leaning heavily on them to teach him, along with Karr and his squad, how to remove the panels safely and carefully from the metal frame. K3, who¡¯d spent the time Ronin was lost in thought, looking over the glass wall¡¯s design, spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s a very simple design actually, see this?¡± The giant moved to the wall and pointed as he explained. ¡°The frame is made from T-beams, they call them that, because the shape is like a capital T from the alphabet, see?¡± Not wasting any time wondering why a race of space orcs used the English alphabet, Ronin leaned in, along with Karr to get a good look at what they were being shown.


    ¡°The T-beams were welded together in a lattice work of three-foot-by-three-foot squares. Making a shallow frame that the glass panes were laid in. It looks like a rubber sealant was laid down first, then more rubber was spread over the top and edges to keep it tight. Not a very strong construction, I wouldn¡¯t suggest leaning on it boss, but for keeping bad air out and being easy to fix, it works¡­ All we¡¯ll have to do is hold the panel in place and scrape off the rubber sealant. Then once we¡¯ve cleared the panels away, we can start taking the frame apart. Here, I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    K3 was a good teacher. He took several minutes to show them how to use the tools, how to scrape the rubber without scratching the glass or digging into the frame, and how to hold and move the glass so it wouldn¡¯t break. He worked each member of Karr¡¯s squad through the process of removing a panel with him and walking it to the ship, before splitting them up into pairs. He then moved between the pairs to give pointers and encouragement for another half hour before he returned to Ronin. Just in time for Elyria to land beside them.


    They stepped aside to talk, while Karr¡¯s squad got to work. Leo¡¯s people had been working the whole time, not needing any instructions, and already had a stack of panels pulled from the wall. Speaking of Leo, he finished up what he was doing and moved to join them when he saw Elyria landing.


    ¡°Find anything?¡± He asked without preamble, clearly in a hurry to get back to work.


    ¡°No,¡± Elyria said shaking her head. ¡°No sign of hostiles or survivors anyway. It doesn¡¯t even look like the city has been scavenged. From what I can tell, the tree burst out of the building, and everybody died, then nothing happened after that.¡± She furrowed her brow in confusion at the very idea. Ronin was surprised too, why hadn¡¯t someone come to collect the useful equipment?


    ¡°Not surprising really,¡± Leo said with a shrug of massive shoulders. ¡°This city has a teleporter and was even equipped with a crystallization pad. However, the amount of resources it takes to activate either are prohibitive. Natural humans who could use this stuff couldn¡¯t afford the teleportation fee, those who could afford it, got crystallized instead and then didn¡¯t need earthly possessions anymore.¡± Something the lionid said caught Ronin¡¯s ear, he wanted to ask about it, but Elyria continued talking before he could.


    ¡°That¡¯s not all.¡± She said, pulling her shoulder bag around, and opening it up. ¡°I found these on the tree, it was so bizarre I collected one to show you.¡± Elyria reached inside and pulled out a ladybug corpse. It looked exactly like the ladybugs on the tree they¡¯d just left. Except where those beetles were the size of large cars, this one wasn¡¯t much larger than a football helmet. ¡°I don¡¯t understand how a species can vary this much in size, its unnatural.¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s unnatural.¡± Leo said with a snort that shook his whiskers. ¡°I spent a few, time dilated, years researching the beetles, and a few other alien species they¡¯d encountered. What we have on earth right now is only the terraforming trees and the insects that grow with and protect them. There¡¯s a whole world¡¯s worth of samples up there on the ship. Enough seeds and insect eggs to birth an entire planet¡¯s eco system. We just didn¡¯t die like we were supposed to and stopped the transformation before it really got started. All we got were the trees and their bugs, each of the three insects that live on the tree servicing a function. The aphids stimulating sap flow when they eat, the ladybugs keeping their numbers in check and serving as defensive troops to any native species that try to interfere with the tree, the wasps pollinating the flowers between trees and acting like scouts and¡­ pardon me, my inner academic is showing.¡± He said, clearing his throat. The small tangent gave Ronin a quick peak behind the curtain that hid Leo Dawson.


    ¡°The point is these bugs were designed to grow with the tree. This tree is young, dog sized aphids would suck it dry of sap in no time. So, the bugs start small. As they feed on the sap or each other, their crystal core, as Ronin called them, filters the sap, producing enhanced nutrient fluid. When they eat the cores of a fallen bug, they get a huge boost to their growth, making them larger¡­ I¡¯ve seen imagery on the ship of other, older, colony worlds. Crystal trees so tall they reach the atmosphere, and wasps the size of dragons.¡±


    Ronin let his mind drift away as Leo spoke. More ideas coming into his mind and taking root. He hoped Xerox was as good at anticipating what he wanted as Owl Two was, because he had plans. They would have to wait for now though, because Penny and his old cave mates needed his help.


    ¡°You said there is a teleportation pad and a crystallization pod here?¡± Ronin asked, turning to Leo. ¡°Where are those at? I¡¯d like to¡­¡± He was interrupted by an angry bellow, coming from inside one of the once sealed skyscrapers.


    ¡°What are you brutes doing? Get away from there, don¡¯t you know that¡¯s a historical monument?¡±

 Chapter Sixty

    Ronin heard glass shatter, as his people reacted to the shout. Dropping whatever they were carrying and drawing their weapons. Within a few seconds, there were thirteen guns pointed at the intruder. Ronin didn¡¯t have much time to take in the speaker as he was busy sighting his sidearm on her head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot.¡± Leo bellowed, loud enough to rattle the glass in the frames. ¡°She¡¯s a friend¡­ that goes for you too Red, these guys get twitchy about their ¡®lords¡¯ safety.¡± Ronin clearly heard the sarcastic way he pronounced his title but was still in reaction mode and now wasn¡¯t the time to comment.


    ¡°My name is Doctor Mycroft, and I¡¯m not friends with anyone who¡¯d destroy history like this.¡± Ronin had finally calmed himself enough to take in the woman¡¯s appearance. She was a tall, incredibly busty, human woman with red hair. Natural red hair, not the fire red of the goblins. After living with them for so long, Ronin thought it looked rather orange and bleached out, but for a natural human color, it was startlingly red. Her skin was pale, and hadn¡¯t seen the sun in weeks, and a light dusting of freckles sprinkled her cheeks. If Ronin had seen her in his pocket world, he could have almost mistaken her for a normal human woman in her early forties.


    What set her apart were the four tentacle-like appendages that sprouted from her back, coming right through the ankle length, brilliantly white, lab coat she wore over tan slacks and a white shirt. They were each at least six feet long, and as thick as his upper arms, tapering down to wrist thick near the end and tipped with delicate looking hands, each of which, including her normal hands, were holding pistols. That was six pistols in total, pointed directly at Ronin¡¯s small group.


    ¡°Come on Red,¡± Leo said, his voice taking on a soothing note that Ronin had never heard before. ¡°It¡¯s Leo Dawson. You recognize me, right? We spent a year together researching crystal beetles. You, me¡­ and Locke.¡± The hesitation between words made Ronin curious who he¡¯d chosen not to mention. ¡°I assume he¡¯s just inside the door then. He never strays too far from his dear auntie.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare disrespect my aunt, you mangy mutt. We should never have associated with you before and I¡¯ll be damned if we do now.¡± Shouted a new, nasally voice, and a small weak looking man ran out from the building¡¯s open door. He also wore a lab coat and had tentacle like arms on his back holding guns, but he only had two of them. Ten guns between two people, Ronin started to wonder if Gunner had been onto something when she¡¯d designed the scout body with four arms.


    ¡°There you are, Locke.¡± Leo said, his voice changing slightly to include some scorn. ¡°Glad to see you remember me.¡± By the end, he was speaking in a growl.


    ¡°Oh, put them away you two,¡± Doctor Mycroft said, holstering all six of her guns in one fast, fluid motion that Ronin couldn¡¯t have matched with only one hand. ¡°Put the guns away too. Yea I remember you¡­ but you¡¯d better have a good explanation for this, Dawson.¡± She¡¯d turned away as she spoke and had already disappeared back into the building the crystal tree was growing out of, by the time she was done talking. One of the flexible arms on her back beckoned them to follow her inside, before it too disappeared. Locke wasted no time in following her, only stopping long enough to give Leo a hard glare.


    Ronin and Elyria looked at each other and then at Leo, who was staring into the building with a complicated expression. Turning to his people, who all still had guns drawn and ready, Ronin nodded his approval.


    ¡°Good job everyone, that was some quick reflexes. It looks like the danger has passed, so go ahead and get back to work. We should probably get this done before we get any more surprises.¡± He addressed his troops, who he still hadn¡¯t managed to learn most of the names of. Before turning to the kaldarr, ¡°K3, want to stay here on overwatch?¡± He wanted to go with Leo but didn¡¯t want to leave his people defenseless in the process. Since the scouts were gone and Elyria would doubtless follow him in, that only left the giant to watch as his men worked.


    ¡°Sure boss,¡± the giant said with a nod. His PCP 1.0 was still in his hands, so he didn¡¯t have to draw it, but he did readjust his grip to signify his readiness. That taken care of, Ronin turned back to Leo and Elyria.


    ¡°How do you want to do this?¡± He asked the older man, who was still looking at the spot doctor Mycroft disappeared. Shaking his mane, Leo turned to ronin.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t anticipate this; Red is a real academic type. Big into theoretical research and lab work, I never thought I¡¯d see her down here. The opportunity to get six free bodies must have been too much of a temptation.¡± He was shaken, Ronin could tell. It was another new side to the man, who fascinated and terrified Ronin in equal measure. ¡°I think the best bet will be to tell her the truth. She¡¯s a smart woman, odds are good she¡¯ll join us.¡± Ronin exchanged a look with Elyria, who only shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok with it.¡± He said, giving Leo a shrug of his own. ¡°I know there is limited space on the ship, but the goal should be to save as much of humanity as we can. If she¡¯s a friend of yours, we should try to include her as well. Worst case and we don¡¯t get a seat on the ship, it¡¯s another five pair of hands to fight the lizards with.¡± Leo looked at him with gratitude and nodded. That surprised Ronin, because he had never thought of the lionid as a man who would care about his opinions, but it was nice to see, regardless.


    ¡°Thanks kid,¡± Leo said, ¡°then we¡¯d better go talk to her, Red isn¡¯t the most patient woman around. Just ah, let me do the talking ok?¡± With that, Leo stepped through an opening where a glass panel used to be and headed for the door Doctor Mycroft had entered. Ronin watched him move forward a couple of steps, double checked that his team was doing ok, then followed behind.


    Stepping into the enclosure, he looked around. It was dark, at least compared to outside. The dust had settled on the ceiling panels, and Ronin wondered how the inhabitants had ever cleaned them. The space inside the glass wasn¡¯t huge, the size of a city block, but surrounded by dirty glass and the four towering buildings it felt cramped to Ronin. He wondered how it must have felt to live in such a confined space, able to see outside, but not able to go out. Always knowing that only a thin pane of glass stood between himself and death. It had to have been more nerve wracking than living underground had been.


    As they approached the ruined building, Ronin felt glass crunching beneath his feet as they moved from the dead, dusty ground onto the colorful hues of the rainbow grass surrounding the tree. Looking up, he saw the building had been gutted when the tree sprouted. Branches stuck out from various points in the building as they¡¯d grown, leaving ruin in their wake. Not only the building, but much of the wall had been wiped out in that corner of the enclosure as well. There would have been no way to fix the damage before everyone died. It was a terrible way to go. Ronin had seen it before, when scavengers from the cave hadn¡¯t made it back before their air ran out, or their lines sprung a leak. He¡¯d found more than one body in his time. Ronin had always taken the time to gather their equipment to be returned to their families. Entering the building, he was forced to step over more than one body. It looked like several dozen people had tried to escape the building when the end came, only to die in the entrance way.


    ¡°Where are we supposed to go?¡± He asked, looking around and not seeing the doctor.


    ¡°This way.¡± Locke said, his small form materializing in the hallway. ¡°Who told you to bring the kids, mut?¡± He snapped at Leo, both his extra arms moving down to his belt. They came back up a moment later, each holding a bright flashlight that he pointed into each of their eyes for spite, before turning around and leading them away.


    ¡°What¡¯s his problem?¡± Elyria muttered, glaring at the man¡¯s retreating back. ¡°Who is he calling a child, anyway? I¡¯m one-hundred-twenty years old.¡± Ronin blinked in surprise at the number. He¡¯d assumed she was older than he was, but that was more than he¡¯d expected.


    ¡°Perhaps you are,¡± Leo said with a nod. ¡°But that is in elven years. Developmentally, you¡¯re barely into your twenties. Locke is older than the fall of humanity. That¡¯s two hundred years, in the real world. Add in time dilation and he has lived for many thousands of years, subjectively. Red is even older, being his biological aunt. Don¡¯t underestimate him, he might be a prick, but you don¡¯t live that long without being capable, or at least knowing capable people.¡± The memory of Leo and his pride tearing a swath through the hive, and the crystal cores that had filled two of the swimming pool sized beetle chairs was all the proof Ronin needed of that.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were so subjectively young. How long do moon elves live anyway?¡± Ronin asked Elyria, as he followed the unwavering lights down the dark hallway. He had to watch each step to avoid tripping on fallen building material as they moved. The flashlights were actually hurting his night vision more than they were helping him, because it robbed his eyes of the chance to adjust to either light or the absence of it. Still, Locke looked very human, it was likely he couldn¡¯t see in the dark at all, so Ronin endured.


    ¡°Subjective age be damned, I¡¯m still way older than you. In experience as well as years.¡± Elyria huffed, as she walked along at his shoulder. She never walked behind him, like K3 did. She walked at his side, as if determined to prove that she was his equal, at the very least. ¡°Normally, we can endure for upwards of five thousand years. But there are always exceptions. Some of the elders, who tap into the home ship¡¯s seed core have survived for tens of thousands¡­ Don¡¯t you worry, White flame, you won¡¯t outlive me anytime soon.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    She said the words with a smirk, but it actually did make Ronin feel better. He was effectively immortal, assuming he didn¡¯t die and his crystal stasis stone, or whatever they called his pocket world, wasn¡¯t destroyed. He didn¡¯t know about the body he was currently inhabiting, but if the wasps on the trees could live to grow into dragons than he had to assume it could endure the test of time as well.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± Locke said, jolting Ronin out of his ever too common flight of fancy. He looked around and saw that they¡¯d reached a set of double doors that said, ¡®stairs,¡¯ beside them. Ronin wondered why they had stopped at the stairs, but Locke spoke before he could say anything. ¡°Be quiet when we get inside, the doctor is doing an experiment. One that you interrupted when you barged into her chosen workspace, potentially ruining her work... Just be quiet and wait for her to address you.¡± With a final glare for Leo and a finger to his lips, he reached out and opened the double doors, walking quietly inside.


    Following him in, Ronin found himself in a stairwell, which looked like it had been designed to circle up around a central opening all the way up the center of the building. He could only speculate, however, because of the massive tree that was growing right up the center of said stairwell. Parts of the concrete stairs were still clinging to the outer wall of the stairwell, but not much. Even so, that was where Locke led them, on a slow arduous climb up the stairs and around the tree. They were forced to use the tree as a foot hold on several occasions. Floor after floor they climbed, getting higher and higher, until they came to a section of the tree that had branched out in several places. Here, they found Doctor Mycroft, hunched over a table that held a dog sized ladybug.


    What was behind the doctor, attached to the tree, had Ronin reaching for his PCP 1.0, before a restraining tentacle gripped his wrist and Locke shook his head, finger once again pressed against his lips.


    ¡°Tissue regeneration is adequate,¡± the doctor said, seemingly to herself. ¡°The current formula has led to a tremendous level of growth in specimen number twenty-seven. The mutation is still prevalent however, need to adjust the dose and the mixture. Will do that once the autopsy has concluded.¡± She was fishing around inside the, still living, ladybug¡¯s insides. Poking and prodding but using all six of her limbs to do it. Ronin marveled once more at the way she could manipulate them. Granted, the subject matter was somewhat macabre, but still.


    She held a small glass dish in one of her human hands, and a pair of tweezers in the other. Two of her tentacle arms were gripping the beetle, who was struggling, and holding open a large cut on the creature¡¯s abdomen. A third held a flashlight, while the final one held a small, sharp knife, that it was using to cut off small pieces of beetle internals, that the tweezers were holding, before she dropped them into the glass tray.


    Despite how impressive her manual dexterity was, Ronin still had to work hard to focus on her hands. She was on the far side of the table, facing them while she worked, and her lab coat had slipped open while she was bent over the table. Her shirt, it turned out, was incredibly low cut. Leaving the newcomers with an unobstructed view of her ample chest. Ronin didn¡¯t think he ever remembered seeing a woman before who had such generous proportions, and he was having a tough time finding the beetle guts more interesting. A soft chuckle from Leo and a sharp jab in his temple from Elyria reminded him he wasn¡¯t alone, and he cleared his throat with a blush. Finding that Leo looked amused, but Elyria and Locke both looked ready to kill.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it kid, she made em that big to get attention in the first place. Be pretty damn hypocritical to get mad at someone looking at them, don¡¯t you think?¡± Ronin¡¯s blush deepened, and he refused to look at Elyria, whom he knew was staring daggers at him, or Locke, who¡¯d switched his glare to Leo, for speaking when he¡¯d told them to be silent.


    ¡°Locke, come and button up the specimen. Be sure it¡¯s adequately labeled; I don¡¯t want to have to hunt for it next time.¡± She was finishing up, putting the samples into a refrigerated case.


    ¡°Of course, Doctor.¡± Locke said, jumping to do her bidding with a submissiveness that was in stark contrast with his earlier behavior towards them. While he worked, the doctor moved around to the tree where the monstrosity that had Ronin reaching for his rifle was located. All the feelings that open shirt had stirred in him instantly died when he looked at the creature. It was simply grotesque.


    It was a similar size to the oakkin Gunner had bought at auction. Except instead of a tree shaped man, this was closer to an octopus, with thorn covered vines for tentacles, which were tipped with wicked looking syringes. Its body was composed of several semi-translucent bags, floating inside a spike covered latticework of muscles, designed to hold them together. The bags were filled with fluids that ranged from sap green to the pink of enhanced nutritional fluid, and a few that didn¡¯t look natural at all. Including an electric blue in a fluid filled boil, growing from the creature¡¯s main body. It had six of its syringe tipped limbs plunged deeply into the crystal tree¡¯s smaller branches and was sucking the sap through its main body and pumping it back into the tree. Its remaining two tentacles were both pressed into clear chemistry beakers, fluid slowly dripped from their tips, pink into one, electric blue into the other.


    ¡°Still playing the mad scientist, I see.¡± Leo said dryly, as he too looked at the horrifying creature. ¡°What is that supposed to be anyway?¡± Even as he asked the question, a second creature, nearly identical to the first, slithered over from the shadows and dipped its own tentacles into the beakers the first was filling. With a silent contraction of its limbs, it sucked the fluid into its own body, where Ronin could watch it enter more semi-translucent sacs that had an entirely new range of colors and thicknesses. It was disgusting, and Ronin had to hold back a shudder at the sight.


    ¡°They¡¯re beautiful, aren¡¯t they?¡± The doctor asked, as she stroked a thorn covered tentacle with the nimble fingers of one of her own extra limbs. ¡°When we were studying the beetle¡¯s history, I was extremely interested in their biology. It¡¯s entirely artificial, them having changed their entire evolutionary process in order to migrate across the stars in their stasis stones. Not only that, but every biological need; from the fuel their engines run on, to the food their bodies eat, are all grown by these artificially created trees. Once collected, they¡¯re changed through more biological machines to produce more advanced chemical concoctions, again like the ship fuel or the enhanced nutrient fluid.¡± She waved all the arms on one side towards the tree as she spoke.


    ¡°So, I thought, ¡®If they used biological machines to alter the tree¡¯s produce, why can¡¯t I?¡¯ After I had that thought, I locked myself into a time dilated lab, and theory-crafted a few months¡­¡±


    ¡°Twenty-three years, doctor.¡± Locke cut in helpfully.


    ¡°Yes, well,¡± she said, clearing her throat. ¡°I theory crafted for a while, and came up with these mobile altering machines, which feed off one another to refine and change the tree¡¯s fluids in new and exciting ways.¡± Upon finishing her explanation, she took a deep bow, once again showing her cleavage, in a move Ronin suspected now was quite deliberate.


    ¡°As fascinating as that is, Red, what¡¯s the point?¡± Leo asked with friendly exasperation. Ronin had to agree, he couldn¡¯t imagine spending twenty-three years locked in a lab. It would be like him spending years picking out the perfect body for this mission, since Jade had said he had unlimited time. Sure, it might net him a better result, but the returns would diminish significantly after a few weeks.


    ¡°My name is Doctor Mycroft. Don¡¯t call me Red, Dawson.¡± The doctor said, in an absentminded way, that told Ronin this was a normal part of their relationship. ¡°And the point, do you even have to ask? Look at the body you¡¯re wearing right now, that all of us are wearing. You look like a dog, with the body of one to boot, and the kids gussied themselves up like bugs for some reason. While I,¡± she paused to look down at her full, well proportioned, hourglass figure with a toothy grin. ¡°I had to tone down my natural charm, to avoid you boys getting any nosebleeds¡­ But the point is, no matter what we chose to look like, we were spit out from the same growth vats. Made from the same materials that birth the beetles. Only we aren¡¯t totally compatible with the process. Humans can¡¯t reproduce in these forms. If I can alter the stuff that feeds our bodies enough, perhaps I can make humans compatible. Then we wouldn¡¯t need the ship anymore and could come home to earth. It might take a while, but we will rule the planet again in a few thousand years¡­ which brings me right back to what the hell were you doing, taking apart the enclosure? When I save the world, we¡¯re going to want that as a memorial to how bad things were before I fixed them.¡±


    Ronin just stared at the woman as she finished speaking. In that one, run on sentence of an explanation, she¡¯d opened his mind to more ideas and concepts than he¡¯d ever even imagined on his own. Blinking a few times, he exchanged looks with his companions who wore equally stunned expressions. If Ronin had any doubts about bringing her on before, they were long gone now. Leo gave him a questioning look, and a slight head tilt the doctor¡¯s way, which reminded him they had to tell her about the lizard threat. With a nod, he indicated his agreement.


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s fascinating, Red.¡± Leo said, starting off with a complement. ¡°There are, however, a few new developments that might change your experiment¡¯s parameters. You see¡­¡± They stood inside the ruined building, next to the vine monster, as it leached the tree of its nutrients, while Leo explained the whole story to Doctor Mycroft. ¡°So, it was a rigged game from the start. We¡¯ll no doubt get screwed over and left behind, but it¡¯s the only chance we have. You interested in joining the team?¡±


    Ronin¡¯s mind was again drawn to Xerox, on his secret mission aboard the ship. He wondered again if he should tell Leo about it, but again, decided not to. If Elyria was right, and Leo was just using him, then he didn¡¯t want the man to be able to mess up his plans. If it turned out he was on the level, then Ronin could tell him when the time came to act, and no harm would be done. At least he hoped not.


    ¡°This is going to take some time to process.¡± Doctor Mycroft said after a while, sitting down on the edge of the worktable and crossing her arms and legs and furrowing her brow in thought. ¡°Another alien race coming to earth, and of all the ones we know about, it had to be the lizards.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you already knew about the lizards?¡± Ronin asked, confused.


    ¡°Of course, kid.¡± She said with an impatient frown. ¡°Didn¡¯t Dawson tell you just now that we¡¯d spent a year together studying everything we could dredge from the ship¡¯s network on the beetles and everything they knew about the universe? We know everything that was accessible from the ship. Which wasn¡¯t a lot, but enough to let me know that we¡¯re screwed once they get here.¡± Ronin¡¯s face reddened slightly in embarrassment. He really should have picked up on that. He just kept forgetting that not everyone was as ignorant as he was.


    ¡°Well, your idea to save the people from your hometown is admirable, but something doesn¡¯t add up.¡± She turned her attention to Leo and asked. ¡°Why are you even bothering? You know you can¡¯t save them. Humoring a child is one thing, but so close to the end of the world. Isn¡¯t there better uses for your time?¡± Ronin made to interject, planning to use the same excuses he¡¯d given to Leo, but the lionid beat him to it.


    ¡°He has at least one person on the ship, if not a small team of them.¡± Leo said the words that pierced through Ronin¡¯s secrecy so casually, like he¡¯d known all along. Yet, what he said next absolutely floored him. ¡°I¡¯m also ninety percent sure that he has another way off the planet too.¡±

 Chapter sixty-one

    ¡°How did you¡­¡± Ronin staggered back a step, in shock. From beside him, he heard the buzzing sound of Elyria¡¯s wings as she too reacted. Though if it was a shock reaction or her preparing to flee, Ronin didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Oh, come on kid,¡± Leo said dismissively. ¡°It was obvious. First, you showed up with five fewer people than you could have brought. The explanation you gave was plausible, but I¡¯ve seen your personal realm. Did a virtual tour before I popped in to grab you. There are hundreds of folks in there who would die for you without a second thought. Then there was your plan to save the cave¡¯s people. I¡¯ve been around long enough to know we couldn¡¯t cheat the system from down here. We¡¯d have to be on the ship, with physical bodies, to have any hope of modifying a personal realm to accommodate more than one person, and even then, it would take a genius to pull it off. That¡¯s something you aren¡¯t kid, no matter how good hearted you are¡­ but that android of yours could pull it off. As for another way off the planet, well¡­ you just aren¡¯t scared enough. Whenever lizards are mentioned, both you and your people seem way too confident. From you, with your limited experience, I could believe it, but your bodyguard and your girlfriend are too smart to believe it too. Want me to go on, or was that enough?¡±


    ¡°Wow, he¡¯d got you pegged right down, doesn¡¯t he? Minus the girlfriend comment anyway.¡± Elyria said, her wings going still beside him. ¡°A kindhearted fool, through and through. There isn¡¯t much arguing with that. Might be time to come clean, White flame. It was fine when he didn¡¯t ask, but now that he brought it up, it will just hurt our teamwork at this point if you lied.¡± Ronin was really getting tired of being the butt of everyone¡¯s jokes, but like so many times before, he had more important things to worry about than his image.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he finally said with a sigh, pulling a small tablet from his pack, Xerox had put in there for him. It was the last of the special little toys that had been added to the bags, at least that he was aware of. Turning it on, he thumbed through the saved image files until he found what he was after. Then he handed the device to Leo.


    ¡°We discovered this, buried deep below the city we were trying to conquer when you grabbed us.¡± He said, pointing to the damaged lizard ship. ¡°At the time, we didn¡¯t know what it was¡­ I, made several mistakes while designing my pocket world, and wasn¡¯t sure if this was something I¡¯d added in by mistake.¡± Taking the tablet back, he thumbed over to a new image.


    ¡°When Jade saw this, she instantly pulled up imagery from her own stasis stone and confirmed that it was present in her world as well. Only hidden so deeply that the scans had looked over it for some reason. I only found it because of how much of the mountain I scooped away to create my valley,¡± Here he set up two side by side arial views. One of his valley, the other of the untouched mountain from Jade¡¯s world.


    ¡°Once we realized the threat, we collaborated with Jade, who helped us bank roll the start to our plans. Owl Two created a copy of himself that he named Xerox, who came out with us. I made Jade a body as well and they, along with my pilot are on board the ship right now gathering resources to try and fix the damaged ship. Owl two also increased the time dilation in my pocket world, to give himself ten extra years to study the ship, and hopefully have a plan on how to fix it, using beetle tech Jade is helping him acquire right now, when we get down there.¡± He turned to Leo, who was the one staring in shock for once. ¡°I¡¯d always intended to tell you if you proved trustworthy, and Xerox was able to pull things off on his end. Sorry for the deception.¡± Surprisingly enough, Ronin felt better after the confession. Now to see if Leo agreed or not. It could get ugly fast if the older man took offense.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned if there hasn''t been a lizard ship on earth this whole time.¡± Doctor Mycroft breathed out, from where she was looking at the tablet over Leo¡¯s arm. ¡°Who is this Jade though? I¡¯ve been around a long time, and I don¡¯t know anyone by that name, at least no one with the resources and know how to make what you¡¯re talking about possible.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a crystal beetle,¡± Ronin said. "The one who was assigned to help us make our bodies for this event actually. We made a deal to get as many of her people out as we could, since it seems like our human leaders were planning to just leave them locked in the ship when the lizard...¡± Ronin trailed off at the stiff expressions and the tense shoulders that his words invoked.


    ¡°A crystal beetle, you gave one a body without restrictions. Do you not know what they did to our planet? What were you thinking?¡± Funnily enough, it was Locke who asked the question. The doctor and Leo were too busy giving each other worried glances to get the first word in. Frowning, Ronin answered.


    ¡°Yes. I do know what they did, and after talking to Jade, I can totally see how they would have pushed the launch button without bothering to check first. But even if they had known exactly what they were doing when they wiped out nearly all life on earth, so what? The lizards are coming, and our leaders are running away, leaving everyone else behind to die. Not only the beetles, but all of us too. I took a chance on Jade being able, and willing, to help me save lives. Worst case, I was wrong, and we all die anyway. What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    Ronin didn¡¯t hold anything back. He laid it all out on the table, and what was the first thing they¡¯d done? Criticize his motives. Well, he was done with that. The softly spoken, ¡®you tell em,¡¯ from Elyria reinforced for him that he shouldn¡¯t roll over on this point. Since, nothing he¡¯d said was wrong.


    ¡°You think that excuses¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up, Locke,¡± Leo said with a growl, before facing Ronin directly. ¡°Ok kid, I¡¯ve known you long enough to know your shooting straight with me here. You¡¯re right too. I don¡¯t trust the government to keep its word. Not to those of us who were put in the nosebleeds anyway, and lizards aren¡¯t a threat we can beat. If we¡¯d known they were coming a year or three ago, we might have been able to mass produce soldiers to fight them off for a while, but that would be it. They would kill us all in the end. So, I¡¯m willing to trust you on this.¡± He turned his bulk to the busty redhead who was now standing right beside him, ¡°what about you, Red?¡± Doctor Mycroft was still tense. She clearly wasn¡¯t as willing to trust a total stranger as Leo was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you really understand what you¡¯re asking me, child.¡± She said at last. ¡°I was twenty, when the beetles came. The only survivor of my family, apart from my infant nephew. I watched the world die. You clearly don¡¯t appreciate that time, I mean why would you, it¡¯s ancient history to you. For me, it was a reality¡­ Still, I do trust Dawson here. If he says you are trustworthy, then I¡¯ll go along with it for now. Besides, if you are telling the truth¡­ can you imagine how much there will be to learn and to study aboard a lizard ship? Not only that, but I can¡¯t wait to see how your android plans to marry the lizard and beetle technology together. I could easily draft a thesis on this¡­ Locke, right this down¡­¡± She wandered off to her nephew, assistant who was obediently taking notes on a tablet of his own.


    ¡°It¡¯s more than I expected,¡± Leo said, handing Ronin the tablet back. ¡°So, what was your real plan with the caves people? I know you must have a good one, or your fairy queen wouldn¡¯t have let you do it.¡± Ronin heard the snort of displeasure from Elyria, but thankfully she didn¡¯t mouth off. Regardless of how understanding he was being right now; Ronin couldn¡¯t forget how quickly the man could kill them if he wanted to.


    ¡°I sent a message to Xerox,¡± he said honestly. ¡°He¡¯s planning to collect my pocket world stone, along with yours and Markus¡¯s, and however many more he can grab while he gets what we need to get the ship going again. He should contact me once he¡¯s figured out how I can use a crystallization pod to send everyone into my personal pocket world. There is plenty of room for as many refugees as we can collect down here. I figured, if we survived the lizards, we could give them all bodies later. If not, it won¡¯t matter. But at the vary least they will be able to live in a world that won¡¯t kill them with one breath.¡±


    ¡°A well thought out and reasoned plan. Elyria help you out with that did she?¡± The lionid asked with a smirk, this time getting a chuckle from the elf. ¡°But in all seriousness, what¡¯s your plan to make this work?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a crystallization pod here, according to what you said earlier anyway. I think we should try and get it running. So, it will be ready when we are contacted, and finish building the sealed compartment inside the ship. There should be plenty of air inside the cave. We can run a hose down and siphon it out to charge the chamber. Perhaps add an algae tank with some grow lights, to help replenish the air supply.¡± That last part was something he¡¯d read about in a book. The spaceship had huge tanks filled with algae, which served as both emergency food and oxygen for the crew. That part of the book really resonated with Ronin, so he hadn¡¯t forgotten about it.


    ¡°Fair enough. Tell you what, why don¡¯t you go out and work on the container? Take Locke with you, he looks like he could use a break from his aunt. I¡¯ll catch up with Red then we¡¯ll get the crystallization pod set up. Sound good?¡± Without any reason to argue, Ronin agreed. The doctor quickly agreed as well, and before long, Ronin, Elyria and a clearly unhappy Locke were heading down the ruined stairs. They hadn¡¯t gone halfway down when a loud crash echoed down to them.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Ronin said, looking back up. ¡°It sounded like the table flipped over, should we¡­¡±


    ¡°Leave it alone, White flame.¡± Elyria said knowingly. ¡°They are clearly remarkably close, and if I had to guess, they are getting ¡®caught up¡¯ in a similar fashion to how you, Lily, and Vasylia did the night they acknowledged you were their husband.¡± The wicked look she shot him had Ronin descending the stairs as fast as he could go, her evil chuckling and Locke¡¯s angry growls following him down.


    *            *            *


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe how versatile this stuff is.¡± Elyria said, some hours later. They were in the ship with all the panes of glass, and the T-beams they¡¯d gathered. As it turned out, the beams weren¡¯t necessary at all. The ship had a fabrication unit, like Ronin¡¯s from his pocket world, but this one was only compatible with the beetle technology. Elyria, who was more familiar with advanced technology and living spaceships than anyone else in their group, had figured out how to work the thing. She¡¯d been able to section off a decent sized area in the ship¡¯s cavernous troop compartment and had the biological T-beams grown right in place.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s super impressive. In hindsight, we could have done this without the glass too.¡± Ronin said, thinking of the clear, plastic-like containers they used as tables. He fit another glass sheet into one of the three by three-foot openings. Elyria slathered the entire perimeter with a clear, fast drying and flexible glue, that the fabrication unit had made from tree sap and bark. They¡¯d rigged up a bag for the glue that she squeezed the concoction out of from a hole in one corner. She¡¯d referenced making cakes for some reason Ronin didn¡¯t understand when she¡¯d first seen the applicator.


    Ronin didn¡¯t know exactly how it worked, but apparently the fabricator could isolate specific compounds or something. Taking what they put in and recombining specific amounts of it to make what they needed. From food to glue and even clothing and building materials. Granted, it needed a lot of raw materials to make anything in useful amounts, and there was a lot of waste produced. Still, the trees were huge, it wasn¡¯t that big a loss.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She said, checking her work before nodding and motioning him to grab another pane of glass. There were five more teams doing the same thing around the hundred-foot square container. ¡°It could have made what we need, but we really do need as much of these resources as we can get. Since we don¡¯t know what Xerox is going to need to fix the cube ship, we shouldn¡¯t waste any of what we have when we can use other things.¡± Ronin nodded; she had a good point.


    ¡°Agreed, but I have to say this is going much faster and easier than I expected. We should have this done in another few hours. If nothing bad happens that¡­¡± No sooner had the words left his mouth, than the radio Ronin had put in his ear, before promptly forgetting about, crackled.


    ¡°Command team, this is Stone.¡± The scout said into Ronin¡¯s ear, Elyria, and Karr too, if the looks they were giving were any indication. ¡°I¡¯ve set up high in the crystal tree on over watch. I can¡¯t see it clearly yet, but there is movement in the sky, flashes of color, could be the sun reflecting off a haul. It¡¯s likely we have an incoming ship.¡±


    ¡°You just had to say it didn¡¯t you, White flame.¡± Elyria said with a glare. ¡°This is your fault; you know that right?¡± She quickly slathered the panel they were working on in place and set down the glue bucket. ¡°Come on, we need to move.¡±


    ¡°Sergeant Karr, you heard?¡± Ronin looked at the leader of his troops, who nodded. ¡°Ok, gather your people and get under cover inside the enclosure. Gnash,¡± he said shifting his focus to the largest lionid woman, and the only one with a name. ¡°Best go too, find Leo and see what he wants you to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes, prince Alexander.¡± She said, barking out orders of her own. She clearly didn¡¯t like Elyria for whatever reason, but she was always polite to Ronin. Possibly because she still believed he was Leo¡¯s son. Either way, it was convenient. K3 ran in as Karr and Gnash led their people out.


    ¡°Ah good, you¡¯re here.¡± Ronin said, looking at the new arrival and then back to Elyria. ¡°What do you think is more likely, a gatherer like the doctor, or a hunter like us?¡± He knew there were way more people who¡¯d been sent down to gather resources from the trees, than there were sent to gather resources from the gatherers. They¡¯d started calling them gatherers and themselves hunters, shortly after meeting the doctor.


    ¡°Odds are good it¡¯s a gatherer. But we can¡¯t be positive. What do you want to do? Should we get into cover too, or stay out here?¡± K3 asked as he snapped his helmet shut.


    ¡°Let¡¯s meet them on the ramp. We should be able to retreat inside if they attack, and there are enough of our people out there to hit them from behind.¡± He knew it would be safer to engage them as soon as they lowered their ramp, whoever they were, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to just randomly kill other people, especially when odds were good, they didn¡¯t have negative intentions.


    Giving orders to his people to watch but not engage unless the new arrivals attacked first, Ronin stood out on the ramp with K3 and his giant shield beside him. Elyria a little way back, covering him with her PCP .50. Ronin had to smile a little, despite his tension. This was remarkably similar to his standoff with the elves, only Owl five had been at his back then, and most of Hunter¡¯s team were still alive. He shook the unproductive thoughts away, as he watched the sky. There was definitely a ship coming in, moving so fast that it was already moving to land.


    The ship, flashing in every color of the rainbow, came to rest right in front of Ronin¡¯s open ramp. In fact, it was so close that when the newly arrived ship¡¯s ramp opened there was only thirty feet of space between it and Ronin¡¯s ramp. That still didn¡¯t prove anything though, perhaps these people were just excessively friendly. He¡¯d find out soon, either way. He saw movement inside the ship as six people walked into view. Much like many of the other groups Ronin had seen, these were also heavily themed, but Ronin had no idea who they were supposed to be.


    They wore sleek, form fitting armor that was styled to look like human musculature. With clearly defined sections as pecks, thigh, bicep, abbs, and well everywhere really. It reminded Ronin of his own armor, except for the color. One by one, the six brightly armored people tumbled, cartwheeled, flipped, or spun their way down the ramp, shouting out their challenges as they came.


    ¡°We are here for your resources.¡± Yelled the man in blue armor. Ronin could only tell from the voice that he was male, the armor concealed the gender otherwise.


    ¡°Don¡¯t resist, or we will be forced to act with aggression.¡± Said the woman wearing pink armor.


    ¡°The salvation of humanity depends on this.¡± The Man in red armor shouted.


    ¡°Fighting is futile,¡± a woman in yellow armor said next.


    They were followed by the last two men, the first in black and the last in green armor. They too spouted silly phrases of challenge and just like the four who came before them, struck a martial artist¡¯s pose once they reached the base of the ramp. Then, they all just stood there. Arms and legs extended in their strange poses. Ronin just stared at them with incomprehension, before exchanging looks with K3 and Elyria.


    ¡°Um¡­ Hi?¡± He eventually said, looking down at the impressively armored, if unarmed, group of six. ¡°What can we do for you today?¡± He really didn¡¯t know how to respond to this¡­ display, so he settled on polite.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to take your resources.¡± Said the man in blue, in an overly loud voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t resist us, and there will be no problems bug man.¡± The woman in pink followed up in her own near shout. Before Ronin could reply again, his radio crackled into life.


    ¡°Hey kid, it¡¯s me.¡± Leo said, sounding exasperated. ¡°That¡¯s Kimberly Bright and her Boyfriend Billy Blue. Don¡¯t have a clue if those are their real names, but they¡¯re total eccentrics. They Think they¡¯re some kind of pre fall superheroes or something. Anyway, her dad is a big shot in the government on the ship. So, it makes sense that he¡¯d have gotten her into the competition for seats on the escape ship. It¡¯s also nearly certain that they will get seats regardless of how well they perform, so go ahead and shoot them. Be one less opponent we have to worry about.¡± Ronin looked down at Billy and Kimberly, who had both changed poses while they spoke. They were still just standing there, waiting for him to hand over his resources. Killing them would be as easy as raising his rifle. As good as that armor looked, he had no doubt it wouldn¡¯t hold up to a round from the PCP 1.0. Still, killing them out of hand like that didn¡¯t seem right¡­


    ¡°I cannot simply hand over the resources I¡¯ve so cruelly taken from my fellow ship mates.¡± He said in a loud booming voice, which echoed between the ships. ¡°If you want them, you will have to take them from my cold, dead hands.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t know what it was, but seeing these people, who were so much like he was when he¡¯d first entered his world, made him nostalgic. They were clearly as clueless about how the real world worked as he had been, all those¡­ days? ago.


    ¡°You think you can come to my ship and tell me what to do?¡± He continued, unclipping the kanabo from his equipment harness. ¡°It will only take me and two of my minions to put the six of you meddling heroes in your places, ha-ha-ha.¡± He even rounded it off with a wicked laugh for effect.


    ¡°Minions?¡± Elyria said in a quiet tone, that nevertheless contained more venom than the wasp queen. ¡°Have you grown tired of living, White flame?¡± Ronin did his best to ignore the holes her eyes were boring into him as he whispered back.


    ¡°Just go along with it, will you?¡± He pleaded quietly, ¡°just put up a fight and try not to kill them. I¡¯d like them alive.¡± He¡¯d opened his radio channel during his whispered conversation with Elyria, so Leo heard him as well.


    ¡°Whatever you want to do kid, we¡¯ll bail you out if you get in over your head, but just know we¡¯re gunna laugh at you for this later, no matter how it turns out.¡± Not the resounding support he would have liked, but Ronin would take what he could get. At least he didn¡¯t have to convince the kaldarr.


    ¡°You got it boss, we¡¯ll crush em real good.¡± K3 said, deepening his already bass voice even further, to the point it shook the air. He¡¯d swapped his rifle for his simple, unadorned war hammer and pulled the giant shield out, limbering up and looking menacingly at their would-be attackers.


    ¡°You are such a child,¡± Elyria said, swapping out her own rifle for a slender, short sword that looked right at home in her elven hands. ¡°That¡¯s right, this is our loot¡­ scum.¡± She said in a much louder voice, then added, ¡°I am so going to kill you for this.¡±


    ¡°So, you are going to resist the righteous crusade of the color force?¡± The man in green armor asked loudly, also switching up his battle stance with the words.


    ¡°Then prepare to meet your end, villain.¡± The woman in yellow shouted, actually doing a standing flip and landing on one knee with her fist on the ground after her one liner. There wasn¡¯t much more to say after that, but the two groups postured and shouted threats for almost another minute, before Elyria got tired of the game and charged forward.


    Ronin and K3 didn¡¯t let her go alone, and before they¡¯d taken three steps the other group started their own charge. With a shouted ¡®Go, color force¡¯ as they ran. Ronin felt a huge grin splitting his face as he rushed to meet his foe. This was the type of heroic battle he¡¯d wanted so desperately to fight when he¡¯d first been making his pocket world. Two groups, facing off over something important. The heroes and the villains, of course, he never imagined himself in the villain¡¯s role back then. The two groups clashed right at the base of Ronin¡¯s ship¡¯s ramp, two of the so-called color force, moving to intercept each of them in turn.


    Ronin found himself facing the green and blue armored men. Elyria was taking on the women in pink and yellow armor, and K3 had the red and black clad individuals. The black armored color force was by far the largest of the group, towering over the pink and yellow members by over a foot. Still, none of them were outside human norms, so he was nearly two feet smaller than the giant K3.


    The first few seconds of the clash were filled with flashy movements, but not much actual fighting. Ronin was swinging his kanabo, but the pair of color force members he was facing kept leaping about, jumping, diving, and doing back flips to avoid his blows. Ronin was wondering if they were ever going to do anything, when the green armored man finally stepped forward in a graceful move and punched him in the chest.


    The blow sent him tumbling back, head over heels until the ramp¡¯s incline forced him to a stop. Shocked at the pain he felt, Ronin looked down at his armor, to find his chest radiated small hairline cracks from the point of impact. It was the first time he¡¯d been seriously injured since he¡¯d gotten this body. Even the giant ladybugs hadn¡¯t been able to damage him with their vicelike mandibles.


    Turning his gaze up to the steadily advancing green and blue armored warriors, Ronin gulped. This fight might be a little harder than he¡¯d anticipated.

 Chapter sixty-two

    ¡°I told you her dad was a big shot, didn¡¯t I?¡± He heard Leo asking through his earpiece as he staggered back to his feet and made some room between himself and the warriors. ¡°I¡¯ve no doubt he dropped significant resources to give his daughter and her playmates the best bodies the ship could make. They might be a little out to lunch, but that doesn''t mean they can¡¯t kill you if you¡¯re not careful.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the warning,¡± Ronin muttered back, flexing the muscles around his neck to engage his helmet plates. He doubted they would survive a direct hit from someone as strong as these colorful juggernauts, but it should at least cushion his brain for one or two hits. Having settled his feet, and caught his breath at last, Ronin took a quick look around to check on his team.


    K3 was holding his own, exchanging blows with the red armored man, and dodging the blows the giant black armored color force was sending his way. Ronin noticed that he had a spiderwebbing of cracks on his armor as well. Looked like the biggest of their foes packed quite the punch, and his friend didn¡¯t want to be hit again either. Elyria on the other hand, had taken to the sky. She¡¯d clearly decided that she didn¡¯t want to take them on in close quarters but was keeping them distracted. Darting down to make a slashing attack with her short sword, and then back up again before either of the armored women could engage her.


    Feeling better now that he knew his friends were ok, Ronin dove back into his own fight. Deciding he¡¯d just think of them as their color from now on, Ronin dodged aside as Green came forward for another punch. Blue had positioned himself off to the side, to take advantage of Ronin while he was off balance after dodging Green. He managed to dodge again but instead of backpedaling further, Ronin swung the kanabo at Green who¡¯d switched places with Blue to attack him after his dodge.


    The spiked metal club contacted Green¡¯s torso with a resounding crack. The impact staggered Green and caused the kanabo to vibrate wildly in Ronin¡¯s grip. He grit his teeth against the pain in his hands, as he steadied his weapon. There was minimal damage to his enemy, the small spiderweb of cracks closely mirrored the ones on his own chest. That was bad, his enemy¡¯s punch had done as much damage to him as a five-foot-long club made of solid metal, being swung at full force, had done to his enemy. They must have had metal or carbon fibers woven into their armor. Ronin cursed inside, wishing he¡¯d have thought to do that himself.


    ¡°Why do you deny the inevitable?¡± Blue asked in a voice meant to carry, as he entered a roundhouse kick that would have taken Ronin¡¯s head clean off if it had connected. ¡°You must have realized that you stand no chance. Evil never does¡­ just give up and surrender your resources. We¡¯ll leave in peace after we have acquired them.¡±


    ¡°Yea,¡± the woman armored in pink called over from her fight. ¡°Our suits were designed by the best minds the government has. My father pulled strings to ensure we could fight effectively. Just give up, it¡¯s only been a few days. You can¡¯t have gathered much anyway; we¡¯ll just take it and go. You can get more later.¡± She didn¡¯t sound quite as committed to the superhero act as the others were, and Ronin wondered if it was her boyfriend who¡¯d come up with the color force idea and she¡¯d just gone along with it.


    ¡°I cannot,¡± Ronin said in his own theatrical voice. ¡°Because I have gathered these resources to help the people, so to give them to you would be an act of betrayal that I will not abide. My code will not allow me to do so.¡± The theatrical speech made his face go red under the helmet, but he didn¡¯t stop. He had dreamed of a fight like this since his first day in his pocket world. A fight against overwhelmingly strong opponents, who were trying to take what belonged to him. There was no way he¡¯d give up now. Ok, so maybe they outnumbered them a few times over and sure, he had rifles powerful enough to punch through their armor, but that was beside the point.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean your honor¡­¡± Blue had stopped his wild dodging and leaping when Ronin had given his one liner. Apparently surprised that Ronin wasn¡¯t dutifully playing the bad guy. Sadly, he stood still for too long, and Ronin was able to capitalize on the moment of stillness. The kanabo rang with the impact as it smashed with full momentum into Blue¡¯s tinted visor. It cracked under the impact, and Blue went down in a heap.


    ¡°Cowardly scum, attacking an unprepared opponent.¡± Green roared as he charged Ronin in a fury. As they danced around, Ronin could hear the frantic clanging and banging from his team members. It looked like his stunt had angered all the color force. He only caught small snippets of their battles, but Elyria had put herself between him and Pink and Yellow. She was swinging her blade so fast it had become a blur. K3 had followed ronin¡¯s example and caught one of his own foes off guard. Red followed Blue to the ground with a smashed visor of his own.


    Looking down at the writhing Blue, Ronin gasped in shock, allowing Green to get a solid kick onto his chest. He was flung backwards, chunks of his armor flaking away. Thick sticky blood the color of orange juice with the consistency of syrup seeped from the wound as he crashed into the ground. He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to stem the tide of internal fluid that so closely matched what was leaking from the cracked plates of Blue¡¯s visor. He hadn¡¯t known it at the time, but Ronin hadn¡¯t connected with a helmet visor, he¡¯d hit Blue directly in his eyes. It was his skull that had cracked under the blow.


    They¡¯d managed to drop both Red and Blue, but Ronin was hurt, and Elyria couldn¡¯t even hurt her opponents. Not that he had time to worry about her, since Green was nearly on top of him. As Ronin rolled backwards and climbed to his feet, a voice entered his earpiece as he hobbled up the ramp.


    ¡°My lord, this is Stone. I have a bead on the green knight. Shall I take him out?¡± The goblin scout who was best known for her long-ranged skills, could have likely dropped the remaining three-color force warriors in the amount of time it took her to ask the question, so he appreciated her tact.


    ¡°Negative, Stone.¡± Ronin said, reaching the top of the ramp and grabbing the fast-drying glue that Elyria had been fixing the panels in place with. ¡°I told them we¡¯d fight three on six. I don¡¯t want to go back on my word.¡± Turning the bag around, he squeezed a healthy amount of glue onto the wound in his chest. He then used the side of the bag to smear it in and around the cracks and missing pieces of armor. No sooner had he finished, Green arrived with a flying kick that Ronin only dodged by letting himself fall to the ramp and roll back down towards the dusty ground below.


    Pain jolted through his chest, forcing him up. Fire, his chest was on fire. Ronin tried his best not to touch the still drying glue, so he didn¡¯t end up gluing his hands to his chest. While he backpedaled from the rapidly approaching Green, he looked down to see the clear glue was now tinted with the orange of his blood. It Bubbled and smoked as it dried, chewing further into the armor and his exposed musculature before it finally solidified.


    Another kick to his chest sent him wheeling backwards again. Thankfully, the glue held everything together. Staggering back upright for the umpteenth time, Ronin panted from the searing ache of his melted muscles, and how resilient the glue was when mixed with his armor. Blinking in shock at the realization he¡¯d weathered that blow better than before his armor had been damaged.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you, honor less trash.¡± Green said in that overly theatrical voice, slowing his advance to pose during the threat. For which Ronin was grateful. It gave him the time to recenter himself. He¡¯d lost his kanabo during the battle, the only weapons he had left were a small belt knife and his sidearm. The knife would do little, and he refused to compromise the terms of the fight and use a weapon, no matter if this wasn¡¯t a formal duel or not, he had his principles.


    Thankfully, as he¡¯d been tactically retreating, Ronin¡¯s foot came into contact with something solid. Looking down, he saw an eight-foot chunk of T-beam, which had been discarded due to a twisted end. During the seconds Green posed, Ronin picked up the beam and pointed it at the charging warrior. The twisted tip caught the charging Green in the abdomen, and the beam was yanked from Ronin¡¯s grip in the fury of the powerful charge. By shear chance, Green lurched forward on impact, driving the other end of the beam into the dirt. His own momentum did the rest, as he ran himself through on the beam.


    Not wasting even a glance for his now defeated foe, Ronin darted back towards the battle. With three of their number down, the color force was getting frantic. Snatching up his kanabo as he ran, Ronin didn¡¯t slow as he neared K3 and Black¡¯s battle. When he was less than ten feet away, he launched himself into the air, bringing his club up over his head in a two-handed grip. As he dropped, he swung the weapon down with all the force he could muster.


    Black, who must have seen him coming at the last second, dodged to the side. As a result, Ronin missed his head, but the kanabo still bit into the biggest color force¡¯s shoulder. Armor cracked, and Ronin heard the sound of squelching insides, as thick syrupy blood painted his club orange. Black hit the ground with a cry of pain, his voice joining the chorus of pained cries Green, Blue, and Red were making.


    Not having planned further ahead than connecting with his enemy, Ronin was left off balance and face planted into the dead ground, losing his weapon once again as it was ripped from his numb fingers. His chest, however, was still holding together well. Apart from the burning pain left over from his melting muscles, the glue was providing wonderful impact resistance.


    ¡°No.¡± Kimberly said with a cry. ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to be like this, we¡¯re super strong. Your supposed to just give us your stuff¡­ like the last few did¡­¡± Her voice got quieter and quieter, and she finally trailed off. dropping her hands in defeat, and turning to Yellow, her last remaining party member. ¡°Looks like we have no choice¡­ Keep them distracted, Yellow force, I¡¯ll go for the back up.¡±


    ¡°Count on me, I¡¯ll die if it means preserving the honor of the color force.¡± Yellow said, the declaration accompanied by a series of martial arts stances before she threw herself towards Ronin. Kimberly took advantage of the momentary distraction, to high tail it back to her ship. Elyria flew after her, swinging her short sword down at the pink warrior, but it didn¡¯t do any good. Kimberly just ignored the attacks and continued to run until she disappeared back into the ship.


    Meanwhile, Ronin and K3 put Yellow down. She was fast and agile, but with the two men doing their best to hit her with their heavy weapons, eventually they did. K3 connected with a glancing blow to her hip, that Ronin capitalized on and smashed his club into her knees. The crunching of carapace armor and the squelching of orange blood signaled the end of the fight. At least, they thought so. Until the whining of motors, and the whirring of gears drifted out of the color force¡¯s open drop ramp.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Kimberly came back into view then, her pink armor reflecting the sun, down at her foes. Only, she hadn¡¯t come back unarmed.


    ¡°Holy shit, is that a mecha?¡± Ronin said with awe, staring up at the suit Kimberly now wore. Until he noticed Elyria was clutched in one of the pink suit¡¯s large hands. Kimberly had grabbed her by the thigh and was bringing her other hand around in a motion reminiscent of how someone would squash a mosquito.


    ¡°Stone,¡± Ronin said, frantically pressing his earpiece. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to say anything else. He couldn¡¯t hear the gun being fired, thanks to its pneumatic nature, but he saw the orange spot appear on Kimberly¡¯s shoulder. It was followed in quick succession with three more shots, too her other shoulder and both knees. Elyria dropped from the now limp fingers with a scream of pain, that Ronin couldn¡¯t hear over the screams Kimberly was now producing. The pink color force warrior was screaming louder than the other five members of her team combined.


    Ronin was by Elyria¡¯s side in an instant, the fatigue that had been catching up to him forgotten, as he knelt by her side. She wasn¡¯t screaming, but that was clearly because she¡¯d bitten down on her own hand to hold it in. Her leg was badly crushed, and her knee was twisted at an odd angle. Orange blood seeped out from around the white scales she¡¯d covered her body with under her clothes. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what to do, reaching out tentatively, he rested his shaking fingers on her thigh, only to be knocked back with a backhand blow to the face by a near delirious Elyria.


    ¡°Move back kid,¡± Leo said, arriving at his side from nowhere. ¡°Let Red take a look, she is a doctor, you know.¡± Ronin felt a wave of relief at those words, he¡¯d completely forgotten they had a doctor nearby. The relief quickly turned to horror when Doctor Mycroft arrived on the scene. She was flanked by four of the thorn covered vine-octopus monsters.


    ¡°What are you going to¡­¡± He started to say, when Leo picked him up by the shoulder and hauled him up and into the color force¡¯s ship. Before his view was cut off, Ronin saw Doctor Mycroft examining the wound with all six of her hands, while one of her monsters was injecting a bright red fluid into the affected leg.


    ¡°Let her work kid.¡± Leo said, setting him down and giving him a once over. ¡°Reds going to have to give you a look when she¡¯s done with the fairy queen.¡± He continued, tapping a clawed finger against the bubbled and uneven surface of the orange blood infused glue, which was holding Ronin¡¯s armor together. ¡°That was some quick thinking. Let you finish the fight, and in the field, it would have saved your life. I have to question the wisdom of the action now though. It¡¯s going to have to be cut out you know. Red could have healed you up with a few jabs, but now¡­ be ready for pain kid.¡± Ronin knew the older man was worried about him, but with Elyria¡¯s muffled groans still echoing in his ears, Ronin couldn¡¯t be bothered with it. In order to take his mind off her situation, he looked around the cavernously huge drop ship.


    ¡°How in the world did they get mechs?¡± He asked Leo, looking at the remaining five colored suits, standing right beside the drop ramp. Each was colored the same as the other five color force and looked intimidating as hell.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic kid,¡± Leo said with a scoff. ¡°Those aren¡¯t mecha, they¡¯re just exosuits. Can¡¯t you tell the difference? Mechs are considerably larger than this. These suits are barely over nine feet tall. Here, look,¡± He moved forward and started pointing out features of the machines. ¡°See this?¡± He asked pointing to the chest, which was opened up like a clam. ¡°The wearer steps into the suit, putting their feet on these pads.¡± Here he pointed at the small platforms at around knee height on the exosuit.


    ¡°There are straps for the shins, knees, thighs and so on. And here,¡± Next, he pointed at the arms of the machine. ¡°The wearer¡¯s hands aren¡¯t even completely covered in the arms, they are just strapped in, underneath. Once inside, the chest closes up to protect the torso and the head, but the arms and legs are exposed. These were constructed from a mix of human and beetle tech. Made, I think, primarily because the inventor was bored.¡± He shrugged his giant, mane shrouded shoulders as he walked around one of the suits.


    ¡°They can be used in combat, but they¡¯re mainly used to provide muscle power where we can¡¯t get bigger pieces of equipment¡­ Not that we, as a race, have much reason to come down to the surface anymore. Again, they were crafted out of boredom more than anything.¡± Ronin calmed down some and picked up on the worry in Leo¡¯s stance. He thought the lionid was explaining so much about the suits to keep them both distracted more than anything.


    ¡°What are you going to do with the kids?¡± Leo asked at last, turning away from the nine-foot tall exosuits, to give Ronin his full attention. ¡°We should really kill them. If word of this encounter got around to Kimberly¡¯s father, it could be bad for us.¡± Ronin looked up at Leo, absentmindedly rubbing his chest, as he thought. The bubbled, smeared texture of the glue felt strange against the carapace covering his hands.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to try and save what little of humanity we can.¡± Ronin answered at last, looking Leo in the eyes. ¡°If we start killing kids who are guilty of only being too sheltered to understand how the world works, why even bother?¡± He was having flashbacks to himself, in his early days in his pocket world. It was sad, but he saw so much of himself in these kids¡­ kids who were likely older than he was by decades. ¡°What happens to beetle bodies, when their minds reenter the crystallin matrix?¡±


    ¡°You mean if you or I go back into our personal realms?¡± Leo asked, scratching himself under the chin as he thought. ¡°It depends. I bought a body before, but after a while on the surface, I went back into the system. The ship gave me the option of selling the body or maintaining it for future use. Since I had no plans to leave again, I sold it. But it stands to reason bodies that don¡¯t house consciousnesses can be reused.¡± Ronin¡¯s face split into a wide grin at that news, and he began thinking furiously.


    ¡°Then, I don¡¯t want to kill them.¡± He said at last, to the amused look on Leo¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll send them into my pocket world along with the refugees. I don¡¯t see them causing too much trouble in there. It was daddies¡¯ money that cause all the problems out here anyway.¡± Ronin looked at the five exosuits, and thought about the six, strong, bodies now waiting to be used, and his grin grew wider.


    ¡°It¡¯s your turn, bug boy.¡± Doctor Mycroft said, entering the ship with her four abominations following in her wake. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your girlfriend is fine, the big guy is carrying her back to the other ship to rest, then he¡¯ll be right back¡­ think we¡¯re going to need his help to hold you down.¡± Ronin felt relief, followed by anxiety at her words.


    ¡°Hold me down?¡± He asked with trepidation. ¡°Why would you have to do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know kid,¡± the doctor said, crossing her arms under her ample breasts, causing them to perk up even more. ¡°Perhaps because you used a chemical bonding agent to seal the cracks in your armor? It¡¯s not coming off either your muscles or your exoskeleton without cutting. It¡¯s just lucky for you I spent some time experimenting with rapid growth steroids lately. It¡¯s still going to hurt like crazy, but at least you¡¯ll be healed up, good as new In days rather than weeks.¡± Ronin gulped at that, attention turning to the ramp as K3 ran into view at full speed.


    ¡°You ok boss?¡± The kaldarr asked, not slowing down until he¡¯d reached Ronin¡¯s side. ¡°You took several hard hits out there.¡± Ronin noticed that he wasn¡¯t the only one, K3 had at least two sections of his own armor that were slowly leaking orange blood between hairline cracks in the carapace.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Apparently, I did more damage with the glue than the blow did me. What about you, big guy? Looks like they got you a few times too.¡±


    ¡°Minor damage, the doctor has already given me a rapid growth injection. I should be fine again in an hour. Also, don¡¯t worry about Elyria. She¡¯s sleeping, but the doc fixed her leg up first, and said she¡¯d make a full recovery.¡±


    ¡°As touching as this is,¡± Leo said with a smirk. ¡°Can we get on with it? We¡¯ve got too ships now it seems. So, I¡¯ll go get your people collecting more glass. You earned this ship by combat, so you keep it. While Red is seeing to your wounds, they can build another chamber in here.¡±


    They hashed out details for a few minutes, and Ronin made a quick call to Stone. He thanked her for the quick save and let her know that Leo would be asking them to do some more work, and that they should do as he said. Then, he settled in for his surgery.


    ¡°Hey Doc,¡± he said, as she used all her hands to slowly cut the glue from his body. An annoyed hiss interrupted him before he could continue, however.


    ¡°Do not address the doctor in such an informal manner.¡± Locke, who¡¯d been assisting with the procedure, snapped. He closed his mouth quickly, and ducked in silent apology, when the doctor in question gave him a dark look.¡±


    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t call me, Red,¡± She said, with a nod at Ronin, ¡°I¡¯ve answered to worse than Doc¡­ what do you need child?¡± Even when she¡¯d glanced at Locke, she¡¯d never ceased her work. Constantly swapping out instruments from the belt at her waist, and a bandoleer, Ronin hadn¡¯t noticed underneath her lab coat.


    ¡°I was wondering about the glue,¡± Ronin said after making sure she was ok with the interruption. ¡°When I got hit in the chest before, my armor cracked, just from a punch. After I got my chest split though, I mixed glue into the wound. It burned like crazy, but the next time I got hit, it didn¡¯t hurt. Why is that?¡± The Doc worked in silence for a while, clearly thinking through the question, if the look on her face was any indication. She stopped scraping the glue away after a minute and started pushing Ronin¡¯s chest. Checking around the wound, and an area that hadn¡¯t gotten injured.


    ¡°Looks to me like the armored carapace you designed is hard, but brittle. It has no give to it, so when it reaches as much force as it can take, it breaks. The glue was designed to hold glass into a frame, which might move. It¡¯s flexible, yet strong. From what I¡¯m seeing here, having this flexible seam has improved the ability of your body to take damage by being able to give a little under the blows¡­ like a willow bending to the wind, verses an oak, who breaks because it won¡¯t bend.


    The reference to an oak unwilling to bend brought back memories from his pocket world. Ronin exchanged a look with K3, the giant had an interesting look on his face. It took Ronin a moment to remember he¡¯d fought shoulder to shoulder with Unyielding oak in that final battle. Done with his trip down memory lane, Ronin refocused on what was happening in the here and now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose there is any way we could, I don¡¯t know, split my carapace at regular intervals and fill the gaps with glue?¡± He asked the wide-mouthed Doctor Mycroft, with a slight grin. ¡°I was too vulnerable in that fight. I need every edge I can get if I¡¯m going to get stronger.¡±


    ¡°Putting aside the fact that you could have easily won that fight with a few silent bullets from range¡­ are you serious about this? The glue wouldn¡¯t work, but I¡¯ve been experimenting with the ladybugs on the tree, I think with a few samples of your armor I could have an upgrade ready for you in a few days. If I mix the¡­¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t known what he¡¯d unleash when he¡¯d asked the question, and, not for the first time he was reminded of Owl two. Doctor Mycroft was fixated on experiments to the exclusion of almost everything else. As she prattled on about different compounds and how she could apply them to improve his body¡¯s durability, Ronin¡¯s mind began to wander.


    He looked around the color force ship, his ship now, while the doc worked and talked. His people were coming and going from the ramp. Hard at work building a second enclosure. K3, after realizing that Ronin wasn¡¯t going to move. Had activated the fabrication machine and was feeding in a slew of materials the color force had likely robbed from other contestants. Ronin watched as six small cages took shape, each equipped with one of the tentacle arms that had held them in the growth vats.


    They should be enough to keep the colorfully armored prisoners contained, while they waited for Xerox to contact them. A series of loud noises heralded Karr, who was walking the exosuit back into the ship, coached quietly by Leo, who was walking at his side. Ronin grinned widely as he watched his sergeant work the machine.


    His combat potential had just skyrocketed. Opening up several new avenues to his goals¡­ His smile dimmed a little, as he realized that his plans were moving too smoothly. Whenever that happened, something was bound to come along and ruin those plans, in a way that normally resulted in someone he cared about dying.

 Chapter sixty-three

    Ronin¡¯s new ship let out a musical note, to let those on board know it had landed. As the notes died away, Ronin, K3, Stone, and Whisper put their decks away. The four of them had been playing a game of POWF, while they flew. Karr and his squad had split into three groups, and had been playing as well, but they wrapped it up when the music started.


    ¡°Ok guys,¡± Ronin said, ¡°Looks like we made it. Sergeant Karr, pick six of your people to train on the exosuits. Stone, Whisper, you two can ride Green and Blue.¡± Ronin gestured at the two gryphons that Leo had lent him. He didn¡¯t have any arial support without Elyria, so the older man had offered to help. ¡°Meet up at the ramp in five, let¡¯s do this people.¡± Once he¡¯d given his instructions, everyone besides K3 went about their orders. The kaldarr¡¯s orders, on the other hand, were to protect Ronin. So, he was always nearby.


    ¡°Going to check on her before we head out?¡± He asked, looking down at Ronin with a slight smile.


    ¡°Yea, but it won¡¯t take me long. Just going to let her know we¡¯re leaving the ship.¡± Ronin said, not quite defensively. Seeing the elf injured like that had come as a surprise to Ronin, she always seemed so strong. It didn¡¯t seem real that she could be so easily hurt. Moving through the mass of boxes and barrels the color force had brought down with them, Ronin entered a house they¡¯d set up in the back portion of the ship.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± He asked Elyria as he entered her room, after rapping gently on the open door.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, White flame.¡± The elf said, laying propped up in the largest bed, her entire leg in a cast, constructed from a substance similar to the glue Ronin had plastered over his own chest. It was holding her leg in place while it healed, a process that should only take another day, thanks to Doctor Mycroft¡¯s healing formula.


    ¡°Honestly, you were hurt worse than I was. Your entire chest was caved in. I just got a small fracture. So quit worrying so much about it.¡± She said dismissively, though Ronin noticed how she¡¯d reached out under the covers to touch the cast.


    ¡°I know, you said that before.¡± Ronin said, sitting down on the side of the bed. ¡°It was just a tough match up for you. And that¡¯s on me. I did it again, let my desire for an honorable duel blind me to the fact that our lives were on the line.¡± This wasn¡¯t the first time Ronin had said these words, and just like before, Elyria scolded him for them.


    ¡°Damn right it was a bad match up, White flame,¡± she said with a scoff. ¡°I¡¯m a moon elf, my specialties are politics, and herbology, with ranged combat as a distant third. I can fight with a blade, and if Pink and Yellow had been flesh and blood, I¡¯d have killed them within three moves.¡± She sighed, getting herself more comfortable. ¡°I¡¯m just not strong enough to fight in close quarters like that. lesson learned, no big deal.¡± Ronin nodded at her words, not wanting to tread any further down the same old road, so he just changed the subject.


    ¡°You hear the signal?¡± He asked, and at her nod continued. ¡°We¡¯re heading out now, going to let Karr and his people train up with the exosuits¡­ While we strip another tree of all life.¡± He added the last part quietly, but the elf¡¯s keen ears still picked it up.


    ¡°Not like we have much of a choice,¡± she said shrugging. ¡°The lizards are coming. If we took our time, harvesting only what we knew could be sustained, we¡¯d never finish in time.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± he said with a sigh, grabbing her hand on top of the covers, and giving it a soft squeeze before climbing back to his feet. ¡°Get some rest then, you should be good to go by the time we are done with this tree. Hopefully, Xerox will have contacted us by then too.¡± They had a lot to do in the next few months, but they couldn¡¯t leave the area to work on it until they¡¯d saved Ronin¡¯s home cave.


    ¡°Just be careful up there,¡± Elyria said. She hadn¡¯t squeezed his hand back, but she hadn¡¯t pulled away either. ¡°You had your contest with Leo, then you got your honorable duel with the colored freaks¡­ now play it safe for once and actually use the equipment we brought with us, ok?¡±


    ¡°No promises,¡± he said with a wink, before leaving the room. He felt the pillow impact him in the back as he left, but he only paused long enough to toss it back to her gently before walking away. He had every intention of doing this run right. Since, after the battle had ended and he¡¯d been healed up, he¡¯d had the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong.


    ¡°You should really just let us go,¡± the voice pulled him out of his brooding, and Ronin looked around to see Kimberly looking at him from her cage. ¡°My dad is going to kill you, when he finds out that you¡¯ve captured me and taken over this ship. You do know that right?¡± She was in a small cell, with standing room only, the thick tentacle, vine restraint system wrapped around all her limbs. Her feet were suspended a few inches off the floor, and her hands had been glued together. Overkill? Maybe, but those six were so strong that he couldn¡¯t risk one of them getting out.


    ¡°We might be captured right now, but we still have our power, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, shut the hell up Billy,¡± Kimberly snapped at the blue armored color force. ¡°This only happened because we went with your choice of heroes. If we¡¯d have done it my way¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Billy asked, the overly loud tones disappearing as he looked at his girlfriend. ¡°This was the perfect choice. Besides, I don¡¯t see how naming a quad of girls after the planets, and slapping me in a tuxedo would have changed the way this all turned out, do you?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, we¡­¡± Ronin sighed, he had no idea what they were talking about. Xerox couldn¡¯t get ahold of them soon enough, he needed to unload these adult children onto someone else before they drove him insane. Turning around, he left them to their arguments.


    ¡°Good to go, boss?¡± K3 asked from his place on the ramp. Stone and Whisper had already flown out to circle around the ship on the pair of gryphons, while Karr and the three members of his squad who hadn¡¯t been chosen to wear the exosuits waited beside K3. The remaining six members were still getting themselves strapped into the suits. Ronin was a little jealous, he wanted to wear one himself, but knew there would be plenty of time for it later.


    ¡°Good to go, big guy.¡± Ronin said, thumping his fist against K3¡¯s arm. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Walking out of the ship, Ronin caught sight of the tree right away. They¡¯d landed less than one hundred yards away from this one. Not wanting to waste time on the trips back and forth once they¡¯d cleared it out.


    His people at his back, Ronin jogged over to the tree and started the climb. He moved slowly, climbing in a spiral pattern up the trunk, checking all the deep bark valleys for aphids and ladybug larva. They shot them as they moved, never coming close enough to use their melee weapons. Not on purpose anyway, though accidents could happen.


    ¡°Stone, how we look up there?¡± Ronin asked, once they¡¯d reached the first branch. It was so wide an entire village could have been built right here without feeling cramped. The goblin scouts had been flying circles around the limb, so Ronin thought he¡¯d better check in with them.


    ¡°Looks clear of big threats, my lord,¡± Stone answered immediately. ¡°There is a nest of aphids on the underside of the branch you just stepped on. Me and Whisper are taking care of them, we grabbed a few extra PCP .25 carbines so it shouldn¡¯t take us too long to put them all down.¡±


    ¡°Copy that, thanks Stone.¡± Ronin said, unclipping his own PCP .25 carbine from his harness. After he¡¯d been stuck in that wasp hive from hell, he¡¯d requested a carbine of his own. It was of minimal use against ladybugs, but aphids and wasps were easy enough to kill, at short range. ¡°Let¡¯s give our boys and girls on the ground plenty to practice with, shall we?¡± He asked, to an accompanied cheer from Karr¡¯s people.


    They moved out along the branch, shooting each cluster of aphids as they came into contact with them. Once each group had been dealt with, they¡¯d take the time to chuck the corpses out over the side of the huge branch. They¡¯d drop to the ground, where the six exosuited soldiers were rounding them up to be fed through the processing unit.


    The machine was really gross to watch work, being something close in function to a woodchipper. They¡¯d feed in the raw materials, and the unit would shred them into what was usable, and what wasn¡¯t. The usable parts were fed into large storage containers for either liquids or solids, while the waste material was pumped outside the ship. Ronin could already see the pile forming around the hose they¡¯d laid out two hundred yards from the ship in the opposite direction from the tree. The aphids didn¡¯t give much in the way of useful parts, so most of them was fed through the machine and out into the field. Still, they needed everything they could get, so nothing was wasted.


    Out they moved, along the first branch, killing every aphid they found and chucking their bodies over the side. Once they¡¯d cleared this one, they moved up to the next branch, again using the spiral pattern to check the trunks bark for any hidden bugs. It was boring and repetitive, and a huge part of why Ronin didn¡¯t want to fight like this. At least until they made it up to higher branches. On Ronin¡¯s last run, in his competition with Leo, they¡¯d moved so fast that they hadn¡¯t given the tree¡¯s occupants any time to gather. That wasn¡¯t the case this time. As they moved higher and higher, the opponents got more numerous and coordinated.


    Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how high up they had climbed, but the exosuits looked like bugs from his vantage, and they¡¯d finally hit some stiff resistance. Ladybugs, twelve of them, and a pack of six wasps had converged on them the moment they reached the new branch. It was difficult to challenge them on their home ground, because both the ladybugs and the wasps could fly. Ronin and his teammates on the other hand, were confined to their feet. Thankfully, they used the same tactics as they had before. The ladybugs boxing them against the trunk while making lightning-fast darting attacks, with their mandibles. While the wasps flew down in dive runs, trying to stab them with their venomous stings.


    Ronin and K3 took on the ladybugs, Ronin starting from the left, and K3 the right. Each pumping out one round after another until the ten on the outsides had been downed with a shot to the head each. That left only the two in the middle. K3 moved forward, using his giant shield to catch the lightning grab attack, and smashing his hammer into the second ladybug¡¯s side as it tried to horn in on the action. Ronin stayed back, slipping five more rounds into his rifle while K3 distracted the remaining foes. Pumping the manual loader on the foregrip, Ronin checked his line of fire to be sure his best friend wasn¡¯t in the way, and fired two more shots, ending the ladybug threat.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    He turned his attention upwards, while he reloaded the two spent rounds. The sky was clear. It had been easy for Karr and his three soldiers to take down the wasps, since they didn¡¯t have the ladybugs to distract them from the winged opponents diving attacks.


    ¡°Good work everyone.¡± Ronin said, helping K3 push the ladybugs off the branch. Hoping they didn¡¯t crush one of their own by mistake. He was starting to worry a little bit about the climb. They weren¡¯t even halfway up the tree yet, and they¡¯d seen such a large group of defenders. He did not want to be in the middle of another wasp swarm. No way, and if the groups continued to grow, the ammunition limitations on their PCP 1.0¡¯s might soon become a problem.


    ¡°Stone, Whisper,¡± Ronin said, messaging the scouts.


    ¡°Yea boss?¡± Stone answered for the pair. Whisper lived up to her name, like all goblins did, and didn¡¯t really talk much.


    ¡°Can you handle overwatch on your own, Stone?¡± He asked, once he knew he had their attention. ¡°The enemy numbers are growing the higher we go. We could use someone with a PCP .50 to pick up the slack, since the 1.0¡¯s just don¡¯t have the ammo capacity.¡± The pair were silent for a beat, likely communicating on a private line, before Stone came back on the line.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting pretty hot up here boss, we need each other to watch our backs¡­ but the wasps are pretty easy to kill, and the ladybugs aren¡¯t fast or agile enough to catch the gryphons¡­ we could land really quick and trade our .50¡¯s for a pair of .25 carbines. Will that work instead?¡± Ronin thought about it, exchanging a glance with K3, who nodded, before answering.


    ¡°Sounds great, Stone.¡± He said, nodding even though she couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°Good job offering that compromise, I don¡¯t always know the best course of action. So, if we aren¡¯t in the thick of it, let me know when I¡¯m making mistakes. It¡¯s the only way I¡¯ll learn. The only way that doesn''t include pain and injury anyway.¡± He¡¯d said that last on open coms, wanting his whole team to know they had a voice in the group.


    ¡°Sir, I have a question.¡± A tentative voice said over the comm, and Ronin looked around. He¡¯d moved away from the group, to meet the scouts for the trade, so he didn¡¯t know who was talking.


    ¡°Go ahead soldier, and who am I speaking to?¡± He¡¯d figured out it had to be one of Karr¡¯s three remaining soldiers by process of elimination, but he still hadn¡¯t learned all their names.¡±


    ¡°Sorry sir, it¡¯s me, Jack. Right here, between Zak and Jaya.¡± Looking at the three soldiers, he saw the taller of the trio waving at him. ¡°Anyway sir, I just wanted to know if you¡¯d like one of us to take the frontline spot for a while. Back in the valley, you were way stronger than us. Here though, all our bodies are about the same. So, wouldn¡¯t it be better for one of us to take the more dangerous position sir? We can always be replaced, but¡­ I heard the lion talking to that doctor. If you die up here, our entire world gets erased.¡± As the man spoke, Ronin saw Karr glaring daggers into him, and he knew the man had a tongue lashing in his future. Still, he couldn¡¯t refute what he¡¯d said. Why did he insist on being on the frontlines?


    Ronin thought in silence while he traded rifles with his scouts. Wondering about why he always chose to be in the thick of the fighting. It had been true, in his pocket world, that he was one of the strongest people around. That wasn¡¯t the case anymore. A reality that had been clearly demonstrated recently with his fight against the color force. Maybe he should take a step back; it would give him a chance to observe his people fighting, and maybe give him some ideas on how to better fight himself. Though, he was honest enough with himself to admit he couldn¡¯t stay on the backlines forever. Not while his men were in trouble.


    ¡°You have a point soldier.¡± Ronin said, returning to the small group, and holding out his PCP 1.0 to the shocked looking Jack. ¡°Here, you and K3 can hold the front for a while. I¡¯ll take the PCP .50 and watch your backs, and hopefully, learn something from watching people who are better qualified than I am.¡± Jack¡¯s face paled and he took a step back.


    ¡°Sir, my lord.¡± He stammered out as he shot a helpless look at Karr, who was glaring murderously at his soldier. ¡°I wasn¡¯t implying anything like that, you are a great fighter, I just¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand soldier, don¡¯t worry about it. Sergeant Karr won¡¯t give you a hard time about this either.¡± He added with a pointed look at his squad leader. ¡°I just hadn¡¯t realized that the situation had changed, and since I¡¯m always in the front, I never get to see how well the rest of you fight. So, at least for a little while, I want to watch your teamwork in action. If you aren¡¯t the best one suited to be front man, then you can decide who takes the role¡­ Show me what you¡¯ve got soldier.¡± Ronin said, trying to be encouraging. He hadn¡¯t realized until just then how negatively what he¡¯d just done could be viewed. Karr oversaw his squad, and he¡¯d stepped all over the man¡¯s authority just then.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Jack stammered, accepting the heavy rifle and the extra tank and round. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down sir.¡± He added, remembering to clasp his fist to his chest in the old owl team salute. Turning away, Ronin whispered an apology to Karr for stepping on his toes. It seemed to mollify the man, but Ronin knew they¡¯d have to talk about it later. He didn¡¯t want his people to feel under appreciated.


    ¡°Sergeant Karr,¡± he said, once he¡¯d gained a little distance. ¡°Redeploy our assets as you see fit, and then kindly take charge of the mission. For the rest of this climb, I am at your command.¡± Karr gave him a look, as if making sure that it was ok, before taking the lead with a series of barked orders.


    The next branch went much differently than the ones before. Karr ended up taking custody of Ronin¡¯s heavy rifle, he placed himself beside K3 and put his three soldiers in front of them in a triangle formation. They moved down the branch in that formation. The frontline troops dividing up the branch ahead into three imaginary lanes. Each taking responsibility for the enemies in their own lane. Ronin watched from where he¡¯d been placed back near the trunk. The PCP .50 had such a long range, and with the scope on top making targeting easier, the person on overwatch didn¡¯t even need to accompany the group.


    It gave Ronin ample time to study the difference in his leadership abilities, when compared to Karr¡¯s. He immediately noticed that Karr, having placed himself in the back, was calling out instructions when something out of the ordinary would occur. For example, when a pair of ladybugs flew in, he gave K3 the order to take them down. Later, when a group of wasps buzzed into view, he told Jack to take them out, while Jaya was to cover his lane as they continued to advance.


    Ronin thought he was micromanaging the team too much, and that it was going to cause friction in the group. At least, he did at first. After they¡¯d reached the third branch up from where Karr had taken the leadership role, he had to change his opinion. Thanks to the constant stream of instructions, at least when something other than, ¡®shoot what¡¯s in your lane soldier¡¯ came up, it freed the soldiers up to focus only on what they were supposed to be doing, and what Karr told them to do. There was never a question about who was supposed to take on what threat. There was never an instance of someone running out of ammo unexpectedly. Each person in the group covered the others seamlessly.


    Even Ronin¡¯s tendency to lead from the front, was called into question. He¡¯d always thought it best to place himself and K3 at the tip of the spear, to keep those behind him safe from unexpected attacks. What he was seeing now though, was the soldiers with the most ammunition, who were doing the most shooting, had clear and open sight lines. While Karr and K3 were able to observe what was going on around them and act against any threat aiming for the three in front of them.


    Ronin found that apart from watching, all he had to do was wait for Karr to give the orders. He had his rifle shouldered the whole time, looking through the scope to follow the progress of his team. Whenever Karr contacted him, all he had to do was shoot the bug that was giving them a hard time. Generally, it was in groups big enough to require the big guns to need a reload. Karr would never let their guns run dry, instead counting shots. When either of their weapons fired their third round, he would contact Ronin over the radio to take over while they took turns reloading.


    They continued on like that, for an entire day. The ship made bodies were tireless, only needing a steady supply of nutrient fluid to maintain top functionality. The scouts on their gryphon mounts kept them supplied with canteens of freshly made fluid and ammunition. By taking quick trips back down to the ship between branches. They were probably eating more than they needed to, strictly speaking, but one never wanted to be too tired to concentrate. That went doubly true for ammunition. Ronin would never enter a large-scale engagement with insufficient ammunition again unless he had no other choice.


    Several hours into the second day of the climb, Ronin spotted Elyria flying up to meet with the troop. He¡¯d been worried about her, but knowing she would make a full recovery had kept him from dwelling on it. Still, it was nice to see that she¡¯d joined them, just as soon as she¡¯d recovered.


    ¡°Still playing rearguard?¡± She asked, coming to land beside Ronin. He was pleased to note that she looked as healthy as ever. ¡°I thought you would get antsy by now and rush back up to the front.¡± Unfortunately, her words had hit a sore spot, and dimmed his excitement at seeing her.


    ¡°Yes, still playing rearguard.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s so frustrating¡­ K3 is stronger than I am, Karr is a better leader than I am, Owl Two is way smarter than I am, you understand politics and people on a level I likely never will¡­ Stone is a better shot, by far. Sometimes I wonder why I haven¡¯t been replaced yet. There isn¡¯t anything I can do that one of you can¡¯t do better¡­ Jack asked me yesterday, why I was still on the frontlines. So, I figured I¡¯d come back here and learn how Karr did things. Well, I¡¯m learning alright. Learning that I really don¡¯t have a place on the battlefield. At least not when I don¡¯t have a massive advantage in strength.¡± He was throwing a bit of a pity party, and he knew it. That didn¡¯t mean he was wrong though.


    Elyria tucked her wings down and to the sides, then leaned back into the tree¡¯s main trunk. Once she¡¯d gotten comfortable, she looked over at him with an intense gaze that made Ronin uncomfortable almost immediately.


    ¡°Good,¡± she said at last, nodding her head.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Ronin asked, looking sideways at her.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry.¡± She said with a scoff and a hard flick to the side of his head. A target she¡¯d adopted after the first time she¡¯d punched his shoulder, only to bruise her knuckles. ¡°Was I supposed to give you a peptalk there? Tell you that you really are great at leading, or that you swing your metal stick like a pro?... It seems pretty clear that I don¡¯t have to tell you how bad you are at everything, since you already know.¡± That hurt. Ronin didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d expected exactly, but this wasn¡¯t it at all.


    ¡°Never mind,¡± he said, bringing his rifle back to his shoulder. ¡°Forget I said anything.¡± Before he could look into the scope, however, Elyria placed a hand on his arm, gently pushing until he lowered the weapon back down, and was forced to look at her.


    ¡°Each of us is better at our specialty than you, White flame, because we spent our whole lives working to improve our abilities. Lives that, in many cases, are quite a bit longer than yours. Your buddy, K3 for example. He¡¯s in his sixties, did you know that? He is double your age and was born into a race that excels in combat. Wouldn¡¯t it be weirder if he wasn¡¯t better than you?¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t actually known that about his friend. A flush of shame creeped over his cheeks at how little attention he paid to those he claimed to be close to. Elyria wasn¡¯t done, however.


    ¡°You are new to all of this. In a way that I could never have understood until I saw where you lived your life up until we met. Until I crawled into that tiny crack in the cave wall you slept in every night¡­¡± Her voice choked up, and the hand resting on his arm squeezed it a little tighter. ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is, why should you be better than we are at our specialties? We¡¯ve lived our lives, working to improve those abilities. So, we understand them. Anything worth having is worth working for White flame. Whenever someone gets something handed to them, more often than not they don¡¯t appreciate it as much as if they¡¯d worked their whole lives to acquire it.¡±


    ¡°¡­thanks,¡± Ronin said after a long pause. She was right, he had been being very selfish. Why should he be better at everything than everyone else? He hadn¡¯t earned the ability to claim that right. It did give him something to work towards though. Since, if he wanted to be the best at something, he could be, as long as he was willing to put in the work.


    ¡°There is something that you have that we don¡¯t though,¡± Elyria added, releasing his hand, and standing back up straight. ¡°Our entire world is tied to your life. It doesn¡¯t matter how strong, or smart, or good at shooting any of us are. If you die, our entire world dies with you. So, think about that, next time you decide to risk your life in some crazy, pointless honor duel, ok?¡± She said, changing the subject back to a familiar argument they were both comfortable with. Ronin chuckled, feeling better after the conversation after all.


    ¡°Hey,¡± he said, pointing down at the soldiers working in their newly acquired exosuits. ¡°It worked out ok in the end, didn¡¯t it. After all, we¡­¡± he was interrupted by a call on his comms unit. The voice that came through, bringing news he¡¯d been waiting for.


    ¡°Hey kid, it¡¯s Leo. Your android contacted the ship. Red was able to find the channels he used to route the message, so, given a few days, she should be able to get an open channel to him. But for now, we have what we need to send the cave folk into your personal realm. So, finish up there, and get hustling to the cave.¡±

 Chapter sixty-four

    Ronin looked up with anticipation and saw Elyria¡¯s grinning face. It looked like she¡¯d gotten the news as well. Ronin wanted to go right then, but Karr was engaged with more than a dozen ladybugs. Cursing, Ronin shouldered his rifle and focused on the fight. He hadn¡¯t been asked for help yet, but if he was, he needed to act instantly. The request came shortly after.


    ¡°Overwatch, take second on the left.¡± Karr¡¯s calm voice said inside his earpiece. Ronin had been doing his best to guess what the sergeant would want in advance and had already been aiming to the left. Since the ladybugs on that side were undercover from above by twisting branches. Meaning the scouts flying overhead couldn¡¯t get a good bead on them. Moving his aim just a hair, Ronin fired off a round that took the ladybug in the head.


    That was the only contribution Ronin made to the battle, but that was fine. He was learning more and more about what to watch out for, and what he should consider next time he led a squad. Karr was an excellent squad leader, and his ability to follow the battle well enough to give individual orders and fight at the same time was beyond impressive.


    The battle finally ended, and Ronin waited with Elyria while Karr and K3 dropped the bodies off the branch. Keeping watch just in case they were ambushed. Doing a final sweep to make sure they¡¯d gotten everything, the team headed back to Ronin.


    ¡°Karr really is impressive, isn¡¯t he?¡± Elyria asked, mirroring Ronin¡¯s own thoughts.


    ¡°He is,¡± Ronin replied with a nod. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure what I¡¯d learn from watching him. Turns out, a lot. But we got the call, time to wrap it up.¡± They waited in silence after that, until the squad was within easy earshot. Then Ronin called out, to let them know they were leaving. It was a shame, because there was no way to guarantee the branches, they had cleared would still be empty when, or if, they came back. If they did, they¡¯d have to clear the tree all over again.


    ¡°We finally got the word huh?¡± K3 asked, joining Ronin and Elyria, as they climbed down the tree. ¡°About time. Are we heading back to the enclosure first, or going right to the cave?¡± The kaldarr didn¡¯t have any orange blood on him, ronin noticed. That Indicated just how much more efficient Karr¡¯s tactics were to his own. Since, it meant they hadn¡¯t had to fight in melee at all. He filed that information away for future study, as he spoke about their new mission.


    ¡°We are going straight to the caves.¡± He said, climbing faster in his excitement. ¡°Leo said he knows about another nearby cave, so he¡¯s on his way there now. We don¡¯t have much time left, if we are going to make this work, but I want to save as many people as I can before we go.¡± K3 only nodded, being well aware of the plan.


    They were only sticking around this part of the world, because Ronin wanted to save his old town. Once they were done, they would head off to the mountain where the damaged lizard ship was hangered. They didn¡¯t know how long it would take to get down to the ship, or how long it would take to fix it, or if it was even fixable in the first place. Ronin shook the unnecessary worries about tomorrow away and redoubled his descent speed.


    Upon reaching the ground, he saw the remainder of Karr¡¯s team making quick work of the huge pile of dead bugs. Not wanting to waste what they had already killed; Ronin grabbed several aphids and hauled them back to the ship. When the rest of the team arrived, they did the same thing, and before long, Ronin was tossing the last aphid into the woodchipper-like machine.


    He watched in fascination, as the body was split open and hoses of all sizes and colors snaked their way inside. Using some method of location that Ronin didn¡¯t understand, they each latched onto whatever parts of the creature they were responsible for. They then either sucked up the fluids or grabbed onto the solids with small claws.


    Once the many arms and hoses had drained the body of everything valuable, it was shredded into a paste, that was then pumped out of the ship, through another tube, and emptied into a nasty puddle of multicolored slop. In another time and place, that slurry would have been used as fertilizer for the next generation of plants. Now, it was left to dry in the sun.


    Everybody ready then?¡± Ronin asked, once the last of their equipment had been loaded back into the ship. When Karr nodded, Ronin set the ship on its way. Then, it was time to hurry up and wait, as the cave was several hours away. As impressive as the beetle tech was, it wasn¡¯t fast. Except for the teleportation pads.


    Ronin would need to ask about that. They had always been a part of life back in the caves. Though they were rarely used. Perhaps once a year someone would come through, wanting to trade. It was only recently that Ronin started to wonder about them. After all, they didn¡¯t function anything like the rest of the beetle made, and living, pieces of equipment.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Karr said, distracting Ronin from his thoughts. "Do you have a moment to speak with me?¡± The nondescript man asked, chewing on leaves that stained his teeth red. Ronin had let his team look over the options for what the ship¡¯s fabrication unit could produce, for something they might want to add to their kits. Out of all the options available, the popular vote had been for the stimulating leaves.


    ¡°Of course, sergeant.¡± Ronin said, indicating the overturned barrel next to the one he was sitting on. He¡¯d known this talk was coming since he stepped on Karr¡¯s toes. So, he figured he might as well get it out of the way while he was stuck waiting.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Karr said, jamming another wad of leaves into his mouth nervously. ¡°I wanted to apologize for Jack, and let you know that none of us, not even him, have any qualms about you leading the charges. It¡¯s so incredibly rare to find a leader who¡¯s willing to risk himself for his men. I just wanted to let you know we appreciate¡­¡± Ronin held his hand up for Karr to stop. The clearly anxious man shut his mouth mid-sentence, swallowing a mouthful of leaf juice.


    ¡°Relax, sergeant,¡± Ronin said, passing the man a cup to spit in. ¡°I also wanted to talk, but not because I was angry at Jack, or you for that matter.¡± Ronin ran his fingers through his short brown hair, looking for the right words. ¡°I was impressed as hell at your leadership skills.¡± He said at last, looking the sergeant in the eyes. ¡°I know I¡¯m inexperienced. Back in the valley, I led the teams because I felt that I had to. Out here, I guess it just became a habit. But, thanks to you, I got a chance to see what real leadership looked like.¡± Ronin looked at an uncomfortably squirming Karr with respect as he continued.


    ¡°I learned so much in that one run, that I now realize I¡¯ve had no business leading at all up to this point¡­¡±


    ¡°My lord, I never¡­¡± Karr started, panic clearly evident on his face.


    ¡°Again, I¡¯m not angry, nor am I planning to stop leading. But what I am going to do is stop winging it at every turn and start to learn from the people around me. People like you, sergeant¡­ Now, I already recognized several of my mistakes, but I¡¯d like you to tell me more about what I¡¯ve been doing right, and what I need to work on. I want to know how to become a better leader. Unfortunately, that¡¯s not going to happen, unless I stop walking into every situation blindly, and start listening to those people around me, who know more about what I¡¯m doing than I do.¡±


    It took some more prodding, but eventually, Karr caved. The pair spent the rest of the trip talking about what Ronin was doing right, and the much longer list of what he was doing wrong. Also, several things he could work on, in order to fix his deficiencies. When the musical chime echoed throughout the ship to indicate they¡¯d landed, Ronin felt much better about the future.


    ¡°Get anything useful out of that?¡± Elyria asked, plopping down beside him on the small bench, and resting her shoulder against him for support. ¡°It was amusing, listening to just how much you¡¯re screwing up.¡± She added with a chuckle, looking after the sergeant as he prepared his people. Then grabbed the hoses they¡¯d be using to fill the glass enclosure with air from the caves. Ronin looked over at the large glass box, with its double door airlock.


    ¡°Actually, I did.¡± He said, nodding his head. ¡°I got a much-needed wakeup call from you earlier. You reminded me I really didn¡¯t know anything, but I was surrounded by people who did. Going forward, I¡¯m going to take advantage of those resources, to learn everything I can. So eventually, I¡¯ll be worthy of the trust so many people have placed in me.¡± Ronin felt filled with confidence at that moment. Once again, having to remind himself to be vigilant, in case the other shoe decided to drop.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Elyria said, turning her head to look at Ronin¡¯s face, from inches away. ¡°You know what? With an attitude like that, I think it¡¯s possible you just might succeed one day.¡± She hopped up from the bench, pushing Ronin, and knocking him to the floor. He grumbled as she laughed and turned away, adding over her shoulder. ¡°If you live long enough, that is.¡± With those parting words, she strolled away, rolling her hips in an obnoxious manner as she smirked back at him.


    ¡°That woman is definitely trouble,¡± K3 said, offering Ronin a hand up.


    ¡°Right?¡± Ronin replied, excepting the hand. ¡°Every time I start to think she¡¯s coming around¡­ she does something like this. I thought we were over her wanting to kill me.¡±


    ¡°You still got a lot to learn, boss.¡± K3 said with a chuckle, looking in Elyria¡¯s direction. The elf was talking to Whisper and Stone. Facing mostly away from them, her foot rested on a box. Leaning down to talk to the goblins in a way that showed off her profile.


    ¡°I know,¡± Ronin said, scratching his head. ¡°I¡¯ve been talking to Karr about it. I really have been clueless. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m going to work on fixing my ignorance¡­¡± Ronin trailed off as K3 laughed. He laughed so hard that tears rolled down his bristly cheeks, and his lips bounced against his tusks. The kaldarr bent over, clutching his belly in his mirth. Ronin didn¡¯t think it was that funny. He really had been working on it. He glanced at Elyria, who¡¯d turned in their direction at K3¡¯s outburst.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Ronin noted the confused expression, and the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips, as she watched K3 laughing. He took in her profile, and realized in that moment, that when she wasn¡¯t scowling at him¡­ No. He shook the thought away. She hated him, always had, for whatever reason. Seeing her as anything other than an adviser was unwise. Especially when his heart was still reeling with confused pain over the loss of Brie, and ten years without Lily and Vasylia. He couldn¡¯t explain why, but he knew in his heart, those years apart had ended any chance of love he might have had with his political wives.


    ¡°Are you done yet?¡± He asked, turning back to K3. His mood had soured considerably, and he just wanted to get on with the mission. The kaldarr, likely sensing his mood shift, stopped laughing almost instantly.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± he said, with a dip of his head. ¡°I¡¯m just excited you¡¯re growing again. Watching you overcome every obstacle before you, never ceases to amaze me.¡± That mollified Ronin somewhat, and he nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Ok then, let¡¯s do this.¡± With that, they moved out of the ship and set to work. Ronin, Elyria, Karr, and the same three soldiers who¡¯d made up the team before, went down into the caves. While K3 led the remaining units back to the tree. They weren¡¯t all needed to transport the cave people, so they¡¯d decided to harvest what more they could from the tree while they were here.


    Affixing the breathing mask to his face, Ronin looked at his cloak. Last time he¡¯d swum in here it had gotten soaked, and he thought about taking it off. The fact it was currently a crusted, matted mass of dried orange blood made him decide to just keep it on. He really should have washed it on the ship ride over, but he¡¯d been too distracted talking to Karr.


    Diving into the water, he swam the short tunnel in a matter of seconds and came up inside his old home. Not wasting time on nostalgia, Ronin just pulled himself out of the water and moved aside to let the others in. Elyria came next, followed by Karr, who held the hose and pump system.


    Following behind him came Jack, Jaya, and Zak. Each carrying a waterproof bag filled with preserved food they¡¯d gathered from the enclosure. Mostly glass jars filled with vegetables that had been home canned. The people at the enclosure had all died, and since no one had looted it, all their food was still in place. They didn¡¯t bring much, and the cave people were going to be crystalized soon, so they could likely live without it, but they were starving. Ronin couldn¡¯t bring himself to let anyone suffer unnecessarily.


    ¡°Penny,¡± he called out once they¡¯d entered the communal area. There were fewer people gathered now. Ronin hoped dearly that they had gone back to their private areas, and not succumbed to hunger and cold. ¡°We¡¯ve come back, and we have some food.¡± The talk of food did more to perk up those gathered around than anything else Ronin could have said, and he didn¡¯t mention anything else until everyone had been fed.


    ¡°Thank you, Robert.¡± Penny said, after she¡¯d eaten an entire jar of something Ronin didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°I¡¯d pretty much given up hope of eating again before I died. I know it just prolongs the inevitable, but I haven¡¯t eaten real vegetables in so very long. I just wish I could have shared them with Markus¡­ Oh well, knowing he will outlive me is enough. Be sure to visit him for me, won¡¯t you?¡± As they were talking, Karr came up and whispered into Ronin¡¯s ear. He nodded at his sergeant and turned back to his conversation.


    ¡°Of course, I will, Penny.¡± Ronin said with a smile. ¡°But I will have to visit you together, because I¡¯ve found a way to get you all crystallized. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. We are going to take you to a crystallization pad. Sorry to say I couldn¡¯t get you all your own worlds. You will have to make do living in mine I¡¯m afraid.¡± He smiled at her, as her face went through all the expressions he had ever seen. Disbelief, shock, joy, worry, and everything in between.


    He¡¯d waited to tell them until he had confirmation the chamber was holding oxygen. Not wanting to get their hopes up, if they needed to do any repairs that would extend the wait. Now though, it was time to get them moving. They took them out, one at a time. Starting with those who didn¡¯t have any family because they could be ready the fastest. Before long, half of the cave folk were safely inside the container. That¡¯s when Stone sounded the alarm.


    ¡°My lord, Sergeant,¡± Stone said, clearly talking to both men over the coms. ¡°I¡¯ve got another ship up here. It came right out of the sun, so I couldn¡¯t see it right away. It¡¯s going to be on the ground in less than a minute.¡±


    ¡°Not now,¡± Ronin muttered. Half their number was in the tree, setting up the sap collectors. The remainder were spread out between the ship and the cave. Helping cave people into the sealed container. If this was a hostile group, with any training, they¡¯d never survive the encounter.


    ¡°Sergeant Karr,¡± Ronin said, closing the gap with the man. ¡°I would like your suggestion, on how to proceed.¡± Karr just looked at him in confusion, red juice dribbling down his face. ¡°Sergeant Karr?¡± Ronin asked, concerned.


    ¡°Give it up, White flame.¡± Elyria said, joining them. ¡°Karr is a sergeant, excellent in small group tactics and carrying out the missions he is assigned. It isn¡¯t his job to make the battle plans. So, suck it up and quit trying to pass the responsibility. What do you want him to do?¡±


    Ronin just stared at them, for a moment looking as bewildered as Karr. Then he took a deep breath and sighed. It would have been too easy if he could have just given all his duty to Karr. Besides, as competent as the man was, if he¡¯d been able to lead on a larger scale, there was no way Benjamin would have left him as a sergeant.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said, taking stock of their assets. ¡°It¡¯s the three of us and Jaya down here. Jack and Zak are both out in the ship, Stone and Whisper are on overwatch. K3 and the rest of the squad are up in the tree. So, we won¡¯t count them. Karr, have Jack and Zak get back into the ship and close the hatch. We need to protect the container. One crack and everyone inside dies.¡± Next, he touched his earpiece. ¡°Stone, Whisper, keep an eye on them from the air. We are closing the ship and making our way to the tunnel. Let me know what they do once they land.¡± He waited for Karr to get off the comms before continuing.


    ¡°The four of us are going to swim, slowly, to just below the surface of the pond. Have your rifles ready, if it comes to a fight, when we break the surface I want you all firing, got it?¡± After everyone nodded in agreement, Ronin moved to the underwater tunnel and gently swam out into the pool. He swam slowly, doing his best not to make ripples. He held onto the rock that made up the side wall of the pond, thankful for once that there was no algae growing in the water, to make his grip slippery. Then, he waited while the other three swam into place.


    The masks they wore to breathe inside the caves also did an excellent job of letting them breathe underwater. He¡¯d have to remember to thank Owl Two for that, since he didn¡¯t think gas masks and scuba gear were normally interchangeable like that. He just hoped that whoever was on that ship wasn¡¯t very observant because the bubbles their breathing was making would be visible to anyone who cared to look.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Whisper said, coming in slightly muffled through the water, but still understandable. ¡°They¡¯ve landed and come out. There are six of them, humans, dressed in fancy clothes. One of them is calling for Alexander Dawson. What do you want us to do?¡±


    ¡°Stay put, I¡¯ll go out,¡± Ronin said. He wasn¡¯t sure how understandable he was, but he thought it had gotten across because Elyria clamped her free hand onto his shoulder and shook her head. He smiled at her through his clear face mask, before gently removing her fingers and slipping from the pond.


    He could hear the voices shouting his name, or the name he¡¯d gone by in the ship anyway. As soon as he broke the surface. Moving slowly, and as quietly as he could, Ronin slipped off his mask and moved behind a boulder near the pond to get a better look at the new arrivals. He started, nearly yelping, when Elyria crouched down beside him. She was dripping wet and clearly ticked off. Ronin only put a finger to his lips, while he tried to listen.


    ¡°¡­on out, Alex. We know you¡¯re here. Saw you on the satellite feeds a day or so back. Who else would have come back here other than you? Now, get out here. Me and my Chipmunk want to have a few words with you.¡± The speaker was a woman in her late teens, skinny, and wearing a black dress and a tight hat over blond hair. She was also sporting a sawed-off shotgun.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Alex,¡± a man only slightly older than the woman said, pushing the brim of a grey fedora back as he looked around. ¡°Listen to my bunny girl. We aren¡¯t gunna kill ya. Just take you to see the boss. Stanly is real interested in having a meeting with you.¡± This man wore a grey suit like Leo¡¯s and was also armed. Holding a large caliber revolver, which reminded Ronin of the gun his father had left him. The pair kept screaming insults at Ronin¡¯s ship, apparently completely unaware there were people outside it. Ronin took the opportunity to check out the group.


    They were all dressed in clothes that were popular in the 1930¡¯s in north America. The two leaders, Bunny, and Chipmunk, apparently, were accompanied by four people, three men and a woman. The woman was wearing dress slacks with suspenders over a dirty white undershirt. Her hands were wrapped in rags, like she was used to fighting with them, and there was a bowie knife at her waist. Her outfit was rounded off with a fedora of her own.


    That seemed to be a theme in the group, as the other three men wore them as well. There was a giant, for a human anyway, thickly muscled man in a white suit who looked around thirty. He had brass knuckles on his left hand and carried a 1911 pistol in his right. The next man was barely out of his teens, sharply dressed, and handsome, standing with his hip cocked and a shotgun resting on it. The final figure was older than the rest. His black hair was going grey at the temples, and he wore a black suit with a red scarf. A scar ran down the length of his cheek, and he had a tommy gun resting against his shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m going out,¡± Ronin Whispered into his com. Elyria, who was still beside him, shook her head angrily, but Ronin was insistent. ¡°Look at their guns. They are old earth models, outdated even before the fall. They likely can¡¯t even penetrate my armor. Everyone just be ready. If they fire, take them out, but aim low. I¡¯d like them alive if we can manage it.¡±


    Without waiting for a response, Ronin was up and moving before Elyria could stop him. The area around the cave was open, so once he stepped out from the small boulder, he became visible. His body tensed, in anticipation of being shot, but all that flew at him were words.


    ¡°We know the Lion is up north brat. So, do us all a favor and come ou¡­ Ah, there you are,¡± Chipmunk said. ¡°Look lover, he came out all on his own. Not surprising, he thought he was such a tough guy when he killed poor Philip by stabbing him in the back¡­ what? Didn¡¯t think we heard about that? We know all about how you suckered him into that duel. Insulted the boss and said you would come after his family if he didn¡¯t agree to fight. Well, we aren¡¯t going to stand for that, are we babe?¡±


    ¡°Damn right Chippy,¡± The teenaged girl said, coming over to wrap her arms around the man¡¯s waist. ¡°We are gunna bring you to the boss, so do yourself a favor and come quietly¡­ Take him down, Knuckles.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The hulking bruiser, with the brass knuckles and a 1911 said. Holstering his gun inside his white jacket and cracking his knuckles. ¡°The boss just made you an offer, one you will find difficult to refuse¡­¡±


    ¡°You know what?¡± Ronin said, looking at the group of clowns, masquerading as gangsters. ¡°This is actually a complete waste of my time.¡± Touching his earpiece, he said. ¡°Take em down.¡± He couldn¡¯t hear the silent rifles firing, but he did hear the screams as all six of his would-be attackers went down. Thick orange blood flowed freely from their knees and ankles. Bunny, who¡¯d raised the sawed-off shotgun towards him, also ended up with a bloody and broken elbow, but they¡¯d live.


    ¡°I¡¯ll strip these guys of weaponry, and get them healed up, we¡¯ll lock them down with the color force. I want the evacuation sped up. K3, forget the tree, we¡¯ll just take what these guys have instead. I want to get these people to safety before anyone else shows up.¡± Orders given; Ronin set about relieving the gangsters of their weapons.


    ¡°So glad you started listening to those around you.¡± Elyria said, laughing behind him. He didn¡¯t want to hear it because he already knew. He knew he should have ordered them shot from the start. Risking himself to engage in useless dialogue, with people who clearly meant him harm, was foolish¡­ He sighed; another lesson learned.

 Chapter sixty-five

    Ronin watched the gangster¡¯s ship, far too big for him to consider it a dropship, fly off. He¡¯d sent Karr and his squad to fly the ship back to the enclosure. At first, Ronin had wanted to gut the ship of its valuables before leaving, but that would have taken too long. So, instead he would just do it once they got back. Nodding to himself, he closed the ramp to the ship he¡¯d looted from the color force and set it to return to the enclosure. Ronin stood on the ramp, staring at the pond that concealed his old home, until it was taken from his view.


    ¡°It must be difficult, to leave your old home for the last time.¡± Elyria said, from where she lounged against a nearby crate. She was playing with her dagger again, for the first time Ronin remembered seeing in a while.


    ¡°Here to gloat, or planning on threatening me again?¡± He asked, mood still sour from how he¡¯d handled the gangsters, and then how the elf had ribbed him over it.


    ¡°Lighten up, White flame.¡± The elf in question said, slipping the knife away, and pushing off the crate. ¡°I¡¯ll make a leader out of you yet, if I have to drag you kicking and screaming the whole way... Besides, killing you means killing my sister. Can¡¯t have that on my conscious now, can I?¡± Ronin scoffed as he finally realized why she¡¯d been acting so weird towards him. She just didn¡¯t want him going off the rails and causing her sister¡¯s death. A sentiment he could understand but was in no mood to appreciate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± he said with a scowl. ¡°With you around to babysit me, I¡¯m sure your sister will be fine.¡± He thought he saw her face flickering with hurt for a second, but it was gone so fast he couldn¡¯t be sure.


    ¡°Glad to hear it,¡± she said turning away. ¡°Now go get something to eat, your mood is pissing me off.¡± There was no roll to her stride when she walked away this time. Ronin frowned after her, what was her deal?


    ¡°Let it go boss,¡± K3 said from where he had been standing guard. ¡°It¡¯s been a stressful couple of days for all of us. Might not be a bad idea to get something to eat and then rest for the trip back.¡± He said, and Ronin couldn¡¯t argue with the suggestion. He didn¡¯t remember sleeping since he got this new body. Heck, he didn¡¯t even know how long he¡¯d been outside his pocket world. There¡¯d been at least two, multi day tree climbs, he was pretty sure. His mind started to fog over when he tried doing the math, and decided K3 had a point.


    ¡°Ok big guy. Let¡¯s grab a bite and get some shut eye.¡± Ronin turned away from the door and headed into the area the color force had set up as a kitchen. It was really impressive just how much they¡¯d had their ship customized. The one he¡¯d shared with Leo was bare bones and empty. A giant, aircraft hangar sized empty space filled with large swimming pool sized depressions in the ground.


    This ship was still mostly open space inside, filled with barrels and buckets and all manner of harvesting equipment, but it also had a two-story house built into the back corner of the huge troop compartment. It had six rooms, a bath and shower room, a kitchen and an area set up as a library. Complete with armchairs. Ronin was quite sure there were a few more compartments to the huge ships, further forward. They hadn¡¯t ventured forward to investigate yet though. When there were two football fields worth of space, with forty-foot-tall ceilings overhead, he hadn¡¯t felt cramped enough to bother yet. Ronin was heading for the front door of the house when Bunny called out to him.


    ¡°Hey, Alex, or whoever you are.¡± She said belligerently, leaning forward, straining against the tentacles keeping her bound in place. Ronin sighed, looking over at the twelve prisoners. Six wannabe superheroes, and another six who thought they were gangsters.


    ¡°What Bunny?¡± He asked, slowing his pace but not stopping. They might be stupid, but he had to respect their guts. Neither Bunny nor Chip had shown any fear or weakness at all since they¡¯d been patched up and restrained.


    ¡°What are you gunna do with us?¡± Chip continued the question Bunny had started. ¡°I¡¯ve been to the slammer a few times ya know. My Bunny girl got me out, but I¡¯m not interested in going back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Bunny said picking up where he left off. ¡°My baby has been in lock up quite a few times. Me and the gang always bust him out though¡­ So, what are you going to do with us?¡± Ronin stopped and looked at his prisoners. It was hard to tell with the color force, since they didn¡¯t have faces, but he was fairly sure that all twelve of them were staring at him intently.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you saw the people we brought into the ship earlier?¡± He asked, since the containment cage was on the other side of the compartment from the prisoners, they might not have. When they all nodded, he continued. ¡°My team has found out a way to put them into my own personal pocket world. Bypassing all the steps involved with the ship it costs almost nothing. So, I¡¯m sending them to my world, where they can live the rest of their lives without worrying about breathing the air.¡±


    ¡°Cool story bro,¡± Knuckles said, glaring angrily at Ronin. ¡°But what¡¯s that got to do with us?¡± His pristinely white suit was now stained orange with his own blood and dust from when he¡¯d rolled around on the ground in pain, so Ronin didn¡¯t begrudge him some attitude.


    ¡°I¡¯m sending you into my world as well. Think of it as a new beginning, where you can start fresh. No more human government, no more crystal beetles, or lizards coming to kill us all. Just a small pocket world with plenty of open land to explore¡­¡± He trailed off when he saw the handsome young man rolling his eyes. ¡°It was either that or killing you. Trust me, killing you would make my life a lot easier. So don¡¯t tempt me.¡± Having reached his limit with these fools, Ronin continued on his way into the house.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to make food for himself and K3. Afterall, they didn¡¯t actually eat anymore. All he¡¯d had to do was type into a dispenser what he wanted, and it automatically filled up two glasses with flavored nutrient fluid. Handing one to K3, Ronin moved deeper into the house, until he entered the library.


    Grabbing a familiar book from the first shelf he passed, Ronin settled into an open armchair, to sip his meal and read. After a few pages, however, he couldn¡¯t seem to focus on the prince. Instead, he looked up at his bodyguard, who¡¯d settled into a chair of his own. Granted, he was still facing the door, and had his PCP 1.0 on his lap, but it was still close to relaxing together.


    ¡°Hey big guy,¡± Ronin said to catch his friend¡¯s attention.


    ¡°What¡¯s up boss?¡± The kaldarr asked, turning to face him. ¡°Need a refill?¡± He moved to get up, before Ronin motioned him back down again.


    ¡°No please, sit down.¡± Ronin said, feeling guilty. ¡°I was thinking the other day. About how little I know about you, and your life before you joined me¡­ I¡¯d like to say we¡¯ve been too busy for that kind of thing, but that¡¯s not true. I¡¯ve just been too caught up in my own head to consider the people around me as closely as I should... So, I was hoping you could tell me about yourself.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± K3 asked with surprise. ¡°Sure boss, I can do that. But don¡¯t feel bad about not asking. I understand how it goes. When I first entered your service, I was a captured enemy who¡¯d shot you and killed two of your men. Why would you want to know about my personal life? When we started getting closer, well¡­ things were comfortable as they were, so why change the dynamic.¡± Ronin blinked in surprise as the giant said the words that had been on his own mind.


    ¡°Pretty much, yea.¡± Ronin admitted with a shrug. ¡°You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to.¡± He added lamely.


    ¡°No worries boss, just sit back and enjoy your dinner. I¡¯ll tell you my story, the cliff noted version anyway.¡± He added with a tusk filled smile. Ronin leaned back into his chair, setting the copy of ¡°The prince¡¯s adventure¡± onto the coffee table. That book no longer interested him like it once had, because the prince wasn¡¯t a real adventurer. He was a spoiled child who¡¯d passed through the trials of the world effortlessly, and without learning or growing at all.


    K3, in contrast, was a warrior through and through. Ronin listened in silence, for the entirety of the trip back to the enclosure. As his friend recounted tales of his youth, his loves, and his losses. He told Ronin about getting promoted and leading an assault force into new worlds against new species. Ronin learned what it was like for the kaldarr as he started to age and slow down. How he would be forcibly retired soon, to be replaced by someone younger and fiercer. That it was K3 who¡¯d shot him in the attack on Valley¡¯s pass, and that the aging kaldarr had suspected it would be his last field action. Ronin listened, and K3 talked, until the musical landing chime rang throughout the ship.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± K3 said looking down, ¡°I told you to get some rest, then I went ahead and talked the whole trip.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± Ronin said, standing up. ¡°I feel much better now. Thank you for sharing that with me. It was long overdue.¡± He clapped his bodyguard on the shoulder as he walked by the chair K3 was still sitting in. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go get Penny and the rest crystallized. Hopefully, Xerox is available for a chat when we¡¯re done, because we have a lot more work to do before it¡¯s over.¡±


    Ronin stood at the back ramp with K3, Whisper and Stone. Elyria was there too, but she was keeping her distance. When the ramp opened, Ronin found that Karr¡¯s ship had already arrived. There was quite the line of ships here now, parked in a row beside the old human enclosure. Ronin counted the one he and Leo had dropped in, the color force ship he¡¯d captured. The new gangster ship, and finally one that he assumed must belong to Doctor Mycroft.


    It was easy to tell the ships apart thankfully. Despite all of them being vaguely beetle shaped and reflecting the light in a multi-faceted pearlescent shimmer. Each of the ships had its own unique color variation. The color force ship that Ronin had claimed as his own was the whitest of the bunch. The ship that Leo now controlled was pinker in hue and, ironically, Doctor Mycroft¡¯s ship was more red. The gangster¡¯s ship, that Ronin was considering handing over to Karr, was greener.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    That¡¯s how he knew It was Leo¡¯s ship that was offloading breath mask wearing humans. Ronin watched them being ushered into the enclosure by large lionid women, through the rainbow-colored grass and ruined remains of a human city. As he watched, he had to remind himself that he was human too, or at least, he had been. Watching the small, malnourished, and clearly sun deprived people stumble along towards crystallization, he didn¡¯t really feel like one of them anymore. It wasn¡¯t that he felt superior, on an intellectual level he knew he was identical to these people. Yet, in a very tangible way, both in the ship, where he controlled an entire world, and in his crystallized body¡­ he was far superior to them. It was a little more understandable now, how the people who¡¯d spent centuries onboard the alien craft, could have become so uncaring towards their fellow man. Inexcusable perhaps, but understandable all the same.


    Ronin only had so many breath masks, and the airlock could only hold so many people at a time. So, the unloading process was going to be a lengthy one. Not wanting to stand around for the whole thing, Ronin left the task to Karr, and he went to find Leo and Doctor Mycroft. His two ever-present shadows trailing behind.


    ¡°How many did you bring?¡± Leo asked first thing, when he entered the teleportation, crystallization chamber. A room that turned out to be a pre fall laundry room on a basement level of one of the skyscrapers. Ronin scoffed at the lack of a proper greeting, but knew Leo was just as interested in the people of their home cave as he was.


    ¡°Hello to you too,¡± he said anyway, followed by. ¡°Just over one hundred. A few of the older residents froze to death before we got back, and believe it or not, several wanted to stay behind.¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t understood the logic behind that desire, but he didn¡¯t have time to waste on who refused to be saved. So, he¡¯d left them behind.


    ¡°That¡¯s common,¡± Doctor Mycroft said, from where she was closing the lid on a person inside the crystallization pod. Ronin came over to watch the process as she continued. ¡°Humans, at the end of the day, are just animals who by luck or design, grew a bit smarter than the rest. We still operate largely based on fear of the unknown and want to stick to what¡¯s familiar to us.¡± She pushed a few buttons on a panel, and Ronin stared at the hunched and dirty old man in the pod.


    His entire body lit up in a brilliant white light, then rainbow colored cracks began to appear all over his body. They spread out until his entire form resembled a human statue of multicolored crystal before it cracked and crumbled away. Leaving nothing but a small pile of multicolored dust, that a small suction arm cleaned up before sliding back out of sight.


    ¡°We picked up nearly three hundred from the cave we went too.¡± Leo said once the show was over and another person, an old woman this time, was guided into the pod. ¡°They were staying in a cave that had been modified with several skylights. It allowed them to grow food crops underground, we never could, back home. They even had a few chickens down there. Yet, even with the promise of free crystallization and the warning about the immanent lizard threat. Nearly one hundred people stayed behind.¡± There was no sympathy in Leo¡¯s voice, and Ronin wondered again about the man¡¯s past. Was it only his wife¡¯s death way back when, that had made him this way? As he pondered, the woman turned to crystal as well, before crumbling away and she was replaced by a young boy.


    ¡°Have you had any luck getting ahold of Xerox?¡± Ronin asked the doc as the fifth person disappeared and a lionid collected the masks to bring in another batch.


    ¡°I¡¯ve found the avenue he used to contact us.¡± Doctor Mycroft said, moving away from the crystallization pod and walking over to a table that had a laptop set up beside her dissection equipment. ¡°The crystal beetle, Jade, was it? Must be helping him because I don¡¯t know how he found these back doors otherwise. Anyway, I¡¯ve got an open invitation laid out. The next time he accesses this network, he should see it, after that, it¡¯ll just be a matter of him accepting my call. Though, I have to admit, I was skeptical at first. No personal realm should have the bandwidth to accommodate this many real human minds, but everything has checked out. We¡¯re well on our way to saving hundreds of people here.¡± Ronin smirked at the annoyance in her tone. He felt for her, the damn android was too smart for his own good and annoyed the heck out of him too.


    ¡°Wonderful, then when he calls, will you let me know please?¡± He asked, already turning to go help unload the refugees. ¡°I¡¯ve got twelve captured people I¡¯d like to send through and repurpose their bodies. I¡¯d like to talk to him about that.¡±


    ¡°That should not be a problem, my lord. Once I get an adequate picture of the specimen¡¯s physical make-up, I will select from a list of appropriate candidates.¡± A disembodied voice said through the laptop¡¯s speaker. It was that good old fashioned, emotionless, monotone that Ronin loved hearing so much.


    ¡°What the?¡± Doctor Mycroft said, punching in keys and switching between screens. ¡°There¡¯s no indication anywhere that he connected. It still shows the ¡®waiting for connection¡¯ screen. How is this even possible?¡±


    ¡°I received your invitation within minutes of you putting it into the system. However, since I was unsure about your motivation in contacting me, I hacked into your system and read all your files¡­ fascinating work by the way Doctor, I am already implementing some of your more, unconventional, methods into my own projects. But when I was done with that, I decided to simply monitor your activities until I had proof of your intentions. Since my lord is with you now, and is clearly not under duress, I deemed it an appropriate time to communicate.¡±


    Ronin laughed then, a great roaring sound that startled those around him and let out a wave of tension he hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d been holding. Up until that point. It was amazing, just how reassuring the voice of his annoying, and occasionally backstabbing android was to him in that moment. He was laughing so hard he almost didn¡¯t hear Doctor Mycroft¡¯s next words.


    ¡°No, this isn¡¯t possible. No facsimile of life can be this intelligent. Leo, have any of your personal realm¡¯s occupants ever displayed this much intelligence?¡± She asked, turning to the lionid, who shook his head, eyeing Ronin curiously. ¡°How about you Elyria, or you K3?¡± The doc asked, turning to her. ¡°Have the people of your personal realms ever shown this level of humanlike intelligence?¡± That question stopped Ronin¡¯s laughter instantly. Exchanging a look between the three of them, it was Leo who answered after a moment of silence.


    ¡°They are from his personal realm, Red.¡± He said quietly, ¡°I told you there was something odd about this kid, that¡¯s why I took him in. Even after I figured out, he¡¯d killed my boy.¡± His face had gone serious, and Ronin wasn¡¯t the only one who took notice. Both K3 and Elyria took a step back, reaching for their weapons.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Ronin said, raising his hands in a calming gesture to ease the tension. ¡°What are you talking about? Why would you think K3, and Elyria are too lifelike? Everyone from my pocket world is just as real as you and I. Isn¡¯t it like that in your worlds too?¡± Elyria and K3 were looking nervus now. Looking between a frantic doctor Mycroft and her octopus, thorn monsters and Leo, who was just looking at them with dangerous calm.


    ¡°No kid,¡± Leo said at last, after giving the doc a ¡®calm the hell down¡¯ look. ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed yet? Just think about it. In the color force, have you heard anything other than one-liners about righteousness and justice from anyone but Kimberly and Billy? Or the gangsters? I know Chip and Bunny, they¡¯re small-time punks who work for Stanly. But they¡¯re gang? Did any of them say anything other than old movie lines?¡± Ronin had to think about that. Now that he had, no, he hadn¡¯t heard anything of note from the extras.


    ¡°Or my own lionids for that matter. They aren¡¯t stupid, and can follow orders just fine, but they aren¡¯t overburdened with personality¡­ That¡¯s what¡¯s odd about you kid. I noticed it the first time I checked out your world. The people there are too smart, too real. So, tell us kid, what¡¯s your secret?¡±


    ¡°I just can¡¯t see it,¡± Doctor Mycroft said, from where she was still frantically searching through her computer. ¡°Nothing in here indicates a hack. Nothing. I¡¯m good at this, been working with computers for thousands of years. There shouldn¡¯t be a ship generated, anything, that can compete with me in a field I specialize in¡­ Just who are you?¡± She demanded, slapping the laptop in agitation. Ronin stared at the computer, all traces of his good mood of just minutes ago, thoroughly washed away by these revelations.


    ¡°Who I am is lord Ronin¡¯s personal assistant, and lead researcher.¡± Owl Two said in his synthesized, emotionless voice. ¡°Should I be anything more than that, it is of no concern to you. My lord wishes to make use of the lizard craft to escape this planet, while saving as many people, human and beetle, as he can. I am working towards making that goal a reality for him. Should you wish to join him on that ship ride out, I suggest you focus on the matters at hand. Not things that do not involve you.¡± Ronin had to smile at the naked threat. It was so like the Owl Two that he knew. Taking Ronin¡¯s words and twisting them until they resembled whatever the android was planning to do anyway.


    ¡°Owl Two, I¡­¡± Ronin started, not really sure what he wanted to say. Thankfully, he was cut off midsentence.


    ¡°Do not concern yourself with minor matters my lord. I am making strides on my end to gather all the necessary equipment we will need to repair one of the lizard ship component cubes. Strides that will come to nothing if you don¡¯t get to the mountains, and the ship. I am transferring what information I have been able to gather on the region to this device. I assume this, doctor, will be able to figure them out.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you damned¡­¡± Mycroft snarled, and took a swing at her own computer but was held back by Leo¡¯s strong arms going about her waist.


    ¡°Once you have sent through all the refugees, have Mycroft hook the people up to the pod following the instructions I¡¯ve also included. I¡¯ll pull them through and then increase the time dilation on my end to find you the perfect candidates. When that is completed, I really must insist my lord, that you make your way to the mountain. The number of dropships at your current location has alerted a few high-profile individuals on the planet, and you will want to be gone before they arrive.¡±


    Having said everything he was going to; the line went dead. Doctor Mycroft tried for several minutes to reconnect, but it was to no avail. Finally, Leo told her to get back to crystallizing the refugees, before he motioned for Ronin to follow him, as he left the room. Ronin exchanged worried looks with Elyria, and K3, before following the lionid.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ronin asked before the older man could say anything, once they reached a secluded area, Ronin believed had once been a bathroom. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on at all. What do you mean pocket world people aren¡¯t supposed to be that smart? They obviously are, look at the people who came from mine¡­¡±


    ¡°Calm down kid,¡± Leo said lifting his massive hands in an, ¡®I¡¯m unarmed,¡¯ gesture. ¡°Look, I meant what I said ok. Your world is different than any I¡¯ve ever visited before. It acts more like the virtual city world, the ship¡¯s AI created for everyone to interact, outside their personal realms¡­ Understand now, the beetles are more advanced than we are, but even they, don¡¯t have the technology to create real worlds for every person on board. At least not ones with such intense detail, and the facsimile of life that millions of artificial people, living in one of the world''s would require. The entire ship might be able to produce that, but not the tiny fraction of its processers it delegates to each of its passengers.¡±


    ¡°So, what are you saying?¡± He asked at last, after taking a few deep breaths. He did his best to ignore Elyria, who was standing just behind him, and K3 who was leaning against the bathroom door, trying to look casual, with the PCP 1.0 resting against his shoulder.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know kid.¡± Leo said with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s weird, that¡¯s all I know for sure. I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t have a few guesses¡­ That android of yours seems to know something, too. But he couldn¡¯t have been clearer he doesn¡¯t want us to ask. So, I plan to do what he said; get to the ship and see what happens next¡­ But that¡¯s not why I wanted to talk to you.¡± Ronin narrowed his eyes at the shift in Leo¡¯s demeanor.


    ¡°What did you want to talk about then?¡± He asked, getting a bad feeling.


    ¡°I wanted to know if you had plans for the gangster¡¯s ship?¡± He asked with a wide, feral toothed grin splitting his face.

 Chapter sixty-six

    Lily


    ¡°Good morning, ambassador Jeffreys.¡± Lily said, holding out her hand to the middle-aged human man. His protruding belly was well hidden under lavish robes of deepest purple, and his balding head, with its fringe of grey hair was equally well hidden beneath a similarly colored hat. The man didn¡¯t, quite, waddle over to her, but the walk wasn¡¯t far off. Lily bit back the distaste she felt at the feel of the man¡¯s sweaty hand, but she didn¡¯t let any of that displeasure show on her face.


    ¡°Counselor Lily, I take it?¡± Jeffreys asked, with a smile that held surprisingly white teeth.


    ¡°I am, it¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± Lily said with a nod. ¡°Please, have a seat. I thought we could meet over breakfast this morning. Then later, I will show you around the city before we make our way to see the queen and the rest of the council.¡±  She motioned to a beautifully carved and stained wood table while she spoke. In an equally beautifully carved and stained room that was entirely paneled in rare woods.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± ambassador Jeffreys said as he took a seat on the padded chair. ¡°I have actually heard of this restaurant. The ¡®Goblin¡¯s retreat¡¯ restaurant is widely spoken of as the best restaurant in the kingdom. The chef was apparently the personal cook of your late husband, was he not? I have to say, the furnishings are beautiful. But why is the place filled with armor?¡± Lily ground her teeth together so hard she feared they might crack under the pressure.


    ¡°Ambassador,¡± she began with as pleasant a voice as she could manage. ¡°Yes, the ¡®Goblin¡¯s retreat¡¯ is the best restaurant in the whole of Undercity. Though, as I discussed with your predecessor, we aren¡¯t in the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom. We are an independent, self-governing, city-state. My lord husband isn¡¯t dead, he is merely on campaign, and the armor¡­¡± Here Lily paused, to take in the restaurant as a whole.


    The wood paneled walls had been carved with murals depicting all the battles The White flame had been in, during the brief time he had ruled them. Lining all the walls, in small alcoves that had been purpose built to hold them, were several statues, wearing armor. Every suit of armor that Ronin had fought with or against was represented here. From a suit of Owl team scout armor to the final reproduction of his own battle armor, and everything in-between. Lily¡¯s eye caught on a set of leather and steel that had been worn by her old clan a decade dead. So much different than the spider silk dresses she now wore for her counselor¡¯s position.


    ¡°They are a tribute to my husband. He once told the owner of this establishment that he wanted to create a museum of all the armor he fought against in his battle. These are but the ones we know about before he left us.¡± Some days, Lily wasn¡¯t sure why she¡¯d become a counselor in the first place. It was getting harder and harder for her to tolerate the foolish behavior of the people she needed to deal with on a daily basis. Perhaps she should retire. Her, Halikor, and their two sons could move away from here, start over somewhere else. A silly dream.


    ¡°Yes¡­ independent, is that why you haven¡¯t been paying the king¡¯s taxes? Oh, the food¡­ We¡¯ll have to discuss that after the meal. I would also like to know why I had to pass through a valley filled to the mountain peaks with monsters on my way here.¡± The fat man¡¯s attention was arrested by the many dishes being wheeled out on carts by several goblins. The food corps were no more, but all the goblin men still lived to cook. Guts himself even came out, holding the main course in his still strong arms.


    ¡°They¡¯ve taken the goblin theme a little too far I¡¯d say,¡± the ambassador muttered, looking up at Guts with a scowl. ¡°Would it hurt to have the chef himself deliver my meal? Instead, he has the help doing it for him, not very impressive councilor Lily. The goblins all around gasped and bared their teeth at the fat man, and Lily looked at Guts worriedly to see his reaction.


    The still strong if aging goblin didn¡¯t react in any visible manner. Only setting the dish down on the table and bowing deeply. Lily took the opportunity to look over the best cook in Undercity. He was somewhere around fifteen years old. An unheard-of age for a normal goblin. Thanks to his hobgoblin blood, and the nanites that the White flame had given him, the aging process had slowed down considerably. The flame red hair that once adorned his head in a tangled mop was now streaked with silver, and the muscles that covered his body were beginning to slack. He wouldn¡¯t die any time soon. But Lily doubted the man would be around another decade from now.


    ¡°Please enjoy your meal, ambassador Jeffreys.¡± Guts said, coming up from his bow and shooing the remaining staff from the room. Normally, someone would have been left to wait on the table, but with Jeffreys poor reaction to the goblins, Lily thought Guts had been wise to remove them all.


    ¡°Would you like to try some of our signature mushroom steak, ambassador?¡± Lily asked, rising from her chair to serve the dishes herself.


    ¡°Mmuum this is delicious. Say what you will about the wait staff, the cook here is definitely talented. Perhaps I¡¯ll take him with me when I return to the capital. The king would be pleased to have such a cook in the castle.¡± Lily just stared at the man as he stuffed his face. Had he done no research on the land he was sent to treat with?


    ¡°Ambassador, perhaps we should¡­¡±


    ¡°Lady Lily,¡± Andessa said, interrupting her as she stepped into the room. ¡°Sorry to interrupt my lady, but there is a call for you, from the castle.¡± Lily wanted to curse at her bodyguard. It was considered extremely bad form for the help to interrupt a meeting in the Mountain¡¯s embrace court. Still, it would get her away from this pudgy dolt for a few minutes.


    ¡°Thank you, Andessa,¡± she said, rising to her feet, and curtsying to the still eating Jeffreys, who was glaring daggers at the intrusion. ¡°Please excuse me, Ambassador. I have to take this.¡±


    Ignoring his grumbling over bad manners, Lily walked to a small land line telephone set up near a statue wearing locust lamellar, and answered the phone with a short, ¡®hello.¡¯


    ¡°Lily, sorry to interrupt your meal with the ambassador,¡± said none other than the queen herself. ¡°But Owl Two called. He said we all need to gather at the castle in an hour for an emergency meeting. He didn¡¯t give details, but he said it had to do with Lord Ronin.¡± Hunter sounded both excited and agitated as she spoke. She still held a great deal of respect for the White flame, but she¡¯d worked for him for less than half a year. She¡¯d been a queen for ten, an entire goblin lifetime.


    ¡°Thank you, your majesty.¡± Lily said quietly, ¡°I will wrap things up and head to the castle.¡± They wrapped the conversation up quickly after that, and Lily moved back to the table.


    ¡°I am sorry for the interruption, once more ambassador Jeffreys. Unfortunately, something urgent has come up at the castle and my presence was requested. So, I will have to take my leave shortly and we will do our tour of the city and the castle another time.¡±


    ¡°Horse shit,¡± Jeffreys said, as he continued to stuff his face. ¡°If you want to blow off our meeting, then you will have to come up with something better than talking to a metal box.¡± Lily barely restrained herself from leaping over the table at this fool of a man.


    ¡°I was talking on the telephone. An invention my husband¡¯s head researcher came up with a few years ago. It works on the same power that runs the cities lights.¡± She said, gesturing around the room at all the LED¡¯s that lit the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± The ambassador said with a snort. ¡°Though these lights are rather remarkable, I will be taking several of them with me when I leave. I have to say, when I took over this post from my predecessor, I knew you Undercity dwellers were an odd bunch. But I never thought you were this strange. No, Lily. I don¡¯t think we will be rescheduling. I will accompany you to this ¡®meeting¡¯ and if it doesn¡¯t exist, then believe it will go in my report.¡± Lily tried to argue for a time, but in the end gave up. If Owl two was calling the meeting, then some of the attendees might just kill this man for her and put him out of her misery.


    ¡°This is the library.¡± Lily said, giving a rushed version of the tour as they made their way towards the castle. ¡°And that is, ah¡­ One moment ambassador, it seems my consort and our children were at the library.¡± Knowing the fat man would grumble at her, she walked quickly away from him anyway, leaving him behind with his guard detail of six heavily built human men and her detail of Andessa and Tupelo, while Vara and Syl followed her. The pair had become her personal guard ten years ago and had been with her ever since. A pair of more loyal followers she couldn¡¯t hope to have found.


    ¡°Halikor,¡± Lily said, reaching the tall bugbear man whom she¡¯d taken on as her consort almost seven years ago. Getting up on her toes, she kissed him on the side of his face. The long shaggy black fur that covered his body was well groomed, and only the lightest touch of silver marred his coat. ¡°You brought the boys out to the library I see.¡± She said, kneeling to rub the heads of their two sons. They were only five and six years old. Pain shot through her soul as she remembered another baby. One that would have been ten by now, if¡­ she shook her head, plastering on a huge smile for her boys.


    ¡°Get anything good in there, Harknor?¡± She asked her oldest boy, who nodded and showed her his book. It was titled ¡®the Prince¡¯s adventure.¡¯ A book Lily was told had been her husband¡¯s favorite. She didn¡¯t understand why, but her sons loved it. ¡°Very nice, how about you, Halican?¡± She asked, turning to her other son. He too showed her his book, before their father ushered them away so she could return to work.


    ¡°I thought you were the lord¡¯s wife¡­ White fire or something, why were you kissing another man?¡± Jeffreys asked her with disdain when she returned to him. The question causing her guards to shift angrily, and the ambassador¡¯s guards to eye them warily. They were large, and well armored, but few could stand up to these four.


    ¡°My husband is the lord of the White flame syndicate.¡± Lily said, her soul filled with hate for this insensitive man. ¡°The Undercity split with the syndicate nearly ten years ago. My husband gave his blessing to those who wished to leave the syndicate to live here instead. What remains of the syndicate live above ground in the valley you passed through on your way here. The monsters, you mentioned earlier.¡± Lily knew they had stretched his words to the breaking point when they¡¯d withdrawn from the syndicate. Still, they hadn¡¯t gone against anything he¡¯d said before he¡¯d left them.


    ¡°Your ¡®city-state¡¯ is very convoluted.¡± He said, with another disdainful look. ¡°The library at least looks nice. It was your people who did the carvings was it? I¡¯ve heard the bugbear are second to none when it comes to stonework.¡± He said, pointing towards the square building that had been repurposed as a library. The carvings on this building all displayed knights fighting with dragons, warriors rescuing maidens, and other such nonsense.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Owl Two was responsible for this,¡± she said, some distaste entering her own voice. ¡°He said his lord would have wanted the children to be able to read the tales he enjoyed so much as a child and decorated the structure accordingly.¡±


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°I see¡­ you mentioned this Owl Two before. Who is he? I don¡¯t remember his name coming up in your town¡¯s leadership documentation.¡± The man had started walking again, apparently not overly interested in the art anymore.


    ¡°That¡¯s because he isn¡¯t a member of the Undercity.¡± Lily said, trailing behind him. ¡°He stayed with the syndicate and is in a very real sense, its leader. At least until my husband returns.¡±


    ¡°What is wrong with your queen? She actually let a separate power set on your very doorstep?¡± Jeffreys scoffed. ¡°It¡¯s bad enough that we¡¯ve allowed you to get away with living in our lands without paying your taxes. But how are you even still around, with an army camped right outside?¡± What was with this man, did he have a death wish?


    He talked down everything he saw. When they passed marvels that Lily hadn¡¯t even believed possible ten years ago, like the electric light posts, or the few cars Owl Two had given them, he pretended like they were some kind of trick.


    ¡°The White flame syndicate are continually active in the fight against the invaders. It was largely them who defeated the locust threat. Even now, whenever we get an invader ship, it is them who go to fight them off.¡± She didn¡¯t know why she was defending them, honestly, she agreed with him. The syndicate had outlived its usefulness. Turning a corner, she saw a pair of blue skinned men with white hair, talking to a crowd of young boys near a bakery. Turning to her guest she said.


    ¡°Parden me for another moment.¡± Before she walked away from him yet again.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± She asked angrily, ¡°you kids get out of here, don¡¯t listen to whatever they have to say.¡± Lily waited until the kids had run off before turning back to the well-muscled men. They were easily recognizable as the goblin oni blends that Owl Two had settled on as his favorite hybrid. He¡¯d largely given up on the others. Though there were plenty of half breeds up in the valley, continuing to cross breed with each other. It was sickening, and there were so many different flavors that everyone had just taken to calling them yokai, since they were all demons.


    ¡°Lady Lily,¡± one of the yokai said with a bow. He stood a little over six feet tall, so he was of a height with Lily herself. ¡°We are on Owl two¡¯s escort detail. The boys had some questions about our armor.¡± He said gesturing down at the black armor he wore with the grey flames licking his body from his boots up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± She said simply. ¡°You have been banned from recruiting in the city. You know that. If I see something like this again, we¡¯ll take steps to ban you from the city.¡± They didn¡¯t argue or get visibly mad. The oni yokai were like that, like Staz in how they stayed completely calm¡­ right up until it was time to start killing. Lily sighed when she thought of Staz. The giant had been one of her closest friends, right up until she¡¯d lost the baby. So much had changed after that, and they¡¯d drifted apart.


    Leaving the pair, who could have passed for human if it weren¡¯t for their white hair and blue skin, behind, Lily returned to the ambassador once again.


    ¡°Is this going to be a regular occurrence?¡± He asked, looking down his nose at the yokai. ¡°Because I would like to request a palanquin if so. These stone streets are awfully hard on a man who¡¯s used to more, sophisticated roads. And what is that incessant buzzing?¡± Lily knew full well that was a lie. She¡¯d been to the capital, and their streets had nothing on the flat, slightly textured for grip, stone of the Undercity.


    ¡°That is our generator. It is responsible for the telephones, the lights, the running water, the cars, and several other inventions that make our life easier. And no need for a palanquin, we are almost there.¡± Lily was glad about that; she didn¡¯t want to have to deal with this for much longer. At this rate, they would arrive just before the meeting was due to start. She breathed deeply, thinking about retirement again.


    The castle, once a boring square slab of stone, had been engraved with myriad scenes of both bravery and beauty, elegance, and flowing lines. The bugbear craftsmen, so despised during their time as refugees had really come into their own, and in the years since the wars ended, they had become the dominant faction inside Undercity. Turning the boring cubes that served as buildings into wondrous works of art. They were even now, building a trade network with the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom, the elves, and what was left of the honeycomb.


    That trade network was the reason for the ambassador¡¯s visit. Undercity had declared itself neutral in all conflicts and retreated into the mountains after the locusts had been defeated. Unconcerned with the affairs of those on the surface, focusing only on the vast network of underground caves filled with farms, underground livestock areas, and largely unexplored areas that were rife with raw materials that could be mined. There was no need to go outside, except to trade their crafted goods for things that could only be found on the surface.


    They had only recently gone outside again, starting a trade caravan that hit many of the larger cities in the local kingdom. As well as renting one of the kaldarr dropships from the White flame syndicate to do trade runs with the bugbear clans who had survived the locust war. The trade, going so well that the kingdom their mountain home was in, decided it wanted its cut of the profits, although they had done nothing to earn it. Unless one counted owning the dirt above their heads.


    ¡°Hello, lady Lily,¡± said one of four human guards when they reached the castle gate. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s going to be a busy day, with all the higher ups gathering inside.¡± Lily recognized the guard, who looked rather dapper in his gold enameled lamellar Undercity armor, with its black stenciling of a city in a cave. Lamellar armor had become the staple in Undercity. Gold was chosen as their city colors to represent the golden age they were entering. Most everyone wore locust lamellar, because they had mountains of the carapace piled up in spare caves, but it was slowly being replaced with underground lizard scale, or steel, depending on one¡¯s budget.


    ¡°Hello, Frank.¡± Lily said with a genuine smile. The middle-aged human had apparently once been a guard captain for Benjamin¡¯s brother, Charles. Back before the White flame captured him anyway, now he served as a city guard, and by all accounts an exceptionally good one. ¡°Yes, I believe it will be an interesting day to say the least¡­ This is ambassador Jeffreys, he will be accompanying me to the meeting today.¡± Lily said, trying to keep the smile in place when the fat man was mentioned.


    ¡°I see,¡± Frank said. "Very well then, head on in. You are expected in the council chambers.¡± Lily noted the cooling of Franks expression when he saw the luxuriously dressed fat man. She wondered about it for a second, but now was not the time to pry. Instead, she just nodded her thanks and proceeded to lead Jeffreys into the castle.


    ¡°Why are all the statues in this chamber of goblins? And why are they all wearing battered armor? Is this another memento to your not dead husband?¡± Jeffreys asked when they entered the hall of remembrance. It was a vary sacred room to the goblins of Undercity, and the few goblin guards at the doors bristled in anger at the disrespect in the man¡¯s voice.


    ¡°This is the hall of remembrance, ambassador.¡± Lily said patiently, ¡°When we were all under the White flame¡¯s banner, he gathered up all the goblins and formed them into three groups. The workers, the scouts, and the food corps. This room is dedicated to all the original members of the food corps and the scouts. Due to goblin life spans, almost none of them are around anymore. Our queen valued them highly, however, so she had this hall commissioned to honor them.¡±


    That was a highly abbreviated version of the story. It also left out many of the key details. Like how all the scouts and food corps members had been of mixed goblin and hobgoblin blood. When Undercity had been founded, the original hobgoblin owners had been looked down on. To the last one, the war loving race migrated to the surface and joined the White flame syndicate. Without any new cross species pairing, that left the original scouts and food corps as the only ones who could pass on the bloodlines. Except they hadn¡¯t realized that, until many of them had reached old age. Thanks to the sexual inhibitors that let them function in society, they had been unwilling, or unable, to breed.


    It hadn¡¯t even taken ten years for the majority of the mixed goblin population to die. When the council had gone to Owl two with it, he told them he¡¯d seen the problem coming from the start, but since they¡¯d parted ways with the White flame syndicate, he had no interest in helping them. A large part of why there was so much hatred for the syndicate in the Undercity. The goblin paradise that lord White flame had handed to Hunter, Guts, and Brie, had nearly ended in a single generation.


    There were still several dozen cross blooded goblins in the city, guts had fathered nearly one hundred children himself, at the orders of the queen. That hadn¡¯t made Brie happy, but it had helped a little. Lily bit the inside of her lip in frustration as she remembered the events of the past ten years. They had accomplished so much but lost so much more in the doing.


    ¡°I see,¡± Jeffreys said, bringing her back to the present. He¡¯d unknowingly mirrored the words and expression of distaste that Frank had worn when looking at him. ¡°Your queen seems to have an unhealthy fascination with goblins¡­ your late husband as well. Once we take back this small city for the kingdom, we will have to put an end to the practice.¡±


    ¡°Ambassador Jeffreys,¡± Lily snapped as they walked together through the doors of the council chamber, reaching the limit of her patience. ¡°You are out of line. This city is a home for goblins. I have been tolerant of your blatant racism because we wish to have healthy relations with your kingdom, but I will not tolerate your disrespect of my queen.¡±


    ¡°You ungrateful wench,¡± Jeffreys said, spitting the words back in her face angrily. ¡°I have given you more than enough chances to come clean with me on why you haven¡¯t paid your taxes. Yet all I ever hear from you is horse shit about goblins and you being independent. I have half a mind to have my guards str¡­¡± he didn¡¯t get farther, because a strong hand wrapped itself around his neck.


    ¡°Lily,¡± the owner of that voice said. The words were so cold Lily shivered. ¡°Who might this¡­ person be?¡±


    ¡°I apologize for my outburst. He is the new ambassador from the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom, your majesty.¡± Lily said, going into a deep bow.


    ¡°A damned goblin, you¡¯re the queen? Guards¡­ Aaarrgghhh.¡± His words were choked out by Hunter¡¯s fist, squeezing tighter. His guards took a step forward but were stopped when Vara and Syl drew their blades, and Tupelo raised a rifle to his shoulder. Andessa didn¡¯t move to engage, instead, she took a step in front of Lily, bringing her shield up to guard her charge.


    ¡°Enough of this farse.¡± Hunter said, shoving the spluttering ambassador into a corner with more strength than any goblin should have. ¡°You will stay put down there, with your guards. Or I will have you fed to the trogs, alive. Do not speak until this meeting has ended, if you can manage that, then I will listen to the message you have brought from your king. Do you understand?¡± The trembling man looked like he was going to argue, to scream, to threaten. When he turned to his six burly guards, however, he saw they had meekly handed over their weapons, and much of the wind seemed to leave his sails. Turning back to the queen he gave a silent nod, a wet spot seeping out around his crotch. That minor matter handled, Hunter turned to the still bowing Lily and lifted her head.


    ¡°None of that Lily,¡± she said, smiling up at the taller woman. ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve had all of Undercity¡¯s leaders together in one place for what feels like years. let¡¯s set the formalities aside and treat this like the reunion it is. Now come and say high to all our old friends.¡±


    ¡°Of course, your majesty.¡± Lily said, with a dip of her head, as Hunter moved back to the small circle she had been speaking with. Lily recognized all of them at once. There was the queen, Hunter. Brie and her husband Guts, and their oldest child, Robert. They had more than twenty children together, all of whom had been blessed with the sense of reason that only goblins with something else mixed in could obtain.


    Lily eyed Brie for a second before she moved her gaze along. The half goblin, half human woman had aged just as much as Guts. Her years were numbered if the silver in her fire red hair was any indication. It was a sad thing, to watch friends of shorter-lived races grow old and die while she was still in the prime of her life. Hunter thankfully was immortal, as long as she sat on the throne.


    Then, there was Benjamin. The general was well into his fifties now and looked his age. Standing beside him was the spitfire Rachel, now in her late twenties. The girl had come a long way since she¡¯d murdered a bugbear man who¡¯d tried to steal her food. Now, she led an entire company of Undercity¡¯s soldiers.


    That just left Vasylia and her cousin Halikor. The large framed and shaggy furred bugbear woman formerly of the white mane clan had stayed in power. Thanks in no small part because Halikor, the only remaining male member of the clan¡¯s main family, had become Lily¡¯s consort, and had children with her.


    Lily sighed at just how few remained. The melting pot of races that was the White flame syndicate had split up. Only the goblins, bugbear, and the majority of the humans had stayed in the city they¡¯d all fought so hard to conquer.


    ¡°The elven delegation has arrived,¡± called an announcer at the chamber¡¯s main entrance. It was much larger than the small back door Lily had taken with Jeffreys and led outside. She grimaced as she watched the elves troop in. Knowing that the cursed android wouldn¡¯t be far behind.

 Chapter sixty-seven

    Lily


    ¡°Greetings, Lord Ellanaril,¡± Hunter said, moving forward to meet the leader of the moon elves. He was accompanied by Surrallathil and her husband Durrallathil. ¡°And greetings to you as well, Hellebore. How is the dryad doing?¡± She added, turning to the wood elf who entered with them. He was also flanked by a pair of wood elves, but Lily didn¡¯t recognize them.


    ¡°Greetings, your majesty.¡± The moon elf leader said with a shallow dip of his head.


    ¡°Hi, Hunter.¡± Hellebore said taking the goblin into a hug. ¡°It¡¯s been way too long. I was hoping you¡¯d come join us for the hunt last spring. What happened?¡± The affable wood elf was liked by everyone present and was a far cry from the stern Unyielding oak, who¡¯d led the wood elves with an iron fist.


    ¡°Sorry Hel,¡± Hunter said with a sad chuckle. ¡°The Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom has been giving us grief ever since we started our caravan route. They sent another ambassador to threaten us into taking the knee,¡± she hooked her thumb over her shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s him over there in the corner. If he lives through the meeting, I¡¯m going to draft a message to his king when we¡¯re done with, whatever, the tin can wants this time.¡± There was no love lost between any of those who¡¯d chosen to remain in Undercity, and the evil experimenting android. Hunter especially was furious with him. Since she had to watch all her friends and family grow old and die around her.


    ¡°Understandable,¡± Hellebore said, wincing in sympathy at the fat man who¡¯d wet himself in the corner. ¡°Let me guess, a belligerent bully, right up until you threatened him?¡± At the affirming nod, he scoffed. ¡°Always how it goes.¡±


    ¡°Should we all take a seat, your majesty?¡± Benjamin asked, tilting his head towards the giant conference table that had been set up, and lined with delicious smelling foods that Guts had prepared for the occasion.


    ¡°No.¡± Hunter said, no give to her voice. ¡°I won¡¯t be offering a seat to those damned traitors. We¡¯ll all stand until that hunk of junk says what he called us here for and gets out of my city.¡±


    ¡°Well said your majesty.¡± Lily said, with a nod. Smiling at the venom in Hunter¡¯s voice. ¡°They don¡¯t belong here anymore. I even caught two of the yokai trying to recruit some of our young men on my way here. I told them to get lost. Perhaps it¡¯s time to reconsider banning them entirely from the mountain?¡±


    ¡°What happened to you, Lily?¡± A voice asked, so deep and filled with bass that it rattled the dishes on the table. You were once my lord¡¯s most ardent supporter. To see how far you have fallen breaks my heart. I wonder what he will say when he comes home and sees what has become of his people in his absence.¡±


    ¡°The White Flame syndicate delegation has arrived,¡± called the announcer. The tones that had sounded so deep and rich during the elf¡¯s introduction, now sounded mousy and unimpressive. It had also come too late, as Staz was already walking through the open doorway, having to duck to fit through the entrance. The ten-foot tall oni was decked out in inches thick steel armor, made from interlocking plates, too complicated for any smith to forge. His black Flame armor had been made over months of dedicated time in the fabrication unit. Ambassador Jeffreys whimpered in the corner, when the blue monster filled the entryway, but otherwise kept his mouth shut.


    ¡°You know exactly what happened, Staz.¡± Lily snapped, her face going pale with poorly concealed rage. ¡°It was that damned machine¡¯s fault, that I lost¡­ He could have¡­¡± Her voice trailed away, and Lily found herself in Halikor¡¯s arms while she wept.


    ¡°He isn¡¯t a god, Lily.¡± Staz said sadly, as he moved aside for the next person to enter the room. ¡°When you got injured, he treated you the same as any other patient. There was no way to know the nanites would attack the baby.¡± Lily closed her ears to drown out the words she didn¡¯t want to hear. Not wanting to remember the wound she¡¯d taken during training, or what the ¡®health potion¡¯ her husband had designed had done to her unborn child.


    ¡°Enough Staz.¡± Unyielding oak said, entering the room after the oni stepped aside. ¡°She knows she¡¯s being irrational. It¡¯s a mother¡¯s prerogative to be a little crazy about their children. Isn¡¯t that right son?¡± She added, looking over at Hellebore. ¡°How are my people doing?¡±


    ¡°Hi ma,¡± Hellebore said with a welcoming grin. ¡°Been a while, and my people are doing just fine, thank you.¡± He only emphasized the word ¡®my¡¯ a little, but it was still heard by everyone present. ¡°How are the kids?¡± He asked in turn. Lily knew he was referring to the orphans the White Flame had taken in after Unyielding oak had abandoned them.


    ¡°They¡¯re doing well. It was a shock to many of them, when the kids they played with, grew up and in a few cases, got old and died, while they remained small, but they adjusted. Isn¡¯t that right Dandelion?¡± A teenaged wood elf walked in after unyielding oak. Lily, who was starting to get a handle on her emotions recognized her as the small elven girl her husband had sentenced with the murderers, and then paraded around the camp like a mascot, to show how well he was doing. No, Lily shook herself. She was angry about how things had turned out, but she didn¡¯t need to twist the past like that. She knew the White Flame hadn¡¯t had any bad intentions in taking in the children.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that small auntie oak,¡± the twenty-eight-year-old wood elf, who looked no older than fifteen, said swatting playfully at the older elf. ¡°Vaira just grew up faster than I did.¡± She added jokingly as a bugbear woman in her early to mid-twenties, with sleek black fur entered the room next.


    ¡°Me? Are you sure you don¡¯t mean Tank?¡± The woman, Vaira said. ¡°White Flame willing, we¡¯ll grow old and die before you do too.¡± She added with a chuckle. Lily¡¯s heart fluttered at the sight of this woman. She was one of the forty girls the White Flame had taken, now all grown up. Dressed in leather armor with small steel plate reenforcing the vitals. She also carried a saber and long dagger, though they were clearly upgrades to the one they¡¯d left Gilded Lily with.


    Rage began to boil again, replacing the misery of just a few seconds ago. When she¡¯d transferred her allegiance to Undercity and Hunter, Lily had gone to Owl Two and requested her forty charges back. The girls she¡¯d turned over to the Syndicate to save them, and herself. He¡¯d flatly refused. Nothing she¡¯d said could change his mind, even threats of war. He justified his actions by claiming she¡¯d freely handed them over, and that his lord was going to need soldiers when he returned. Since Undercity had declared their independence from the White Flame syndicate, they needed every soldier they could get.


    ¡°How dare you bring kids to this meeting?¡± Lily wondered who¡¯d said that, before realizing it had been her voice that had spoken. A little shocked about her own words, she figured that since she¡¯d already spoken, she might as well go on. ¡°This is not the place for the young. It¡¯s bad enough you took them from their kind, but to raise them as soldiers is just wrong.¡± She was fuming, beyond agitated at the sight of one of the girls she¡¯d been forced to give up, now laughing with the enemy.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t even finished entering the room yet. I believe this is a new record.¡± Owl Two said, stepping through the door, followed a moment later by K2. The android looked the same as ever, thought Lily, though he¡¯d upgraded his armor at least once. K2 was armored very much like Staz, only his plates weren¡¯t as thick. None of them were armed, she noted. Not that it really mattered. Between the three groups leaders, the syndicate was far superior in close quarters combat.


    ¡°There, now that we are all here. I have a few things to discuss. Since it seems clear to me that you haven¡¯t gotten over your personal hang ups. I will be brief¡­¡±


    ¡°Personal hangups?¡±


    ¡°Gotten over it?¡±


    Both Lily and Hunter screamed at the same time.


    ¡°How is it a personal hangup? You let nearly my entire species die. With no recourse but for the handful of us that are left, to have as many children as possible. It will take generations to even come close to the numbers we had just five years ago.¡± Hunter said.


    ¡°You murdered my baby, how am I supposed to ¡®get over it,¡¯ you, soulless abomination. You expect me to believe you didn¡¯t know what would happen? You¡¯ve experimented on children for a decade. There¡¯s no way you didn¡¯t know that might happen.¡± Lily said at nearly the same time.


    The two women heaved for breath, clearly fighting to hold themselves back.


    ¡°I, too, take issue with how things played out.¡± Brie added, speaking up for the first time since Lily arrived in the hall. ¡°Ronin gave this city to the goblins. He gave it to us, and he left me here, with Guts because he wanted to help Hunter make this a safe haven for goblins. Thanks to what you did, we are a minority in our own city. Bugbears and humans far outnumber us. To say nothing negative about our fellow councilors, it gets harder every year to keep in control as our numbers decline and their numbers increase. We could be forced out of here when? Guts and I finally reach our end.¡±


    Owl Two looked around. Waiting, it seemed, to see if anyone else had anything to say. Then, he moved over to the table and sat down, motioning for his people to do the same. In less than a minute, the syndicate members were all seated in chairs around the conference table. Even Staz, who shrunk himself down to fit. The android remained silent, he only motioned to the empty chairs on the other side of the table and waited.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind keeping this discussion verbal, and nonviolent.¡± Hellebore said, taking a seat with his two subordinates. Ellanaril, Surrallathil, and Durrallathil each sat as well. Neither of the elven species being on bad terms with the syndicate. In fact, they had more of an inclination to them, than Undercity because of Unyielding oak and Hellebore¡¯s relationship, and Owl Two¡¯s having turned over the dryad and oakkin to their care.


    ¡°Will sitting down get you out of my city any faster?¡± Hunter asked with a snarl, but she still moved over and took her throne like chair at the table¡¯s head. Once she¡¯d capitulated, the rest followed suit soon after. Leaving only Lily standing, and the ambassador on the floor, muttering to himself about monsters. She almost refused, until Hunter caught her eye. The look had her moving quickly to a chair beside her consort.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°I will address each of your points in order. Then I will tell you the reason I have come.¡± Owl two said emotionlessly. ¡°Firstly, Dandelion is older than Rachel, whom I see you have brought to this meeting. Secondly¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother Owl Two.¡± Staz said looking over the Undercity council, his eyes rested on Lily for a brief moment longer than the rest, but she was already preparing her counter arguments, so she didn¡¯t pay any mind. ¡°They interpreted our lord¡¯s last order differently than we did. Nothing we say to each other today is going to change that. Just tell them why we¡¯re here, so we can leave already.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± the android said turning his attention on the queen. ¡°Our timeline has resynced with our lord¡¯s. In other words, we are now experiencing time at the same rate as he is. I was recently in contact with him.¡± The people at the table were staring at Owl Two now, with shock and in several cases a lack of understanding.


    ¡°What do you mean, our timelines were out of sync?¡± Guts asked, ¡°and how did you get in touch with him. Is that something we can do?¡±


    ¡°In order to have adequate time to evaluate the ship, I changed the time dilation to one year for every day in our lord¡¯s time. It has been ten years for us, but for our lord, only ten days have passed since he left us.¡± That news hit the conference room like a bomb going off, no one had known, it seemed. Except for Lily, who¡¯d had an idea after a few conversations with the android. Before they¡¯d parted ways.


    ¡°The reason I am here, telling you this,¡± Owl two continued in his normal tone but at elevated volume, to cut through all the shouting. ¡°Is because lord Ronin is sending upwards of four hundred human refugees to us, some of whom are considered rather dangerous. He wishes us to house these people and care for them. He also wants twelve more people to join him. I will be handling the selection however, so there is no need to worry about that.¡± The uproar this time was even louder than the last. Rage boiled on more than one angry face. Yet no one, not even Lily, screamed louder than Hunter, when she responded.


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± She said, pounding her fists on the table hard enough to dent the wood. ¡°This city was given to me, no, it was earned by me by right of combat. It¡¯s mine. For the purpose of creating a goblin sanctuary. Thanks to you, you damned rusty can, next to none of my people remain. They all died without having children because of you and your interference. Now, you want to bring more humans into my city. Throw off the balance of power even more? No. I will not allow it. Now get out of my city. This meeting is over.¡±


    ¡°Hunter, please,¡± Staz said. ¡°Each person in this city was a refugee at one point. How can you turn them away¡­¡±


    ¡°I said get out.¡± Hunter repeated, pulling a mark V from where it had been hidden under the table. Everyone on the Undercity side had drawn one type of weapon or another. While the wood and moon elf factions all headed for the doors, clearly not wanting to get involved.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time for this,¡± Lily said, reaching for her own weapon that had been stashed under her seat.


    ¡°Rethink this,¡± Staz tried again. ¡°There¡¯s nothing you have in here that can put me down. You know that. If you start a blood bath, none of you will walk away.¡±


    ¡°Then unless you want to kill us all, I suggest you leave.¡± Benjamin said, holding a long dagger in his hand.


    ¡°This all escalated very quickly.¡± Owl two said calmly. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize the delusion you had was this strong. Very well then, I think a demonstration is in order.¡± As he spoke, the android pulled a small battery powered lantern from his bag and placed it on the table, turning it on. The weak light was barely bright enough to be seen under the LED¡¯s that lit the entire room, like they were outside under the sun, and not miles below ground.


    ¡°Benjamin,¡± Owl Two said, turning to the man who had once been his closest ally. ¡°Kill your ward.¡± Everyone blinked at that, some, including Rachel, laughed.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± She said, with a scoff as she brandished her own dagger. ¡°He¡¯s like a father to me, he would never¡­¡± The words were cut off when the blade in Benjamin¡¯s hand plunged directly at her heart. She was able to fend it off, but he came in again. Before anyone else had a chance to intervene, however, the humming of the generator stopped, and all the lights went out.


    There were cries of surprise, and pleas to stop, the latter coming from Rachel, who was desperately fending off Benjamin with her own dagger. The dim lantern was now the only light in the room. Lily ground her teeth together and prepared her crossbow to fire.


    ¡°What did you¡­¡± her words were cut off when Hunter, Brie, and Guts all started screaming. Lily looked over in shock, to see all three of the goblins writhing. Either on the ground, their chair, or over the table, each was in evident agony. What was worse, Hunter, who was laid out over the table, was visibly aging before her eyes. Her Flame red hair was turning silver, and her face was filling with wrinkles.


    ¡°You see,¡± Owl Two said in his dead, emotionless voice while Benjamin tried to kill his adopted daughter and the goblin leaders rapidly aged. ¡°My lord gave this city to you. With the understanding that you would make it a home. A home for yourselves, and for those who, like yourselves, needed one. When you turned your back on your lord, I did not interfere. When you rejected the hobgoblins, who could have partnered with you to create an entire new race of people just like you, I took them in. When you requested access to my nanites, to control the reproductive desires of your pure goblin population; a population that numbered well over three times that of the other races combined, I might add, I gave them to you willingly.¡± He stood up, moving around the table to get closer to the goblins as he spoke. Lily, not sure what she could do in this situation, took a step back.


    ¡°When you said you would no longer provide troops to the syndicate, I could have turned off all the inhibitors, returning you all to the animals you were. I did nothing except turn off the nanites that kept Guts and Owl five young. They could have lived for centuries in my lord¡¯s service, but even then, I did not kill them, only returned them to nature¡¯s intended path. As I hope you can see, I easily could have. As for you, queen hunter, I control the ship. I control your immortality.¡± Bending down, he lifted her head up by the hair and stared into her eyes as he spoke.


    ¡°I created the generator that powers this city. That feeds the fields with water, which provides the homes and streets with lights, which fuels your telephones and cars¡­ I didn¡¯t take that away from you when you rebelled. I did not cut off your source of food, and light, and lest you forget, the only path you have to the surface¡­ no. Everything that has happened to your race, happened solely because you turned your back on my lord.¡± The power flickered on and off. The generator humming to life, before dying again, in time to his words. The strobe light effect instilled even more fear into Lily, as Owl Two, Rachel, and Benjamin seemed to jolt through time, as they moved between flashes of light and darkness.


    Dropping Hunter¡¯s head, to thud back onto the hardwood, Owl Two collected the mark V and walked slowly back around the table. Handing the rifle to K2 as he passed, he retook his seat. Without a word or a gesture, the lights stabilized, and the goblins stopped screaming. Benjamin even regained control of himself and dropped the dagger in shock. He stared in horror at Rachel, who had several deep cuts on her forearms and across her face.


    ¡°Now, I hope you have an adequate understanding of who holds the power here.¡± The android said, as deadpan as ever. ¡°I tolerate your flagrant disregard for my lord¡¯s orders because I know he would have allowed it. Unfortunately, for you, the war is about to start in earnest where he is. My lord will need troops soon, and a safe haven to return too. Those things will be provided to him¡­ if not by you, then by someone who can appreciate what has been done for them.¡± Standing, he motioned for his people, who Lily was relieved to see looked as shocked and terrified as she felt, to stand as well.


    ¡°You will take these refugees. These, and any future batch that my lord sends to you. You will quit discriminating against the yokai, who have just as much goblin blood as any of you half breeds. And you will open your city once more to trade with the syndicate. In return, I will return Guts and Owl five to the age they were when this meeting started and maintain the power supply to the city you¡­ earned. Do you understand me?¡±


    Hunter, who was still regaining her youthful appearance, didn¡¯t seem to be able to speak, but she nodded her head angrily. Without another word, Owl two turned and walked out of the hall. Trailed by the people who¡¯d remained loyal to Lily¡¯s ¡®husband¡¯. She watched them leaving and seeing that the goblins, Benjamin, and Rachel would need a minute, decided to follow them.


    Lily trailed them outside, moving slow so they wouldn¡¯t see her, and hid as they met up with several young people. Another bugbear woman and a handful of yokai. That included the pair Lily had seen earlier. Most of them were oni, goblin hybrid, but a few were also kaldarr, goblin crosses.


    ¡°Holy shit, K12 you should have seen it.¡± Dandelion said, once they¡¯d reached the group. ¡°Owl Two put them all in their places¡­ Why did you let them kick us out and treat our people so badly all these years if you could have done that, the whole time?¡± The girl continued, turning to the android.


    ¡°For real,¡± Vaira agreed with a nod. ¡°We have the stronger army. Since, they quit actively recruiting after the locust war. We have the fabrication unit, which lets us build tech they can only dream of, and we have you Owl two, who could, apparently, kill anyone who¡¯s been implanted with the nanites¡­ including all of us here, now that I think about it.¡± The girl looked excited when she started talking, but by the end, worry had crept into her voice.


    ¡°That fear right there,¡± Staz said, patting the worried young bugbear¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Is why. Now that you know you can die with a thought, do you feel safer?¡± The young woman shook her head. ¡°Owl Two must be getting worried, to have shown so many cards. Hunter will obey, for now, but we just made an enemy for life. Don¡¯t worry though, our lord would never allow him to do that to us, unless the situation was dire¡­ What¡¯s the matter, Owl two? Are things going that poorly out there?¡± He asked, turning to the android.


    ¡°They are,¡± Owl Two said, coming to a stop. ¡°When I was able to contact him, after the timelines stabilized, I got to look at the ship¡¯s readings. The enemies are closer than we thought, and the human government are already making their move. Our lord thinks he has two months to prepare. He will be lucky if he has two weeks. My Xerox is moving as fast as he can, but it might not be enough. Thankfully, our lord has secured an additional twelve bodies, we can use to send him back up. Even then, I need you all to be ready. If an opportunity presents itself, I will send you to our lord¡¯s side without notice. As for you kids, your team will go now. Six of the bodies are well suited to your team,¡± A round of, ¡®understood,¡¯ passed around the group, along with excited squeals from the girls. Before Owl two turned to look at Lily, who had been hiding behind a statue of Hunter.


    ¡°I allowed you to hear that, because I hope you will see reason before it is too late.¡± The android said as Staz waved his hand, the one with the tricolored ring on it, and mounts appeared around them. Including several stone carver rats who were larger than cave lizards and were equipped with saddles over their thick metal plated hides. The girls jumped onto those. There were a few of the shaggy white mountain goats that K2, Owl two and unyielding oak mounted. Staz didn¡¯t bring out a mount for himself, but Lily remembered just how fast the giant could run.


    ¡°No one wants to force you into anything Lily, but if lord Ronin loses out there, we all die. Keep that in mind, when hate and regret cloud your mind. Now, let¡¯s go. I want to have a word with the elves before they get too far away.¡± With those final parting words, the group set off. Lily watched as they disappeared through the gates and into the city.


    Lily leaned back against the statue she¡¯d used as cover and shook. For the first time in nearly ten years, she was shocked out of her own misery long enough to see things from another perspective. Looking at the Undercity¡¯s leadership from the outside left her feeling sick. She wasn¡¯t convinced that they had been in the wrong, not yet, but she felt the old resolve she¡¯d had in her youth stirring again. Turning away from the empty courtyard, Lily went back into the council chamber. There were many things she needed to do now that she was thinking about more than her own pain again. Starting with a conversation that ambassador Jeffreys wasn¡¯t going to enjoy.

 Chapter sixty-eight

    ¡°The ship? I had been debating turning it over to Karr, to do independent harvesting with. Why, did you have something in mind?¡± Ronin asked, thrown by the topic change. Since it wasn¡¯t every day, your android assistant turns out to be some super smart machine of mystery.


    ¡°I think our farming trip has come to an end, kid,¡± Leo said gravely. ¡°If the government is sending people after us, and with my history with them it¡¯s likely they are. Then we need to get off the grid, and fast. I already talked to Red. She agreed to let me tag along with her, since she¡¯s customized her ship too much to want to part with it. I¡¯d like to use our original ship, plus the one you got from Stanly¡¯s peons to throw any pursuers off our trail.¡± Ronin thought about the suggestion for a short time, finally nodding his agreement.


    ¡°Ok, I think that¡¯s probably the wisest course we can take. Give my people the night to get it stripped of anything useful?¡± He asked, hoping he wouldn¡¯t have to give up on the spoils of war.


    ¡°No problem, kid,¡± Leo said. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ll have my girls help out. I¡¯ve already had them strip my ship of everything that wasn¡¯t nailed down, so the process should go faster the second time around.¡±


    ¡°Alright deal,¡± Ronin said, stifling a yawn. ¡°If that¡¯s all? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve slept at all since I got this body, and it¡¯s catching up to me. What with today¡¯s revelations and everything¡­ I really could use some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame you at all kid. Chin up though, at least we have a chance at leaving the planet. All our competitors, and everyone stuck up on the ship¡­ Well, there is not much we can do for them. Not if we want to survive ourselves anyway.¡± Ronin frowned but nodded. The older man had a point. If they told people about the ship heading to earth, everyone would panic. If they told them about the ship underground, they would try and steal it. Still, Ronin would do everything in his power, to save those he could.


    After Leo left, Ronin stood in the ancient bathroom, looking at his closest companions. No one said anything, and Ronin suddenly felt exhausted. More tired than he ever remembered feeling, even during his three weeks in hell, when he¡¯d first been learning to fight. Breathing in deeply, he let it out in a long sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bed.¡± He said at last, giving a defeated shrug. ¡°I have no idea what¡¯s happening, or why they are questioning how real you two are. It¡¯s nonsense. Anyone with eyes can tell you are real, living, breathing people¡­ I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter what they say anyway, right?¡± He¡¯d started to ramble, and he knew it. So, Ronin just nodded his head and repeated. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed.¡±


    The climb back down the building¡¯s ruined stairwell took longer than it ever had before. Ronin was just too distracted to pay attention, and a quick grab from K3 on no less than two occasions was the only thing that kept him from going down headfirst. By the time they made it back to Ronin¡¯s dropship, he was staggering. Nodding his head at his people, who were busy stripping the gangster¡¯s ship of everything it had to offer, Ronin finally entered the house inside the ship. Not even bothering to find a bedroom, he threw himself into an armchair, kicked the feet out and fell asleep in seconds.


    *            *            *


    Ronin was dreaming. At least he thought this was a dream. He couldn¡¯t be sure, since he hadn¡¯t had a dream since he¡¯d been crystallized. All he knew was he was running. Running from a pyramid shaped ship, which was composed of fourteen stacked cubes. It was the lizard ship, the one that, even now, was heading to earth. Only it wasn¡¯t way out in space. It was already here. Ronin ran for all he was worth, but the ship was gaining on him. He kept glancing over his shoulder as he ran, each time he looked, the ship had gotten closer.


    During one such look, Ronin spotted another ship behind his pursuer. It was the human ship they were gathering materials for. Already fixed and using Ronin as a distraction to leave. He wanted to call them for help, but they were already too far gone, and he was out of breath. Turning forward again, Ronin put his head down and ran with everything he had. It just wasn¡¯t enough. He could feel the ship, nipping at his heels. When he heard a voice.


    ¡°Over here, my lord.¡± It was Xerox, or perhaps Owl Two. He was standing near a cave, beckoning Ronin to enter. Ronin changed directions, heading for his assistant¡¯s outstretched hand. Only to see a silhouette behind him in the cave. It was a massive shadow, with multiple limbs, and huge fangs. He could almost swear he heard the rustling and clattering it made, as it moved. What was worse, Owl Two was the one casting that shadow. ¡°Hurry up, my lord. They are already here. You must hurry if you want to survive.¡± Despite knowing the ship was almost on him, Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if he should take that proffered hand or not. Owl Two had used him so many times, that he¡¯d be a fool to trust him blindly. Now, with what Doctor Mycroft had said about him, Ronin didn¡¯t know what to do. Yet¡­ the ship was almost on him. Making a decision, Ronin reached out his hand¡­ and woke up.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Hey boss, Doctor Mycroft is calling for you. She says there is brain activity in the color force. Looks like they are waking up.¡± The voice was Stone¡¯s, and he could feel someone gently shaking his arm. Opening his eyes, Ronin glanced around, vision still hazy from sleep.


    Sitting up in the chair, Ronin rubbed his eyes and thought about the dream. What did it mean? He¡¯d read a book about dreams and their meanings once. It had been filled with references he didn¡¯t understand. Every other entry talked about cars and cell phones and elevators. Nothing that really resonated with him. If the dream was just a delusion brought on by the revelations the doc had shared with him, and his fear of being trapped on the planet or not, he didn¡¯t know. What he did know was he now had a burning desire to get moving before anything caught up with him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head right over,¡± he said with a nod of thanks to Stone. ¡°How is stripping the gangster ship going?¡± He asked as he punched in an order for enhanced Nutrient fluid. Only about an ounce of the pink fluid splashed into the cup and Ronin frowned. Remembering how hard it was to create the pink fluid, he figured they must just be running low and topped the glass off with the regular, green fluid. As the colors mixed, the ship memories he sometimes got kicked in, and made him think about coffee with a shot of expresso.


    ¡°We are almost done, boss.¡± Stone said, her voice relaxed. ¡°We cleared out the troop transport section easily enough, but getting the good stuff from the middle compartment has been giving us fits.¡± As she talked, she had grabbed a glass of her own, copying Ronin with a glass of green and a shot of pink. ¡°Mmm this is rather good boss, great idea. Anyway, with all the exosuits working on it together, we managed to get the fabrication unit outside, but there¡¯s just no moving the growth vat I¡¯m afraid. It¡¯s just too big.¡±


    ¡°Hold on, fabrication unit and growth vat?¡± Ronin asked, confused. ¡°What do you mean, I thought the fabrication units were in the troop compartment, and I didn¡¯t even know we had a growth vat¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh right, yea the small ones in the troop compartment we have been using are portable units. The beetles are so damn big they can carry one of them around with them for field work. I think they also use it to make the puddy or whatever they make their warren, or termite mound, or city, or whatever they call the thing they live in. But there¡¯s also a big one in the middle portion of the ship, there¡¯s actually a door that opens outside in there, the thing¡¯s big enough for a beetle to fit inside. The growth vat is the same, I guess it''s there for regrowing a body if someone gets killed during a landing excursion. The tanks are empty, but it¡¯s still plumbed into the ship more than we can separate. Unlike the fabrication unit, which was designed to be taken from the ship after landing¡­ we think.¡± Ronin eyed the chipper goblin scout while he sipped his breakfast and listened to her chatter. She was respectful, but she clearly didn¡¯t take it to extremes like some of the goblins had.


    ¡°Ok, thanks for the heads up,¡± Ronin said polishing off his glass. ¡°You got me curious now, I¡¯ll have to check out the middle section of our ship¡­ but not until we get airborne. I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯ve got a feeling we need to move. So, if you wouldn¡¯t mind, gather everyone up and get that fabrication unit over here. If you can''t get it done before the new troops are done waking up, we¡¯ll have to leave it.¡±


    ¡°You got it boss,¡± Stone said, clashing her fist against her chest. ¡°Consider it done.¡± Draining the rest of her own glass, the goblin tossed it into the sink and headed for the door at a trot.


    ¡°You good, White Flame?¡± Elyria asked, from where she¡¯d been seated at the table. Ronin hadn¡¯t seen her there before, but that didn¡¯t mean anything. She was agile enough to sneak in, and he had been groggy enough to have missed her.


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m fine.¡± Ronin said, heading for the door. ¡°Just woke up with a bad feeling is all. I think we need to move.¡± Elyria hopped up as he passed and followed.


    ¡°Strange,¡± K3 said as he fell into step with the pair. ¡°I had a dream last night, it was Owl Two, telling me if I didn¡¯t get you to the cave, you¡¯d die.¡± The kaldarr looked agitated, gripping his rifle so tightly Ronin could hear the polymers creaking.


    ¡°You too?¡± Elyria said, turning her head as she walked. ¡°I had a dream too, it¡­ ah, well it was a lot like yours.¡± She said, stumbling over the words and turning away from them while she spoke.


    ¡°Me too.¡± Ronin said with a grimace. ¡°Owl Two, telling me I needed to get to the cave, while the lizard ship chased me, and the human government used me as a distraction to flee.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to say that isn¡¯t possible,¡± Elyria said. ¡°But it¡¯s Owl Two we¡¯re talking about here. If he wanted us to have visions, he¡¯d find a way.¡± Neither of the two men wanted to argue the point, so instead, they picked up their pace.


    ¡°There you are, they¡¯re waking up.¡± A frazzled looking Doctor Mycroft said as they entered the cafeteria that had been set up as the teleportation, crystallization room. It was nearly empty now; all her equipment had been removed, relocated back to her ship. Ronin was thankful the others had taken Owl Two¡¯s warning to heart. Now all they needed to do was wait for the twelve empty bodies to wake up, and they could go.


    The six bodies that had once belonged to the color force were stirring. Arms and legs twitching, and fingers curling. Ronin watched, as first one, then another, then all six sat up. They didn¡¯t have eyelids, so none of them blinked or yawned, but there were a few stretches. That was, until the biggest of the bunch, the one whose armor was black, noticed Ronin standing there, between K3 and Elyria.


    ¡°My lord,¡± he said in a voice that had to belong to a man. He Jumped to his feet, slamming his fist against his chest, and even dropped to one knee. ¡°It¡¯s an honor, lord White Flame.¡±


    ¡°Lord White Flame, It¡¯s an honor.¡± The other five said, reacting with lightning speed after the first one had noticed Ronin. Now, all six of them knelt before him, fists clasped to their chests with their heads lowered. Ronin blinked in confusion for a moment, not sure what to do, until Elyria cleared her throat beside him, and he snapped out of it.


    ¡°Right, uh, please rise.¡± He said at last, feeling lame even as the words left his mouth. ¡°As you seemed to have guessed,¡± Ronin said once they¡¯d all stood up. ¡°I¡¯m Ronin, or lord White Flame. This is K3, my bodyguard and friend, and this is Elyria, my councilor and overseer, I suppose.¡± Ronin said, introducing his companions. ¡°Oh, and this is Doctor Mycroft. She¡¯s the one who helped get these bodies hooked up for you.¡± He added, pointing at the busty doctor.


    The six people just stood there, at attention, not saying anything. At a loss, Ronin looked to K3 and Elyria for help. It was K3 who stepped in and intervened on his behalf.


    ¡°Name, race, gender, and specialty. Also tell us a bit about yourselves.¡± He said, Reminding Ronin of when he¡¯d first met Owl team. Only Owl Two and Five were still alive from back then. He hoped they were doing well. Owl Two was fine, Ronin was sure of that. It was Brie he was worried about. He¡¯d left her behind when she¡¯d so clearly wanted to come along. He only hoped she¡¯d found the happiness his presence was denying her. It was the yellow armored color force who stepped forward first.


    ¡°My name is dandelion. I am a wood elf and female. I¡¯m the team scout and sniper. I don¡¯t know if my lord remembers me, but you saved me from execution when I was younger. Shared your food, played a game of cards with me¡­ and gave me a home. I was with the goblin scouts for a few years before reassignment to yokai team 01.¡± Ronin stared into the yellow suit visor, wishing there was a face there to read. Dandelion? She¡¯d been just a kid when he¡¯d last seen her. Heck, she couldn¡¯t be all that old now.


    ¡°Of course, I remember you Dandelion.¡± Ronin said, stepping forward and raising his arms. ¡°You were so dirty back then I couldn¡¯t see just how cute you were. I see your all-grown u¡­¡± his greeting was cut off when the yellow suited wood elf leapt at him. Ronin caught K3 lifting his gun from the corner of his eye, but Elyria stepped in and stopped him before Ronin had to say anything.


    ¡°What you mean to say, lord Ronin,¡± The girl said with an obvious catch to her voice. ¡°Was that you mistook me for a boy and embarrassed me in front of half the camp.¡± She squeezed him so hard that Ronin felt his armor creaking, and he made a mental note to ask the doc about that armor upgrade.


    ¡°Your body is a bit stronger than mine, kiddo.¡± He wheezed out, patting her on the back.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry lord Ronin.¡± The girl said, stepping back. ¡°I was just so excited; I¡¯ve been training hard since that day. Waiting to repay your kindness. My rifle is forever at your service.¡± She gave another fist to chest salute and stepped back into line.


    ¡°My name is Vaira.¡± The pink armored warrior said, stepping forward. ¡°I am a female bugbear. Frontline offensive specialist, proficient with small arms. You might not remember me, my lord. But I was one of the forty Gilded Lily bugbear girls you took into your service. We forty are your ever loyal swords, my lord.¡± She slapped her fist to her chest and then stepped back into line.


    ¡°My name is K12,¡± said the member in red. ¡°I am a male yokai of kaldarr descent and a combat gunner. My lord may not remember this, but you came to watch us being trained when I was a few months old. Owl Two was testing the different variations of yokai to see which of us were the smartest and had the best coordination. Knowing you cared enough to come watch me train gave me the extra drive I needed to gain a spot on yokai team 01. My dedication has earned me the nanite treatment to keep me fit, even while my peers aged around me. My life is yours my lord.¡± After speaking, he too stepped back. Ronin remembered going to watch the kids training a few times, but he couldn¡¯t tell them apart from that one encounter, even if they¡¯d been in their original bodies.


    ¡°My name is O17,¡± said the largest member in black. ¡°I¡¯m a male yokai of oni descent. When I joined yokai team 01 I earned the nickname Tank. That is my role on the team. You were gone on campaign before I was born, my lord. But I look forward to proving my value to you in the field.¡± He saluted and stepped back.


    ¡°My name is Liana,¡± said the blue armored warrior. ¡°Like Vaira I¡¯m a female bugbear. Also like her, I am a frontline combat specialist, and one of the forty girls who entered your service when you saved us from the honeycomb. We forty are your ever loyal swords, my lord.¡±


    ¡°I am K6.¡± Said the last team member, in green. ¡°I am a female yokai of kaldarr descent, and the leader of yokai team 01. Like K12 I¡¯m a combat gunner. Also, like K12 I remember you from my childhood. You held me when I was just a toddler, checking me over to make sure I was safe and watched me playing with Samantha before you let Owl Two continue with the yokai program. Though I don¡¯t believe it had been named back then. I am the oldest yokai still living, and one of the very first in the program. Owl two picked our unit to support you because we are the best yokai team in the valley. We have worked with squads like sergeant Karr¡¯s several times and can be integrated into a larger unit or be deployed for smaller team operations. We live and die for you, lord White Flame.¡±


    ¡°We live and die for you, lord White Flame.¡± The rest of the team echoed along with their leader. Causing Ronin to go red with embarrassment. Why did all his people treat him like that?


    ¡°Oh gosh,¡± Doctor Mycroft said with an eye roll. ¡°You¡¯re one of those power mad idiots, aren¡¯t you? The ones who rule their worlds like some kind of God. I had thought better of you kid.¡± Yokai team 01 stiffened at the jab, heads turning as one to face the doctor.


    ¡°Surprisingly no.¡± It was Elyria who spoke, saving Ronin from having to think of an excuse she would buy. ¡°As much of a pain in the ass as the White Flame is, he doesn¡¯t like all this pomp and respect.¡± She said waving at the six kids. ¡°This is all Owl Two¡¯s doing. The man has his faults, but small-minded arrogance isn¡¯t one of them.¡± Before Ronin could get properly touched by her defense of his character, she continued. ¡°Small-minded ignorance, however, certainly is.¡±


    ¡°Gee, thanks Elyria,¡± Ronin said with a sigh. ¡°Where would I be without you at my side¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be dead, most likely,¡± the elf said with a shrug. ¡°Now give these kids some orders already, they have to be tired of holding those poses.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ronin said, turning back to the still saluting yokai team. ¡°K6, we are on a bit of a time crunch. So, take your team and follow K3. He will lead you outside to help the rest of our people load up a fabrication unit. It could be vital to our long-term survival, and I¡¯d rather not have to leave it behind, but as soon as the rest of these guys wake up, we will have to go. If you get it loaded and secured before we make it out, then take some time and mingle with your fellows. Get to know each other, and the new bodies your in. They will likely take some getting used to.¡±


    ¡°Come on kids,¡± K3 said, stepping forward and motioning them to follow.


    ¡°It¡¯s an honor, sir.¡± K6 said, saluting the much taller kaldarr. Ronin wondered what the team members looked like in their normal bodies. He supposed he would just have to wait and see. He watched as they left the room, turning back around to an excited noise from the doctor.


    ¡°Brain activity, good, looks like it won¡¯t be much longer now.¡± Ronin turned at the doc¡¯s words, and they waited impatiently as the gangsters twitched, stretched, and blinked, rubbing their eyes as they yawned.


    Unlike yokai team 01, these six didn¡¯t jump up and salute when they saw Ronin. Instead, they slouched their way to their feet. Not even bothering to face him straight on, instead they all looked to Bunny and Chip, who looked at each other. Finally, Bunny turned to Ronin.


    ¡°Hey boss, we¡¯re back and willing to follow yer orders. We¡¯re good at shoot outs, stealing stuff and getting out of jail¡­ What else, oh yea. Owl Two said to tell you that after our, ¡®conditioning¡¯ we are trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°Conditioning my ass,¡± Chip interjected. ¡°What she means to say is he locked us in a prison cell for three months and tortured us with some kinda loyalty training until we caved¡­ I mean, that¡¯s not to say we aren¡¯t loyal boss. Cuz, we¡¯ll do what ya need.¡± He added, looking at Ronin with fear clearly written on his face.


    ¡°We have a message from the android.¡± Mycroft said, looking at her laptop. ¡°Here, I forwarded it to you.¡± Pulling out his tablet, Ronin looked down at the short line of text.


    ¡°My lord, sorry I couldn¡¯t send you more powerful backup. The Yokai team really is the best the younger generation has to offer. The color force bodies you captured were remarkably high quality. These gangsters on the other hand, are little better than humans. Increased strength and dexterity, that¡¯s it. I felt it wasn¡¯t worth risking any of our quality troops in such weak bodies. Along a similar line, it seemed pointless to send you anything but the best. So, I compromised. These fools know how to use their bodies the best, and they should be loyal enough to you for now. Use them until they are of no further value, then discard them.


    Get to the cave,


    Owl Two.¡±


    ¡°Guess we¡¯ll just go with it then.¡± Ronin said once he¡¯d finished reading the letter. ¡°Doctor Mycroft, I was wondering if there had been any headway on the armor reinforcer you were working on?¡± He asked, turning to Mycroft as Chip and Bunny started kissing and Knuckles began cracking his fingers menacingly.


    ¡°I am making progress but haven¡¯t finished just yet.¡± The Doc said with a shake of her head. ¡°It should take a few days to reach the mountain you need to find. I¡¯ll spend the trip working on it. Your damned android actually slipped some notes into the file I¡¯d been working on. It pisses me right off to say that some of them are pretty promising. So don¡¯t worry kid, we¡¯ll get you fighting shape before the lizards get here.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll be long gone before then,¡± Elyria muttered. ¡°You ready then, White Flame?¡± She asked, gesturing towards the door. ¡°We should go while we still can.¡±


    ¡°Yea let¡¯s go.¡± He agreed, heading for the door when his comm crackled.


    ¡°My lord, this is Stone¡­¡± The voice came through, bringing the news he really had hoped to avoid. ¡°I see at least three ships inbound.¡±


    ¡°Shit,¡± Ronin cursed, looking back over at his people and the Doctor. ¡°We have to go now. They are already here. Let¡¯s go people¡­ move it.¡± Barely waiting to finish his own sentence, Ronin took off towards the ships. Elyria and Mycroft right on his heels, the gangsters cursing and stumbling over everything in their path as they did their best to follow.


    Ronin ran for all he was worth, having flashbacks to his dream and hoping desperately they weren¡¯t going to be too late.

 Chapter sixty-nine

    Ronin exited the building at a dead sprint. Elyria took to the sky as soon as she had room to spread her wings, and Doctor Mycroft ran surprisingly quickly for a bare footed woman carrying a laptop. She had been wearing heels but had kicked them off instantly to run faster. The 1930¡¯s gangsters on the other hand, weren¡¯t doing so well.


    ¡°My lord, I have a firm count now, four ships inbound. Leo is enacting his plan. You need to hurry.¡± He could hear Stone in his earpiece, but he was running too hard to have the breath to respond. Ronin didn¡¯t have time to wonder what the lionid was planning, because the gangster¡¯s ship and the one he¡¯d come down in with Leo, both closed their ramps and took off.


    ¡°Hey¡­ where¡¯s my¡­ ship¡­ going?¡± Wheezed an obviously anxious Chip, as he ran for dear life, holding Bunny¡¯s hand the whole way. Each of the empty vessels had set themselves on a crash course for the incoming dropships. They were going too fast to avoid, and before anyone could do anything, the empty ships smashed into a pair of the incoming craft.


    ¡°Hurry up boss,¡± K3 yelled, from the base of the ramp. ¡°We gotta go before the debris falls.¡± He wasn¡¯t getting any arguments from Ronin. He could already see chunks of crunched ships raining from the sky.


    Dropping to all fours, Ronin used the bounding technique Leo showcased during their race to the tree. He¡¯d practiced a few times in secret, but still fell just as often as he didn¡¯t. Landing on his hands, he shoved off the ground, propelling himself forward as he brought his feet up to kick off again. Ronin knew he didn¡¯t look as smooth as Leo while he ran. The lionid¡¯s joints were a little different from Ronin¡¯s mostly human body. Still, he was strong and sturdy enough to make it work, and he bounded for everything he was worth. Hitting the ramp, he shot through the entrance to the ship right behind Elyria, who had been flying slower than she needed to, waiting for him.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She asked as he picked himself up from a pile of scattered equipment he¡¯d managed to plow right into. ¡°I mean you were doing great, then, POW, right into the harvester.¡± Ronin ignored her, knowing she was talking out of nerves more than anything, and looked back to see where the doc was.


    He saw her, now being carried face down across the back of a gryphon. Leo had flown out, scooped her up and was already on his way back to their ship. The gryphon also had one of the gangsters, the older man with the face scar, held in its claws.


    ¡°We gotta go boss,¡± K3 said worriedly as Stone and Whisper shot through the door, each carrying an extra two gangsters a piece that the gryphons had snatched up in their front claws. Looking out, Ronin saw the final member of the gang, the handsome young man, still running.


    ¡°Shut the doors and let¡¯s go,¡± Ronin said. It pained him to leave someone behind, but chunks of the ships were already raining down around them, and he couldn¡¯t risk the whole mission for anyone.


    ¡°Grinner, noo.¡± Said the woman wearing men¡¯s slacks and a dirty white undershirt. Her fedora had fallen off at some point and her short hair was flying wildly around her face, as she clawed her way towards the already closing ramp. Knuckles was holding her back, struggling to contain the furious woman as she fought to get out.


    ¡°Damn it Jackson, calm down.¡± The bruiser growled at her. The ship had already left the ground, and she was still struggling. Right up until Whisper slammed the butt of a rifle into the back of her head. That put her down, and Knuckles was able to get hold of her, near unconscious, form.


    ¡°Hey¡­ kid¡­ you hear me?¡± Leo¡¯s voice came crackling through his earpiece, but it was breaking up already due to distance. ¡°We each got¡­ on our tail¡­ going the long way¡­ try and shake¡­ before we get¡­ or we will have problems. We¡¯ll¡­ three days behind you¡­ stay alive kid¡­¡± Ronin struggled to understand, but when the line finally died, he thought he¡¯d got the gist. He turned to his team.


    ¡°Get everything secured. We¡¯ve got an enemy on our tail. Leo and the Doc are going the long way with another ship on theirs. We¡¯re more than four days away from the mountain. If they¡¯re still following us in twenty-four hours, we¡¯ll have to figure something out. We can¡¯t have them interfering at the lizard ship.¡± He got nods of agreement all round, except from the gangsters, who weren¡¯t looking very happy.


    ¡°Sorry about your man.¡± He said, addressing Bunny and Chip. ¡°I would have had to make that call no matter who it was, but I¡¯m sorry it was one of yours.¡± They didn¡¯t respond in words, but Ronin thought he detected a grudging understanding in their eyes.


    ¡°Alright. Karr?¡± He called, looking for his sergeant. Finding the man, helping secure the ship¡¯s cargo, Ronin called him over. ¡°Sergeant Karr, this is K6, the leader of yokai team 01. They are going to need weapons and some training in their new bodies. Can you get a few of the smaller fabricators going on that please?¡± He asked the leader of his troops, who nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Now, I want to check out the rest of the ship while we¡¯ve got the time.¡± He turned to Elyria, who¡¯d just been standing beside him, and raised a brow.


    ¡°Yea, I¡¯m coming.¡± She said with a snort. ¡°Though I have to say, your timing sucks. We barely survive several tons of falling ships, and now is when you wanna go exploring? I mean, I guess we don¡¯t have anything better to do...¡± Ronin thought she seemed excited to explore the ship but couldn¡¯t outright say it. So, was just throwing out complaints.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± He said, leading the way deeper into the ship. It was strange, they¡¯d had the ships for at least a few days, Ronin honestly couldn¡¯t remember how long, but he¡¯d never once thought about taking a tour. Well, now was as good a time as any. He¡¯d just woken up less than an hour ago, so it wasn¡¯t like he wanted to take a nap or go hang out in the library.


    The round doorway at the back of the troop compartment irised open, after Elyria flew up and pressed a button some ten feet up the wall. It was excessively high for a human but must be at a perfect height for beetles. Before walking through, Ronin looked back at the troop compartment they were exiting.


    The size of two football fields sandwiched together, it made a rectangle, something like one hundred fifty yards from where he stood, to the exit ramp, by one hundred yards wide, give or take a few yards. It was a huge space, at least for someone used to living in caves. Though it was already filling up with equipment. Not to mention the big, airlocked glass chamber they¡¯d made in a corner closest to the exit ramp, for the natural humans to breathe in. As well as the big two-story house that the color force had built in another corner.


    Turning around, Ronin entered the dark entrance that led deeper into the ship. Only to find the path lighting up, as overhead lights automatically turned on at his passage. Blinking at the sudden brightness, Ronin looked around. The passage connecting the two compartments was only a few feet long. Which made sense when Ronin thought about it. No point wasting valuable space in a spaceship, no matter how short ranged it might be.


    ¡°Wow, Talk about clutter.¡± Elyria said, from where she hovered overhead. The constant droning of her wings blending into the background noise of the ship underway. She had a point about clutter, Ronin noticed as he took in the room. It was half the size of the troop transport and had another exit ramp in one of the outer walls. The rest of the compartment was rather cluttered.


    It was still quite open from a human perspective. With a path no less than thirty feet wide, running through the middle up towards the cockpit, but most of the rest of the compartment was taken up by what looked like massive organs. Bubbling and churning various liquids, while the thick membrane walls of the container restricted and slackened, like breathing lungs, or a beating heart. Ronin shuddered, looking at the grotesque sight.


    ¡°These are the engines, if I¡¯m not mistaken.¡± K3 said, pointing at the pair of organs on either side of the central path. ¡°That over there,¡± he said, indicating the wall with the exit ramp. ¡°Is the fabrication unit. While the huge tank on the other side is the growth vat¡­ I did some reading, while you were sleeping on the information Xerox sent over to us.¡± The giant said by way of explanation.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s all that stuff?¡± Elyria asked, pointing at the wall next to the fabrication unit. It had what looked like a storage locker, of beetle proportions, bolted to it. ¡°It looks like a weapons locker.¡±


    ¡°Close,¡± K3 said. ¡°The crystal beetles are actually quite passive. They don¡¯t terraform planets with intelligent life on them, and any non-sentient life is normally wiped out as the atmosphere changes. No, those are equipment lockers. Wood working, mining, stone crafting, a number of other odds and ends. All designed to be worn over the beetle¡¯s body. They will actually carry them into the fabrication unit, and it will attach the gear to their shells. Since they aren¡¯t really capable of putting it on and taking it off themselves.¡± Ronin thought about arguing the point about them not terraforming inhabited worlds, but they hadn¡¯t fought back at all when the war broke out. Rolling right over when humans attacked their vessel.


    ¡°They don¡¯t really seem capable of making any of their own tech.¡± Elyria said, buzzing around the room as she looked at the various fluid filled containers. ¡°How did they manage to make all this without hands, anyway?¡± A good question, and one Ronin should have thought to ask.


    ¡°I¡¯m by no means an expert,¡± K3 said hesitantly. ¡°But from what I read, it looks like the elder race, or the old ones, or the ancients¡­ they were mentioned several times by different names. Regardless, they liked to raise up species that would never have gained sentience on their own. Two of the species they raised were the beetles and the¡­¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°The lizards,¡± Ronin finished for him. ¡°Jade mentioned the elder race having created the lizards for battle or something.¡± His ears went red with embarrassment as he admitted, ¡°I ah, actually cut her off while she was trying to tell us the story. It was during the battle for Undercity and¡­¡± Ronin trailed off, unsure how to finish.


    ¡°No complaints here boss,¡± K3 said with a shrug. ¡°This is all academic really, because at the end of the day, no matter how unlikely or unrealistic it seems¡­ we¡¯re looking right at it. If you¡¯d waited even a few more minutes during that battle, I at least wouldn¡¯t have made it. Besides, we can always research the old ones later, when we¡¯re not running for our lives.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Elyria chimed in. ¡°But we should see if we can use this stuff.¡± Flying over the locker she opened it up, or she tried to. The door was too heavy for her to get while flying. She ended up placing her feet against the wall, grabbing the handle with both hands, pushing off with all her strength, before she got the locker door to budge.


    ¡°Here, let me help you with that.¡± K3 said, jogging over to lend his own, considerable strength to the effort. ¡°That door was really heavy,¡± He said, panting for breath once they¡¯d finally opened the door. ¡°She has a point boss. This stuff is too big as is, to work with any of us. But we might be able to rig it to work on the exosuits?¡± He was looking at a giant, tapered cone, covered in teeth as he spoke. Ronin¡¯s memories that weren¡¯t his, told him it was some kind of drilling instrument for stone.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said with a nod. ¡°We should bring some of the exosuits in here and see what we can do. Maybe we can utilize the big fabrication unit to rig up some extra supports. Though, I sure hope we don¡¯t have to dig all the way down there. We¡¯d honestly never make it.¡± Ronin frowned at that thought, having never really considered how they would reach the ship, without the valley he¡¯d excavated in his pocket world.


    ¡°Did you not read at all, White Flame?¡± Elyria asked with a derisive snort. ¡°Here I thought you loved to read. I mean you talk about it all the time¡­ Xerox, or Owl Two¡­ one of them sent us a missive on the location. The pre fall country that owned that mountain had built a mine there. Eventually, the government closed it down, saying it was unstable. But there was activity there, right up until the beetles arrived on your planet. The conclusion Owl Two came to was that the miners had found something, and the government was covering it up.¡±


    Ronin winced at the accusation because there was some truth to it. Honestly, he¡¯d hidden inside his books for his entire life on earth. The one time he¡¯d ever done anything heroic had ended with his death, well it would have if he hadn¡¯t been crystallized. Once he entered his pocket world, and realized that the stories that had sustained him through the tough times were nothing but pretty lies¡­ Well, he really hadn¡¯t wanted to read since then. Every time he picked up a book, it brought back bad memories.


    ¡°I must have missed that,¡± he said, lamely. ¡°But what are we going to do about the ship that¡¯s following us?¡± Ronin asked, changing the subject. ¡°If they are following us, even after we blew up two of their ships it¡¯s likely they have enough people to swarm us. Leo said we needed to take care of them before we reached the mountain. Any suggestions?¡± The elf eyed him critically, clearly knowing he¡¯d changed the subject, but eventually she caved in and answered.


    ¡°Not sure,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°The guns we have are pretty powerful, but I¡¯m sure theirs are too¡­ we can¡¯t control the ship, beyond giving it locations to fly to. So, trying to outrun them isn¡¯t an option. Heck, these things don¡¯t even have external guns, so we can¡¯t even shoot em. Though, that also means they can¡¯t shoot at us either.¡±


    They shot ideas back and forth as they explored the middle compartment. Sadly, they kept coming back to landing, and shooting it out. Unless they wanted to be followed all the way to the mountain, there wasn¡¯t any other choice. As they talked, and explored, Ronin was amazed at just how much stuff was packed into this small room. There were tools, the growth vat, the big fabrication unit, a healing station, and several other pieces of equipment he couldn¡¯t figure out the use of. When he mentioned it to the others though, Elyria only laughed at him again.


    ¡°What did you expect?¡± She asked with a laugh, brushing her silver hair away from her face, in a way that definitely didn¡¯t catch Ronin¡¯s eye. ¡°These ships were designed as the primary method of colonizing a new planet. I¡¯m sure there are tons of things in here, and on the mothership, that we haven¡¯t even seen, or at least understood, yet¡­ Everything was manufactured to a purpose. Everything. Even their bodies were designed to work with this equipment.¡± She waved her hand around the ship in wonder.


    ¡°I mean look at this thing, it¡¯s actually alive. At least it has biological functions. I don¡¯t think it is intelligent or anything¡­ though who knows? It might not be an AI who¡¯s piloting us around at all, but the ship itself.¡± Now that was a thought that made Ronin pause. Not just him either, the other two stopped their exploring and stared at each other for almost a minute. The idea of being flown around by a living, thinking ship, almost more than they could comprehend.


    ¡°How about we set that thought aside until Xerox meets up with us?¡± Ronin said at last, knowing he couldn¡¯t find out either way with the information he had available to him. ¡°Should we check out the cockpit then?¡± He asked once they¡¯d explored as much of the compartment as they could. Getting nods of agreement, he moved up to the forward most hatch and jumped to access the button. Nothing happened.


    ¡°Really? Defeated by a button?¡± Elyria flew forward and hit the button herself. Again, nothing happened. She slapped it several times to no effect.


    ¡°Really?¡± Ronin asked, putting as much snark into the word as he could. Elyria glared down at him, and K3 sighed wearily.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look around for another way to open it.¡± The giant said, in a tired tone, that Ronin didn¡¯t miss. He chose not to comment on it; however, his bodyguard had been watching his back while he slept after all. He¡¯d have to insist K3 got some sleep before the shootout they hadn¡¯t been able to find a way around.


    The three of them looked everywhere, tried vocal commands, and even tried to force the doors open, to no avail. Giving up, the trio returned to the troop compartment of the massive drop ship. To find yokai team 01 had each taken turns in the portable fabrication unit. They had redone their armor in white flame colors. Each now had their team number and their names printed on the left side of their chest. A good thing, for Ronin at least, since they were nearly identical now, with the armor no longer being different colors.


    ¡°Lord Ronin,¡± Dandelion said, coming over to them at a trot. ¡°We just got our proper colors put on, and sergeant Karr is growing, or printing, our weapons now. How do you feel about a sparring match?¡±


    ¡°Dandelion, show some respect to our lord.¡± K6 hissed, walking over and saluting Ronin after she pulled Dandelion away. ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord. Although Dandelion is our oldest member, her heritage means she hasn¡¯t developed past her teens yet. Please excuse her childishness, I promise her skill with the rifle makes up for her lack of tact.¡± Ronin smiled at the clearly nervous team leader, before turning to look at K3 and Elyria.


    ¡°What do you guys say?¡± He asked, with a raised brow. ¡°You want to test yourselves against the next generation?¡± The pair glanced at each other, before replying in unison.


    ¡°Not at the moment, we have things to work out,¡± from K3.


    ¡°We need to discuss our battle plans,¡± from Elyria. Ronin frowned but had to agree. If both his closest people thought it wasn¡¯t a good time then he wouldn¡¯t argue.


    ¡°Sorry Dandelion,¡± he said turning back to the group. ¡°Hopefully, sergeant Karr and Bunny¡¯s groups can give you a proper work out while we go over some important planning. It looks like we are going to have to fight the ship on our tail, so you¡¯ll have to be fighting fit soon.¡±


    ¡°By your will,¡± the team answered in unison, each saluting him in turn before turning to Karr, who was glaring daggers at K3 and Elyria for some reason.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to the planning boss,¡± K3 said, ushering Ronin along with him back towards the house.


    ¡°Ok, so what did we have to discuss that we hadn¡¯t already covered?¡± Ronin asked, unclipping his goat hide cloak before sitting down in the library. His companions shared another look, before K3 finally answered.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a whole lot to go over, though now that we¡¯re here, we might as well get a little planning done. Maybe we can figure out how the equipment works in the locker, and how to attach it to the exosuits.¡± Ronin frowned, looking at his friend.


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t have any urgent need to plan, then why did you both drag me in here so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Well, boss¡­ it¡¯s just that¡­¡± K3 said, scratching his bristly face with a carapace incased hand.


    ¡°Use your head, White Flame, geezz.¡± Elyria said with a harrumph as she crossed her arms. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember fighting the color force? They¡¯re way stronger than we are, I couldn¡¯t even hurt them. You and K3 had your armor cracked by mere punches. Now, add into the equation a bunch of young kids, kids with at least ten years¡¯ worth of constant training, who are eager to prove themselves to their idol¡­ they¡¯d freaking tear us apart. What would happen to your image in their eyes after that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh,¡± Ronin said, thinking about her words for a little while. ¡°Guess I hadn¡¯t thought about that.¡± He said with a sheepish grin. ¡°I keep forgetting I¡¯m not as strong in reality as I am in my pocket world, or at least, not in the same ways¡­ Poor Karr, no wonder he was glaring at you two before we left.¡± That thought made Ronin wince in sympathy, and he regretted telling them to be sure they were combat fit. Odds were high they¡¯d put at least one of Karr¡¯s people, or the gangsters, in the medical unit before it was over with.


    ¡°It¡¯s something you need to pay attention to, boss.¡± K3 said, uncharacteristically stern. ¡°It¡¯s been ten years back home. A lot can change in that amount of time. The kids we have here are clearly loyal to you. There¡¯s no way Owl Two would have sent them if they weren¡¯t. Still, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve built up a larger-than-life image of you in their minds. I¡¯m not saying you have to be someone you¡¯re not, just, remember that to those kids, you¡¯re their hero.¡± Elyria nodded along as K3 talked, and Ronin swallowed hard,


    ¡°No pressure or anything though, right?¡± He asked, trying to lighten the mood, it didn¡¯t work. ¡°Ok guys, I hear you.¡± He said, standing up and taking a lap around the reading room. ¡°I know I¡¯m not leadership material, heck, I never wanted to be a leader in the first place. All I wanted to do was go on adventures with my Owl team, just like in the books¡­ Did you know I didn¡¯t even come up with the team¡¯s name?¡± He asked, throwing himself back into his seat.


    ¡°No, it was from the book I took most of my ideas, for the armor and the drop pod from. I would have never even considered building a settlement if it hadn¡¯t been for Markus getting injured. I did it all for the credits. I did the math, you see. I got one ship credit for killing that poor, malnourished goblin woman, and ten credits for each goblin I¡¯d restored to health. If the system had rewarded me ten times as many credits for killing her, then saving them¡­ this story might have ended very differently.¡± He looked up at them with conflicted eyes, looking for condemnation.


    ¡°Even afterwards, I didn¡¯t make any of the day-to-day decisions, I left that up to Owl Two. I¡¯m not qualified to be a leader; I have no idea why anyone willingly follows me. Even Leo has asked my opinion a few times, for reasons that are beyond me¡­ and we¡¯re supposed to somehow fend off the leaders of my people, find a spaceship that¡¯s been hidden underground for over one hundred million years, combine its tech with that of another alien species, and somehow get away from my home planet? I don¡¯t know if I can do it.¡± After he finished, Ronin slouched back into the comfortable chair, waiting for Elyria to let him have it in a way that made him feel better, like she always did. To his shock, however, K3 was the one who answered.


    ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± The kaldarr said, glaring at Ronin with a ferocity he¡¯d never seen directed at him before.

 Chapter seventy

    Ronin thumbed the tablet to turn the page. He¡¯d been reading for the better part of two hours now, going through all the information Owl Two had given them. It was well laid out, each section including links, where more information could be reached for a deeper understanding of any given topic. He¡¯d started with the overview, reading the entire summary, before he dove deeper.


    Pausing, Ronin thought about what he needed to know the most. In doing so, his mind wandered back over the words K3 had said to him, only a few hours ago.


    ¡°You can¡¯t.¡± He¡¯d said, surprising both Ronin, and Elyria, if her face had been any indication. ¡°You can¡¯t do anything alone. And it isn¡¯t your job to do anything alone. You don¡¯t think you can do it? Even Leo asked for your opinion?... Wanna know why? Because he is just as human as you are, boss.¡± The Kaldarr jabbed a thick finger towards Ronin, to emphasize his point, as he spoke. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have all the answers either. He¡¯s making it up as he goes along, same as us. The only difference is, he doesn''t broadcast that to the world. He hides the insecurities, to make those who follow him more confident. Also, Leo knows what he, and his pride, are capable of.¡± Ronin wanted to ask a question then, but K3 raised a hand to forestall any words as he continued.


    ¡°Up tell now, you have been doing a decent job, but you haven¡¯t taken that next step. To be a leader in battle, you only need three things. You need to know yourself, your people, and your equipment. You must know your capabilities, what you and your people know and are capable of, and what your equipment can do. You don¡¯t have to know everything. But you do have to know the basics, and know who knows what, for when you need the information.¡±


    ¡°What about knowing the enemy?¡± Elyria asked, joining the conversation. ¡°I had always heard stuff like ¡®know your enemy, know yourself,¡¯ why didn¡¯t you mention them?¡± K3 didn¡¯t look upset, instead he nodded gratefully, like he was about to raise the point himself.


    ¡°Good question.¡± He said, turning to look between her and Ronin. ¡°Knowing your enemies is important. But it only matters after you know what your team can do. So what if you know exactly what your enemy is capable of if you don¡¯t know what you have to counter him with? Knowing what you can do going into every fight doesn¡¯t mean you will automatically win, but it reduces the stress you would otherwise face as you struggle to find a counter. As you see what the enemy has, you will know what assets you have that can challenge them.¡± He scratched his beard; it was a habit he¡¯d displayed often when thinking.


    ¡°Think about the POWF card game for a second,¡± he said, tapping his deck box. ¡°What good does it do you to know exactly what cards I have in my deck, if you don¡¯t know what cards are in your own? Each time you draw a card, be it personnel or equipment, you won¡¯t know the best way to use them, because you don¡¯t know what else is in the deck. Should you hold onto that piece of armor for someone who could make better use of it, or is the goblin in play the best soldier you have? Knowing what you have to work with eliminates the variables, it means you don¡¯t need to think about what you have when the enemy plays their cards, because you already know. So, no matter the enemy you face, you can face them with the confidence of knowing what you are capable of.¡±


    Ronin nodded, finally understanding what he was talking about. Each time they¡¯d gone into combat, he hadn¡¯t known exactly what his teammates could do. He hadn¡¯t known the limits of his own body, or the limitations of his guns. The wasp fight was a prime example, sure he didn¡¯t know the wasps would swarm like that, but he did know there were wasps in the tree. He could have looked them up on his interface, or asked Elyria what the best way to handle them would be. He continued to nod as what he¡¯d been doing wrong slowly sank in. Leading was like putting together a puzzle. He didn¡¯t have all the pieces, which was true, but by fitting all the ones he had into place, he would be able to see some, if not most of, the picture. Instead of just feeling stressed about what he didn¡¯t know, he could focus on what he did.


    ¡°Thanks buddy.¡± He¡¯d said, before pulling out his tablet for a long overdue information gathering session. His friends had left him alone after that. K3 heading upstairs to grab a nap, while Elyria stayed behind to watch over Ronin. He barely noticed, so caught up was he with reading everything Owl Two had given them. He got angrier with himself with each new subject he¡¯d read. The tablet Xerox had handed him didn¡¯t just have pictures on it. The device was filled with information. Several books worth of it focused on the crystal trees and the creatures that called them home.


    It also had an inventory list for what was included in the standard dropship, along with a layout drawing that showed what each piece was and an overview of how it worked. Most of it was useless to them, but at least now he knew the pulsating purple machine had been a soil analyzer. Sure, that wasn¡¯t that useful to him, but being able to at least try and figure out how the med unit worked would be. His mind went, unbidden, back to when Elyria had been injured. What would he have done if the pair of them had been alone?


    ¡°How much of that do you think you¡¯re going to be able to retain anyway?¡± Elyria asked, after another few hours had gone by. K3 had woken up and headed out to see how the new team was integrating into the existing crew, some time ago. That¡¯s what Ronin had decided to call their little band. A crew. After he¡¯d read that¡¯s what they were called in the book. He snorted a laugh when he realized he was daydreaming again but shook it off.


    ¡°You have a point,¡± Ronin said, slipping his tablet into his equipment bag and standing up. ¡°Let¡¯s go check on the sparring. Hopefully, no one was injured, but if they are, I¡¯d like to operate the med unit to fix them up. Reading will only get you so far, got to put the information into practice if you want it to stick.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you say,¡± Elyria said with an exaggerated eye roll. Ronin didn¡¯t quite understand the reasoning behind that, since he had been agreeing with her, but whatever. Grabbing his cloak on his way out, Ronin clipped it back into place as he left the library. It was cumbersome, and got in the way often, but he liked the goat hide cloak. It reminded him of happier days. Plus, it looked really cool.


    Exiting the house, Ronin got his wish almost instantly. Jackson was facing off against Jaya. The gangster was now outfitted with a fitted carapace armor suit, that on the outside, looked similar to Jaya¡¯s. It was just a suit in her case, however. Jaya¡¯s armor was part of her body, making it easier to move, and fight in.


    ¡°All you flat-foots are the same. Thinking you can just slap bracelets on us, and we¡¯ll squeal for ya. Well, without your fancy heater I¡¯ll be sure to¡­¡± Ronin listened to the woman¡¯s smack talk for another minute without really understanding any of it. Not that it mattered all that much. Jaya put Jackson down in short order. Winning through a combination of her stronger body, and Jackson¡¯s unfamiliarity with carapace armor. She¡¯d demonstrated some moves though and Ronin had a feeling if the gangster had been on an equal playing field, the sparring match might have gone differently.


    ¡°Hey Jackson,¡± Ronin said, moving over to the woman, who was cursing up a storm to the silent Jaya. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d heard her speak yet, now that he thought about it. ¡°Let¡¯s get you checked out at the med unit, ok?¡± He said, ushering his guinea pig, ah patient, over to the med unit they¡¯d lifted from the gangster¡¯s own ship. ¡°Stand in there please.¡± Jackson grumbled the whole time, but thanks to what was likely a concussion, she didn¡¯t resist too hard when he put her in the unit.


    ¡°Such a gentlemen,¡± Elyria muttered quietly beside him once he¡¯d half dragged, half carried the punch-drunk gangster into the medical unit. ¡°So eager to experiment on someone who can¡¯t even defend themselves.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that at all,¡± Ronin lied, as he plugged his tablet into the med unit. Since the machines weren¡¯t programmed with human physiology built in, he had to add in the patient¡¯s information. Thankfully, Owl Two had gathered what he needed on everyone in his party and helpfully put that into the tablet as well. Once he was done with Jackson, Ronin planned to load all their profiles into the machine, to make it easier for them to be healed in the future. ¡°Here we go, Jackson. Just hold still for a bit.¡±


    He¡¯d barely started talking, when several tentacle-like arms snaked out and grabbed ahold of the woozy woman. A light flashed as the machine did a quick scan, and before she could struggle, a few more arms, tipped with wicked looking needles, shot forward. They plunged into her and pumped some healing version of tree sap into her body. Stabbing in and out, moving around to all the places she¡¯d been hit. A few seconds later, she was healthy as ever, and came out of the unit swinging at Ronin like he¡¯d been trying to kill her.


    Unfortunately for the angry Jackson, Ronin snapped his helmet closed at the first sign of aggression, and she ended up with a broken knuckle. Some of the nearby soldiers rose at the blow, ready to intervene on their lord¡¯s behalf. Ronin only waved them away and forced the cursing brawler back into the med unit. Where she was quickly captured and injected once more. Elyria, meanwhile, stood beside him, laughing so hard he thought she might burst.


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t that funny,¡± Ronin said with a frown. ¡°I was just trying to help her, and she¡¯s near fully a baseline human. What did she think was going to happen?¡± He frowned after Jackson, who¡¯d escaped the med unit as soon as it released her and was now doing her best to blend into the crowd on the far side of the chamber.


    ¡°Probably the same thing you thought would happen when you agreed to a sparring match with the new kids.¡± Elyria sniped, her laughter slowly tapering off as she looked at the gathering crowd. ¡°Wonder what¡¯s going on over there?¡± She asked.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°No idea, but let¡¯s go find out.¡± Ronin said, shutting down the med unit and heading towards the gathering. The ship was huge, but not so big that he couldn¡¯t see that far away. No, the problem lay in just how much stuff they had packed in the room. He¡¯d discussed packing it further into the ship and organizing it better, but everyone had agreed it would be a waste of time. Assuming they would just have to unload it again once they reached the lizard ship, and if not, they could always move it later.


    Weaving through the gauntlet of equipment, Ronin and Elyria finally arrived at the opening the troops had been using as a sparring ring, to find K3 standing in the ring with K6, Ronin frowned and turned to Elyria.


    ¡°I thought you guys told me fighting them was a bad idea?¡± He asked quietly, as the pair squared off with one another.


    ¡°For us to do a six on three battle, bad idea. For you to fight them¡­ in any capacity, terrible idea. But we need to show the younger generation that we are still better than they are¡­ Well, some of us at least, doesn¡¯t really apply to you though.¡± Ronin sighed, trying to pick out the valuable information from that explanation, without taking too much offence at the jabs at his person. She did have a point, even if it hurt his pride a little to admit it, even now.


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult not to think of them as children.¡± Ronin said, looking on as the two fighters came together. Thankfully, they were both unarmed. The bodies the color force had made were impressive. Their strength and agility were well beyond what Ronin¡¯s people were capable of. So, any weapons they wielded, even blunt ones, could be lethal.


    ¡°When we left a few weeks ago, if you include the week we spent being grown, they were ten to fifteen years old. Maturity wise anyway.¡± He continued, adding in the clarifier, because Dandelion had been eighteen and K12 had only been around five months old. Tank hadn¡¯t even been born yet. ¡°But for them, it has been ten years. Long enough for those with goblin blood, the yokai I guess they call themselves, to have reached middle age. Except for the ones Owl Two kept young with nanites¡­ going to have to ask about that, since I didn¡¯t think we had that many nanites¡­ but anyway,¡± Ronin paused, trying to get his thoughts in order from the tangents he¡¯d started down.


    ¡°Right, Dandelion. She¡¯s twenty-eight years old now. Heck, I¡¯m only thirty-five. Actually, I might be thirty-six now. I¡¯m not sure, but the point is, it¡¯s hard to think of them as children when they are so close to me in maturity level, if not actual age. Did any of that make sense?¡± He said, finishing with a question. Elyria watched the fight play out for a little while before she answered, clearly getting her thoughts in order.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t think of them as kids,¡± she finally said with a shrug. ¡°Age and maturity across races can be a delicate subject if you let it. Take me for example, I¡¯m one hundred twenty years old. But elves age slower than most races. I wasn¡¯t considered an adult by my people until I turned one hundred. Even though I reached physical maturity by fifty or so. That¡¯s way older than your thirty-six years. However, you have been considered an adult by your race subjectively longer than I have. So, who¡¯s older?... Ok, bad example, I¡¯m clearly older, and more mature. But you get my point¡­ When you start to throw in age defying nanites, and time dilation¡­ you all might end up living as long as I will. Then, would we base your emotional maturity by my race¡¯s standards, or yours? Just forget about it. Factor everyone¡¯s personality into your plans, and don¡¯t worry about the numbers.¡±


    Ronin nodded, watching the fight as Elyria talked. K3 had so far dodged or redirected all K6¡¯s blows. Following up with small jabs or kicks of his own that staggered the younger kaldarr, without doing any real damage. Ronin cracked a grin when the implications of what she¡¯d said sank in.


    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying¡­ is you consider me the same way you would an elf. Making me your equal?¡± Ronin asked, waiting for the explosive denial. To his surprise, however, it didn¡¯t happen. Instead, Elyria just glanced at him, before turning away again.


    ¡°Shut up and watch the fight, White Flame, some things are better left unsaid.¡± She finished in a near mumble. Ronin blinked in confusion, not knowing what he¡¯d said to upset her. So, after giving her shoulder a quick, reassuring squeeze, which caused her to flinch but not pull away. He did as he was told and dropped the subject to watch the fight.


    It was ramping up now. Ronin hadn¡¯t been trained in hand-to-hand combat, so what style they were using was a mystery to him. Assuming of course it wasn¡¯t some alien combat style unknown to humans in the first place. What he could tell was that K6 was getting frustrated. She didn¡¯t have a face, but it was clear in her body language. Each punch or kick she threw was either dodged or redirected away from K3¡¯s much larger body. While the counters he made were all connecting with her. They were too light to hurt her, but that must have made it even more galling.


    She moved faster and faster, each swing becoming less smooth and more rushed. Ronin winced at some of the near misses K3 was having. He knew just how hard the punches from a color force body were. If his friend was hit straight on with one of those blows, it would be straight into the med unit for him. Yet, somehow, he was able to move aside or push her attacking limb away, right at the last second, and while applying minimal force.


    ¡°I concede.¡± K6 said, some minutes later, stepping back and putting her hands up, palms out. ¡°You got your point across. I couldn¡¯t touch you, and it was clear if you¡¯d put any real power into those blows, I¡¯d have been dead several times over.¡± She sounded upset, but Ronin couldn¡¯t tell if it was because she¡¯d lost, or because he hadn¡¯t hit her harder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the power of your body.¡± K3 said, panting slightly. ¡°I was forced to use these tactics, because bare handed, my body isn¡¯t strong enough to either hurt you, or survive many direct hits from you.¡± He said, sounding like he was praising the younger kaldarr woman. Yet, it only made her angrier, as evidenced by her hands, now at her sides, balling into fists.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Ronin said quietly to Elyria. ¡°I thought we didn¡¯t want them to know we were weaker than they are. Why did he tell her? And why did she get mad about it?¡±


    ¡°Not quite,¡± Elyria said with a snort. ¡°We didn¡¯t want them fighting you. Because you are both less powerful, and less skilled at fighting. You couldn¡¯t even beat Jackson in a hand-to-hand bout, and she was put down by Jaya, who wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against either of those two.¡± She said, indicating the kaldarr with a jerk of her chin.


    ¡°Then, why¡­¡±


    ¡°Because, by having the fight¡­ and winning it, before K3 told her she is stronger than he is, proved to her that even at a disadvantage, he¡¯s better than her. If he¡¯d said it before, she might have gone easy on him and when she¡¯d lost, there would always be the shadow of doubt she might have won, if she¡¯d pushed harder.¡±


    ¡°That, seems a little cruel.¡± Ronin said with a frown, watching as the pair bowed to each other and K6 left the sparring area to return to her team. While K3 moved over to join Ronin and Elyria.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Elyria said, as K3 reached them. ¡°But it was necessary. You¡¯ve done the same thing on more than one occasion, although with the benefit of hindsight, I realized you had no idea what you were doing at the time.¡± Before Ronin could voice his confusion, K3 joint in to explain.


    ¡°When you first met Lily, you killed a queen in melee combat, fell off the wall, then showed up to a meeting with her, completely fine and acting like it was no big deal. Before giving her an ultimatum, she was terrified to refuse.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­ I guess I can see that, but that wasn¡¯t my intention¡­¡± Ronin said, trying to justify himself.


    ¡°You did it to me too.¡± Elyria said with a chuckle. ¡°In your drop ship, shortly after we¡¯d met. I stabbed you, drove my knife to the hilt in your chest. Then, you calmly pulled it out and handed it to my sister. Asking us to wait for a bit, while you jumped out of a spaceship to fight a giant bug, hanging from a cable. Looking back on that moment, you really made me¡­ Well anyway, it¡¯s a tactic that works. So don¡¯t overlook it going forward.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right boss,¡± K3 said. Smiling at Elyria, who was now giving him a dirty look. ¡°Proving you¡¯re better than a subordinate isn¡¯t cruel, it¡¯s just proving you deserve to be in a higher position. By fighting her, and winning, I¡¯ve proven I¡¯m better. The fact I obey your orders without questioning them, proves you are, by default, on top.¡± Ronin nodded, getting the point at last.


    ¡°It would be better though,¡± he said glancing between the two. ¡°If I could back up that position¡­ It might not be the best time for it, but I think I¡¯m due for another round of intensive training. I learned a lot last time, but it clearly wasn¡¯t enough.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s never a good time to do anything on campaign,¡± K3 said with a grin. ¡°Still, I agree. You have a lot to learn boss.¡± He scratched his beard, as he looked around the large compartment. ¡°But not in here, we¡¯ll have to set up in the engine room¡­¡±


    ¡°And not until after we take care of the ship tailing us.¡± Elyria chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s possible, even likely that whoever is back there is just as strong as the color force was. We¡¯ll need everyone in top condition for that fight. After that, you can get yourself beaten to a pulp as much as you want.¡± That was a chilling thought Ronin hadn¡¯t considered before. He shuddered as he thought about a ship full of warriors strong enough to kill half his crew with one punch each.


    ¡°What are we going to do about them?¡± He asked his companions, worry written all over his face. ¡°I hadn¡¯t even considered them being that strong, but the color force bodies were all government issue, weren¡¯t they? So, it stands to reason all the government soldiers would have them. Or something similar at least.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I¡¯ve been thinking about myself.¡± K3 said, leaning against a mobile fabrication unit. ¡°Thankfully, we won¡¯t be engaging them hand to hand. At least, not unless things go terribly out of control. I know many of our battles end up in melee, but that doesn¡¯t have to be the case. We have enough people and enough guns now; we can keep our distance.¡± Ronin nodded, it was a good point, and something he had to keep in mind. In the pocket world, ammunition had been limited, at least in the mark Vs, so Ronin had just gotten into the habit of saving the rounds for when it counted. They didn¡¯t have to do that now, at least as long as they had the fabricators to whip up new pellets, and compressors to provide pneumatic power for the shots.


    ¡°You know what,¡± Elyria said, frowning in concentration. Ronin noticed the crinkles that had formed between her blue eyes, as she thought. Shaking the thought aside, he focused on her words as she continued. ¡°I was thinking, while we were talking about putting the mining equipment on the exosuits. What if we¡­¡±


    Ronin and K3 exchanged a look as Elyria explained her idea. It might actually work, and now that Ronin knew about the larger fabrication units, it was even more likely. The trio stood there, amidst a pile of cargo, for an hour. They were bouncing ideas off one another, trying to figure out the best way to make the plan work.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said after a bit. ¡°K3, would you grab an exosuit and meet us in the engine room? The larger fabrication unit is already working in there, and now is as good a time as any to see if this will work.¡±

 Chapter seventy-one

    ¡°You sure this is a good idea?¡± Elyria yelled over the howling wind. They¡¯d spent the better part of a day figuring out how to open the ramp while the ship was still airborne. In the end, they¡¯d had to brute force it. Wedging the door open just far enough for the gryphons to fly out.


    ¡°It was the only option we could come up with,¡± Ronin said with a shrug. ¡°Besides, you have wings. What are you worried about?¡± He added jokingly, elbowing her lightly in the side.


    ¡°Hands to yourself, White Flame.¡± Elyria said, edging away from him. ¡°And who¡¯s worried? I just wanted to make sure you weren¡¯t going to come crying to me when my team gets all the kills.¡± She added, sticking out her tongue as she flew towards the gap. Reaching the opening, she hooked a rope around the ramp¡¯s edge, before flying out of sight.


    ¡°Everyone good?¡± Ronin asked, looking at the assembled team. He was nervous, not sure if this was the best option, but knowing it would have to do.


    ¡°Yes sir,¡± K6 said. ¡°We¡¯ve got your back sir, don¡¯t worry.¡± Ronin nodded at the yokai woman, a word Ronin had looked up and discovered was a term for supernatural entities such as demons. Something he had every intention of inquiring about with Owl Two when this was all over. Even so, yokai team 01 seemed proud of the name, so who was he to judge.


    ¡°I have no doubt of that, K6.¡± Ronin said, clasping the team leader on the shoulder for a brief second before motioning her up the rope.


    K6 led the way, with Dandelion following right behind. Then Knuckles ascended the rope, followed by a glaring Jackson. Ronin checked as each person climbed out to be sure they¡¯d remembered their PCP .50, the ten-foot braided cable clipped to each person¡¯s equipment harness, and the pot of fast drying glue. Satisfied they had all their equipment, he turned to Whisper and Stone, who were riding the gryphons Leo had lent them.


    ¡°How about you?¡± Ronin asked the duo of scouts who had become his eyes and ears since Owl Five was no longer with him. He didn¡¯t spend much time with the goblins, since Whisper liked to be alone, and Stone liked to socialize with Karr¡¯s squad. However, he enjoyed their company when they did get together for the odd meal, or to play a game of POWF. ¡°You two have the hardest job, so is there anything you need?¡± He wanted to ask them if they were sure they wanted to do this. He knew that wasn¡¯t an option though.


    ¡°Nah boss,¡± Stone said with a confident smile splitting her green face. She¡¯d cut her hair even shorter than the standard pixie cut the goblin¡¯s favored. Now it wasn¡¯t any longer than Ronin¡¯s own, about finger length. ¡°You just leave it to us; the scouts lead the way.¡± She said cockily, before jumping onto the gryphon who¡¯d been equipped with armored plates as thick as they could make them and still allow the winged lion to fly. Nodding, Ronin turned to Whisper.


    ¡°We won¡¯t fail you, my lord.¡± Whisper said, in a voice that barely reached Ronin¡¯s ears over the sound of wind ripping through the compartment.


    ¡°Then good luck out there,¡± Ronin said, waving them on. He watched as they flew from the compartment, K6 pulled out the rod they¡¯d wedged the door with and it slammed shut, leaving the compartment in deafening silence.


    Ronin looked up at the compartment¡¯s roof, imagining he could see through it to the team beyond. Each of them would be spread out, looking for good recesses they could use for cover. He could see them in his mind¡¯s eye, even now using the glue to secure the ten feet of braided cable to the ship¡¯s hull. He couldn¡¯t stop the fear that one, or more, of them would fail to settle down before the wind swept them away, or the glue would fail at a critical moment, and they would be lost to them forever.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, boss.¡± K3 said quietly next to Ronin¡¯s ear. ¡°We tested the glue on the ceiling remember. It¡¯s going to be fine.¡± Ronin nodded reluctantly, looking up at the ropes they¡¯d hung from the ceiling. Each had a loop on the end, for someone to grab and swing from. It had been Karr¡¯s idea to double up the experiment. Now they knew it would hold, they had an opportunity to work on their upper body strength by swinging from rope to rope and grabbing each ring in turn.


    ¡°Who¡¯s worried?¡± Ronin asked, unconsciously echoing Elyria from moments ago. ¡°I¡¯m just ready to do this. I don¡¯t know about you, but I was getting bored without any action to keep the adrenaline flowing.¡± Ronin spoke the last line louder, letting everyone hear him. As he¡¯d hoped, they let out a cheer at his words. He smiled at them all, as the landing song began to play.


    ¡°We are in position, awaiting orders.¡± K6 said over the radio. Causing a wave of relief to run through him, whatever he said to K3.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Ronin shouted, before turning to Karr, ¡°sergeant Karr, you have command.¡± He said, giving the more seasoned commander control, for the battle. Ronin was still learning what he didn¡¯t know, after seeing how well Karr did in small group tactics, he¡¯d be a fool not to take the opportunity to learn from him again.


    ¡°Ok everyone,¡± Karr said as the ramp opened. ¡°This isn¡¯t a drill or a game. No warning shots, shoot to kill. Infantry, stay beside your designated exosuit. Exosuits, do your best to keep those shields up. All our lives depend on it. Now let¡¯s move.¡±


    Ronin tucked himself in tight beside one of the six exosuits, K3 on the other side. They¡¯d taken each of them in turn into the large fabricator and equipped each suit with a large shield that covered most of its body, each shield had a pair of wings sticking out to either side as well. The infantry stood behind the wings, holding their rifles. It wasn¡¯t the prettiest thing Ronin had ever crafted. In fact, they¡¯d basically printed out the bioengineered armor plates and glued them onto the extra supports they¡¯d added, along with counterweights, to keep the exosuits from tipping over under the weight of the shields. Still, Ronin was confident the shielding would hold up to a few shots at least. Considering all the testing they¡¯d done in the last several hours.


    Ronin readjusted his grip on his PCP 1.0 as he finally caught sight of the enemy ship. They¡¯d landed tail on to them, same as the color force had. He wondered if it was a human custom, he was unfamiliar with. Before the thought fled his mind entirely as the enemy ship¡¯s ramp opened enough for him to see who was inside.


    Exosuits. Four of them. Only these weren¡¯t the skeleton units that left the operator exposed to enemy attack. No, these were fully armed and armored suits. Ronin couldn¡¯t even see the operators beneath the armored plates that looked like bare metal, which made the suit appear to be a medieval knight. Not only that, but Ronin actually gulped when he saw their weapons. Each carried a massive gun in their hands. Two of the suits held a multi-barreled piece that Ronin recognized as a gatling gun, remarkably similar to the ones mounted on the Kaldarrian drop ships. The other two held huge guns that looked more like the cannon that topped Ronin¡¯s truck than any gun he¡¯d seen before.


    Ronin was so captivated by the four armored suits, that he almost missed the four heavily armored figures standing behind each of them. They were dressed in all black heavy armor complete with helmets. Carried massive shields that covered their whole bodies, and PCP 1.0¡¯s in their other hands. They looked like a super advanced SWAT unit from pre fall times. If Ronin had any doubts before about why they were following them, they were gone now. This unit was purpose built to decimate ship¡¯s crews in close quarters actions, just like this one.


    ¡°Overwatch, hold your positions. Exo-Units, focus on middle left suit with the cannon and give it everything you have. Condensed fire, center of mass.¡± No sooner had the words left his mouth, then the twelve people flanking the six slapdash armored exosuits opened fire. Well, almost twelve. K3, Karr¡¯s squad and the rest of yokai team 01 fired off rounds from their PCP 1.0¡¯s instantly. Ronin, Bunny, and Chip were a little late to the party, only getting their rounds off by the time the faster shooters had already dumped three rounds into the armored exosuit.


    They¡¯d caught the SWAT teams off guard, firing as soon as they had an open line of sight. So, it wasn¡¯t too surprising when the exosuit went down under a hail of thick slugs. Unfortunately, the element of surprise was over. All the infantry SWAT units had their shields up now, and the armored suits were returning fire with a vengeance.


    Ronin swore he felt the ground tremble and his ears ring, when the second cannon armed, armored suit opened fire. The round blasted into the exosuit at the far end of the line from him. The heavy round going right through the improvised shield, hitting the operator in the chest. He went down in a spray of blood, taking the suit and the protective shield with him. The two members of Karr¡¯s team were now exposed and went down to a spray of machinegun fire from a second armored suit.


    ¡°Second rifle, focus far right, second unit with the cannon.¡± This time, at Karr¡¯s order Ronin obeyed instantly, dropping his nearly spent PCP 1.0, and pulling a second from a rack, which had been purpose built into the wings of the shield, to hold weaponry. Everyone Opened up at once, firing in a concentrated volley into the armored suit¡¯s center of mass.


    Like the first suit who hadn¡¯t fired at all, it went down without getting the opportunity to fire again. It didn¡¯t die alone, however. The enemy, who was slowly advancing, had focused fire as well, all their rounds concentrated on the next exosuit in line, the one that hid Bunny and Chip. As the rounds tore through the shield, Bunny, acting much like her namesake, hopped behind the next suit in line. Chip, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t so lucky.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Nooo,¡± Bunny said with a shriek, as Chip¡¯s body was torn to bloody rags in a matter of seconds, thanks to the volume of shots that ripped through it. ¡°Chipmunk, baby no.¡± Ronin heard her clearly, because none of the pneumatic weapons made much noise when they were fired. It wasn¡¯t like the rifles the kaldarr had fired at them in Valley¡¯s Pass, with the thunderous noise and clouds of thick smoke.


    All that changed, when the deranged woman sprang out from behind cover, wielding a .45 ACP 1911 in each hand. She ran at the enemy, screaming for all she was worth, pulling the triggers so fast it sounded like a rolling wave of thunder crashing into war gongs. The loud noise took the enemy off guard, and they momentarily stopped firing on the third exosuit, as they all swiveled as one to focus on Bunny¡¯s charging form.


    Ronin thought he¡¯d counted seven of the eight rounds each 1911 held being fired before the other gangster leader was torn to shreds in a rain of gore. She hadn¡¯t managed to down even one of the enemies with her last charge. What she had done, however, was bring their shields down while they focused on her. A mistake that Karr quickly capitalized on.


    ¡°Overwatch, take out the infantry, now.¡± He snapped into the coms, startling Ronin, who was still seeing Bunny¡¯s body being torn apart in his vision. ¡°Exo-Units, switch to .50, middle right with the gatling gun.¡± As the words registered, Ronin saw he was already running behind the others, who had dropped their half empty PCP 1.0¡¯s and pulled the PCP .50¡¯s from the weapons rack. The sound of metal striking metal doubled in the air, as the much smaller caliber PCP .50¡¯s were semiautomatic and could fire as fast as they could pull the triggers.


    Ronin¡¯s rifle joined the cacophony a few seconds behind everyone else¡¯s, as they slowly chewed through the armored suit. Once a small hole opened up in the armor, it only took one lucky shot to hit the operator. Ronin didn¡¯t think the round penetrated the operator¡¯s personal armor, but it still caused them to lose control of the suit long enough to fall to the ground. That unit was now out of the fight, even if the pilot wasn¡¯t dead, and Ronin switched targets to the final armored suit at Karr¡¯s order.


    During that whole exchange, the scouts and remaining troops with Elyria hadn¡¯t been idle. Whisper and Stone, who¡¯d landed on the enemy ship, had been forced to wait until their targets advanced far enough forward to be targeted. When Bunny made her suicide charge and Karr gave the order, the pair opened fire on the infantry from the rear.


    The swat troops were already off balance after the powerful display Bunny had put on, now they were being attacked from the rear they nearly folded in confusion. Half their number turned to engage the scouts, while the rest continued to fire on the next exosuit. Whisper and Stone, fired on the ones who had their backs to them. While Elyria and K6, along with their fellows on Ronin¡¯s ship, opened fire on everyone who¡¯d turned around at the scout¡¯s surprise attack.


    ¡°Lori, get behind Scott before they chew through your shields.¡± Karr snapped, Ronin was hearing the names for the first time, but he realized what was meant instantly, when the exosuit the enemy had been focused on, moved behind its neighbor who had intact shields.


    They had to change rifles one more time, but thanks to the pincer attack, and their concentrated fire, Ronin¡¯s people put down the SWAT teams after several more minutes of combat. It helped that each of the enemy was armed with a PCP 1.0 and a PCP .25 sidearm. Once they¡¯d shot their initial load, they had been reduced to hiding behind their shields until at last, the final three, along with the last armored suit, surrendered.


    Karr wasn¡¯t taking any chances, ordering the operator to drop their weapons and exit the suit before he accepted the surrender of any of their people. Then, when Ronin thought it was finally over and had begun to relax, Karr¡¯s next order jolted him back into action.


    ¡°Exo-Units, continue to provide cover and get up that ramp. We need to clear the ship before we can rest boys and girls. Go, go, go.¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t see it through the man¡¯s helmet, but he could hear the red leaves he chewed on muffling his angry bellow. He also took notes on the order, again using this fight as a teaching moment for himself. They¡¯d had more firepower than the enemy, they¡¯d concentrated their fire on one enemy at a time. That enemy was also the one who had proven the most dangerous, and they¡¯d set out units to flank the foe, and attack them from behind. All things he would remember for his future battles. Now, even after the battle was over, they still had to check the field for more hidden foes. Something that Ronin knew he wouldn¡¯t have done. K3 might have reminded him before it became a problem, but Ronin wouldn¡¯t have thought of it on his own. He made a mental note to record all these ideas into his tablet, so he wouldn¡¯t forget them.


    Only after the ship had been explored and deemed empty of threats, did Karr let them look after the injured and dead. Thankfully, none of the injuries were serious, those who had been hit directly had all died. Those who had only been lightly injured were soon taken care of in the portable med unit. Ronin took care of that himself, wanting all the practice he could get.


    ¡°Got the numbers in,¡± K3 said quietly once Ronin had finished with the wounded and returned to the scene of the battle. ¡°Three men and a woman from Karr¡¯s team went down, along with Chip and Bunny. We captured five enemy soldiers, four of them surrendered, including the armored suit operator, and we managed to save the injured pilot of the suit we downed, before he bled out. We also lost some equipment that was too close to the ramp. Thankfully, it looks like we can fix it, but it will cost time and resources¡­ and the ship we just took¡­ boss, it¡¯s full to the brim with resources. I checked the engine room, even the growth vat has a full tank.¡±


    ¡°There were a lot of crates in there, too many to transfer to our ship¡­ Let¡¯s put Karr in charge of it and get him to follow us the rest of the way. Who knows, another ship could come in handy.¡± Ronin watched as K3 nodded his agreement and left to see to the orders. Taking a deep breath, Ronin exhaled, looking at the splattered orange blood that covered the ramp. Where six people had stood only minutes ago.


    ¡°You made it,¡± Elyria said, using his shoulder as a leaning post as she surveyed the damage. ¡°To tell the truth, I thought it was overkill. When I told you guys my plan yesterday. Looking back on it now though, I think we didn¡¯t go far enough. Six people dead, just like that¡­ it reminds me of my¡­ be careful, White Flame. If they had started at the other end of the line, it would have been you getting mopped off the ramp right now. I swore to follow you tell my last day, when I made the vow, I wished for that day to come soon¡­ Now, I¡¯ve seen just how small my world was. I want to see more of it before the end.¡± After saying what was on her mind, Elyria pushed off his shoulder and flew across the gap between ships and started exploring the new vessel.


    ¡°What in the heck?¡± Ronin muttered out loud, as she disappeared from his view. ¡°What does me dying have to do with her seeing more of the world¡­¡± He frowned after her, confused but not wanting to think too deeply on what she¡¯d said because if he did¡­


    ¡°Ya really are a dingy crumb aint ya Joe?¡± Jackson said, her eyes red from crying. ¡°Yer goons told me all about ur broad. She made a whacky vow. If you put on the Chicago overcoat, she gets the kiss off too. Besides, only gotta open ya peepers to see the kitten has a Flame for ya.¡± Spitting off to the side, the tough looking woman went back to cleaning up her leaders¡¯ corpses. Ronin stared after her as she left, completely at a loss for what she¡¯d just said to him.


    ¡°You know boss,¡± K3 said from where he was watching Ronin¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m starting to believe what Mycroft told us the other day¡­ those gangsters, they aren¡¯t complete people¡­¡±


    ¡°What did she mean, K3?¡± Ronin interrupted his friend to ask the question. ¡°I¡¯ve read a noir novel or two in my time, so not everything she said was complete nonsense¡­ so tell me, what she meant.¡± He turned hard eyes on his bodyguard, who looked like he wanted to deflect again, but finally gave in with a sigh, and answered.


    ¡°The oath Elyria swore was a death vow boss.¡± He said with a shrug, looking over at the newly acquired ship. ¡°When she made it, she thought you would break the conditions she swore too¡­ that you would prove to be a ¡®kaldarr scum¡¯ which meant in her view a murderer without honor, that she could kill you and die. But you aren¡¯t ¡®kaldarr scum¡¯. You do have honor and you don¡¯t kill for sport. So now she¡¯s honor bound to follow, or serve might be a better term, you until she dies. Unless you die first, then she will be forced to take her own life or forfeit her honor.¡± Ronin nodded his head, hearing what had been kept from him for so long. If he were being honest with himself, he already knew what K3 had told him, he just hadn¡¯t wanted to hear it.


    ¡°And when she said the ¡®Kitten has a Flame for ya,¡¯ she meant¡­¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s enough, K3.¡± Ronin said, cutting off his friend. ¡°If she is bound to me like that then it¡­¡±


    ¡°Boss,¡± K3 said interrupting Ronin before he could say anything else. ¡°I think you need to hear this. Because this isn¡¯t like what happened with Brie, and if you fix it in your mind that way you might make a mistake.¡± Ronin thought he heard ¡®another¡¯ before K3 said mistake, but he ignored it, wanting to tell his friend to shut up before he went on, but he wasn¡¯t fast enough.


    ¡°She has feelings for you boss,¡± the kaldarr said bluntly. ¡°She doesn¡¯t love you though, not yet maybe not ever. She honor-bound herself to you, to make sure you never left the honorable path. Well at least not straying too far from it anyway¡­ Point is, it¡¯s hard to constantly monitor someone¡¯s behavior and character, without getting to know them intimately. You are an honorable man boss; she can see that. And, I¡¯m only guessing here, but I think you must remind her of her late husband. Something that confuses and saddens her to no end, I¡¯m sure. Elyria is young for an elf, twenty-three maybe, in human terms, and still learning her way around her emotions¡­ I¡¯m not telling you this for you to do anything, I¡¯m just letting you know. This is just like combat planning, the more you know, the more you can prepare for.¡± The giant man slapped Ronin on the shoulder and left him to help finish the cleanup.


    Ronin stood there, staring at nothing while he thought. He hadn¡¯t wanted to know any of that. Mostly because he¡¯d already figured it out, at least subconsciously. He¡¯d known, because he was developing feelings for the elf, himself. He¡¯d caught himself staring at her while she worked on some task and making excuses to talk to her.


    Just as he¡¯d noticed how she had long stopped threating to kill him. How she would hit him when he said something stupid. How she could touch him, like just now, when she¡¯d leaned on him for support while she asked him to be careful. Then flying off before he could say anything in return. Up until now, he¡¯d been able to pretend like he was blind to the situation. Blind to both of their feelings because it was just easier that way. Easy, not to have to think about it, especially after the disaster with Brie¡­ K3 had been right about that too, he might have made a mistake sending her away. He just couldn''t deal with the knowledge that her feelings for him might not have been her own. When her presence had become too uncomfortable, he¡¯d pushed her aside, under the guise of letting her be happy in a goblin city.


    Shaking his head to clear it of all the unwanted thoughts, Ronin set about helping his people finish the cleanup. They needed to secure the prisoners and the armored suits. They were miles ahead of the ones they¡¯d already captured, and Ronin wanted every piece of them they could find. He¡¯d lose himself in research for the remainder of the trip. Doing what he could to fix those suits, while he put his feelings in order.

 Chapter seventy-two

    ¡°Dat the best you can do, ya wet sock grifter?¡± Jackson mocked, as Ronin got back to his feet again. ¡°Whuts da matter, to dizzy in a dame to chisel a win? I bet ya¡­¡± He let the words wash over him, in a steady stream of half understood invectives.


    Ronin and Jackson were in the engine room, where he¡¯d set up a short-term base camp for himself. His intention was to work on the armored suits round the clock until he had them all working again. He¡¯d had a quick conference with K6, Karr, K3 and Elyria before Karr took his, now diminished, squad and boarded the hard-won SWAT craft. Where they would follow along behind and get Ronin an accurate count of what was on board.


    He¡¯d wanted to know who the best candidates for the armored suits would be, once he got them working again. The vote had been unanimous on the part of his people. Ronin would wear, or pilot, the first suit he fixed from then on. Ronin had been shocked at that, thinking someone with more training would be a better fit for the job. It was Elyria who convinced him in the end.


    ¡°Look, White Flame,¡± she¡¯d said after a brief discussion, Ronin refused to call an argument. ¡°Like it or not, your life is tied to our world, and all the people you are fighting so hard to save. Unless Owl Two finds a way to disconnect you from that, your death ends the world we came from. So, shut up and wear the damn armor. If you think someone with more training would be a better fit, then practice your ass off.¡± Ronin had done just that, diving headfirst into repairing the least damaged suit, so he could become proficient in operating it as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Get ur head in the game, Crumb.¡± Jackson said, landing a gauntleted fist on his unprotected face. Ronin shook his head to clear the stars from his vision and brought himself back to the present. K3 had shown up with Jackson some six or seven hours after Ronin started working on the armored suits. He¡¯d told Ronin he¡¯d spend one hour in four, learning how to take a beating, at least until he could defend himself.


    Jackson had been the perfect choice for the job, assuming the job was to beat Ronin within an inch of his life. The street brawler harbored some serious anger over the fate of her leaders, and her boyfriend being left behind. Ronin didn¡¯t think there was anything she wanted more than to beat him to death for his part in what happened. Unfortunately, despite her skill level, she wasn¡¯t strong enough to put him down barehanded. At least not before K3 stepped in to stop her.


    ¡°Time,¡± K3 called. A good thing too, because Jackson had gotten Ronin on the ground and was pounding him relentlessly with her armored fists. The beating had gone on for at least three minutes, and Ronin hadn¡¯t been able to find an opening to escape. When time was called, the gangster got in a few more blows, before she reluctantly got off a beaten and battered Ronin, not offering him so much as a hand up or a goodbye before she left the compartment.


    ¡°You ok boss?¡± K3 asked, as he helped a groaning Ronin off the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll live,¡± Ronin said through split lips. ¡°I¡¯d live a lot more comfortably, if I could use the med unit, or a shot of health potion though.¡± He said, referring to the pink enhanced nutrient fluid. That had been his fifth session. At a rough count he had five more to go before they arrived at the mountain. The pain of being beaten bloody every four hours was starting to add up.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± the kaldarr said, not giving an inch. ¡°You need to learn how to take a hit, and how to work through that pain. If you got healed up after every fight, the lesson wouldn¡¯t stick as well. Besides, we won¡¯t always have access to the med unit, or the enhanced fluid. I think putting the whole troop on a diet of straight tree sap from now on will be beneficial to us in the long run.


    ¡°Aahhhgg,¡± Ronin groaned in frustration. ¡°Fine, do it.¡± He said, resting his palms against the puffy sides of his face. Their bodies could live off the straight tree sap, but it wasn¡¯t as effective and required them to ¡®eat¡¯ more often. The beetles had gotten around that with their harvester machines. Like making maple syrup, it filtered out all the unneeded filler and left behind only the thickest, most potently distilled nutrient drink. Reducing the amount needed to fuel a body by quite a bit. Again, however, if they were forced to work in the field for an extended period, they wouldn¡¯t have access to a harvester, or the distilling functions it provided.


    ¡°Here,¡± the giant said with a chuckle, tossing Ronin an aphid¡¯s crystal core. ¡°Suck on that. It will take the edge off, and they are readily available in the field.¡± Catching the pink crystal, Ronin looked it over thoughtfully. He¡¯d almost forgotten about the cores, with everything that had been happening lately. They were a ¡®naturally occurring¡¯ distillery. Where the sap was filtered and condensed into its purest form and stored in the tree bug¡¯s head. There were numerous uses for the things, but they were mainly used to power shipboard equipment. They could also be eaten. The condensed sap would dissolve in their saliva, like a hard candy, giving a boost to the body. Acting similar to a healing pill from a cultivation novel.


    ¡°Thanks, big guy,¡± Ronin said gratefully, popping the pill into his mouth. ¡°It never ceases to amaze me just how thorough the elder race was when they designed the beetles.¡± He stretched his arms and legs, shaking out his cramping fingers as the slowly dissolving crystal boosted his body¡¯s recovery rate.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± K3 said with a nod. ¡°It makes me worry though.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Ronin asked, taken aback. ¡°The inventions have been incredibly convenient so far.¡±


    ¡°Because the ancients, or the elder race, made the lizards too. It would surprise me, if they didn¡¯t make their tech just as comprehensive and, convenient, as they made the beetles.¡± Ronin nearly choked on the crystal pill when he heard that. A dreadful thought he hadn¡¯t even considered.


    When he¡¯d first heard about the lizards, he¡¯d made a few assumptions that had proven to be a little off, once he¡¯d taken the time to read Owl two¡¯s notes. He¡¯d assumed the lizards were an entirely different form of life from the beetles, and that when they came to earth, they¡¯d terraform it again for their own needs. A foolish thought in hindsight, because why would the elders make multiple races who couldn¡¯t all breathe the same air as them?


    ¡°That is actually really terrifying.¡± Ronin said as he thought over the entry he¡¯d read on the elders. They were an old race, who¡¯d outgrown their own planet and turned expansionist. There was a lot of minutiae to read through, but in summary, they¡¯d run out of empty planets to colonize. So, they made the lizards, to wipe out the species already living on the planets they wanted. Then, they made the beetles, to terraform the conquered worlds. By the time they showed up in person, the planets were already a paradise for their race.


    It was a good strategy, only they got complacent. Ronin didn¡¯t know the details, but eventually, the lizards had turned on them, wiping them from existence. Before turning their sights on the rest of the galaxy. They¡¯d been doing their best to wipe out all life ever since, over the however many thousands of millions of years had passed since they went rogue.


    The beetles, along with the other races the elders had made, continued to do what they were designed for. In the beetle¡¯s case that meant colonizing new planets, then moving on. They had spread out, further and further into the empty void of space to find the rare planet, or moon, which had atmosphere but wasn¡¯t already inhabited by sapient life. It made Ronin wonder just how many planets there were now, made into the ideal paradise for the elders, who would never inhabit them. Shaking his head, he turned to K3.


    ¡°All the more reason for me to get back to work on these suits then.¡± He said, noting thankfully that the swelling in his mouth had gone down, thanks to the crystal core. ¡°Beetles might not have been designed to fight, but humans, kaldarr, elves and, well all of us really, don¡¯t share that problem. We¡¯ll learn and adapt. We¡¯ll have to retreat this time, but that won¡¯t always be the case.¡± He was speaking with confidence for his follower¡¯s sake, more confident than he felt if he were being honest. Still, it¡¯s what K3 said he needed to learn, so he¡¯d do his best.


    The kaldarr nodded in understanding, leaving Ronin to his work. It was harder to focus now than it had been the day before, thanks to his many beatings. He chose to look at that as additional training, however, and pushed through the pain. Moving back over to the large fabrication unit, Ronin accessed the digital rendition of the suit he¡¯d made, using the fabricator¡¯s scanner, once he¡¯d removed the armor plates.


    He loved how easy the beetle tech was to use now that he¡¯d forced himself to learn. His ship given knowledge helped with his understanding as well, as long as he didn¡¯t think too deeply about it. The armored suit was actually fairly simple in design, not much different from the exosuits Ronin had captured from the color force. The main difference being the armored plates themselves, and the more robust hydraulic pistons that powered the suit¡¯s movements. Ronin hadn¡¯t been overly surprised when he''d found out the composites that comprised the armor and the frames, were crystal tree products. Nor that the liquid they¡¯d used in the pistons had been distilled from the trees. Heck, even the wiring had been made from conductive materials harvested from the wasps.


    He had half expected to find the battery running off some strange form of energy the trees produced as well. There at least, he¡¯d been disappointed. The suit¡¯s power unit itself was a solid-state battery composed entirely of crystal, but the energy it stored was run of the mill electricity. Feeling curious, he popped the cover off his rifle compressor to find it held a similar battery. Plain though electricity may be, the sheer amount of power these batteries held astounded Ronin, who¡¯d only ever known his USB external battery back home in the caves.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Reading through the component list, the scan, and the many samples the unit had taken using small tentacle arms, Ronin was astounded to realize all the materials were easily accessible from the crystal trees. As his enthusiasm ramped up and he began seeing his whole crew wearing these heavy suits in battle, however, he noticed the rarity of some of the conductive components, not to mention the battery itself. The skeleton and the armored plates were easy enough to come by, even the pistons could be quickly produced. The resources needed to create the system that actually powered it though¡­ he¡¯d have to strip-mine thirty crystal trees to make just one suit.


    Ronin had to think about how it was possible to make them at all for a while before he realized it didn¡¯t have to be all or nothing. If he had several people slowly harvesting resources from several trees at once, all the time, then after a certain point he would just always have what he needed. That must be how the beetles did things, just taking a little from every tree, over centuries of time. When one could just download their brain into a world of their own creation, and change the flow of time inside, what did time matter anymore? Just pop out in one hundred years when the trees had made what was needed.


    Although he would have to put his plans of an armor suited army on hold, Ronin didn¡¯t have to worry about fixing these four sets. The power systems were intact, so all he had to do was remove all the damaged pieces and print new ones to replace them with. It was still going to be a matter of time, but only days or weeks of it, instead of years. For now, at least, his focus was on taking the suits apart and scanning each piece into the fabricator. He also saved a copy onto his tablet, just in case. Then once everything was saved, he could start printing.


    ¡°Boss, it¡¯s time for your next lesson.¡± K3 said, voice interrupting Ronin¡¯s concentration as he was removing a panel, and he fumbled with the screwdriver, causing a bolt to go rolling away. Before he could scramble after it, a large black boot lightly stepped down on it, halting its roll. ¡°Sorry boss, didn¡¯t mean to startle you.¡± The giant said, stooping down to pick up the bolt and handing it back to Ronin.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Ronin said, accepting the bolt. ¡°Wait, did you say it was time for my next lesson?¡± He asked incredulously. ¡°It¡¯s only been an hour, tops. What are you on about?¡± Glancing down at the display on his tablet, Ronin frowned. Sure as anything, three hours had passed without his even noticing. ¡°Really? There¡¯s no way¡­¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha, it¡¯s alright boss, if three hours passed that quick than the next one hour of training will go in a flash.¡± K3 said, motioning towards the scowling Jackson, who was already standing in the sparring circle, waiting for him.


    ¡°Somehow, I doubt that.¡± Ronin said, putting down the screwdriver and moving over to take his beatings. Perhaps this time at least, he¡¯d be able to get a hit on the vindictive woman.


    An hour later, Ronin went back to work removing armor plates, sadly disappointed in his desire to get a hit on Jackson. It was incredibly frustrating, and he bit back curses as he loosened another bolt. He¡¯d watched Jaya take Jackson apart in their bout the other day. What was worse, Ronin knew he was stronger than her by quite a bit as well. None of it mattered. She still put him down early and kept him down for most of the fight.


    He winced in pain as he moved, feeling it even more after this fight because K3 had refused to give him a crystal core. Ronin understood why, from an academic standpoint anyway, but having to experience pain like this made it hard to take. Finally removing the last armored panel, he grinned through split lips and set about programming the fabricator, for the parts he needed replaced. He¡¯d barely hit the print button when he heard the landing song playing throughout the ship.


    ¡°Looks like we made it,¡± Elyria said, from the box she¡¯d been leaning against as she watched him work. She¡¯d been there for the last few hours, ever since he¡¯d been beaten by Jackson again. He¡¯d acknowledged her, but they hadn¡¯t spoken. ¡°We should have beaten Leo here by a good three days, so how do you want to play this?¡± She asked, pushing off the wall and walking over to stand beside him.


    Ronin felt the tension between them, now that he knew for sure she felt things for him too. Maybe it was in his head, because she wasn¡¯t acting any differently, but he still felt something had changed. He wasn¡¯t ready to deal with that yet, so instead he focused on her question.


    ¡°Leo and his people are absolute beasts in close combat.¡± He said, trying to think on the positive side. ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be here in three days¡­ So, I¡¯m thinking we send out the scouts, and dandelion, to get a lay of the land. Then if it¡¯s all clear we can check out the old human mining city. I¡¯d like to get this suit put back together before that though.¡±


    ¡°Ok, we¡¯ll have the scouts check out the area while your armor prints¡­ Sounds reasonable.¡± Elyria said, with a nod. Not mentioning Leo¡¯s odds at all because they were all worried about him. As much of an offensive beast as he was, the lionid didn¡¯t wear armor. They didn¡¯t carry guns or do much in the way of stealth fighting either. If they faced a SWAT team armed the same as the one Ronin¡¯s crew had met¡­ Well, Ronin didn¡¯t like to think about how that might turn out. One volley could cut them all down before they even reached the heavily armored soldiers.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the scouts out boss,¡± K3 said, breaking the awkward tension that had crept into the conversation. ¡°You can hop in the med unit once your armor is done printing. It should take the scouts a few hours to get a good feel for the surroundings, so if you¡¯re ready to go by then we can go check out the city.¡± The thought of relief for his wounds coming soon, actually made them ache more than they had a moment ago, but Ronin only nodded. Having decided to follow K3¡¯s training program, after he¡¯d expressed a desire for more training.


    ¡°Think I¡¯ll join the scouts,¡± Elyria said moving away from the two men. ¡°Part of why I have these wings after all. I¡¯ll catch up with you when we go exploring.¡± She¡¯d exited the compartment before either of them could reply, but that was ok with Ronin. He still wasn¡¯t sure what to think about her right now.


    ¡°There you go boss,¡± K3 said, patting the startled Ronin on the back. ¡°Just keep acting casual, before you know it, it won¡¯t be an act anymore. Now, I¡¯m off to get the scouts moving. Let me know when you¡¯re ready to go, ok?¡± With those parting words, Ronin was alone again.


    ¡°Everything about that conversation was awkward,¡± he muttered in dissatisfaction, as he watched the fabrication unit laying down liquified plant matter that quickly dried into hard plates. Then a cutting head came down to do the final shaping processes. Ronin was fascinated by the whole procedure, and for the first time could appreciate how excited Owl Two could get about his experiments. Not that he would ever tell the android that.


    Checking the clock on the prints, Ronin noted that he had a little over two hours to wait. It was time to start the second print on a portable unit. That done, Ronin had plenty of time to go over the armored suit¡¯s skeleton frame one more time and double check every piston, joint, nut, and bolt on the entire unit. There was no point going into battle without being one hundred percent confident in his equipment.


    That done, he moved over to the gatling gun. It was a fascinating invention, completely air powered but as powerful as any pre-fall machine gun. It had six PCP .25 barrels, each barrel connected through a hose to a backpack unit that held twelve tanks and a compressor. Each barrel was hooked to its own tank, allowing for the pressure to build back up between shots as the other five barrels fired. As a tank would run low, a pressure switch would activate, forcing the gun to use the backup tank, while the compressor was filling the first tanks.


    The gun was fed ammunition through a hopper that held quarter inch pellets and was attached to the top of the gun by a quick disconnect. The suit had an equipment rack that held four of the hoppers, each holding one thousand pellets. Thanks to the gun being powered by air, overheating wasn¡¯t a major concern. So, the weapon could be fired as much as one had pellets to shoot. The cycle rate was slower than earth¡¯s propellent powered miniguns, only pumping out 1,500 rounds a minute. Even so, that was an empty pellet hopper in less than a minute if one wasn¡¯t careful with their ammunition usage. Ronin would have been happier if the gun had held PCP .50 caliber rounds instead of the much lighter PCP .25 rounds. If it had though, they might not have survived the encounter. Still, now that he had the plans for this weapon, he could always make one himself when he had more time and materials.


    He took a moment to look over the giant cannons that had taken out one of his own quickly shielded suits with one shot. They had been damaged too badly to be used right away, but he was hopeful that, again, with more time and effort he could piece them back together. It was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, time was something he didn¡¯t have a lot of. Even so, he¡¯d scanned the broken guns into his tablet, along with the plans for all the weapons and armor he had access to. He wasn¡¯t sure if it would matter, but he wanted the information handy just in case.


    The ding the fabricator made when it finished the plates drew his attention away from the guns. Had two hours really passed already? He thought about Owl Two again, maybe Ronin¡¯s place wasn¡¯t on the battlefield at all, but in a lab creating things. Pulling the freshly printed plates out of the fabricator, Ronin began the slow process of bolting them onto the suit¡¯s skeletal frame. He¡¯d nearly finished, when the portable unit he¡¯d started also dinged.


    With a smile, Ronin finished bolting on the plate he¡¯d been working on and went to gather what he¡¯d just finished in the second fabricator. It was heavier than he¡¯d expected, and he staggered under the weight of the object as he lugged it over to his armored suit. Stepping up onto a stool, Ronin draped the white cloak made to resemble a goat¡¯s hide, complete with head and horns, over the suit.


    Standing back once it was clipped in place, Ronin admired his handiwork. He couldn¡¯t help but grin as he wondered what Elyria would say when she saw the suit. He¡¯d redesigned the armor plates digitally on his tablet before printing them, as well as change the color from the dull grey they had been originally. It had been so boring he hadn¡¯t even noticed the color before. Now though, it was proper white flame black.


    The nine-foot-tall suit had originally resembled a medieval knight¡¯s armor. Now, it was a near perfect replica of Ronin¡¯s own armored body. Right down to the goat headed helmet and the white goat hide cloak that fitted to the armor and fell to around knee level. He¡¯d even replicated his kanabo and buckler, though the kanabo was a little longer now, coming in at a solid eight feet long. The club was as big around at the end as K3¡¯s thigh and weighed too much for Ronin to even lift without the suit¡¯s powerful pistons aiding his movements.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, slapping his palms together and rubbing them excitedly. ¡°Let¡¯s take this puppy for a test drive.¡± Flipping each lever in turn to open the plates enough for him to crawl inside the suit, Ronin wiggled his way inside. It was harder than he¡¯d expected, and once inside, resealing the levers was nearly impossible. He managed, after several minutes of curses and struggle, but it was a job better suited to two people for sure.


    Picking up the Kanabo and buckler, Ronin slowly clipped them onto his built-in equipment harness. Another accessory he¡¯d added, which hadn¡¯t been there before. It also held a few more hoppers of pellets, just in case five thousand wasn¡¯t enough to get the job done. Smiling at how smoothly everything was going so far, Ronin lifted up his right foot to walk the three steps it would take to grab his gatling gun¡­ and promptly fell flat on his face.

 Chapter seventy-three

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you did that to a perfectly good set of armor.¡± Elyria said, from over Ronin¡¯s shoulder. She was hovering above him in her customary position while they were in the field. The elf hadn¡¯t let Ronin¡¯s redesign of the suit¡¯s armor go for a second, in the hour they¡¯d been out of the ship.


    ¡°Will you let it go already?¡± Ronin grumbled quietly, not wanting Elyria to hear him, and started even harder. It had been a constant stream of abuse since he¡¯d fallen while taking his first step earlier in the day. K3 and Elyria had rushed into the compartment at the loud noise he¡¯d made, only to find him struggling to his feet. Once they¡¯d learned he was ok and had just fallen down, the ribbing had started in earnest.


    ¡°What was that White Flame, I missed it.¡± Elyria said, clutching her belly with laughter. How she flew curled in on herself like that, Ronin had no idea. It would have been cute if she wasn¡¯t being such a pain.


    ¡°I asked if we¡¯d reached the road already?¡± He said quickly, changing the subject.


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Elyria said with a snort, but allowed the subject to change. ¡°Yea, this is it. Dandelion said it was the big brick building with the giant helicopter statue in the parking lot.¡± Ronin nodded, looking up at the huge building. He¡¯d read about them but had never seen one before.


    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting concept. We never had anything like this back on Kaldarr.¡± K3 said from beside Ronin. He turned to look at the kaldarr, and met his eyes, now on a level with his own. It was weird, being on eye level with the eight-foot giant. The suit was nine feet tall, so to onlookers he must seem bigger than K3, but his head didn¡¯t actually enter the helmet, being safely contained within the suit¡¯s chest.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read about them, but I¡¯d never hoped to see one before.¡± Ronin said, turning back to the building. ¡°My understanding is pre-fall, museums like this were a common part of our community. Displaying exhibits of our past, so we wouldn¡¯t forget where we came from.¡±


    ¡°We had something similar on our ancestral ship.¡± Elyria tossed in, taking in the plain looking building with interest. ¡°Sculptures and images of all the races that used to inhabit our moon before it was rendered uninhabitable. So many people died back then, and so many plants. Only the barest percent could be saved when we fled on our dryad-built home ship.¡± Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if it made him feel better, or just sadder, that he wasn¡¯t the only one in the group whose home had been killed by an outside force they had no control over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go check it out.¡± He said at last, slowly making his way up the stone steps outside the building. He was having a lot of trouble moving freely in the suit. It wasn¡¯t like in the comics that had mecha suits he¡¯d used to read. There was quite a bit of lag with each movement, and he had to fight the urge to overcompensate and send himself tumbling again. Ronin moved his hands and feet slowly and smoothly, waiting for the suit to catch up before he took the next action. It moved well, and to anyone on the outside, he probably didn¡¯t look like he was struggling at all. Still, if he was going to fight in this thing, he would need to anticipate his enemies¡¯ every move. Otherwise, he risked the suit¡¯s leg putting him too off balance to deal with an incoming blow.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s locked.¡± Elyria said, reaching for the door first. ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good thing. It means the place shouldn¡¯t be disturbed.¡± She added, looking down at the large rusty chain and padlock that kept the metal and glass doors closed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡± K3 said, pulling his hammer from his equipment harness. Ronin raised a slow hand to stop him.


    ¡°Let me try,¡± he said, gripping the lock and a fistful of chain in his suit¡¯s large hand. Squeezing it tightly, he pulled the chain taut. He could feel resistance, but not as much as he expected. He pulled until the door handles popped free entirely, clattering to the dusty cement steps below.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if the suit is that strong, or if the doors were just that old.¡± Elyria said, obviously surprised at how easily the door had given way to Ronin¡¯s attempt to open it.


    ¡°Now if I could only make this thing do more than walk in a straight line,¡± Ronin grumbled. Stepping back, slowly, to let K3 open the door, since he couldn¡¯t control the suit well enough to open them without handles.


    ¡°Quit complaining, White Flame.¡± Elyria said, slapping him on the shoulder. ¡°Ouch, dang it¡­ Hey, don¡¯t you laugh at me.¡± Ronin hadn¡¯t even felt the blow, only catching the motion out of the corner of his eye. The elf felt it though by the looks of it. Since she was shaking her hand vigorously after hitting his armored suit.


    ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t worry about it, boss.¡± K3 said, holding the door open. ¡°The longer you wear it, the better at controlling it you¡¯ll be. Besides, with the number you did on the plates, I have a feeling you could get it running a little smoother if you really wanted too.¡± That suggestion sparked no end to ideas in Ronin¡¯s head. Driving him into another daydream, until Elyria kicked him in the chest plate, to get him moving again.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m coming.¡± He mumbled, entering the multistory building ahead of the others. Normally, K3 would lead the way, but Ronin was safe in his suit. Besides, this place was abandoned. A sentiment he regretted thinking as soon as he walked through the door.


    ¡°Gah,¡± Ronin said, backpedaling and bringing his gatling gun to bear on the huge monster right in front of the doorway. He¡¯d fired off a half dozen rounds before he realized what he had mistaken for a monster was actually one of the exhibits.


    ¡°Oh my gosh,¡± Elyria said bursting into laughter. ¡°Did you really just freak out and shoot a stuffed mammoth?¡± Ronin frowned at her, not for the first time, recognizing how young the elf acted sometimes. He wondered just how long she could have been married, and if her husband had been as young as she was. It seemed unlikely, or he wouldn¡¯t have been the leader of the moon elf detachment on Ronin¡¯s pocket world.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s hilarious. Come on, let¡¯s check this place out.¡± Thankfully, the place really did seem abandoned, leaving the trio free to explore the museum. The exhibits were all in remarkably decent shape. The lack of windows helped keep sun and wind damage at bay, and the lack of anything living kept plants and animals from ruining anything.


    ¡°Why is there such a huge museum in this small mining town?¡± Elyria asked, several hours later. Standing in front of an exhibit showing the pharaohs of Egypt. ¡°This town doesn¡¯t look big enough to support this place.¡±


    ¡°They opened it after the government closed the mine.¡± Ronin said, having read it on a sign. ¡°They were trying to recoup their lost income from the mine. I don¡¯t know how well it wor¡­ Hey, I can read that.¡± He said, interrupting himself as he realized he was reading the hieroglyphs placed around the Egyptian display. ¡°Wait a minute¡­¡± he said, turning to the sign he¡¯d been reading a little bit ago. ¡°This isn¡¯t in English¡­ I shouldn¡¯t be able to read this.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Elyria asked in confusion. ¡°I can read it just fine,¡± she added with a shrug.


    ¡°So can I. What¡¯s the matter boss?¡± K3 asked, worriedly.


    ¡°Guys, I don¡¯t know why I never noticed before, but these exhibits, heck even the signs and the brochures are all in different languages. From various parts and eras of my world. I never learned how to speak or read anything other than my native language.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Elyria asked, shrugging off his concerns. ¡°White Flame, my ship got pulled out of hyper, and got stuck in the atmosphere of your world. Since I¡¯ve landed here, I¡¯ve met wood elves, goblins, bugbears, humans, kaldarr, hobats, hobgoblins and oni¡­ know what I haven¡¯t met?¡± She asked, putting her thumb and index finger to her chin as if in thought. ¡°Someone I couldn¡¯t understand.¡± She finished, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    ¡°She has a point boss.¡± K3 said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve never met another intelligent form of life I couldn¡¯t communicate with on some level. Are you saying your one species, on your one planet had more than one way to speak?... That seems weird. How did you communicate with one another? If I met a kaldarr who spoke differently than I did and didn¡¯t understand my words¡­ I¡¯d wonder if they were even of my own race.¡±


    Ronin thought back on all his interactions with all the various races he¡¯d met along the way. It was strange, but he never had any issues with understanding anyone. Then, he thought about all the books he¡¯d read about earth¡¯s history. The misunderstandings and the wars that had happened, simply because people couldn¡¯t understand one another or saw the world differently.


    ¡°I think that was a problem for us too,¡± he said, sadly. ¡°But I¡¯m assuming the ship set my pocket world up so I could read and understand everyone there¡­ it must have carried over here somehow. It¡¯s strange, but I¡¯m not going to complain.¡± He decided to let it go. No point thinking about it too hard, but he did file the thought away to talk with Leo about it some time.


    ¡°Terracotta soldiers? Hey boss are these the armored statues you were talking about. The ones the standing kaldarr armor reminded you of?¡± Sometime after exiting the Egyptian exhibit, they¡¯d entered one depicting ancient China. Several time periods were displayed here, this exhibit taking up the entire top floor. Ronin wondered about that, until he realized they were in what had once been China.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Yea, these are it. Though I¡¯ve only ever seen them in books¡­ it¡¯s really something.¡± Ronin said, his breath getting caught in his throat as he stared at the ancient soldiers made from clay. They were outfitted in lamellar armor, like the locust lamellar his people had taken to wearing in the year he¡¯d been gone. K3 had filled him in on many details from that time, but he was still missing a large chunk of the picture. Ronin, so caught up in his memories, barely noticed K3 begin talking into his radio, or the hand his friend placed on his shoulder.


    ¡°Come on boss,¡± he said quietly. ¡°Let¡¯s finish up here and make a plan on what we do for the next few days while we wait for Leo.¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Ronin said. He shook himself mentally to clear the daydreams that could take him away if he wasn¡¯t careful. ¡°There¡¯s a pair of crystal trees just outside of town. They are so close together their branches are intertwined¡­ I want to get the next batch of armored plates printing to fix up another suit. Then, I¡¯m heading out to strip farm those trees. I need some practice with this suit if I ever want to use it in combat, and now¡¯s as good a time as any.¡±


    ¡°Works for me,¡± Elyria said, getting a nod from K3, and a surprised look from Ronin. ¡°What, expect us to argue with you?¡± She asked with a snicker. ¡°You¡¯re right, you need all the practice you can get. Besides, what else are we going to do for two more days?¡± She turned to K3, ¡°make sure you get Jackson on his team.¡± She said with a wicked smile, ¡°we can¡¯t let his training slip after all.¡± K3 nodded again, and Ronin groaned.


    *            *            *


    Ronin hauled himself up the tree in slow motion. Each hand and foot hold took seconds longer than it would have if he¡¯d been climbing outside the armored suit. Ronin still couldn¡¯t get over how slow the thing reacted. He had his arms and legs inside the suit¡¯s limbs, so he figured it would be instantaneous. The sensors that captured his body movement and translated that into suit movement, however, just weren¡¯t that good. He chalked it up to being a human design because nothing the beetles had brought with them was this awkward.


    ¡°Slow down boss,¡± K3 said from beside him. ¡°Jaya isn¡¯t as familiar with the suits as you are, and Jackson is already getting tired.¡± Ronin looked down, a tricky feat in the suit. Sure enough, Jaya was fumbling her way up the tree some twenty feet below. Just from watching her move, Ronin could tell she wasn¡¯t waiting for the suit to catch up with her movements before she tried to move again. As for Jackson, Ronin couldn¡¯t see her at all. He cracked a grin; not sorry his tormentor was having a tough time with the climb.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, turning his attention back to the tree. ¡°We¡¯re almost to the first branch, we can rest there for a bit before we clear the bugs.¡± His original plan had been to get right to clearing the tree of life. His people on the other hand, had disagreed. They wanted to wait the few hours it would take to print out new armored plates and fix a second suit. Thankfully, Ronin had done it once before, and with Jaya helping for operator¡¯s experience, the process went much faster this time.


    She¡¯d still not said anything Ronin could hear, so he¡¯d asked K3 about it when they had a quiet moment. Turned out the woman was mute, from an accident in her youth. Something Ronin hadn¡¯t expected at all. Why would they put someone on his team who couldn¡¯t communicate over the coms? Of course, that had been his initial reaction. After thinking about it for only a few moments he remembered just how competent Jaya was in combat. Her not being able to speak wasn¡¯t an insurmountable problem, not when compared to the utility she brought to the team.


    Reaching the first branch of the tree, Ronin walked to the middle of the village sized limb and leaned his back against the main trunk, while he waited for the rest of the team to catch up.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting a lot better with the suit.¡± K3 said with an approving nod. ¡°I didn¡¯t see you miss a single handhold in the last hundred yards of the climb.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Ronin said with a frown. ¡°But it isn¡¯t good enough for combat. I¡¯m going to be a slightly mobile turret during any fighting. A detriment more than anything in tight quarters, since the gatling gun is way too big and unwieldy for precision work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you made that custom PCP .50,¡± Elyria said. Ronin looked up¡­ to find the damned elf was standing on his shoulder. Copying his pose by leaning her back against the tree. ¡°That should fill the accuracy gap, right.¡±


    ¡°I need to figure out someway to tell when people are touching me.¡± Ronin said, craning his neck to eye the smirking elf. ¡°I can¡¯t feel anything unless it hits me hard enough to rock the suit. One of the scouts could take me out from behind without my ever noticing¡­. But yea, it should help.¡± He said, addressing her point, by pulling out the massive rifle.


    It wasn¡¯t any more powerful than the PCP .50¡¯s the scouts carried. Ronin had made several modifications however, since the original rifle was too small for him to use. Apart from increasing its size several times over, Ronin increased the ammunition count to a whopping two hundred rounds. He¡¯d wanted to copy the gatling gun¡¯s concept of using two air tanks. So, one could be charging while he shot from the other one. The batteries that powered the compressors required too many rare ingredients though, so he¡¯d settled on just using a bigger tank, which was easy enough to manufacture.


    ¡°I should be able to take down the aphids easily enough. With two hundred shots it will hold up for a while¡­ but I can¡¯t reload the dang thing inside the suit.¡± He¡¯d tried, several times. He just wasn¡¯t able to make the armored hands make fine enough movements.


    ¡°That¡¯s the truth.¡± Elyria said, hopping off his shoulder and landing lightly on the ground, with a flutter of her wings. ¡°You crushed an air tank trying to screw it on¡­ At least the thing is powerful. If anyone gets too close just swing at them. Nearly anyone will be crushed, assuming you connect.¡± Ronin shuddered at the memory. He didn¡¯t think he was squeezing it that hard, but feeling was something that just didn¡¯t translate through the sensors.


    He¡¯d gotten out of the suit to squeeze one of the tanks, even had K3 and K6 try it too. Ronin and K3 hadn¡¯t been able to even dent the thing. K6 had been able to put a small dent in it, but nothing like what Ronin had done to the twisted and crushed tank with his suit.


    That was another thing that had confused Ronin, at least until he looked it up. How did the tree produce items so similar to metal? Short answer is they acted similarly to the stone carver rats. As their roots quested further and further into the earth, they sucked up all the minerals to fuel their rapid growth. Those minerals were then incorporated into the tree¡¯s trunk to reinforce its giant size and gave them a crystalline appearance.


    ¡°Hey boss,¡± K3 said, bringing Ronin out of his reflections. He cursed silently, knowing he wasn¡¯t doing too well with that. He was finding it hard to break the habit, after more than twenty years of having only himself for company. His mind would wander away on paths all its own. ¡°Boss,¡± K3 repeated. Ronin cursed, having done it again, and turned his attention to the kaldarr.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked, shifting his attention to his surroundings. That¡¯s when he noticed Jaya and Jackson had arrived. Looking up, he found Stone flying overhead. He couldn¡¯t see her from here, but he knew Whisper would be circling the other tree, being overwatch for yokai team 01 as they cleared it.


    ¡°Everyone is here now, so why don¡¯t you and Jaya practice with the new rifles? There are hundreds of aphids on this branch. Try to take them out from here. Don¡¯t worry if you miss it at first. We have plenty of ammunition.¡± That proved to be a good thing, because neither Ronin nor Jaya could hit anything at all. Jaya broke her rifle by squeezing the trigger too hard after a few dozen missed shots.


    ¡°Alright, this isn¡¯t working,¡± Ronin said when the rifle crunched next to him. ¡°We¡¯ve learned something though. The rifles need bigger sights, and stronger construction. Give me a minute¡­¡± Slipping free from the armored suit, Ronin pulled out his tablet and reworked the rifle file for half an hour before turning to Elyria.


    ¡°Would you mind flying this down to the ship please? Give it to Karr to get the new rifles printing, then bring it back with you.¡± He would have asked one of the scouts to do it, had they both been there. Since there was only Stone, he wanted to keep her on overwatch duty. That only left Elyria who could do the job with any kind of speed.


    ¡°I see how it is,¡± she said with a snort, but she still accepted the tablet. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes, don¡¯t go falling off the tree without me now.¡± She said it jokingly, but there was real concern in Elyria¡¯s eyes as she flew away.


    ¡°Da pair of ya are off the cob,¡± Jackson said snidely. Causing Ronin to notice how out of breath and shaky the brawler was. He smirked, realizing something after she spoke.


    ¡°Excellent, Jackson. Thanks for the reminder.¡± He said with a huge grin.


    ¡°What are you on about, Crumb?¡± She asked, glaring at him suspiciously.


    ¡°It¡¯s been three hours since our last practice session. And look at that, I¡¯m already out of my armor. Why don¡¯t we set to it? We need to kill some time until the new guns are done printing anyway.¡± K3 let out a deep, rolling belly laugh at Ronin¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Right, you are boss, guess it is that time.¡± Jackson was now glaring at both of them with equal fierceness, but she¡¯d brought it on herself as far as Ronin was concerned. So, he didn¡¯t have any sympathy for her.


    The fight started about as good as he could hope for. He didn¡¯t dominate the fight, but he did much better than at any time before. Even getting in several hits on the angrily cursing woman. The taunts, now easy for Ronin to ignore, since he didn¡¯t understand the 1930¡¯s slang she was throwing at him anyway, went ignored as they fought.


    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you just having a ball,¡± Elyria said when she returned some fifteen minutes into the fight. ¡°New rifles should be done in just under two hours, so enjoy your spar. I¡¯ll ask Stone to grab them though, and I¡¯ll take overwatch¡­ the damn things are too big for me to carry in the air.¡± Ronin looked up at her words, losing concentration for just long enough to be taken to the ground by an aggressively cackling Jackson. ¡°Oops, sorry.¡± Elyria said, not sounding sorry at all to Ronin, who was getting his face pounded in. Thankfully, Jackson really was tired from the climb, and he was able to regain the high ground. The whole fight went like that, and Ronin was happy with how much he¡¯d learned about her fighting style while she was too tired to move at full speed.


    ¡°Sorry for the delay boss.¡± Stone said, some time later, dropping off the newly printed rifles. ¡°Karr took a few minutes to test fire them before he let me bring them up. Wanted to make sure they were sighted correctly. He said if you had any trouble shooting now, at least you¡¯d know it was the suit making things difficult and not the rifle being off.¡±


    That was very thoughtful of the sergeant, and Ronin made a mental note to thank the man for it. When doing any experiments, one wanted to eliminate as many variables as one could. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t know what change had caused the problem, or the fix. Changing more than one thing at a time was only confusing. Ronin smirked again at the thought of himself spending his days inside a lab, instead of on the battlefield.


    ¡°Ok then,¡± he said at last, climbing back into his suit and gripping the newly reenforced and sighted rifle. ¡°You ready to try again Jaya?¡± He asked the woman wearing an identical suit to his own. She didn¡¯t answer in words, but the poorly articulated thumbs up she made was answer enough for Ronin. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s do this.¡±


    The changes to the rifles made all the difference. It still took them several shots to hit anything, but without needing to worry about breaking the trigger by pulling it too hard, they were able to focus solely on aiming. After finishing off the branch¡¯s aphid population, Ronin waited while K3 reloaded both his and Jaya¡¯s rifles, before heading up towards the next branch. He had a feeling this was going to be easy¡­ at least until they reached the wasp hive at the top of the tree.

 Chapter seventy-four

    Lily


    Lily paced the length of her office, running her fingers through her hair so frequently it floated in a static cloud around her head. She was starting to panic, now the meeting with the syndicate¡¯s leadership had opened her eyes to, at least consider, they might be at fault for Undercity¡¯s problems.


    ¡°Honey, settle down.¡± Her consort, Halikor said, from where he stood in the doorway. He was holding a tray, containing a tea set, and steaming pot of water. Clearly hoping to settle her down after her meeting with the queen. ¡°Come here and sit down. Have a cup of calming moss tea and tell me what¡¯s got you so worked up.¡±


    ¡°Gaahhh,¡± she growled in frustration as she stalked the floor, snatching a cup from the tray after Halikor poured tea in it. She kept pacing but had to slow down to prevent the hot liquid from spilling onto the floor. As she continued to stride, she looked at the cup in her hands. The bioluminescent moss lost its glow once it dried out. When reintroduced to moisture, however, it began to glow again. Causing the tea to glow softly in the cup. The moss itself didn¡¯t add much to the beverage, the flavor coming from the other ingredients, but it was near tasteless, so people added it to many dishes, just for the soft glow it let off for a while once rehydrated.


    ¡°Please,¡± the hulking bugbear man said, seating himself in one of the office¡¯s plush chairs. ¡°Have a seat honey and tell me what the queen said that has you so worked up.¡± It had been a few months since the meeting with Owl Two and the syndicate. Just like he¡¯d said, a flood of immigrants had poured in through the tunnel to the mushroom forest. They¡¯d been guarded by an entire battalion of yokai, who had refused to leave until the refugees had been accepted into the city.


    There were hundreds of them, all looking terribly small and underfed. Many were missing most of their teeth, had thin hair, and skin that looked like it had never seen the sun. Whatever the White Flame had done to get them here hadn¡¯t allowed them the opportunity to regain their health. That caused even more problems, because they were stretching the city¡¯s medical supplies to the breaking point. Saying nothing of how much food, clothing and all the housing required to take care of so many unexpected people flooding into their home.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about our decision to split from the syndicate.¡± Lily said at last, dropping into her chair and setting the tea on the hardwood desk. ¡°A lot of Owl Two¡¯s points were valid. He didn¡¯t do anything to harm us. He only refused to offer aid we didn¡¯t ask for¡­ If we hadn¡¯t kicked out all the hobs, or thought about the next generation, before all the goblins got too old¡­¡± she trailed off, taking a sip of her tea. Halikor took that opportunity to speak.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t just refuse to help us, love.¡± He said softly, but firmly. ¡°He effectively gave Brie and Guts death sentences, by turning off their nanites. And by refusing to council us on the ramifications of the sexual inhibitors long term, he effectively killed all the smart goblins in the city. Not to mention what he¡­¡± The shaggy bugbear bit back what he¡¯d been going to say next, but Lily already knew what he was thinking.


    ¡°As angry as I¡¯ve been at him all these years, I can¡¯t ignore the facts any longer. He would never hurt the White Flame¡¯s child. It was an accident, and we all know it. I¡¯m ashamed it took ten years to admit out loud, but¡­¡± she took another sip of her tea, to fill the silence that followed her admission.


    ¡°So, what has you so worked up?¡± He asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°I had several long talks with ambassador Jeffreys, before the queen finally had him executed.¡± Lily said, running her fingers through her hair again. ¡°The kingdom is seriously getting fed up with us, love.¡± She said, looking at her consort. A man she¡¯d grown to love deeply over the last decade. A man whose presence in her life now concerned her. Not because she didn¡¯t love him anymore, but because the White Flame was becoming active again. She worried what his reaction would be when he returned to find his child hadn¡¯t survived birth, and his wives had both forsaken him. No formal divorce, but a betrayal far more real. They¡¯d both found new lovers in the years he was away, and far worse, left his organization entirely, and actively hindered its growth.


    ¡°What¡¯s new about that? They¡¯ve been threatening us for years now.¡± Halikor asked with an unconcerned shrug.


    ¡°That¡¯s what the queen said when I went to her.¡± Lily said with a frown, wondering why she was the only one who was worried about the problem. ¡°The issue now, is we¡¯ve pushed them further than they can allow and still maintain face.¡± She said patiently, trying to get her point across to at least one person. ¡°We set up shop in their backyard, Halikor. They were able to overlook that, but then we stole their greatest ally, the moon elves. When we showed them the dryad and oakkin. Not only did we take their allies away, but the moon elves and the wood elves decided to grow their new forest on the plains outside the valley Owl Two claimed as Syndicate territory.


    The kingdom is huge, but the king knows as well as we do, the elves won¡¯t stop with a small forest. Hellebore is more reasonable than Unyielding oak, but he won¡¯t stop the forest¡¯s growth for human boarders. Neither will he hold back the elf¡¯s wrath if someone comes to take down their trees.¡± Lily stood up as she talked, going back to pacing.


    ¡°On top of all that, now we are expanding our reach even further, with the trade caravans. By not charging the villages and towns we visit, the taxes the king demands, we are able to sell at a lower price than the kingdom¡¯s people. What¡¯s worse, for them anyway, is that our products are so much better than there¡¯s are, thanks to the electricity Owl Two has given us.¡±


    ¡°So, greed is going to force their hand?¡± Halikor asked, again seemingly unconcerned. ¡°So what? They would have been wiped out without us and the moon elves saving them from the locusts. The moon elves, who are now firmly on our side I might add.¡±


    ¡°Wrong,¡± Lily said, banging the table with her fist. ¡°The queen said the same thing. ¡®Who cares if they want to attack us, the damned android and his monsters are between us and them.¡¯ But do you really expect Owl Two to fight against a foe just to save us? As for the elves, they are bound to the dryad and oakkin. Both of whom are as loyal to the White Flame as Staz or the android himself.¡± Lily stared the father of her children in the eye as she continued, dropping the final bombshell.


    ¡°The worst part of it all, is another ship came down recently. One that wasn¡¯t on the list Owl Two gave us.¡± She said quietly, nodding at the worried look that came over his face. ¡°A ship filled with humans who, if the ambassador is to be believed, doesn¡¯t like any race other than humans. They came looking for the locusts and heard rumors Owl Two brought the White Flame¡¯s dormant queen back here. They¡¯ve been pushing the king to bring us to heel, to force us to fall into line. And, technologically speaking, they are even more advanced than the moon elves. They wear heavy armor, carry powerful guns, and don¡¯t mind killing anyone who stands in their way.¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t know if Halikor really understood the implications of what she was saying or not, but it terrified her. The Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom was a human kingdom. A human kingdom who held a hatred for goblins, even before they¡¯d moved into their backyard. Now, combined with an entire crew of technologically advanced humans who hated all non-humans¡­ Even if they didn¡¯t attack right away, in a decade or two, when the tech level of the kingdom had been raised by the new invaders, they¡¯d come for Undercity.


    ¡°What did the queen say when you told her all this?¡± Halikor asked, finally seeming to grasp how serious the situation was.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t care at all,¡± Lily said slumping into her chair with defeat. ¡°She just pointed out the elves wouldn¡¯t leave their forest, and Owl Two wouldn¡¯t abandon his valley. Then, she reminded me how good our defenses are in these caves. How anyone wanting to attack the city would have to cross the river, just like we did¡­ She¡¯s so lost to hatred towards Owl Two, she won¡¯t listen to reason. I think finding out all her power wasn¡¯t actually hers, being granted to her by the White Flame. It could all be taken at any time. Even her ability to think clearly without the unrelenting drive to reproduce, really got to her¡­ Hunter will never forgive him for shoving that in her face.¡±


    ¡°Can you really blame her? That crazy human strolled into our city and demanded obedience, in exchange for our lives. Of course, we would accept, who wants to die? But now we are finally seeing the price for that help. The entire goblin race only functions because of his technology. Something he could take away at any time. Wouldn¡¯t you be angry to realize your entire race was completely controlled by someone else?¡± Lily sighed, not really being able to disagree.


    ¡°I won¡¯t argue with you,¡± she said after thinking about it for a while. ¡°I don¡¯t even think you¡¯re wrong¡­ I¡¯m just trying to look at things from the android¡¯s perspective. For the first time in nearly ten years, I might add.¡± She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands as she spoke. ¡°As immoral and hard to understand as he is, Owl two does what is best for his lord. The only thing the White Flame asked us for were troops, now the valley is filled to the brim with soldiers. Between the hobgoblins, hobats and batlins who joined them, and all the yokai he¡¯s been breeding for a decade. Not to mention all the natural births over the years. The syndicate doesn¡¯t lack for manpower.


    Us on the other hand? He gave us an entire city, heck an entire underground kingdom we learned after exploring a bit. The place is beyond big¡­ and the only thing he asked us for? To have troops ready for him when he came back, because he was going to need them to help keep us safe¡­ and we don¡¯t even have a standing army of our own. Hell, even our trade caravans are guarded by syndicate members. Now that I know Owl Two controls everything like he does, I¡¯m actually surprised he didn¡¯t shut us down the moment we turned our backs on his lord. Instead, he left us alone to dig our own graves.¡±


    It was hard for Lily to say everything she just had. Extremely hard, but she needed to be honest with herself. She¡¯d made a promise with Owl Two, before she lost the baby. To do everything she could to support the White Flame, her husband, while he was gone. After losing the child to an accident she¡¯d suffered while sparring, something Staz told her not to do, she¡¯d completely lost all motivation to do anything. Until she met Halikor.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°What will you do?¡± The man who¡¯d pulled her from suicidal depression asked, looking at her with confident, supportive eyes. Eyes she hoped would always look at her with love and acceptance, no matter what she had to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to see Owl Two,¡± she said at last. ¡°Andessa and Tupelo have gone to get the car already. As soon as they get here, we¡¯re going up to the valley.¡± She looked at his face for any sign of disappointment, but thankfully, she didn¡¯t find any. ¡°I think it¡¯s too late for our two sides to come together again, even if the White Flame came back, things have just gone too far now. But I need to know what is going on up there. Owl Two let me overhear a conversation he was having with some of the younger generation. Things aren¡¯t going well for the White Flame.¡± She never called Ronin her husband in front of her consort. Since she¡¯d parted ways with his syndicate, she didn¡¯t really consider herself his wife either. Only using the title for her political benefit.


    ¡°Now, with the threat of war from the human kingdom. I just have a feeling; things are going to get bad again. The Undercity isn¡¯t ready for that. With all the original goblin¡¯s dead, and most of the bugbears having put up their war hammers in favor of crafters tools, how will we defend ourselves if the worst happens?¡±


    ¡°My lady,¡± Tupelo said, from outside the open office door. ¡°The car is here, shall I come back later?¡± He asked, clearly having overheard some of the conversation.


    ¡°No, Tupelo.¡± It was Halikor who spoke, rising to his feet and enveloping Lily in a hug. ¡°Be safe out there and come home soon. Me and the kids will miss you while you¡¯re gone.¡± The tenderness and care in his voice nearly made Lily tear up, but she pushed it down. Returning his hug before untangling herself from him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come home as soon as I can.¡± She promised, following Tupelo into the street, where a small car was parked, electric engine running. The streets seemed emptier than they should have at this time of day, Lily looked around with a frown. Wondering where everyone was, she almost asked Tupelo about it, but was brought out of her thoughts when he spoke.


    ¡°Would you like the passenger or the rear seat my lady?¡± The elf asked politely. Lily smiled at him, knowing how tight a fit the car was for bugbears, having been designed for humans. She would normally be seated in the rear seat, due to her station, but it wouldn¡¯t be very comfortable for her.


    ¡°I would like to feel the wind through my fur, I think.¡± She said at last, with a smile for the human sized elf. ¡°So, I will sit in the passenger seat if you don¡¯t mind taking the back?¡±


    ¡°Of course, my lady.¡± He said with a nod, climbing in. The small cars designed for speed were terribly uncomfortable. Unfortunately, she was in a hurry, so that was exactly what she¡¯d asked them to get. Sure, they¡¯d hate every minute of the ride, but at least they wouldn¡¯t be trapped inside the car for the two days it would take to do the journey on foot.


    Climbing in after him, Lily nodded her head to Andessa, who was driving. Before doing her best to get comfortable as the car shot off at speed towards the path leading to the surface. She didn¡¯t know if what she was doing was right or not, but she knew she had to try something. The feeling of imminent disaster she¡¯d been feeling since the meeting just wouldn¡¯t let her go.


    *            *            *


    Ronin


    Ronin took his first step into the hive, the sound of Elyria¡¯s proclamations about him being a fool still ringing in his ears. To some extent, he agreed with her. There was no real reason he had to go back into one of the deathtraps he¡¯d almost died in before. No reason at all, except for his own confidence.


    After the last time, he¡¯d started to fear he wasn¡¯t cut out for this life. That he was a failure, who would only drag his people into death with him, if he kept going. It had taken him a while to put the pieces together. That his growing since of unhappiness was related to his failure in the hive last time, and his need to be saved by Leo Dawson. A man who was the personification of what leadership was in Ronin¡¯s mind.


    Yet, the closer they had gotten to the hive, the more anxious Ronin felt. Until the point where he considered going back. Come to think of it, they¡¯d abandoned a harvesting session just before they hit the hive last time too. Sure, there had been good reasons for that, but Ronin had noticed the intense relief he¡¯d felt as they climbed back down the tree. Not having noticed at the time, Ronin didn¡¯t know what to do about his anxiety, which only frustrated him more. Now that he¡¯d noticed this weakness in himself, however, he had to snuff it out.


    ¡°You good to go, Jaya?¡± He asked his companion. She was the only other person in their group who had an armored suit, so she was the only person who would enter the hive with him. Since Elyria refused to let him go alone. He waited for her to answer with a thumbs up, a gesture that was getting smoother every time. Nodding his understanding, Ronin opened fire with his gatling gun.


    Just like last time, the hive exploded with the angry thumping buzz of thousands of swarming wasps. Unlike last time, however, Ronin wasn¡¯t hiding in a small alcove. He was standing right out in the open. With only his armored suit between himself and the helicopter sized wasps and their giant stingers.


    He wasn¡¯t going in unprepared this time. He¡¯d asked Stone to go get several more hoppers filled with the .25 diameter pellets the gatling gun used. He also had his kanabo, in case it came to melee, but he was confident this time would go more smoothly than last time. For a while, he was right. As the wasps built themselves up into a proper tornado of angry bodies, he and Jaya shot them down by the dozen. The air powered machine guns chewing through their soft bodies with ease.


    Things went well for nearly a minute, until the wasps finally spotted the ones responsible for their deaths. After that, the battle changed. As one wasp after another made attack runs on them. Ronin had been right; the armored plates were a match for the stingers. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t taken the wasps¡¯ momentum into account. A foolish mistake, considering what happened last time a wasp hit him at full speed.


    ¡°Aahhggg,¡± Ronin grunted when the first wasp slammed into him with its stinger. He rocked on his feet, but it was the stinger that had broken in the clash. The wasp spiraling out of control behind him. He held up to the second assault ok as well, though it did rock him a little further back. By the fifth hit, he tipped over backwards, unable to maintain his footing under the constant bombardment.


    He was able to see through the swarming bodies, that Jaya had also been knocked to the ground. The silent soldier was doing her best to climb to her feet, but she couldn¡¯t regain her footing due to the constant attacks. Ronin, after trying to get up and failing, decided it was a waste of effort, and instead fired the gatling gun from his prone position. Jaya, seeing this, followed suit. The bodies rained down again, only this time they fell on top of the armor suited invaders.


    His hopper having run dry, Ronin forced himself into a seated position to reload. He was so surrounded by bodies at this point that they acted something like a bulwark, between himself and the now frantically swarming wasps. They were pulling the bodies of their fallen away to clear the path, but that would take time. Time Ronin wasn¡¯t going to give them. Slapping on the fresh hopper, Ronin lifted his weapon and continued to fire as fast as the gun was able.


    He continued to be hit with falling bodies, and the occasional stinger strike knocked the wind from his lungs, but the fight was already as good as over. Even if they ran out of bullets, the armored pair would still be able to win this fight barehanded. Assuming the damage didn¡¯t mount up and the armor continued to hold. It amazed Ronin just how much of a difference the right equipment could make on a battlefield. A handful of these suits would have changed the way the locust war was fought. The locusts¡¯ giant talons could have pierced the suit¡¯s armor, but from the safety of the wall, these gatling guns would have ended the war in a matter of days.


    It was something he needed to keep in the back of his head, as he started to lead his own war bands again. He had to consider what his enemy was capable of, and what he could do to counter them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head deeper inside,¡± he said after a few minutes of the mindless killing. His thoughts had wandered again, since the battle was almost too easy now, and they¡¯d cleared a large chunk of the swarm while he¡¯d been thinking. Taking inventory, Ronin realized they were both down to their last hopper, but that was fine. The wasps didn¡¯t hold anything in reserve. If the swarm was thinning, that meant they were almost all dead. That would only leave the queen and her guards deeper inside the hive. Knowledge that filled Ronin with anticipation.


    ¡°Wait here,¡± he said, motioning Jaya to step back once they¡¯d reached the queen¡¯s chamber. ¡°I want to do this on my own.¡± The queen was larger than Ronin could adequately put into words. Bigger than a pre fall bomber jet, easily. The six guards, flying around her on the other hand, weren¡¯t much bigger than normal wasps. Unlike normal wasps, they were covered in thick armor that put them on equal footing with a ladybug and had larger wings to support the added weight.


    Ronin tried to duck as the first guard flew at him, having to dodge not only the stinger, but also the huge crab like claws the guards had. It was almost unfair, just how much stronger the guards were to normal wasps. Unfortunately, Ronin¡¯s dodge didn¡¯t go as smoothly as he¡¯d hoped. The suit just wasn¡¯t quick enough to respond to this level of combat. He was grabbed up in the claws, but the suit weighed too much for the wasp to carry him away with it, and they both crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs.


    Ronin heard the chitin creaking as the wasp did its best to crush him. He grinned widely when he realized it simply wasn¡¯t strong enough. Bringing back his fist, he punched the wasp in the head. One hit took down the wasp, splattering his view port with gore, to the point he¡¯d effectively blinded himself. Withdrawing his fist, Ronin tried to wipe the gunk from his vision, only succeeding in smearing it around as another guard grabbed him from behind.


    The attack slammed him face first into the waxy paper floor. The soft material helped to cushion his fall and wipe some of the gore from his vision as he gripped the giant claw in both hands and pulled. He¡¯d only meant to force it open, but he¡¯d actually ripped the claw in half with that move. Swinging his arm around, he tried to finish the guard off, but it had already flown away, creating distance between them.


    After another dive attack, which resulted in another broken claw, the guards kept their distance from Ronin, circling around, but unwilling to get too close. This created a stalemate because Ronin wanted to finish this battle by hand. The stalemate lasted until he gave up on the guards and advanced on the queen. That forced them into action, even knowing they couldn¡¯t harm the intruder.


    Ronin didn¡¯t even slow down his pace after that. He just advanced slowly, stumbling, or falling from time to time as the guards attacked him. Each time they did, however, they left themselves open to a counterattack. Ronin didn¡¯t get them every time, he was still slow and lacked grace in the suit, but when he got his hands on a guard, that guard died.


    It didn¡¯t take too long for the guards to all go down, and for Ronin to reach the queen. She was gigantic, but didn¡¯t move very fast, and in less time than it had taken to dispatch her guards, Ronin slammed an armored fist through her skull.


    ¡°Bravo,¡± Elyria said. The elf hovered just outside Ronin¡¯s reach and was slowly clapping her hands with exaggerated motions. ¡°You killed your way through the hive, and even bested the queen and her guards in mortal combat¡­ You put yourself, and our entire world, at risk just to prove you could do it. Do you feel better about yourself now?¡± She asked, still clearly unhappy about his decision to enter the hive with only Jaya as backup.


    Ronin didn¡¯t get angry or annoyed at the question or the tone. She had a point. They¡¯d discussed this after the battle with the color force some time ago. How it wouldn¡¯t have been such a close call if they¡¯d used the weapons at their disposal from the start. Yet, he¡¯d needed the boost to his confidence defeating the hive nearly single-handedly, brought him. So, when he finally answered, he did so with a huge smile on his face.


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

 Chapter seventy-five

    ¡°Here boss, you need to eat this.¡± K3 said, tossing Ronin one of the freshly harvested queen¡¯s guard cores. It was clean of orange blood, but it was harder for Ronin to forget where it had come from while still standing in the hive.


    ¡°I thought we were doing a tree sap only diet for a while?¡± Ronin asked, confused, as he caught the large, richly colored crystal.


    ¡°Don¡¯t argue and eat the dang thing.¡± Elyria said angrily, still fuming over his latest escapade. Not wanting to argue with both his companions, Ronin surrendered to the inevitable and popped the core into his mouth. It was nearly too big to fit inside, but the clear shell surrounding the highly refined nutrient fluid quickly broke down, and his mouth was flooded with sweet nectar.


    ¡°Wow,¡± Ronin said, blinking in shock as the world came into sharper focus around him and his mind seemed to speed up as he ate. ¡°Is there something special about the guard cores?¡± He asked, looking at his bodyguard in amazement. ¡°I feel ten times better than I did a moment ago.¡±


    ¡°No, you idiot.¡± Elyria said with an exasperated sigh. ¡°You were completely out of it and half dead on your feet a moment ago. You¡¯re just feeling like your normal self. Now, get back to the ship and take a nap before you do something even crazier.¡± Ronin frowned, wondering if that were possible. Thinking back on his recent trip into the hive, it really felt like it had happened to someone else, and he¡¯d just heard about it second hand. His frown deepened as he realized she was right. He hadn¡¯t realized it before, but he was exhausted.


    ¡°How many days has it been since I slept this time?¡± He asked, his mind clearing at last. He didn¡¯t regret going into the hive, but in hindsight it was an extremely risky move.


    ¡°Not as many as last time,¡± K3 said, motioning him towards the ground. ¡°But I¡¯ve had you fighting for one hour in four and reduced your diet to the bare minimum. Between the constant healing you¡¯ve been forced to do, and the lack of sleep while you worked on the suits, you¡¯ve burned yourself out.¡±


    ¡°Huh, well I feel much better now, and we have a whole tree to harvest so¡­¡±


    ¡°No, White Flame.¡± Elyria said hovering at eye level with him and glaring into his gore splattered visor. ¡°You are getting sloppy; you need to rest before you make a mistake with real consequences.¡±


    ¡°But the wasps¡­¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right boss,¡± K3 said, a smirk on his thick lips. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the cleanup, don¡¯t worry about it. Elyria, why don¡¯t you take him back to the ship and make sure he stays in bed? It will give Jackson an opportunity to try out one of the suits¡­ if you don¡¯t mind sharing, boss?¡± Elyria¡¯s face went red at his words, but she didn¡¯t argue, something that surprised Ronin greatly.


    As for the suit, well, Ronin would be lying if he said the idea of letting someone else wear it didn¡¯t bother him, especially the lunatic gangster woman. It would be stupid to keep the suit locked up on the ship while he slept though, especially when he knew just how much it would speed up the harvesting process. So, he had no choice but to relent.


    ¡°Ok, fine.¡± He said, slipping the latches and climbing awkwardly from the suit. ¡°But I don¡¯t want anyone killing the wasp eggs, or any of the larvae or pupa or whatever the aphids and ladybugs have. I think we can still take all the fruits and seeds if there are any¡­ Also, don¡¯t pump the waste onto dead ground this time. let¡¯s at least fertilize the trees with what¡¯s left over, after we¡¯re done taking from it.¡± K3 only nodded at the instructions, turning to Jackson and Jaya, already barking orders any drill sergeant would envy.


    ¡°You going to make it down ok, or should we have Stone give you a ride to the ground?¡± Elyria asked, when Ronin missed a handhold and almost slipped.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve got it.¡± Ronin said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m just used to the slow reaction time of the suit. I kept expecting my arms and legs to lag on me, and when they didn¡¯t, I got tripped up. It¡¯s fine now I know to watch for it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I heard that¡¯s something sailors have to deal with. After being at sea for a long time they feel like the ground is moving beneath them once they reach land.¡± The elf said, seeming to buy his excuse. Though Ronin didn¡¯t miss her quiet whispering in the com, or how Stone flew closer on the gryphon after putting a hand to her ear.


    Ronin wanted to repeat that he was fine, then again, dying because he¡¯d fallen off a tree would be far too embarrassing, so he kept his mouth shut and focused on the climb down instead. An eternity later, they finally reached the ground. The core was already wearing off, and Ronin¡¯s mind was fogging over again. Now, all he wanted to do was get some sleep. They passed Karr and his people, dragging the waste tube around, to dump the orange slop back under the tree¡¯s branches. Ronin greeted the man with a silent nod, which was returned with a salute, as he continued towards the ship.


    ¡°Why did you ask K3 not to kill the eggs, and to fertilize the tree, when last time you harvested everything and dumped the fertilizer into the sun?¡± Elyria asked, voice somewhere between curious and accusatory. Coming from an elf, even a moon elf, Ronin wasn¡¯t surprised and didn¡¯t take it to heart. They all loved and revered nature more than anything else.


    ¡°Ignorance.¡± He said with a shrug, the look on the elf¡¯s face letting him know one word wouldn¡¯t be enough so he explained. ¡°I thought the lizards were going to terraform the planet when they got here. So, I didn¡¯t see any point in leaving anything alive just to be killed¡­ yes, I know. I should have asked or read about it. But now that I know, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d kill them all for no reason.¡± They walked in silence for a time after that, Elyria only breaking it when they reached the ship¡¯s ramp.


    ¡°I assumed it had to be something like that,¡± she said eventually. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would sentence anything to death without a reason¡­ ignorance isn¡¯t the best reason. But it¡¯s still a reason. And you adjusted your approach after learning, see White Flame, you¡¯re getting better at leadership all the time¡­ now go take a shower. I¡¯ll be waiting for you to get out.¡± The persistent elf pushed him towards the small shower unit, set up inside the house. Too tired to fight the inevitable, Ronin just nodded and climbed in.


    The shower, like many of the human additions to the dropship, was made of a combination of human inspiration and beetle technology. It looked a lot like a standing shower unit pre fall, except it was entirely self-contained. The stall rested on a water tank that held a heating element and a filtration system. The water being used was filtered and sanitized before falling into the tank, where it was heated and pumped back up to the shower head.


    Ronin was skeptical at first, when he saw the flood of orange gore and chunks of bug internals flaking off his armored body and pouring down the drain. Not interested at all in having that particular mix of awful, raining back onto his head. Thankfully, that hadn¡¯t happened in any of the showers he¡¯d taken so far.


    He didn¡¯t stay in the shower for long. His body wasn¡¯t sensitive enough to feel the hot water, and he was too tired to enjoy it, even if he could. Only staying in long enough to get most of the filth off himself, Ronin got back out and toweled off. He was fairly sure the towel had been made from tree fibers, but his ship given memories told him it was soft as cotton¡­ which was also a plant-based material? At least he thought it was. It was hard to tell with the implanted memories, and nothing made from natural materials had survived from the fall to the time of his birth.


    The white towel was stained orange before he¡¯d even finished drying himself, and with a sigh, Ronin climbed back in the shower. He knew better than to leave the washing area still filthy. Elyria would just force him back in there anyway. So, he took the shortest path and decided to wash himself properly. This time, the towel was clear of wasp blood when he dried off, and he left the stall feeling more refreshed, and happy he¡¯d taken the time to clean off properly.


    ¡°Oh good, I¡¯m just finishing up myself.¡± Elyria said, still drying her silver hair. The white towel looked washed out, beside her pale skin, and the white scales that covered her torso. Ronin blinked, averting his eyes from her naked form. Noticing his gaze shift, Elyria blushed, but nevertheless answered his embarrassment with a barbed comment.


    ¡°What are you worried about, White Flame? Didn¡¯t you strip naked in front of me for a bath not so long ago?... Besides, we¡¯re both naked here. It¡¯s just my body is covered with refined scales while yours is covered in icky bug shell. Not like there¡¯s anything to see¡­¡± Her retort stalled, as she wrapped the towel around herself, putting a lie to her words. That caused Ronin to chuckle.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± He asked, making his best impression of a leer. ¡°Thought there was nothing to see, why don¡¯t I just¡­¡± he reached out, as if to grab her towel. Steel flashed so quickly Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d imagined it, until he saw the orange blood leaking from a small cut on the back of his hand. Elyria was gone by the time he¡¯d raised his eyes from the shallow wound. He grinned, knowing the elf could have likely removed the offending hand entirely if that had been her goal. What she¡¯d actually done was so insignificant, it was already scabbing over.


    Yawning, Ronin headed for his bed. Still amazed at the world he found himself living in, Ronin blearily thought about the life he used to live. Hiding in the cave, taking what he could from the crystal tree outside. Never hoping to make enough to be crystallized without a team of fellows to work with. Now, he had influence, something he knew he didn¡¯t deserve, and people who depended on him. He lived in a world he could affect. Like a hero in a story, he had the power to save people. Also like a hero, he had the power to fail them. People that would really die if he didn¡¯t find the ship and get off the planet. With that comforting thought still playing through his mind, Ronin reached his bed and fell backwards into the soft mattress. Not even bothering to cover up, he was out in seconds. The stress of the last several days dragged him into sleep¡¯s comforting embrace.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Ronin was dreaming again. At least, he assumed he must be dreaming. He was up in the tree wearing his armored suit, extracting a seed from one of the flowers that looked like a cross between an apple and cherry blossom. The trees were filled with flowers, but only a tiny fraction bore seeds. Of those, even fewer would form fruit. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure why they were so rare, but they¡¯d only found two so far during their harvesting sessions, and he hadn¡¯t been involved in finding them. Having left it to Karr¡¯s team after he¡¯d killed the ladybugs and wasps.


    He caressed the seed with his armored hands, being careful not to damage the football-sized emerald seed. His thoughts turned unbidden to the rain of them that had infected his planet. Then the enclosure that had survived one hundred fifty years of apocalypse, only to be destroyed by one of these same seeds. Filled with sudden rage, he tried to crush the beautiful object. Only, he wasn¡¯t wearing his armored suit anymore. He was in his old human body, breathing mask chafing against the stubble he couldn¡¯t seem to get rid of, and mouth feeling empty without the full set of teeth he¡¯d only gotten after crystallizing. Panic filled him as he looked at his weak human hands, blood now oozing from under his nails at the pressure he¡¯d exerted on the seed¡¯s shell. Doing nothing to the protective layer that could survive atmospheric entry.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Owl Two said, now standing beside Ronin in the house sized flower. Except they weren¡¯t in the flower anymore. They were standing in the auditorium where the government spokesmen had shown them the video. ¡°We are running out of time, my lord. You¡¯ve reached the mining town, why haven¡¯t you gone down yet? Find the ship, find out how it got down there and how we can get it out and I¡¯ll take it from there. Please my lord, you must hurry.¡±


    The screen that¡¯d showed the lizard ship had turned on while the android was speaking. It once again focused on the lizard¡¯s ship. Only now the ship, clearly visible as a pyramid made of fourteen perfectly square cubes, was closer. Much closer. Ronin blinked, as he recognized the gas giant the ship was currently flying passed. He wasn¡¯t well versed in astrology, but he¡¯d recognize Jupiter anywhere. One of his favorite books had been about a man who¡¯d been paralyzed and gone to live there among a species of giant winged fish, and the planet was shown on the faded cover.


    ¡°Wake up, get your people, and get to the ship.¡± The android¡¯s voice grew distant as he felt himself coming back to consciousness. Blinking rapidly to clear the fog from his mind, Ronin looked down at himself, wanting, needing, to know that he hadn¡¯t been turned back into the old, weak, human version of himself. Thankfully, his body was still ship grown and practically thrumming with vitality after his rest. Only, not everything was as it had been before he¡¯d fallen asleep. Elyria was now sleeping fitfully across his chest. Ronin¡¯s mind went into overdrive as he tried to figure out what the slowly groaning, and twitching elf was doing there. Once his racing thoughts slowed enough for him to actually think, the answer was clear enough.


    The elf was sitting in a chair she must have pulled over to the bedside. Ronin blanched at the thought of her sitting over him, watching him sleep. The cunning elf could have done him in right there if she¡¯d wanted to, though Ronin didn¡¯t think she would anymore. She was holding Ronin¡¯s injured hand in her own, along with a small brush, she¡¯d used to apply some healing sap to the small wound she¡¯d caused earlier. Elyria had clearly been as tired as Ronin since she¡¯d evidently leaned forward onto the bed¡­ and Ronin¡­ and fell asleep after tending to him. Her feet tucked up under the chair, and her wings spread out over Ronin like a gossamer blanket of translucent silk.


    Elyria twitched again and mumbled something that sounded like ¡°¡­ship.¡± He couldn¡¯t be sure, but he thought it likely she was having his dream, or some variation of it anyway. Where Owl Two told her to get to the ship. Freeing his hand from hers, Ronin intended to shake her awake, before he paused. Taking in her sleeping face, Ronin couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    The worry lines were gone, and without them and the mocking smile she always wore for him, the elf looked like a different person. A person unburdened by life¡¯s trials, who hadn¡¯t been forced to suffer. A person, who, Ronin found himself coming to care deeply about¡­ the spell was broken a moment later, when Elyria¡¯s dream caused her brow to furrow again, then twitch and mumble unhappily. Finishing the move his hand had started only a few seconds before, Ronin gently shook the elf¡¯s shoulder.


    That gentle shake cost him a blow to the head and a flurry of furious wing beats to the face as the elf woke with a violent start.


    ¡°Huh, what the¡­ What¡¯s the big idea White Flame? Trying to attack me out of nowhere like that¡­¡± She said, blinking sleep from her eyes as she came back to herself. Ronin chuckled, rubbing his jaw after the blow that hadn¡¯t really hurt.


    ¡°Me? You were the one sleeping on my chest, I thought you were trying to finally make good on all your death threats. When I woke up, I could have sworn the wasps had come back, but it was just your snores¡­ Ouch, what was that for?¡± He asked in mock outrage when she hit him again.


    ¡°I do not snore.¡± Elyria snapped, ¡°and I wasn¡¯t sleeping. I was only checking to see if your hand was ok, it looked like you hurt yourself being a fool again.¡­¡± The Elf¡¯s ears had turned red at his jab, and Ronin couldn¡¯t help but push a little further.


    ¡°Really? It must have been bad then, look, you drooled all over my chest plate¡­¡± Ronin trailed off as she hit him again, laughing at the weak blows he knew weren¡¯t intended to hurt him. His laughter doubled when he saw her surreptitiously wipe her mouth and sneak a peek at his chest armor.


    ¡°You rotten¡­¡± Elyria said, smacking him again. They both laughed for a little while, until Elyria calmed down and spoke. ¡°In all seriousness though, did you have another dream about Owl Two?¡± Her question all but confirmed she¡¯d had a dream too.


    ¡°Yea¡­¡± He said with a frown. ¡°He told me I needed to hurry and showed me the ship already passing Jupiter¡­ if that¡¯s true then they¡¯re only days away.¡± They stared at each other for a moment, before they seemed to realize at the same time Elyria was still leaning against him, and they moved apart as one.


    ¡°Regardless of if it¡¯s true or not,¡± Elyria said, rising to her feet. ¡°I think it¡¯s time we move, even if it means leaving without Leo.¡± Ronin frowned at her words, but before he could respond, a voice from the door caught his attention.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± a tired sounding Leo said. Ronin jumped at the sound, eyes darting towards the lionid, who he hadn¡¯t heard entering the house at all. ¡°Hey, settle down you two.¡± Leo said, raising his hands in a calming gesture. Ronin noted how Elyria was now hovering near the ceiling, short sword in hand. The violent beating of her wings whipped the small room into a tornado, before she settled back down again, and sheathed her blade.


    ¡°How long have you been back?¡± Ronin asked, getting out of bed. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be another day at least¡­. And what happened? You look like hell.¡± Ronin was only now taking in just how battered the lionid was. One of his arms was locked in a full-length cast, as was his right leg from the knee down. He had several lacerations across his body, and it looked like no less than a dozen bullet wounds. They had been patched up with something similar to the glue Elyria had used to seal his hand injury. If it wasn¡¯t for the confident look in the older man¡¯s eyes, Ronin would have assumed he was close to death¡¯s door.


    ¡°We just got here.¡± Leo said, not moving from his position, leaning on the door. ¡°I talked to Karr before I came to see you, seems you¡¯ve been asleep for a whole day. Looks like we had similar experiences with the government SWAT boys¡­ only we didn¡¯t come out as well as you did, follow me.¡±


    Ronin exchanged a shocked glance with Elyria, looked like she was surprised at how long they¡¯d slept too. Before they followed Leo as he slowly walked from the house and into the troop transport portion of the ship. He listened with growing horror as Leo described the battle that cost him nearly all his people. His horror only grew when they reached the ramp, where he looked with confusion at the gathered group of lionid women and the pair of restrained prisoners.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Ronin asked looking at the group. There were three gravely injured lionids, kneeling on the ground, each with a clawed hand at their own throat. Next to them was a pile of four armored suits, in various stages of destruction. Behind them stood a pair of gryphons, each with a lionid on their backs, one of whom Ronin recognized as Gnash.


    ¡°I brought you the wreckage of our enemy¡¯s armored Exo-suits. Also, the members of my pride too injured to remain¡­ There is no room for weakness in the pride.¡±


    ¡°There is no room for weakness in the pride.¡± His words were echoed by all the remaining lionids. Causing Ronin to become even more confused.


    ¡°Listen kid, I¡¯ll explain later, ok?¡± Leo said in a near whisper. ¡°Right now, I just need you to tell these three you accept them into your pride, or they¡¯re gunna kill themselves. Got me?¡± Exchanging confused looks with Elyria, Ronin nevertheless did as he was told.


    ¡°I accept you into my pride.¡± He said, unsure of what was going to happen next. Honestly, he wasn¡¯t sure what he expected to happen, but he was disappointed. The three just released their throats and climbed to their feet, or foot in one case as that woman was missing a leg.


    ¡°What are our orders?¡± They asked in unison. Still confused, Ronin looked at Leo again, who only shrugged and motioned for him to continue however he wanted.


    ¡°Do you have any wounds that need to be treated?¡± Ronin asked at last, to which they shook their heads. They did look a little better off than Leo, but they were in a sorry state regardless. Each missing at least one limb. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get Jack in from clean up duty. He can teach you all how to play POWF. It¡¯s an integral part of being on my team, er, pride. Once you know the basics then I¡¯ll have more orders for you.¡± Dismissing them, to do the first thing he could think of that didn¡¯t require much physical effort, he turned to Leo and motioned him to follow him back into the house.


    ¡°Please explain,¡± he said, seating himself in the library and motioning for Leo to join him.


    ¡°Not much to tell kid,¡± Leo said with a pained shrug. ¡°When we stopped to engage them, they fired as soon as their ramp opened enough for them to see us. Killed half my pride before we even made it to them and nearly the rest of us during the melee. After that, I told Red I¡¯d fly the captured ship over. We just got here a few minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°And the suits, prisoners and lionids?¡± Ronin asked, knowing full well Leo knew what he was asking and had deflected.


    ¡°Life in my world is hard kid,¡± Leo said at last. ¡°While I grew my pride, it was necessary to implement harsh rules on those worthy of what little resources we had available to us. These rules stuck, and even now that things are better, they are still followed. I had to give them to you, or they would have killed themselves, since there can be no weakness in the pride.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s idiotic,¡± Elyria said with a shudder. ¡°Why would you come up with a system that forced your injured warriors to kill themselves?¡±


    ¡°Why would your dryads kill themselves to save the elves, but leave all the other races from your moon behind?¡± Leo countered, but continued to speak before the elf could reply. ¡°Look, it is what it is ok. You don¡¯t have to like it; you just have to accept you can¡¯t change it. Because you can¡¯t. Period.¡± That was enough for Ronin. Elyria eventually nodded as well, though she clearly wasn¡¯t going to let this go long term.


    ¡°And the prisoners and armored suits?¡± Ronin asked again, not letting the lionid off the hook. Leo looked at him for a long time, not saying anything, before he finally sighed and deflated in his chair.


    ¡°Listen Robert,¡± he said at last, taking Ronin off guard. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I owe you a debt I didn¡¯t realize until recently. One I have to pay for my own honor if nothing else. But it¡¯s not the right time to talk about it. So, please don¡¯t ask me right now, ok? Just take the suits, the prisoners and the lionids, and let¡¯s get going. I heard you and your girlfriend talking before you noticed me. I remember you having a dream before. If there is anything to it at all, then we really need to move. And we need to do it now. I promise I¡¯ll tell you all about the debt, if we survive.¡±

 Chapter seventy-six

    ¡°You really going to drop something like that on him and then refuse to explain?¡± Elyria asked, some ten minutes later. The elf was as mad as Ronin had ever seen her, and for once, she was angry for him, instead of at him. It was a nice feeling if a little disconcerting. Though at the moment, Ronin was more focused on Leo than Elyria. Since, he really wanted to know what the older man was hiding from him, and if it had anything to do with¡­ no, he didn¡¯t want to think about them.


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯ve already told you, now isn¡¯t the time. I wouldn¡¯t have said as much as I did if it wasn¡¯t for the odd circumstances, we find ourselves in. Now, drop it already.¡± Leo said patiently, for the fifth time.


    ¡°Like hell I¡¯m going to¡­¡± Elyria fired back, before she was interrupted by an anxious Doctor Mycroft who rushed through the library door, carrying her laptop in both hands, and being trailed by her nephew, Locke. Ronin was sure she had at least one of her abominations of thorned tentacles nearby as well, so he refused to look through the door they¡¯d just entered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just got through to the damned too-smart machine, it wanted to talk to Ronin pretty badly. So, I rushed over.¡± The woman¡¯s ample chest heaved as she fought for breath, Ronin not needing to look to feel the glare Elyria was already throwing his way, or the sympathetic look Leo cast him, followed with a sly wink that had Ronin¡¯s cheeks glowing.


    ¡°Oh, knock it off you two,¡± Mycroft said with a snort. ¡°You can ogle me later¡­ or I guess now is fine too, but do it quietly, ok? The android is on the line.¡± Ronin held back a face palm at how ridiculously overconfident the red headed scientist was. Though, he supposed if he¡¯d lived for over two hundred years, survived the fall, and who knew what hardships in between, he¡¯d probably feel a little cocky too.


    ¡°My lord, would you like me to synthesize a sexual inhibitor for you? They have worked wonders on the military population in the valley.¡± The monotoned voice of Owl Two said through the laptop¡¯s speakers, causing everyone in the room, apart from Ronin, to burst out laughing.


    ¡°No, thank you Owl Two.¡± Ronin said through gritted teeth. ¡°What has you contacting me in such a hurry? And have you been messing with our dreams?¡± He added, wanting to know if it had been a real warning, or just his tired mind conjuring up new fears for him to worry about.


    ¡°If some software accidentally found its way into your crystalized body, designed to keep you focused on what¡¯s important instead of wasting valuable time. I wouldn¡¯t know anything about it, my lord.¡± Owl Two said, deadpan. Ronin couldn¡¯t help but growl deep in his throat, but what else could he do? He¡¯d long since realized he couldn¡¯t control the android. Heck, if Mycroft and Leo were to be believed, then he might not actually be under Ronin¡¯s command at all. A thought so terrifying he¡¯d repressed it nearly as soon as he¡¯d had it.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that, Owl Two.¡± Ronin said, voice overly calm. ¡°Now, if you wouldn¡¯t mind telling us what¡¯s so important?¡± Ronin didn¡¯t miss the worried looks Mycroft and Leo shot each other at the android¡¯s words, but he put it from his mind, knowing there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it anyway.


    ¡°I accessed the Doctor¡¯s files when I connected to her computer, and on the walk over here I linked into the tablet I gave you and downloaded everything you¡¯d been working on. I am pleased to see you have been working diligently since the last time we talked. Also, the number of resources you were able to gather between the two government ships is simply astounding. There is enough to get us off the ground. Now all you need to do is find a way to get the dropships down to the lizard¡¯s ship. Since, we no longer have the time to ferry the equipment down through a tunnel.¡±


    No one paid any attention to Doctor Mycroft as she spluttered in indignation at her computer files being hacked again. Everyone was too busy thinking about what Owl Two just said. Were the enemy really almost here? If so, then it was already too late for them to leave. A thought struck Ronin then and he locked eyes with the laptop.


    ¡°Owl Two, what are the lizards most likely to do once they arrive?¡± He asked, trying to get a better feel for the situation before voicing his concerns.


    ¡°If they follow standard operational procedures, they will first board the beetle ship in orbit and kill every living being. Then wipe the crystal matrix of all files, including the crystalized copies of the originally organic life forms. Then¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Ronin said with a frown. He knew now wasn¡¯t the time to get sidetracked, but something the android said had captured his attention. ¡°You said copies of the originally organic life forms. That¡¯s all of us, right?¡± He asked, indicating Leo, Locke and the Doctor. At Owl Two¡¯s affirming ¡®Yes,¡¯ he continued. ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m not the original me? If I¡¯m a copy, then what happened to my original self?¡± All kinds of thoughts were now whirling around in his head. Was he even human anymore, was he a living being, were there more copies of him running around inside other pocket worlds on the ship, completely ignorant of what was happening to him out here?


    ¡°The original Robert Jones is dead.¡± Owl Two said in his flat emotionless voice. ¡°The crystallization process destroys the body while copying the memories and thought patterns that make an individual, an individual.¡± Owl Two said, going quiet after he answered the question. Elyria moved closer to Ronin, resting a hand on his shoulder while he delt with the revelation. He supposed he should have known this already, after all he knew the body was destroyed during the crystallization process. It just never occurred to him it would mean his original¡¯s death.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it kid,¡± Leo said quietly. ¡°It hits us all at some point, even though we thought we knew what crystallization meant. If it helps, the beetles and lizards did this to their entire race. Every one of them is loaded into a computer system somewhere. With the ability to have a new body grown at will. Virtually immortal, unless their file gets deleted¡­ Oh, and don¡¯t worry about multiple copies of yourself running around. The elders made that impossible, some kind of seal put on our digital souls when we got copied. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s impossible, someone with enough knowledge could do it. But they¡¯d have to do it before crystallization took place, for us humans who were saved through the standard crystallization pods. There will only ever be one copy of each of us.¡±


    That both did and didn¡¯t, make Ronin feel any better. He struggled to rein in his emotions, grappling with the idea he wasn¡¯t actually himself. He was saved from having to continue his questioning by Doctor Mycroft, who got the conversation back on track.


    ¡°Ok, so they kill everyone on the colony ship, then what?¡± She asked, crossing her arms under her breasts. ¡°Isn¡¯t your copy on the ship, what will happen to it, and all the supplies its been gathering?¡±  Her questions were a little antagonistic, but the android had been stealing her data.


    ¡°My Xerox will leave the colony ship in a drop ship filled with everything its been gathering for the escape attempt, as soon as the lizard¡¯s own landing crafts make it onto the colony ship. As a cover, it will launch all the remaining drop pods on the ship simultaneously. That won¡¯t bother the lizards overly much, because the drop ships are too short ranged to go anywhere other than this planet. Once they have cleared the ship of life, they will then send them down to capture the drop ships and kill everyone on board.¡±


    ¡°Why do everything in person?¡± Elyria asked, hand still resting on Ronin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Why not just blow up the ship, and shoot the drop ships from orbit¡­ and what about the humans in the caves?¡± It was actually Leo who answered this question.


    ¡°They were created by the elder race to secure and prepare new homes for them. It would have been counter-productive to allow them to destroy the worlds with nuclear or biochemical weaponry. Both lizard and beetle ships are well defended, giving them the opportunity to run should they be attacked, but not armed at all. Except the Beetle¡¯s AI sabotaged the engines when we captured it, so we can¡¯t leave that way¡­ As for the humans, they¡¯ll know they are there by now. Between radio waves and the teleportation pads in several of the larger cave systems. Their troops will ferret them out and kill them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it is so imperative you get to the ship soon. My Xerox will only be able to evade them for so long, we have to get down to the ship. As it stands, we won¡¯t be able to leave before they find us. We will be forced to engage the lizards in the tunnels, while we buy time for the repairs to take place. I have a comprehensive idea of the damage; thanks to the ten years I spent studying the ship in my lord¡¯s pocket world. We have a guide to follow, but the repairs are still going to take time.¡±


    ¡°What about our four ships here?¡± Ronin asked, finally able to drag himself back to the conversation. He wasn¡¯t done grieving for himself yet, but he could hold it together long enough to help save his pocket world, and the few humans they¡¯d managed to gather. ¡°They have all the resources we¡¯ve gathered so far, and the suits, two full growth vats we could use to create new bodies for more soldiers. Not to mention the SWAT troops we captured. There are seven more bodies there between my and Leo¡¯s teams. If we leave them on the surface they could be targeted before we even find the Ship.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already considered that, my lord,¡± Owl Two said from the laptop speaker. ¡°Take yourselves and the equipment you can carry into the mine. I¡¯ve reworked the software on a few of the doctor¡¯s drones to help map out the tunnels on your tablet¡­¡±


    ¡°You did what to my drones?¡± Doctor Mycroft screeched, though for all the good it did her she might as well have remained silent as the android continued to talk over her.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t as good as your mini map function in the pocket world, I¡¯m afraid. However, you should be able to save a lot of time by mapping out the best routes as you go further down. While you do that, I¡¯ll take control of the ships and land them in the nearby lake. Scans show it¡¯s very deep, so hiding them underwater should keep them out of sight, for a time at least. You will have to hook up the crystallization pod on your end and leave the injured lionids in the ship to help send through the prisoners. I¡¯ll replace them with trustworthy people, before bringing the lionids through so I can work on their injuries.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Right, their injuries¡­¡± Elyria said meaningfully, ¡°I¡¯m sure mentioning them, has nothing to do with adding their genetic line to your breeding programs?¡± A comment Ronin wished she¡¯d kept to herself, because it had Leo and Mycroft looking either interested or annoyed.


    ¡°Lady Elyria,¡± Owl Two said in as sincere a tone as he was capable of, that being none. ¡°I assure you I no longer have to do any breeding programs at all. In the past ten years, with the help of the lizard technology I recovered from their ship, I¡¯ve set up an entire laboratory filled with embryonic tanks where I do all my experimenting now. In fact, apart from the military who are required to use sexual inhibitors to maintain proper military discipline, everyone is free to mate with, or marry whomever they choose. The syndicate has become quite a melting pot in recent years. I think you might be surprised at just how easily love can bloom between two separate races when given the chance. Then again, perhaps you wouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you mean.¡± The elf said, snatching her hand away from Ronin¡¯s shoulder as if she¡¯d been burned. That got dry chuckles from the older pair in the room. Ronin even squeezed out a small grin through the emotional turmoil he was still dealing with. He clutched the goat hide cloak in his hands, using it as a reminder of far happier days when he was still ignorant of just how big the world was.


    ¡°And the growth vats?¡± He asked, taking a deep breath. ¡°Will you be able to access them while the ships are hidden?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Owl Two said. ¡°I will have my initial batch of transfers to the government bodies start them printing. I plan to use the formula Mycroft came up with, along with the plans I¡¯ve stolen from the human government to make them as strong as possible. It will more than double the time it takes them to grow, but I believe it will be worth the added time investment. While they grow, the team will be fixing the armored suits and fabricating armor and weapons for the new batch of troops. Now¡­ can you please quit asking questions and get moving my lord? I¡¯ve forwarded a list of instructions to your tablet and this laptop. I am signing off now, please don¡¯t stall any further. We can¡¯t afford any more delays.¡±


    ¡°I really hate that program.¡± Doctor Mycroft said the second the line switched off. ¡°It¡¯s unnatural, shouldn¡¯t exist. I even tried finding a path to it, but it¡¯s like it was everywhere at once. Small parts of it were everywhere inside the ship. As for the Xerox copy of that thing? That shouldn¡¯t be possible either. Living beings can¡¯t be copied like that. It¡¯s against the elder race¡¯s rules¡­ I mean I guess technically it isn¡¯t alive, but it¡¯s so smart that¡­ gah, I hate that program.¡± She continued to curse and rant for nearly a minute before she calmed down enough for the four of them to continue the conversation.


    ¡°¡­then we are in agreement.¡± Leo said some twenty minutes later. ¡°We¡¯ll do as the android suggests and get into the mine ASAP. The list he left us is easy enough to accomplish too. Besides, I agree with most of the gear it wants us to bring with us. Let¡¯s call everyone back now. We should be able to move within six hours if we start now.¡± Everyone nodded, and the meeting split up. Ronin, getting on the comms with K3 and Karr right after he left the library, told them what they would need to do. The fire was lit under them now, it was time to finally find the ship.


    *            *            *


    Seven hours later, they stood outside the recently barricaded entrance to the old mine. They¡¯d missed their original estimate by an hour, thanks to Jackson. The gangster had dropped the gatling gun some fifty feet from the ground on the way down. Ronin didn¡¯t think he had a choice but to repair the weapon. Since they would need it in the days to come. It hadn¡¯t taken too long to fix after he¡¯d printed the part, and by the time he¡¯d reached the mine, everyone was gathered.


    ¡°We tore off the metal doors they installed pre fall and sent the drones in while we waited,¡± K3 said at Ronin¡¯s approach. ¡°Stone, whisper, and Dandelion already went down. They¡¯ll scout the path ahead for us and let us know if there are any problems. You good to go, boss?¡±


    Ronin took that opportunity to check his gear loadout. A gallon of enhanced nutrient fluid, a bag full of large crystal cores, his normal bag of campaign gear. He also carried his PCP 1.0 and PCP .25, both rifle and sidearm versions as his personal gear. In addition, Ronin had a huge crate strapped to his back as well. It contained a portable fabrication unit, and a decent chunk of raw materials for its use. Having secured his own gear, Ronin did a quick scan of those around him.


    Leo and Doctor Mycroft sat on the back of Leo¡¯s personal gryphon. Where the others only had colors, this one had a name, she was called Alice and wore a white collar. Locke shared the red collared gryphon with the only unnamed lionid woman and Gnash rode on the blue collared gryphon Leo had lent Ronin. That only left the green collared gryphon alive after the SWAT battle, and it was loaded down with gear. Ronin shook his head at just how depleted Leo¡¯s pride had gotten after that one battle where the odds were stacked against him, only two of his pride survived intact. As for the tentacle beasts with their pulsating fluid sacs in a rainbow of nightmare fuel colors¡­ Ronin definitely didn¡¯t see the four of them hulking behind the Doctor¡¯s gryphon. Nope, he sure didn¡¯t.


    That only left his own people. Himself, K3 and Elyria. Then there was Stone and Whisper, already down in the mine. After that was sergeant Karr, and his remaining people. Ronin had finally learned all their names, they were Jack, Jaya, Zak, Lori, Scott, and Greg. Ronin had four of the Exo-suits they¡¯d gotten from the color force working. Along with the second armor suit that Jaya was driving. That only Left Karr and Jack without a suit. Ronin smirked when he remembered overhearing Jack complaining he¡¯d gotten overlooked because of the comment he¡¯d made. Karr had heard him too, and the number of laps the man had been forced to run bringing bodies to the ship was almost too comically painful to watch.


    Next was Jackson and Knuckles, both decked out in chitin armor to make them look like everyone else. Scar hadn¡¯t made it through the battle with Leo, so they were the only survivors. Each was armed with a PCP .25 and a matching pair of bad attitudes. Where Jackson was vocal and angry, Knuckles had gotten quiet and sullen. Apparently, the older man had been something of a mentor to him and he hadn¡¯t taken the news of Scar¡¯s death well. They were little better than humans, Ronin felt a little disgusted with himself for even having that thought, but they were a pair of hands to hold a weapon, and they needed those.


    Last were the members of Yokai team 01. K6 and K12, the two kaldarr. O17 or Tank, the Oni. Liana and Vaira, two of the bugbear girls he¡¯d taken from Lily and the final member who was scouting, Dandelion. The first child refugee he¡¯d knowingly taken into his service. Ronin hadn¡¯t spent much time with the yokai team since they¡¯d arrived, but he had a good impression of them, and had still managed to get in the odd card game or conversation, since they¡¯d come on board. The kids were wonderful soldiers; laughed and joked with each other in their off time, obeyed orders without question, and had an all-around positive attitude. Ronin hoped he wasn¡¯t leading them to their deaths, but even if he did, he knew they would follow him there willingly. He didn¡¯t like Owl Two¡¯s methods, but he could never argue with the results.


    ¡°I¡¯m all set.¡± He said at last, turning back to K3. ¡°We have a direction?¡± He¡¯d originally thought to just get a map of the mine from pre fall times, but the government had sealed them. Whatever they¡¯d found down here had been important enough for them to hide everything about the mine. Ronin was sure some of the mining town¡¯s members still had maps drawn up in their homes, but if so, they had likely long rotted away. So, they would just have to do it the old-fashioned way, by trial and error.


    ¡°Yea, we should be good to go for a while. Those drones of the Docs are really fast, we¡¯ll likely be the ones slowing them down, and not the other way around.¡± Ronin nodded, glad to hear that.


    ¡°Alright then, sergeant Karr? You¡¯re in charge of the march.¡± He said, having already talked to Leo and K3 about it before he offered Karr the leadership role. Ronin had learned so much watching the man work that he didn¡¯t want to let go of another opportunity, even if it was just seeing how he maneuvered the group through the tunnels.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Karr said with a salute, before turning to the unit at large. ¡°Yokai team 01, you take the lead. Jack, K3, Knuckles and Jackson, you¡¯re next. Then I want the gryphons followed by the four Exo-suits. My lord, you and Jaya take up the rear please. Elyria can move around as a roaming supporter, assuming there is enough room for her to fly. Ok people let¡¯s go.¡± Just like that, they were marching.


    Ronin¡¯s mind wandered as they moved through the ancient mine. Back to his first day in his pocket world, where he killed an innocent goblin woman in his world¡¯s version of this very place. His first day of real life, since he was finding it harder and harder to recognize the man he had once been. The man he never was, only shared memories with, since Robert Jones had actually died that day.


    He¡¯d died, playing the hero. Going after three armed thieves with his father¡¯s old pistol. In a way, it was fitting. At least his miserable life had ended on a heroic note. Of course, that also meant Ronin¡¯s life had started with him stealing everything from his home cave, including the identity of the man who was supposed to be crystalized. His macabre musings were cut short when he heard a crunch beneath his suit¡¯s boots.


    Looking down, Ronin found the withered corpse he¡¯d just stepped on. It was long dead, but thanks to the lack of fungus or insect life, and the sun¡¯s absence, it had only dried out, but not decayed much beyond that. Ronin looked down at the body, leaning against a support pillar, and his mind went blank.


    How could this be happening? The worlds were different, this wasn¡¯t the goblin woman. Still, it looked so small and frail, having had all the moisture dried from it over the centuries. Ronin crouched down, cradling the crushed corpse to his chest. He didn¡¯t cry, no, he¡¯d shed far too many tears for a past filled with mistakes.


    Instead, he bowed his head over the body, and sent his thoughts out into the vast reaches of the universe. He¡¯d read books on God pre fall, much like everything else he¡¯d read, without the context it was difficult to tell reality from fiction. Still, at that moment, he desperately hoped someone out there was listening.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to let the past go here.¡± He said aloud, looking down at the body that was so withered he couldn¡¯t even tell if it was a man or a woman. ¡°I can¡¯t change my mistakes, but I can work to correct them. I don¡¯t know if anyone is listening, but if you are, please help give me the strength to shoulder the burden I¡¯ve been forced to carry.¡± Still crouched, Ronin reached out and gently laid the corpse against the tunnel wall. When he looked up, he wasn¡¯t sure if he was surprised or not.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening, White Flame.¡± Elyria said, standing over his crouching form, with her hand resting lightly on his suit¡¯s shoulder. The image of Owl Five doing the same thing, so long ago overlayed the elf, before she spoke again. ¡°And you don¡¯t have to carry the burden alone. I¡¯m with you now. From now until the end. I¡¯ll help you carry your burdens. Just like you¡¯ve unknowingly helped me carry mine.¡±


    The pair stared into each other¡¯s eyes for a long moment, which seemed to last for an eternity. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what Elyria saw when she stared at him, but when he looked at her, he saw hope. Hope that, this time, he would get it right.


    The moment was broken when the hulking form of Jaya shifted her position beside him. Ronin blinked, clearing his throat, and climbed back to his feet. He probably should have been embarrassed, but for some reason, in that moment he could only feel contented for the first time he could remember in ages.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Was all he said to the now blushing elf, the one word causing the tips of her ears to go red as well, but she only nodded. Feeling, he hoped at least, as contented in that moment as he did. ¡°Thanks for waiting for me Jaya,¡± he said, turning to his mute companion. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s catch up with the others.¡±

 Chapter seventy-seven

    Lily


    The car flew along the smooth, uniformly flat tunnel to the surface. Owl Two had made tremendous strides on improving the path between Undercity and the valley in the last decade. It was now wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic in either direction side by side. In addition, there was a separate path for foot traffic, and even a set of tracks laid in the cave floor for the ¡®train¡¯ the android had constructed.


    Lily remembered just how much effort had gone into building the current ¡®subway¡¯ from the roughly chewed path, the stone carver rats had gnawed through the mountain. It had taken years of concentrated effort, only for the completed path to remain largely unused, thanks to the schism that had formed between the two groups.


    Not wanting to think about the divide, Lily focused instead on the infrequent yokai teams she saw patrolling the subway. They¡¯d kept the scout team size of six members, only the patrol teams all had mounts of various types. Lily followed one patrol team with her eyes as the car flew by. It was composed of four yokai, those being two kaldarr, and two oni, and two of the bugbear girls from her old clan. They rode a mix of cave lizards, white goats, and stone carver rats.


    Those rats were a marvel onto themselves, and Lily shook her head in wonder at just how huge they had gotten. They creatures had started off the size of a raccoon, but now they¡¯d been genetically altered, and selectively bred to the size of horses. To her knowledge, they¡¯d never found any more of the creatures. Only the ones the White Flame had captured during his first trip into the caves. She didn¡¯t know how it was possible to create such a hoard of things in just ten years from such a small population, but she suspected she was happier that way.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, my lady.¡± Andessa said from the driver¡¯s seat. They¡¯d just passed a mile marker sign, indicating the surface was close, so the shaggy bugbear slowed the car for the check point they¡¯d be hitting soon. Lily nodded her head absently, until she remembered that Andessa couldn¡¯t see her from the front seat.


    ¡°Thank you, Andessa.¡± She said aloud, as the car came to a stop at a heavy portcullis that was fixed across the roadway. She tried not to look at all the guns that covered the walls around the heavy gate. Wondering why Hunter and Benjamin were so confident in Undercity¡¯s chances against the syndicate, when their only means to the surface led through this heavily fortified kill box.


    ¡°Please state your name and business,¡± a bored, but polite yokai asked from the safety of a glass box. Lily looked at the man, he was clearly a civilian member of the White Flame syndicate and looked like a third generation yokai if not more. Lily could tell, because he looked to have both human and kaldarr in his makeup, along with the goblin binder.


    ¡°Andessa, driving for lady Lily. The White Flame¡¯s first wife.¡± Her driver said, looking at the yokai dispassionately. ¡°My lady requests a meeting with Owl Two.¡± The bored look vanished from the gate keeper¡¯s face, and Lily idly wondered how old he was.


    Owl Two wasn¡¯t breeding his troops the conventional way anymore, instead he¡¯d started using glass tanks years ago. He¡¯d been able to more selectively put qualities from the various races he desired into their genetics, while removing unwanted ones. Thanks to that, he was able to keep the rapid growth from the goblins but slow the aging process when the subject reached adulthood. Allowing them to live a longer life.


    Once he¡¯d had no further need for the large-scale breeding experiments he¡¯d been carrying out, the Undercity leadership waited for him to cast the unwanted masses aside. Considering just how quickly he¡¯d bred the goblins in the first few years, there were thousands of them, and they had been waiting for a good excuse to condemn the android.


    He hadn¡¯t done anything of the sort, however. Instead, he¡¯d separated the military and civilian populations and taught the civilians everything from farming, to building, to weapons and armor smithing. They had potters, and weavers, and everything else a growing city might want. What¡¯s more, he hadn¡¯t restricted them in any way. Treating them with as much respect as any leader treats their population. Sexual inhibitors were optional, and there were now at least a few generations of multi species yokai running around.


    Like their gate keeper, who was currently talking excitedly into a landline phone. He could be anywhere from one year old to five or six. Though, not being vat born, he¡¯d be lucky to live past 20 unless he got access to nanites, which was unlikely. Lily wondered what the syndicate would look like in fifty years. Would all the races be blended into a new, homogenized species, or would they fracture as the organization continued to balloon in size?


    ¡°My lady,¡± the anxious gate keeper said after getting off the phone. ¡°The primordial Staz is coming to greet you. If you would step out of your car and come this way? I will have refreshments brought to you while you wait. The primordial will only be a short time.¡± Lily rolled her eyes at the grandiose title they¡¯d given the oni. Just because he was the only full-blooded member of his race on the planet, they¡¯d named him primordial. Though, she supposed he was the father of all the oni blooded yokai in existence. Even though she was almost positive he hadn¡¯t been with a single woman in the ten years he¡¯d been with them. Though to be fair, she hadn¡¯t been close to him in years, so who could say.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said with a smile, climbing out of the car, and motioning her guards to do the same. ¡°It has been quite the journey; would it be possible to be led somewhere we can freshen up while we wait?¡± She asked diplomatically, though the burning in her bladder had intensified after she¡¯d stood up, and she hoped they¡¯d be given a bathroom at least.


    ¡°Of course, my lady.¡± The gate keeper said hurriedly, motioning them over to a small door set inside the larger portcullis used for foot traffic. ¡°Please go right over there, someone will open the door and escort you to a waiting room.¡± With a nod, Lily and her escort approached the door, which was already opening for them.


    ¡°Greetings, my lady.¡± Another yokai said from the other side of the gate. This one was in the military though, so his ancestry was cleaner than the general population. He was one of the oni, goblin hybrids. Lily wondered if it was Owl two¡¯s interference, or a natural result of that pairing, but all the oni were blue skinned, white haired and around six feet tall. All the males anyway. The females were similarly sized, except their skin was red instead of blue. ¡°If you would follow me this way, please?¡±


    They were led to a waiting area where they were able to relieve themselves and stretch their legs. They were even served a light meal while they waited. Thankfully, Staz didn¡¯t take too long to arrive. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the huge oni came into view. He was sprinting through the tunnel as fast as her car could drive, and Lily was reminded just how strong the ogre mage was. He was wearing the heavy metal armor Owl Two had designed for him, from his waist to his ancles. His feet, head and chest were bare, however, showing off the giant¡¯s rippling muscles as he ran.


    ¡°Lily,¡± Staz said once he¡¯d reached the waiting trio. Tupelo and Andessa bristled at the lack of a title, but Lily only gave the giant a half smile. There wasn¡¯t anyone in the valley or undercity, or the known world for that matter, who could challenge the oni in combat. Well, maybe the White Flame¡¯s locust queen could, but she¡¯d been in hibernation for years. Regardless, it was pointless to expect deference from someone so superior to everyone else. Though, the giant had once been remarkably polite to her, long ago.


    ¡°Greetings, Staz. What brings the great primordial himself out here to greet the likes of me?¡± Lily asked flippantly. Grinning despite herself when she saw the giant wince.


    ¡°How about we just skip the pleasantries? Owl Two was getting in touch with lord Ronin, and I don¡¯t want to miss the conversation if I can help it. So¡­ hop in and I hope your driver can keep up.¡± Staz said, pulling the White Flame¡¯s armored truck from his tri-colored storage ring. It clattered to the ground in front of them and he motioned to it impatiently. ¡°Come on, I¡¯m in a hurry, besides, we¡¯re going to see Owl Two. That¡¯s what you wanted right?¡±


    Not waiting for them to speak, Staz turned around and sprinted back up the tunnel. Cursing, Lily motioned her guards towards the truck as she climbed into the back seat. Her husband had loved this truck, though he hadn¡¯t been able to use it more than a few times before he¡¯d left them. Lily fought the memories that tried to drag her down, as Andessa put the peddle to the floor in a bid to catch the speeding oni.


    The rest of the trip through the tunnel passed much like the first several hours, until they suddenly weren¡¯t in the tunnel anymore and the blinding light of the sun blasted Lily for the first time in years. She blinked, covering her eyes with a hand as the car swerved and slowed, Andessa doing the same thing in the driver¡¯s seat.


    ¡°Glad to see you finally coming out of the dark.¡± Staz said, now standing beside the truck, ¡°Hope you can find it in yourself to stay enlightened. Now, come on.¡± Lily didn¡¯t miss the double meaning in his words, but she didn¡¯t have time for a retort because the oni was already running.


    ¡°Follow him,¡± she said with an exasperated sigh, when Andessa turned to look at her in question. ¡°Not like we have many options; this place is a veritable fortress.¡± She added under her breath, looking around what had once been a mine.


    It really had been completely transformed over the years. The surroundings had been cleared away and towering walls had been constructed around the tunnel entrance. Another gate stood open, that Staz was now sprinting through, that also had a set of tracks for the train to exit the tunnel. Yet, Lily couldn¡¯t help but realize this place was just as equipped to keep them in, as it was to keep anyone out. She shuddered at the thought, wondering if she¡¯d be able to get Hunter up here. Maybe if she saw just how outgunned they were she¡¯d calm down her anger a little. Sadly, Lily doubted it. When the truck cleared the fortified wall, Lily¡¯s jaw almost hit the floor. Looking around in astonishment, she couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing.


    The valley had been completely transformed. She stared in amazement as they drove towards the old command cave. The Road they traveled down was in the same spot as the old road, situated between the forest and the mountain wall. The forest was still there, but the mountain wall was gone. In its place was a city larger than she¡¯d have believed possible. Buildings made from concrete and glass were everywhere, turning what had once been a slum into a sprawling city. A city filled with people. Mainly yokai in their various forms, but also loads of hobgoblins, humans, and elves wandered the streets as well. Lily even saw a few giant sparrows flying in the distance, their riders too small for her to see. Yet, the vastness of the city wasn¡¯t the most impressive sight, because the city was still growing.


    Lily could see the mountain wall, now moved at least a mile, was being steadily eroded away by hundreds of horse-sized stone carver rats. Some of the stone chips that remained were being processed into concrete blocks. Yet the majority of it was being loaded onto a train car, on a track pointed towards the valley entrance.


    ¡°Impressive, isn¡¯t it?¡± Staz asked, from outside her window. ¡°Owl Two told the Mountain¡¯s embrace government he wouldn¡¯t claim any land outside this valley. But he never said he wouldn¡¯t make the valley bigger, ha-ha.¡± He laughed as he ran, looking at the city with pride.


    ¡°That android is an absolute genius,¡± he continued. ¡°I mean just look at how much we¡¯ve managed to build under his guidance. Nothing is wasted either. As the rats clear the mountain away, we reclaim the stone for building, either here or raising our defenses at the valley¡¯s mouth. All the minerals the rats find are refined into their armored plates, making them stronger. Eventually, we¡¯ll harvest them for the naturally refined alloy, to use in all kinds of crafting projects. And don¡¯t forget about the¡­¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Lily listened with interest as the oni explained several more aspects of their home to her. Much of which she hadn¡¯t known, thanks to Undercity completely shutting the syndicate out a few years ago. Sitting back in the truck¡¯s comfortable seat, she let his words wash over her as she thought about the undercity.


    It had only been ten years since they¡¯d established their rule over the city. It wasn¡¯t that long a time, yet it felt like an eternity. She supposed that was partially because the goblins only live ten years at most. There had been enough time elapsed for the original and second generation of goblins to live, grow old and die. To the goblins, it must have seemed like seventy- or eighty-years¡¯ worth of time from a human or bugbear¡¯s perspective.


    That didn¡¯t completely explain the complacency they¡¯d fallen into. Undercity had been conquered and inhabited within a year. The hobgoblins had been kicked out, since the scouts and food corps couldn¡¯t stand the sight of them, and they¡¯d pretty much ignored the batlins. Well, all of them except Owl Two, who¡¯d recruited several hundred of them for the syndicate. Hunter had given her blessing at the time, and it was too late for her to take it back now.


    After the first year or two of safety though, they¡¯d put away their weapons and picked up crafter¡¯s tools. Sure, they¡¯d maintained a standing army, until the locust threat had been delt with. After that, what was the point? There were no more threats to them, none that could get through the syndicate living at their front door anyway.


    Lily snorted with derision at the arrogance she¡¯d shown towards the ambassador. She¡¯d thought they were blooming into an economic powerhouse, when in reality, they¡¯d been wilting like a flower kept too long out of the sun. When she looked at the manufacturing juggernaut the syndicate had become, in addition to their military might, she felt shame fill her. They had been given an opportunity for greatness, and they had squandered it. She wondered if there was a chance to turn it around, or if it was too late already. Her mind turned to her conversation with the queen, and her heart sank. There was too much hatred in the old goblin queen¡¯s heart for change.


    ¡°¡­ and here we are.¡± Staz said coming to a stop beside a giant stone construction. Lily blinked, having been too distracted to realize they¡¯d already driven the six or seven miles to the cave already. She looked with shock at the old command cave, wondering how they¡¯d managed to do what they had in just ten years.


    The cave was still there, but the mountains that surrounded it had been chewed away by giant rats. Now, the cave looked like an upside-down bowl resting on the valley floor. They¡¯d excavated the mountain away, leaving a dome of rock to keep the natural cave intact, while continuing to expand the valley. The entrances, she saw, were the same, tunnels at the north and south, curving inwards to prevent someone firing into them. The cave was now a building, but otherwise looked the same as it had before.


    ¡°Why did he keep this the same, while changing everything else?¡± She asked Staz, after climbing out of the truck and watching it disappear back into the oni¡¯s ring. ¡°It seems like it would have been easier to just move the headquarters into a building, rather than adjust digging plans to keep it in place.¡±


    ¡°Owl Two already had his labs set up inside, besides, lord Ronin is familiar with the cave. We didn¡¯t want him to come back and not recognize his home.¡± Staz said with a shrug, leading the way towards the southern entrance. The cave was now blocked by a metal and glass door, tightly fitted to the cave¡¯s entrance. Lily heard the sucking sound that indicated an airtight seal when Staz opened it, stepping inside, she found a second door ten feet down the tunnel that looked the same. Staz waited until the first door was closed before opening the second for some reason.


    ¡°Still Owl Two and lord Ronin?¡± Lily asked, having to jog to keep up with the giant¡¯s stride. ¡°Why not lord Owl two? You have been following the android¡¯s orders for years, and only ever worked with the White Flame for a single day.¡± She couldn¡¯t help goading the oni, even though their relationship wasn¡¯t what it had been, she still liked the giant, despite the fact they¡¯d picked different sides. The giant stopped at the question and turned to her, his body taking up a sizable portion of the tunnel, and his face looking grave.


    ¡°Loyalty.¡± He said, looking her in the eye. ¡°I know you struggle with the concept of loyalty ¡®lady Lily¡¯ but I assure you, not all of us do. Ronin is my lord, just as he is Owl Two¡¯s. Him not being here to enforce that loyalty doesn¡¯t change it¡­ Now, if you would kindly follow me, Owl Two is expecting you.¡± Having said what he wanted, the oni turned and continued to lead the way into the cave.


    Lily followed behind him in silence, face flushed with embarrassment at the dressing down. She supposed she deserved it. After all, she had deserted her Gilded Lily clan to save herself, and when she¡¯d lost her baby, she¡¯d deserted her husband as well. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant feeling, to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but Lily was doing her best to face the reality of who she was after the meeting a few months ago, not looking because she didn¡¯t like what she saw wasn¡¯t really an option for her now.


    Her mind was distracted from her failures when they entered the cave. She looked around at the large open room, to find everything was much the same as the last time she¡¯d visited. Several of the tents had been removed, and there was no longer a pile of scrap metal, or rat cages, in the back. Otherwise, it was very much the same as it had been. Looking up, Lily did notice the hole in the ceiling had been fitted with a pane of glass, which looked much like the doors.


    She shuddered when she saw the cocoon resting in a corner of the large cave. She recognized the locust queen¡¯s new form from when she¡¯d been brought back after the locust war ended.  She didn¡¯t know how long the transformation would take, or what the queen would turn into when she hatched, but she wasn¡¯t overly interested. The giant bug could stay in that cocoon forever as far as Lily cared, having seen enough locusts in her time.


    ¡°Where is everyone?¡± She asked, finally realizing the place was empty of people. ¡°Owl Two in his lab again?¡± She asked, looking towards the work bench where the trap door had been hidden.


    ¡°That he is, come on, let¡¯s go down.¡± The oni said, shrinking to his six-and-a-half-foot form as he opened the trap door and climbed down the stairs. He didn¡¯t look back, simply trusting them to follow. She rolled her eyes at the arrogance of the oni, before remembering how close to indestructible he was, and followed. Turning your back on a potential enemy wasn¡¯t dangerous when there was nothing, they could do to harm you.


    Reaching the bottom of the stairs, stairs that were quite a bit longer than she remembered, Lily stumbled at what she saw. She would have fallen, if the quick footed Tupelo hadn¡¯t darted down the stairs to steady her. Thanking the wood elf silently, Lily looked around in amazement. Saying ¡®the lab had grown a bit¡¯ was an understatement. Since, the room they were in was now as large as the cave above. With several arched doorways leading off into¡­ Lily could only guess, since most of the doors were closed. One door was open, and that was the room Staz led them towards.


    Lily walked into a room straight out of a nightmare. Stopping at the doorway to stare in wide-eyed horror at what she saw all around her. She felt Andessa and Tupelo behind her, both of them captivated by the sight as well. The oni, who was still leading the way, turned around when they¡¯d stopped walking.


    ¡°Come on,¡± he said impatiently. ¡°He is just ahead, and I don¡¯t want to miss the conversation with lord Ronin, there are a few questions I want to ask him.¡± Lily gulped as she took a few tentative steps into the room. Looking around her in dread as she took in the rows upon rows of fluid filled glass tanks. Each of which held a fetus, in varying stages of development. She¡¯d known Owl Two was raising his soldiers like this, but seeing it was something else entirely. This wasn¡¯t natural.


    ¡°These are all made from genetic samples taken from syndicate member¡¯s, right?¡± Lily asked, catching up with Staz. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t Owl Two use the female soldiers, or the civilians for this?¡± She shuddered again as she looked at all the tanks.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Staz asked with derision. ¡°All the scorn you threw the android¡¯s way over ¡®forcing¡¯ the goblin women to bear children, and now he¡¯s found a way around that, you want him to go back?... make up your mind will you.¡± He said, not actually spitting on the floor, but expression clearly showing that¡¯s what he wanted to do.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t right. Birth is something that should be shared between a mother and her baby, not some soulless glass tube. At least before, all the kids had mothers.¡± She rested her hand on her belly, remembering having given birth to her sons, and the child she¡¯d failed to deliver.


    ¡°Mothers who turned the babies over to Owl Two without a second thought once they were born,¡± Staz retorted. ¡°Goblins don¡¯t have those kinds of family ties, you know that. Besides, do you see how many tanks are in here?¡± He asked, waving his hand around the vast room. ¡°If he used the female soldiers, half the army would be tied up with pregnancy at all times. If he used the civilian population than he¡¯d be denying them the right to choose their own partners and raise their own children, should they wish for a family¡­ this way, the children¡¯s mother is the syndicate. Regardless of if they end up in the military or joining the civilian workforce.¡± The oni stopped and looked down at her again, that same look of disappointed anger on his face that she¡¯d seen before.


    ¡°War is coming Lily,¡± he said gravely. ¡°We only got this much of a reprieve because Owl Two changed the flow of time to let us prepare. You don¡¯t like his methods? Neither do I, if I¡¯m being completely honest. You think I enjoy knowing every red or blue face I see has my DNA, even though I¡¯ve never fathered a child of my own before? But if he hadn¡¯t done what he did, we¡¯d be facing the enemy with an army of a few hundred, rather than the thousands we now have. If undercity had helped, we wouldn¡¯t have had to do things this way. So, suck it up and deal with it because it¡¯s the world we live in¡­ Now, shut up and follow me.¡±


    Lily watched his long strides carry him away. Wanting to ask what war was coming. They¡¯d been talking about it for years, but it had never come. Who was the enemy, and how were they going to be attacked? They were completely surrounded by mountains, outside the mountains, was the middle continent, which was also surrounded by mountains, and a lake so large no one had ever crossed it. After the locusts had killed everyone from the middle continent, there was no one left to attack them, apart from the mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom themselves. Well, them and the humans from the spaceship.


    Waving away the quiet questions her guards were trying to ask her, Lily followed after Staz. They walked for a long time, before finally exiting the room filled with glass tubes. Entering a much smaller area that had been set up as a laboratory, resembling the one Owl Two had originally used below the workbench. Looking around, Lily noted all the attendees were present at the meeting with the queen of undercity. Owl Two, K2, Unyielding oak, and Staz. There were also over a dozen yokai she didn¡¯t recognize mixed in as well. They were all standing around a tablet, like the one Lily had once been given. Owl Two was talking to it as they walked through the door.


    ¡°¡­now, please don¡¯t stall any further. We can¡¯t afford any more delays.¡± Having finished his sentence, he reached out and hit a button on the tablet, causing the screen to go dark.


    ¡°Damn it,¡± Staz said, glaring at Lily. ¡°I missed the whole conversation¡­ I wanted to talk to him.¡± The large oni looked livid, and Lily took a surreptitious step away from him, as Owl Two spoke.


    ¡°I recorded the conversation, you can listen to it later¡­ and before you ask, No. You won¡¯t be joining him out there.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°No buts, Staz. We¡¯ve talked about this before. Your strength and power come from your size and ability to regenerate as quickly as you are injured. An ability that makes you nigh unstoppable in here. But you won¡¯t have access to it on the outside. Better to send fighters already accustomed to bodies that aren¡¯t invulnerable.¡± Staz grumbled as the android stopped speaking, and Lily nodded in sudden understanding. She¡¯d wondered for years why Staz hadn¡¯t been selected to go with his lord so long ago, but this explained it.


    ¡°Now, we have forty-seven new slots available to send aid to our lord. I know we¡¯ve drained much of our manpower already, by sending them across. But this batch will be going right to our lord¡¯s side. The first seven will go into already made, high quality, government issue bodies. So, I think you and your team should use those, chief technologist. That way you can get started on the ship repairs right away. Will that be acceptable to you?¡± Owl Two had shifted his attention to one of the yokai in the room. A goblin, hobgoblin hybrid. He wore a lab coat one might expect to see on a scientist, over the top of heavy work clothes. He looked around at the six similarly dressed hobgoblin hybrids standing behind him and nodded.


    ¡°From what I understand, the government issue bodies are already stronger than our current forms, and about the same size. We won¡¯t be taking up valuable resources the soldiers could use and can get started right away. We have no complaints, head researcher.¡± Owl Two acknowledged the man¡¯s words with a nod before he continued his speech.


    ¡°As for the others, most should be soldiers. Apart from a few which I have plans for already, I propose we send over six of the remaining yokai teams. As things stand, they won¡¯t arrive in time to help with the initial clash. So, they will have to expect to come in under fire¡­. K2, would you go gather yokai teams two through seven to send over¡­ Also, gather teams ten through fifteen as well, I have a feeling they will be needed.¡± When the kaldarr left the room, Owl Two turned. ¡°Now, what is it you wished to talk to me about Lily?¡± The android asked, finally looking at her.


    Lily stood there, amidst the group of powerfully built and wickedly armed people who had never forsaken their loyalty to the man she¡¯d forced to marry her. She looked around at them all, the determination on their faces, and the dislike of her that some did a better job of hiding than others. K2 had looked at her impassively, while Unyielding Oak openly glared her way. After listening to this planning session, things solidified in her mind at last, and she opened her mouth to tell them about the threat the armored humans posed to their valley. What came out, however, wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d intended to say at all.


    ¡°I want to go.¡± She said, blinking in shock at her own words. Still, her mouth continued to move, completely outside her control. ¡°Send me to the White Flame¡¯s side.¡±

 Chapter seventy-eight

    Days passed, as the troop slowly worked their way deeper into the mine. Ronin and Elyria didn¡¯t speak about their encounter from the first day, but there was no denying they¡¯d grown closer afterwards. The elf followed Karr¡¯s orders, flying the length of the procession whenever there was room to do so, but when the passages narrowed down too much for flight, she always walked beside Ronin and Jaya.


    ¡°Just how deep is this mine?¡± She asked, on the third or fourth day in the tunnels. ¡°The Undercity was only two days travel from the valley. Why is this so much further down?¡± They¡¯d entered a tight area and had to walk in single file. Elyria walked in front of Ronin, who walked in front of Jaya. He¡¯d tried to take the back spot, but his silent companion had adamantly refused.


    ¡°Back in our valley I¡¯d scooped half the mountain away to make room for the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom.¡± Ronin said, having taken the fabricator off his back so he could push it in front of him through the tight passageway. The nine-foot-tall, armored suit wasn¡¯t handling the tight confines well, since there was no give or flex to the plates, he couldn¡¯t ¡®suck it in,¡¯ so to speak when there was a narrow patch. ¡°I wanted my starting location to be completely land and water locked, until I got my feet wet doing easy adventures. I looked at the map a little while ago though, and I think we must be getting close to where our original mine started. So, maybe a few more days?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to wish I stayed on the ship.¡± Elyria said looking around the small, cramped confines of the tunnel. ¡°I¡¯m an elf you know, not a goblin or a bugbear. I wasn¡¯t built for tunnels like this.¡±


    ¡°Stop whining,¡± Ronin said with a snort. ¡°At least you don¡¯t have to wear this clunky, unresponsive, heat retaining, suit and carry a mountain of gear. Heck, you aren¡¯t even carrying your bag, you gave that to me a day ago and never took it back.¡± Ronin said, remembering the bag for the first time since she¡¯d handed it to him. It was so light in the armor he had forgotten he had the thing, but it was the principle that mattered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t complain, I¡¯ve been flying around in these narrow caves, trying to watch over everyone for most of the trip. Do you know how hard it is to keep my wings from hitting the rock walls? Want me to break a wing down here?¡± She said, completely disregarding his words. ¡°But what about the suits, how are you doing on charge? I know the batteries in those things are good, but we¡¯ve got a long way to go.¡±


    Ronin concentrated on the tunnel, until he¡¯d cleared the narrow opening, before he checked the digital readout inside his helmet. There wasn¡¯t much information in there, compared to his cybernetic vision in his pocket world it was downright sparse. It did show a percent gage with his suit¡¯s battery life though. As well as the figure of a suit, front and back, glowing with soft LED¡¯s. Both images glowed a soft green but would turn yellow in any place his suit was lightly damaged, orange for moderate damage, or red for critical damage. Thankfully, the soft green indicated his suit was in perfect shape.


    ¡°Readout says I¡¯m at 87% battery life. So, unless we have to go for another week down here, we should be ok. Besides, we packed enough batteries to recharge all the suits at least two times each.¡± They¡¯d been chatting like that, on and off for a few hours, when the tunnel finally opened up again, and they found the rest of the group had gathered together to wait for them.


    ¡°We have a decision to make,¡± Karr said, pointing at the tablet in his hand. ¡°Stone, Whisper, and Dandelion have been scouting, while Doctor Mycroft operated the drones for us. Up until now, there has only been one clear path. But now, we have two choices, and I don¡¯t know which one we should take.¡±


    Ronin bent over the map, taking a look at the images, and the video the drones had captured. There were indeed two paths forward. One, very much like what they¡¯d just gone through, was a long and winding tunnel with several tight spots. So tight in some places that they might have to widen the path for the suits to get through or take them apart and assemble them again on the other side. That would take several hours and leave them tired and undefended while they dragged the heavy equipment. The other path was more like a vertical shaft that dropped straight down for five or six hundred yards. There were a few tight spots on that climb too, and a fall from that height would easily kill or cripple whoever fell.


    ¡°What does the bottom of the shaft look like?¡± Ronin asked, frowning down at the screen. ¡°Is there an open path for us if we go that way?¡± He was torn between the two options since he had no desire to force his way through those tight tunnels any longer than he had too. On the other hand, Jackson, Knuckles, Doc, and Locke would have a tough time with the climb down.


    ¡°There is,¡± Karr said with a nod. ¡°We have been going over the footage for almost an hour, while we waited for you to catch up. It looks like the narrow tunnel actually connects with the bottom of the shaft. So, either way, we¡¯ll end up in the same place,¡± the sergeant said with a shrug. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure what to do, so we waited for you to make the call, my lord.¡± Ronin frowned inside his helmet, annoyed that he¡¯d been put on the spot like this. Couldn¡¯t they have called him on the comm, to give him a little warning first.


    ¡°How do you feel about the climb, Doctor?¡± He asked the woman, who hadn¡¯t made her body much stronger than a human, if you didn¡¯t include the four extra tentacle arms she had sprouting from her back anyway. He supposed that would actually make climbing easier for her, since she would have six hands to hold onto the walls with, maybe he should have asked Jackson¡­ Nah.


    ¡°I would be ok with the climb, but I¡¯m worried about Jackson and Knuckles. Not to mention the gryphons. They are agile, but scaling vertical walls might be asking a little much of them.¡± Dang, Ronin sighed internally. If it had been just the gangsters who would suffer, he would have just strapped them to an Exo-suit and given them a ride down, but the gryphons were far too big for that to work on them.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said at last, wishing he could run his fingers through his hair to relieve the stress of command, but not being able too, thanks to the suit. ¡°The suits will climb down the shaft, taking the heavy equipment with us. The gryphons, Knuckles and Jackson, and whoever else doesn¡¯t want to make the climb, can take the tunnels. The tight spaces should be easier to navigate without the heavy equipment, and we can shut the suits down to charge for a few hours while we wait for you to catch up. I don¡¯t want to let the batteries drop too low, just in case.¡± He grinned to himself, remembering a time when topping off his rifle was too much of a hassle. How things had changed since then.


    ¡°Understood my lord,¡± Karr said taking the reins back now the decision had been made. ¡°Stone, Whisper you two go ahead with the gryphons and the gangsters. Dandelion, you stay here and play rear guard. If someone tries to sneak up on us, I want you to give us a warning. Jaya, you take the¡­¡± Nodding, Ronin listened to the orders flow smoothly from Karr¡¯s mouth. If the man wasn¡¯t so averse to making decisions, he¡¯d be an unstoppable leader. Still, once a decision had been made, he would take the ball and run with it, however far he had to.


    In only a few minutes, Ronin found himself slowly climbing down the vertical shaft. His suit loaded down with extra gear. He couldn¡¯t feel it there, but he still had to be careful. If the stuff swayed too much, the motion could pull him off the wall, from momentum alone. Once again, Jaya hadn¡¯t let him go first. Stopping him with an outstretched hand as she climbed into the shaft before him. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure what she thought she was saving him from. If he fell it would just mean both of their deaths. Unless she was worried about falling. In that case, if she was on the bottom, she wouldn¡¯t take him down with her.


    Ronin sighed as he slowly descended the wall. Longing again to go on adventures with a small team. Not these life-or-death missions in a military group, but a small team, who¡¯s greatest ambition was to travel around, looking for clues to find the next bad guy or treasure. His mind wandered off on another daydream as he climbed. Wondering who he¡¯d bring with him, K3 and Elyria were a given. That made him smile, how quickly his thoughts had jumped to the elf. They felt things for each other, they had admitted that much to themselves, but would that be enough, considering the baggage they carried, and the mission they were on? Ronin supposed only time would tell, since neither of them were emotionally stable enough for anything more than what they were already doing.


    Shaking away the thought, Ronin mused about who his traveling companions would be. He debated on Guts and Owl Five, but they¡¯d likely been married for years now. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to take them away on adventure, even in his mind. Lily, for the same reason. She would have long given birth to their child. So, she would likely not want to go adventuring. Ronin sighed again, he¡¯d asked Dandelion and the other members of yokai team 01 for information about home, but they¡¯d each refused to tell him anything. Stating only that Owl Two told them not to distract their lord from the mission. They would tell him if he insisted, they¡¯d said, but it would have a negative impact on his ability to focus.


    Ronin didn¡¯t know if he believed that. Could anything be more distracting than wondering about what they wouldn¡¯t tell him? In either case, he crossed Lily off his imaginary list as well. Owl Two was an option, but he had a pivotal role in leading the syndicate. Maybe Xerox then, he liked the fact he could read emotion in the non-android¡¯s voice. Ok so that made himself, K3, Elyria, and Xerox, but he wanted at least two more.


    His hand closed a little too tightly on a stone, causing it to crumble. He didn¡¯t slip, but he did bring himself back to the present a little bit more at that chilling thought¡­ Staz was the obvious choice. He didn¡¯t think the ogre mage, or oni as he named his race, would have put down roots in ten years. He got the feeling the giant was a free spirit, like himself. Nodding, he added the oni to his list of teammates.


    Try as he might though, he just couldn¡¯t think of a sixth member he wanted to bring along for companionship¡¯s sake, who wasn¡¯t required elsewhere¡­ Maybe Whisper or Stone, since Hunter wasn¡¯t able to leave the Undercity, or Dandelion. Perhaps even Unyielding Oak might want to go see the world, now that her people were safe¡­ he¡¯d have to think about that some more. He felt his foot thump down hard, and to his shock, realized he¡¯d reached the bottom of the shaft. Clearing his throat, he stepped away from the wall, leaving room for the four Exo-suits following him down.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Went away on a mental journey again, didn¡¯t ya?¡± Elyria asked with a smirk, from where she sat on a stone, already having descended the shaft. K3 stood beside her, with his helmet off, he grinned at Ronin like he knew something he shouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Just dreaming of adventure,¡± Ronin said honestly. "I want to risk my life to steal a dragon¡¯s hoard, not for the fate of humanity. It¡¯s a lot of pressure you know. If we aren¡¯t able to get the ship running, we¡¯re going to be stuck here when the lizards come. Give me a dragon any day over that.¡±


    ¡°I think that can be arranged,¡± said an unfamiliar voice from the darkness. It was accompanied by a roar so loud; dust shook itself free of the stones and drifted down onto their heads. By the time it had fallen, Ronin¡¯s entire troop was up and pointing their weapons at the newcomer. A man in a loose-fitting martial arts gi, sitting on the back of an enormous, Chinese flood dragon. Surrounded by men in lamellar armor, wielding heavy rifles. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it, if you put your weapons down.¡± The man said through a mask that resembled a black dragon¡¯s face. ¡°It would be a shame if we had to hurt your companions. Who were extremely easy to capture once they entered the narrows¡­¡± he trailed off, suggestively and Ronin had to move in front of a now snarling Leo, to prevent the man from doing anything hasty.


    ¡°What did you do to Red, Aurex?¡± The lionid asked, letting out a roar of his own, that wasn¡¯t much weaker than the dragon¡¯s.


    ¡°Leo, calm down.¡± Ronin said, frantically trying to keep the lionid back. He wouldn¡¯t have physically restrained him, if he hadn¡¯t been wearing the armored suit, too afraid the man would claw him apart trying to get at his enemy. As it was, he managed to get an arm around the lionid¡¯s waist, then pointed the gatling gun at Aurex with the other. He didn¡¯t care how big that dragon was, if he pumped a few thousand .25 rounds into it at this range, it was going to die.


    ¡°I think we all need to calm down,¡± Elyria said stepping forward to place herself between them. ¡°Listen, I¡¯m not sure why you¡¯re here, but we don¡¯t want any trouble from you. We¡¯re here looking for something time forgot on your planet. I know you know the lizards are coming, so let¡¯s not fight each other, ok? Let¡¯s just go our separate ways and save our strength for the true enemy.¡±


    Her words went unheeded by either Leo or Aurex, though Ronin thought she had a good point. How had they managed to find themselves face to face with Aurex, Fabius¡¯s son, of all people? Not to mention all the men around him. Most of them were crystalized, but a few wore breathing masks, indicating they were natural humans.


    ¡°I agree with the¡­ winged elf?¡± A wizened voice said from behind the group of armed men. They responded instantly, putting their rifles up and stepping to the side, as an old Chinese man in grey Daoist robes slowly walked forward to stand in front of Ronin, who looked him over. Ronin had never seen a human of Chinese descent before, but his ship given knowledge told him that¡¯s what he was. The man was old, hunched, and walked with a cane. His hair was white and reached his waist, with a matching mustache and goatee that also reached his waist. He slowly stroked his goatee as he approached them, and looked between Elyria and Ronin when he came to a stop, only feet away.


    ¡°I overheard your conversations over the last few days¡­ you are in my home, after all.¡± The old man said, undisturbed by the guns pointed at him. ¡°I am curious, how you learned about this place¡­ and about the ship you spoke of.¡± He turned to Aurex and spoke gently. ¡°I would like you to bring them to the temple¡­ as my honored guests.¡± At those words, the fighting spirit went out of both Aurex and Leo simultaneously.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Ronin whispered to Leo, who was calmly disengaging himself from Ronin¡¯s arm. ¡°Do you know this guy?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a Daoist Priest, and the leader of earth¡¯s largest city. Home to both crystallized and natural humans alike. The thing is, no one knows where it is. The old man showed up at a drop point decades ago and traded for a teleportation pad. The only way into or out of his city is by teleporting. I¡¯ve been there before with Red, when we were studying. The Priest isn¡¯t crystalized but survives the atmosphere just fine. It¡¯s too long a story for now, but that¡¯s when I ran afoul of Fabius.¡±


    ¡°Not that long a story, Lion.¡± Aurex said with a snort. ¡°My father invited you into our society, you insulted him, our master, and the path we follow. There you go, kid, I simplified it for you.¡± The old Priest, who had been walking away stopped at the barbed comment. He turned and gazed at Aurex, with eyes the color and calmness of a deep, still pond.


    ¡°Was I unclear, Aurex?¡± He asked in a quiet voice, staring at the man seated on the semitruck sized dragon. ¡°I have invited these people into my home as guests.¡± Ronin couldn¡¯t see the man¡¯s face behind the mask, but he bowed deeply from his seated position and turned back to Ronin¡¯s group.


    ¡°My apologies, honored guests.¡± He said, voice not containing even a hint of scorn now. ¡°We will wait until your companions join us, then, I will escort you to the city.¡± Ronin looked at Leo, who nodded grudgingly.


    ¡°If the old man gave his word, he¡¯ll abide by it. This whole place is his after all, and he¡¯s surprisingly powerful, despite how he looks.¡± Leo said, looking unhappy to admit it, but doing so all the same. ¡°There was more to it than what Aurex said, but he¡¯s right that I¡¯m not welcomed here. Stay on your guard, but don¡¯t start any fights.¡± Ronin gave him a thumbs up to show he¡¯d heard, then exchanged looks with K3 and Elyria. His companions looked worried, but willing to follow Leo¡¯s lead.


    After that, they waited. The original plan had been to charge the Exo-suits, while they waited for those taking the tunnel to catch up, but no one was willing to do that now. Not with over twenty people holding guns, and an angry man riding a giant dragon. Ronin idly wondered if there was a point in spending all the growth vat slots, he¡¯d been allotted on a dragon. It looked powerful, but it was only one creature, and likely ate a ton.


    Eventually, they heard the party approaching. It wasn¡¯t hard, since Jackson was cursing up a storm. Slinging threats and insults at everyone, from where she was being carried by a large, crystallized man who wore the body of a minotaur. The gangster had been bound, but the rest of the party came along quietly. Doctor Mycroft walking in the lead, Locke scurrying along at her heels.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Leo asked as soon as they came within easy speaking distance. The worry on his face told Ronin all he needed to know about the older man¡¯s feelings for the red-headed doctor.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Mycroft said, with a quick grin. ¡°I recognized one of the Priests from our last visit here. Who¡¯d have thought the temple city was located where we were heading the whole time?¡± Ronin was confused but felt now wasn¡¯t the best time to ask for explanations. So, he gathered up his people, told them to be ready but not to fire first, and happily left Jackson bound, as they started the trip.


    They walked for days, or at least several days¡¯ worth of time since there wasn¡¯t any light down here. Ronin and his people all had night vision, but the natural humans didn¡¯t. They¡¯d gotten around that by giving Mycroft and the gangsters night vision helmets, but the humans from the cave didn¡¯t have that as an option. When it became clear they were going to use flashlights, Elyria suggested the people wearing Exo-suits turn on their lights.


    Ronin hadn¡¯t even thought about them honestly, thanks to his ability to see in the dark, he¡¯d never used them. So, he wasn¡¯t sure what she meant at first. After fiddling around with the buttons for a minute, however, he found the right switch and the cave was suddenly flooded with light. Several bright LEDs now lit the cave they traveled down, letting their guides put away their flashlights.


    They traveled faster after that, not as worried about stones tripping them up. After four days, Ronin was getting worried the suits would run out of power, when they came out into a giant open cavern. The place was so big he couldn¡¯t see the other side, even with his suit lights. The beams just disappeared into the blackness. After a moment¡¯s thought, he told his people to turn off their lights. Given a few minutes for his eyes to adjust, Ronin, along with half his people, gasped in astonishment at the sight that met their eyes.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned,¡± K3 said, letting out a whistle between his thick lips.


    ¡°I hear you, big guy.¡± Ronin said, trying, and failing, to give a whistle of his own.


    ¡°So, it¡¯s not just me then?¡± Elyria asked, shaking her head as if to clear her vision. ¡°That¡¯s actually Undercity, isn¡¯t it?¡± They stood on a ledge, overseeing the giant cavern. Far off in the distance, were the ruins of the city, they¡¯d discovered in Ronin¡¯s pocket world. It wasn¡¯t in nearly as good a shape though. Half of it having fallen down, with stalactites and stalagmites growing towards each other in between the buildings, but it was the same city.


    ¡°How is that even possible?¡± Ronin asked, looking on in amazement. ¡°The Undercity in my pocket world is over ninety million years old. How could it possibly have survived down here, undiscovered for that long?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Aurex asked sharply, riding his dragon over and bumping roughly into Ronin with the beast¡¯s side. Ronin didn¡¯t know if he, or the beast and rider, were more surprised when the push failed to topple the heavy suit. Ronin frowned, reevaluating the lethality of the long serpent looking dragon. Then decided it was probably like Unyielding oak. The wood elf had slaughtered Hobgoblins by the hundred, but she wouldn¡¯t have been able to touch Ronin inside the suit. Not until she found a gap in the armor anyway. So, it was best not to judge the dragon on brute force alone.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Ronin said, taking a step back, ¡°what did you say?¡±


    ¡°I asked what you said?¡± Aurex repeated, his face was covered, but Ronin could hear the embarrassed anger in the tone. Leo had once told him, Aurex was the power behind Fabius. Ronin wondered what he¡¯d meant at the time, now he wasn¡¯t sure if the older man had been right about that. He might be strong, or a good fighter, but he couldn¡¯t control his temper very well. No one could hope to lead people if they couldn¡¯t lead their own emotions.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, I missed that.¡± Ronin said, both goading the dragon rider and giving himself time to think. He didn¡¯t know if it was a good idea to explain that he¡¯d found this place in his pocket world or not, but it would give them a valid reason for knowing where this, secret, city was located. ¡°I found this place in my pocket world, er, personal realm.¡± He said at last, deciding on the truth. Since, he wasn¡¯t much of a liar anyway.


    ¡°We discovered a few things we thought might give us an edge against the lizards. Actually¡­¡± He was cut off by the old Daoist Priest, appearing out of nowhere. It nearly made Ronin jump, because he hadn¡¯t seen the old man since he¡¯d walked away from them four days ago. He¡¯d actually assumed he¡¯d gone on ahead.


    ¡°Thank you, young man.¡± He said, stroking his goatee and holding his rosewood cane just under the simple, age worn ball that served as the cane¡¯s head. ¡°Why don¡¯t you join me in my study, you and your people. We can discuss what you found in your personal realm then.¡± Ronin stared at the old man in shock, the move must have been out of character, because both Leo and Mycroft were looking at him in confusion as well.


    ¡°Of course, elder.¡± Ronin said, bowing respectfully. Well, as respectfully as he could in the armored suit. ¡°It would be my pleasure.¡± He was confused, but he had learned he wasn¡¯t the best at figuring out these kinds of situations. So, he decided to just go with it, and keep his eyes open. Thankfully, Elyria and K3 were both sharp. They¡¯d gone on alert the moment the old man appeared beside Ronin.


    Having secured Ronin¡¯s silence, the old man walked away again. Heading towards the ruined city, which was nevertheless teaming with life. It was too far away to see clearly, but Ronin thought he could see several people walking the streets.


    ¡°We¡¯ll continue this conversation later.¡± Aurex said, turning his dragon mount away, and following the old man. Ronin watched him go, wondering what he¡¯d done to make an enemy of the dragon rider, and hoping this didn¡¯t delay them getting to the ship. They hadn¡¯t anticipated the cave would be filled with people, and he just hoped it didn¡¯t come to a fight; they were far too outnumbered for that.

 Chapter seventy-nine

    Lily


    Everyone in the laboratory stared at her after Lily made her request. Even Andessa and Tupelo were staring at her with their mouths open. Who could blame them really? For the past ten years, Lily had shown the people in this room nothing but hatred, actively working against them in their efforts to help build troops to support the White Flame. Now, out of nowhere, she showed up and just demanded to be sent to the husband she betrayed. It sounded ridiculous, even to Lily herself, who¡¯d suggested it.


    ¡°Like hell that¡¯s going to happen,¡± Unyielding Oak said with a scoff. ¡°You? After everything you¡¯ve done in the last decade, think we¡¯ll just send you over to our lord¡¯s side, in place of loyal soldiers? I know losing a child can be hard, I lost all my descendants apart from Hellebore to the locusts, so I understand. But you really lost your mind¡­¡± Lily¡¯s blood was boiling, and she opened her mouth to retort. Before she could respond, however, someone else cut the ancient wood elf off.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Unyielding Oak.¡± Owl Two said, moving away from his place at the table and walking around to face Lily. The atmosphere had gotten heavy, and Lily felt her guards tense behind her. ¡°That isn¡¯t going to happen, Lily.¡± He said in his emotionless, dead voice. ¡°You have proved too many times that your loyalty will shift with the winds of change.¡± He didn¡¯t sound angry, of course, he never did. But Lily swore she felt an icy chill from his speaker box. ¡°Now, please tell me why you are here? Because we have a lot of work to do.¡±


    Lily bit back her initial denial at his accusation. It was hard to argue with the facts, however, so she listened as he finished his sentence. She had to fight to hold back tears at the bitter disappointment she felt and wondered what had gotten into her all of a sudden. She¡¯d gone out of her way for years to distance herself from these people. Looking around the room, she saw the hatred in the wood elf¡¯s eyes, the disappointment in Staz, and the indifference from the technologists. They were right, she shouldn¡¯t be here, she had two kids at home, along with their father, the man she loved. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to tell them why she¡¯d come, when she was interrupted by a runner.


    ¡°Owl Two, the Undercity has sent a representative.¡± Out of breath, a young wood elf delivered his report as he panted. ¡°Not only them, but the moon, and wood elf leaders just arrived on sparrow back as well. They are requesting an audience with you at the tunnel¡¯s mouth at once.¡± As the wood elf finished speaking, everyone in the room turned to Lily and her guards. Clear mistrust written plainly across their faces.


    ¡°What is this about, traitor?¡± Unyielding Oak asked, both hands now resting on her daggers. Lily tried not to gulp at the gesture, remembering all too well how deadly the elf was with those blades. Taking a step back, she raised her hands in front of her, cursing herself for coming here at all.


    ¡°She is not involved with them.¡± Owl Two said, coming to her aid unexpectedly. ¡°I know what they want, and it is well within my expectations. What I do not know, however, is what it is you want.¡± He¡¯d started off addressing Unyielding Oak but had turned to face Lily by the end. Her face flushed under the full regard of everyone present, until her anger rose at the treatment, and she straightened her shoulders.


    ¡°Enough of this.¡± She said firmly, looking around the room with all the authority of someone who¡¯d been in charge of a clan, and later for much of the Undercity¡¯s day to day ruling. ¡°I came here in good faith. To warn you the Mountain¡¯s embrace kingdom has allied itself with a new ship. One that wasn¡¯t part of the original twenty the White Flame brought to the planet. They came for the locusts but have set their eyes on Undercity. Queen Hunter doesn¡¯t see them as a threat, but I do. I just wanted to warn you, before it was too late¡­ And ask what you would do if they targeted Undercity¡­¡± Her last sentence trailed off, as she realized just how self-serving it made her sound. Coming here to ask if they¡¯d protect her city, while they did nothing themselves.


    ¡°I see,¡± Owl Two said simply. He stared at her for a quarter of a minute, before turning to the rest of his people. ¡°Outside my expectations, but not unforeseen. I think we will take her at her word for now and let her come with us to meet the delegations. I have a feeling it will be an eye-opening experience.¡± Gesturing for Unyielding Oak, Staz, the messenger, and the seven technologists to follow him, Owl Two retraced the steps Lily had taken down into the lab. She looked back at the handful of yokai who hadn¡¯t been included, who¡¯d already gone back to looking at the tablet. Lily kept her head down through the vat room, until they were all standing under the sun.


    ¡°Stay here until K2 returns, then ask him to wait in the main cave with the six yokai teams. I will return shortly, to send them across, no matter what happens, they are to stay in the cave.¡± Owl Two said to the young elf boy who¡¯d delivered the message. Next, he turned to Staz. ¡°If you would?¡± He asked, and waited while the oni pulled the truck from thin air, followed by two goats, and two stone carver rat mounts. Lily watched in astonishment, wondering just how much gear the oni had stuffed in there as everyone either mounted up, or climbed into the truck.


    ¡°Hurry up now,¡± Staz said to Lily, motioning to the truck. ¡°We have an appointment, apparently.¡± The giant was pulling the rest of his armor from his magic, storage ring. The interlocking armor was impossible for him to put on by himself, and the hobgoblin hybrids were busy fastening him inside the suit. ¡°Gah, I really hate this armor.¡± He grumbled, as each of the three-piece boots were fitted around his feet and bolted together. ¡°I can¡¯t breathe in this thing, feels like I¡¯m being drown in slowly drying concrete.¡±


    ¡°Yea,¡± Unyielding Oak said with a snort. ¡°Poor you. The impossible to kill giant has to wear impossible to breach armor¡­ you really got it rough pal. I swear, if you¡¯d had that back when we took Undercity, you could have taken the entire place by yourself.¡±


    ¡°No one is impossible to kill, and no armor is impossible to breach.¡± Owl Two said from on top of his impressively large, and pure white goat mount. The beast was half again the size of Unyielding Oak¡¯s mount and wore metal armor. ¡°Staz very nearly died that day. If it hadn¡¯t been for Lord Ronin¡¯s timely intervention, I¡¯m afraid many of you would have. Besides, the foes in that battle were merely hobgoblins and batlins without an advanced weapon between them. Not all of our foes will be so easily dealt with.¡±


    ¡°Get eviscerated one time and they never let you live it down¡­¡± The oni mumbled as the technologists connected the torso armor. It was made in several overlapping and interlocking pieces to allow for movement but not leave any gaps for narrow blades to slide through. Lily remembered when Owl Two had first made the set. It wasn¡¯t nearly as well designed as the one Staz was being fitted with. Each piece was so well fitted, if he gained or lost more than a few pounds it likely wouldn¡¯t fit right.


    ¡°Stop gawking and get in the truck.¡± Unyielding Oak snapped from the back of her own leather armored goat. Hers had a black splotch of fur across its nose making it easily recognizable. ¡°I want to know why my son came here at the same time as the Undercity representative.¡± Lily thought about retorting, but she could see the worry in the elf¡¯s eyes, so she just did as she was told and got into the White Flame¡¯s personal truck.


    ¡°Thanks guys,¡± Staz said to the technologists when they¡¯d finished buttoning up his armor. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡± Lily watched out the window as four of the technologists doubled up on two rat mounts, while the other three climbed into the truck with them. Somehow, she found it reassuring to know Staz couldn¡¯t fit an unlimited number of mounts into his ring. That would have been just too much to deal with.


    Andessa had climbed behind the wheel again but had decided to let Owl Two set the pace. So, the trip back to the mine took a little longer than the trip out. Since they had to move at the speed the animals could run. Surprisingly enough, both types of animals moved along pretty fast. Lily had read about goats before, and had known they were good on mountain terrain, but they were currently running down a paved road.


    ¡°How are the goats able to run so fast?¡± She asked the chief technologist, who had seated himself across from her in the truck. It was weird, seeing more hobgoblin, goblin hybrids. These men looked a lot like guts, and she winced again at how badly they¡¯d messed up by exiling the hobgoblins from the city.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t a traditional species of goat,¡± the chief said, without bothering to look at her. ¡°Their bones and joints are positioned slightly differently than a normal mountain goat. They¡¯ll be able to climb a cliff wall just fine, but thanks to the deviation, they can also move along flat terrain quite easily as well.¡± Lily nodded, thinking about the chief¡¯s words. She didn¡¯t understand much about the bone structure of goats, but she got the idea from watching them move.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± She asked with interest, born from anxiety more than anything. ¡°Why is Owl Two¡¯s goat so much bigger than Unyielding Oaks? I remember when they started breeding them. Hers is about the normal size for one of the shaggy goats, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t Owl Two¡¯s mount.¡± The chief said with a bite to his voice as he turned his head to face her at last. ¡°That is our lord White Flame¡¯s mount. His genetics were slightly altered by Owl Two and he was injected with nanites, and even a few biomechanical additions were made to make him the best mount for our lord. Unyielding Oak has been working tirelessly for years to personally train him into a combat mount to rival any other.¡± Lily blinked in surprise at the fierceness in the man¡¯s tone. She hadn¡¯t meant any disrespect, but that hadn¡¯t stopped him from taking it for some reason.


    Deciding her best course of action was to stop talking after that, the rest of the trip passed in uncomfortable silence. Tupelo, who was seated beside her, eyed the technologist with mistrust. He clearly didn¡¯t agree with the way he had talked to his lady but wasn¡¯t about to comment in their current situation. Thankfully, the ride didn¡¯t last long despite the slightly slower speed, and the procession filed into the walled fortress surrounding the tunnel exit and entrance before the silence had a time to stretch too long.


    Lily looked around, as Staz put the mounts and truck back into his ring. Noticing the area which had contained a pair of train cars before was now completely empty. The people who¡¯d guarded the walls before were also gone, leaving the group of them as the only ones in the large courtyard-like area around the tunnel, apart from the pair of sparrows sitting on the wall¡¯s ramparts.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Owl Two said stopping in place. ¡°The connections have been made, are you and your people ready to go chief technologist?¡± The green skinned man who¡¯d taken such offence at her innocent question nodded his head after a quick glance around at his people.


    ¡°Yes, Owl Two,¡± he said. ¡°Any last-minute orders for us before we go across?¡±


    ¡°Get the growth vats on and primed first thing. We have run out of time and need to get the last group across today. After you have prepared the machine, I¡¯ll send the soldiers across. Once they are growing, I want you to repair all the damaged equipment to the specifications we already discussed. Once that¡¯s done start growing arms and armor for yokai teams two through seven.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Owl Two. We won¡¯t fail our lord,¡± the chief said with a salute. The salute didn¡¯t sound quite right without the sound of his fist slapping metal plate, but it was crisply done. A moment later, the seven hobgoblin engineers were gone. Having slowly faded from view until nothing remained. Lily blinked in amazement, staring at the spot where they¡¯d stood. She didn¡¯t have time to dwell on what had happened though, because she was distracted by a voice from behind her.


    ¡°Aunt Lily, what are you doing up here?¡± Asked a familiar voice, and Lily turned around with surprise to see Rachel and Robert coming out of the tunnel, unarmed but wearing their military armor. It was Rachel who¡¯d spoken, and the look on her face told Lily it didn¡¯t matter what she said at this point, since she¡¯d already been judged.


    ¡°Rachel, Robert. I could ask you the same question.¡± She said facing the young couple without any visible fear or discomfort. A deception she¡¯d perfected over her years as a politician. ¡°I¡¯ve come after a meeting with the queen to discuss certain matters with Owl two. What has brought the two of you here?¡± Nothing she¡¯d said had been a lie, not exactly anyway. She had, after all, come after a meeting with the queen. The pair of them exchanged a look before Rachel turned back to Lily with a look of distaste.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°I¡¯d thought better of you, Aunt Lily.¡± She said, looking up as the pair of sparrows dropped to the ground. Their riders leapt from the saddles, in fluid motions that seemed too well timed not to be choreographed, before the birds took to the air again. ¡°Never mind, you¡¯ll find out with the rest of the WFS and the elves.¡± Reaching into her belt, she drew a pistol. Before she¡¯d even managed to raise the weapon, Staz had put himself between the young human and Owl Two. While Unyielding Oak bounded forward like a deer, knives already drawn.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± The android said, causing the deadly pair to falter in their actions. ¡°Just let it play out. I don¡¯t want there to be any doubts when the end arrives.¡± He said, the ambiguous words unsettling not only Lily, but everyone present, if the expressions she saw were any indication.


    ¡°Smart move, scrap heap.¡± Rachel said, as she raised the gun over her head and pulled the trigger. Lily felt relieved when she realized it was just a flair gun. That was, until the dropship swooped down to land in the now cleared fortification. She didn¡¯t recognize the craft, but it was well armored. The engines protected by thick metal frames; Lily couldn¡¯t readily find a use for. Her eyes bulged out when the ramp opened, and six fully armored figures, each easily as big as Staz, rode from the ship on equally well armored four wheeled craft. The four wheeled craft each had several crates, and weapons mounted to them. They reminded Lily of the ¡®quads¡¯ they¡¯d picked up from Andy¡¯s reef. Only these clearly weren¡¯t built for recreation, but war. Each suit of armor, as well as the quads they drove were unique. No two of the six wore the same colors or style of armor, nor did any of their weapon''s repeat.


    ¡°Which one of you is Rachel of Undercity?¡± The largest figure, who had spikes on his shoulder guards and easily topped twelve feet, asked as the six armored figures dismounted their four wheelers. Lily was shocked when the figure reached up and removed the massive helmet also covered in spikes, to reveal a brutish, but clearly human, face. It was disconcerting on a deep level, seeing such a small head inside such a huge suit of armor. It took Lily longer than she cared to admit, realizing the suits must actually be machines of some kind, like the armored truck, but in a human shape. His armor was white, with red splatters covering it in dripping patterns, clearly supposed to symbolize blood.


    ¡°That would be me,¡± Rachel said with a smirk, raising her hand in a lazy wave. Her announcement was greeted by a frown from the man who¡¯d spoken. The frown caused the skin on his forehead to scrunch up more than one would think possible, thanks to his pale bald head that had been clearly sun deprived.


    ¡°A child?¡± He asked, looking at her in confusion. ¡°I was sent to treat with a child. How insulting, do these goblin lover swine not know who I am?¡± He continued, talking to himself before addressing Rachel, who had turned as red as a female oni with rage. ¡°I am Tybellus Vintanus, of the Anthropos knights.¡± He said, spitting to the side. ¡°I was told a human representative of your¡­ mixed race¡­ city would be here to meet with me. Why did you bring that non-human filth? Is it a slave, or perhaps a gift for our first meeting?¡±


    Lily¡¯s heart sank. It was as she¡¯d feared, these men were fanatics, who hated other races beyond reason. Heck, even their name, Anthropos, was an old word that meant human. Her eyes darted between the bald man in his giant suit of armor, Rachel, Robert, and Owl Two. She was worried about the kids. Rachel had settled down over the years, but the young woman was still a hot head, and being insulted like that wasn¡¯t something she was likely to put up with.


    ¡°What di¡­¡± She started to say, her glare as intense as the Anthropos knight¡¯s. Only she was stopped by a subtle nudge to her foot from Robert. The oldest son of Owl Five and Guts was just as fierce as his mother, but he¡¯d inherited his father¡¯s charm and people skills. At the slight reminder, Rachel changed what she¡¯d been saying and spoke in a more welcoming tone.


    ¡°Greetings, lord Tybellus Vintanus. I am Rachel of Undercity; I¡¯ve been sent here to meet with you at my queen¡¯s request. I¡¯m to inform you, that we have upheld our end of the bargain, barricading the tunnel against the syndicate, and simply wish to give the elves our offer, before you¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± the brutish looking man said, cutting her off mid-sentence. ¡°I¡¯m here now, so I¡¯ll handle it. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll give the pointy eared rats your message, goblin lover.¡± Turning his back to the red-faced Rachel, the man in titan armor took in the remainder of those gathered around. All of whom Lily realized as the man¡¯s eyes continued to narrow, weren¡¯t human.


    ¡°Listen up, demi human trash.¡± He said in a loud booming voice that echoed off the rampart walls and caused the sparrows sitting above to spread their wings in agitation. ¡°As I¡¯m sure the tree huggers already know, our army is advancing on your puny valley.¡± That statement did a lot to explain why the elves looked so wild eyed. ¡°I¡¯m here as a courtesy to our new¡­ allies¡­ from Undercity.¡± He all but spat the word ¡®allies,¡¯ and Lily could almost see him wiping his tongue clean in her mind before he continued. ¡°They told us all about you White Flame people, not a single full-blooded human among you, unless you count your leader, who¡¯s been gone for years. Not that anyone who¡¯d associate with a load of scum like you is worthy of being called human¡­¡± Lily looked around at the syndicate members, none of whom were dealing with the insults well. Though, thankfully, only Unyielding Oak looked ready to shed blood, her knuckles white, on her dagger¡¯s hilts.


    ¡°Could you come to the point please? My people have things to do.¡± Owl Two asked, stepping out from behind Staz, and looking up at the giant human with apparent calm.


    ¡°So,¡± Tybellus said, a wicked grin coming across his face. ¡°You¡¯re the robot who¡¯s been running this circus in place of your absent lord? You know, we use your kind to repair our armor and carry our weapons.¡± At his words, the crates above each wheel on his four-wheeler unfolded into what looked like human shaped skeletons made of grey metal. Two of them grabbed a massive axe, colored to match his armor, from one side of the quad. While the other two grabbed an even bigger shield. Staggering under the weight, the four skeletal robots hobbled over to the giant and hoisted them up for him to grab. Once he¡¯d grabbed his weaponry, he absently kicked the nearest robot away with a large, booted foot. It tumbled end over end, towards the bike, where it got to its feet. Grabbing a rag, it rushed back over to Tybellus, where it wiped the boot that had just kicked it, clean of dust.


    ¡°We heard you have a locust queen stashed somewhere in this camp. The deal is hand it over and submit to our rule. You long ears on the other hand, have been given a chance by the Undercity, who already submitted to us. Their only request was that we bring the syndicate to heel. You can join under their banner in service to us or be wiped out with these cross bred abominations.¡±


    ¡°So much for submitting to your rule,¡± Unyielding Oak scoffed. ¡°You didn¡¯t even pause after asking us to surrender before telling us you planned to kill us all. Why would we bend the knee only to have our heads removed when we could fight on our feet?¡±


    ¡°That elf doesn¡¯t speak for us.¡± Hellebore said quickly, as the knight grinned wickedly, and swung his axe in anticipation. ¡°She forsook her role among us, when she chose to stay loyal to the man who¡¯s robot breeds yokai like cattle, over her own kind. The wood elves will take the offer and migrate into the Undercity. Our people are already marching here. All we ask is an open road to the tunnel.¡±


    ¡°Son?¡± Unyielding Oak asked, her voice breaking on that one word. Lily could almost see the unshakable foundation the wood elf clung to during the locust war, crumbling under the weight of his unilateral disregard for her.


    ¡°You pushed our people too far, mother.¡± Hellebore said with fierceness, born from fear. ¡°Ninety out of one hundred of us died getting to the honeycomb. Twenty percent of those left died in the attack on Undercity. We¡¯re tired of war, mother, and hundreds of men armored just like these six, ride toward our forest. If you wish to follow that crazy fool, then so be it, but you are no longer a member of our tribe.¡± Lily watched as Unyielding Oak¡¯s confidence continued to erode under her last living relatives verbal attack, and she thought the wood elf would finally break under the weight of his words. Only to see the fire come back into her eyes as her spine straightened and her shoulders went back.


    ¡°So be it,¡± she said. Proving with finality that Petal dancer, the old leader of the wood elves was dead, and Unyielding Oak, the hard, callous woman who¡¯d brought at least some of her people through the locust war alive, was here to stay. ¡°You¡¯ve made your choice, and I¡¯ve made mine. May the forest forever shade your path.¡± There wasn¡¯t anything to say after that, and Hellebore called his sparrow down and left as soon as he¡¯d gotten word from the knight that a path would be left open for them.


    ¡°What about you, pale skinned rat?¡± Tybellus asked the remaining elf. Lily looked on as lord Ellanaril looked between Owl Two and the human knight.


    ¡°Owl two¡­ I¡­ do not wish to break my word¡­¡± He was clearly struggling with some internal battle, but the android didn¡¯t make him beg.


    ¡°Swear on your honor, your race will owe the White Flame a single, eternal boon, and I¡¯ll cut all ties with the dryad and Oakkin, making them free of any loyalty or compulsions to serve the White Flame.¡± Owl Two said before the moon elf lord could speak further. The android got more than one sideways glance from his people at the statement, but no one spoke.


    ¡°Deal,¡± Lord Ellanaril said without hesitation. Pulling the moon-faced ring off his finger, he twisted the top until a red light flashed, then spoke into it. ¡°I swear on my race¡¯s honor, to owe Lord Ronin the White Flame a single eternal boon, in exchange for permanently relinquishing the dryad and Oakkin pair into my care.¡± Twisting the ring face again, the light turned off and he tossed it to the android. ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± Without another word, the elf was in the air and flying away.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Rachel asked, but her question was answered for her, when a number of moon elf ships descended on the forest outside the valley walls. ¡°Those cowards, they¡¯re running away.¡± She said with shock clearly evident on her face. ¡°I thought they¡¯d stand by their kin and come to us.¡± Hunter had clearly hoped to force the elf¡¯s hand, by threatening them into her arms with an outside threat. Lily struggled with her admiration for the brilliance of the move, and her disappointment she was now so untrusted in the Undercity she¡¯d been kept in the dark about the plan.


    ¡°non-human filth has no honor, girl.¡± Tybellus said, before turning back to Owl Two. ¡°Now, it¡¯s your turn, future slave. Will you hand over the locust queen and submit to servitude, or will you die?¡± Lily wondered if it was too late for her to walk over and stand beside Rachel. She cursed her poor timing ten thousand times. Why, why had she chosen today of all days to come to the surface. Why hadn¡¯t she just let it go?


    ¡°You have come to my lord¡¯s lands, a noble whose title was earned through right of conquest. Threatened his people, and claimed ownership of his lands without formal challenge, have you no honor?¡± Owl Two asked in his emotionless tone. ¡°Is it not customary to announce yourself when entering another lord¡¯s lands? To offer a duel to decide how, or if a battle will unfold?¡± The five knights who¡¯d accompanied Tybellus stirred and muttered angrily; one of them went so far as to leap forward and shout.


    ¡°Blasphemy. You dare to recite our honor code, robot? Who are you, to even know our laws, let alone speak them aloud? They were designed for humans, not boot polishing filth like you.¡± This knight was ten feet tall and wore armor in a similar style to the leaders, covered in spikes and looking like a cross between a medieval knight, and futuristic tank. Painted a slate grey, the blood spatters were in a similar pattern, the only real difference between the suits was the size, and base color. Of the six, only these two had a blood splatter pattern on their armor.


    ¡°Peace Grybellus, my brother.¡± The leader said, turning to the knight who¡¯d jumped into the conversation. ¡°Pay no attention to the ravings of a machine. We won¡¯t be complying with any demi human demands.¡±


    ¡°Demi human we may be,¡± Owl two said, speaking up again. ¡°But our lord is human, as his property, it is within our rights to demand our lord gets a fair challenge in his absence¡­ that is, unless you fear you can¡¯t beat one of us in fair, mortal combat?¡± Lily could tell the android was goading them, so could Tybellus, but his brother Grybellus, didn¡¯t seem to understand.


    ¡°We won¡¯t fall victim to your verbal¡­¡± Tybellus started.


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared of any nonhuman filth,¡± Grybellus said. "I¡¯ll accept your challenge, robot. What are the terms?¡±


    ¡°Damn it, brother what are you doing?¡± Tybellus roared, but it was too late. The smaller knight had already accepted his two-handed claymore from his four robot helpers, who had to work together to carry the long blade.


    ¡°Our champion vs yours in mortal combat. If you win, we surrender ourselves to your rule, if we win, you leave our lands alone. All other rules of noble challenge are to be adhered to as well.¡± Lily didn¡¯t know what those rules entailed, but the bald Anthropos knight did, and his eyes bulged at the mention of them.


    ¡°Never,¡± Tybellus said in a rage. Stalking towards the android, only to be halted by a hand on his chest. Staz, who looked small before the even larger suit of armor had checked the human¡¯s advance with one hand. Tybellus, clearly shocked at the power the oni displayed, drew his axe back, clearly ready to start the fighting at once.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that brother,¡± the smaller blood splattered knight called, before a fight could take place. ¡°I¡¯ve accepted their challenge already, and who could they possibly put against me? This blue troll? He isn¡¯t even wearing powered armor; how strong can he be?¡± The smaller knight clearly hadn¡¯t seen the ¡®troll¡¯ stopping the much larger knight¡¯s advance. Yet it looked like it was too late for him to stop the battle now.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the leader said looking back at his brother with a sigh. ¡°Very well, but don¡¯t take unnecessary risks. The Undercity representative who visited the capital warned of this troll¡¯s might.¡± His next words held the hint of tradition, as if they were part of the duel as well. ¡°We send forth Grybellus Vintanus, as champion of our conquering force, to battle in my name, for the right to hold these lands.¡± The Oni rumbled deep in his chest at being called a troll, but he didn¡¯t respond in any other way. Until Tybellus backed up and Grybellus stepped forward, swinging his massive sword. Once Owl two gave him the go ahead, Staz entered the fighting area, now ringed with spectators.


    ¡°We send forth Staz, the champion of the White Flame syndicate, to battle in our lord¡¯s name, for the right to hold these lands.¡± Owl two said, looking up at the giant calmly. ¡°Make our lord proud,¡± he said, not embellishing or trying to pump the oni up for the fight. That wasn¡¯t his style, and Lily could tell the giant didn¡¯t need any encouragement for battle anyway.


    ¡°It will be my pleasure.¡± He said, pulling his kanabo from thin air as he walked towards the claymore wielding human knight.

 Chapter eighty

    They¡¯d slowed down. The procession, now out in the open cavern of the real-world version of Undercity had slowed to a crawl. Ronin was doing his best to keep calm, but he was getting antsy. They¡¯d been in the cave for a week already, and he didn¡¯t know how long it would take the lizard ship to get from Jupiter to earth.


    ¡°Parden me, elder?¡± He finally said, when the group had slowed down even further. ¡°I hate to rush you, but we need to hurry. The lizards are going to be here any day now, and we have to do what we came here for, before then.¡± The Daoist Priest didn¡¯t change his stride, only continued to plod along at the same pace he¡¯d slowed to an hour earlier.


    ¡°Impatience isn¡¯t a virtue, young man.¡± The elder said, not bothering to look at him. ¡°I¡¯m an old man, if you hadn¡¯t noticed, and many of our number are purely human. We¡¯ve been walking nonstop for days because of your urgings. But we can¡¯t go much faster than this, without leaving some of our number behind.¡± Ronin flushed a little from embarrassment at the gentle rebuke. He¡¯d gotten so used to his bodies near endless stamina that he hadn¡¯t thought about the others at all. Still, they had to move.


    ¡°Elder, I¡¯m sorry to come off as rude. But we need to find what we came here for. If we take too long, we are all going to die. We have to¡­¡±


    ¡°Center yourself, young man.¡± The old man said, waving his cane dismissively. ¡°We will arrive at the city when we arrive. Rushing at this stage wouldn¡¯t benefit us at all. When we arrive, you and I will have tea with young Leo and Mycroft. That is when we will talk.¡± After saying that, the old man stopped talking entirely. No matter what Ronin did or said, he couldn¡¯t get a response from the Priest. Giving up, he decided to pass the time taking in the cave as they walked.


    Ronin initially tried to spot differences between this cavern and the one he was used to seeing. Eventually, he found it easier to look for similarities, since so much had changed. There was no sign of mushroom forest. Only deep loamy soil, which looked off, after two hundred years without any new organic matter. Ronin searched everywhere for even the dried-out husk of a mushroom, but there was nothing.


    Next, they came to the place where the bridge should have been located across the deep gorge. Shockingly, both were gone. Now, the entire area had been filled with a large underground lake. Ronin frowned, wondering why he hadn¡¯t seen this back at the ledge when they¡¯d arrived. He shrugged it off as a trick of his night vision and the topography of the cavern. A thought struck him then that had panic gripping his chest.


    ¡°Wait,¡± he said, looking around. ¡°How are we supposed to cross this? It¡¯s much too large to swim, and I don¡¯t think the suits could make the trip, to say nothing of our equipment.¡±


    ¡°As I said,¡± the old Priest said, raising a flare gun into the air and firing off a shot into the sky. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have done us any good to rush earlier.¡± Under the light the flare produced, Ronin saw the other side clearly. There was a boat, large enough it might actually be classified as a ship, tied at the other shore. At the flare, he saw figures begin rushing around the deck. They hauled on a large chain, which spanned the entire lake. Thanks to the light, he saw something else as well, and it looked like he wasn¡¯t the only one.


    ¡°Oh my gosh, White Flame, do you see that?¡± Elyria asked, pointing into the city. Ronin followed her finger, though he already noticed what she meant.


    ¡°I do,¡± he said simply. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I missed that before.¡± The slow burning flare had lit the city, and before it burnt out, Ronin saw the four giant stalagmites he¡¯d seen growing inside the city limits clearly. Only they weren¡¯t stalagmites, they were crystal trees.


    Ronin blinked against the blindness the flare had left in its wake, trying to get his night vision back, in order to see what he¡¯d missed before. He cursed internally, wishing he still had his cybernetic vision. Since the night vision his crystal body had was apparently far inferior.


    ¡°How did those get down here, and¡­ how do they survive without sunlight?¡± Ronin asked, looking up at the crystal trees. They weren¡¯t two hundred years old, because they were too small for that, but they had to be at least fifty. Since they looked a lot like the one in the enclosure.


    ¡°Master gathered them decades ago,¡± Aurex said with pride evident in his voice. ¡°He wanted to create a settlement here for everyone to live in one day. Without the need for the ship. It¡¯s where we are going to make our stand against the lizards¡­¡± Ronin thought the man would say more, but a sideways look from the old man shut him up instantly.


    ¡°Thank you, Aurex.¡± He said quietly, tapping his cane on the ground as he waited for the ship to arrive. ¡°Don¡¯t bother our guests overly much with those minor details, please.¡± After that, they waited in silence. Ronin didn¡¯t know why the old man didn¡¯t want to give them any information, but he decided to go back to the decision he¡¯d made days ago, and just wait and see. After all, it wasn¡¯t worth a fight if they would find out soon anyway.


    Climbing aboard the boat, Ronin was worried it wouldn¡¯t take the weight of their armor and equipment. Thankfully, they were underground and there was no wind at all to sway the ship. The captain just spread them out to evenly distribute the weight, and had Ronin and Jaya pull the thick chain on the way back.


    It was really an ingenious idea, Ronin thought. To have the chain span the lake like that. All they had to do was pull on the chain hard enough to move the entire boat. Between the two powerful armored suits, the ride across the lake took a quarter of the time it had taken it to reach them, and before long, they were climbing off the boat to comments from the captain wishing he had a few of those suits to pull the ship all the time.


    ¡°This way please,¡± the old man said, gesturing them down a well-worn path, leading towards the city. Ronin was still in a hurry, but he¡¯d resigned himself to waiting on the old man. During the walk, he again tried to find similarities between this city and the one he remembered. Again, there were a few, but the perfectly square buildings were now so time worn they didn¡¯t look like cubes anymore. The four giant trees sprouting up in the city didn¡¯t help anything either. A few of the nearest buildings had been knocked down from the rapid growth of the plants. Still wanting to know how the trees grew underground, Ronin craned his neck upwards as he walked under the trees. He thought he could see wasps flying around far overhead, but if so, they were tiny compared to the ones he was used to, proving once again that these trees were young.


    As they walked, Ronin caught sight of several people he¡¯d seen before on the ship. The clockwork couple and their clockwork guardians were present, as were the futuristic goth crew, with their guns, makeup, and black coats. They got several stares and a few pointed whispers as they passed, but no one interfered after seeing the old man walking at the head of the procession. Unsurprisingly, the old man took them directly towards the castle in the center of the city. Only now, it was called a temple. They only stopped once they¡¯d reached a large room that was empty of everything, save several large clay jars piled up at the far end.


    ¡°If you would wait here for a time,¡± the old man said once they¡¯d reached the room. ¡°Feel free to make yourself more comfortable by slipping out of that armor, you will have a hard time drinking your tea in there anyway¡­ I will have someone bring you to me once I¡¯ve settled a few things.¡± After that, he left. The twenty plus men and women outside the room¡¯s only door, was all that was needed to tell Ronin that they weren¡¯t supposed to leave.


    ¡°So, what now?¡± He asked, looking at Leo and Mycroft. Who¡¯d both been uncharacteristically silent for the last few days.


    ¡°Might as well get out of the suits and get them charging.¡± Leo said with a shrug that caused the fur of his mane to bounce. ¡°The Priest might be a power-hungry old geezer, but he keeps his word. He said we are his guests, so he will treat us as guests¡­ as long as we act respectfully, we are safe enough.¡± Ronin frowned but did as he was instructed. The suit¡¯s battery meter was sitting at 18% anyway, and he wanted to charge it.


    ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡± He asked once he¡¯d climbed out of the suit and plugged it into a charger. ¡°I can tell your hiding something, I need to know what it is if it will affect my team.¡± It was as firm as he had ever been with Leo, but he felt it was necessary under the circumstances.


    ¡°Look, young man.¡± Doctor Mycroft said for both of them. ¡°We spent a few years down here a few decades ago. It was a good time in our lives, but it ended poorly. We don¡¯t want to talk about it, but no, it won¡¯t affect you. The Priest doesn¡¯t go in for guilt by association.¡± Ronin frowned at the mention of this, Priest, like he was a lot more powerful than he looked. He¡¯d asked about the man¡¯s name on the trip over, but he¡¯d been told no one knew it. That he went by old man or Priest.


    ¡°Very well,¡± he said at last, turning to Karr and his troop. ¡°Sergeant Karr, I don¡¯t know what to expect here, but every indication is if we don¡¯t attack anyone, or respond negatively in any way, we will be safe here. So, for the time being, please keep an eye on our gear, and don¡¯t let anyone cause trouble.¡± His eyes might have shifted over to Jackson at that last comment, but if Karr noticed he didn¡¯t let on.


    ¡°Understood sir.¡± He said, saluting. After that, there was nothing to do but wait. They ate a small meal, consisting of a glass of nutrient fluid, and a few aphid crystal cores. Then, they waited some more. Ronin was sparring with Jackson, at K3¡¯s insistence, when someone finally arrived to collect them.


    ¡°The Priest sends his greetings, and invites Ronin, Elyria, Leo, and Mycroft to have tea with him.¡± After speaking, the man dressed in Daoist robes bowed and gestured towards the door. Turning to K3, Ronin nodded at the giant and thumped him lightly on the chest with his fist, before following the robed man from the room, Elyria at his side.


    ¡°Thank you for accepting my invitation.¡± The Priest said, once they¡¯d all been seated around a low table. The Priest poured each of them a cup of hot water, putting a pouch of dried leaves into his own cup, he dropped a crystal core into each of his guest¡¯s, after dripping something on them from a small bottle. Ronin raised a brow at his cup, seeing the core dissolving in the hot water. He didn¡¯t think it would do that without crystalized saliva acting to break the core¡¯s hard shell.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, young man.¡± The Priest said with a faint smile. ¡°I distilled ladybug saliva into a concentrated, and disinfected, catalyst that activates the crystal breakdown. It¡¯s quite safe, I assure you.¡± Looking at Leo and Mycroft, he saw they were already sipping their tea, so he shrugged and followed suit. He wouldn¡¯t say it was delicious, but drinking the nutrient fluid hot like this did change the flavor. He¡¯d have to experiment with this again in the future, if they lived through this.


    ¡°Priest, I¡­¡± He started but was once again cut off with an upraised hand.


    ¡°First, I would like to enjoy my tea.¡± The Priest said, sipping at his cup. ¡°This is good. Sadly, there are only so many herbs that survived the end of our reign over this planet. I do so enjoy the rare occasion I get to savor tea with guests.¡± He didn¡¯t speak again until he¡¯d finished his cup and poured himself a second, then he looked directly at Ronin and spoke. ¡°Now, I would like you to tell me what you meant when you said you have to reach the ship. Because I assure you, young man. There is no ship in these caves.¡±


    ¡°I am glad you had the chance to enjoy your tea, elder.¡± Ronin said politely, ¡°but I assure you, there is a ship down here. At least, there was one ninety million years ago.¡± He amended, a sudden fear gripping his heart the ship might have been removed after the beetle¡¯s had probed the planet but before the rise of humanity. No, he couldn¡¯t think like that, he had to keep hoping. ¡°I discovered this cave in my pocket world. What some call personal realms and the beetles call stasis stones. It is down here¡­ though, with as much as the landscape has changed, we might have to search a little bit more than I hoped, to find it.¡±


    ¡°Again, young man, I must insist there is no ship down here. I¡¯ve lived here for¡­ a very long time, if there was a ship, I would have found it. So, I am forced now to ask about the real reason behind your visit. Please, try to be truthful this time. Lying isn¡¯t something I can abide in perpetuity.¡± Ronin opened his mouth to argue, when a thought struck him, and he looked around the room they were seated in.


    It was a wreck, but he thought he recognized the small alcoves up near the ceiling where the hobats had once perched, and¡­ yes, the dais where the throne once rested. It had been converted to a shrine of some kind, with a statue of a large flood dragon winding its way around a cracked and crumbled pillar of stone that might, once, have been a throne.


    ¡°How long did you say you lived down here, elder?¡± Ronin asked, turning his gaze back towards the Priest.


    ¡°Since before the fall, young man. This priest follows the path of Daoism and has learned a few things over the centuries about extending my life. Though, I¡¯m afraid even my fortune will run out soon. Now, please answer my question. My patience grows thin.¡± Ignoring the implied threat, Ronin kept looking the old man in the eye as he next spoke.


    ¡°Is that so, I confess I haven¡¯t studied Daoism, unless you count what I¡¯ve read in wuxia novels. But it must be something special, to extend your life so long.¡± He sipped his tea, before dropping his final question. ¡°By any chance, do you mind if I sit on the throne, resting inside the dragon statue¡¯s coils?¡± The question had barely left his mouth when the old man moved. He was so fast that not even Elyria, who¡¯d made her body around the ability to move quickly, reacted in time. Within a second, there was a thin knife pressed against Ronin¡¯s throat, and the angry face of the Priest was inches from his own.


    ¡°How do you know?¡± He asked, voice barely above a hiss. Elyria, who¡¯d been caught off guard, darted forward, short sword in hand, only to be stopped by Leo¡¯s strong arms.


    ¡°Leave it girl, he¡¯s too fast, and too strong. Trust the kid to do this, it¡¯s all we can do now.¡± She struggled but gave up after a second and sat back down. Eyes burning holes into the old man¡¯s body, and hand now resting on her sidearm¡¯s grip.


    ¡°Smart girl.¡± The Priest said, never taking his eyes from Ronin¡¯s. ¡°Tell me how you know about the pedestal?¡± He asked again, knife never wavering from its place at Ronin¡¯s neck.


    ¡°I told you,¡± Ronin said calmly. ¡°I found this place in my pocket world. It was infested by hobgoblins and batlins, but we cleared it out. One of mine now sits on the throne. She grew quite a bit and gained immortality¡­ at least, if what the old king said was accurate anyway.¡± He spoke as calmly as he could, with a knife pressed against his throat, hoping his earnestness would convince the old man.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I know there is a ship down here. A lizard ship, one we can use to escape the planet. We can take all of you with us too, even crystallize the natural humans who still live here¡­ but we have to do it now. If we can¡¯t find out how they got the ship down here, we won¡¯t be able to leave¡­ please, help us, and we¡¯ll help you.¡± They stared into each other¡¯s eyes for a long time, but eventually, the old man relented and sat back.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said eventually. ¡°But I am going to need to see proof before I allow you free rein over my home¡­ and you¡¯ll swear to me now that you won¡¯t touch my throne or disclose any information about it to anyone else who doesn¡¯t already know¡­ all of you.¡± He added, looking at Elyria, Leo, and Mycroft. Ronin smiled then, knowing they¡¯d won, if not an ally, at least a temporary accomplice.


    *            *            *


    They talked for several hours. Getting to know one another, and proving to the Priest they were telling the truth. After Ronin exposed his secret, he shared a little of his past. If he was to be believed, he was more than five thousand years old. Having stumbled onto the city after he¡¯d wandered into a cave to die. He¡¯d reached old age, and wanted to die in peace, instead, he¡¯d gained immortality. It was an interesting story if nothing else, but Ronin couldn¡¯t focus on it, with so much riding on their mission.


    ¡°Priest,¡± a robed human man said, entering the throne room, turned temple, at a run. ¡°There¡¯s activity from the satellites, you need to see this.¡± The old man sprang to his feet at the words, and darted towards the door, slowing long enough to instruct the younger priest to escort his guests to the observation room, as he left.


    ¡°If you would follow me then,¡± the still out of breath priest said, gesturing towards the door. ¡°I will lead you to our observation room.¡± They followed the man, who was breathing heavily inside his mask, down several long halls, until they entered a room that looked like it came straight out of a book about NASA. There were rows upon rows of computers lined up, and a large screen that took up most of the far wall. That screen was now showing a ship of human design, blasting off from the moon.


    ¡°Those rotten dogs,¡± Aurex said. Ronin didn¡¯t notice the man before he¡¯d spoken, and cursing himself for ignoring his surroundings, did a quick scan. Fabius stood beside Aurex, the clockwork couple and two of the goths, who referred to themselves as the twilight court, were standing there as well. He was glad K3 wasn¡¯t here to see his laps, otherwise he¡¯d be in for extra sparring sessions with Jackson.


    ¡°I saw that,¡± Elyria said with a wink, but dropped the topic when the screen swiveled around. It was now pointed out, away from the sun. Ronin squinted, but it proved unnecessary when the view zoomed out, until it came to rest on the lizard ship, which had now passed mar¡¯s orbit.


    ¡°At the current speed, it will be here in approximately two days.¡± Someone said from behind Ronin, though he was too preoccupied to find out who. He cursed, knowing he had to move faster, and that, even if he did, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Still, there had to be something he could do¡­


    ¡°Do you know how to get in touch with Owl two, or Xerox from here?¡± He asked Elyria, turning to her once he¡¯d thought of something. ¡°I need to contact him, right now.¡±


    ¡°I,¡± she said, confused at his intense stare. ¡°I don¡¯t, he¡¯s been contacting us. Though I know he monitors all channels, so¡­¡± Before she could even finish speaking, Ronin rushed to the old Priest¡¯s side.


    ¡°Can you give me an open channel to the beetle ship?¡± The old man turned to him but didn¡¯t ask any questions after looking into Ronin¡¯s eyes for a moment.


    ¡°Of course,¡± he said after only a second¡¯s hesitation. Bending down, he hit several keys on a nearby keyboard and then turned back to Ronin. ¡°Just hit this button¡­ I put it on speaker, hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t have time to play the games, and it might be better if the Priest heard what he was going to say anyway.


    ¡°Owl Two, this is Ronin, can you hear me?¡± He asked, after he¡¯d pressed his hand down on the red button in front of the microphone on the desk. ¡°Owl Two, this is Ronin, I need to talk to you.¡± Less than a minute passed before he heard the emotionless voice echoing out through the room.


    ¡°My lord, this is not a secured line. If you would wait just¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore, Owl Two, you can see as well as I can that the government has left, and the lizards are almost here. I need¡­¡±


    ¡°I have secured the line, please go ahead my lord.¡± Owl Two said, continuing after a pause that made Ronin bite back a retort at the damned robot.


    ¡°¡­Thank you, Owl Two.¡± He said, taking a deep breath. ¡°I need to know how long before you have to evacuate the ship?¡±


    ¡°My Xerox has everything loaded onto a number of dropships. I was waiting until I¡¯d heard from you before pulling the trigger. Once I separate from the ship, I won¡¯t be able to contact you again until you and my copy have fixed the ship. At current estimates, however, I will have to leave in thirty-two hours.¡± Ronin blinked at that; he hadn¡¯t known the android would be shut down. Did that mean his pocket world would be shut off as well? He cast the thought aside as not being important at the moment and got back to the matter at hand.


    ¡°Can you still crystalize people into my world?¡± He asked at last, getting to the real reason for the call.


    ¡°My Xerox has already disconnected that function, my lord. He could reinstall the needed hardware, but it would take six hours, then another six hours to pack it away again. That would leave you with a twenty-hour window to crystallize more humans, but I would insist on at least a four-hour safety window, so call it sixteen hours, starting six hours from now. Why, have you found more¡­ Ah, I¡¯ve just hacked into the data banks for your location¡­ yes, I will get my copy working on this. Have you had any luck finding a way for me to get to the ship with the equipment we need?¡± Ronin listened to the android talk, a wave of relief flooding through him when he realized he would be able to save these people after all.


    ¡°Not yet, Owl Two.¡± Ronin said, feeling much more confident now than he had before. ¡°You just get started reconnecting whatever it is you need to, in order to crystallize the people down here, and I promise I¡¯ll find it before you have to launch.¡± The conversation wrapped up quickly after that, and Ronin turned to the now staring Priest, and his expression was all business when he next spoke.


    ¡°I can crystallize every natural human here, but we have a narrow window to do it in. While that is happening, I will need to take my team and go searching for the ship. You heard my researcher; we are on a deadline now. If we can¡¯t get this done, then we¡¯re all going to die.¡± The Priest, fingered his beard, looking at Ronin with consternation.


    ¡°You are asking me to take a lot on faith, young man.¡± He said at last, looking over to Leo and Mycroft who nodded their support of Ronin¡¯s words. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have agreed to this, for anything. Apart from I know Leo and Mycroft very well. We might not have ended our friendship on the best terms, but I respect their opinions. If they trust you, then so will I, but I won¡¯t force anyone who doesn¡¯t want to participate. Everyone here had resigned themselves to a glorious last stand before the end. So, if they don¡¯t wish to go, I won¡¯t allow you to force them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Ronin said, feeling relieved. ¡°We have picked up a few other survivors already, and in both cases, there were people who didn¡¯t want to go. We respected that choice¡­ now if you will excuse me. I have a ship to find.¡± Waiting only long enough to get a nod of approval from the Priest, Ronin turned and strode from the room, followed by Leo and Mycroft and with Elyria buzzing along at his shoulder. The twilight court and the clockwork couple looked at him as he passed with contemplative looks. While Fabius and Aurex¡¯s expressions couldn¡¯t be read behind the masks they wore. It didn¡¯t matter. If they cooperated, Ronin would save them. If they stood in his way, however, Ronin would show them no mercy.

 Chapter eighty-one

    Lily


    The two giants faced off in a small circle comprised of Anthropos knights, Undercity representatives, and syndicate personnel. Lily didn¡¯t know where to classify herself anymore, so she decided to just stand away from everyone and watch the battle unfold with her guards. Looking over the opponents, she tried to see who had the advantage. An arduous task, considering she didn¡¯t know what the knight¡¯s tank-like armor was capable of. Still, she could make a few guesses.


    The two fighters were of a height with one another, standing at around ten feet tall. They were also about the same girth. Staz, who was as thickly muscled as anyone Lily had ever seen, could almost be described as a barrel of corded muscles that had sprouted equally thick arms and legs. He was so stocky that Lily couldn¡¯t believe how fast the oni was sometimes. Looking like he should plod along like a pig just before slaughter. Grybellus was equal in girth, but since he was a normal human inside a suit, his size came entirely from his armor. Was that a detriment to the fight, or a benefit? Lily didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Are you ready to die troll?¡± The knight asked, pointing the massive claymore at Staz¡¯s chest. The blade was as long as the armor was tall and gave the knight the clear reach advantage. Staz, who¡¯s spiked kanabo was as thick around as Lily¡¯s waist, snorted giving his slightly shorter weapon a few test swings.


    ¡°I¡¯m an oni, you ignorant fool. Most humans call my kind ogre mages, because of our abilities, but I¡¯ve never been mistaken for a troll before. I¡¯ll be interested to see just how well you back up that belligerent attitude, boy.¡± After he finished speaking, Staz activated Pale Flame and Lily watched in amusement as Tybellus¡¯s face contorted with rage as the kanabo¡¯s length was covered with the Pale green Flames.


    ¡°A sorcerer, does this pathetic syndicate have no honor at all? Using magic in a nobles¡¯ duel¡­¡± the larger brother said, spitting to the side.


    ¡°It is not against any rules, but if you feel your brother is inadequate to the challenge, I will ask our champ¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop interfering,¡± Grybellus snapped to his brother, easily being baited again by the crafty android. ¡°I will win this duel myself, now shut up, all of you and watch this troll die.¡± That was all the warning Staz got because the knight was on him in the next second.


    The giant two-handed sword whistled as it whipped through the air in a horizontal arc. Staz raised his kanabo between himself and the blow. He was able to prevent the blade from contacting him, but the built-up momentum from all that steel had to go somewhere and the oni was staggered. Lily almost couldn¡¯t believe it; she¡¯d never seen anyone push the oni hard enough to make him move. The knight wasn¡¯t done, however. His sword had bounced off the kanabo, hard. Using the momentum from the first blow, Grybellus swung in a full circle, turning his back on the oni for a second as he built up even more momentum.


    It was a move that would normally never be considered against an opponent like Staz. The oni could move so quickly that turning one¡¯s back on him was the equivalent of forfeiting the match. The giant had been as surprised as Lily at the strength behind that blow, however, and hadn¡¯t recovered well enough yet to take advantage of the opportunity. Instead, it was him caught off guard again when the second blow impacted him with twice the momentum of the first. The syndicate members gasped in unison as the blade slammed into Staz¡¯s chest, ripping a hole through the armor they¡¯d all thought indestructible.


    The only saving grace was Staz was able to hit the knight lightly with his kanabo. It wasn¡¯t a heavy blow, the knight didn¡¯t even seem to feel it, but it was enough for the Pale green Flames to slither off the weapon and burrow their way into the armor. Lily had experienced those Flames before and knew they wouldn¡¯t hurt the knight. What they would do was slow him down, ever so slightly.


    ¡°Ha-ha, what was that troll?¡± Grybellus asked the oni as he staggered to one knee, gripping his chest, just below the ribs as blood flowed in between his fingers. ¡°I thought you were the champion of these nonhuman wretches, what¡¯s the matter, not as strong as you thought you were?¡± He followed up his question with a kick to Staz¡¯s wounded chest, which sent the man tumbling. The crowd heard the crunch, as the armor dented under the blow, and Lily heard Andessa curse behind her.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t good,¡± She heard her bodyguard mutter. She didn¡¯t have to ask why though, because she saw for herself when Staz turned the tumble into a roll and regained his feet. The thick armor had not only been cut by the sword, but the kick had dented the sides of the armor inward. Forcing the sharp edges into the oni¡¯s side. Blood was flowing freely from the wound, a wound that normally, with the supernatural healing speed the oni possessed would have already closed. With the twisted metal pressed into the cut, however, there was no way it could heal.


    Grybellus was still laughing, and Staz was slowly shifting backwards. Moving his way around the knight. Unfortunately, the knight saw the movement and instantly reacted. Stabbing his sword forward with blinding speed. The thrust, not having as much force behind it as the roundhouse swing from before, was pushed aside by the kanabo, before Staz jabbed his own weapon into the armored knight¡¯s chest. The sound of metal on metal was deafening, but the only result of the blow was some surface scratching to the man¡¯s armor.


    ¡°I have to say, I¡¯m disappointed.¡± Grybellus said, slowly advancing on the oni, who¡¯d staggered away. Blood was still flowing freely down his side, and he was clearly having trouble moving. He¡¯d hunched over, favoring that side and doing what he could to keep the dented plate from digging in any further. ¡°Where are you going, you ugly brute? You seemed so confident before, why don¡¯t you stay and play for a little while?¡± Lily was worried, never having seen Staz retreat like that. At least the knight wasn¡¯t actively trying to end the battle. If he¡¯d come in with another swing like the first two, she was afraid the battle would have ended already.


    A minute passed in this fashion, Staz retreating, and the wildly laughing Grybellus slowly chasing. That¡¯s when the oni¡¯s actions made since to Lily, because, exactly sixty seconds after the battle had begun, his kanabo was once again flooded with green fire. This time, he wasted no efforts to dart forward and jab the spiked club directly into the pursuing man¡¯s chest. Like before, the Flames bled away from the kanabo, and into the tanklike armor.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Grybellus asked, feeling his body frantically. Apparently, Lily had been right, he hadn¡¯t noticed the Flames entering his body before. Yet, after a moment, he stopped feeling himself over and laughed even harder. ¡°That was your plan, hit me with some weak faire fire? I didn¡¯t even feel it, better luck next time pal, but I think this is starting to get boring¡­¡± Stopping midsentence, the knight rushed forward, sword whistling through the air straight for Staz¡¯s head.


    Throwing himself frantically to the side, Staz managed to avoid the blow, but it didn¡¯t come without a cost. He was still dragging himself back up when the blade came down again, crashing into his thigh. Lily winced as the sword, which was as thick on the end as Lily¡¯s own blade was wide, dented in the plates on his leg, causing the oni to scream in pain. What was happening? The Pale Flames should be slowing the knight¡¯s movements, but it didn¡¯t look like that was happening, as the knight came in again.


    The next minute passed slowly, as the knight swung at his injured opponent, and Staz did his best to dodge the blows, throwing himself out of the way in increasingly undignified ways to avoid death. The two knights who¡¯d been flanking Grybellus before laughed and jeered, shaking their fists in the air. Lily frowned over at them; the pair looked much like the two behind Tybellus. Unadorned and unpainted armor, without any characteristics to set them apart from each other. They must be rank and file soldiers, while the spike adorned, and blood patterned armor of the brothers must be their equivalent to rank insignia.


    ¡°Stop playing around with him brother,¡± Tybellus snapped when Staz¡¯s kanabo glowed with green fire for a third time. He¡¯d taken a glancing blow to the shoulder to deliver the Flames to Grybellus¡¯s armor. The hit so weak Lily didn¡¯t even hear the club connecting over the sound of the oni¡¯s screams of pain when the knight backhanded him away. ¡°Taking your time is one thing, but this is getting ridiculous. Pick up the pace and finish the troll already.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m moving at full speed, brother.¡± Grybellus said, as he once again swung at a rapidly backpedaling Staz. Only this time, the blow missed by enough the oni didn¡¯t have to roll away. A good thing too, because the usually black armor with its grey Flame patterning had been completely smeared in the giant¡¯s blood, as his side continued to bleed. The blow to his leg wasn¡¯t bleeding, but it was bad enough to have nearly locked his ability to move his knee.


    Lily felt relieved after another minute passed in this fashion. After Staz delivered the fourth Pale Flame attack to the Anthropos knight, it became clear to everyone watching he¡¯d been slowed.  Lily marveled at either the resilience of the man, or the strength of the suit. She didn¡¯t know which was to blame for his tenacity, but it was impressive. She¡¯d been hit by multiple Flame attacks during sparring as well, and by the third blow she felt like she was moving through a pool of syrup. So slowed she could barely make her blade move. Yet, here he was, hit four times and still moving at better than half speed.


    ¡°You need to hurry up and finish this damn it, don¡¯t let him hit you with anymore of those green Flames.¡± Tybellus roared from the sidelines, his hands now clenched around his axe handle so hard that Lily could hear the metal creak and distort under the pressure.


    ¡°I... I¡¯m trying¡­¡± Grybellus said, panic finally making itself heard in his voice as Staz hit him for the fifth time. ¡°I can¡¯t make the suit obey; it feels like it weighs a ton. I think he must be affecting the powered assist functions or something, I...¡± He trailed off as his attention, along with everyone else¡¯s, was captured by the oni. He¡¯d pulled a wedged chunk of steel from his ring, making it seem to appear in his hand like magic. Lily frowned at the wedge, it looked like something used to split wood, and she frowned wondering what he was going to do with that.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tybellus screamed, as Staz slammed the wedge of metal into his own side, through the rend in his armor. The oni let out a bellow of pain, as he started to shrink. Staz, along with his armor, rapidly decreased in size, until he was standing just over six and a half feet tall. The wedge, however, hadn¡¯t shrunk. Instead, it had stayed the same size as before, and as the armor shrunk, it was forcibly deformed by the solid chunk of steel. Staz, who¡¯d let go of the wood splitters wedge as he shrank, grabbed it in both hands and worked it around, forcibly bending the armor away from his wound. Of course, in the process the sharp end of the wedge ripped his chest apart, but when he finally removed the wedge, his armor was no longer digging into the wound, and they all watched as it began healing before their eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± Grybellus screamed. Moving towards the oni as fast as he could. Staz, who hadn¡¯t said a word since the beginning of the fight, didn¡¯t move. Instead, he reached down, panting in pain, and wrapped both hands around the dented section of thigh armor. Giving it a squeeze, he screamed as he forced the dents out. Lily blinked in shock; she¡¯d seen a smith beat dents out of a thin copper cookpot with a hammer before. This was similar, except the brute was doing the molding with his bare hands. Not only that, but the armor he was shaping was nearly two inches thick.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°¡­Impossible,¡± Grybellus mumbled again as Staz grew back to his full size and gave his leg an experimental kick. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re a monster. A monster, we have to wipe you out. Your worse than the locusts¡­ at least they die when you kill them, we have to kill you aallll.¡± He¡¯d stumbled forward as he spoke, clearly distraught by what he¡¯d seen. The knight swung his two-handed sword around in wide arcs, spinning around in circles to try and win back some of his stolen momentum. Staz easily dodged the blows now his side had stopped bleeding and his leg was no longer restricted.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m a monster.¡± Staz said, slamming his Pale Flame covered kanabo into the knight¡¯s body for the sixth time. ¡°We¡¯re all monsters.¡± He continued, darting around behind the knight, and wrapping his left arm around the knight¡¯s chest, encapsulating his sword arm. ¡°Monsters sworn to our lord Ronin the White Flame, who¡¯s land you dare to trespass upon.¡± Gripping the man¡¯s helmet by one of the spikes, he ripped it off the now screaming knight¡¯s head.


    ¡°No, please, don¡¯t. I lost; I admit defeat. We¡¯ll leave ok, we¡¯ll leave. Just give us the locust queen, that¡¯s all we need, and we¡¯ll go.¡± He babbled in terror, looking into the huge, blue face of the clearly enraged oni.


    ¡°Noble duels are to the death.¡± Owl Two called, cutting through the desperate cries of the now trapped Grybellus, and Staz grinned wickedly as he dropped the helmet and reached towards the man¡¯s face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± Tybellus screamed. The bald man looked too stunned to react as Staz¡¯s hand closed around his brother¡¯s head. ¡°I said stop, I¡¯m prepared to pay reparations. Just give my brother back¡­¡± His words were cut off when the giant¡¯s hand, now firmly wrapped around Grybellus¡¯s head, gave it a soft tug. The movement looked so gentle, like what Lily herself might do when plucking an apple from a tree. Yet, the results were anything but gentle. A geyser of blood fountained from the headless body, before the decapitated Grybellus, now gone limp, slumped to the ground.


    ¡°Here,¡± Staz said, turning to Tybellus and tossing the bodyless head at the bald man¡¯s feet. ¡°I return your brother to you.¡± Moving calmly, the oni walked towards Owl Two, who stopped him with an upraised hand.


    ¡°The suit, the weapon, and the bike.¡± He said, indicating Grybellus¡¯s possessions. ¡°Lord Ronin would very much love to have them.¡± Nodding, Staz turned around and quickly made all traces of Grybellus disappear from the battlefield. Apart from his severed head, and a puddle of blood, which was rapidly soaking into the ground.


    Once he¡¯d finished gathering the equipment, Staz moved back over to stand beside Owl Two. The field went silent after that, as everyone waited to see what Tybellus, who was currently just staring at his brother¡¯s head in silent horror, was going to do. After a long minute, he finally looked up, and his eyes were bloodshot, with pain and rage.


    ¡°I want my brother¡¯s body back.¡± He said, his calm voice belying the rage clearly written upon his face.


    ¡°We¡¯ve defeated your champion in noble¡¯s combat,¡± Owl Two said dispassionately. ¡°It is the right of the winner to take the possessions of the loser. Possessions that, unless I am mistaken, include those two knights.¡± The android said, pointing at the knights who¡¯d been cheering the loudest while Grybellus had been winning, but who had now gone deathly silent.


    Tybellus looked at the pair. Lily thought they were staring back at him, but it was hard to tell since she couldn¡¯t see their faces through their helmets. Eventually, the groups leader nodded, and turned back to Owl Two.


    ¡°You can have his armor, his weapon, mount, and even his men. But you will return his body to me. If you do that, you have my word of honor I will give you an entire day to prepare for our attack¡­ while I give my brother a warrior¡¯s funeral. If you refuse, then I will have no reason to wait, and will commence the attack on the syndicate, followed by the Undercity, immediately.¡±


    ¡°Hey, wait,¡± Rachel shouted, taking a step forward. ¡°You gave our queen your word. You swore you¡¯d destroy the syndicate but leave the valley to us as long as we didn¡¯t leave it. You swore, you¡¯d leave us alone.¡±


    ¡°A promise made to a nonhuman isn¡¯t binding, you goblin loving wench.¡± Tybellus said, not bothering to look at the girl. ¡°Now, give me his corpse, or the war starts now.¡± Everyone looked at Owl Two, who, after a long pause, finally nodded.


    ¡°Give us the two knights, then you can have your brother back.¡± He said at last, holding the bald man¡¯s gaze the entire time. Of course, like the knights, it was impossible to really know what the android was looking at, since he didn¡¯t actually have eyes.


    ¡°Done,¡± Tybellus said motioning for the two knights to move. The pair exchanged a look, bowed to the head on the ground, and removed their helmets. Lily wondered what they were doing, until they, as one, gripped their own heads in their huge, armored hands.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± Tupelo muttered from behind Lily, as the pair ripped their own heads off. ¡°That¡¯s just not right.¡±


    ¡°There, they have turned themselves over to you.¡± Tybellus said, a sadistic smile cracking the mask of grief he¡¯d been wearing. Lily blinked, wondering just how messed up the knights had to be to react like that.


    ¡°Very well,¡± Owl Two said, turning to Staz. ¡°Collect the gear and the robots, we don¡¯t need the bikes if you don¡¯t have the room. Then, give the man his brother back.¡± The exchange happened quickly, two more bodies and bikes entering the special ring the oni kept for his lord, and the armorless Grybellus dropping to the ground at Tybellus¡¯s feet. Without another word, the giant stooped down to pick up the naked body of his decapitated brother. Climbing back onto his four wheeled mount, he rested the body across the seat before him, as the remaining three knights drove back up the ramp and into the ship.


    ¡°We need to move, now.¡± Owl Two said, as the ramp lifted. ¡°Everyone in the trucks don¡¯t bother with the mounts, there¡¯s not enough time. Move it, Staz. Rachel, Robert, you can come with us if you want to. But going back into the cave isn¡¯t an option anymore.¡± As he spoke, a huge slab of steel lifted from the ground and slammed itself shut across the tunnel¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°What have you done?¡± Rachel yelled, as Staz pulled two identical trucks from the ring in a hurry. Lily wanted to know the same thing, but she hadn¡¯t seen the oni move this frantically, even during the battle, so she just did as she was told and darted into the nearest truck. Tupelo followed her in, then Staz forced the Undercity pair into the truck behind her, slamming the door shut. Before jumping into the back of the truck to man the giant tank gun that rested on top. Looking out the window, Lily saw Unyielding oak climbing into the second truck¡¯s driver seat, while Owl Two climbed into the tank gunner¡¯s seat.


    ¡°What is going on,¡± she yelled out the window, but her question was answered for her when the dropship lifted into the air and opened fire on them. Cursing, she pulled her head back inside the armored truck and slammed her hand down on the button that closed the window. Leaning back and hoping desperately that none of the shots would enter the cab, Lily waited for the window to close as Andessa slammed the truck into drive and rushed after the wood elf, who¡¯d already taken off back towards the cave.


    ¡°Attention all syndicate members,¡± Owl Two¡¯s voice said, crackling through the truck¡¯s radio as the vehicle tore off down the road at speeds she¡¯d never experienced before, and thunder exploded right over their heads as Staz fired off the tank gun. ¡°We are under attack from a foe we¡¯re unlikely to defeat. Undercity has turned on us and is also a target for the enemy. I¡¯ve sealed them inside the cave. But it won¡¯t keep the enemy out long. All remaining yokai teams gather what civilians you can and evacuate to the escape tunnels. Scatter, and survive. The world will change soon, your only mission is to survive that change, and be ready for when the White Flame returns for you. For the White Flame. Owl Two clear.¡±


    ¡°Seriously, what is going on?¡± Rachel asked frantically as bullets rained down on the truck. Several hitting the armored glass windows and ricocheting away, but not before scaring the occupants half to death with each hit. Then, the radio crackled to life, and Owl Two¡¯s voice exited the truck speakers again.


    ¡°Andessa, Unyielding oak, list¡­ carefully.¡± The android said, the sound of his voice momentarily cut off thanks to the thunderous sound of his gun firing. ¡°There is a hidden entrance between the two tunnels to the cave. Look for a crack in the stone shaped like a lightning bolt. It¡¯s a false wall, don¡¯t slow down or they¡¯ll be able to target us with larger guns, just hit that patch at full speed. Once you¡¯re through, you¡¯ll need to break quickly, however, so you don¡¯t kill all of us. Again, don¡¯t slow down, hit the wall at f¡­ speed.¡± His voice cut out twice, as both he and Staz fired off more rounds, Lily craned her head around to see behind them, but couldn¡¯t make out the armed dropship that was bearing down on them, thanks to the constant sparks that were thrown up with each impact of bullets against the armored glass of the windows.


    ¡°He can¡¯t be freaking serious,¡± Rachel said, taking the words right out of Lily¡¯s mouth, as the trucks barreled at full speed towards the solid rock wall of the cave. Lily wasn¡¯t shocked at how quickly they¡¯d reached the cave, not at the speeds they were currently driving at. She could even see the lightning bolt shaped mark Owl Two had pointed out earlier. It was subtle, not something she thought she¡¯d have noticed if she hadn¡¯t been looking for it, and it was coming up fast.


    ¡°We¡¯re gunna die, we¡¯re all gunna die. Oh, my goodness, we¡¯re all going to die.¡± Rachel shrieked as the trucks smashed into the wall. Fear gripped Lily¡¯s heart, and she closed her eyes as they hit, fully expecting to die at that moment. When they hit, everyone was thrown from their seats, crashing together into a tangled pile of limbs at the front of the truck¡¯s troop compartment. The pressure only grew, as Andessa slammed on the breaks. Struggling wildly to free herself from the others, Lily forced the door open and tumbled from the truck. Looking around to see what had happened, as the others climbed out after her.


    They¡¯d entered the cave, huge chunks of stone were strewn around the trucks, whose hoods had been caved in from the impact. Lily cursed and rushed to the driver¡¯s door, where Andessa was struggling to free herself from the tangled wreckage of the cab.


    ¡°Here, let me.¡± Staz said from behind her, and Lily backed up, only to let out a scream as the oni came into her line of sight. He was a mess, riddled with bullet holes, with blood pouring from his mangled body in buckets. The giant only grinned at her with blood splattered teeth, as he ripped the twisted driver¡¯s door from its hinges and pulled Andessa from the cab. The shaggy bugbear woman was a mess, but she was alive, and began coming around as Staz poured the contents of a flask down her throat. Lily gulped as she recognized that flask, it was one of the healing potions that had ruined her life, and she struggled to keep herself from knocking it away from her guard, and friend¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Staz said, as he finished feeding Andessa the potion and pulled out a second, far larger, flask for himself. Tipping it back, he downed the contents in one long pull. ¡°Owl Two worked the bugs out after what happened. They are perfectly safe now¡­ oh shit, Oak.¡± The oni, whose wounds had already been closing before he¡¯d even drunk the potion, vaulted clear over the truck and ripped the door from the truck Unyielding Oak had been driving. The elf wasn¡¯t nearly as sturdy as the massively muscled Bugbear, and she looked bad. Blood was flowing from her head, and Lily thought she could see bone poking out from her arm. Staz blocked her view after that, cradling the woman like a baby as he fed her another potion.


    ¡°We need to move,¡± Owl Two said as he jumped down from the other gunner¡¯s seat. Lily gasped as she took in the android. For the first time, she really understood what it meant to be an android. Owl Two¡¯s body was as riddled with holes as Staz¡¯s, only he wasn¡¯t pouring blood. Fluids dripped from several of the holes, gears ground as he moved, and sparks flew from exposed wires as he spoke. The android had never looked more fake to Lily than he did at that moment.


    ¡°What are you staring at?¡± He asked, his speaker must have been damaged, because his voice was fluctuating in volume and pitch as he spoke. ¡°We need to move; they¡¯ll be following us soon and we need to get the yokai teams off to lord Ronin before it¡¯s too late.¡± He started walking towards the hidden hatch under the workbench, even before he finished speaking. Lily and Tupelo exchanged glances, before picking Andessa up between them and following. Rachel and Robert were slower to move, but it wasn¡¯t like they had anywhere else to go.


    ¡°Staz, if you would get the queen?¡± Owl Two asked, as he shifted the bench aside to expose the stairs. The oni, who was still cradling an unconscious Unyielding oak in his arms, ran across the cave to comply. His hand had barely retracted after causing the queen¡¯s cocoon to disappear into the ring, when the wall behind them exploded inwards, sending a shower of rocks raining down on their heads.

 Chapter eighty-two

    ¡°Anything?¡± Ronin asked Elyria over comms. They¡¯d been searching for a few hours already but hadn¡¯t found any signs of the tunnel into the ship¡¯s hangar. Ronin himself was crawling along the cave wall near where the waterfall had been, desperately looking for any hint of an opening in the stone. Sadly, that hadn¡¯t happened yet.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Elyria said back after a moment. ¡°I asked Whisper and Stone as well, there isn¡¯t anything around this lake. It looks like time and erosion has wiped away all traces of the passage.¡± Cursing, Ronin punched the stone he was resting against. Dust chips exploded around him, along with a few sparks. Regretting his action immediately, Ronin inspected his suit¡¯s hand for damage. It was scraped and dented but otherwise unharmed.


    He cursed himself for his impulsiveness. If he¡¯d broken the suit¡¯s hand, he¡¯d have lost precious time and materials making new pieces with the portable fabrication unit. The portable fabricator was incredibly handy, but it wasn¡¯t as fast as the big one in the dropship, nor was it as precise. Looking at the small crater his fist had left in the stone wall, however, still gave Ronin a thrill. It was hard not to feel exhilarated when he thought about just how powerful these suits were, and he wondered if enough of them might have given humanity a chance against the lizards. He supposed he wouldn¡¯t know until they showed up. Which would happen in just under two days¡­ that thought brought his wandering mind back on task.


    ¡°What do we do then?¡± He asked, bitterness plain in his voice. ¡°We can use the maps from our world to pinpoint the tunnel entrance, but if we have to dig to get to the ship then we¡¯ll never make our deadline. Not to mention how impossible it would be to make the opening big enough to accommodate the dropships.¡± He looked at the large body of water that now took up a large portion of what had been farmland in his own world and cursed again.


    ¡°There¡¯s a noticeable current running from here to the far end of the cavern, boss.¡± K3 said, pointing at the water under where they were currently clinging to the rocks. They were at the approximate location of the waterfall. Ronin frowned, squinting at the water. Yes, there was a current.


    ¡°I see it,¡± he said at last. ¡°But what does that matter?¡± He was still frustrated and couldn¡¯t understand why his bodyguard was pointing out something so inconsequential right now. Of course, there was a current. The water had to come from somewhere after all. It was probably flowing through some underwater tun¡­ ¡°Oh, there is still an opening down there.¡± Ronin said, his brain catching up with his mouth at last. ¡°But how do we get down there?¡± He asked, frowning down at the water. In all his time on earth, and in his pocket world, swimming wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d ever needed to learn how to do.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the breathing masks, and a ton of compressed air tanks.¡± K3 said with a shrug, ¡°it wouldn¡¯t take much to modify them in the fabricator for better water use. They would work as is, but if I was going to spend any length of time down there, I¡¯d prefer a seal designed for water. Then¡­¡± Ronin listened while his friend, bodyguard and adviser laid out a plan. Nodding in understanding, Ronin¡¯s frustration of a moment ago washed away in his enthusiasm for this new plan.


    ¡°Elyria,¡± he said into his comm once he and K3 had hashed out the plan. ¡°Could you grab my tablet and zip back to the fabrication unit please? We¡¯ve come up with an idea to search the lake itself, but we need to make a few changes to our breathing masks to do it. I was hoping you could get the prints started early so they would be ready when we arrived.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked in mock indignation, ¡°making plans without me, how bold of you.¡± She zipped down to them from where she¡¯d been canvassing the caves from above. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go load this and get the machine printing some stronger seals while you land bound lugs walk back to the city. Just don¡¯t expect me to go swimming with you, my wings are fantastic, but going for a dip might not be the best thing ever for them.¡± Without waiting for a response, she snatched the tablet from Ronin¡¯s hands and was gone.


    ¡°I see you two are getting along better,¡± K3 said with a smirk. ¡°Glad to hear it boss,¡± he added with a heavy smack to Ronin¡¯s shoulder that he barely felt through the armored suit. He frowned at the giant kaldarr, who didn¡¯t look any larger than he did in the suit.


    ¡°We had a moment,¡± he said thinking back on his breakdown, and Elyria¡¯s comforting words. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say anything¡¯s really changed though.¡± He was both telling the truth and lying a little with that last line. True, they hadn¡¯t spoken about their feelings or anything like that. Heck, he didn¡¯t even know if she really had feelings for him in that way. Yet, something had definitely changed between them. Perhaps it was all in his head, just him letting go of the awkward tension he¡¯d felt around her for some time now.


    ¡°Whatever you say boss,¡± K3 said, not bothering to argue with him. ¡°So, what are you going to do while me and the others search the lake?¡± Ronin looked at him in surprise, a look that only got a laugh from the large kaldarr, ¡°ha-ha, come on boss.¡± He said, scratching his thick whiskers. ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for a while now. I saw the look you made when I mentioned swimming. You can¡¯t swim, so what? It just means there¡¯s something else I¡¯ve got to teach you. It also means you have to sit this one out. I¡¯d sit it out to watch your back too, but since the elf doesn¡¯t want to get her precious wings wet, I think you will be in capable hands.¡± The grin he shot Ronin next nearly dripped smugness. ¡°So, what are the pair of you going to do while the rest of the crew are working?¡±


    K3 poked good naturedly at Ronin until they got back to the city. It was all business after that, with the kaldarr putting his game face back on for the city¡¯s inhabitants. Ronin heard some of their voices drifting over while he walked towards the storage room his people were still set up in.


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about that guy that has the Priest letting him have the run of the place?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but what¡¯s with that bodyguard? His face looks like a pig, it¡¯s disgusting¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­an orc man, I read about them in an old book. Be careful though, they¡¯re supposed to be really evil¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­they wearing? I don¡¯t recognize the cloak design. Some kind of bloodthirsty beast from before the¡­¡±


    ¡°Those are goats, moron. No, they were plant eaters, hit each other with their horns for mating rituals I think¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let it get too you boss,¡± K3 said gesturing not only to Ronin, but those following him as well. Ronin blinked, realizing his hands were clenched into fists and the sound of creaking metal was drifting up from them. He unclenched his fists, and looked around sheepishly, only to see the faces of his followers. They wore expressions that screamed violence, and Ronin realized he wasn¡¯t the only one who could hear the crowd.


    ¡°Lori, did I hear you got the best of Jack the other day and won an Owl Three card?¡± He asked loudly, trying to change the subject.


    ¡°¡­My lord? I¡­ Yes, my lord. It was a hard battle, but he couldn¡¯t withstand my scout squad.¡± She said, catching on after only a second.


    ¡°Hey, that wasn¡¯t a fair match.¡± Jack called from a few rows back. ¡°You didn¡¯t have anything in your deck apart from goblin scouts, Owl team armor, and Mark V¡¯s. By turn four you were dealing so much damage I couldn¡¯t even keep a character on the board.¡± That got the crew distracted and talking about POWF. It kept them too busy the rest of the walk back to pay attention to the mutters from those around them. Ronin nodded his thanks to K3, who¡¯d snapped them all out of their anger, despite being one of those most targeted by the crowd.


    ¡°You made it, I was beginning to wonder if I had enough time for a nap.¡± Elyria said, once Ronin¡¯s and Leo¡¯s people had all been gathered together in the storeroom again. ¡°I¡¯ve got all the seals printed, and the Doc is putting them on now. You will be off again in no time¡­ also, she added a small camera to each of the masks. So, we will be able to watch and record what you see down there.¡± Everyone but Ronin, Jaya, Elyria, Mycroft, and Locke took masks and headed out after that.


    Ronin paced the room for the first ten minutes after they¡¯d left, checking his tablet every minute or so. It was pointless, he knew, since they wouldn¡¯t even reach the lake for close to an hour, but he didn¡¯t like being left out like this.


    ¡°You know what,¡± Elyria said after he¡¯d walked the same path for the hundredth time. ¡°I think you need to get some exercise. Jaya, take him outside and give him a good workout, will you? It¡¯s been well over three hours since his last sparring session, and Jackson isn¡¯t here to keep him in line.¡± Ronin¡¯s face paled at the thought, and he tried to back out as best he could. There was no getting around the women, however, since Jaya seemed as eager for the bout as Elyria. With a sigh, Ronin popped the latches on his suit, ready to get his butt kicked for the next hour at least.


    It had been as bad as he¡¯d thought. Jaya wasn¡¯t as flashy as Jackson in her attacks, but that made it even harder for him to see them coming. She¡¯d just go from a combat stance, to picking him up off the floor. They didn¡¯t make it the entire hour, since the enthusiastic Jaya had pushed a little too hard in one of their bouts and broken his arm at the elbow. It wasn¡¯t anything that wouldn¡¯t heal in a few hours, especially once he¡¯d made use of the med unit, but it sure hurt like hell. He was walking back towards the storeroom, an apologetic Jaya at his side, when he heard voices drifting from the room. Ronin kept walking, until the subject registered to him, and he froze in place, holding a hand out to Jaya to keep the silent woman back as he listened.


    ¡°¡­ I¡¯m still a little shocked by the seeming personality shift though.¡± Elyria said to Mycroft, as the women sat in front of the laptop, watching the divers on the screen with their backs to the open door. ¡°When I first met him on the ship, he was cold, in control, and not afraid of anything. He drank wine constantly and seemed to ooze power from every pore. He started to change after we visited Ronin¡¯s home cave though.¡± Ronin watched through the open door as Elyria rubbed her arms with her hands, and he blinked at her use of his name. She never called him anything but White Flame to his face.


    ¡°I saw how much going back there affected Ronin, so I can kind of understand. It seems unimaginable, to have lived one¡¯s entire life stuck in that tiny hole in the ground¡­ But the White Flame snapped out of it after a while. With Leo, it seemed to shake his confidence. He stopped being as bossy, started asking for Ronin¡¯s opinion, and has pretty much deferred leadership of the mission to him at this point. Hell, he even gave him all the suits¡¯ you guys captured, along with prisoners and his injured lionids¡­. I guess I¡¯m just curious what¡¯s going on with him. It all seems so, wrong.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    Ronin waited for Mycroft to answer. He¡¯d been wondering about that himself for a while now too, where had the cocky, self-assured Leo they¡¯d met on the ship go. Why was he acting so differently now?


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be happy if he knew I told you, so keep it from the kid, ok?¡± Mycroft said in a quiet voice, still staring at the screen. Every once in a while, one of her tentacle arms would dart forward and change the camera¡¯s viewing angle to a different diver. ¡°For starters, Leo doesn¡¯t even drink,¡± she said with a scoff. ¡°The wine glass was an affectation he picked up after we left the Priest¡¯s temple city. He¡¯d made several enemies when we were forced to leave, and no I¡¯m not going to talk about it, so don¡¯t ask.¡± She said, clearly seeing the curiosity in Elyria¡¯s eyes when the younger elf turned to her.


    ¡°Look, I met him after he¡¯d been crystallized for a while. I don¡¯t know the whole story since he won¡¯t talk about it much. What I do know is he lost people in his bid to gain power and influence on the ship. A couple he only ever called by name once.¡± Ronin¡¯s heart skipped a beat at the words, and he had to bite his lip to keep himself in place. ¡°They¡¯d gotten on the wrong side of Stanly¡¯s honor duel bullshit shortly after arrival, and they didn¡¯t make it¡­ Leo withdrew from the ship¡¯s power games after that, going to a time dilated world open to everyone, designed to teach the beetles history. That¡¯s where I met him. We stayed there for quite some time together, you see after we met, he¡­¡±


    ¡°As much as I¡¯d love to hear about your time together,¡± Elyria cut in before the Doctor could go on a tangent. ¡°That doesn''t explain why he¡¯s acting this way now.¡±


    ¡°Kids these days are so impatient.¡± Mycroft muttered, so quietly that Ronin almost didn¡¯t hear the words. ¡°Ok, fine.¡± She said, throwing up all six of her arms in defeat. ¡°Bear in mind this is only a guess on my part ok, but losing the couple affected him greatly. You said he started acting differently after you visited his home cave? Well, that doesn''t surprise me after what that freaking program that keeps hacking into my laptop said.¡±


    ¡°What he said?¡± Elyria asked with a frown, ¡°what do you mean? Owl Two talks crap constantly, I¡¯ve learned to tune out everything that isn¡¯t important or else I get agitated.¡± A sentiment Ronin could agree with, but at the moment, he really just wanted the Doctor to spit it out already.


    ¡°It called your boyfriend, Robert Jones, you remember that?¡± She asked, waiting for Elyria to nod before she continued. Ronin, who¡¯d grabbed Jaya¡¯s arm at some point, was squeezing it so hard the mute woman had started to whimper before he noticed and let go. ¡°Well, he named the couple once. He¡¯d had a few too many drinks on the night after we¡¯d gotten kicked out of this place, and he said this wouldn¡¯t have happened if he hadn¡¯t lost them. He started to cry, a shock since it was the first time, I¡¯d ever seen that of him before, but he just kept apologizing. Saying he was sorry, over and over again, to Mark and Amanda Jones. His behavior confused me too, until I heard Ronin¡¯s name. Then I started to wonder if¡­¡±


    Her words were drowned out with white noise as Ronin sagged in on himself. Finally hearing what he¡¯d suspected, but hadn¡¯t wanted, to be the truth. His parents were dead. They¡¯d run afoul of that heartless Stanly and his pocket world stealing scheme. Blood pounded in Ronin¡¯s ears as rage filled his heart. Stanly, he needed to kill that man, but how? If he hadn¡¯t already left on the government ship, he would be out on the surface somewhere, soon to be taken out by the lizards. He wracked his brain, trying to think of a solution to his problem, to the point that he barely noticed the hands on his face.


    ¡°¡­Flame, hey, White Flame, can you hear me. Snap out of it.¡± This time, the words were accompanied by a smack, which brought him back to the here and now. Ronin¡¯s eyes snapped to the elf, with rage bubbling just beneath the surface. Elyria must have seen it, because she jerked away from him as if she¡¯d been the one struck. Her reaction gave Ronin enough of a jolt to bring him out of his haze.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, blinking his eyes to clear the lingering anger from them. He¡¯d get back at Stanly for what he¡¯d done and have words with Leo, for keeping this from him for so long, but now wasn¡¯t the time. No, right now he had to find the ship, or else they¡¯d all die together. ¡°I guess Jaya really did a number on me this time.¡± He said lamely, indicating his broken arm with a chuckle. ¡°She¡¯s definitely better than Jackson, you were right about that. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me for a bit, I need to use the med unit.¡± He left the elf, who was staring in horror at the arm that was bending in the wrong direction, as he stumbled into the storeroom and climbed into the portable med unit.


    Leo had known, and he¡¯d kept it to himself. Ronin tried to work up the anger he¡¯d just been feeling for the man, but it just wouldn¡¯t come. For some reason, his mind flashed back to the conversation he¡¯d started with Lori, about winning Jack¡¯s Owl Three card. Did Steady Aim have children on some far-off planet in his pocket world? What would he say to them, if he ran into one of them several decades, or centuries into the future? Would he come clean and tell them their father was dead, and it was his fault, for being too overconfident and inexperienced, or would he keep his mouth shut and try to help the kid out as much as possible? He thought he knew the answer, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. So, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to condemn Leo¡¯s actions.


    Ronin stayed seated inside the Med unit far longer than was needed to fix his arm. He needed the privacy the enclosed chamber allowed him, to think. His mind kept replaying the conversation the two women had been having, about how Stanly had killed his parents for their pocket worlds, before they¡¯d even learned how to defend themselves in ship society. He needed to get Stanly down here, but he also needed to find the ship and save as much of humanity as he could¡­ nearly an hour passed before he crawled out of the medical unit, fully healed and with determination gleaming in his eyes.


    ¡°Doctor Mycroft,¡± he said upon exiting the unit to see that all three women were standing outside, waiting for him. He¡¯d spoken before any of them had a chance to ask him if he was ok, he didn¡¯t want to deal with that right now. ¡°Can you talk to the Priest for me?¡±


    ¡°Um, sure kid, he might listen to me. After all, it was Leo who got us kicked out of here¡­ but, what do you want me to talk to him about?¡± Ronin grinned at her acceptance and told her what he had in mind. She blinked, but after a minute, nodded. ¡°Yes, I can do that. I¡¯ll go right now, actually. Since we¡¯re running out of time. We¡¯d better do this now.¡± After making sure he didn¡¯t have anything else to add, the Doctor turned around and gathered up her nephew. The pair then sprinted from the storage room as quickly as they could move.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good plan, though I can¡¯t help but think you have ulterior motives.¡± Elyria said, concern clearly displayed in her eyes. ¡°Did, you by chance¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about that right now,¡± Ronin said, cutting her off before she could ask him if he¡¯d overheard their conversation. ¡°We need to find the ship. Has there been any progress on that front?¡± He was getting ahold of himself now that he¡¯d done something about Stanly. It might come to nothing, but it was all he could do. Now, he had to focus on what he¡¯d promised the android.


    ¡°They found an underwater tunnel.¡± Elyria said with a nod. ¡°Unfortunately, the current down there is incredibly strong. They can¡¯t swim against it and keep getting pushed back out. The tunnel is big though, it might even be big enough for the ship to get out, if they find it down there anyway.¡± Ronin moved past her, towards the laptop that was still open on the table.


    ¡°What are they doing now then, if they can¡¯t swim the current?¡± Ronin asked, seating himself in front of the computer and flicking between the camera¡¯s different points of view.


    ¡°K3 and Karr had a talk with Leo, and the three of them came up with a way.¡± Elyria said, shifting her eyes to him when she said the lionid¡¯s name. When he didn¡¯t respond in any visible way, she continued. ¡°They got some rope and spikes from the locals, their drilling them into the wall of the tunnel and tying the rope off to them. It¡¯s slow going, but their making progress by pulling themselves along the rope before putting in a new spike.¡± Ronin watched on the screen as K3 demonstrated what the elf had just described. Using a heavy rod to slam a spike, held by Leo, into the rock. He gripped the rod with handles that ran its length and the way he hit the spike looked more like a battering ram slamming into city gates, than what Ronin would expect someone hammering in a spike to look like. Though, he supposed it would be hard to swing a hammer through the water the traditional way.


    ¡°If they¡¯re just hauling themselves along a rope, then I should go join them.¡± Ronin said after ten minutes of watching K3 hammering in the spike, then switching places with Leo so the lionid could pound in the next one. ¡°I might not be able to swim, but I can hold onto a rope just fine.¡± He¡¯d even risen from his seat, ready to head off, when he felt a gentle hand resting on his arm.


    ¡°Have a seat, White Flame.¡± Elyria said, her voice matching her hand¡¯s gentle pressure. ¡°You¡¯re always leading the charge. It makes those who¡¯s job it is to protect you anxious. Let them do the work for a change, they¡¯ll be happy knowing they were needed by their lord. Besides, your elbow was bent back the wrong way just an hour ago. You need to eat a few cores and get some rest. You¡¯ll need to be in top shape soon.¡± Grumbling, Ronin sat back down. Be couldn¡¯t disagree with her words, even though he was confident his arm was close to fully healed. Nevertheless, he popped a ladybug core into his mouth, shuddering in delight when the crystal melted enough for the sweet, floral flavor to meet his tongue.


    ¡°Weirds me out, how good these things are.¡± He muttered, as the pair sat and watched the screen, with Jaya standing silently behind them, now back in her armored suit. Elyria didn¡¯t reply verbally to his words, but she nodded her agreement all the same. All of them were getting used to their new diet, and Ronin wondered what it would feel like to eat something else when they finally got back to his pocket world.


    They watched the crew slowly progressing down the tunnel for an hour or so. K6 and Tank had rotated into the front spot and were pounding the stakes in at a pace that made K3, and Leo look like they¡¯d been slacking. Ronin shook his head, once again marveling at how much stronger the government issue bodies the color force used were than their own.


    ¡°The Priest agreed with your proposal,¡± Lock said over his shoulder. Ronin jumped in surprise at the man¡¯s proximity, not having realized he¡¯d come back. ¡°My aunt asked me to let you know we¡¯d be busy at the crystallization pod, and teleportation pad now. So, don¡¯t expect us back for a while.¡± The small man said with a smirk, clearly delighted to have snuck up on Ronin, before he left the room again.


    ¡°That guy gives me the creeps,¡± Elyria said with a shudder after the rat faced man left the room. ¡°But the old man is going to go along with your suggestion, so that¡¯s something.¡± She said, turning back to Ronin with an encouraging smile.


    ¡°Yes, it is.¡± Ronin said, clenching his teeth in renewed anger as he thought about Stanly. ¡°It looks like they¡¯re finally clearing the water, look¡­¡± He said, bringing the elf¡¯s focus back onto the screen. Where, Dandelion¡¯s head had just popped out of the water into another cavern. She was on stake duty when they reached the end, so it was her who got to look out of the water first.


    ¡°Lord Ronin, we found it.¡± She said excitedly, pressing one hand into her comm to talk to Ronin, while thrusting the other into the air in victory with the other. Since, like she¡¯d said, they¡¯d found the ship at last. It was so massive that Ronin couldn¡¯t see all of it from the small camera attached to Dandelion¡¯s mask, but he thrust a hand of his own into the air anyway. Excited at finally scoring a victory. That was until the excitement turned to dread as the current grabbed the now off-balance girl and sucked her down into the current.


    ¡°Dandelion, no.¡± He said, still on his feet and now shouting into his own comm. ¡°Someone, grab her.¡± He watched them try, the more than fifteen people in the group reached out franticly from their place in line as she shot passed. Each hand just barely missed grabbing hold of the wood elf, as she was rapidly carried away by the current.


    Ronin waited, breath held, for the wood elf, who was barely considered a teenager by wood elf standards, to be dashed against a rock and killed before she reached the open water again. Thankfully, she got swept into the center of the current. Ronin got dizzy as he watched through her prospective as she was sent spiraling down the tunnel and out into the open lake. Before he could get excited however, he saw that she wasn¡¯t slowing down at all. The current sucked her further and further down towards the bottom of the lake, towards another large tunnel leading out of the cavern.


    He forced himself to watch as she neared the new tunnel, thrashing franticly against the current. Trying to free herself before she was hauled away into the unknown. It was of no use, the current was too strong, and the tunnel opening too large. She¡¯d managed to move over somewhat, but the tunnel looked large enough to fly a ship through, and there was no way she could get free of it in time. Ronin heard the girl, now screaming in terror as she was sucked into the tunnel and carried away.

 Chapter eighty-three

    ¡°Dandelion, Dandelion, can you hear me?¡± Ronin shouted into his comm, now on his feet and staring in horror at the still violently spinning camera. He knew the comms were still working, because he could still hear her screaming as the young elf was sucked through the large tunnel to parts unknown. ¡°Damn it,¡± he yelled, slamming a hand into the table. His blow didn¡¯t even jostle the laptop, thanks to the stone construction of the furniture. ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± he said, turning around and heading for the door at a sprint.


    ¡°Hold your sparrow there, buddy.¡± Elyria said, grabbing him by the cloak and dragging him to a halt before he was able to leave the storage room. ¡°You need to think about this before you do anything hasty.¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s getting dragged away to¡­ who knows where,¡± Ronin said turning to face Elyria. He could have pulled free of her grip but knew that was a bad plan in the long run. Since the elf would never let him live it down if he did.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± she said, dropping his cloak and crossing her arms over her chest. ¡°You don¡¯t know where that tunnel leads. If you leave right now you won¡¯t even know if she survived the trip or not. Hell, White Flame, you don¡¯t even know how to swim. What are you going to do, jump in the water and just sink until you get dragged away by the current? She was lucky to be in the middle of the stream, you wouldn¡¯t be. You¡¯re more likely to be smashed to a paste against the rocks. Use your head, will you?¡±


    It was a strange thing, but Ronin always found it easier to keep his cool when someone around him was losing theirs. Perhaps it was because he felt that someone needed to be the rational party, but whatever it was, seeing Elyria freak out on him brought him back to himself a little. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the screen to see she was still being dragged along at a frightening speed through the dark tunnel.


    ¡°What do you expect me to do then?¡± He asked, looking from the monitor to the elf, who was now heaving from emotion after her outburst. She looked taken aback at his sudden shift, but took it in stride, visibly gathering herself together.


    ¡°The mission, White Flame.¡± She said evenly, staring him in the eye. ¡°I expect you to do the mission we came here for. It isn¡¯t pretty, but all our lives depend on getting to that ship and getting it working. Dandelion is a sweet girl, and I know you still see her as the small child she used to be. But losing her is an acceptable price to pay, if it means saving the rest of your people¡­¡±


    ¡°But she¡¯s¡­¡± Ronin tried to say, only to be talked over by the elf.


    ¡°Also,¡± she said loudly, putting both her hands up, palm out. ¡°We don¡¯t know she¡¯s going to die yet. Look at the screen,¡± she said, pointing at the monitor where the young wood elf was still being whisked away down the tunnel, though her screaming had died down. ¡°She¡¯s still fine. And if you run off halfcocked then you won¡¯t know what happens, as it happens. So, sit down already. Watch until she stops and see if we can get ahold of her when she¡¯s calmed down enough to talk to us.¡±


    Ronin paced around the room for a while, looking at the monitor after every lap. He couldn¡¯t believe how long the tunnel was, and that she¡¯d made it as far as she had without hitting something. He did his best to ignore both Elyria and Jaya, who were just standing there, watching him pace. Ronin knew he was showing more emotions than he had when four of Karr¡¯s people had died. Heck, more emotion than he had when half of Hunter¡¯s team died in the attack on Undercity. He wondered why that was as he paced. Eventually, he decided IT was because those people had just died. It was sad, but they were dead, and there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about that. Dandelion, in contrast, was still alive. She was alive, yet still outside his ability to reach. As he came around again, Ronin caught movement on the screen that he hadn¡¯t seen before.


    ¡°Looks like she¡¯s finally coming out.¡± Elyria said, coming over to stand behind Ronin. It was true, she¡¯d finally been shot out of the tunnel into a large open space. The only problem was the camera feed was starting to cut out. Panicking at the flickering video feed, Ronin tried his comms again.


    ¡°Dandelion, can you hear me?¡± He asked, watching the screen for any signs she¡¯d heard.


    ¡°¡­I¡¯m ou¡­ don¡¯t kno¡­ will swi..up¡­¡± After that short message, the video and comm feed went dead.


    ¡°No,¡± Ronin said, balling his hands into fists, but refraining from hitting the stone table for a second time.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Elyria said, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him to face her. ¡°She made it into the open, safe and sound. And I¡¯m pretty sure she said she was going to try swimming up. If she finds air great, she will survive. If not, well those tanks have, what four days¡¯ worth of air in them? There¡¯s time to find her. Now, switch the feed over to K3. He¡¯s likely been trying to contact you for a while.¡± Ronin took a deep breath, again, and nodded. She was right, Dandelion had plenty of air, and her bag contained several crystal cores. Enough to last her until her air ran out, at least. They had time, and he had a job to do.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said, nodding and taking another breath. ¡°Alright¡­ you¡¯re right.¡± He said, smiling at Elyria, who was still holding him by the shoulders. She seemed to realize their proximity at that moment as well, because she let go of him and stepped back, clearing her throat.


    ¡°Good, then. I, ah¡­ I¡¯m glad to hear it. Now, Call K3.¡± She said awkwardly, earning a silent smirk from Jaya, who¡¯d not moved throughout the whole incident. She¡¯d just stood by, watching Ronin¡¯s back quietly. Ronin frowned as he looked at her, wondering if he¡¯d been saddled with another babysitter without his ever noticing. He shrugged; not like he could make her go away if she had been. For being ¡®in charge¡¯ his people sure did tend to ignore his orders often enough. Besides, the silent woman was beyond competent.


    Walking back to the table, Ronin sat down in front of the laptop and flipped through the point of views until he found K3¡¯s. The kaldarr had climbed out of the underwater tunnel and was now walking toward the ship. Ronin changed comm channels until he picked up the giant¡¯s line and listened in to what they were talking about inside the hangar.


    ¡°¡­thing is huge,¡± Jack was saying. ¡°How is it possible that something that big was hidden under our noses all this time? I mean, just how big is this thing...¡±


    ¡°The individual ships are a mile cubed.¡± Leo said, walking along at the kaldarr¡¯s side. ¡°Each of the fourteen ships have six sides. Each side is exactly one square mile. With the top ship gone, that means there are thirteen ships left. There should be nine on the bottom layer, and four on the second layer up¡­ I don¡¯t know how it¡¯s possible we missed this pre fall. This cavern is huge, easily big enough to fit this ship with a mile to spare on, well this side anyway. It shouldn¡¯t have been possible to hide this.¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that ship is two miles tall¡­ and it¡¯s missing its top layer? We¡¯re underground here man. How can it be two miles tall? This is insane¡­ Why are there fourteen cubes like that? What¡¯s different about them?¡± Jack continued, earning a disapproving glare from Karr, but Leo answered him anyway.


    ¡°All fourteen are identical.¡± He said, shrugging thick shoulders as he continued to walk towards the ship. ¡°Each one is space capable all on its own, but they can move faster when they work together. I¡¯ve read about as many as twenty-seven cubes flying together in a giant cube formation with other ships before. Of course, this was millions of years ago, back when the lizards were actively confronting known opposition. In later years, once they¡¯d conquered most of the inner galaxy, they spread out into groups of fourteen. Enough to provide support to each other, without tying too much of their numbers up in exploration units.¡±


    ¡°How do you know so much about this stuff?¡± Jack asked, looking over at Leo, ¡°you don¡¯t look like a bookwor¡­ I mean, that¡¯s valuable information to have.¡± He backpedaled very quickly when Leo let out a low growl, showing his teeth to the talkative soldier. Ronin smirked, stress for Dandelion momentarily suppressed thanks to Jack¡¯s foolish antics. He didn¡¯t know if he disliked the man or not, but he was easily able to pick him out of Karr¡¯s squad thanks to his inability to keep his mouth shut.


    ¡°Stow the chatter,¡± K3 said once Jack had been silenced. ¡°Lord Ronin needs to know if there¡¯s another way out of here or not. Stone, Whisper, did you bring any drones with you?¡± He asked the two smallest members of the group. The camera angle shifted, as the kaldarr turned around to look at the two goblin scouts. Each held a small remote controller in their second pair of hands, under their rifles, which were held ready in their main arms. Ronin blinked, having forgotten they even had those. Thanks to the gryphons Leo had lent them, they hadn¡¯t actually climbed a tree under their own power, at least not that Ronin remembered.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Stone said, giving him a sloppy salute, and earning a sideways glare from Whisper. Ronin grinned at the goblin¡¯s antics. She was a lot like Jack, in the fact she was laxer with discipline and liked to crack jokes. Strangely, Ronin didn¡¯t find it annoying when she did it. ¡°We each got a pair of these bad boys from the Doc. And I¡¯m pretty sure they fly faster than we can run. Want us to let them out and see what¡¯s out there?¡± As she spoke, she pulled a sealed case off her back, flipping open the lid to reveal a pair of drones that weren¡¯t much smaller than a crystal tree seed. Something like the size of a pre fall football.


    ¡°Do it,¡± K3 nodded, causing the camera¡¯s view to bounce. ¡°Any word from Dandelion yet?¡± He asked next, turning towards K6 who was walking at the head of her reduced team.


    ¡°Negative sir,¡± K6 said coming to attention with her hand pressed over her chest. The four remaining members of her team did the same behind her. ¡°If she contacts me, I will inform you sir.¡± She added, waiting for the older kaldarr to nod before releasing the pose.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ronin said, figuring he should have contacted K3 with the news already. ¡°K3, this is Ronin, can you hear me?¡± He asked into his comm and watched as the kaldarr put his hand to his earpiece.


    ¡°My lord, I can hear you. Do you have any additional orders for us?¡± He asked without preamble.


    ¡°No soldier,¡± Ronin said with a smile for the man¡¯s professionalism in the field. ¡°I just wanted to let you know that Dandelion got swept through the cavern and into another tunnel. She made it out into another large open space before the connection was broken. She¡¯s still alive, so we¡¯ll have to go after her, but we need to find a way for the ship to come down first.¡±


    ¡°Understood my lord.¡± K3 said, turning to address his people. ¡°Dandelion got pushed through the cavern to somewhere new. We need to complete our mission before we can attempt a rescue, so let¡¯s kick it into high gear people. Two teams, around the outer wall, drop anything that¡¯s going to weigh you down and haul it as fast as you can go. I want to know the second you find another exit to this place. Now move.¡± Once everyone, except for Leo had dropped their equipment and rushed off into the blackness of the hangar, K3 put his hand back to his earpiece. ¡°Don¡¯t worry boss, we¡¯ll hurry. I know you have a soft spot for the elf girl.¡±


    Having finished speaking, K3 and Leo exchanged wicked grins, before tearing off in opposite directions. Likely in a race to see who could reach the other side first. Ronin knew K3 was fast, but he was weighted down with armor that Leo didn¡¯t have. Not to mention how Leo could lope along like a dang rabbit. He didn¡¯t see his friend winning this competition, still it was nice to see the fighting spirit in both men.


    ¡°See, everyone knows what they need to do. Now, go fix the hands on your suit. You bent the fingers when you clenched your fists earlier.¡± Elyria said, shooing him away from the computer. ¡°Once you finish with that, I think another spar with Jaya is in order. That ought to give K3 and Leo enough time to find what Owl Two needs¡­ Go on now,¡± she shooed him until he moved, then turned to Jaya. ¡°Take care of him, will you?¡± When Jaya replied with a thumbs up, she nodded and flew from the room without another word.


    ¡°Where¡¯s she off too?¡± Ronin wondered out loud, knowing no one would answer. He sighed, thinking about how crazy the last hour had been. He¡¯d broken his elbow, learned his parents were dead, found the lizard ship, and watched one of his people get flushed away. He inspected the hands of his suit. Not seeing any real damage. Still, he decided to change the parts anyway. It wouldn¡¯t have been worth the argument with the elf if he didn¡¯t. Besides, Jaya wouldn¡¯t let him get out of his sparring session no matter what. So, it seemed smarter to drag it out as long as he could by working on the suit.


    Ronin spent the next two hours immersed in a mix of equipment upkeep, sparring, and sitting in the med unit. He¡¯d needed the break from the stress of leadership more than he¡¯d realized. He knew it was bad when he preferred getting his body broken by the vicious Jaya, and then having it put back together again by a bunch of syringe-tipped tentacles over dealing with his responsibilities.


    Several hours later, he was seated in front of the monitor, watching K3¡¯s team search the empty hangar for an exit that didn¡¯t appear to be there. He¡¯d replaced every part that had even minor damage on both his, and Jaya¡¯s suits, had three sparring sessions, and spent an equal number of times getting put back together again in the medical unit. It had been long enough by now, he was starting to feel like he was wasting time, rather than decompressing. Thankfully, that was when Elyria flew back. She was flying as fast as Ronin ever remembered, and the grin on her face had him wondering what could have happened.


    ¡°We found her.¡± She said, crashing into Ronin at near full speed, taking him to the floor under her still grinning weight.


    ¡°Ugh, dang Elyria, give me a warning next ti¡­ Wait, what. Did you say you found her?¡± He asked, irritation at being bowled to the ground now completely forgotten. ¡°You mean Dandelion right, you really found her?¡±


    ¡°Calm down, White Flame.¡± Elyria said with a chuckle that was borderline giggle, and a finger to his lips. ¡°Yes, we found her.¡± She said, climbing off him and seating herself in his now open chair. ¡°I asked Mycroft if there was any way to track her. Since I figured she had tracking devices in all her equipment. Turns out she did. Though her laptop wasn¡¯t strong enough to pierce all the stone¡­ I mean, clearly since its right there.¡± She added, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. ¡°But the old Priest was nearby, and he has that whole room dedicated to surveillance equipment. So, he was able to find her¡­ you¡¯ll never believe where she was. Go ahead, guess where she was.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, just tell me already.¡± Ronin said, staring at the grinning elf in wonder, starting to feel a little giddy now that she¡¯d returned with good news.


    ¡°That tunnel spit her out into the nearby lake¡­ you know, the lake just outside the mining town¡¯s city limits? The lake that Owl Two parked our dropships in?... yea, that lake. In fact, we already contacted him once we figured it out. He said he couldn¡¯t risk exposing one of the ships to let her back in right now, but he¡¯s been in contact with her already, and will pick her up when he¡¯s ready to launch. Until then, he¡¯s sending your ship down to see if he can force it through the tunnel¡­ isn¡¯t that great?¡± Ronin grinned along, right up until her last sentence.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked, looking at her in disbelief, ¡°why is he using my ship for his test run?¡± His mind jumped to the house that had been built inside the dropship, and the comfortable library that it held.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s not holding anything of value to the mission.¡± Elyria said with a sigh, ¡°we put everything of value in the ships we captured from the human government, remember? Since they had full growth vat tanks and tons of raw materials. Owl two said he¡¯s already swapped his researchers into the bodies of the seven SWAT troops, and they¡¯re hard at work fixing the suits and making arms and armor for the new bodies growing in the vats¡­ I know you¡¯re fond of the library, but it can¡¯t compare to the value of the other ships.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± Ronin said, not wanting to admit she had a point. He couldn¡¯t even ask why they weren¡¯t using the Doctor¡¯s ship, because it was filled with equipment for her crystal body experiments. If humanity had any chance of a future, then it would be because of the work she was doing. ¡°Fine,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°How long until he can get here?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± she said with a shrug. ¡°He isn¡¯t actually on the ship you know; he has to drive it from inside your pocket world, which is in space. Honestly, I don¡¯t know how that even works, but he said it would be touch and go until he proved the concept with the first ship. If it makes it, the next one through will be easier.¡± They talked a little longer about the ship, Dandelion, Owl Two and the lizards. When Ronin finally got around to asking a question he¡¯d been holding back on.


    ¡°Has there been any progress on the project I asked Doctor Mycroft about?¡± He asked as casually as he could, of course, that didn¡¯t mean anything to the perceptive elf. Who scrutinized him closely before answering.


    ¡°There have been a few bites, but nothing has shown itself yet. Now, level with me, why did you want the Priest to invite all the crystalized people on earth to come through the teleporter? And don¡¯t give me that bull story about wanting to save as many people as possible. Oh, I know that¡¯s part of it,¡± she added with a raised hand to forestall any retorts. ¡°But that isn¡¯t why you want them all here. What are you trying to do, White Flame?¡± He looked at her, then at Jaya, who wasn¡¯t even facing them anymore, she¡¯d turned her back to watch the door when Elyria had tackled Ronin. He sighed, wondering if she thought she was giving them privacy.


    ¡°Because¡± he said at last, deciding to just tell the truth. ¡°I want to kill Stanly.¡±


    ¡°So, Mark and Amanda Jones¡­¡±


    ¡°Were my parents, yes,¡± Ronin said. He was still seated on the floor but had sat up. Now, he scooted his back against the stone table to make himself more comfortable. Wrapping his hands around his knees, he continued. ¡°My parents abandoned me when I was ten.¡± He said, not sure if he¡¯d ever told this story before. He probably had, at least, he¡¯d thought about it enough. ¡°They had gotten enough credits to be crystallized and left with Leo to live on the ship. They promised to come back for me when I turned eighteen, but they never did.¡±


    ¡°Gosh, I¡¯m sor¡­¡± Ronin barely heard her speaking, as he continued with his story.


    ¡°They were a team, the four of them. My mom and dad, Leo, and Markus. They¡¯d gone out together as often as they could, saving resources for years to finally be able to afford to go to the ship. Only, they didn¡¯t have enough money for everyone, and Leo was tired of waiting once his wife died. So, Markus stayed behind with his wife, and promised to look after me and Alexander¡­ I waited for years for them to come for me. I think I was twenty-five when I realized they never would. I thought they¡¯d just gotten to live the life they wanted and had forgotten about me.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± Elyria said, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm. ¡°That must have been terribly hard for you.¡±


    ¡°Honestly,¡± he said with a shrug. ¡°It was easier when I thought they¡¯d abandoned me. At least then I didn¡¯t have to feel guilty about hating them for leaving me. But now I know they died to Stanly, something that couldn¡¯t have been too long after they¡¯d left¡­ They were dead the whole time, and I never knew it¡­ it¡¯s strange, but even though I know they¡¯ve been gone over twenty-five years now. It still feels like I just lost them today.¡±


    They sat in silence after that, neither of them speaking. Jaya hadn¡¯t moved from her spot near the door, so it was easy to pretend they were alone in the room. Ronin just sat there, staring off into space, Elyria now seated beside him, hand on his arm. He wasn¡¯t sure how long that moment lasted, but it was broken by a comms call.


    ¡°Boss, it¡¯s K3.¡± He lifted his hand to his ear to both push the earpiece further to hear better, and to indicate to Elyria that he was getting a call.


    ¡°Go ahead K3, what do you have for me?¡± Ronin asked, getting a nod from Elyria, telling him she¡¯d understood. They swiveled around together to look at the monitor that was still showing K3¡¯s point of view. Elyria reached out and pressed a button.


    ¡°Sorry boss,¡± he heard both from his earpiece and the laptop. ¡°But there isn¡¯t another way out of here. We¡¯ve been searching for hours. Both on foot and by drone. It¡¯s like they dug out this giant square to put their ship in, and then buried it again before they left. Apart from the tunnel we came in through¡­ I¡¯m sorry boss. We¡¯ll keep looking, but I wouldn¡¯t get my hopes up.¡± Cursing himself for a fool, Ronin only just then realized he hadn¡¯t told K3 Dandelion was safe and Owl Two was even now trying to find his way down through the tunnel leading out into the lake.


    He supposed he shouldn¡¯t blame himself too much, he¡¯d only just found out, and he¡¯d had a lot on his mind. Still, letting his people search in ignorance like that had been cruel. Reaching up for his earpiece, Ronin was prepared to apologize to his friend when Elyria got their first.


    ¡°Good news big guy,¡± She said speaking into the laptop¡¯s microphone. ¡°We just got word from the surface. You know that tunnel Dandelion got sucked through? Well, turns out¡­¡± Ronin listened as she told K3 all about it. Not leaving any room for Ronin to say anything. Sitting back, Ronin smiled at the elf¡¯s back. She could be a real pain sometimes, but she¡¯d always been there when he needed her. Ronin hoped he¡¯d be able to return the favor one day.


    Shifting his attention to the screen, he saw K3 and the team packing it up to come back out, and his smile grew. They¡¯d found the ship; they¡¯d found a possible way in. He¡¯d taken steps to save more people, and he was one step closer to getting off the planet. His smile turned feral when he thought about Stanly. If he was still on earth, he¡¯d make the man pay for what he¡¯d done. If he¡¯d already left¡­ well, he¡¯d have a spaceship of his own, soon enough.

 Chapter eighty-four

    Lily


    Lily coughed violently, as the whirlwind of dust the explosion kicked up entered her lungs. She couldn¡¯t breathe, thanks to all the dust in the air, neither could she see anything. She could hear though, and the crunching sound of giant metal boots on rubble got through just fine. Fighting through her stinging eyes and closed throat, she forced herself to move. Crawling forward with the still limp body of Andessa cradled between herself and Tupelo. The man was strong, for a wood elf, but that didn¡¯t help much when they had to drag several hundred pounds of unconscious, armored, bugbear through a rubble strewn cave.


    ¡°Get a move on,¡± Staz said, appearing out of nowhere and scooping Andessa up in the arm not busy holding Unyielding Oak. ¡°Grab on, we¡¯re running out of time.¡± Lily wrapped her arms around the giant¡¯s arm, he waited a second, presumably to let Tupelo latch onto his other arm. A second in which the Anthropos knights opened fire into the cave. Thankfully, the destroyed trucks were between where they¡¯d reached and the new entrance, now blown into the cave wall. Lily looked back as the oni dragged them forward, and as her eyes disappeared below the level of the floor, she saw several knight silhouettes, backlit by the sunlight streaming in from outside, as they fired the rifles Lily hadn¡¯t even known they¡¯d had at them. No sooner had they dropped below the level of the floor, than the stairwell, hidden below the workbench, closed.


    ¡°That won¡¯t fool them for long, we need to hurry.¡± Staz said, and Lily noticed for the first time Rachel and Robert were also clinging to the giant, arms and legs wrapped around his legs, like children riding their father¡¯s shoe. He didn¡¯t wait for them to disentangle themselves, instead the oni rushed down the tunnel, with all six of them hanging off his limbs. Owl Two was right in front of them, leading the way. Lily didn¡¯t know how he was able to move at all, let alone run, with all the holes that now littered his body. He looked like one of Benjamin¡¯s target dummies, after a long day of practice.


    They ran through the complex, once again ignoring all the closed doors, until they reached the vat room. Staz¡¯s boots sounded like thunder, as the noise they made ricocheted off the filled glass vats. This place still gave Lily the creeps, but at least she wasn¡¯t alone, Rachel and Robert were cursing quietly, talking to each other in hushed tones as they took in the embryo filled tanks. She could sympathize, but now hardly seemed like the best time for moral outrage to Lily. They could damn well wait to dish out moral justice on the android until after his vat grown soldiers saved them from the invaders. Clearing the final doorway, they entered the laboratory where Lily listened to Owl Two finish his conversation with the White Flame. To find over seventy-mark VIII¡¯s pointed at them.


    The yokai quickly pointed the railguns away from them as they cleared a path through the group, closing ranks around them as they came to a stop next to the table. The Oni gently set them all down as Lily took in the yokai. There were several types represented here, oni, kaldarr, hobgoblin, human and even a few wood elf hybrids. Not to mention the pure-blooded hobgoblins, wood elves and a handful of bugbear women from her old clan. Each, armored in thick body armor, and holding a mark VIII.


    The Mark VIII was bulkier, heavier, less powerful, and held fewer rounds than the mark V. The only advantage to the railgun was the fact Owl Two could produce large quantities of them cheaply. At least, compared to the more advanced mark V. They were ludicrously material intensive compared to one of the original modified kaldarr rifles they¡¯d wielded back in the day.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just received word from the seven technologist I sent over earlier.¡± Owl Two said, raising his voice to be heard by everyone present. ¡°They are ready to begin growing the bodies for you all. Before you go, I would like to remind you when you arrive, the situation will likely be dire. So, eat all the pink fluid you can, and be ready to go directly into combat. Any questions?¡± He didn¡¯t even wait for anyone to respond, before continuing. ¡°Good, off you go then, good luck, and keep our lord safe.¡± With those final words, thirty-six of those present faded from view to the gasped astonishment of Rachel and Robert.


    ¡°What the¡­ what just happened?¡± Rachel asked, looking around wildly. She might not have bothered speaking at all, for all the attention the yokai paid to her.


    ¡°K2,¡± Owl Two said next, waiting for the eight-foot tall, nanite enhanced Kaldarr to jog over before he continued speaking. ¡°I have an hour to flush all the dropships and get my core into lord Ronin¡¯s hands. After that, the backup power will fade, and this world will irrevocably change. I¡¯d hoped to do a test flight with one of the least valuable ships, but it can¡¯t be helped now. I¡¯ll have to get it right on the first try¡­ point is, I need you and yokai teams ten through fifteen to buy me that hour. The enemy is strong, so your best bet will be to get them lost in the labs and keep them busy, rather than attack directly. Remember, you don¡¯t have to kill them, only delay them an hour. Understood?¡± He asked, eyeing K2 through a cracked visor, that exposed gears, wires, and only one red light, blinking in and out at around where a human¡¯s left eye would be. The other side was damaged beyond repair, with several holes smashed through his visor where his right eye might have been.


    ¡°Understood, Owl Two. For the White Flame,¡± K2 said, crashing his fist into his chest. The move was mirrored by the remaining yokai teams, and the words, ¡®For the White Flame¡¯ echoed through the room. Then, they all gathered up their rifles and filed out from the door Lily¡¯s group had just entered from. Turning to the remaining yokai, the ones who¡¯d stayed behind before. Owl Two addressed them as well.


    ¡°Go to all the hidden laboratories and set the self-destructs. We can¡¯t afford to let any of our more creative experiments fall into anyone else¡¯s hands.¡± Lily wondered what the android had been doing down here that was so bad he didn¡¯t want anyone uncovering it, then decided she really didn¡¯t want to know. ¡°Set the timers for an hour from now. If it takes me longer than that to finish my mission than we¡¯ve already failed anyway.¡± Finally, as the yokai filed out of the room to follow their orders, he turned to Staz and Unyielding Oak, who was now awake, if still recovering.


    ¡°Here,¡± he said, handing Staz a tablet from the table after he¡¯d keyed a code into the touch panel. ¡°I¡¯ve unlocked this device for anyone to use. It will only last for an hour before going dead. There is a list of items and a map of the complex in there, I need you to collect them, and hold them for our lord¡¯s return. The most important things are going to be the fabrication unit, and our lords pod I left attached to it, the locust queen, and the armored suits we just captured. The other items will be useful, but are not worth sacrificing any of those three for, understand?¡± Lily frowned and couldn¡¯t hold back the question that bubbled up to her lips.


    ¡°Why are the suits so important? We only just met the Anthropos knights, and the White Flame won¡¯t have ever seen them before.¡±


    ¡°Because lord Ronin has been wearing a very similar suit on the outside,¡± Owl Two answered, turning to her. ¡°He¡¯s gotten used to fighting in one, and he will be much safer in one of the Anthropos knight suits than outside of it. Since, he is still needed if we¡¯re to save this world.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s wearing something similar to them, and they showed up here just in time for you to collect a few for him? That seems a little too convenient, doesn¡¯t it?¡± She asked, not being able to hold back, and trying to distract herself from the gunfire already drifting down from above.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Owl Two said simply. ¡°This world is a reflection of lord Ronin¡¯s will. He may not understand yet, or how to consciously use his will to affect changes here, but his unconscious can manage just fine. He wanted armored suits, so they came. It was just our poor luck how they ended up getting here.¡± Lily stared at Owl two, and she wasn¡¯t the only one either, everyone in the room was staring at that revelation.


    ¡°Are you telling me, that the entire reason our home is being destroyed right now, is that spoiled White Flame wanted a new toy?¡± Rachel shrieked, gripping her hair by the roots, and clearly having a hard time holding herself back from pulling it out by the handful.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have mattered.¡± Owl Two said with a dismissive wave. ¡°This world will end in an hour, along with much of lord Ronin¡¯s influence over it. When it restarts again, it will be different, and any influence lord Ronin wishes to have over the new world will have to be hard won from the enemies who are coming.¡± He raised a hand which was missing two fingers and part of a palm to interrupt the torrent of questions that were now flooding towards him from all those who were left.


    ¡°Enough, you will find out in an hour. Now, go and get the things on that list. When you¡¯re done, follow the map to the secret escape tunnel below the compound. Once inside get as far away from here as you can. I have things to do, and I can¡¯t be distracted anymore from them.¡± After that, it was like the android had turned his ability to hear off, because no matter what anyone said or did to him, all the machine did was tap furiously away at the tablet that remained on the table.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Staz said handing the tablet to Unyielding Oak, who promptly dropped it. It looked like her broken arm wasn¡¯t done healing yet.


    ¡°Let me,¡± Lily said, grabbing the tablet and looking at the map with its location markers. ¡°Wow, the android got a lot done in the last ten years.¡± She muttered, scrolling around until she found the fabricator in a room three levels below. ¡°There it is, looks like we have to head back two rooms over from the vat room and through a stairwell hidden in that room¡­ what?¡± She asked, when she¡¯d lifted her head to find everyone staring at her, well, everyone but Andessa, who was still asleep.


    ¡°You took to that tablet quickly enough,¡± Rachel said, suspicion clear in her voice. ¡°How did you know how to find it so quickly?¡± Lily scowled at the young woman, wondering why Owl Two had saved them at all for a moment, before her face flushed with shame, and she remembered that until just a little while ago, she¡¯d have thought the same thing. Glancing at Robert, she saw similar suspicion in his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you two.¡± Lily said spontaneously, looking at the hate written all across the faces of the younger generation. Hate she¡¯d done more than her fair share of instilling in them while they were young.


    ¡°For what?¡± Rachel asked, eyeing her angrily. ¡°Are you admitting to betraying Undercity right now? Because I swear¡­¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my personal hatred, and that of the queen led our entire city to the state we¡¯re now in. I¡¯m sorry that you all hate the syndicate so much because of us. Despite how it was the White Flame who saved all our lives and promised us the Undercity, and Owl Two who maintained that promise, even after we¡¯d turned away.¡±


    ¡°As touching as your revelation is, traitor, it¡¯s ten years too late to do you any good now. So, if you¡¯re going to lead with that tablet, get a move on, because we¡¯re running out of time.¡± Unyielding Oak said, staggering to her feet. ¡°Thanks,¡± she added to Staz, who¡¯d produced a walking stick from the storage ring and handed it to her.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Lily said with a nod. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to you two as well, I know my behavior has been inexcusable¡­¡± She trailed off at the glare the wood elf sent her and clearing her throat she continued. ¡°It¡¯s this way, come on now, let¡¯s go.¡± Even as she led the way out of the room, Lily¡¯s mind was firmly settled on her lover and their two children. She didn¡¯t know Hunter had been planning on bringing their troops up to blockade the tunnel before she¡¯d come here. Had Halikor been drafted into the blockading force? Who was watching her kids? She didn¡¯t know if she could take losing another child, the pain might tear her apart from the inside out. She took a steadying breath and kept walking. She¡¯d never survive the trip to the tunnel, so all she could do was follow Owl Two¡¯s instructions and help prepare for the White Flame¡¯s return.


    ¡°Is this it?¡± She asked, some twenty minutes later, after they¡¯d crawled down two hidden stairwells, and between two floors of technological wonders, and biological horrors she¡¯d just as soon she¡¯d never seen at all. They were standing in what looked like an engine room, with the stripped-down drop pod at its center. The teardrop shape it had once held was gone, stripped away with five of the six pods and all the armor. Now it looked like a giant battery, with the fabricator and its various tanks of materials resting beside it, with one lone pod still bolted into place on the other side.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Staz said, placing his hand on the drop pod, and frowning when it failed to disappear. ¡°Damn, the material tanks must have too much in them. The ring won¡¯t let me take the unit until I drop some weight. Or rather, if I take anymore, it will break my finger under the weight.¡± He corrected with a grim chuckle. ¡°Hold on a moment.¡± Backtracking into an empty room nearby, the giant began pulling random junk from thin air.


    Lily watched, along with Andessa, Tupelo, Robert, and Rachel, as the giant worked. Producing first the three four wheeled bikes, before taking the weapons and the robot crates from them. Next, a stack of stone carver rat alloy ingots rained down into three piles. Each pile contained a stack of ingots at various levels of refinement. The metal was refined by feeding the raw ore to the rats, they¡¯d assimilate the metals into their armor, and it was naturally refined. To refine it further, the rat would be killed, and the metal armor would be fed to another rat, who would refine it more, while adding it to their own armor. Lily blinked at the massive pile of many times refined metal. She¡¯d worked closely with Vasylia for years and knew that what she was looking at was a mountain of wealth. The three piles were divided by quality of metal, and even the worst pile had been refined no less than three times. Something the Undercity smiths could only dream about since they¡¯d kicked the syndicate out.


    ¡°Damn, I really don¡¯t want to leave this, especially now that I¡¯ll have the fabricator.¡± She heard Staz muttering, before a small hill of weapons and armor appeared. Much of it was locust lamellar, but there were examples of all types of weapons and armor visible in the pile as well. ¡°Sorry boss, but you¡¯ll need this ore to improve those suits, more than you¡¯ll need that armor gallery.¡± Lily blinked, realizing that it wasn¡¯t only Guts who¡¯d been collecting armor for the White Flame. The mountain of ingots disappeared again and was replaced by two trucks, almost identical to the pair they¡¯d driven through the wall. Then, they were followed by a third, and this one surprised Lily since it was Ronin¡¯s personal armored truck.


    ¡°I guess with the trucks gone, I don¡¯t need this ammo anymore either," Staz grumbled, now dropping several crates of large rounds, specially crafted for the truck¡¯s heavy tank gun. ¡°What a waste, still, might as well make the best out of it.¡± Having finished speaking, a pair of stone carver rats appeared, surrounded by several smaller versions of themselves. Who all began eating their way through the piles of weapons and armor, as Staz moved back to the stripped-down drop pod to try again.


    ¡°Are you carrying around an entire litter of stone carver rats in your ring?¡± Robert asked with surprise as the rats chewed through the refined metal arms and armor faster than one could believe possible before seeing the beasts at work.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Staz said, as the drop pod disappeared, taking a huge chunk of the room with it. ¡°Wow, that explains it, didn¡¯t realize all that was raw material¡­ need to drop some more stuff.¡± Staz muttered as he moved back into the empty room, rubbing his hand the whole time, to drop more random gear on the floor. ¡°How else are we supposed to feed the fabricator with the best alloys we can get our hands on? Owl Two modified generations of these things until he arrived at these two, their chock full of nanites, and should live forever, ready to eat through whatever we give them and grow. Their kids, who nibble at their armor, their version of breast feeding, will be harvested for their metal.¡± He smiled, clearly impressed with the genetic manipulations that had changed the rats from racoon sized beasts into these horse sized monsters.


    ¡°That¡¯s barbaric.¡± Rachel said, spitting to the side. ¡°How can you live with yourself, knowing every single member of the syndicate, apart from those at the very top, were bred to be your servants?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty rich, coming from someone wearing stone carver alloy armor.¡± Unyielding Oak said, jabbing her walking stick into Rachel¡¯s chest plate. ¡°You¡¯re no different from my ungrateful kin, happy to supp from the table that the blood and sacrifice of others prepared for you, all the while cursing the methods that put that meal before you. Like eating the fruits of our labor, while condemning us as sinners, somehow makes you better than those who came before¡­ I don¡¯t know why Owl Two saved you, but if you don¡¯t shut up, I¡¯ll teach you a lesson in respect that you won¡¯t live long enough to appreciate.¡±


    ¡°Who do you thin¡­¡± Rachel snapped, before a green hand covered her mouth, and Lily¡¯s sharp ears caught the words Robert whispered into her ear.


    ¡°You saw the recordings, same as I did Rach. Unyielding Oak slaughtered hundreds of hobgoblins in the attack on Undercity. Even injured you¡¯re no match, so shut up, and let¡¯s try and live through the day. If we¡¯re still alive tomorrow then you can get yourself killed, while leaving me out of it.¡± Unyielding Oak smirked, clearly having heard as well, but didn¡¯t respond as the human woman settled back down.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said, words coming out barely above a whisper. ¡°But what are we supposed to do now?¡± She asked, clearly fear had been driving most of her criticisms.


    ¡°I can¡¯t store anymore,¡± Staz said, now standing in front of a mountain of abandoned gear the oni had likely been stockpiling for years. Among the mountain of cast offs, Lily saw a massive pile of hobat fur, there must have been two hundred pelts in that pile. They¡¯d have been worth a fortune in Undercity, and she wondered how long the oni had planned to hold them before cashing in on the ever-increasing demand as the stock from the battle slowly dried up. She also spotted several corpses, two of which belonged to the pair of knights who¡¯d killed themselves. Others, she didn¡¯t look too closely at, fearing she might recognize them. ¡°There were ten years¡¯ worth of stockpiled materials in this room, and it weighs a lot. Is there anything light enough on the list that makes it worth going for, but still get to the escape tunnel before our hour is up?¡±


    Lily looked over the map again, seeing several interesting things listed, like genetically modified tyrannosaurus rex eggs, the description on them made her long to hatch one for herself, but they were too far away, and since the map updated in real time, she could tell the path to them was cut off by the fighting already. The tablet was keeping a tally of the fight in the margins, so far K2 and the yokai teams had managed to kill three of the armored knights, at the cost of eleven of their own.


    ¡°No, nothing worth risking our lives over anyway. let¡¯s get to the tunnel¡­ come on, it¡¯s this way.¡± It took them ten minutes to reach the escape tunnel, hidden cleverly behind a row of growth vats. The creatures growing in these did not look humanoid at all. In fact, they almost looked like thorn covered octopuses, with syringe tipped tentacles and multicolored sacks covering their body. Lily shuddered, wondering what kind of mind was twisted enough to dream up a nightmare like that, as she told Staz were to push to move them out of the way.


    ¡°Smart hiding place,¡± Robert, who¡¯d been mostly silent up until now said. ¡°The devilfish are so unnerving that anyone coming by this way would be too busy staring into the tanks to notice the hidden entrance to the tunnel. I imagine my mother could have found it, but very few besides her would have the skills.¡± Lily saw Unyielding Oak smirking at the momma¡¯s boy, but she wasn¡¯t so sure he wasn¡¯t right. Owl Five was one of the single most deadly people she¡¯d ever met. She¡¯d assassinated several thorns in her lord¡¯s side, and disposed of the bodies before he¡¯d ever even realized they posed a threat. Lily doubted Eric would have had the guts to launch his coup attempt if she¡¯d stayed behind all those years ago.


    ¡°Stop daydreaming and get in the tunnel,¡± Unyielding Oak snapped, giving her a jab with her stick. Tupelo moved to interpose himself between them, but Lily held him back. He was a wood elf, one who¡¯d seen several centuries of life, which meant he¡¯d known Unyielding Oak when she was still known as Petal dancer. Lily didn¡¯t want to be the cause of friction between two of the oldest living beings to survive the locust war on the middle continent.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said, shooing her bodyguard, who¡¯d been fiercely loyal to her, ever since she¡¯d stopped Owl Two from killing them after Eric and Andona¡¯s coup had failed. ¡°Just help Andessa along.¡± She added, looking at the shaggy bugbear, who¡¯d regained consciousness, but must have taken a blow to the head during the crash, because she was having a hard time focusing and walking straight.


    ¡°Let me see the tablet,¡± Robert said, once they¡¯d been running down the tunnel for five minutes. ¡°I¡¯d like to check on Undercity.¡± Looking at the goblin, who¡¯d reached an equivalent age of thirty in the ten years he¡¯d been alive, Lily sighed. Wishing things hadn¡¯t turned out the way they had, because if he had been given nanites, he could have expected to live much longer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± she said at last, pulling up the camera feeds from the tunnel. What she saw caused her to stumble, and she¡¯d have fallen, if it wasn¡¯t for Staz, who was bringing up the rear, in case they were followed. His bulk and toughness would take a bullet much better than any of them would.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, what¡¯s happening down there?¡± Robert asked, reaching for the tablet, before Lily snatched it away and switched the feed over to Owl two, still typing madly away on the tablet.


    ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s fine.¡± She said, not wanting the goblin to see the massacre that was taking place in the tunnels to Undercity. The Anthropos knights had breached the defensive wall Owl Two had put up, and unlike the syndicate, Undercity hadn¡¯t maintained a standing army. The knights were cutting through their numbers like a scythe through wheat.


    ¡°I want to see what¡¯s happening.¡± He snapped again, making another grab for the tablet that Unyielding Oak blocked with her stick. ¡°Our parents are in that tunnel; our queen is in that tunnel. We have the right to know what¡¯s happening to them.¡±


    ¡°The right?¡± Unyielding Oak asked, huffing a little as she ran due to her injury. ¡°Your girl here admitted it at the end. You came here fully intending to wipe us out, after stealing my kin away with promises of safety. How do you think the elves faired in this? What was left of them, rushing to the tunnel, that¡¯s being overrun by fanatical humans with too much technology and not enough compassion. If they aren¡¯t already dead, then they soon will be. And it¡¯s the Undercity¡¯s fault. So, you can take your rights and shove them up your¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Owl Two¡¯s voice said through the tablet, causing the elf to stop mid insult. ¡°The yokai I¡¯d spread throughout the dropships have reached the planet, and my core has successfully reached Ronin. I hope that naive boy who dreamed of honor and adventure can live up to the responsibility I¡¯ve laid on his shoulders. Because every life sealed inside my core is counting on him now.¡± Lily, and the others had slowed down, coming to a stop as the android spoke. None of them knew what he was talking about, but before they had a chance to ask, he reached out and pressed a button on the tablet, and the world powered down.

 Chapter eighty-five

    ¡°Hey kid,¡± Doctor Mycroft¡¯s voice crackled from his earpiece as Ronin daydreamed about getting his hands on Stanly. He had other things to be worried about, but he couldn¡¯t help coming back to the man who¡¯d killed his parents, either directly or indirectly. ¡°There is trouble in the teleportation room, the Priest wants you to report there, asap.¡± Ronin felt his heart lurch in his chest. Was this it, had he come already?


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way,¡± he said into the earpiece, before excitedly turning to Elyria and Jaya. He was already forcing his body into the armored suit, even before he spoke. ¡°They¡¯re asking for us in the teleportation room.¡± He said, not having any more information to give, nor the desire to do anything other than rush there at full speed.


    Jaya, who was already armored up, reached behind her back, and grabbed the huge gatling gun off its gear harness in response to his words. Elyria, who was also armored, moved over to help Ronin buckle himself into the suit. He¡¯d gotten better at doing it solo, but it still wasn¡¯t something he could do in a hurry.


    ¡°Ready?¡± She asked him, once she¡¯d tightened the last strap, and he¡¯d grabbed his own gatling gun.


    ¡°Ready,¡± he said in response, getting a nod from Jaya, he rushed from the room. Ronin pushed himself to run as fast as he¡¯d ever attempted in the suit before. The surroundings almost blurred at the speeds he was able to reach, and he could feel the ancient stone giving way under his feet. He winced at the thought of what his armored boots were doing to the stone streets, which had survived hundreds of millions of years. He didn¡¯t let that thought slow his stride, however, Stanly might be here, and he was determined to kill that man before he left earth.


    ¡°Slow down,¡± Elyria said, easily keeping pace with him in the air. ¡°You¡¯re going so fast, if you trip, you¡¯re likely to break something, if not yourself, then the suit or the cave. Besides, Jaya can¡¯t keep up.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t slow, her words actually having the opposite effect, and he pushed himself even harder.


    He¡¯d spent almost every waking hour in the suit since he¡¯d been convinced to wear the thing, and his ability to control it had improved by a large margin. He flexed his fingers, feeling the bands wrapped around each joint activate the switches that made the suit mirror the action. He had similar bands at each joint, used to convey his desired movement to the suit. The lag was still very noticeable, but he¡¯d gotten used to feeling the suit react a second behind his movements. Sure, it felt like he was operating in quicksand, while wearing a body covering oven mitt, but Ronin had learned to compensate for that, better than anyone else on his team. Jaya was good, but she still couldn¡¯t manage much more than a fast walk without falling.


    ¡°No time,¡± he said in response to Elyria¡¯s request. ¡°If he¡¯s here, I need to get to him before someone intervenes.¡± The jarring impact of his feet on stone was shaking his balance, and he could feel as well as hear the sound of stones breaking under the suit¡¯s armored weight.


    ¡°And what if he isn¡¯t there?¡± Elyria asked the question Ronin was doing his best to not focus on.


    ¡°Either way, there¡¯s trouble. I¡¯m not going to make them wait.¡± The elf snorted, but apparently gave up, because she moved out of his line of sight. Likely hovering over his head with her own Rifle in hand. Rounding the last bend, Ronin saw the doorway that led into the, mostly intact, stone stable the Priests had used as a teleportation chamber. His temper had flared with each step, and as he slammed right through the bark door that had been erected over the entrance, sending splinters everywhere in the process, he looked out through a red haze. In fact, it was all he could do to keep his finger off the trigger to the gatling gun, so ready was he to meet out justice.


    ¡°¡­won¡¯t stand for this, the dwarf''s faction will¡­¡± The speaker, a short, stocky figure with a smith¡¯s apron and a large beard, trailed off as the door shattered. Everyone blinked in shock and ducked as the splinters from the door rained down upon them. Cries of ¡®watch it,¡¯ and ¡®what the hell?¡¯ rang out from the gathered mass of people. Ronin blinked, every bit as surprised at the site that greeted him, as those gathered were at his entrance.


    ¡°Glad you could join us.¡± The Priest said wryly, brushing bits of wood from his Daoist robes. ¡°I have to admit, you made better time getting here than I anticipated. Though, next time, please use the door.¡± Ronin, whose rage had been replaced with confusion, looked around at the gathered people. Who made up a collage of shapes and color, so individually diverse that he couldn¡¯t untangle the mass into individual people for several long seconds. Thanks entirely to his adrenaline-fueled brain.


    ¡°Um,¡± he said dumbly, now looking at the Priest with bewilderment. ¡°What did you need to see me about?¡± His ears flushed at the idiocy of the question, but thankfully his face was hidden by the suit.


    ¡°It occurred to me¡­ after so many people accepted the invitation you asked me to send out¡­¡± The Priest paused, stroking his long white beard, and looking around at the circus. ¡°That, since it was your idea to invite them here, then perhaps it should be your responsibility to take care of them.¡± The thin, hunchbacked old man was surprisingly spry for someone who looked so frail, and he¡¯d skipped around Ronin¡¯s bulky form and was standing outside the doorway by the time he¡¯d finished speaking. ¡°If you need housing, ask one of my under priests, if they cannot behave themselves¡­ well, good luck young man.¡± With that, he was gone.


    Ronin blinked in shock, while Elyria, who was hovering just outside the door, burst into laughter. He couldn¡¯t see her, but he pictured her clearly in his mind anyway. Knees pulled up and arms wrapped around her chest as she cackled at his misfortune. He sighed, looking around at the group that was finally clear enough for him to see.


    There was the dwarf who¡¯d been speaking before, at the head of a small group of five other dwarves. A group of six elves with ridiculously long ears. Not only them, but there were halflings, dragon kin, goblins, and several other species Ronin had once read about in his old fantasy novels. In addition to them, there were a group of forty heavily armored people in futuristic science fiction armor. Twenty of them were in red, while the other twenty wore blue. There had to be dozens of people in here, but not one of them, he noticed with a frustrated grinding of his teeth, was Stanly.


    ¡°Well,¡± the Dwarf said, clearly the spokesperson for the fantasy contingent. ¡°Ye called us here, now, what ya gunna do with me an me comrades?¡± His voice was gruff, and the words were spoken in a near grunt that made it difficult for Ronin to understand them. He¡¯d barely even considered how to reply when another voice popped up.


    ¡°What about us?¡± Asked the only woman in the group of red armored soldiers, or at least, the only woman of normal height, wearing a skimpy, body-hugging skinsuit. Everyone else was over seven feet tall and wearing bulky armor that covered them from head to toe. Each carrying a variety of guns that, at first glance, didn¡¯t even look like real weapons to Ronin. One of them even held a sword that glowed with a strange blue light.


    ¡°Settle down, Cortexa.¡± Said the largest man in red, who stood at the speaking woman¡¯s side. ¡°I¡¯m sure this man will tell us everything we need to know¡­¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t Cortexa,¡± said the nearly identical woman in blue armor. ¡°I¡¯m Cortexa,¡± she turned to the equally large man beside her in blue and grabbed him by the elbow. ¡°Tell them Sergeant major.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Red Cortexa said, grabbing the red man¡¯s elbow. ¡°This is the Sergeant major. If you keep this up, we¡¯re going to have too¡­¡± Ronin watched in bewilderment as the pair of nearly identical women bickered, while the heavily armed and armored people jeered and exchanged rude gestures with one another. It didn¡¯t take long for the dwarves to join the verbal sparring match and before long, everyone was yelling. Ronin honestly didn¡¯t have a clue what he was supposed to do. At least Elyria had stopped laughing, having flown in and was now hovering at his side.


    Just then, he picked up the sound of crashing footsteps, and Jaya plodded through the doorway at his back, just as the teleporter activated again. Blinking, Ronin focused on the device, just as twenty new figures appeared out of nowhere. His mouth went dry, and he staggered back a step.


    ¡°Hands up.¡± He said in a near yell, as he raised the gatling gun to point at the newcomers. Jaya and Elyria doing the same to either side of him. ¡°Don¡¯t make a move for your weapons,¡± he said. ¡°Or we¡¯ll drop you where you stand.¡± He held his breath, hoping this didn¡¯t turn violent, because he already knew how it would end.


    At his move, the fantasy coterie dove to the ground, while both red and blue factions pointed their weapons at him. The blues, after seeing where the reds were aiming, turned around and pointed their guns at the newcomers instead. Ronin would have laughed at how idiotic a decision that was if he wasn¡¯t focused solely on the newcomers himself.


    ¡°Peace,¡± said a man¡¯s voice from inside an armored Exo-suit, that looked very much like Ronin¡¯s. ¡°We come in peace. Please, let¡¯s talk before you decide on anything hasty.¡± Ronin looked at the man, who was waving a white flag on the end of a crystal tree branch. His hands were nowhere near his cannon, neither were the hands of any of the SWAT team standing behind him near their own weapons.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± He asked, hoping against hope that this encounter didn¡¯t come to a fight. His group had only survived the last encounter with a SWAT team because they¡¯d outgunned and out flanked them. As things stood now, Elyria would die within seconds, and they¡¯d be lucky to take down one suit before the enemy destroyed him and Jaya with their cannons.


    ¡°Please,¡± the flag waving man said again, holding his hands away from his chest. ¡°The government ship has gone, the lizards are almost here, and we don¡¯t have anywhere else to go. We won¡¯t cause you any trouble, we just want to die with our own kind, fighting the invaders tell the end. We¡­¡± Ronin listened as the man pled his case. Not sure if letting them in like this was a good idea, but fearing trying to make them leave, and wondering if it was ethical to do so, considering it was certain death outside.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he finally said, after the teleportation pad activated again, showing the arrival of a double handful of incredibly well muscled men and women. Each wearing martial arts uniforms, which were clean, but had been strategically ripped and torn to look used. ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯m going to send my sergeant, Karr, up here soon to take charge of this mess. Work with him to make an attendance list of everyone who comes through the teleporter and help keep order until I figure out what to do with all these people. If you do that, and Karr gives me a positive report, you¡¯ll be welcome in my camp.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± the armor suited man said with a shallow bow that served those in armor as a nod. ¡°We¡¯ll prove ourselves to you¡­ ah?¡± Ronin mentally slapped himself when he realized that he hadn¡¯t introduced himself yet.


    ¡°Sorry, been a long day.¡± He said by way of apology. ¡°I¡¯m Ronin. My people call me the White Flame in my pocket world, but Ronin is fine. And yourself?¡± He asked, feeling awkward for not having thought to ask sooner.


    ¡°Names Ian,¡± he said, reaching out a hand to Ronin. ¡°Staff sergeant Ian Hill. But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t try to pull rank on your sergeant Karr.¡± He said, adding on the last part in a tone that indicated to Ronin that it was intended to be a joke.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Staff sergeant,¡± Ronin said, taking the man¡¯s proffered hand. ¡°And my military ranks work somewhat differently than yours. If you command nineteen men, then your ranks would be about the same.¡± He was a little offended by the comment but felt it would be childish to act that way, so instead he just tried to explain it away. Before he could continue, the pad flashed again, this time depositing a large group of men and women with cat ears and tails, but otherwise looking no different than a regular human. Unless one counted their attire, which would have been right at home in a light novel.


    ¡°We¡¯d better get started with that attendance list soon.¡± He continued, letting go of Ian¡¯s hand. ¡°Otherwise, we¡¯ll¡­¡± his earpiece crackled, causing him to raise a hand to his head, before realizing he was in the suit, and pressing a button inside the suit arm. ¡°Go ahead,¡± he said, motioning for Ian to hold on.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Hey kid, it¡¯s Doctor Mycroft again.¡± The doctor¡¯s voice said, drifting from his earpiece. Bringing with it a strong since of annoyance, over being told to rush here, only to have this responsibility dumped on him. ¡°Look, I heard about what happened from the Priest. Sorry about that, I didn¡¯t think you would rush off like that, destroying the road for a dozen blocks in the process¡­ but this time it really is an emergency. We need you to get to the observation room, right now. We have eyes on space, and it¡¯s happening now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way,¡± Ronin said. Giving Ian a quick apology, he turned and sprinted back out the door. He Tuned out Elyria¡¯s questions altogether, since he didn¡¯t know, and they¡¯d find out soon enough, and the stomping of boots behind him, since he was sure that would be Jaya, doing her best to keep up. He tried to move with more caution this time around, not wanting to destroy any more of the street. That was until he remembered they were leaving this planet soon or dying here. Then he tore off down the road as fast as his body could move the armored suit.


    Ronin finally slowed down when he reached the castle. Well, he supposed they were calling it a temple now, but in either case, he thought it would be too disrespectful to ruin the ancient building. The Priest had asked him to remove it before, but there wasn¡¯t time for that now, so he just moved cautiously.


    He¡¯d been disappointed beyond words when he¡¯d arrived at the teleportation pad to see Stanly hadn¡¯t arrived. Judging by the caliber of those who had, it was likely they were all gatherers. Who hadn¡¯t known anything about the lizards and only joined the hunt to get a free body to come play on earth with. All except for the SWAT team anyway. He frowned at the thought of them. They could be a real problem, or an essential asset, depending on what Ian decided to do. If K3 had been there with Karr and his men, Ronin might have just taken his chances in killing them before they could kill too many of his people, but as it was, he hadn¡¯t stood a chance.


    Reaching the observation room at last, Ronin looked back, shocked to see that Ian had followed him all the way here. Not only had the man kept up with him, but he¡¯d done it so silently Ronin hadn¡¯t even heard him back there. Glancing up at Elyria, he hid a wince at the look she was giving him. Knowing she¡¯d likely tried to tell him about Ian, but he hadn¡¯t been listening.


    ¡°I left my people to do as you instructed.¡± Ian said, clearly knowing what Ronin was thinking, despite not being able to see his face. ¡°I¡¯m aware the Priest doesn¡¯t allow government personnel into the city. This is, and always has been, a safe zone from their rule. I understand that, just like I understand the government is gone. Leaving me, my people, and all of you behind. I also understand the lizards are almost here. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t rock the boat, I¡¯ll stay quiet. But I am responsible for my people. In order to look out for them, I need to understand the landscape, who has the power here, and who will be most likely to ensure my people¡¯s safety. No offense, but I¡¯m aware of the Temple city¡¯s leadership, and I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    Ronin digested that quietly. He hadn¡¯t known Undercity, or Temple city rather, had been a government free zone. But apart from that, the staff sergeant made a good case for his presents. He wouldn¡¯t have blindly trusted his people to the first guy he met either, not without first checking in with those who were in power at any rate.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said after a minute of silence. ¡°I can accept that,¡± and without giving it another thought, Ronin opened the door and walked into the observation room. Glancing around, Ronin took in the room. Once again, being struck by just how much this room reminded him of something he¡¯d seen from a book about NASA. It felt like an auditorium, with its semi-circle of desks, each with a computer of its own, ringing around the multi-tiered room, which had a giant screen covering the far wall. His observation of the room stopped when his eyes met the screen, because it had been frozen on the lizard¡¯s pyramid of cube ships.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here. I paused the feed so Mycroft could call you, so the playback will be a few minutes behind. But since it¡¯s your man on the ship I wanted you to witness this with us. Start the feed playing again, please.¡± The Priest greeted Ronin as he walked through the door, feeling Ian enter just behind him as the screen began to move again.


    The pyramid broke apart, into fourteen individual cubes. One moved towards the beetle ship, one moved towards the moon, while the other twelve split up and made their way towards the planet. More views bloomed into existence on the screen, one focused on each of the fourteen ships, but the main screen focused on the one heading towards the beetle colony ship.


    The cube ship slowed as it reached the beetle ship, launching hundreds of small craft that swarmed from all six sides of the cube. Ronin couldn¡¯t get an exact count, but he assumed there had to be hundreds of them. The tiny craft, at least compared to the cube they came from, were also shaped like cubes. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder what possible reason the ancients had used to create the lizard tech so symmetrically, when the beetles, another of their creations, were all about rounded edges and flowing, living shapes. Were they supposed to contradict one another? He¡¯d have to ask Leo or Mycroft, heck, Owl Two would know by now, he was sure.


    As the cloud of ships ballooned out to encompass the sleek, colony ship, with its wings that made it resemble a beetle, the colony ship launched a cloud of its own. The camera zoomed in, and Ronin saw the beetle dropships were easily twice the size of the lizard¡¯s, and there were far fewer of them. He still counted close to one hundred of them, but even that was more than Ronin expected. Especially considering the government had planned to empty the craft of dropships during the hunt for resources, which turned out to be a ploy to get rid of their competition. At least, that¡¯s the feeling Ronin got since he hadn¡¯t actually spoken with anyone with real authority in the government.


    The ships passed one another in space with what looked to be only feet between them. The lizard¡¯s ships swarmed into the hangars, while the beetle¡¯s ships flew out. Of course, space was so vast it was hard to tell. The camera zoomed out again as the lizard ships disappeared into the beetle ship, and Ronin was shocked to see the lizard¡¯s large cube ship had come up right beside the colony ship now. It was literally a mile on a side, but the ship was dwarfed by the beetle ship. In comparison, it looked like a locust drone, standing next to a queen.


    ¡°That ship is huge,¡± Elyria said, letting out a low whistle beside him. ¡°It¡¯s likely bigger than the pyramid, made of all fourteen lizard ships.¡±


    ¡°The beetle ship was designed to transport everything the species needed to colonize a new world. The lizards only need to kill everything, wherever they go. Since AI fly their ships, and the lizards are beasts of war, vat grown on site to fight, there isn¡¯t a need for massive ships.¡± Doctor Mycroft said, having come to stand beside them without Ronin noticing. Her arms were crossed, and her face was calm, but the four hands on the end of her tentacle arms were nervously smoothing her lab coat.


    Ronin continued to watch as he thought about those words. Did that mean the lizards weren¡¯t really sentient? He wondered if they might be more like trogs than he realized, anger fueled rage monsters bent on killing everything that wasn¡¯t a trog. Jade had said they were remnants of the lizards, or something like that. Not like the airheaded, but friendly beetles, just mindless beasts. He could read about it on the tablet he¡¯d been given, but he supposed he¡¯d be finding out soon enough.


    ¡°What the hell!¡± The words, or a variation of them, were spoken by everyone in the room. Some even ducked for cover, as the colony ship exploded. It took the single cube ship, and all the smaller ships that had boarded, with it. Ronin stared at the screen in shock. The lizards didn¡¯t use explosions like that, his memory was hazy from stress and overwork, but he was sure Mycroft or Leo had told him that. They were designed to capture planets intact, and blowing things up was a direct contradiction to that. So, how¡­


    ¡°Lord Ronin,¡± Owl Two¡¯s image popped into existence in the corner of the screen. The view was only waist up, and it looked, from the background, like he was in his lab. His fingers moved wildly close to the camera¡¯s lens, and Ronin assumed he was filming himself from the tablet¡¯s camera while he worked on the device.


    ¡°Owl Two, what happened up¡­¡± Ronin asked, only to have the android talk right over top of him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lord,¡± he said, never stopping the rapid finger movements. ¡°But as I am sure you failed to notice; this is a recording. I am not actually speaking with you right now, so hold your questions please.¡± Ronin ground his teeth together in fury, but there was a little relief mixed in as well. It was good to see the android again. At least, until he registered just how bad a shape the android was in. His body was riddled with bullet holes, his chest armor all but gone and his helmet was broken. The cracked visor showing a flickering red light where his left eye would have been, but only darkness on the right.


    ¡°I¡¯ve left more detailed recordings with my Xerox. If he survives the descent, then you will be able to access information that has been beyond you for some time. If, however, he doesn¡¯t make it down to you then we¡¯re all dead anyway, so let us hope for a positive outcome.¡± Ronin didn¡¯t react to the words. He¡¯d known this was a do or die mission from the start, Ian and several of the gathered priests weren¡¯t so quiet however, and the Priest had to shush them as they started muttering among themselves. Aurex and Fabius, who Ronin hadn¡¯t noticed before, were particularly vocal.


    ¡°Unfortunately, as you may be able to gather from my appearance, the syndicate is under attack.¡± Owl two continued his message as his badly damaged fingers never stopped dancing across the screen. Ronin saw sparks flashing inside his broken body and winced in sympathy for his damaged friend. ¡°We are being destroyed, but I was able to get through enough of your forces to hopefully make the difference.¡± Ronin had been composed up until he heard his home was being destroyed. Then he panicked, wondering what was happening to his people, who of his friends might already be dead, and cursing himself for not being there to aid them¡­ again.


    ¡°I was able to get Staz, Unyielding oak, Lily, and a few others away in time. With luck you will find them when you get back. I will leave those explanations for my other recordings however, for now that isn¡¯t important. The reason I¡¯m contacting you like this is three-fold. First, I plan to destroy the colony ship, it likely is already gone by this time for you. I would have flushed the dropships, filled with a few surprises for our enemies, and detonated the whole thing, assuming you are watching this. Second, thanks to the attack, and the last-minute crystallization of so many people delaying my plans, I no longer have the time to do a test run into the underwater caves. I¡¯m currently writing a program to help Sam get the ships through, but once again, if that fails, we¡¯re all dead anyway. Thirdly¡­¡± the recording of Owl two stopped talking for a moment, and one of the priests took the opportunity to point at the screen.


    ¡°Elder, look.¡± He said, pointing at a smaller screen that had four dropships coming down in a tight formation, heading right for their location. ¡°It looks like they are aiming right for us. That must be the ships the robot is talking about¡­¡±


    ¡°Forget about that,¡± Aurex snapped, talking over the priest as he glared at Ronin. ¡°What happened to all the people we sent through to your personal realm? I swear if we sent them from one war zone into another just to die, I¡¯ll¡­¡± Owl Two started speaking again, causing even the angry Aurex to shut up and pay attention.


    ¡°Sorry, K2 is delaying our enemies, he¡¯s spending yokai teams faster than we can afford to lose them though, so I sent him some aid.¡± The android¡¯s lifeless tone never wavered as he talked, helping bring Ronin back down to a calmer state, even though he knew the android always spoke that way. ¡°I sent the latest refugees to Andy¡¯s reef. I will tell you that now because I know you will worry about them. They are alive, at least, as long as the plan works, they will live. But thirdly I wanted to say goodbye.¡± Ronin stared at the android, wondering what he was saying. Wouldn¡¯t he be there when Ronin reconnected the pocket world? Or was he closer to death than he looked.


    ¡°You see, I wasn¡¯t entirely honest with you. As Mycroft and Leo have stated before, your pocket world is different than any other. The life forms there are much more advanced than any they¡¯ve ever seen. That is because it isn¡¯t a stasis stone, in the truest sense of the word.¡±


    ¡°I knew it,¡± Mycroft hissed, shaking all of her fists at the screen. ¡°Tell me your secrets you abomination.¡± She all but shouted, making Ronin have to lean forward to hear what the android said next.


    ¡°Your world was formed from the ship¡¯s entire core. I discovered the lizard ship¡¯s approach before the human government did and took steps to find a way to save as many of my passengers as I could. I already knew about the buried lizard ship and decided to use it to facilitate my escape with my passengers. But as an artificial intelligence, I didn¡¯t have the authority to make the decisions. I needed a captain for that. Unfortunately, the captain of the colony ship was permanently killed when I sabotaged the engines to prevent the ship from being stolen. I needed a new captain, so I kept my eye out for a suitable candidate, and I found you. Young, cave raised, gullible, and filled with a righteous desire to be an honorable man.¡±


    Ronin thought he¡¯d experienced all the surprises he was likely too for the day, but he was floored by that revelation. Owl two was the beetle ship¡¯s AI, and he¡¯d been selected as the ship¡¯s captain¡­ because he was, gullible?


    ¡°Well, he has your number and no mistake,¡± Elyria said. Ronin turned his head to her, ready to bite her head off just to settle his own confused anger, but when he did, he noticed she was staring at the screen with as much confusion on her face as he felt. She¡¯d probably not even realized she¡¯d spoken.


    ¡°I have left you enough information to get you going. But the process of combining with the lizard AI core will change me drastically, I will effectively die, and be replaced by¡­ something else. That¡¯s why I needed an honorable captain to command the ship.¡± Owl Two stopped typing then and looked straight into the camera. ¡°I wanted to say goodbye to you in this public forum, to let those around you who harbor ill intentions know, that Ronin is the designated captain of my core. If you are to get off this planet, you will do so at his behest. Kill him, or attempt to leave him behind, and you will all die together. When the incoming ships reach you, there are several technologists, and enough workers on board to rig the ship for flight. But it will take time. I suggest you work together to hold off the enemy until they are done. If you want to leave the planet anyway.¡± Ronin felt that one flickering red orb burn deeply into his soul at the last words Owl Two spoke before the screen went dark. ¡°Goodbye, my lord. It has been an honor.¡±


    The observation room exploded into shouts and angry words as the small window at the bottom of the screen winked out. Ronin, on the other hand, could barely hear them, too focused was he on the place where Owl Two¡¯s image had disappeared. The stakes had been raised, and the penalty for failure now rested squarely on his shoulders.

 Chapter eighty-six

    ¡°What was that about?¡± Aurex asked in a sharp tone, darting forward to grab Ronin by the breastplate. ¡°You¡¯d better start talking while I¡¯m still asking nice.¡± Blinking, Ronin finally looked down from the screen, to see the human sized Aurex holding onto his armor. He was easily two feet shorter than Ronin while in his suit, and no matter how good he thought he was at fighting, without a weapon there was nothing he could do to Ronin inside his armored power suit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± he said dazedly after a moment, not even bothering to respond to the threat. Jaya did though, having arrived in time to catch the tail end of the message, she stepped up to Ronin¡¯s side and slapped Aurex away as easily as one could knock a cat from a table. He tumbled head over heels for a moment before coming back to his feet, cursing, and balling his hands into fists, only to stare straight into the barrel of Ian¡¯s cannon.


    ¡°You heard the robot,¡± Ian said, hands steady as he pointed the weapon, capable of blowing apart an armored suit, at Aurex. ¡°There¡¯s a chance to get off this planet before we¡¯re all killed, but it won¡¯t happen if you antagonize Lord Ronin. So back off unless you want to die here and now.¡± Ronin cast his gaze at Ian¡¯s back, wondering at the sudden shift in the man¡¯s demeanor. Only a minute ago, he¡¯d told Ronin he wanted to get a feel for the landscape before he decided who to back.


    ¡°Look at the screen,¡± Mycroft said pointing upwards. Ronin looked up as the whole thing moved in fast forward, he was confused for only a second, before remembering that it had been paused when he came in. The Doctor must be bringing it back up to the present. Everyone watched, in fascination as the beetle dropships rocketed towards the ground. Each heading for an area of the map that had been marked with a name.


    ¡°They¡¯ve all landed over known human settlements,¡± someone said quietly. The words still carried to everyone, since they had all gone silent as the smaller screens replaced the cube ships with the drop ships. Ronin watched in as much shock as the others as twenty people rushed out of every ship once they¡¯d landed, heading for the entrances of the settlements as the ships lifted off again.


    ¡°I ask again, Dawson,¡± Aurex said only half facing Ronin, as he also looked at the screen. ¡°What is going on here?¡± Ronin didn¡¯t answer, too busy watching as hundreds of yokai swarmed from dozens of ships. Each carrying a giant pack on their back, or dragging sleds loaded down with gear behind them. A few from each ship were even wearing the armored Exo-suits that Ronin himself now favored.


    ¡°Those are Ronin¡¯s forces, brought over by Owl Two¡­ the android in the video.¡± Elyria answered him, as Ronin continued to stare at the screen, still lost in his own thoughts about Owl Two. He¡¯d been the ship¡¯s AI. An epochs old intelligence that had ferried its passengers across the void of space for who knew how long. ¡°If I knew that crafty android at all, I¡¯d bet he took over the colony ship as soon as the government left and has been pumping it dry of every resource, he could squeeze out of it. The yokai teams are most likely there to keep the lizards distracted, while we fix the ship.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they come here then?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°How do you have so many forces? I was limited to only two.¡± Someone else said over the first.


    ¡°Shut up, look at those four ships, they are heading right for us.¡± Doctor Mycroft snapped, taking the room¡¯s attention back off Ronin again, and placing it on the main screen. The screen that now showed an enlarged image of four ships flying in a diamond pattern directly towards their position. The view was taken from space, and as the ships dove down towards the ground, another rose out from the lake, just long enough to open its hatch. Before lowering itself back into the water.


    ¡°What was that, isn¡¯t that one of the four ships you hid in the water earlier? Why did it go out and open like that, do you have more people up there?¡± Fabius asked, speaking for the first time. He had been outspoken at the ball, but now he seemed content to let his son do most of the talking.


    ¡°One of our people got sucked out through an underwater tunnel. We didn¡¯t want to draw attention to ourselves by grabbing her earlier.¡± Elyria said, answering for Ronin again. She was still behind him, using his large body as cover while keeping her rifle ready at hand. ¡°We do have people on board those ships, but if I understood Owl Two correctly, Sam is flying them all with the help of a program he wrote her.¡±


    The water churned, and though Ronin couldn¡¯t see through the reflection the sun was casting on the surface, he imagined the four ships that had been parked just below the surface now submerging themselves deeper into the lake, hunting for the tunnel that would lead them towards the cube ship¡¯s hangar.


    With a huge gush of water, the four descending ships slammed into the lake. Ronin couldn¡¯t hear anything, but it was easy to guess at the racket they were making as the previously still water sloshed over the banks, flooding the surrounding area for what must be close to a mile.


    ¡°Why are they going so fast?¡± Someone new asked, Ronin thought it was one of the several natural humans who¡¯d stayed behind, since they were speaking through a breathing mask, but again, he paid them no mind. Their question was answered a moment later anyway when over two dozen lizard dropships slammed into the water right behind them, flying even faster.


    ¡°Look what you did, fool.¡± Aurex snapped, pushing his way back through the crowd towards Ronin, ignoring the cannon aimed his way, only stopping when Jaya¡¯s suit hand wrapped around his biceps. ¡°You¡¯ve led them right to our door. How will we defend ourselves against that many ships? Let me go, you brute, I¡¯m going to kill that fool¡­ agh.¡± He let out a pained grunt when Jaya, who¡¯d been appointed as Ronin¡¯s bodyguard when K3 was away, gave his trapped arm a squeeze at the threat.


    ¡°Stop this at once Aurex.¡± The old Priest said, appearing out of nowhere to place a hand on Jaya¡¯s mechanical one. ¡°Please, let him go. I will send him away.¡± Jaya didn¡¯t move, only adjusting her other hand¡¯s grip on her gatling gun.


    ¡°Let him go Jaya,¡± Ronin said with a sigh. Just as worried that the ships would follow the beetle ships straight too them. He barely paid attention as his guard let go of Aurex¡¯s arm and the old man ushered him away. Still captivated by the waves, working their way across the lake. ¡°What have we done?¡± He whispered to himself when movement caught his eye.


    The lake water was churning again, and more waves thrashed the sky as roughly half the lizard craft who¡¯d entered the lake flew back out in a rush. They circled once, before settling down near the mine. Ronin frowned, trying to figure out why half of them had left, until he followed Elyria¡¯s pointed finger towards the lake. It was hard to see, until Mycroft zoomed in even further. Yet, once she did, the chunks of broken craft floating on the lake¡¯s surface became clear.


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± Ronin recognized the voice as the minotaur who¡¯d captured his people. He hadn¡¯t seen much of the giant bovine, but he seemed to be one of Aurex¡¯s supporters.


    ¡°Look, there are chunks of beetle ship mixed in with the lizard.¡± One of the natural human priests said, pointing. Sure enough, as the waves settled down again, more smashed chunks of ship were exposed¡­ pearlescent chunks, which were predominantly white in their coloration.


    ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Ronin breathed out, clenching his hands into fists, and only backing off the hold when he felt the gatling gun¡¯s grip groan under the pressure. ¡°That maniacal tin can found a way to destroy my ship after all.¡±


    ¡°White Flame, what about K3 and the others? They were leaving the cave when we got called earlier.¡± Elyria said, panic clear in her voice. Panic that Ronin felt surging through his own veins a moment later, when he thought about his people crawling through the underwater tunnel, with its deadly current, as eight, no, seven now, beetle ships rushed towards them.


    ¡°K3, this is Ronin. Can you hear me?¡± He snapped into his earpiece, only remembering to press the button halfway through the sentence. ¡°K3, this is Ronin. Are you still in the tunnel?¡± He asked, panic clear in his voice. ¡°You must get out. Right now. Owl Two is sending the ships through as we speak, and they aren¡¯t going slowly. Get out of there now, or you risk being washed away.¡± Taking a last look at the screen, which showed a flood of small forms rushing from the dropships and into the mine. Ronin turned to the Priest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have to check on my people, and if the ships make it down safely, I need to consult with my pilot and Xerox. I¡¯ll come back and explain what I can as soon as I¡¯ve made sure that my people are safe.¡± Barely waiting for the bent old man¡¯s nod, Ronin rushed from the room, his three followers hot on his heels.


    Ronin didn¡¯t pay attention to the terrain as he ran, moving on instinct through the crumble down city. His mind was too busy seeing images of Dandelion¡¯s nightmare trip through the tunnel. Images that kept getting overlaid with those of K3, his closest friend, and Leo, Karr, and all the others. He listened for his comms to activate with every step. Waiting for one of his people to answer his calls, but there was only silence. Did that mean they were still underwater, unable to talk? Or was something blocking the signal to them?


    He reached the lake in what felt no time at all, and an eternity at the same time. The water was already agitated, sloshing around in ever larger waves. Ronin didn¡¯t know if that meant the ships were already here, or if it was residual motion from the activity on the surface. His gaze caught then on the ferry ship, bucking wildly against the rope that held it in place, slowly getting dragged further into the deeper waters. The waves crashed over the boats deck, taking everything that wasn¡¯t nailed down with them over the other side, including a few of the sailors.


    It was a flat-bottomed craft, since being underground there was no current or wind to worry about. The crew fought wildly, trying to maintain their balance, while pulling on the rope, desperately trying to get the ship back to shore. Ronin, still worried about his people, cast his gaze down into the waters, now too disturbed to see into, before shouting in frustration and rushing towards the thick rope, still attached to the shore. He didn¡¯t see his people and he couldn¡¯t swim, but he couldn¡¯t just stand there and watch.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Elyria shouted into his ear, as he grabbed onto the guide rope and gave it a few experimental pulls. ¡°You can¡¯t be thinking what it looks like. Are you crazy? You can¡¯t swim remember, and the suit weighs a ton. You don¡¯t even have a breathing mask on, if you¡­ you¡¯re crazy, you know that? Absolutely crazy...¡± Ronin ignored her as he threw himself out over the water, his hand wrapped loosely around the rope. He slid along its length, riding the momentum from his jump. Sliding out like he was riding a glider.


    ¡°Can¡¯t leave them out there.¡± Ronin said, trying to control the fear that was doing its best to climb out his throat. ¡°The waves are getting worse, and that ship wasn¡¯t designed for these waves.¡± He¡¯d slid some twenty feet on momentum alone, but he¡¯d come to a stop now, and was forced to haul himself along, hand over hand. Unfortunately, the rope hadn¡¯t been designed to carry this much weight. Its only function was to span the lake and be pulled on laterally. The further he got from the shore, the farther down the rope sagged, until he found himself underwater up to his waist.


    Slowly, he pulled himself along, dropping further and further into the water as he moved. All the while, the waves surged around him. Elyria, who¡¯d been at his side until a particularly high wave had nearly gotten her wings wet, was now hovering high overhead, shouting down at him with words he could barely hear and did his best to ignore. Water was now everywhere inside his suit, he could feel the drag, slowing his reactions even further, and he worried what would happen if the suit¡¯s batteries got wet. Something he should have considered before he tried this crazy stunt.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The water dropped down, being pulled away like it had been repelled, leaving him hanging some twenty feet above the waves. That was, until the wave came crashing back down on him. The force of the wave battered him around like a kite during a thunderstorm. Thanks to the strength of the suit, Ronin wasn¡¯t worried about letting go, but that didn¡¯t mean the rope would hold. Ronin spluttered, trying to hold his breath as the armor¡¯s chest cavity filled with water. Elyria had been right about him not having a breathing mask, and the water, once inside the suit, didn¡¯t seem to want to leave it again.


    He couldn¡¯t see anymore, and he could barely breathe, as water continued to slosh around inside his armor. Ronin was only able to put one hand in front of the other, and continue to pull himself along, until, after what could have been a few seconds, but felt like a lifetime, he reached something solid. Feeling around, he had a tough time knowing if he¡¯d reached the boat or not. There were no feeling receptors in the suit, so the only way he would be sure if he was touching something was to see it, or to have so much resistance pushing back against him, he could feel it through the suit. Out here, with the water slamming into him, and the boat, if indeed that was what he was holding, bouncing around like it was, he just couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°You¡¯re there, you stupid fool.¡± Elyria screamed into the comm, still in his ear, but barely functioning now that it was completely submerged in water. How had K3¡¯s team been able to use theirs? Maybe they were modified when they got the mask seals changed out, Ronin thought idly, as he forced himself up and onto the boat. Once he was sure he wasn¡¯t going to sink by letting go of the rope, Ronin used one hand to flip a latch on the suit, opening it enough so that the water drained, and he could see again. Looking around through blurry eyes, Ronin found he¡¯d made it to the ship.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± He heard the captain screaming at him. ¡°We need to get out of here, now.¡±


    ¡°Glad to see you too,¡± Ronin grumbled as he gasped for air, ¡°don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯m totally fine.¡± Despite his words, Ronin had already begun hauling on the rope with everything the suit was capable of. Which turned out to be not that much. He cursed as the suit slowed under his hands, each time he grabbed the rope, it seemed to lag further and further behind, until the point he couldn¡¯t make it move at all. Letting go of the rope, lest the suit¡¯s hands get stuck wrapped around it, Ronin tried to unlatch himself the rest of the way.


    ¡°Shit,¡± he shouted when the suit locked up entirely, clearly not having been made to function underwater like that. Straining with everything he had, Ronin tried to move his arms. All he succeeded in doing was breaking the bands that connected his arms to the switches. The suit was a mix of mechanical and digital, the motions he made being relayed through a computer system. Meaning his hand motions weren¡¯t what actually moved the suit. It was the switches that his limbs were strapped to that did the actual movement, and with them dead, the suit was effectively a boat anchor. A saying that hit a little too close to home, when the waves smashed into the ship again, sending him tumbling over backwards and sliding towards the boat¡¯s edge.


    ¡°You damned fool,¡± Elyria said, landing on top of him as another wave crashed into them. Her wings were now thoroughly soaked. ¡°These aren¡¯t our people. They aren¡¯t tied to the ship¡¯s core. What are you doing out here? This is reckless beyond measure.¡± The elf¡¯s hands danced madly across the suit, fingers working latches free, even as she berated him for a fool. Ronin, who hadn¡¯t considered the risks to himself, was now terrified at the sight of her wings. He knew she couldn¡¯t fly when her wings got wet like that, so she¡¯d effectively trapped herself out here with him in order to get him out of the suit.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, when she¡¯d popped the last latch and the suit fell apart around him. Ronin kicked his way out, and hauled himself to his feet, not sparing the dead suit so much as a glance as he grabbed Elyria and dragged her towards the center of the ship, where the remaining crew were straining against the rope. ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t have come down, now you¡¯re stuck out here with me.¡± He said it quietly, but the elf¡¯s keen ears picked up on the words, and he felt her punch connect lightly with his gut.


    ¡°Ouch, damn it.¡± She said, shaking her hand, and Ronin winced. Guess she hadn¡¯t hit him that lightly after all, he just hadn¡¯t felt it through the chitin armor plates that covered his body. ¡°Shut up and save us already.¡± She grouched at him, following his lead when he grabbed onto the rope and started pulling with all his strength. The crew, who were mostly naturals, were doing their best, but they didn¡¯t have the strength to move the boat through the crashing waves. Ronin, who wore a ship body, wasn¡¯t strong enough either. He pulled the rope with everything he had, but it just wasn¡¯t enough. He¡¯d counted on the suit, and without it they were going to die out here.


    ¡°No,¡± he grunted as the rope slipped beneath his fingers, waves pushing the craft even further from shore. ¡°Come on, come on, move¡­¡± he chanted to himself as he pulled, thankful that his hands were covered in gloves of armor, otherwise they would have been stripped raw. A scream from behind him let him know that the others helping to pull weren¡¯t as lucky, and the next wave took not only his suit, but a good handful of the crew with it.


    ¡°Cut the rope,¡± Elyria shouted into his ear from right beside him. Her voice almost not making it to him over the sound of waves crashing into the stone walls of the cavern.


    ¡°What?¡± He shouted back, confused as to why he¡¯d sever their only lifeline to the shore.


    ¡°Just trust me and cut the rope damn it,¡± she said. Her hand slapping into his helmetless head, a move he barely felt through the adrenaline running through his system.


    ¡°Ok,¡± he said after only a second. He didn¡¯t know what she was thinking, but he knew he couldn¡¯t pull them out as he was anyway. So, he pulled out the small belt knife he carried for occasions¡­ well, not like this, but just in case, and slashed at the rope.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The captain shouted from behind him as he sawed away at the rope. ¡°You¡¯re going to kill us all.¡± Before he had a chance to do anything however, the rope split. Snapping under the pressure and knocking Ronin down when it whipped away back towards the shore. The other end, however, was still being held by half the ship¡¯s crew. They were dragged along as the rope snapped away from them, most of them let go in time, but a few were taken overboard.


    ¡°You murderous fool,¡± The captain said finally reaching them. ¡°You¡¯ve killed us all, but I¡¯ll get to take you out first.¡± His hands wrapped themselves around Ronin¡¯s neck. Elyria tried to pull him off, but the captain was stronger than she was, and he held on for dear life. At least, until the jaws rose from beneath them, and swallowed the ship.


    That¡¯s what it looked and felt like to Ronin, anyway. Until he realized that it was the cargo door of a dropship, opening right below the boat, before rising into the air to swallow them up into the cavernous troop compartment.


    Not much water was sucked in with them. Though at that moment, while falling through the air towards the back wall of the open space, Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good thing or not. The captain¡¯s grip was torn free of his neck, and the man went falling away. Followed by half the remaining crew who hadn¡¯t gotten a hold of the deck. Ronin, who¡¯d braced himself with his off hand was still anchored to the boat, but he worried about Elyria, at least, until he felt her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Dropping the knife he wrapped his free hand around her torso, pulling her to himself to provide what protection he could.


    They hit the far end of the ship¡¯s troop compartment with a boat shattering crash. Huge splinters of wood crashing around them, and for the first time in a long while, Ronin smashed his head on something hard and was knocked unconscious.


    *            *            *


    Ronin didn¡¯t know how much time had passed when he finally opened his eyes again. Sitting up with a jolt, he found himself laying in a comfortable bed. Looking around, it looked like he¡¯d been teleported back into his hotel room. Because that¡¯s exactly what this room resembled, there was even a globe hovering over the desk, though he could tell at a glance that it wasn¡¯t the holographic globe he¡¯d used to build his pocket world, it was a projection, but of much lower quality. He caught movement, and looked around to see Elyria, seated at the desk chair, now pulled over by the bed.


    ¡°Thought Five had helped you kick this habit,¡± she said snidely, though Ronin could see the relief written plainly on her face even as she spoke those harsh words. ¡°What, nothing to say? Mycroft is pissed, by the way. It was her ship Sam used to catch you with. None of her equipment survived the landing.¡± She continued, spinning her belt knife around her fingers. It was something she¡¯d rarely done since they¡¯d left the pocket world. Ronin had used to equate it to her threatening him, but now he thought it was a nervous tick of hers. Since she only did it while under stress.


    ¡°How long was I out this time?¡± Ronin asked, climbing out of bed, and looking around in wonder. ¡°And where are we, this looks a lot like my hotel room on the ship.¡± Walking slowly over to the desk, he swiped his hand through the image of the globe. His hand passed right through without so much as a flicker, reaffirming his belief that it was a projection.


    ¡°It¡¯s been six hours.¡± Elyria said, thankfully dropping the angry act as she stood up and walked over to stand beside him. ¡°We¡¯re inside one of the ships Owl Two sent down. They were all packed with equipment, but each one also held a half dozen shipping containers. Each one of them contains a room like this. Guess Owl Two had some spare time, since he went out of his way to give us a couple dozen houses.¡± She shrugged, seeming at a loss for words.


    ¡°And the sailors?¡± Ronin asked tentatively, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.


    ¡°About half of them made it, though, with the benefit of hindsight, they likely would have been better off if you hadn¡¯t gone out there like a lunatic¡­ we didn¡¯t tell them that though, they are all well and truly convinced that you saved their lives.¡± She scoffed, clearly trying to sound uncaring. Her tone would have fooled him, once upon a time, now he heard the pain hidden behind her carefree fa?ade.


    ¡°So, it was the well all over again.¡± Ronin whispered, slumping back onto the bed.


    ¡°What?¡± Elyria asked, dropping back into the chair, and looking at him with concern.


    ¡°Back when I first was crystallized, when K3¡¯s raiding party attacked. I tried to save the villagers by throwing them down the well¡­ turned out when the battle was all over, the only villagers who died were the ones I¡¯d ¡®helped¡¯ since they got crushed or drown before the battle ended. They¡¯d have been better off if I hadn¡¯t done anything at all¡­ and I did it again¡­¡± His voice faded in and out as he told the story, reliving that night, and what had just happened on the boat.


    ¡°I¡¯ve killed more innocent people trying to save them, than would have died had I done nothing¡­ I¡¯m a failu¡­¡±


    ¡°And let me stop you right there.¡± Elyria said, smacking him on the back of the head. ¡°You screwed up, that¡¯s true enough.¡± She said, now standing over him, looking down into his eyes. ¡°But both now, and back then, you were doing your best to save them, acting on instinct to save people who couldn¡¯t save themselves. It didn¡¯t work out like you planned, but that instinctive drive to save people¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s what Owl Two was looking for, when he chose you to save everyone in his core. Out of everyone on his ship, he chose you. Not Leo, not Mycroft, not Aurex or any of the government bureaucrats, you. So, snap out of it, and let¡¯s go meet with Xerox. He¡¯s unloading the ships as we speak, and I think you will want to meet the workforce.¡± Frowning at how she¡¯d cut off his pity party before he¡¯d even started, Ronin nevertheless got up and looked around.


    ¡°Very well,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°The front door takes us outside?¡± At her nod, he walked over, taking a quick second to turn on the shower head, just to make sure it worked, before exiting the hotel room. He found himself in a troop compartment, still more than three quarters packed to the ceiling. Turning around, he took in the hotel room from the outside, it really did look just like a shipping crate. Bare metal gleaming off the light of over a dozen exosuits, as they trooped up and down the ramp, emptying the ship of all the resources that were piled within.


    ¡°My suit¡­¡± Ronin grumbled, remembering the sight of the dead power suit going over the edge of the boat.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s dead and gone.¡± Elyria said cheerfully. ¡°But Xerox said Owl Two told him to make you a new one already. It will be done when the latest batch of troops is finished growing in the government ships, we captured a while back. Though, it¡¯s likely to take another few weeks he said, since it is way more complex than the one you were using.¡± Well, that was something at least. Ronin thought as he looked around at the bustling activity. Then he froze, eyes taking in what he¡¯d glossed over before.


    ¡°Hhhiggghhh huummmaaann Ronnniinnn!¡± Shouted a familiar voice, as a six-legged jade green beetle scurried over to do a dance around him, throwing its two toed forelegs into the air. ¡°I was wondering if I was going to see you again¡­ look, remember Ruby?¡± She gestured at another beetle, this one the size of a semitruck. ¡°Most of us got bodies the size of the one you made for me, I mean I look so cute and at this size I can interact with you and help repair the ship sssooooo much better. But Ruby was already in a body, ya know¡­ and since there was room and everything, the smart man with all the ideas said she could come as she is¡­ her and Amethyst, but everyone else had to be small. I was jealous of her¡­ until I realized that he only wanted a few of us at our full size so we could use the equipment in the dropships too big for you tiny humans¡­ guess I can¡¯t say tiny now can I, since you¡¯re bigger than me now? Anyway, I thought that was a hard pass, why be normal sized when it means I have to work that much harder, am I right?... So¡­¡± Ronin listened as the beetle prattled on, pointing out at the veritable sea of dog sized, six legged bodies scurrying all over the cube ship the drop ship was parked near.


    ¡°Lovely¡­¡± He said with a sigh, which had Elyria bursting into laughter beside him.

 Chapter eighty-seven

    Ronin ducked as the railgun rounds slammed into the stone over his head, rolling out of the line of fire, while staff sergeant Hill and the other three men in armored suits moved to the front to provide cover. The other three men were sergeants, in charge of their own fire team of four men and women. The rounds slammed into their armored shields, denting the ship grown plates, but not penetrating deeply.


    Ronin was grateful the lizard¡¯s railguns weren¡¯t as powerful as the Mark V¡¯s, otherwise they¡¯d have died in the first few days of combat. As it was, they were having a rough go of it. Not because the enemy were well armed, or hard to kill, it was the opposite. Ronin had almost laughed, when the first lizard came into sight in the tunnel. The creature looked just like a trog. A four-foot-tall humanoid crocodile, only this one was wearing black body armor, and carrying a rifle. He was even more confused when Elyria killed it with just one shot.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± He¡¯d asked, almost disappointed after all the hype everyone had made over how dangerous the lizards were. It hadn¡¯t taken long to learn why, however. After the first one had come into view, two more had followed, then four more after them, then eight. Their guns were weak, and their body armor didn¡¯t provide much protection, but they were endless in their numbers. Not only that, but Mycroft had explained that these were only the scouts. The first of three standard categories of lizard. They were the first ones on the planet, as they were small and easy to grow. Their only job was to search for natives, wherever they hid, and kill them.


    They¡¯d been funneling into the caves for a little over two weeks now, and Ronin wasn¡¯t laughing anymore. The scouts didn¡¯t let up for a moment, swarming through the tunnels day and night, never stopping their endless push for the Temple city. After the first few days, a second type of lizard showed up, they were also around four feet tall, but weren¡¯t one of the three standard units. These were workers, whose job was to take biological matter back to the ships, in order to feed the growth vats to produce more lizards.


    Ironically, Doctor Mycroft told him that the only reason they weren¡¯t already dead, was because the planet was a barren wasteland, apart from the crystal trees. The lizards didn¡¯t have access to the countless flora and fauna that used to cover the globe, otherwise they¡¯d have drowned in lizard bodies by now. So, the fighters had been told to target the workers. If they kept them from collecting their dead, then they couldn¡¯t recycle the biological material for new troops.


    Thankfully, Owl Two had one more present for them. When the drop ships had finished unloading the yokai teams, they¡¯d gathered into groups of ten, and made suicidal runs at the cube ships. They managed to destroy five more vessels, before the remaining eight sent a wave of their own drop ships to intercept. It wasn¡¯t enough to turn the tide in their favor, but every little bit helped.


    ¡°How much longer until the Hellenes relieve us?¡± Ian asked, firing off a burst from his gatling gun. He¡¯d traded in the cannon, when it became clear what type of enemy they faced.


    ¡°Right now, weakling.¡± Called Sergeant major Red, as he ran forward in a crouch. Ronin didn¡¯t know how they managed to move so quickly crouching down like that, but they all did it, both the red and the blue teams. They called themselves Hellenes, which Ronin¡¯s ship knowledge told him was what the Greek had called themselves, but he didn¡¯t know why. Not that it really mattered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sergeant major Blue said, running in at a dead sprint, still crouched down. ¡°You government types don¡¯t have what it takes to play with the big boys. Head on back for a nap while the pro¡¯s get on with the tea baggin.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Red, Blue.¡± Ronin said through comms, as he watched the thirty-eight identically armored soldiers, apart from their color, march forward into battle. The pair of Cortexas didn¡¯t want anything to do with the fighting, preferring to stay back at camp and ¡®research¡¯ with Mycroft. Apparently, research was what the Hellenes called gossiping, because neither of them could even turn on a laptop, and Mycroft had kicked them out after only a few hours. That didn¡¯t stop them from making a fuss elsewhere though.


    ¡°We¡¯ll stay on for a few more minutes, then head back.¡± Sergeant Hill added, as his men slowly disengaged themselves from the battle. Their shields were damaged, and their armor dented. They took the brunt of the rounds fired, since the scouts always targeted the largest foes for whatever reason. Ronin looked around, checking for Karr and his troops. He smiled when he saw the armored man moving up to take over for the government troops.


    ¡°Sergeant Karr, glad you could join us.¡± Ronin said, with a wave to the group of Karr, Jaya, Greg, and Jack. Who were now each armored in their own suits. Karr had tried to give his to Ronin, but he¡¯d refused, saying Karr deserved it, and he had a set being made for him. Once Karr passed by Ian, the scouts fire switched to the new largest foes, and Ian was able to get his men out safely. They¡¯d have to go back for new shields, a power recharge, and the dents in their armor looked at, before they could come back out. Just because the railguns the scouts carried weren¡¯t as strong as mark V¡¯s, didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t deadly. In fact, they¡¯d killed a few priests under Aurex¡¯s command during the first battle.


    Ronin sighed, when he thought of the hot-tempered man. He¡¯d taken his contingent of followers deep into the tunnels, planning to ambush the lizards as they came down. It had worked, but only half of his men had come out again after the battle. Even the dragon had been seriously wounded, and without Ronin¡¯s med units it would have died, not that Aurex had shown any gratitude for the favor.


    At least Ian Hill had proven himself a staunch ally in the last weeks. Ronin looked over at the man, who¡¯s armor was just as battered as any of his men. They¡¯d talked after Ronin had woken up and come to an understanding. Ian wasn¡¯t shy about admitting he was, first and foremost, doing what was best for his men. When it became clear Ronin was the top candidate to keep them alive, he¡¯d ¡®hitched his horse to Ronin¡¯s wagon¡¯ in order to look out for his people. It had helped he wasn¡¯t a member of Temple city, who by all counts were really antigovernment. Hence why he¡¯d had all his men¡¯s armor repainted in White Flame colors as soon as they¡¯d had access to a drop ship.


    ¡°Go get your men looked after,¡± Ronin said nodding his farewell to Ian, who saluted awkwardly in the WFS fashion, before leaving.


    ¡°What¡¯s up boss?¡± K3 asked when Ronin didn¡¯t move to follow. Ronin glanced at the giant, remembering how he¡¯d freaked out trying to get back to his people, only to get carried away trying to save the boat. K3 had been fine, the water had just shorted out his comm. The seal on his mask had leaked, thanks to the thick bristles on his face. Something Ronin could sympathize with, but he also berated himself for being a fool again. If he¡¯d tried to contact anyone else, the call would have gone through, and he would have known the teams were still in the cube hangar. Doing some last-minute recon before returning. Just one more thing he¡¯d failed to get right.


    ¡°Huh? Oh sorry, just thinking. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± Ronin noticed the look that passed between K3 and Whisper, but he didn¡¯t comment. It was just the four of them out here today, Ronin, K3, Whisper, and Stone, who was out in the caves somewhere, watching their backs. He knew they were worried about him, had been, since Xerox had finally given him a tablet, containing records. Both written and video recordings, of everything that had happened over the last ten years in his pocket world. Well, he supposed he couldn¡¯t really call it that anymore, but he shook that thought aside as his mind wandered back over what he¡¯d seen.


    Lily had lost the baby. Lost the baby because of an unknown side effect from the health potions he¡¯d come up with. A realization that had shaken him to the core. Causing him to bring into question every decision he¡¯d ever made, if even the things he¡¯d designed to help people were now killing them. Unfortunately, as grief stricken as he was over the loss of the child that had never been born, the news got worse, much worse.


    Undercity had betrayed him completely. He still had to dive deeper into the recorded information, he couldn¡¯t unravel ten years¡¯ worth of history in a few days, even if he hadn¡¯t spent most of his waking hours fighting lizard scouts. Still, it seemed clear they¡¯d interpreted his words as permission to turn their backs on him, once they felt safe. When he added in the mass goblin die off, and the loss of the baby, it cemented the separation between Undercity and the White Flame syndicate. He wanted to blame Owl Two, because he knew the android could have prevented what had happened if he wanted to, but he couldn¡¯t. At least, not entirely, because even though he was sure the android could have held things together, he wasn¡¯t the one who turned his back on the mission.


    ¡°We heading back?¡± K3 asked gently, prodding Ronin to move. Ronin blinked away the image of Hunter, ordering her forces to blockade the tunnel so the Anthropos knights could wipe out the syndicate, and nodded.


    ¡°Sorry, let¡¯s go.¡± He started walking this time, though his strides weren¡¯t as focused as they normally were. He was fine when in battle, but as soon as the action stopped, he would go back into his head. Ronin assumed that was why Elyria had stopped coming out with them. After the first few days in the field, she¡¯d told him she¡¯d be staying back at the cube hangar, to help with the restoration. It was a job that needed doing, but he thought she was just trying to avoid him until he got his head straight again. Not that he blamed her for it, since he recognized he was a mess.


    As they walked, Ronin thought about the ship they were trying to fix up. Owl Two had picked one from the middle, since it had been protected the most from the passing of time and the elements. Except, that also meant they had to dig it out of the pile of broken ships. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how they would manage, until Sam hooked the dropships up to one cube ship at a time, and drug them away from the pile, until the one at the bottom middle was exposed.


    Sam. That was another topic that had Ronin seeing red. Owl Two had modified the poor woman¡¯s brain somehow when her body was being grown. He hadn¡¯t noticed before, since there had been so much going on at the time, but now he was paying attention it was clear something was wrong with her. Something apart from the ports that had been made in her skull that allowed her to plug directly into the ship¡¯s computer.


    Ronin ground his teeth at the android. An AI who, according to the information he had access to, was prohibited from harming anyone without direct orders. Orders Ronin was sure he¡¯d never given. Sam didn¡¯t talk anymore, she couldn¡¯t, her brain no longer working in a way that allowed her to interact with other people. She was only able to communicate with Xerox, through a computer interface, and was even less human now than the copy Owl Two had left behind.


    The anger Ronin felt died a little when he remembered Owl Two was dead. It didn¡¯t diminish the wrong the AI had done, but it was hard to hate someone who¡¯d done everything he had to save the most people. He¡¯d modified Sam, because he wouldn¡¯t be around to pilot the ship off the planet. He needed someone to be able to get the cube ship out of the cave and into orbit, because when his core was connected to the cube ship¡¯s, the two AI would go to war over control of the newly integrated space.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    That was something else Ronin was now dreading. He didn¡¯t have a perfect grasp of what was going to happen, because Xerox refused to explain after he realized just how unstable Ronin had gotten. Saying he needed to collect himself and worry about getting into space before he could worry about what happened next. Still, from what he¡¯d picked up from context clues, the two AI, beetle and lizard, would merge, and they¡¯d have to battle for control of the ship. Ronin new his world would be affected by the conflict, and he¡¯d have to go inside to¡­help Owl Two somehow? He wasn¡¯t sure, but he wasn¡¯t looking forward to it, after all, the home he¡¯d worked so hard to craft for himself had been destroyed, the people he¡¯d left in charge had betrayed him, he¡¯d lost his child, and he didn¡¯t even know if he should tell Whisper and Stone any of this, unless they betrayed him too, or perhaps he should preemptively¡­


    ¡°No,¡± he came to a halt. ¡°Sorry guys, but I¡¯m not ready yet.¡± He said, turning around to head back to the battlefield. It was the only place he could exist right now without constant, self-inflicted, mental attacks. Before he could move forward, however, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, looking up, he saw a sadly grinning K3 holding onto him.


    ¡°No problem boss,¡± the giant said. ¡°But before we go back, why don¡¯t you reload, and get a bite to eat huh? Stone took a trip back and met up with Elyria. She handed over enough fluid for us all to have dinner, and enough rounds to keep us in the fight for a few more hours. Come on boss, have a drink, and I¡¯ll see to your rifle, ok?¡± The giant kaldarr plucked the PCP .50 from Ronin¡¯s hands, and forced a canteen into them, waiting for him to take a drink before reloading the weapon. Ronin felt another twinge of guild at what he was forcing his people to go through on his behalf, but he forced it down. He didn¡¯t need any more reasons to hate himself right now.


    Watching the kaldarr work, reminded Ronin that K1 had at the battle for Undercity. Something that he hadn¡¯t properly registered at the time, and K2 had last been seen fighting off Staz sized armored knights who were nearly impervious to damage, and seemed to take an evil pleasure in killing the yokai once they¡¯d cornered them. It was likely the second K brother hadn¡¯t survived the battle. Shaking his head, Ronin downed the contents of the canteen, barely tasting the sweet, mint and berry flavored enhanced nutrient fluid. Before accepting his rifle from his friend and heading towards the swarm of lizard scouts.


    *            *            *


    ¡°What is it?¡± Ronin asked irritably, as he entered the dropship that served as their headquarters inside the cube hangar. They¡¯d made the place a restricted area, after some of the fantasy races had tried to ¡®LARP¡¯ inside the damaged ships. That had been ok, until one of the long-eared elves had fallen through the floor, impaling herself on a broken beam, and nearly bleeding out before they¡¯d gotten to her. Now, only the Priest, and a few of the more reliable people, like Ian, Red, and Blue, were allowed to enter.


    It had been over a week since Ronin had last been here. After he¡¯d turned back to the fighting, he¡¯d just stayed there, working out his frustrations on the swarm of scouts. Except it wasn¡¯t only scouts who were swarming the tunnels now. They¡¯d been joined in the last few days by soldiers, who by all accounts looked a lot like the scouts. Except their armor was grey, and they were two feet taller. Oh, and they were a whole lot smarter as well. While the scouts would charge mindlessly forward, shooting their guns at the biggest enemy until the weapon ran dry, the soldiers were more cautious. They didn¡¯t rush in, but used cover to advance, they also didn¡¯t shoot at targets they knew they couldn¡¯t damage. Forcing the defenders to change their tactics drastically when they¡¯d shown up.


    Ronin had started his weeks-long exile as a distraction from his own pain, but that had quickly changed after the soldiers had arrived. Now, he didn¡¯t dare leave, lest the tunnels be overrun in his absence. Ian and the red and blue teams had been like machines, spending just as much time out there as he did, only rotating out to heal injuries or get armor patched up. He only wished the rest of the refugees were as helpful. The elves, dwarves and halflings were part of a group who¡¯d only come down to role play in real life. It was something similar for the cat girls and the street fighter group. They¡¯d all come down and set up a large festival, rather than focusing on gathering resources. He supposed he couldn¡¯t blame them, since none of them knew the lizards were coming. It was just galling to have to protect even more people. Some of whom were in bodies tailor made for combat, except those who wore them weren¡¯t fighters.


    If he was being honest with himself, Ronin would say the real reason he hated those people, was they were what he might have been, if things had worked differently. A bunch of fools, playing pretend, without any idea of how serious the real-life consequences of adventures could be. He shuddered whenever he thought about dressing up like the prince and playing pretend with the LARPers.


    ¡°Settle down, White Flame.¡± Elyria said, fluttering over to him with a large glass of enhanced nutrient fluid. ¡°Here, drink this, you¡¯re clearly starving.¡± She refused to say anything else, until he¡¯d finished off the contents of the glass. Surprisingly enough, it did make him feel better.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, handing the glass back to her. ¡°Sorry about that, it¡¯s been a long couple of weeks. So, why did you call me back here? The soldiers are pushing us hard, and K3 and I can¡¯t afford to be away from the front lines for too long.¡±


    ¡°You really have been out there a long time, haven¡¯t you?¡± Elyria asked, bonking him lightly on the head. ¡°Did you forget what day it is? It¡¯s been four weeks since this batch of bodies started growing. Four times longer than it took us to grow. Owl Two said he was going to crank up the quality, I hope that¡¯s the truth, because it was a long time to wait¡­ and before you ask, no. I didn¡¯t call you back here just to see the reinforcements come out. The chief technologist said you, me and K3 had to be here for some reason. So, let¡¯s head over to the government ships and see what the fuss is about, shall we?¡± She asked, holding out her arm for him to take. Ronin hesitated a moment, since he was filthy, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind, and snatched onto his elbow before he had an opportunity to decline.


    Ronin smiled faintly as they walked from the headquarters dropship to the pair of government ships, they¡¯d stolen from SWAT teams just like Ian Hill¡¯s. He was both excited at the idea of reinforcements, and at the feeling of holding Elyria¡¯s arm in his. Granted, his brain was a little too over clocked to really enjoy the close contact, but the fact he¡¯d noticed at all was reassuring to him. Maybe he was starting to come around after the shocks he¡¯d suffered. He should find Dandelion after this and apologize. He¡¯d been really nasty to the girl when he¡¯d found out she¡¯d known all about what happened back home and hadn¡¯t told him. Even though he¡¯d known Owl Two had ordered her not too. He could even admit he¡¯d had a point. If the android had been worried Ronin would fall apart after hearing the truth, well, he kind of had.


    ¡°Lord White Flame, Lady Elyria, exalted K3.¡± The chief technologist said with a salute as the three of them entered the ship. Ronin heard the kaldarr scratching his whiskers awkwardly at being called exalted K3, and he hid a chuckle. Served the big lug right for laughing at him all those times people called him lord. ¡°Please, come this way.¡± He led them through the troop compartment, and into the middle section of the drop ship. Where the engines and all the equipment were stored. They approached the growth vats, and Ronin peered inside, waiting to catch a glimpse of the new troops. He could make them out, but only barely. The pink fluid was thick, and from outside the glasslike container it was hard to make them out clearly.


    ¡°Would you like to start the purge procedure my lord?¡± The chief technologist asked, holding out a tablet to Ronin. He read the screen, which had a big blue button that had ¡®start purge procedure¡¯ written on it. Ronin was about to decline when he saw the expectation on the chief¡¯s face. So, he nodded and reached out, lightly tapping the button to the accompanying smile from the goblin, hobgoblin man in the body of a government issue human SWAT member. At least he¡¯d made someone¡¯s day, Ronin mused as the pink fluid was sucked away from the figures restrained in the tank.


    ¡°What are we doing with the fluid?¡± He asked, hoping the fluid wasn¡¯t going out on the ground. The amount of enhanced nutrient fluid in this tank represented enough food to feed all his men, and the beetles, for a year.


    ¡°It has lost much of its nutritional value, having been used to grow nineteen new bodies.¡± The chief said as the tank emptied. ¡°But it still has value, it will be filtered, and mixed with the remnants of the growth vat in the other ship. Crystal cores will be added until the concentration is high enough to make another batch of bodies. Though, we won¡¯t make any more until we have a need. Owl Two wanted us to have the ability.¡± Ronin nodded along, it was true, they needed contingencies, and their situation wasn¡¯t ideal. It was a clever idea, but what had he said about the bodies?


    ¡°Did you say there were only nineteen?¡± He asked, as the tank finally emptied, and the door cracked open. Revealing nineteen figures, sixteen of which were stirring and coming to consciousness for the first time. The other three, however, looked completely lifeless, only Ronin couldn¡¯t take his eyes away from them.


    ¡°What in the world?¡± Elyria asked, while K3 let out a whistle from behind them.


    ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t it wonderful?¡± The chief asked, wading through the sludge, still draining from the tank to check on the limp bodies. ¡°Owl Two wanted it to be a surprise. So, we didn¡¯t tell you about it, but he made the three of you new bodies. Each much, much stronger than the ones you currently inhabit. Not only that, but he used the raw material that could have been used to make another brain, to improve the thought processes on all three. You will be able to think faster, react quicker, and be all around better than you are now. It¡¯s hard to believe Owl Two could improve on you, my lord, after all you have led us to this point. That¡¯s why I¡¯m so excited to see how much better you will be after the upgrade.¡± The technologist sounded like a kid in a candy store, not that Ronin had ever seen a candy store, but the memory flashed into his head all the same.


    Now that was a scary thought. Ronin paused as he considered the ship given memories. Something Leo and Doctor Mycroft said they didn¡¯t have. Which meant it was something Owl Two, the ship¡¯s AI had implanted into him when he was crystallized. He had to assume it was like the dreams he¡¯d had, when he wasn¡¯t moving fast enough towards the cube hangar. So, what would happen, when he climbed into a body that had a third again as much brain capacity as his did now? Would he really get smarter and faster, or would he just be giving the android a way into his mind, to turn him into some kind of puppet? He shook his head, knowing the risk was real, yet also knowing he¡¯d take it anyway, because if he didn¡¯t use every edge he could against the lizards, they¡¯d all be dead before they got the ship running again.


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± Elyria said, walking over to the goo covered version of herself and bending over her, before giving a little yelp and buzzing over to Ronin, to snatch his goat cloak away to throw over her new body. ¡°Why am I naked? I redid my body to remove the anatomy, since it didn¡¯t work anyway. The White Flame did the same, so, why do all our bodies have all our parts?¡± Ronin paled at her words, moving forward to check out his own body. From a distance it looked the same as his current form did, only the armor had slight variations. Once he got closer however, he noticed some of the armor could be retracted, like his helmet, to reveal his groin, and wouldn¡¯t you know it, it was currently retracted right now.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± He asked, turning to the chief technologist in anger. He threw a nasty look at Elyria too, who¡¯d seen his new body was nude but hadn¡¯t bothered covering it, only worrying about her own modesty.


    ¡°My lord, my lady.¡± The chief said with confusion, looking between them. ¡°Owl Two has worked on and improved the experiments Doctor Mycroft did trying to get the ship grown bodies more compatible with human physiology. He was fairly sure he¡¯d cracked the code, and if not, the Doctor should be able to finish the job soon. That¡¯s why he made all the new yokai, and your bodies, fully intact. So that you could reproduce if you so choose¡­ did he not¡­ tell you he was working on that problem?¡± Ronin sighed, as Elyria went red and K3 laughed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, chief.¡±  The giant said, coming up to slap the technologist lightly on the back. ¡°The boss is just a little shy. Now, we¡¯re being rude. We have sixteen new yokai on this ship, and unless Owl Two threw us any more surprises, there should be another twenty on the other ship. Let¡¯s get them cleaned up and into the field, so we can take our own new bodies for a test drive. And, unless I misheard, you also have a new armored suit for the boss as well?¡± Ronin smiled at his giant friend, so quiet and easy going most of the time, but when he wanted something, he could get his way faster than anyone Ronin knew, apart from a certain elf.

 Chapter eighty-eight

    Ronin walked out of the dropship, in his new body and wearing his new armored suit. K3 and Elyria had already gone back to their respective tasks since they hadn¡¯t had to get fitted into an armored suit. Ronin took a deep breath, flexed his hands as he walked, reveling in the absence of lag he felt with each movement, and the clarity of thought that his new body afforded him. The new body was largely the same as his old one, only much sturdier, with a brain enhanced by a third. The suit, in contrast, was even larger than the one he¡¯d worn before, standing at ten feet, and bore a striking resemblance to the armored suits the Anthropos knights wore.


    With each step, Ronin marveled at the subtle feedback he actually felt on the bottom of his feet. This new suit had come equipped with a tightly fitting body sleeve, like a diver¡¯s wet suit. It registered all his movements and fed them into the suit¡¯s processer, which in turn translated into suit movement. It was also connected to sensers covering the armor just under the surface layer, allowing for tactile feedback. He pressed his thumb and forefinger together, and smiled when he felt the body sleeve pressing on his skin lightly. Then he pressed a finger into his own chest, again, the body sleeve pressed on his finger, and on his chest. It wouldn¡¯t give him pain, but being able to know when something was touching him, or damaging the suit, would make combat, and day-to-day operations, much easier.


    Ronin stopped walking at the edge of the ramp and looked around the cube hangar. His new eyes were far better than his old ones, and although they didn¡¯t give him the mini map, or project information over his vision, they could now zoom in a little bit. Thanks to a muscle Owl Two added, allowing him to manually manipulate the lenses in his eyes to focus further away. He smiled as he looked around the cube hangar, now a bustle of activity.


    Beetles swarmed over the ships, and several members of Karr¡¯s squad, and Daoist priests, were using exosuits without armor to move cargo from one area to another at the beetle¡¯s direction. They¡¯d gotten a lot done in the last three weeks. Ronin was shocked, not having paid much attention to this place since Xerox had given him the tablet. Now, he had a brand-new body and a new and improved suit, he felt mentally recentered and thought he should do a quick walkthrough of the ship they were working on. If only to be sure they were making progress.


    ¡°Hheelloo huummann Ronin.¡± Jade said, rushing up to him and doing her customary greeting dance. Ronin smiled down at the dog sized beetle, glad that despite all the terrible things that were happening, at least someone was constantly optimistic.


    ¡°Hello Jade,¡± he said as he looked around. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here in a while; would you mind giving me the tour? I¡¯d like to know how well the construction is coming along.¡± The beetle wiggled her body around in excitement, lifting up one leg after another in a rhythm that looked like a wave traveling around herself before hopping into the air.


    ¡°Yay, a tour would be the perfect way to get out of work for a while¡­ I mean, I would be happy to show you what progress we¡¯ve made lately, human Ronin. But it will have to be quick because I have a lot of work to do. You understand.¡± She said, ending her sentence on a solemn note. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how the beetles spoke human language in these bodies, it didn¡¯t look like they had the mouth parts to produce the sound, but they could, and that was good enough for him. So, he smiled at the lazy beetle, and motioned for her to continue.


    ¡°Okie then. Come right this way,¡± she said, motioning him forward with a two- toed forelimb. ¡°You see, the first thing we had to do was dig out the *%^%&¡­ I mean, cube ship, our AI suggested we use¡­ and can I just say, it¡¯s an honor to be working so closely with the ship¡¯s captain? I mean sure, you are a human and this is a %$&*, I mean lizard ship, but still¡­ Anyway, captain, once we got the ship our AI thought was the best dug out, we split the teams in half, some of us are robbing new hull materials from the other ships, while some are using the *((&%^%, fabrication units, or fabricators? You humans have so many words for the same thing I swear¡­ anyways, we¡¯re replacing damaged sections of lizard hull plating with plating we pulled from the other lizard cubes, and patching over areas that aren¡¯t bad enough to do a full replacement on. You see, we make a really good glue that holds¡­¡± She talked about how the work they were doing on the exterior of the hulls as they approached the ship, then switched gears as they entered an open hatch on the cube ship.


    ¡°¡­ in here we¡¯re doing something similar. Taking parts from the ships we don¡¯t intend to use and patching them into place with our freshly fabricated glue. Unfortunately, most of the ship¡¯s machinery is no longer working. Engines, monitors, life support systems, nothing works. It¡¯s just a big, ugly, blocky, shell without anything of value¡­ thankfully the elders used the same crystal matrix for the lizards as they did for all their creations, and the nature of the matrix means it¡¯s still in nearly perfect condition. So, we¡¯re just ripping out all the old stuff that doesn¡¯t work and replacing it with things the living copy of our AI salvaged from our colony ship, wiring it into the existing matrix. It might not be the most esthetically pleasing but it will get us into space¡­¡±


    They walked the ground floor corridors of the giant cube ship, and Ronin couldn¡¯t help but notice how ugly the place was. Everything was in the form of a square. Except the beetle equipment, with its curves and natural lines that had been glued in haphazardly. It really did look awful, but he supposed it would have to do. It was also clear they mainly focused on essential systems, and the outer hull. Most of the interior passageways were in really rough shape, with only the barest amount of work done to them. With a ship this huge, and ancient, it would be a miracle if they got it space worthy at all, let alone refurbished to new quality.


    ¡°Will we be able to make repairs once we hit space?¡± He asked when the beetle had finally run out of breath. He didn¡¯t like the idea of floating through space in a ship that was effectively a cobbled together hull with no intact interior walls. He¡¯d read enough sci-fi in his youth to know if the outer hull got damaged, they needed to seal off interior bulkheads to prevent the whole ship venting atmosphere into space.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Jade said waving her arms around. ¡°It would be dangerous not too, but the problem is in raw material. We are stripping the unused ships of everything we can to recycle once we have time for the fabricators to break them down, but with limited beetle power, we can only move so much. Perhaps if we had more hands in here to help, we could gather more, but¡­¡± Ronin tuned her out as he contemplated her last statement. They could break down the raw materials from the other ships given enough time. He also had hundreds of refugees who¡¯d been banned from the cube room, and who were cooling their heels in Temple city. It would be difficult, because he¡¯d need someone to oversee them, but there was no point wasting that manpower. He¡¯d talk to the Priest and Xerox, if all they had to do was break away chunks of broken cube ship and pile them up in a hangar, even those entitled pricks should be able to manage. Ronin thought about viable solutions as they walked through the ship. Thankfully, the corridors were large enough for him to walk comfortably, even in his ten-foot-tall suit. A fact that gave him pause, as his newly enhanced brain wondered why the lizards needed corridors this high, when the soldiers were only six feet tall.


    ¡°Calling all fighters, this is Priest in observation. Is there anyone currently in the city?¡± The old man sounded panicked, and Ronin answered instantly.


    ¡°I¡¯m in the cube hangar, but can be there in a moment, what happened?¡± He asked, already running from the ship with a quick wave to Jade, who was still talking about how the whole ship would have rotted away if the cube hangar hadn¡¯t been vacuum sealed for nearly all the time it had been down here, until the water had eroded its way inside.


    ¡°My wife and I are in the city, we¡¯re currently off rotation.¡± Bartholomew said at nearly the same time. Ronin hadn¡¯t worked closely with the clockwork couple, but he¡¯d observed them in the field, they were competent fighters.


    ¡°Half my court is currently in the temple as well,¡± Amaris, the female lead of the twilight court answered, followed by a pause. When no more responses were forthcoming, the Priest continued.


    ¡°We¡¯ve had a breach in the temple, some of the refugee LAPRers left through the teleporter.¡± That didn¡¯t sound too bad to Ronin, they¡¯d had too many refugees for a long time now, if they weren¡¯t going to help fight, and couldn¡¯t be trusted to work, then they might as well leave. He was in the process of asking why that mattered when the Priest answered his question. ¡°They must have jumped to a settlement already taken over by lizards, because minutes after they left, more than two dozen lizards came through. They aren¡¯t like any we¡¯ve seen before, Mycroft is calling them enforcers, and they¡¯re massacring the people. Please, come quickly.¡±


    ¡°On my way,¡± Ronin said, rushing into the dropship closest to the water. They¡¯d emptied it already and it was left available to ferry large groups of people through the underwater tunnel. ¡°Any free yokai teams, join me in the tunnel dropship, there¡¯s trouble in the Temple.¡± Ronin said over short-range comms, waiting at the top of the ramp. They¡¯d stationed a few yokai teams inside the cube hangar, to help with construction, and guard against unwanted intruders from the city. Now, he¡¯d take them with him to intercept the lizard threat.


    ¡°Yokai teams 03 and 04 reporting,¡± a red skinned oni woman said, giving him a quick salute as her team passed him on the ramp. ¡°We are the only yokai teams in the hangar sir.¡± Nodding to her words, Ronin rushed onto the ship and keyed in the destination. It shouldn¡¯t take long to reach the temple with the dropship doing all the work, and Ronin unslung his custom PCP .50 made for the new set of armor, and double checked his kanabo was in place.


    ¡°Boss, I heard what¡¯s happening, should we come assist?¡± K3 asked less than a minute later, his voice coming in filled with static from the distance.


    ¡°Negative K3,¡± Ronin answered cooly without conscious thought. ¡°There are only two dozen of them currently. It will take you too long to get here to be of any real assistance, and we can¡¯t leave the front lines under-protected by pulling your teams out. Maintain your position, and we¡¯ll handle this.¡±


    ¡°Understood boss, just¡­ try not to overdo it, ok?¡± Ronin frowned, wondering when he¡¯d ever overdone it. Unbidden, his mind conjured up a catalog of images. Ranging from when he¡¯d rushed the wall to Valley¡¯s pass while kaldarr were firing down on him, to when he¡¯d jumped out of the kaldarr dropship to engage the locust queen, and another time when he¡¯d jumped off the honeycomb wall to engage another queen in close quarters combat.


    Shaking his head to clear away the unwanted thought, he frowned. As useful as this new skill was. Being able to remember everything more clearly, it made self-delusion more difficult. That could be a problem for Ronin, since he planned on deluding himself whenever he needed to, in order to take out his enemies. Still, after seeing some of the monumentally stupid things he¡¯d done play across his vision, Ronin planned to be careful.


    ¡°Spread out, try to get the civilians to safety and take out targets of opportunity, but don¡¯t risk yourselves unnecessarily. I want to save these people, but if I lose you, then saving the next group of helpless people who find themselves in over their heads will be harder.¡± Ronin said as the landing tune played throughout the ship. His mind had been playing through the possibilities of this fight, using what he knew about enforcers as a base. He didn¡¯t know much about them, other than they were bigger and stronger than soldiers. Another factor were the refugees themselves. He was dropping in with valuable yokai teams, to save people who refused to help themselves by taking up arms when he¡¯d asked them. Was there even a point to this? His soldiers were more valuable by a large margin. Perhaps he should just leave them to fend for themselves like Unyielding oak¡­ Ronin froze at the thought, his hand resting over the ramp button.


    Now, his mind was playing through everything he knew about the wood elf. How she¡¯d abandoned everyone who couldn¡¯t keep up, and starved everyone who wouldn¡¯t fight for their lives. He remembered how poorly that turned out for her. He also remembered just how much work he¡¯d put into building up his camp, so the refugees had better living conditions, while they waited to capture Undercity for them¡­ now, he was debating on leaving these people to fend for themselves? O54, the red oni in charge of yokai team 03 cleared her throat after Ronin hadn¡¯t pushed the button after thirty seconds of holding his hand over it. Blinking, Ronin returned to himself, deciding as long as he focused on killing the enforcers as quickly as possible, he wouldn¡¯t have to choose at all.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°K3, Elyria, this is Ronin.¡± He said into his comms, using the channel the three of them had set aside for their personal communications. ¡°I¡¯m experiencing changes in my new body. Be careful and think about every decision twice before committing. I feel more detached and have lost the guilt I¡¯d been feeling for the last few weeks¡­ it¡¯s refreshing, but it could cause a distraction if it happened during combat.¡±


    ¡°Understood boss,¡± K3 said simply.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be careful¡­ still glad you¡¯re feeling better.¡± Elyria who was on overwatch, responded. She was sniping lizards with Dandelion and Stone from a ledge their enemies couldn¡¯t reach without climbing and was hard to aim at from the ground. Ronin smiled, warmth blossoming in his chest when he thought about Elyria worrying about him, the heat feeling more intense than his remembered feeling. Was that an effect of the new body too? Would he have to second guess every thought he had from now on? Rushing down the now open ramp, Ronin refused to watch what happened with Owl Five play out again with Elyria. Silently, he cursed Owl Two in his heart. That damned android just couldn¡¯t leave well enough alone.


    His internal struggles ended as soon as he hit the streets around the temple. He saw people in various forms screaming and running all over the place. Making it difficult to determine who was friend and who was foe. At least, until he saw a pair of enforcers walking down the street, shooting passersby with short, powerful railguns. Ronin looked them over, comparing them to the scouts and soldiers, in his mind.


    Scouts, were four feet tall humanoid crocodiles, who wore black body armor with the protection the equal of owl team scout armor, and carried railguns on a power level with PCP .025¡¯s. Soldiers were six feet, and wore grey body armor as thick as the first set of armor Owl Two had made for Ronin, and carried rifles that were equivalent to the PCP .50¡¯s. Ronin knew those were generalizations, since the technologies involved were so different from one another, but it was easier for him to categorize in generalities, than to keep track of several civilizations worth of tech.


    The enforcers, in comparison, were eight-foot-tall humanoid crocodiles, with short weapons that seemed to pack a punch on par with a PCP 1.0. Their white armor looked thick, covering them from ankle to wrist and neck. Their heads were covered in bearded helms, which protected their skulls, but left room for their long snout to stick out the front. Ronin brought the PCP .50 up to his shoulder and sighted down the barrel at the closest lizard. Pulling the trigger, he was shocked when the round ricocheted away, barely leaving a dent behind. The force of impact rocked the enforcer on his bare clawed feet, but no more than that. Cursing, Ronin adjusted his aim, and shot the lizard through the open front of the bearded helm, hitting right below its beady yellow eyes, smashing its face to pulp.


    ¡°Their armor is tough, shoot for the face, the feet and hands are also exposed.¡± He said into his comm calmly, as he ducked away from the return fire of the remaining lizard enforcer. The exchange was silent, apart from the snarls of the lizard, and the screams of the fleeing refugees. Their weapons were both silent, only making a noticeable noise when the rounds impacted something. Ronin admired his new armor with every move he made. It was so responsive he forgot he was wearing it from time to time, until he tried to move into a space too small for him to fit inside. His mind played over the duel Staz had taken part in against Grybellus. The knight had moved so fluidly that his armor must have been like this. If so, however, Ronin was appalled at the lack of skill the man displayed. It indicated the Anthropos knights relied on their armor to compensate for lack of ability on their part. Something to remember, but of little relevance at the moment.


    Ronin traded shots from cover with the lizard for almost a minute, until a black wraith flowed through the field between them, and the lizard crumpled to the ground without another sound. Squinting, Ronin had to look hard to make out the form of Amaris, who was ducking and weaving her way through the shadows so seamlessly, Ronin kept losing sight of her.


    ¡°Thanks for the assist.¡± He called, running forward to engage another enforcer. The twilight court matriarch didn¡¯t respond to his thanks, just continued forward while keeping to the shadows. Ronin, who was now looking for them, spotted several more moving shadows, as the court moved to engage. Ronin put the twilight court from his mind. They weren¡¯t strong, but they were even more agile than Elyria, and had hand eye coordination that rivaled the goblin scouts. If they were able to approach unseen, they¡¯d come out on top of any engagement.


    It didn¡¯t take long before Ronin spotted another pair of enforcers randomly killing civilians. Wrestling down the thoughts that told Ronin they deserved it if they didn¡¯t fight back, he moved to engage. It proved to be unnecessary, however, when a pair of clockwork guardians entered the street. It looked like Bartholomew, and his wife Genevieve were nearby.


    Ronin couldn¡¯t see the couple from where he was. They engaged from range, while using their guardians to distract the foes as they shot from cover. He watched as another pair of clockwork guardians flanked the enforcers from the other side of the street. They¡¯d been highly modified since Ronin had first seen them back on the colony ship. Back then they¡¯d been the textbook example of steampunk robots, with cogs and gears covering them. Now, they had been reoutfitted with heavy armor and heavier shields. Each also carried either a gatling gun, or a cannon, like what the SWAT teams used. They weren¡¯t capable of complicated maneuvers, requiring constant verbal input from their masters, but since the pair were likely watching from a rooftop somewhere, and in touch with the machines over comms, it wasn¡¯t much of a problem in this situation.


    Ronin watched as one of each pair opened fire with their cannons. The massive rounds tearing through armor and pulping lizard ribcages. It was enough to kill the enforcer pair instantly, yet Ronin took note of something. The rounds hadn¡¯t had the energy to exit the other side of the armor. It wasn¡¯t powered armor, just heavy plates worn over their bodies, and still, it was thick enough to prevent double penetration. Just how strong were these lizards? Ronin vowed to grab the body armor after the battle ended, perhaps it was something he could have reverse engineered and incorporated into his own troop¡¯s protective equipment.


    ¡°Nice shooting,¡± he shouted, not slowing this time to try and spot the couple. He knew how well they could hide and figured it would be a waste of his time. Instead, he charged ever deeper into the Temple city, towards the teleportation platform. He caught a glimpse of a yokai team engaging another pair of enforcers and did a quick mental count. They weren¡¯t doing very well, with only six lizards downed or engaged so far that he¡¯d seen. Whereas more than six refugees had been killed by the first pair he¡¯d encountered alone, before Ronin and Amaris had dropped them. That only encouraged him to run faster, not wanting to be outdone. Rounding a bend, be caught the backs of two more enforcers entering one of the crumble-down cube buildings. Slipping the rifle into the weapons harness on his back, Ronin drew his kanabo as he ran, determined to put them down without collateral damage in the house.


    Entering the building at a dead sprint, Ronin saw he¡¯d come too late, and at least half the bodies huddled together against the far wall had stopped moving. That didn¡¯t slow his momentum at all, however, and he brought the kanabo around in a swing any major league batter would envy. The club was new, created to replace his old one, since it had gone down with his old suit of armor. It was likely resting at the bottom of the lake, amid a mountain of broken ships. Ronin was grateful for the new weapon¡¯s stronger construction, as it cracked into the first lizard¡¯s spine. He felt the reverberation through the suit, even without the pressure the body sleeve exerted on his palms, and it became instantly clear the lizard wouldn¡¯t survive the hit.


    Back arching in a direction it was never meant to bend, the lizard¡¯s spine broke with an audible crack as it hit the floor at Ronin¡¯s feet. The second lizard, whose reflexes must be at least as sharp as Ronin¡¯s own, spun around and fired a pair of rounds into Ronin¡¯s chest. He felt the pinch as the body sleeve imparted the damage to his body. Except the feeling didn¡¯t dissipate, and he realized the chest plate, which was thicker than his hand was wide had dented under the impact. Staggering away, Ronin swung his kanabo at the enforcer still on its feet. To his surprise, he missed the swing, the brutish lizard moving faster than he¡¯d have thought possible and firing off another round towards him at point blank range. Unable to dodge, Ronin took the hit in exchange for another swing with the kanabo. Thankfully, he connected this time. Smashing the weapon from the lizard¡¯s hands. With the gun being knocked from its grip, and no room to draw the club it carried, the enforcer flung itself onto Ronin, who dropped the kanabo in order to grab the lizard¡¯s hands.


    What followed was a brawl to rival any Ronin had experienced before. He found himself thankful for all the times Jackson had pounded his face in, since he was able to take the blows from the lizard and keep coming back with hits of his own. Granted, he wasn¡¯t forced to feel the pain of impact on his bare skin, but the experience had still primed him to take advantage of the large openings in the lizard¡¯s defenses. Hearing Jackson¡¯s taunts clearly in his head, Ronin turned the tables on the lizard and got his knee into its neck. After that, it was only a matter of time before its struggles ceased. Panting for breath, Ronin looked up at the people in the room who were still alive. They looked human, if perfected beyond what was possible in nature.


    ¡°If you won¡¯t fight, you need to hide,¡± Ronin said, once he¡¯d caught his breath enough to talk. ¡°There are more of them around here. Just stay down until you are given the all clear, ok?¡± Waiting until he got a nod, Ronin picked up an enforcer¡¯s short-barreled rifle and looked it over. A battery to empower a pair of rails to propel the round, and a small hopper to hold a number of large cylindrical bullets. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure if it was his enhanced mind, or just how simple the weapon was, but he had it figured out in short order. Double checking to be sure the refugees had left; he pointed the gun at one of the downed lizards to test fire the weapon. A smile split his face when the round penetrated the armor. Snatching up the other lizard¡¯s weapon, Ronin went back into the streets, to continue the hunt.


    It took him nearly an hour to find the last lizard, with the help of the twilight court, who proved to be as useful as having a goblin scout team, but eventually, they finished off all the intruders. Looking down at himself, Ronin sighed in frustration. He¡¯d only just gotten the suit, and it needed to go back to the shop already. Still, he was better off than the clockwork guardians. All four of which would need extensive repairs before they were combat capable again. As for the twilight court, they¡¯d come out mostly unscathed, only losing one member who¡¯d gotten cocky and come into the open to take a shot. He¡¯d killed the lizard, but its partner had retaliated faster than the black clad man could have predicted, shredding his torso with a single shot of its big railgun.


    ¡°¡­ managed to shut down the teleportation pad, but the damage was already done.¡± The Priest said, finishing up his explanation of what had happened, after Ronin contacted him. ¡°I¡¯d requested power be cut to the pad, but it wasn¡¯t enough, someone had the knowledge needed to reconnect the line it seems. We lost upwards of fifty people to that attack.¡± He looked around sadly, at the bodies they¡¯d now gathered into the dropship. Along with all the lizards and their gear. ¡°What will you do with them?¡± He asked, though the look in his eyes told Ronin he already knew.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to use them as raw material.¡± Ronin said coolly. ¡°I¡¯d bury them under normal circumstances, but as things stand, we can¡¯t afford to waste anything.¡± Before any of the other Daoist priests could comment on that, Ronin continued. ¡°Would you like me to send a team up to disconnect the teleportation pad entirely? I don¡¯t want to sound greedy, but we have at least one of them on board already, a second couldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Ronin had finally learned the teleportation pads were actually an invention of the elders, never intended to be given to lizards or beetles. Yet, after the Lizards lost it and began killing everything, they¡¯d distributed the tech to help their people survive the lizard attacks. He still didn¡¯t understand the science behind them, but that didn¡¯t stop them from functioning.


    ¡°Take it,¡± The Priest said with a careless wave of his hand. ¡°It¡¯s clearly not safe to use anymore, and it would be a waste for it to remain here once you¡¯ve left.¡± Nodding, Ronin made a few calls over comms, to get an extraction team lined up to collect the pad. He¡¯d probably have them collect the crystallization pod while they were at it too. Since the crystallization matrix that could store crystalized people were now on board the cube ship they were fixing, it might be handy to have.


    Once he¡¯d bid his farewell to the Priest, who looked older with every day that passed, Ronin left Temple city in his dropship, headed back to the cube hangar. He had a load of raw materials to deliver to the woodchipper, and an appointment with the technologist chief to get his armor fixed. His mind was clear, as he ran down possibilities and the next steps he would have to take.


    ¡°Hey, White Flame?¡± Elyria¡¯s voice said into his ear. He¡¯d already told her and K3 he had finished the fight, so something must have happened out in the field.


    ¡°Go ahead, what¡¯s up?¡± Ronin asked, assuming the worst.


    ¡°You said the enforcers were eight feet tall, carried strong rifles, and wore nearly impenetrable white armor, right?¡± She asked the question so calmly he relaxed.


    ¡°Yea, if that was all you wanted to know then I¡¯ll keep one out of the woodchipper until you have a chance to¡­¡±


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t be necessary,¡± she said, cutting him off, and causing his mind to race. ¡°Because they just showed up on the front lines. There aren¡¯t many of them, but we¡¯re having a hard time putting them down.¡± Ronin sighed, looking down at his damaged armor and doing a few experimental flexes. It was still fully functional, if a little stiff. It would have to do for now, because, if the enforcers had started funneling into the mine, they¡¯d just lost any downtime they¡¯d had.


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way.¡± He said wearily, counting rounds and checking battery charge levels in the newly acquired rifles. ¡°I¡¯ve got fifteen, fully loaded rifles captured from the lizard enforcers. They have mostly full charge and will penetrate their armor. I¡¯ll be there as soon as I can. Until then, aim for their faces and feet.¡± Changing the destination, the dropship was heading too, Ronin looked at yokai teams 03 and 04.


    ¡°Trouble on the front. I¡¯m heading there now with yokai team 03.¡± He picked that team because he¡¯d spoken with O54 a few times and still hadn¡¯t learned the kaldarr man¡¯s name who led yokai team 04. ¡°Yokai team 04, once we disembark, I need you to return with the ship to the cube hangar. Guard the place as best you can but try and help out with the construction as well. I know that¡¯s contradictory, but we are rapidly running out of time. We¡¯ll buy you as much as we can but¡­¡± He trailed off, with a sigh. Wondering if they could get this done in time. Especially considering the ship was nowhere near ready yet.

 Chapter eighty-nine

    Ronin knew he¡¯d hit the front lines when he heard the snarls of the lizards, and the sounds of bullets smashing into bodies and stones. The battlefield inside the tunnels was an ever shifting one, depending on who was pushing harder, so the front wasn¡¯t always in the same place. Dropping the bag he¡¯d carried to the ground, he turned to O54.


    ¡°O54, I need your team to distribute these weapons ASAP. Remember, ammunition is limited, so whoever gets them needs to focus on enforcers only. Understood?¡± They¡¯d been through this already, so Ronin was only feeding his insecurities by repeating himself. Still, it made him feel better to ask.


    ¡°Understood, my lord.¡± O54 said, saluting him with a fist against her chest before grabbing a Pair of rifles and motioning for the rest of her team to follow suit. Ronin already had two of his own. Though he didn¡¯t plan on handing them out. Each Rifle held thirty rounds, and if Ronin was a betting man, he¡¯d assume they held enough power to shoot that many, and no more. That meant he had close to sixty rounds of ammo between the two weapons, and he planned to make good use of it.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± A familiar voice asked, as Elyria landed on his shoulder. ¡°You look like hell, why aren¡¯t you back at the base, getting yourself patched up?¡± Ronin popped his helmet off, this new armor design actually exposing his head when he did that. Yet every time he had so far, he couldn¡¯t help replaying the vision of Staz, ripping Grybellus¡¯s head from his shoulders.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here.¡± He said, ignoring her questions. ¡°I need you to go back to base¡­ no. Just listen before you throw a fit.¡± Too focused on the job at hand to worry about her reaction. ¡°You said many times you¡¯re a moon elf, right?¡±


    ¡°You know I am,¡± Elyria said, leaping off his shoulder and buzzing down to hover at eye level with him. ¡°You¡¯d better be going somewhere with this, unless you want your ass kicked.¡± She added, raising a fist over her head. Ronin idly noticed how she instinctively moved both her wings and her arm to avoid a collision, it was impressive, but not relevant at the moment.


    ¡°You¡¯ve said more than once politics is where you shine. Well, I need you to shine for me now, Elyria.¡± He reached out and grabbed her by the arms and pulled her towards himself. The body sleeve letting him experience sensation against his palms, helping him not to over tighten his grip, if not actually constituting feeling. ¡°We¡¯re running out of time. We need the cube ships we aren¡¯t using stripped down, and the material piled into the one we¡¯re going to use. If we¡­¡±


    ¡°Why are you¡­¡±  Elyria said, with a frown on her face as she looked into his eyes. Ronin kept talking, not wanting to let her sidetrack him.


    ¡°¡­ don¡¯t hurry up, then we are going to be stuck here. There are hundreds of refugees in the camp, just sitting on their collective ass and waiting to be saved. We need to put them to work on¡­¡±


    ¡°Seriously, what are¡­¡± She tried again, but again, he wouldn¡¯t let her distract him.


    ¡°¡­ the ship or it¡¯s going to get¡­¡± this time, she cut him off with her lips pressing against his. Ronin flinched in shock, only then realizing that he¡¯d been slowly pulling her towards himself as he spoke, until they were almost nose to nose. Blinking in confusion, Ronin hesitated for only a moment, before he returned the kiss. Heat moving through his body and settling in places he hadn¡¯t experienced very often.


    ¡°¡­time out,¡± Elyria said, breaking off the kiss and shoving herself away from him. In the suit, he could have kept her there as easily as holding a fly, but Ronin let her go as soon as she pushed against him. ¡°What in the hell was that?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ it was a kiss?¡± Ronin replied, suddenly self-conscious. He¡¯d only ever kissed someone once before. That time too it had been instigated by the other party. He refused to think about Lily, and thankfully, his mind seemed to get the message and the thoughts shut themselves off.


    ¡°I know that moron.¡± Elyria snapped, touching her fingers to her lips. ¡°What I was asking is why we were kissing at all?¡±


    ¡°Hey, you kissed me first.¡± Ronin said somewhat defensively.


    ¡°And you kissed me right back, you¡­ gahh, hold on.¡± Turning away from him, she spun around in the air before settling down on a stone some ten feet away. ¡°I¡¯m going to get to the bottom of this right now, channel fifty-two.¡± She said, as she started speaking rapid-fire into her comm. Confused, Ronin nevertheless turned his comm to channel fifty-two and waited.


    ¡°Doctor Mycroft here, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°This is the Chief Technologist, what can I do for you lady Elyria? But can you make it quick. I am very busy at¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a four-way call, between the White Flame, myself, Mycroft and the chief. Everyone hear me?¡± Elyria asked, waiting until everyone answered before she went on. Ronin, who was starting to understand what she was after, wished she¡¯d have waited until there was more time before she interrupted two of the most important people on the ship reconstruction project.


    ¡°I just kissed the White Flame.¡± Elyria said, not mincing words. ¡°I haven¡¯t been burdened with guilt over the death of my husband, and the White Flame and K3 have both indicated their able to think critically while setting empathy aside. I want to know why, and I want to know right now.¡± There was silence on the other side of the line before the chief spoke.


    ¡°Owl Two wanted the new bodies empathy dialed down, so sentiment wouldn¡¯t get in the way of decision making. Nothing else was altered, everything else was already there previously.¡± He added, causing Ronin to wonder what he meant by that.


    ¡°Dialed down my empathy?¡± Elyria asked with clear disbelief. ¡°I just kissed him, and I can tell you right now I was feeling something for him while I did it. But, when I thought of my late husband, the guilt didn¡¯t come. So, I ask again, what is going on?¡± Ronin wanted to feel bad about her dead husband, he knew he should, but the only thing that popped into his head was the words ¡®I was feeling something for him while I did it,¡¯ and wondered if she was feeling the heat that he had.


    ¡°I¡¯m unsure what to tell you, my lady.¡± The chief said, confusion clear in his voice. ¡°I read over the changes carefully, there was nothing done that should cause you to do anything apart from think clearly and more logically. If you decided to kiss our lord, well, that must have been the logical thing to do in the situation.¡± Ronin could almost hear the chief asking why someone wouldn¡¯t want to kiss their leader, but he smothered the chuckle that wanted to escape his lips. Since he didn¡¯t really find the situation funny either.


    ¡°Logical to kiss him? I¡¯m a moon elf, who had a husband, he¡¯s a human who has two wives. How is that logical?¡±


    ¡°Not anymore,¡± Ronin muttered. He wished he¡¯d kept his mouth shut an instant later when Elyria¡¯s eyes darted to him.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She asked sharply. Having been caught, Ronin took a breath, and told her.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t told you, but Owl Two left me detailed recordings of the last ten years at home.¡± Elyria¡¯s eyes bulged and Ronin rushed to finish before she could sidetrack the conversation. ¡°Your sister is fine, but Lily lost the baby.¡± He said quickly, causing her to freeze. Ronin continued as quickly as he could after that, spilling everything on her. ¡°¡­then Hunter invited the Anthropos knights in to kill the syndicate members while the Undercity blockaded the tunnel¡­ So, no matter what else happened. I¡¯m no longer married, that contract was null and void when Undercity turned on my people.¡± He watched her processing his words, saw her lips form the words, ¡®she had two kids,¡¯ before her eyes, now devoid of anger, looked into his, searchingly.


    ¡°If I might say something,¡± Doctor Mycroft said. The words caused both of them to jump, since they hadn¡¯t realized the line was still open. The Doctor continued before they had a chance to say anything either way. ¡°I read the change sheet too. The chief¡¯s right that he didn¡¯t add anything now, apart from dampening your empathy down. Something I can help fix for you when you come back. There was another change however, one that has nothing to do with your brains¡­¡± she trailed off suggestively, and Ronin shared a confused look with Elyria, before the elf snapped.


    ¡°Well, what is it?¡± When the line was silent too long.


    ¡°He took my research on reproduction, and advanced it by several centuries.¡± The Doc said, words hitting them both like a ton of bricks. Ronin could tell just from looking at her, Elyria hadn¡¯t considered what Mycroft was implying either. ¡°I don¡¯t think he actually cracked the code, but he was close, very close. The pair of you have been living without sexual drives for months. Oh, emotional desire was still there, we could all see the way you two flirted, but the hormones that drive a human, or elf I suppose to want to engage in sexual activity exclusive of conscious thought? Those were absent. All that¡¯s really happened here is you had your inhibitions lowered, and the emotional baggage that kept you distant from each other was suppressed.¡± Ronin almost heard the busty woman shrugging over the comm. ¡°You like each other, on both an emotional and physical level. So, quit acting like children and admit it to yourselves already. Now, the chief and I have to get back to work. If you want, I can dial your empathy back up either a few notches, or all the way. But until then, this ship isn¡¯t going to fix itself.¡± With that final declaration, the line went dead, the Doc killing the connection for the chief too.


    Ronin and Elyria stared at each other after that. Until a stray shot ricocheted off the cave wall nearby and pinged off Ronin¡¯s chest plate. Cursing, they both ducked to avoid any more random fire. When they felt safe again, the pair exchanged a look, and cracked identical grins. They brought themselves back under control quickly, but for just a moment, Ronin felt like he was truly close to the elf for the first time since she¡¯d held him in his old home cave while he cried for the life he¡¯d lived. A life that didn¡¯t seem so bad now.


    ¡°Listen,¡± he said at last, not wanting to break the silence, but knowing they were out of time. ¡°I really do need you to go back. You heard Doctor Mycroft; they can¡¯t do it before we¡¯re overrun. I need you to convince the Priest to get all those worthless¡­ I mean, underutilized, refugees over into the cube hangar, to lend a hand. Otherwise¡­¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± Elyria said, placing a finger against his lips. ¡°You need me to go sweet talk that old man into helping us save their lives. I can do that, I¡¯ll use every trick I have at my disposal until I have everyone who isn¡¯t here fighting carrying scrap metal or gluing on new panels¡­ just, don¡¯t die on me while I¡¯m gone, ok?¡± The last words were said with more vulnerability than Ronin had ever heard from the elf, and he pulled her close again for another quick kiss. It was brief, and he let her go before she could even think to struggle, but it made him feel better. Her too if the expression on her face was any indication.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, as they both blushed. ¡°Now, get back to Temple city. I¡¯ve got an invasion to fight off.¡± He smirked, and she fluttered her wings in a move that looked almost bashful.


    ¡°You¡¯d better,¡± she said, flying away down the tunnel. ¡°I¡¯m going to do my part, so you¡¯d damned well better do yours.¡± Ronin watched her disappear out of sight, and as he lifted his helmet, he heard her wings buzzing at full speed down the tunnel towards him. He looked up, worried trouble had found them, only to be greeted with a kiss, deeper than the one he¡¯d dared steal from her. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her lips against his. Much too soon, that feeling was gone, and thanks to the buzzing in his ears, he knew she¡¯d left before he even opened his eyes.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Ok then,¡± he said, snapping his helmet, which looked like a goat¡¯s head, back onto the suit. Brushing his hands over the new goat hide cloak Owl Two had made for him to go with the new armor, Ronin climbed back to his feet and hefted his new weapons. ¡°Time to go kill some lizards I guess.¡±


    That was the last time he had more than five minutes in a row to just sit still for the following three weeks. He didn¡¯t leave the battlefield, in fact, no one did, not alive anyway. Volunteers from the city would come once a day to bring them new ammunition and nutrient fluid, they also dragged away the bodies of the fallen from both sides. There had to be half the lizard ships on the planet parked above them, sending troops down now, but every little bit of biological matter kept from them helped reduce their numbers.


    Ian Hill¡¯s teams were the stars of the show at the start, when the scouts were the only threat they faced. Drawing their attention and bullets while the rest of those gathered delt with them in relative safety. As the soldiers arrived, and their numbers slowly rose to rival the scouts, the SWAT teams were no longer as important to the war effort, being replaced by the red and blue Hellenes teams. Who¡¯s group dynamic and fighting style were a good counter to the larger and more heavily armored soldier lizards. Now, after weeks of enforcer pairs being the main units to enter the battlefield, the twilight court, along with Whisper, Stone, and Dandelion took center stage. There were others with similar skillsets, but it was the assassins among them who got the most enforcer kills. Since, they were able to get right up close and personal to stab a knife or fire a weapon into the only real weak spot on their suits, the opening on their bearded helms.


    Ronin hadn¡¯t seen Elyria since she¡¯d kissed him goodbye and left to help hurry the ship reconstruction along. He¡¯d talked to her a few times over comms though, and it sounded like they were making much better headway than they had been before. Not many of the refugees wanted to do ¡®slave labor¡¯ as they put it. Since nearly everyone who¡¯d once lived on the ship had been a ruler in their own personal realms, they had a hard time subjugating themselves to another¡¯s will, even when it was to save their own lives. Ronin couldn¡¯t honestly care less. They¡¯d help, or they¡¯d say behind. As it stood, he was planning on sending them into the ship world, the new word he¡¯d come up with to replace pocket world, as soon as he could, and repurpose their bodies for syndicate members who would actually help him repair the ship in space. Assuming they even lived that long.


    Ronin, who¡¯d found he could multitask much better now than he ever had before, didn¡¯t bother shaking the thoughts away as the group, consisting of himself, K3, and yokai team 01, ran down tunnels now so familiar, they could run them blindfolded. He could reminisce and fight at the same time, now that they¡¯d stopped trying to push the lizards back. Instead, they¡¯d chosen this section of tunnels as a natural choke point and were making their last stand here.


    ¡°Vaira, right.¡± Dandelion said over group comms. ¡°Boss, second cave on the left, Liana, third cave on the right.¡± Dandelion was running overwatch for them. A trick Ronin had learned from Karr, back on that tree climb when he¡¯d assumed command. Her main job in the group was to be their eyes, calling out short instructions while the others went about the business of killing the enemy. She knew who among them carried what weapon, so she¡¯d tailor her instructions so as not to waste the valuable rounds. No point wasting an enforcer railgun round, something they hadn¡¯t figured out a reliable way to reload yet, on a scout, when a PCP .25 round, carried by the bugbears Vaira and Liana, could put them down just fine. The reverse was also true, since it would be a waste of air pressure to fire anything smaller than a PCP 1.0 or one of their own weapons at an enforcer.


    Karr had a pair of his people rotating on cleanup duty, Ronin had lost track who was behind them now, but he thought it was Jaya and Lori in their armored suits. They were tasked with following behind and picking up all the weapons they could from the soldiers and enforcers, there was little point in the weak scout weaponry, so they didn¡¯t bother with it. When there was time, they¡¯d gather the enforcer¡¯s corpses too. Their armor was incredibly resilient, and although it wasn¡¯t worth much now, eventually, there¡¯d be time to melt it down and reuse it somewhere else.


    ¡°White Flame, you still out there?¡± Ronin heard Elyria¡¯s voice through the earpiece for the first time in days, and it made him smile, despite how desperate their situation was. ¡°Hey, White Flame, you didn¡¯t die on me now did you?¡±


    ¡°I hear you, Elyria.¡± He answered before she could start worrying. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± He asked, simultaneously following directions given by Dandelion and shooting a pair of enforcers, who¡¯d thought to take advantage of a quartet of soldier¡¯s surprise attack on their group. Unfortunately, Dandelion had spotted them. The lizards were dead before the first round was even fired; they just hadn¡¯t known it yet.


    ¡°You can get your butt back here ASAP, that¡¯s what you can do. I¡¯ve got a drop ship waiting for you near the cavern entrance, so hurry up and move it.¡± Ronin frowned, not understanding what she meant.


    ¡°Elyria, my shift doesn¡¯t end, well ever,¡± Ronin said with a snort. It had become clear that only those whose bodies were government issue, or were made to Owl Two¡¯s special recipe, could keep going all the time. That had made Ronin¡¯s people, and Ian¡¯s, indispensable in the field. While the others cycled out for food, rest, and repairs they had to stay out there, constantly killing in order to prevent the flood of lizards from washing over them all, in a wave of earth-colored scales and black, white, and grey armor.


    ¡°I know.¡± Elyria shot back, clearly exasperated with how slow he was being. ¡°You can¡¯t quit the field until the ship is ready to go¡­ Well, the ship is ready to go. At least, we¡¯re ready to give the engines a test run. Trouble is the ship won¡¯t start without the captain on board. So, move your butt captain, unless you¡¯d rather fight the lizards for the rest of your very short life?¡±


    Ronin didn¡¯t understand what she was saying at first. He had to replay the words in his mind several times before their meaning sunk into his exhaustion fried brain. When he did finally understand what she was saying, he struggled to believe it. How long had it been, six weeks, longer? He didn¡¯t even remember anymore. It seemed like a lifetime, running through these tunnels, killing lizards by the thousands. Yet, at the same time, it didn¡¯t seem like long enough for them to finish repairing the hundreds of millions of years old ship.


    ¡°What about everyone else?¡± He asked, coming back to reality at last. ¡°Should I bring everyone back now?¡± Ronin struggled to think of how they could logistically get everyone back without being overrun once they reached an opening. He wasn¡¯t able too. If they all pulled back now, whoever took up the rear would die. Simple as that.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Elyria said, clearly knowing that as well as he did. ¡°We aren¡¯t sure if the ship will even lift off yet. We¡¯ve got the lights on, and all the readouts look good, but we won¡¯t know anything until you get here. We¡¯re running off the temporary core Owl Two built for us, since we aren¡¯t supposed to connect the AI cores together, or to the ship, until we hit space.¡± Ronin nodded, though he knew she couldn¡¯t see it.


    Owl Two¡¯s notes had been clear, almost excessively so, they weren¡¯t to hook the lizard ship¡¯s AI core to power, nor were they to hook Owl Two¡¯s AI core to anything, until they¡¯d hit space and were ready to reenter the ship world. Instead, they had to rely on Sam, and a temporary AI core Owl Two had grown with a reduced copy of himself on it, to get them out of the atmosphere.


    Now that it was time, he needed to get back to the ship. Even so, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to abandon the people he¡¯d spent so long fighting besides, to save himself, and hundreds of people who¡¯d had to be bullied into helping at all. His mind flashed pictures of Unyielding oak, and he couldn¡¯t fault her logic anymore. How could he leave the strong to die, while he ran away with the weak?


    ¡°Listen, Elyria,¡± he said, his mind made up. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to be able to come back just now. Not without the people who¡¯ve been fighting by my side for a month. I just can¡¯t do it. You know as well as I do that leaving isn¡¯t going to be possible. Once they start to pull back, they¡¯ll be overrun. You need to send¡­¡± He was interrupted before he could tell her to send in some of the refugees to cover their escape.


    ¡°I was hoping to hear you say something like that.¡± The wizened, old voice of the Priest interrupted his refusal, startling Ronin, who hadn¡¯t known he was on the line.


    ¡°Priest, I didn¡¯t know you were there, pardon my rudeness.¡± Ronin said, covering his confusion with politeness. He¡¯d met people, like Aurex, who covered up their confusion with anger, those people weren¡¯t fun to be around, so Ronin avoided it as often as possible.


    ¡°I know young man.¡± The Priest said calmly, ¡°that was by design. I wanted to hear what your response would be when told you could leave, without you knowing I was listening.¡±


    ¡°Sorry White Flame, but the old man insisted.¡± Elyria said, and actually sounded like she meant it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡± Ronin said, still running the tunnels with his team, killing uncounted numbers of lizards. Their bodies were starting to pile up, and they would have to move soon or risk getting their feet tangled in bloody limbs. It seemed the old man had gotten the wrong idea about his intentions.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine son, you don¡¯t have too.¡± The Priest said, a smile clear in his voice. ¡°Clear all your people out of the tunnels. They will have cover; you have my word on it. But you need to hurry, the distraction I have won¡¯t hold up as well as you did, these last weeks.¡± Confused, Ronin nevertheless took the old man at his word.


    ¡°Very well, I¡¯m pulling everyone out now. I hope whatever you have planned buys us enough time to get back to the city.¡± Cutting off the line with Elyria and the Priest, Ronin contacted Ian, Amaris, and her husband Orpheus, Bartholomew, and his wife Genevieve, Red and Blue, and all the yokai teams that were still in the field. He let them know they were to retreat as soon as possible, and the retreat would be covered. With a final, ¡®see you at the ship¡¯ he disengaged and led his team on a dead sprint back towards the cavern.


    Ronin didn¡¯t see anything that resembled a distraction as he ran, but he trusted the old man to keep his word. Not stopping at all when he entered the giant cavern, Ronin saw the ship flying near the tunnel exit, ramp open halfway, ready to receive them. Leaping off the ground, Ronin felt his feet slam into the ramp, followed a moment later by the rest of yokai team 01, and K3. The twilight court was already here, and it didn¡¯t take long for Red and Blue to arrive with their own people, and the clockwork couple with their two remaining guardians. Lastly, the yokai teams rushed from the tunnels, jumping on board, and giving Ronin a nod.


    ¡°We¡¯re all on board,¡± Ronin said into the line Elyria had called him on. ¡°I don¡¯t see the distraction though, I hope you hurry, because they are going to be right behind us.¡± He was actually surprised the lizards hadn¡¯t already boiled out of the tunnel.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that, young man.¡± The Priest said, his voice horse and the sounds of gunfire in the background. ¡°We¡¯ve got you covered, just get off this planet, and live.¡± Ronin gaped in shock. Was the old man in the tunnels?


    ¡°Priest, what are you doing? You need to get back here before it¡¯s too late.¡± Ronin said, the ramp closing even as he spoke.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us,¡± the old man said with a forced chuckle. ¡°We, the last of earth¡¯s natural humans, have outlived our usefulness. It seems only right we go out protecting the future of our race¡­ if you wish to show gratitude, I¡¯ve left a book on the path with your elf companion for you. Please, read it, and if you find its lessons valuable, pass them on. That is all I could ask. Now, get out of here, earth might have ended, but humanity can still survive.¡± After that, the line went dead, and only silence met his shouts for the old man to come back.


    Looking around the dropship¡¯s troop compartment, Ronin counted those who were present. It was a sobering number. Both the red and blue forces had been cut in half, and the twilight court were also missing several of their people. The SWAT teams under Ian were missing an entire team. Even among those who remained, none of them were without injury.


    ¡°The Daoist priests have covered our withdrawal.¡± Ronin said, wanting to answer the questions he saw in their eyes. ¡°We think we¡¯ve got the ship running and are going back to check. If we do, we can finally leave these caves, and the lizards, behind¡­ I want to thank each and every one of you, for the hard work and sacrifice you put into the defense of the Temple city, and the cube hangar while my people worked on the ship. You went the extra mile when many others didn¡¯t. I won¡¯t forget that.¡± Ronin wasn¡¯t sure why he¡¯d decided to give a speech just then, but it felt like the right thing to do.


    ¡°The twilight court dances to its own music, White Flame.¡± Amaris said, blood splattering her face, creating red tear tracks to go along with the black ones painted there.


    ¡°Heck, I wasn¡¯t about to let that pretend sergeant major over there out due the real deal, besides, my kill streak is like over nine thousand now, if you know what I¡¯m saying.¡± Red said, getting a nod of agreement, and a scowl from Blue. Ronin didn¡¯t know, but he read the looks on their faces, and those of the clockwork couple and the twilight court. Despite their words, they appreciated his thanks.


    ¡°Thank you anyway,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Now, who¡¯s ready to get out of here?¡± He asked, pumping his fist into the air. All the yokai teams, along with K3 and the scouts, threw their fists into the air and roared their approval. Slowly, the other groups raised their own fists and voices along with the others, until the entire ship shook with their cry. ¡°First rounds on me guys.¡± Ronin added, with another punch to the air. That redoubled the shouting, and he smiled. He was sure they had enough enhanced nutrient fluid for everyone to get some of the good stuff, and besides, he¡¯d always wanted to say that, since he heard the captain say it in a book¡­ Thinking of the Captain took Ronin off guard for a second, since he was a captain now himself. At least, he would be, assuming the ship was able to take off.


    ¡°Ready to get back home?¡± K3 asked, slapping Ronin on the back. He felt the impact against his body sleeve, and the suit rocked a little under the giant¡¯s enhanced strength. Ronin hadn¡¯t been the only one who¡¯d seen massive improvements with the fresh body, the kaldarr was once again as strong compared to Ronin as he was back home in the pocket¡­ ship world.


    ¡°You know what?¡± Ronin asked, as he took in the blood splattered men and women around him. They¡¯d fought with him, they¡¯d bled with him, and not one of them had turned away, no matter how many lizards rushed their lines. K3 stepped back as the wicked grin split his face. He thought about the people in the Valley. Lily, Hunter, Benjamin, and the Anthropos knights, to name a few, were waiting for him back home. Stanly might have slipped his grasp, but there was no escape for the people who¡¯d betrayed him in Undercity. ¡°I think I am,¡± he finished, words filled with anticipation for what would happen next.

 Chapter ninety

    The beetle dropships were highly advanced, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing craft. They moved quickly, compared to old earth standards at least, and could fit several hundred tons of cargo. There was one thing about them though that Ronin absolutely hated. There were no windows. The ride from the cavern¡¯s edge through the underwater tunnel into the cube hangar was measured in minutes, yet, that whole time, Ronin couldn¡¯t shake the feeling something would go wrong. He wanted to see where he was going, to observe with his own eyes they weren¡¯t going to hit something. Not that he had any control over the ship¡¯s actual movements, even if he could see outside. All he could do was wait, while he grew increasingly restless, until the landing jingle played throughout the ship compartment, and the ramp slowly opened.


    ¡°We made it, boss.¡± K3 said, from his place beside, and a little behind Ronin. ¡°So, stop worrying so much will you? You¡¯re gunna freak out the troops.¡± Turning his bulky suit to cast a glance at his bodyguard, Ronin knew he must be showing more of his anxiety than he realized, if the giant was commenting on it. Taking a deep breath, Ronin willed the feelings of unease to leave him, after a short pause, it did. A little bonus to having Owl Two messing around with his head, he could actually control his emotions now, if he was conscious of them, and was actively trying to suppress them. One of many perks to the new and improved brain matter he¡¯d come to discover over the last month in his new body.


    ¡°Thanks, big guy,¡± Ronin said quietly, now under control again. He never had time to see the Doctor to get his empathy dialed back up, but this ability to ¡®turn off¡¯ unwanted emotions was incredibly convenient. Ronin didn¡¯t think he would give this one back, even if he did dial the unnecessary compassion back up. ¡°Come on all, let¡¯s go to space.¡± He said in a much louder voice, punching the air as the ship¡¯s ramp finished opening to reveal the inside of an unfamiliar room. Frowning, Ronin stepped outside and looked around.


    ¡°We¡¯re inside one of Homecube¡¯s hangars.¡± Elyria, who¡¯d buzzed over to stand on his shoulder, said, indicating the room. ¡°There are a few of these on every side of the ship. Though, we only managed to get three of them working, we still filled several others with raw materials, thanks to my efforts with the refugees.¡± Ronin, who¡¯d expected her arrival, was a little shocked when she preened her clothes and fluttered her wings as she spoke. Clearly, she¡¯d been as excited to see him as he now realized he¡¯d been to see her. Taking his helmet off, Ronin grinned.


    ¡°All hail the mighty fairy queen, ruler of lazy refugees.¡± He felt a twinge from his conscience at the jab, but it was easy to ignore, he¡¯d been joking anyway, mostly. Shaking the thought of the refugees away, he looked at her more deeply. There was no denying he¡¯d missed her. For whatever reason, even the way she hounded him was endearing, and the way the ship¡¯s lights illuminated her silver hair and pale skin gave him shivers. To say nothing of her blue eyes¡­ forcibly pushing the emotions down, Ronin recentered himself, thinking about what she¡¯d actually said. ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad they were able to help get us ready that much quicker, but a¡­ what did you call the cube ship?¡±


    ¡°Homecube,¡± Elyria answered simply, shrugging her shoulders. ¡°We got tired of calling it ¡®the active cube,¡¯ ¡®the lizard ship,¡¯ ¡®the one we¡¯re keeping¡¯, there were others, but the point is, we were confused, so we talked about it, and everyone agreed with me Homecube was the perfect name.¡± Ronin doubted that very much, but Homecube was as good a name as any, so he just nodded.


    ¡°Very well then,¡± he said. ¡°Now, we¡¯re in a hurry, right? Let¡¯s get these soldiers a drink, while we go see if Homecube will fly.¡± He got another round of cheers over that announcement, though admittedly, most of them came from the yokai teams humoring him. The Twilight Court didn¡¯t dress in all black, and have their pale faces highlighted with black lipstick and tear tracks because of their cheerful natures. While Red and Blue, self-proclaimed ¡®gamer bros,¡¯ whatever that meant, and the clockwork couple and Ian¡¯s SWAT teams were mourning the losses they¡¯d suffered.


    ¡°We can do that,¡± Elyria answered, hopping off his shoulder and turning to a catgirl with pink ears and tail, in a waitress outfit, who¡¯d been standing unobtrusively to the side. ¡°Mei, would you take our soldiers to get cleaned up and then pour them a round at the caf¨¦?¡±


    ¡°Yes meow¡¯m,¡± Mei said, giving a deep curtsy as she beckoned for those who¡¯d road the ship back with Ronin. He stared at her as she walked away, shaking his head in bewilderment.


    ¡°Catgirls and a caf¨¦? I read a light novel once that had a maid caf¨¦ in it, it was kind of cute, the way the two leads were so awkward around each other in there. But who in their right mind would turn themselves into a cat girl maid?¡± Ronin asked, turning to Elyria after the catgirl had walked out of sight, to find her glaring at him. ¡°What?¡± He asked, confused.


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve put your eyes back in,¡± she said, tone frosty. ¡°There are a few groups of them actually. Apparently, there was a group of...otaku? On earth when all this happened. The otaku themselves didn¡¯t survive the lizard enforcer attack, but all the people they brought from their personal realms were tailor made to be caf¨¦ maids. They are really good at following instructions, like cleaning, cooking, and serving people, but that¡¯s where their brain function stops.¡±


    ¡°Kinda like the red and blue soldiers, and the twilight court.¡± Ronin said, nodding in agreement. ¡°They were amazing on the battlefield, but I wasn¡¯t able to get much from the soldiers, beyond gamer terms I didn¡¯t understand, or dark poetry from the twilight court. I don¡¯t interact with the people from personal realms much, other than our world, so it caught me by surprise that they aren¡¯t¡­ complete, I guess?¡± He said, searching for the right words. ¡°What I¡¯ve actually been wondering about though, is how so many weirdos made it down here in the first place? I mean, you were at the party, same as me. It was a father son affair, invitation only. Yet there are married couples running around, LARPers, gamers, and every kind of weird thing in between. How did they get down here?¡±


    ¡°I asked Mycroft about that actually.¡± Elyria said, motioning him to walk with her as she spoke. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s talk on the way, we have several miles of corridors to walk before we get to the bridge¡­ actually, why don¡¯t you drop the suit before we go? I¡¯m surprised that thing is still in one piece, with all the bullet holes and blood stains. Besides, we haven¡¯t had time to reinforce all the floors yet, no point taking chances, right?¡±


    ¡°Right, just a sec.¡± Ronin said, as he went about the labor-intensive process of getting out of the suit. The process was further hindered by how dented and battered the thing had become after weeks of sustaining damage without repair. K3 and Elyria helped him pull the heavy plates off, since there was no way, he could do it alone, and as he peeled the body sleeve off, an awful odor spread from his body. Causing Elyria to cover her nose and fly straight back. Even K3, who showed remarkable tolerance to smells, snorted, and shook his head, thick lips slapping against his tusks.


    ¡°Ok, new plan, take a shower. There¡¯s a stall right there. You too big guy, but make it quick, we¡¯re on a time crunch.¡± Ronin wanted to argue the point, the Daoist¡¯s out there covering them would die quickly, but he¡¯d been inside that body hugging sleeve for a month and the smell was making him sick.


    ¡°Fine, but then we need to go.¡± Ronin said, giving in without protest. She pointed him to the crate, which turned out to be a shower unit, similar to the one they¡¯d first used upon waking up in their human bodies, and he climbed into the closest one, K3 taking the one next door. They scrubbed in silence, getting the filth off themselves. Ronin experienced a moment of awkwardness, as he retracted his crotch plates for the first time to clean, but he got over it quickly, distracted by the realization he hadn¡¯t had to use the bathroom in a long time¡­ it didn¡¯t take long for him to come up with the answer though. His body was grown, actually tailor made to feed off a particular type of food. Since that food was also biologically manufactured to serve the purpose, there was essentially no waste created. At least none that couldn¡¯t be expunged through his body¡¯s pores. The waste didn¡¯t smell very good, especially after a month of being trapped against his body.


    ¡°All set,¡± he said only a few minutes later, feeling clean and refreshed for the first time in ages.


    ¡°Great, now you only smell as bad as you normally do, but it¡¯s a start.¡± Elyria said, grabbing his elbow and leading him to a hatch K3 had to manually open. So much for futuristic sci-fi door sensers. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Elyria said, seeing his expression. ¡°Some of the more heavily trafficked hatches got automatic openers, we just don¡¯t have the resources to waste on them for every room. Especially one that leads into open space, should the hangar bay door be opened outside.¡±


    They walked down the perfectly square corridors for nearly ten minutes in silence, following a fresh green line that had been painted on the floor. The place wasn¡¯t as filthy as Ronin remembered, but it was far from pristine. Getting bored with the constant squareness, Ronin turned to Elyria, who saved him the trouble of finding a topic, by speaking first.


    ¡°So anyway,¡± she said, walking at his side, instead of flying. The corridor was big enough for her to spread her wings, but the air was completely still. Flying would likely exhaust her quickly and kick up a dust storm while she was at it. ¡°I talked to Mycroft about why she was invited to the father son party.¡± That was right, Ronin had forgotten they¡¯d been talking about that before they got sidetracked by his stench.


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t invited at all. Ninety percent of the people who are down here weren¡¯t either. Apparently, there were several parties that day. Each put on by people in different social circles, with different ranks in the ship¡¯s hierarchy. They served as fronts to get the well to do people, like Fabius and Amaris, in the loop about the lizards. But even those at the parties weren¡¯t the only ones invited. The main difference being most of those who didn¡¯t get the secret invitation didn¡¯t get free bodies, and they didn¡¯t get their own ships. They had to either already have a body or be willing to fork over spare personal realms for them. Then, they were all corralled into a handful of dropships and let down in groups.¡± Ronin frowned, thinking through the implications of what she¡¯d said. If that was true, then he¡¯d been working under a flawed understanding for months. He smirked dryly, since it wouldn¡¯t be the first, or the last time that happened, when a thought hit him.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Ronin said confused. ¡°Why would they ask for spare pocket worlds instead of credits?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad for being so ignorant, White Flame,¡± Elyria said with a smirk. ¡°Me, the Doc, and Leo have been talking about this for weeks, while you were out killing. Trying to get a full picture of events, between what Xerox knows, what the Priest picked up, and what we gathered from the refugees. We haven¡¯t filled in all the blanks yet, but we think we¡¯ve come close.¡± Ronin listened with annoyance, as she gloated. Wondering how Leo was holding up, having to stay out of the action for so long. He was an incredible hand to hand fighter, but his paws weren¡¯t designed with holding a rifle in mind. They could have made him a custom, but since he didn¡¯t want to wear armor, he¡¯d opted to stay at the ship and play police officer to the refugees after the teleporter incident¡­ Ronin was also pretty sure he¡¯d made that choice so he could avoid talking to Ronin about his parents, but either way, it was a task that needed doing, and he¡¯d volunteered.


    ¡°Well, are you planning to keep me in suspense or are you going to tell me?¡± He asked, after she dragged out the silence for another half minute.


    ¡°Ok, ok,¡± she said, giving in with a laugh after she riled him up. ¡°It all comes down to space travel.¡± Elyria said, her voice now more serious. ¡°It came as a shock to me since my kind have been using hyperspace all along. But beetles, lizards, and humans, don¡¯t have faster than light travel. So, since they couldn¡¯t make the beetle AI, Owl Two it turns out, do anything, the government had to find another way to pass the time in space. Now, stasis stones, as the beetles call them, aren¡¯t very powerful. In fact, they¡¯re very limited, but we ran a few test models, and if you string enough of them together, their processing speed will improve enough to make them viable.¡±


    ¡°How many stasis stones would that take?¡± Ronin asked, trying to do math in his head without any understanding of what a standard pocket world was even like.


    ¡°A lot,¡± Elyria said. ¡°A whole lot. Thousands upon thousands of them. They¡¯d have to string a mountain of them together in order to come close to the amount of processing power needed to run a ship and maintain a crystalline, digital, world for the people on that ship to pass the millennia in while the ship crawled across the stars.¡±


    Ronin¡¯s mind was spinning now, his thoughts pulling at the random pieces of knowledge he¡¯d gathered. It wasn¡¯t easy, since he was working with half gained knowledge and half guesses. He¡¯d already found in his time in the real world he didn¡¯t have a good grasp of the whole picture. Like how he thought the lizards would terraform earth, or how he assumed all pocket worlds were like his. He¡¯d made assumptions, a lot of which were wrong, but the math still wasn¡¯t adding up for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to make that math work in my head,¡± he said finally. ¡°But I just can¡¯t get the numbers to jive. There are hundreds of refugees here, maybe over a thousand?¡± He cocked his head, hoping she¡¯d fill in the blanks.


    ¡°Something like 1,200, yea. But that¡¯s after what we lost in the lizard attack, and the ones who managed to teleport away.¡± She answered, right on cue.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s more than I expected honestly. But even so, that means, depending on how many extras were brought in from pocket worlds, there are only maybe three hundred actual crystalized humans. Even if each of them had two spare stasis stones to trade, something I didn¡¯t even know was possible, that¡¯s not thousands. So, how did they come up with the remainder?¡± He was starting to get an idea, but it was too twisted for him to consider fully, at least until he learned more.


    ¡°Trading pocket worlds or stasis stones is possible.¡± Elyria said, as they walked at a near jog down the corridor. ¡°There were events the ship hosted every once in a while, with a stone as a reward. There are always people who are willing to risk their lives in gambling ventures, and, despite the immortality the stones grant your kind, if you¡¯re killed, or get tired of living, those stones also become available.¡± She listed several ways that made since, but they weren¡¯t what Ronin was waiting to hear. ¡°And there are also the honor duels¡­¡± she said, casting a sidelong glance at him as she spoke. There it was. The words he¡¯d expected and the reaction to go with them.


    ¡°I see,¡± Ronin said. ¡°Something like that couldn¡¯t have happened over night, they¡¯d have had to have been working on gathering those stones for years in order to leave as quickly as they did. They must have had someone to gather stones for them. Someone who was well known for killing those newly crystallized in honor duels¡­¡± He¡¯d quickened his pace as he spoke to the point where he was almost running, and Elyria had to drag on his arm to get him to slow.


    ¡°That was our conclusion too,¡± she said with sympathy in her deep blue eyes. ¡°Someone like Stanly and his gang, who were secretly on the government payroll. Leo said he was responsible for thousands of newly crystallized people¡¯s murders over the years, but somehow, he always found loopholes in the system to avoid accepting duels from people like Leo, who could have torn him apart in the ring¡­ it would explain a lot, if he was the one who¡¯d provided them to the government. It also explains why we never saw him on the planet.¡±


    ¡°Because he never came here,¡± Ronin said with a sigh. ¡°He went straight to the ship with the other elites who made the cut, while they sent all of us down here to serve as distractions for the lizards while they ran away¡­ son of a¡­¡± Ronin cursed silently as all the possibilities played out in his mind, each one a little darker than the last, and rage filled him.


    ¡°It¡¯s not worth dwelling on boss,¡± K3 said from behind him, resting a huge hand on his shoulder. ¡°The government dogs had clearly been planning this for longer than you¡¯ve been alive. There was no reason you should have known any of it, and no one who¡¯s expecting you to do anything about it. All that matters right now is we get off this planet. Can¡¯t very well go after Stanly if we waste time here talking until the lizards bury us in bodies now, can we?¡± The giant gave his shoulder a squeeze, the pressure creaking his chitin armor, and helping Ronin focus again.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he said, taking a deep breath and pushing the emotions down. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± repeated as he moved forward once more. ¡°Let¡¯s get this ship moving then, we can¡¯t accomplish anything else by staying here.¡± Decision made; the trio resumed their walk.


    ¡°Good, you made it.¡± Xerox said a short time later, as they walked through a hatch guarded by an entire yokai team. Ronin wondered about that, considering how dead the rest of the ship had been along that corridor, but now that he was inside, it made since.


    ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± Ronin asked, pointing towards the shipping container sized, multicolored crystal that sat in the middle of the room.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xerox said, moving over to join him beside the giant crystal. ¡°That is the artificial intelligence, @!^$#*, who was put into command of its vessel, long before the fall of the elder race. Known to you as Owl Two, and the source of my own coding.¡± The non-android was clearly pleased to show off the giant ship¡¯s core, and for good reason. It was beautiful. The crystal was multifaceted and reflected the light in strange patterns against the walls of the large chamber.


    ¡°I kinda figured,¡± Ronin said, impressed, but doing his best to suppress it, thanks to the anger he felt towards the AI for his many crimes. ¡°So, what are those then?¡± He asked next, swiveling around to point at the stack of crystals that were all in the shape of perfect cubes, each labeled with a white number, freshly painted on each side. Ronin counted nine of them in total, their perfect symmetry, and shining surfaces the color of lacquered midnight containing a beauty all their own, if not as traditionally striking as Owl Two¡¯s core with its natural crystal shape.


    ¡°Those, are the intact AI cores, from all the lizard ships.¡± Xerox said, voice clearly disdainful this time. Ronin smirked at the biological copy of a mechanical being. He still hadn¡¯t learned how to keep the emotion from his voice, making him much easier to read than Owl Two ever was.


    ¡°Again, I kinda figured,¡± Ronin said. ¡°But why did you collect them all and bring them here?¡± Knowing Xerox might not pick up on subtle hints, he asked directly. ¡°I thought we were going to connect Owl Two¡¯s core with, this, ship¡¯s AI core, so we could gain control over it. What value do the other eight serve?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Xerox said, nodding his helmet, which resembled a goat¡¯s face. ¡°That is true,¡± he said, gesturing to the cube with the number one on it. ¡°We are going to connect my original¡¯s core to this ship¡¯s, then you and your people will go in and help conquer the AI. Then, we¡¯ll hopefully have full access to this ship¡¯s systems. At least the ones that are still operable.¡±


    ¡°And the other eight?¡± Ronin asked again when it became clear Xerox had finished talking.


    ¡°Oh, yes.¡± He said with a chuckle that came across as fake and flat. ¡°Well, after you¡¯ve conquered the combined AI core, gaining control over the ship, we¡¯ll hook up another one and repeat the steps. It will be a time-consuming process, but once my original¡¯s core has assimilated all nine of the enemy cores, its processing power will have reached a level that the world you inhabit inside will be indistinguishable from reality.¡±


    Ronin turned away from the glossy black cubes, each the size of Owl Two¡¯s core, and stared at Xerox. He knew full well the copy was trying to pull a fast one on him, and he didn¡¯t even need the enhanced cognitive abilities he¡¯d gained to realize it.


    ¡°Xerox,¡± he said slowly. ¡°The world inside Owl Two¡¯s AI core is already indistinguishable from reality. In fact, I forgot I wasn¡¯t in the real world several times during my stay there. The people who live inside are so real I personally don¡¯t consider them any less real than myself. They¡¯re just people who were born in a different place than me, no different from you, or Jade¡­ So, tell me, please, why that conniving, manipulative, scheming, devious, and supposedly dead, Owl two wants us to boost his processing power by tenfold?¡±


    ¡°I, don¡¯t know what you mean, my lord.¡± Xerox said, dashing his hand at his helmet as if to wipe away sweat. ¡°The world you lived in was only boosted on the continent you resided upon. Further out, including the second planet now orbiting your sun, it was no different than anyone else¡¯s world. I am talking about a world so real you could leave earth¡¯s solar system and still feel like you were in the real world.¡± Ronin frowned, wondering why that would even matter to a dead AI, opening his mouth to speak again, he was stopped by a raised hand from Elyria.


    ¡°Let it go, White Flame.¡± Elyria, who¡¯d shifted and fluttered her wings when he¡¯d said they were as real as he was, not that she¡¯d ever admit it said. ¡°We¡¯ve been working on him for weeks. He either doesn¡¯t know more or has been ordered not to tell us. In either case, we need to at least merge these two cores to gain control of the ship. So, let¡¯s do that first. We can worry about what kind of stunt the crafty machine is trying to pull when we have control.¡± She had a solid point, and Ronin couldn¡¯t argue with it. That didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d forget about this, however. Owl Two had been completely beyond his ability to understand or control their entire acquaintance. In fact, with the benefit of hindsight, Ronin had been dancing in the palm of his hand from the beginning. There was no way he¡¯d allow that machine ten times as much computing power until he had a good reason to do so.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he said at last, taking in the cores one more time, before turning back and asking. ¡°So, what do I have to do in order to let Sam get us off this rock?¡±


    ¡°Right this way, my lord. ¡°Xerox said, jumping on the opportunity to change the subject. He led Ronin around to the other side of the colorful crystal, and pointed at a much smaller crystal, small enough to fit in a wheel barrel, resting on a platform with a large, tangled mass of cables in differing sizes connecting to its every surface, several of which went up and disappeared into the ceiling. There was also a small pad right in front of the crystal, with the shape of a human hand imbedded into its surface.


    ¡°Just press your hand into the imprint to give your permission, then, we can go up to the bridge. Where you can observe Samantha flying us away from this planet¡­ assuming everything works of course,¡± he added. Ronin looked at the clearly cobbled together crystal, and exchanged glances with his two closest friends, before shrugging and pressing his hand down on the print. He jumped in surprise, when a strap snapped over his hand, locking it in place on the pad. Next, he jumped in pain, when several large needles stabbed halfway through his palm.


    ¡°Identity confirmed,¡± Owl Two¡¯s disembodied voice said from a small speaker near Ronin¡¯s hand. It still hadn¡¯t let go of his wrist, however, and Ronin resisted the urge to yank it away, lest he trigger some sort of trap that would take his whole arm off. ¡°Captain Ronin, do you give your permission, free of outside influence or compulsion to allow Samantha, former kaldarr slave, and current pilot of Homecube, access to the flight controls?¡±


    ¡°Um, yes?¡± Ronin said, half asking the words. ¡°I mean, yes. I give my permission.¡± He repeated a moment later when nothing happened.


    ¡°Permission granted and accepted. Good luck, Captain.¡± With that, the spikes were withdrawn from his hand and the strap loosened. Ronin snatched his hand away, as the entire ship trembled slightly. It was subtle, but everyone in the compartment was well aware of their surroundings and noticed it instantly.


    ¡°It worked,¡± Xerox said, sounding more surprised than Ronin felt comfortable with. ¡°Of course, it did, my original came up with the plans after all. Now, if you would follow me to the bridge?¡± He beckoned to the others, who followed him over to a ladder leading upwards to a hatch in the ceiling, some thirty feet above them. Shaking his head at the copy, who wasn¡¯t doing a very good job of playing at being Owl two, he followed him up the ladder.


    ¡°This is more like it,¡± Ronin said, as he climbed from the hatch and took in the room. It was, to no one¡¯s surprise at this point, in the shape of a perfect cube. A small cube shaped platform rose in the center of the room, Samantha was standing in the center, with cables running to her head from the platform, likely connecting her to the temporary core. Her eyes were closed, and she didn¡¯t seem to be aware of their presence at all. Ronin ground his teeth together in rage at what had been done to the woman. She¡¯d been loyal to him, when so few others had been. Why hadn¡¯t the android captured Eric, that backstabbing low life, if he¡¯d needed a pilot to experiment on?


    Of course, Ronin knew the answer. Back then, he wouldn¡¯t have let him torture anyone, even an enemy like Eric. Neither would he have taken Eric along from his pocket world into reality. Ronin had been too focused on those close to him, those he trusted. It was likely the only way Owl Two could accomplish what needed to be done. Ronin narrowed his eyes as his mind rationalized the decision.


    ¡°Knock it off, or I¡¯ll put her out of her misery and take my chances flying this thing myself.¡± He said, not knowing why, but having the impulse to reprimand himself, nonetheless. It almost didn¡¯t surprise him, when the thoughts rationalizing Owl Two¡¯s actions, his own thoughts, quieted down instantly.


    ¡°What was that my lord?¡± Xerox asked, clearly not understanding what had just happened. That was good, at least the copy didn¡¯t seem to know about this. A good thing, because Ronin had left anger behind at the realization that something was in his mind, feeding him thoughts. He didn¡¯t know if he would have left the copy of Owl Two alive if he¡¯d known what was happening to him. Not that he even knew what was going on¡­ It was probably best to just forget about it for now, right? After all, they were on the clock. There would be plenty of time to deal with whatever it was later. Nodding to himself, Ronin forgot about the thoughts that weren¡¯t his thoughts, and refocused on the task at hand.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± he said, not sure what the copy was talking about. ¡°Let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± He asked, as his eyes continued to rove around the square chamber. It was fifty feet on a side, a perfect cube. There were several tables dotting the room, bolted to the floor, with three to five chairs around each one. None of them were cubes, however, so Ronin assumed they were installed after the fact. There was a nutrient fluid dispenser, along with a few other additions he couldn¡¯t place right away. As he looked around, K3 and Elyria climbed into the chamber behind him. Xerox, then slid a nearby table over the hatch, locking it in place with a soft click.


    ¡°There,¡± he said making sure the hatch into the core room was concealed. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve taken the liberty of inviting a few of the more prominent passengers to the bridge to watch the take off with us, if that is alright with you, my lord?¡± Ronin, still a little confused for some reason, only nodded and took the seat Xerox indicated. Surprisingly enough, it wasn¡¯t the one covering the secret hatch, but three tables over.


    ¡°We came up with that to hide the core room,¡± Elyria said, settling into the chair beside Ronin¡¯s and looking at him with concern for some reason. ¡°The path we took to get there has been cleared of green paint, and the yokai team glued a panel over the hatch. The only way down there now is under that table¡­ don¡¯t know that I agree the secrecy is necessary, but the thought of what someone could do if they hooked one of those cores up to the ship is frightening. We¡¯re over here so no one thinks there¡¯s anything special about that table. If anything, they will be looking at this one, if given the chance.¡± Ronin thought about the ship, falling back into lizard control and shuddered. Their road to freedom would end instantly if that happened.


    ¡°Lord Ronin, Lady Elyria, Exalted K3.¡± Xerox said, projecting his voice across the large empty room. ¡°Your guests have arrived.¡± As he spoke, Xerox ushered in a group of people, far larger than Ronin expected. There was Bartholomew and Genevieve, each followed by a clockwork guardian, but neither of them was armed. Next, Orpheus and Amaris entered the room, Orpheus with his arm up, palm raised, Amaris had her hand resting lightly in his. The pair looked like a renaissance couple, entering a ballroom. Ronin also noted they¡¯d all cleaned up and changed at some point. Since their clothes were as fresh as his armor. The only clothing Ronin ever wore was his goat hide cloak, and there was always a clean one available whenever he needed it.


    Behind the Twilight court¡¯s leaders, Sergeant major Red and Blue entered, the Cortexas on their arms. Staff sergeant Ian Hill entered, not wearing his suit for the first time in Ronin¡¯s memory, his dark skin only a few shades lighter than the white Flame armor he now wore. One of his sergeants, a blonde woman Ronin hadn¡¯t caught the name of yet entered with him. They were followed by the blustery dwarf, the long-eared elf who¡¯d nearly bled out bending down to rest her hand on the top of his head. Ronin had to hold back a snort at the sight of them. Leo and Doctor Mycroft entered arm in arm, Locke, Mycroft¡¯s shifty, rat faced nephew/lab assistant entered on their heels, scurried in alone, hunched down, as if trying to avoid notice.


    The procession continued, with well over one hundred people filing into the room, including Aurex, and Fabius. Each with a woman Ronin didn¡¯t recognize clinging to them, though he noted that both women were well muscled and looked more like bodyguards than dates. Eventually, all the guests had entered, and were in their seats, then it was time for Ronin¡¯s people to enter.


    The Chief technologist and his six underlings entered, followed by Whisper and Stone with their PCP .50¡¯s. Then Karr and Jaya entered, each wearing an armored suit, and holding a large PCP 1.0. They were the only members of the team that had followed Ronin from the time he left his pocket world present, and he wondered if they all should have been there, but figured there would be a good reason for their absence. Last to enter, was a jade green beetle, no larger than a German shepherd. It danced around, waving at everyone, did a lap around Ronin¡¯s table three times, before coming to a halt beside Xerox.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± Xerox began, gathering the attention of the masses.

 Chapter ninety-one

    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a long time coming, but thanks to your hard work, we are now ready to launch lord Ronin¡¯s ship, Homecube. He wanted to invite you all too¡­¡±


    ¡°Homecube? Lord Ronin?¡± A familiar voice asked, from the crowd, as Aurex stood to interrupt the speech. ¡°What makes this ship his? Didn¡¯t we all work to make this launch possible? What did he even do? I didn¡¯t see him once the entire time we were working, probably living it up in his hotel room, while we did all the work.¡±


    ¡°I assure you that¡­¡± Xerox tried again, only to be cut off by a wave of murmured agreement, from several people, including the minotaur, and dwarf, who Ronin finally remembered was named Greg, along with a few others, and he knew if he let this continue, the sacrifice of the old Daoist would have been in vain. He was seriously wondering why Xerox had put on this show at all, considering how ungrateful these people were and the time crunch they were in.


    ¡°Enough,¡± Ronin said, not bothering to climb to his feet. His words echoed throughout the large room, and everyone, even Aurex, looked at him in surprise. Ronin was surprised too, he¡¯d had no idea Xerox had hooked him up to a speaker system, now he was just glad he hadn¡¯t said anything embarrassing. ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this, Xerox, Sam, get us out of here, now¡­ and turn this mic off dang it.¡± He added angrily, only to find the mic had already been shut off. His final words only being heard by those immediately surrounding him.


    ¡°Very well my lord,¡± Xerox said with a bow, as Samantha opened her eyes, and the entire ship around them vanished. No, it didn¡¯t vanish. Ronin could still see the tables and the guests, who were gasping and chattering questions at each other in just as much shock as him. It was the walls, the ceiling, and the floor that had changed. Every surface must be some kind of projection screen or something, since it looked to Ronin like they were floating inside the cube hangar. He looked around, taking in the hangar for the first time in a while.


    None of the beetle dropships were visible anymore, likely all in Homecube¡¯s hangars. Neither did he see any of the materials or the work equipment, as for the ships around them, it looked like the closest one had been stripped to the bone, and several of the others had large holes cut from them, exposing their gutted interiors. Elyria hadn¡¯t been joking when she said they¡¯d gathered a lot of material under her supervision.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± The moon elf in question asked, her smile spreading from ear to ear. ¡°Xerox knew how much you hated being stuck inside a ship you couldn¡¯t see out of, so we prioritized this room¡¯s construction. Do you like it?¡± The way she asked the question made Ronin all but certain it had been her pushing for this room¡¯s completion, not Xerox, and he smiled at her in genuine pleasure.


    ¡°I love it,¡± he said, as Sam lifted her arms, and the ship rose from the ground in a shaky wobble none of them felt but could see on the screens. It stabilized quickly, and with another motion, Sam moved the ship towards the lake that had flooded the passage to the hangar, who knew how long ago. Ronin looked down, along with everyone else on the bridge, as the ship floated out over the water. Once they were centered over the lake, that was far larger than Ronin realized, but still tiny when put into context of a mile cubed spaceship, Sam flipped her hands over, and lowered her arms.


    Like an orchestra following the orders of a conductor, the ship followed those hand signals and dropped into the still water. It was an awe-inspiring sight, watching as the floor, then the walls, were surrounded by slowly rippling waves. Lastly followed by the roof as Homecube entered the tunnel proper. Turning around, Ronin could see the current rushing into the ship from behind them, though he couldn¡¯t feel anything at all from his seat on the bridge.


    ¡°Would meow like a drink, meowster?¡± Ronin jumped at the voice, spinning around in his chair to see Mei had snuck up on him. She had to be as quiet as a¡­ catgirl, to get away with that.


    ¡°What did you¡­?¡± He asked, seeing several other catgirl maids moving between the tables, handing out drinks to the guests. Ronin had been so captivated by the screen he hadn¡¯t noticed them at all. He looked at Elyria in confusion to see her alternating her glare, between Ronin, and the pink eared Mei before she turned back to him in a huff.


    ¡°Mei is one of the catgirls who¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t want to say master, but the person who anchored the pocket world, like you I guess, died. She, and one other¡­ Rem, over there with the blue ears,¡± Elyria pointed at another catgirl, who looked almost identical to Mei apart from her ears and tail color. ¡°They were the only pair this otaku guy brought over; he made them special, compared to the others. So, we assigned them to be your personal maids. I couldn¡¯t disagree, after testing their skillset myself, but still, keep your hands to yourself White Flame.¡± K3 let out a chuckle from the other side of the table.


    ¡°I swear boss,¡± he said, his deep voice carrying easily to Ronin¡¯s ears despite the low volume he spoke at. ¡°You sure you aren¡¯t a story book hero? Women seem to flock to you wherever you go.¡± Ronin glared at his friend, wondering how any of this was his fault? He didn¡¯t ask for a catgirl maid, besides, what special skills could she possibly have to make Elyria ok with this whole idea, considering the way she was glaring at him, hard enough to peel the paint from his armor.


    ¡°Look,¡± someone closer to the front of the ship, or at least the direction it was currently moving in, said pointing. ¡°It¡¯s a shipwreck,¡± they continued, and Ronin turned his attention away from the two women, thankful for the distraction, to see they¡¯d been talking long enough for the ship to pass completely through the tunnel and enter the lake. He looked down, along with everyone else, as the ship moved over the shattered wrecks of a beetle dropship, and over a dozen lizard small craft. The results of when Sam crashed the dropship into their pursuers. The resulting damage to the environment being the only reason the lizards had been attacking through the caves at all, rather than underwater. Some biological command prevented them from causing more damage to the environment than they could help. A restriction Sam clearly didn¡¯t share, because she¡¯d crashed several cube ships using kamikaze tactics already.


    Ronin looked up, as the wreckage below them was swallowed in the gloom. They were moving towards the sky, as evidenced by the ever-lightening color of the water. Soon, he could see the sun, shining down at him for the first time in over a month. As the top of Homecube exited the water, Ronin wasn¡¯t the only one who gasped when he took in the area around the lake. There were no less than six cube ships, parked in a small pyramid, with four ships on the ground, and two resting on top of them side by side. Not to mention the hundreds of small troop craft that littered the ground around them for miles.


    Ronin snapped his head to the right, as the view from that side shifted. It now looked out from the back wall of the hangar he¡¯d landed in. He could tell, because he recognized the dropship that carried him here, it was the red one Doctor Mycroft had when they met, and the shower stall he¡¯d used to clean up. Thankfully, his armor had been removed for maintenance because the hanger doors were opening. As soon as they cleared the water, the doors slid apart, along with another set of hangars below them, cutting off most of Ronin¡¯s view of the lake, now slowly dropping away.


    He thought he knew what was coming when the two government issue ships Leo and he had captured, along with the Doc¡¯s ship, lifted off and flew from the hangars. Sam¡¯s hands moved wildly, as if she were controlling the ships with them instead of her mind. Everyone gasped when those three ships rammed themselves at full speed into the center of the cube ship pyramid. It felt to Ronin like he was there, as the ships went up in an explosion that painted the sky black with smoke. For one brief moment, Ronin thought they¡¯d destroyed those six ships in one go. Sadly, his hopes were dashed as the smoke cleared. They were all damaged, but the beetle dropships were just too small to realistically destroy such giant craft. The damage had been extensive though, and everyone whooped and cheered as they flew higher into the air, heading for space.


    They hadn¡¯t escaped that easily, and as the hangar doors slid closed a lizard small craft darted inside. Ronin was afraid it would ram the inside wall of the hangar, causing a rupture they couldn¡¯t fix this close to the atmosphere, but instead, the craft settled into a docking position, and hundreds of lizards flooded from the back as the doors finished closing. The blue surrounding the ship gradually darkened as Homecube exited earth¡¯s atmosphere and shot off into space, the moment now going largely unnoticed by those on the bridge.


    ¡°Lizard shuttlecube in hangar three, yokai teams please respond to hanger three, contain and neutralize the threat.¡± Ronin heard Elyria say from beside him, and when he looked at her, she shrugged. ¡°What? I¡¯ve been stuck on this ship for weeks while you were off having fun. I needed something to do, so I learned ship protocol¡­ actually invented some of it myself,¡± she added with a wink.


    Ronin¡¯s attention was captured by the hangar, along with everyone else present, as yokai, armored suits, twilight court, red and blue soldiers, and Ian¡¯s remaining teams engaged the lizards. Leaping to his feet, he moved towards the door the others had entered from, when he saw Sam collapsing from the corner of his eye.


    ¡°Sam?¡± He asked, and turned from the door to dart up the platform, grabbing the convulsing woman, who had blood seeping from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Her eyes were open, but Ronin couldn¡¯t see anything but the whites, since they¡¯d rolled back into her head. ¡°Sam?¡± He asked again, holding her tight to his body, and trying to keep her from bashing her head open on the floor. She was burning up, Ronin could feel the heat even through the thick chitin on his fingers, and he just stared at her, not sure what to do.


    ¡°Now,¡± snapped a voice Ronin recognized, and he looked up to see that Bartholomew, Genevieve, Orpheus, and Amaris, along with Ian, Karr and Red and Blue had already rushed from the room, likely heading for the hangar to help with the invasion. It had been Aurex who¡¯d shouted, and Aurex who was now charging towards Ronin, armed with a short, collapsible baton. He wasn¡¯t alone either, as Fabius, the minotaur, and what looked like more than half the assembled guests followed right behind.


    Ronin, still panicked over Sam, wasn¡¯t sure what to do, and he looked to K3, who was standing over him, Elyria hovering a few feet over head. All the people who might have supported Ronin had left, the ship had reached space, and Ronin had already served his purpose as captain by getting the ship airborne. It was the perfect time for an attack, and Ronin, who¡¯d half expected them to try something, was now well out of position to respond thanks to the lizard invasion.


    Some of the guests hadn¡¯t attacked. Ronin could see them huddling under tables, or heading for the door, but enough had that it was unlikely Ronin and K3 could handle them all bare handed. So, Ronin didn¡¯t even try, all he could think to do was hold Sam to himself and watch them come. Elyria, who¡¯d seen which way the wind was blowing, dropped down to hold onto him, while K3, loyal to the end, positioned himself between Ronin and the mob, preparing for the attack.


    ¡°Reserve yokai teams, maid assets, please engage. Remember to be mindful of the screens.¡± Ronin heard Xerox, who¡¯d somehow ended up on the platform with them, speaking into his comm, and he looked up, wondering what he was thinking. He didn¡¯t have to wait long for an answer, as several hidden doors burst open, concealed behind the screens showing outside, and around fifty yokai stormed in, carrying clubs. Mei, who¡¯d still been standing next to the table with the glass of nutrient fluid on a tray, burst into action at the same time, along with her blue eared counterpart, Rem.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Ronin held the thrashing Samantha, orange blood covering his armor and watched as yokai that shouldn¡¯t be here, and a pair of insane ninja-catgirl maids, demolished the coup attempt before it ever really got started. He was having flashbacks to the day he¡¯d ordered Safie and her family¡¯s execution. Aurex, who fancied himself a martial artist, hadn¡¯t fought anything Ronin had ever seen, and he fell quickly to Mei¡¯s assault. She was all flips and kicks, and she wasn¡¯t alone, Rem took down the minotaur almost as quickly. In a matter of moments, the fighting was over. None of the rebels had been killed that he could see, a good thing, since their bodies were more valuable to him alive.


    That thought wasn¡¯t one Ronin would have normally had in this instance, and he shook it away, focusing instead on the screen into the hangar. That fight had been wrapped up already as well, another fifty yokai having joined the battle from nowhere.


    ¡°Xerox,¡± Ronin said, once Sam had stopped convulsing so bad. Doctor Mycroft had arrived now and was ministering to the woman with her tentacle monsters. ¡°Why do we have close to a hundred more yokai on board than I was aware of?¡± He asked, voice calmer than he believed possible in this situation.


    ¡°I hooked up the teleporters in a compartment hidden from the others.¡± He said, standing beside them calmly. ¡°I got in contact with the yokai teams who¡¯d gotten into human controlled settlements, and when it became clear they were no longer distracting the enemy, I had them teleport back. We only recovered half the yokai teams that went out to fight though.¡± Ronin frowned at his words thinking them through. Finally, he nodded.


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± He said at last, looking down with disgust at Aurex. ¡°It seems like no matter what we do, people will betray us. Overwhelming might seems to be the only way to avoid it.¡± As he spoke, Elyria and K3 both looked at him curiously, the moon elf was the one to speak, however.


    ¡°What? You don¡¯t believe that.¡± She said, looking at him oddly. ¡°What about the humans who lived in those settlements, did they come along too?¡± She asked pointedly, ¡°and why, if we had this many able-bodied fighters, didn¡¯t we use them to hold off the lizards, instead of sending the Priest out to die? I watched the footage from back home too. Both times, Owl Two baited Eric and then Hunter into rebelling, here, well these entitled ass holes are hardly a good ruler to measure loyalty. It¡¯s that damn manipulative AI who¡¯s maneuvered everything to play out like he wants it too.¡± Now it was his turn to frown, looking from her to Xerox.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, you might be right, but if it wasn¡¯t for these troops, we¡¯d have all died¡­¡± his mind raced, seeming to do battle with itself as he contemplated her words. Giving up with a shake of his head he continued. ¡°But now isn¡¯t the time to talk about it¡­ what are we supposed to do with all these people? I don¡¯t really want them in my pocket world, or shipworld, or homeworld? Hell, this is getting confusing. Maybe we should just chuck them out an airlock? Their followers would fall in line without them around I bet.¡± He was frustrated now, angry at being played by more people, he¡¯d gone out of his way to save, like so many times before. It seemed like his fate, to go too soft on everyone, and be forced to rely on Owl Two, or Xerox now, to clean up his mess. Maybe it would be better if he just went along with their plans from the start, that way he wouldn¡¯t have to regret his actions later. The small voice in the back of his head poked away at the insecurities he¡¯d been feeling, and Ronin wondered if he had been doing things wrong this whole time.


    ¡°Would we even have had to deal with a rebellion if the bridge wasn¡¯t emptied of all the fighters? If Xerox hadn¡¯t hid the yokai teams, you wouldn¡¯t have had to stay on the front lines so often, then people would have at least noticed you were here. Get a hold of yourself, White Flame.¡± Elyria snapped, looking at him with real worry now.


    ¡°This is exactly why you shouldn¡¯t be in charge of this ship,¡± Aurex spat, from where Mei held him face down on the ground, one arm pulled behind him in a hold. ¡°You¡¯re all delusional and paranoid¡­ aagghh,¡± he grunted as Mei pulled his arm back farther but kept talking. ¡°You think you¡¯re better than me? You¡¯re just doing whatever you think you need to in order to survive, regardless of who you hurt along the way. Then, justifying your actions by blaming someone¡­ else. There is no evil AI orchestrating your downfall, it¡¯s just you and your horrible decision-making skills. You aren¡¯t a leader, you should quit now, since you clearly don¡¯t care about those under your command. Why is that so hard for you¡­?¡± Mei finally wrestled Aurex into submission, but not before his words resonated in Ronin¡¯s mind.


    Could that be true? Had everything he¡¯d done been his own weakness driving his choices? That couldn¡¯t be right, Xerox had troops he could have sent to relieve Ronin, but he¡¯d held them in reserve. A move that had proved useful in saving Ronin¡¯s life, but at the expense of others. Of course, there was no way humans could survive on a ship whose atmosphere scrubbers didn¡¯t pump oxygen, and without any food they could eat. So, in all likelihood they would have died anyway. Come to think of it, all the decisions that hurt people had been made in order to either help Ronin, or to ensure the ship would make it off the planet. Shaking his head, Ronin flipped the switch in his brain that allowed him to push the emotions down. He¡¯d figure this all out soon, but first, he had to take care of the mess happening around him on the ship.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to hear you out, Elyria.¡± He said, looking down at Aurex as he spoke. ¡°But we need to figure out what to do with these, people, first.¡±


    ¡°My lord,¡± Xerox said, as soon as Ronin settled his mind, almost as if he¡¯d been waiting for him to reach a decision. ¡°While on the colony ship, we gathered information on those who were on the planet with you. I believe I have the solution to this problem, if you would follow me?¡± Looking at Sam, who was stable, thanks to the ministrations of Doctor Mycroft, Ronin nodded. Following the Xerox, Ronin stopped to watch Elyria, who¡¯d bent down, and was having a quick conversation with the redheaded doctor. Nodding her understanding, Elyria stood up and turned to K3.


    ¡°I want you to stay with Doc and Sam for now, ok big guy? Help the Doc with whatever she asks, and I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± The giant, clearly not wanting to leave Ronin¡¯s side, hesitated a moment, looking at Ronin. Who was confused but trusted Elyria at least, so he nodded. K3, seeing that nod, finally agreed with a low grunt. That settled, Ronin walked over to Xerox, who looked even less happy about leaving K3 behind than the giant, if the way he fidgeted was any indication.


    ¡°Ready to go?¡± He asked now that Elyria had joined them at the hatch.


    ¡°Of course, my lord,¡± the bio-machine said. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t you feel more comfortable with K3 by your side. We just had a coup attempt after all.¡±


    ¡°No, I think he¡¯ll be fine, the traitors have been dealt with, I have no doubts you invited everyone with ill intent to this meeting, similar to what your original did with Eric and Andona.¡± ¡°Elyria said pointedly, answering for Ronin. Now it was his turn to look at her strangely, but again, he trusted her, so he nodded. Xerox tried once more to convince him, but Ronin was firm on the subject and eventually, he gave up. Leading Ronin out of the bridge. Before he left the compartment, Ronin stopped, and took a long look around the room. Taking in the beauty of outer space, and the planet they were leaving behind.


    He¡¯d seen pictures of earth from orbit in books, he¡¯d also looked at the globe representing the pocket world in his hotel room. But that isn¡¯t what the world below him now looked like. This earth was still blue, most of its surface being made of water, but the land was brown, dead, and barren. No lights shined up at him from human cities, and the only greenery were the thousands of individual crystal trees, surrounded by patches of rainbow grass. They were so big Ronin could see each tree distinctly, and wondered what would happen now. The planet hadn¡¯t been terraformed completely, the process had been halted before it had really begun, and now the lizards had arrived, and a large debris cloud circled the earth where the colony ship had once been. Large chunks of that ship even now Flamed into brilliant light as they entered the atmosphere. Would he ever get a chance to come back here? If so, what would the world look like on his next visit? Pushing down the thoughts, he turned his back on earth, and walked out of the room.


    ¡°So where are you taking me?¡± He asked sometime later, as he and Elyria followed Xerox, who wound his way through the square corridors, with their right angle turns, and square hatches. It was maddening to look at, with everything being the dull grey of unpainted metal. There were hints of black and white paint here and there, but for the most part, everything was an ugly grey. He¡¯d have to see if they could fabricate some paint for the more used areas of the ship, or else they would go insane.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, my lord.¡± Xerox said, and Ronin exchanged a glance with Elyria. A lot had happened since he came on board, and the pair hadn¡¯t had as much time to catch up as they would have liked. He didn¡¯t know if he liked the look she was giving him now. Still, they were in space. They¡¯d left the lizards behind and didn¡¯t have any pressing reason to do anything for a while, so they¡¯d have time to talk things out.


    ¡°Here we are,¡± the copy said, as he opened a hatch to let them all into a room. Stepping inside, Ronin looked around with interest, taking in the long, narrow tables, each holding dozens of fist sized crystals, with small plaques in front of them. Walking over, Ronin looked at the first one.


    ¡°Leo Dawson?¡± He read the plaque as a question, aimed at Xerox, who nodded, walking over to stand beside Ronin and Elyria.


    ¡°This is the solution, my lord.¡± He said, pointing at the stone. ¡°That is Leo Dawson¡¯s stasis stone.¡± He said indicating the remaining stones with a wave of his hand, ¡°these are the stasis stones of everyone on board the ship who has one, and quite a few besides. My original made them available to me when he realized who was being sent to the planet. It took some time to find them all, as the physical sorting of stasis stones on the colony ship after you humans got a hold of it, well, anyway, we can hook these up to power and put everyone away in their own worlds. When power is removed, it¡¯s like time stops for those inside. They won¡¯t know anything has changed at all, until we connect them back to a power source.¡± Ronin, after giving it some careful thought, nodded his head in agreement.


    ¡°Ok, I like it. It also opens their bodies up to be repurposed, by people who I can actually trust. When we get access to the syndicate again.¡± Ronin said, not being able to find any shady aspects to the plan. Elyria¡¯s muttered, ¡®if Owl Two didn¡¯t see the syndicate destroyed,¡¯ had him worrying a bit though.


    ¡°Yes, of course my lord,¡± Xerox said with a salute. ¡°I will get the yokai to bring the prisoners down in batches. Bear in mind however that we will have to keep the empty vessels connected to a power source, and they will need nourishment, a largely reduced amount thankfully, but if we don¡¯t, they will die.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep that in mind, thank you Xerox, but I will handle the yokai and prisoner transport. You don¡¯t need to concern yourself with it.¡± Elyria said, grabbing Ronin¡¯s elbow and staring into his eyes.


    ¡°Ok,¡± Ronin said, nodding his agreement, wondering what had gotten into Elyria lately. Still, this seemed important to her, and she hadn¡¯t steered him wrong yet.


    ¡°My lord, it is no trouble for me too¡­¡± Xerox began arguing, again. Ronin was getting tired of the constant back talk. What was with this damn robot? Even the voice in the back of his head, telling him it was all for his own good was silenced when Ronin reached the end of his patience.


    ¡°Am I your lord, Xerox?¡± Ronin interrupted, as calmly as he could.


    ¡°Of course, you are my lord. Why would you¡­¡±


    ¡°Then do as I say, please.¡± Ronin said, interrupting him again. ¡°Elyria will give orders to the yokai, you and I will stay here and get prepared to receive the guests. Can you do that for me?¡±


    ¡°¡­ yes, I can do that my lord.¡± Xerox said after a long moment of silence.


    ¡°Wonderful, thank you so much. Now, if you will excuse me, I¡¯d like to have a quick word with Elyria.¡± That said, Ronin left the room, Elyria right behind. They closed the door on a clearly confused Xerox, whose body language was easy to read, despite not having a face. Ronin stopped right outside the hatch, but Elyria motioned for him to follow her further down before she stopped and turned to him.


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you all of a sudden?¡± She asked, worry clear in her tone.


    ¡°Me? What¡¯s gotten into you? You¡¯re the one who¡¯s acting all weird lately it was you who...¡± He shot right back at her, getting confused as he tried to remember what they¡¯d been arguing about earlier.


    ¡°Something is going on, but I haven¡¯t figured out what it is yet. Can I ask you to just trust me for now? I need to check out a few things, see who is doing what and ask questions. Will you watch Xerox for me please? Just, make sure he doesn¡¯t give any orders. Maybe get him to teach you the process while he puts people into their stasis stones?¡± Elyria asked, grabbing his head between her hands as he tried to remember what the argument was about on the bridge.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll do that for you.¡± Ronin said, after staring into her eyes for a long moment. ¡°But I expect a full explanation later, you hear me?¡± He added, playfully.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said giving him a light kiss on the cheek. ¡°Just, keep an eye on him, and I promise I¡¯ll fill you in soon, ok?¡± After she finished speaking, Ronin swooped in for a quick kiss. They both blushed at the newness of whatever they were doing, and he turned away. Only to be halted by a crackle in his earpiece.


    ¡°Hey kid, it¡¯s Doctor Mycroft, I got some news.¡± She sounded grim, and Ronin felt dread in his belly as he wondered why she was calling him now. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ you better come to the bridge, it¡¯s bad kid.¡± Looking at Elyria, who¡¯d gotten the call too, Ronin gave her a helpless shrug. He was already running back the way they¡¯d come, wondering what in the world had gone wrong this time, before Elyria had a chance to comment.

 Chapter ninety-two

    Ronin sat in his hotel room chair, staring at the projection in front of him. They¡¯d been in space for over a month now, and he was finally able to breathe. Not that it was exactly how he¡¯d expected it to be. There were several problems on Ronin¡¯s mind, including the revolving image before him. Although it wasn¡¯t the most immediate threat, it was the deadliest. He remembered back to when Doctor Mycroft had called him to the bridge, the day they¡¯d launched.


    He¡¯d run at full tilt, getting lost only once and having to be corrected by an equally worried Elyria. They¡¯d reached the bridge to find Sam had been moved, and over one hundred yokai had come into the bridge to watch the prisoners after they¡¯d left. It was most of the yokai on the ship, and Ronin worried about the other thousand refugees who were somewhere else, now largely unsupervised. That is, until he looked at the image now displayed on the screens, and he stopped worrying about the prisoners.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d gotten away,¡± Elyria said beside him, echoing Ronin¡¯s thoughts exactly. For, far behind them, and just now leaving earth, were the remaining pair of lizard cube ships. The ones that hadn¡¯t been damaged by Sam¡¯s dropship attacks. They must have been on the moon, or on the other side of the planet or something, because it had taken them hours to get on their trail, not that it mattered, since they hadn¡¯t gotten away after all.


    ¡°How long until they catch us?¡± Ronin heard himself asking, as he stared at the two cubes, even now hooking themselves together into a large rectangle shape, as they chased after the fleeing ship.


    ¡°That depends,¡± Mycroft said, coming over to stand beside the pair. ¡°Our engines aren¡¯t as good as theirs, since we had to cobble them together from left over parts, and components Xerox brought from the colony ship. The engines don¡¯t run full time though, once they get us up to speed, they¡¯ll shut off and only activate again if we need to maneuver. So, if we can work on the engines, get a little more thrust out of them, then theoretically they might never catch us. Assuming we never have to slow to maneuver or want to land, that is. I¡¯ll need more time to run the numbers, but best guess, we can avoid them until we have to restock the food supply and refuel the engines.¡±


    They¡¯d talked through several scenarios over the next few minutes, before Mycroft excused herself, and took K3 with her as she went to check on Samantha. Ronin, realizing he had responsibilities too, took one last look at the ships and got to work organizing the prisoners into groups, to be sent back into their personal worlds.


    Ronin took a sip from a concentrated sap concoction that Doctor Mycroft came up with. It was technically poison, but simulated the effects of alcohol nicely, and didn¡¯t take the body too long to purge. After that, Elyria left him to look after the prisoners as she went about, whatever it was she wanted to do. It had been close to a month now, and Ronin hadn¡¯t talked with her much in all that time. Not only her, But K3 was avoiding him too. Ronin sat in his chair, watching the ship rotate around the desk, all the while, the two threats creeped closer, and sipped his drink.


    He¡¯d kept himself busy, learning what he could, and helping Xerox put the traitors back into their stasis stones, where they effectively ceased to be once power was cut. During that period, he learned of another problem they faced, food. They¡¯d taken on way more refugees than the ship¡¯s stores could comfortably support. At least, the stores Owl Two had set aside for them, and they¡¯d gathered on earth before they left.


    There were just too many people, each requiring a glass of nutrient fluid every couple of days. That didn¡¯t seem like much, until he added up the thousand or so refugees, the sixty beetles, the yokai who numbered over a hundred, the technologists and the twilight court, along with the others Ronin had fought alongside. A cup of fluid a day, divided between one thousand people was something like sixty gallons every day or two, despite the barrels of sap they¡¯d gathered, and the crates of crystal cores they¡¯d harvested, it was unsustainable.


    So, after talking with Xerox, Ronin made the obvious choice, and sent everyone back into the stasis stones who wasn¡¯t absolutely vital to the repair of the ship. Elyria hadn¡¯t seemed happy about that decision, but the one he¡¯d made after, was the one that caused the separation between them. He¡¯d done the math with Xerox and discovered, even void of movement, every living body required nutrients to maintain. In the grand scheme of things, it was a miniscule amount, but at their best speed, they were hundreds of millions of years away from the destination Sam had set for them. So, he¡¯d gone through the list, and recycled all the bodies that wouldn¡¯t serve a purpose to them in the long run.


    Elyria hadn¡¯t been happy. She¡¯d seen him putting hundreds of good bodies into the woodchipper and freaked out at him. Saying they didn¡¯t know what they¡¯d find at their destination. They didn¡¯t know which one of those people might hold the skills or Knowledge they¡¯d need to get through a difficult situation, and several other arguments he had a hard time refuting. Except for the math. He¡¯d shown her the math, and it had seemed to help. Shown her, without sacrificing those bodies now, reclaiming their resources and saving what it would cost to keep them running, they would be able to make it to the planet, if only barely. To which, she¡¯d walked away from him and not return. That had been nearly two weeks ago, and Ronin was getting anxious.


    Taking another sip from his drink, Ronin pulled up the menu on his tablet, and changed the image in the projection. Now instead of the bedraggled, old cube ship, cobbled together with spare plates and glue, a green planet rotated around the desk. It was huge, more than twice the size of earth, and looked larger still, thanks to the trees that extended out into space so far, they¡¯d forced the atmosphere to extend around them. Ronin had no idea how that worked, having believed it wasn¡¯t possible to extend the atmosphere around a planet, but it had happened here, where the trees pushed out into space so far that if one were to break off, it would have the mass needed to form a new, tree-shaped moon.


    The planet was listed in his tablet as colony 12 and was the destination Sam had set for them. One of the oldest planets in the elder race¡¯s empire, deep inside their territory. Ronin had all but panicked when he realized where they were heading. How could Sam and Owl Two set them up to die like that? Until Xerox explained to him the lizards were focused on conquering new planets. They rarely ever went back to planets they¡¯d already wiped of sentient life. So, as long as they could get there unobserved, they¡¯d be safe, for a while anyway, and in such an old world they wouldn¡¯t have any trouble at all securing every resource they could dream of, to fix and improve their ship. Ronin wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about that, remembering what Leo had once told him about wasps the size of dragons.


    The problem was, even if they wanted to, they couldn¡¯t change course. Not until they¡¯d merged Owl Two¡¯s core with the original AI core from this ship at any rate. The android had done it again, gotten them stuck on a collision course with disaster, with pursuers just behind them, ready to pounce whenever they stopped. They didn¡¯t have a choice but to do as he wanted and help him take over the core. No. It wasn¡¯t the android¡¯s fault. He was just doing what was necessary in order to save the most people in his core.


    The thought wiggled its way into his mind as he sipped his poison drink. Ronin wondered about that, was it true though? Xerox had said there were thousands upon thousands of stasis stones they¡¯d had to dig through to find the ones from the people on the ground. Why didn¡¯t he just grab them all if the point was to save as many people as possible?... Then again, it was possible he had. This ship was huge after all, he hadn¡¯t been to every compartment yet. It was just as likely Xerox had only pulled out the ones that would serve Ronin¡¯s purposes and left the rest in storage. Either way, it wasn¡¯t something he should worry about right now. It was Elyria and K3 who needed to be worried about.


    Nodding along as he thought, Ronin took another sip and forgot about the stasis stones, focusing instead on his companions. Why were they avoiding him like this? What had he done? Sure, he¡¯d recycled a few hundred bodies, but he hadn¡¯t touched any of those used by his closest allies. True, he had pushed the Twilight Court, the clockwork couple, Red and Blue and a few others back into their personal realms. It had been done to save on resources though, and he hadn¡¯t unplugged them afterwards. No, he¡¯d left them powered so they could enjoy a nice vacation while the ship floated through the void, so what was her problem with it.


    ¡°Hey kid, it¡¯s Doctor Mycroft, you got a minute?¡± The Doc¡¯s voice crackled through the speaker on his tablet since he¡¯d stopped wearing the earpiece all the time. Ronin looked down at the tablet, which now showed the busty woman¡¯s face, framed by a curtain of red hair, which extended out of sight over her snow-white lab coat. As he stared, one of her tentacle arms moved in to brush a strand of hair from her face, while she waited for an answer.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± Ronin said, downing the last of his glass and looking at the decanter on his desk. He decided against pouring another glass. If only because their stores were so limited. ¡°What do you need Doc?¡± He asked, letting out a sigh that conveyed his lack of interest more than his words ever could. Resting the empty glass on the table, Ronin looked beyond the desk to where the window would have been if this was his shipboard hotel room. The pair of terracotta soldiers standing there failing to even bring a grin to his face. Regardless of how thrilled he¡¯d been when he realized K3 had procured several of the originals from the Chinees Museum for him after their visit.


    ¡°It¡¯s about Elyria and K3,¡± Mycroft said, undaunted by his attitude. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking over their medical files, and I think something is wrong with them. It¡¯s about the new bodies, I need you to come to the med bay and take a look at this.¡± Ronin sat up; his interest peaked at the news. Was this what was going on with them, the reason they were avoiding him? He set the empty glass down beside the ancient book on the path he hadn¡¯t read yet and moved immediately towards the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m on my way,¡± he called over his shoulder as he left the room. Ronin felt relief and fear in equal measure as he ran through the cube shaped corridors. On the one hand, he was glad the Doc had also noticed their strange behavior and looked into it, on the other, he was worried something was really wrong with them. Ronin cursed as he ran, wondering what had happened. All three of them had gotten new bodies at the same time. Ronin¡¯s seemed to be working just fine, although the carefree feeling he¡¯d experienced the first few days had long left him behind. He was consumed with worry lately, and although he could push the feelings down, he just couldn¡¯t seem to silence the voice in the back of his mind that kept warning him against doing that. Somehow, he just knew, he needed to experience the worry. That didn¡¯t make it any more enjoyable though.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Darting through the open hatch into the med bay, Ronin looked around wildly for the doctor. Before he managed to spot anything, however, he felt a hand go around his neck from behind. He reacted instantly, swiveling away, and bringing his arms up to block an incoming fist. He didn¡¯t know who would attack him on the ship like this, but they were going to be in for a shock. Ronin¡¯s body moved on near instinct; muscle memory beaten into him relentlessly for months.


    He¡¯d continued his sparring sessions in space. Only, after the first round of combat, Jackson had proven to be no match for his improved body. It was a memory he would cherish for a lifetime, and he grinned as he remembered breaking her slowly, as she begged him to stop. He hadn¡¯t gone too far, only breaking one bone in every limb, before healing her up and tossing her back into the stasis stone she came from. Knuckles had died in the attack on Temple city, leaving her alone. He¡¯d felt it was a mercy when he sent her back and disconnected the stone from power, essentially shutting her off.


    That hadn¡¯t been the end of his training, however. After Jackson was gone, he sparred with Jaya, who also proved to be too weak for him now. That had left him with limited options, and he¡¯d finally settled on O54, the leader of yokai team 03. She was a brawler, and with her advanced body she could keep up with him without trouble, pressuring him the way Jackson had when they¡¯d first started their sparring matches. He¡¯d reduced his training sessions to only two per day, but he¡¯d been dedicated to them for over a month now. So, when the fool attacked him from behind, Ronin had full confidence in his victory.


    That was until he caught sight of his attacker, and he froze in place, completely caught off guard. It was K3, the most loyal follower he had. The only follower he had brought with nanite ensured loyalty. Although, the way he was swinging his fists in short, controlled jabs as he backed Ronin into a corner would suggest otherwise. How had this happened, was it because he didn¡¯t give him direct orders enough? Benjamin managed to slip his control after he¡¯d left, although he still had to follow direct commands¡­ wait, that was it. The voice in the back of his mind told him how to stop this attack without damaging either of them.


    ¡°Stop attacking me. Now.¡± Ronin ordered, the first time he¡¯d ever had to give the kaldarr a direct order in regard to his loyalty. He felt dirty even saying it, like he¡¯d broken some unspoken covenant between the two of them. Yet, it was K3 who was attacking him, not the other way around, so it was fine right? Yes, of course it was¡­ Just like he expected, the kaldarr stopped moving instantly, looking as if he were struggling against some unseen bonds as he quivered in place. Before Ronin had a chance to get comfortable, he was attacked from behind, again. An electric jolt of pain ran through his body like thousands of electrified ants, biting him all at once.


    ¡°GAAHHH,¡± he yelled, dropping to his knees as the pain lanced through his body, feeling like knives were pealing the carapace from the soft flesh beneath. Blinking his eyes to clear the stars from his vision, Ronin looked up to see Elyria, looking down on him with pity, a powerful taser held in her trembling fist before darkness claimed him.


    *            *            *


    ¡°Are you sure this is the only way?¡± A hazy voice drifted into Ronin¡¯s ears, sometime later, as he slowly came back to himself.


    ¡°Yes. If I wasn¡¯t I would never have suggested it. I know as well as you do the kid is the only reason that damned computer program¡­ otherwise it wouldn¡¯t have let any of us on this ship at all. Trust me, this is the only way.¡± He recognized this voice; it was Doctor Mycroft. Why was she being so disrespectful towards Owl Two though? He was the only reason any of them were even here at all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel comfortable with this,¡± another voice said, it was deep as a still pond, and Ronin knew it was K3. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be here, he commanded me to stop earlier, what if he does it again? What if Xerox¡­? I might interfere with the procedure if he wakes up too soon.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, big guy,¡± Mycroft again, ¡°he¡¯s already awake. Besides, I gave him a local paralytic to his jaw. He won¡¯t be able to speak, at least, not until we¡¯ve finished with...¡± Forcing his eyes open, Ronin looked around. At least he tried to. His body was strapped to an operating table in the med bay, muscles completely outside his ability to control, he couldn¡¯t move more than his eyes.


    ¡°Hey, White Flame,¡± Elyria said, coming over to look down on him with sympathy shining in her blue eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, it had to be done though. You¡¯ve been¡­¡± Ronin glared up at her, feeling the betrayal deep in his core. How could she? He¡¯d thought she¡¯d started to like him. Was that just a ploy to lower his guard, so when she finally stuck the knife in, he¡¯d feel it that much more?


    ¡°Don¡¯t glare like that kid,¡± Leo said, coming into his view for the first time. Ronin shifted his glare to the older, lion faced man. ¡°It¡¯s not like any of us wanted to do this to you, but you¡¯re different than you were before. Red looked into it, it was the new brain material, it¡­ that did it.¡± No, that couldn¡¯t be right. Ronin had been there when Elyria asked the chief about it, both he and Mycroft had told him that his behavior had nothing to do with the upgrades, and everything to do with his hormones. So, how did they expect him to buy that, and why were they all speaking so erratically, he could hardly follow their conversation at all. It was maddening.


    ¡°He won¡¯t listen, and he can¡¯t understand us anyway. I¡¯ve got his brain hooked up to a reader, whenever we say¡­ something in his head¡­ so, save your breath. You can tell him afterwards.¡± Doctor Mycroft told the others, and Ronin looked at her, to see her messing around with a small chunk of crystal.


    He frowned at the woman, wondering what she was doing. He let the voices of the others fade into the background as he focused his eyes on the crystal, as the Doc placed it on a reader. The viewer lit up, displaying a small mountain range. With a frown, Mycroft picked the crystal up and sliced into it, using all six of her hands. They either held the crystal, a blade, a light, or magnification, while another collected the flakes of crystal into a separate container as she worked. It took Ronin¡¯s muddled brain longer than he thought it should to realize the Doc was pairing down a stasis stone.


    Several minutes passed, while Elyria apologized, and K3 and Leo talked about things Ronin couldn¡¯t quite hear, as the doctor worked. Every once in a while, she¡¯d place the stone back on the reader, and Ronin would be surprised to see the mountain range had been reduced each time. Eventually, there was nothing left, but one small mountain. There was a temple at the top, with a dirt and stone path that wound its way around the mountain, from the temple, down towards a little valley in the foothills that nestled a big town.


    The cuts were smaller now, and the time it took Mycroft to cut took longer. She was checking the crystal on the reader after every small sliver she shaved from it, and Ronin felt a tingling in his jaw. Good, if she just took a little more time, he could order K3 to get him out of here, or to call for Xerox. That would be the best thing to do, the copy could save him, he just knew it¡­ an alarm going off on a nearby table, caused all hope Ronin had of being rescued to dissipate, as Elyria moved towards the sound. Turning it off, she returned with a salve she rubbed along his jaw, causing the tingling he¡¯d started to feel to vanish once more. Leaving him completely at their mercy.


    ¡°There, that ought to do it.¡± Mycroft said, an eternity later, as she checked the stasis stone on the reader one final time. She zoomed in, and Ronin was surprised to see individual people walking around the town, and monsters roaming through the mountain. Had she really taken an entire world, and carved it down until only this small, mountain remained, if so, then why? He felt like he was about to find out, as she slid her chair over behind Ronin¡¯s head, just outside his line of sight. That is, until she leaned over him, with a scalpel in one hand and a drill in another.


    ¡°I wish I could explain the procedure to you kid, but I already have, twice in fact, and you haven¡¯t been able to¡­ and there it goes again. Guess you will just have to wait until after.¡± She turned away from him, looking at the others present. ¡°You all ready?¡± She asked, and at their affirming nods, she moved the tools towards Ronin¡¯s head.


    He tried to fight, to struggle, to order K3 to let him go. It was to no avail, he was stuck, betrayed by those closest to him and unable to escape. Ronin didn¡¯t feel the drill, as it bored its way into his brain through the thick skull Owl Two had constructed for him. He could smell the dust though, and the sickened agony playing across Elyria¡¯s face was enough to tell him what was happening. He felt his head being moved, from side to side, and his field of vision shifted along with it. Despite that, he was never able to see what they were doing to him.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ve got it in,¡± Mycroft said sometime later. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll get it hooked up and start¡­¡± The rest of her words disappeared into a haze, and Ronin was unable to understand them. He narrowed his eyes at that. It had been happening with regularity since this whole scene had begun. Why was he only noticing it now? ¡°¡­ the program is resisting, but I¡¯ve managed to get it out of the auditory and short-term memory sections of the brain. The kid should be able to understand us now, if someone wants to explain what¡¯s happening to him. Just keep in mind, if the program slips the leash before I¡¯ve captured it, it will likely wipe the knowledge.¡± That didn¡¯t sound good. Ronin didn¡¯t have to understand what was happening to know that his memory being messed with was a bad thing.


    ¡°White Flame,¡± Elyria said, moving close to him and staring him in the eyes. ¡°Can you hear me? Owl two implanted software into your brain,¡± she stopped talking then and turned to Mycroft, who checked the monitor and nodded.


    ¡°He heard it without interference,¡± she said, making Ronin worry for an entirely new reason now. Owl Two had messed with his brain? That couldn¡¯t be right, the Doc had said that wasn¡¯t the case at all hadn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank the moon.¡± Elyria said, giving him a quick peck on the lips from what looked like sheer joy before she sat back and blushed. ¡°Sorry about that, anyway, umm¡­ she touched a finger to her lip as she thought. Ronin, who was too distracted by the Doctor¡¯s fingers inside his head to care about her blushing, waited impatiently for her to speak.


    ¡°Ok, long story short. When we first designed these bodies, Owl Two, in his capacity as the ship¡¯s AI, altered them to put a program into each of our heads. An AI program with limited intelligence and limited access. It was what gave each of us the dreams when we weren¡¯t getting to the cave fast enough, do you remember? Well, when we upgraded bodies, for me and K3, we just got smarter and faster to think. But for you, most of that extra brain matter got taken over by the AI program. Which grew to the point where it could manifest itself. We are only guessing on most of it, but we think it shut off your ability to hear things it didn¡¯t want you to know, erased memories it didn¡¯t want you to have, and fed you thoughts you might not normally have had.¡±


    Ronin listened to her, in horrified disbelief as she spoke. There was no way. There was no way, was there? Now that she pointed it out, he did have several holes in his memory, and several of the thoughts and actions he¡¯d taken weren¡¯t things he¡¯d normally have done. Was this real?


    ¡°Doctor Mycroft checked out me and K3 already. We aren¡¯t sure why, but the original program never grew larger after we got the new brain matter. It might have been designed that way, or perhaps it was an accident. Either way, she was able to remove it from us. Unfortunately, the program has already seeped into too much of your brain tissue. There¡¯s no way to cut it out. But the Doc found a way to isolate it from you, by trapping it in a prison, made from a stasis stone¡­¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Mycroft said loudly, cutting over Elyria¡¯s explanation. ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but I got it. The physical program is still fused to your brain, but I¡¯ve trapped the sentient portion, the AI¡¯s thinking mind, inside the stasis stone prison. It can no longer interact or interfere with your mind kid. And the best part, the sliver of stone I used is small enough your body can keep it on indefinitely from the innate electric charge just being alive generates¡­ now, not to cut you two love birds chat short, but you need to rest, and I need to check my work. So, lights out for now.¡± She¡¯d barely finished speaking, when Ronin¡¯s world went black once more.

 Chapter ninety-three

    Ronin¡¯s eyes opened slowly, and he stared up at his hotel room ceiling for long moments, just getting his bearings. He¡¯d had the strangest dream, but it only took a moment for him to run his fingers through his hair, to prove nothing had actually happened. He hadn¡¯t been brain jacked by Owl Two, and Doctor Mycroft hadn¡¯t buried a thumbnail sized piece of crystal in his brain to¡­


    ¡°It should be healed by now,¡± Elyria, who¡¯d been sitting on the edge of his bed unnoticed said, dashing his delusions on the rocks of reality. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± He shifted around on the bed, until he was looking at her, but he didn¡¯t bother getting up.


    ¡°Like I got brain jacked by an artificial intelligence, then had said brain drilled by an ancient doctor who added half her body weight in breasts to compensate for old age.¡± Ronin said, not mincing words as he told her straight. She winced but didn¡¯t look as apologetic as she had in the operating room, however long ago that had been.


    ¡°I asked how you were feeling, not for a summery of events as they happened.¡± She said, a trace of her old smirk touching her lips. ¡°And¡­Doctor Mycroft saved your life, try to be a little nicer to her face, will you?¡± Ronin felt bad for his words instantly, after seeing the pain they caused Elyria. On reflex, he pushed the feelings down, turning the emotion off in his head, a second later, he no longer felt guilty. Proving he wasn¡¯t completely free of the program. Not wanting to cheat himself where he didn¡¯t have too, Ronin stopped pressing down in his emotions, allowing himself to feel the embarrassment full force.


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± he said after a minute. ¡°No disrespect intended, it¡¯s just¡­¡± he trailed off, thinking about the last few months of his life.


    ¡°I understand, so would the Doc, but still, never a good idea to get on the wrong side of the one who¡¯s job it is to save your life, right?¡± To which Ronin could only nod in agreement. ¡°How much do you remember?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not sure,¡± Ronin admitted, scratching his head where he assumed a scar would have been if he didn¡¯t heal so fast. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what I remember, and you tell me what I missed, ok?¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± she said, moving closer to him on the bed to make herself comfortable, as Ronin tried to organize his thoughts, while ignoring the moon elf now leaning her shoulder against his.


    ¡°The day we got the new bodies, I remember feeling like I was on top of the world. The regret was gone. The feeling of betrayal over what Undercity did, and¡­¡± Ronin talked about what he remembered for hours. Elyria was a good listener, never interrupting and always nodding and making encouraging noises whenever he slowed down. It was only after he finished that she sat up and looked at him directly again.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty close actually.¡± She said, almost seeming surprised by the admission. ¡°It seems like it first started to affect your judgment about the refugees and slowly escalated from there. The main points you didn¡¯t cover are¡­¡± now it was Ronin¡¯s turn to listen to her explaining things he should already know. Conversations they¡¯d had where he seemed to forget half the things she said almost as soon as she said it. Times when he¡¯d misrepresent something, like the math on the amount of food they had. It was true they¡¯d run out if they went all the way to colony 12, but that world was on the far side of lizard-controlled space. If they changed course to a closer planet, they¡¯d be able to stay on board for years without concern, especially if they¡¯d cycled through the stasis stones to conserve food. Yet, whenever she raised any counter arguments, he didn¡¯t seem to even hear them. While he grew more irritable and paranoid by the day.


    She explained how she¡¯d asked the Doc to look into K3¡¯s head, to see what she found. It hadn¡¯t taken her long to find the program, nestled deep inside the kaldarr¡¯s brain. Thankfully, she¡¯d been able to cut it out easily enough. When it came to Elyria¡¯s turn, things got a little more complicated. The program had buried itself into her long-term memory and she hadn¡¯t been willing to lose any of her memories in order to get it out. They¡¯d managed it in the end, but it had taken days of slow, methodical cutting to get the entire program. That¡¯s why she¡¯d disappeared on him for so long, Ronin realized as he listened, because she¡¯d been going through the operation, then recovering afterwards.


    ¡°Any idea why the program went crazy on me, but left the two of you alone?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, no,¡± she replied, snuggling closer to him. ¡°We captured Xerox after you went under. We did a few scans of his brain too and found he is a lot more human than he likes to pretend. I mean his brain is bigger than ours, it looks like he used the extra material left over from you only bringing eighteen people across to give himself a boost. But he isn¡¯t a computer. He¡¯s a living, breathing person just like us, the main difference is he had a bunch of memories implanted during his creation. A guide he was supposed to follow from Owl Two. It was actually the AI itself doing most of the work on the colony ship, Xerox was just the hands it used to get the physical work done.¡±


    ¡°Is he still being contained?¡± Ronin asked, doing his best to ignore the fact Elyria had worked her way under the covers, and was now snuggling up to him.


    ¡°No, after we realized he didn¡¯t know as much as we thought, we let him go. Got Mei and Rem watching him though, he isn¡¯t allowed to use a computer of any type without Mycroft watching. He¡¯s spent the last week down in the engine rooms, helping out the beetles.¡±


    ¡°The last week?¡± Ronin asked, voice going a little higher as shock, and Elyria¡¯s hands hit him at the same time.


    ¡°Yea, you¡¯ve been out for a week or so¡­ now, are you going to keep talking, or can we move onto¡­ other things already?¡± Ronin tilted his head back, looking at her face for a long moment before he said anything.


    ¡°I, don¡¯t want to sound insensitive, but about your hus¡­¡±


    ¡°Listen, White Flame,¡± Elyria said putting a finger to his lips and glaring into his face. ¡°Moon elves have strong customs when it comes to marriage and what a widow or widower does after a marriage ends. Because the death of a spouse is the only honorable way for a marriage to end. I¡¯m considered young by my kind¡¯s standards, and I took it really hard. But I¡¯ve followed you since just days after his death, and I¡¯ve largely gotten passed it now. But to answer your immediate question, I¡¯m fine. I know what I¡¯m doing, and I¡¯ve had a lot more free time than you the last few months to do some major soul searching¡­ Now, shut up and kiss me already.¡±


    What more could he say? He¡¯d been holding himself back in regard to her for long enough. Thanks to the feeling of obligation, he had towards Lily and Vasylia, and the lingering feelings he had towards Owl Five. Now, after so many months in her company, he didn¡¯t want to hold back anymore. He still took it slow, wanting to let her set the pace, just in case it proved more than she was ready to handle, but Ronin was done denying himself what he wanted in life.


    *            *            *


    Several hours later, Ronin and Elyria moved from his bed to the shower, then to the bridge where they met with Leo, Mycroft, Xerox and K3. Ronin felt a little sheepish, when he saw the giant, but he forced himself not to suppress the emotions. Instead, walking directly towards the warrior, before he even acknowledged the others.


    ¡°Listen,¡± he said, stopping in front of the eight-foot tall kaldarr, and straightening his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about¡­¡± his words ended when K3 swooped him up in a bear hug that took him more than a foot from the ground.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about a thing boss,¡± K3 said a smile clear in his voice as he spoke into Ronin¡¯s ear. ¡°You weren¡¯t yourself, that was obvious to all of us. Besides, you¡¯re the boss. Telling me what to do is your right¡­ and a¡­¡± the giant leaned in real close and whispered directly into Ronin¡¯s ear. ¡°Congratulations on finally getting some boss¡­ I mean sure, the lady pretty much had to force you into it, again, but¡­¡± It was Ronin¡¯s turn to cut the giant off, breaking his hold and dropping the foot to the ground.


    ¡°Knock it off you big lug,¡± Ronin said, though he couldn¡¯t hide the relief from seeping into his voice at being on ok terms with the giant. He knew the kaldarr had to do what he ordered him to do, that the nanites engendered feelings of loyalty in those who were injected with them. Yet he also knew, having Benjamin as an example, if the kaldarr didn¡¯t want to follow him, it would take a string of direct orders to make him. The relief Ronin felt in that moment was stronger than he¡¯d ever admit to anyone.


    ¡°Nice to see you too kid, your welcome for saving your life.¡± Doctor Mycroft said, crossing her arms and stamping a foot. Ronin couldn¡¯t believe a woman as brilliant as she was, could act so childish.


    ¡°Thank you, Doc,¡± Ronin said, turning away from K3 and moving to give the lab coated woman a hug as well. She accepted it, but pushed him away quickly, face going red as her hair in embarrassment.


    ¡°Ahem¡­ it was a, don¡¯t mention it.¡± She said, moving back behind a now laughing Leo as she composed herself.


    ¡°Glad to have you back kid,¡± Leo said, moving forward to shake Ronin¡¯s hand in one of his massive paws. The lionid was still bigger and a more experienced fighter than Ronin, but that gap had narrowed considerably now, thanks to his newly enhanced body, training, and combat experience. The larger man could still tear him apart in a melee duel, but Ronin fancied he¡¯d give him a run for his money if they¡¯d have done the tree climb challenge again.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the inconvenience posed to you by a faulty program.¡± Xerox said, coming over and giving Ronin a deep bow. ¡°I assure you my original would never have sanctioned something like¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Xerox.¡± Ronin said, having already heard from Elyria the copy was denying all knowledge of the program or that his original would have done it knowingly. For all Ronin knew, he was right. Perhaps it really was a big misunderstanding, but it didn¡¯t matter. Owl Two, or what was left of him anyway, had burned the last of Ronin¡¯s good will. He¡¯d already had a face to face with Mycroft over tablet earlier, and she¡¯d assured him what he had in mind would work. ¡°Let¡¯s just get started, ok? There isn¡¯t anything else for us to do on the ship, since the beetles and the technologists seem more than happy to do the work. Since they¡¯re doing their job, it only seems right that we do ours too.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Of course, my lord, but are you ready to go already? You only just recovered from your ordeal. Wouldn¡¯t you prefer taking a little time to get back on your feet before you leave for the AI core? Once you enter that world, you won¡¯t be able to leave again until you either succeed or die.¡± Ronin looked at the copy and debated what to say. They¡¯d discussed this already, over comms and outside Xerox ability to overhear, but they were going to take him with them. Not only that, but they were going to check the brains of everyone still awake before they left, to check for hidden programming that could come back to bite them.


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Xerox.¡± He said at last, deciding to wait until the last minute to explain his plans. ¡°It means a lot to me, and I think I agree with you. It¡¯s been a crazy couple of months. Maybe I¡¯ll take a few more weeks to recover. I need to train some more and get a better understanding of what¡¯s expected of me there. Perhaps, you can spend a few hours with me every day to instruct me on my role?¡±


    ¡°It would be my pleasure,¡± Xerox said, genuine happiness coming across in his tone. That gave Ronin pause, but only for a moment. There was too much riding on this for him to let sentiment cloud his judgment.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said instead, turning to the group as a whole. ¡°Then, I guess we should get to the reason I asked you all to meet with me today.¡± He gestured towards a table that had been set up to accommodate all of them. ¡°Please, sit down.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything else, until everyone had been seated, and, just when Leo in particular looked like he was about to say something, he raised a hand.


    ¡°I have your drinks, meowster.¡± Mei said, appearing out of thin air, or at least seeming to, at his gesture. She carried a tray loaded down with cups and the decanter from Ronin¡¯s room containing the poisoned nutrient fluid. Rem, who¡¯d also appeared at the gesture, swiftly passed out the cups and took the tray from Mei, who was even now pouring everyone a glass of the liquor substitute.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Leo asked, taking a sniff of the glass, and lapping his tongue into it, looking like an oversized house cat. ¡°Hey, this is¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something the good Doctor prepared, perhaps on accident, but fitting nonetheless.¡± Ronin said, taking his glass and standing up to look each of his companions in the eye. ¡°I want to thank each of you, for everything you¡¯ve done to help me up to this point. I know, you would have done it regardless just to get off the planet,¡± he added, before Leo could interject. ¡°But still, I couldn¡¯t have made it this far without all of you, pushing me along, and helping me overcome my lack of knowledge. And look around¡­¡± this time, he gestured to the walls of the bridge.


    As he spoke, they turned opaque, before lighting up with the pallet of space. They¡¯d left the Sol system behind, but the sun could still be seen as a larger than average star far behind them, as the ship headed deeper into the center of the galaxy.


    ¡°We made it to space guys.¡± He continued excitedly, waving his glass around at the view. ¡°It was only a small chance, a hope more than anything. But we worked at it, gave it our all. Now look at us. I know, there¡¯s a long way to go, and we aren¡¯t out of the woods yet. Hell, we only have to look back to see that.¡± Here he gestured at the pair of lizard ships, still doggedly pursuing them through the void.


    ¡°But we¡¯ve come a long way. Further than I ever would have imagined, when Alexander beat me to death, and a lazy guard sent me through to take his place, just because he didn¡¯t feel like doing the paperwork.¡± Ronin tried to ignore the wince Leo made at the mention of his son. He didn¡¯t want to rub it in, but it was a part of his path that he wouldn¡¯t ignore just because it made the older man uncomfortable. His mind wandered to the lazy guard as he talked, wondering if he¡¯d left on the human ship, or if he¡¯d died on earth, since, Ronin hadn¡¯t seen him among the refugees in Temple city.


    ¡°I just wanted to say thank you, and remind you all how far we¡¯ve come, before we get bogged down in how far we still have to go.¡± Ronin raised his glass high overhead, smiling at his people as he said, ¡°to each of you, with my thanks.¡± Before taking a long drink, followed by everyone at the table, including Xerox, whom Ronin half-expected to refrain.


    The night passed quickly, each of them drinking far more than was safe, with Xerox actually throwing up after imbibing too much. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant sight, thanks to his lack of a proper mouth. Still, the copy seemed to have a good time, and opened up more to Ronin during the training sessions that followed. As for Ronin, he drank almost as much as the copy, and was forced to lean on Elyria as they made their way back to his room. Leo and Red had already left, and if the noise coming from their cargo container room was any indication, Ronin knew where they¡¯d gone. He felt bad for K3 for a moment, since the kaldarr didn¡¯t have anyone to spend his night with, but the thought fled his mind as soon as Elyria pushed him through his door.


    *            *            *


    ¡°My lord, I really think you should reconsider.¡± Xerox said, from his position at the table Ronin had set up inside the core room beneath the bridge. ¡°I am far more valuable to you out here, where I can help direct the path you take upon entering the joined¡­¡± Ronin tuned him out as he turned away from the bound copy.


    It had been a month since they had their victory party. A month where Ronin used every bit of time, he¡¯d been given sparring with K3 and O54, whom he¡¯d nicknamed Grapple, much to her delight. Learned everything Xerox could teach him about the world they were going into, it wasn¡¯t as much as he¡¯d hoped, the Doc was right about the copy not knowing what he pretended too. As well as spending a fair number of nights in the company of a certain moon elf. They¡¯d delighted in getting to know each other better now the wall between them had been breached at last.


    Doctor Mycroft had finished doing a deep scan of everyone who they intended to leave awake, determining many of them had been unmodified, but that several of them, O54 and a few of the other team leaders included, had small, inactive programs placed inside their brains. She¡¯d removed them all and made dang sure the stasis stones and spare bodies weren¡¯t easily accessible. Just in case something went wrong. Now, they were all inside the core room ready to go fight for control of the core.


    Except, Ronin had no intention of giving control of the core to Owl Two. No, that ship had sailed the moment he realized the AI messed with so many of their brains. He¡¯d spent hours of his free time with Doctor Mycroft, Elyria and K3, theory crafting different ways they could take, and keep control of the core. Sadly, they hadn¡¯t come up with anything concrete, but that was ok. They had time. In fact, they had nothing but time, since unless they stopped to be killed by lizards, it would be a few hundred million years before they reached colony 12, where they would probably be killed by lizards anyway. They did all have a basic understanding of what they would find when they entered the core. A world contested by the two AI, broken up into a grid, each section of the grid with a control node. They had to conquer more than half those sections in order to win. Apart from that, no one was sure what they¡¯d find inside, since the battle would be between two artificial intelligences, each with more processing power than the entire pre fall population of earth could have produced combined.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Mycroft asked. The doctor and her nephew were making the rounds, checking the connections between Ronin, Elyria, K3 and Xerox to the cores. Both of which had been shoved together, with only the barest of inches separating them. Jaya, who was present with an Exo-suit, would push the cores into contact with one another at the same time as Ronin and the others were sent in. She wasn¡¯t coming, neither was Karr, or any of the others. Mycroft and Leo were staying behind too, to keep an eye on everything and continue the research into ship-built bodies, and ways to take control of the cores. At least, Mycroft would be researching, Leo was only going to keep her company.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Ronin said, mirrored by both Elyria and K3 a moment later.


    ¡°My lord please, I must insist.¡± Xerox said, still trying to wheedle his way out of going. ¡°I¡¯ve done some research into the methodology Doctor Mycroft used to contain the malware that afflicted you. She used a stasis stone as a base to contain it. As a cage it worked perfectly well, but I¡¯m afraid it will have a negative reaction to the¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Xerox but I¡¯ll take my chances.¡± Ronin said, interrupting the copy before he could really get going again. He¡¯d heard this before and talked to Mycroft about it. She¡¯d agreed it was theoretically possible for the chip of stasis stone in his head to have a negative reaction when his brain was connected to the AI core. The chances were just so low everyone felt it the safer risk, vs taking it out, and letting the program Owl Two put in his head have its way with his mind.


    ¡°Then I wish you the best of luck.¡± Mycroft said, nodding to Jaya, who gave Ronin a silent salute, before shoving the AI cores the final few inches into contact with one another. At the same time, Doctor Mycroft pressed a button on her tablet. Ronin, who sat between Elyria and K3, held both of their hands tightly in his. He looked across the table at Xerox, who was still protesting the safety of going across with a stasis stone in contact with his brain and smiled. Each of them was hooked up to an IV bag, with enough nutrient fluid to keep them going for a decade. Mei and Rem were stationed nearby with a decade¡¯s worth of fluid for themselves as well. They¡¯d stay in this room, watching over their bodies, for as long as it took for Ronin to either come out, or for them all to die of starvation.


    ¡°See you on the other side,¡± he said, squeezing his friend¡¯s and his lover¡¯s hands tightly in his own, as the world faded away around him.


    *            *            *


    When Ronin next came to himself, he was standing on a dirt path, partially covered in snow, halfway up a mountain. The area to either side of the trail was cleared away a good hundred yards to either side of the path, but after that, a blend of coniferous and deciduous trees dominated the landscape. He must have been fairly high up, because it was cold, and snow fell lazily around him from further up the path. Looking himself over, he found he was back in his cyborg body, but he was empty handed. He didn¡¯t have so much as a dagger on him, let alone a mark V or a kanabo. Hell, he didn¡¯t even have his White Flame armor on. He was dressed in an outfit that looked to be made entirely from mountain goat hide, from boots to the horned hat on his head and the cloak on his shoulders. Looking around, he tried to spot his friends. It didn¡¯t take long for him to realize he was alone. Cursing, he called out for Elyria and K3. No one answered, then he tried his comm unit, he wasn¡¯t wearing one, then he began to panic. Where were they, why didn¡¯t they answer him? After a moment, he forced the panic away, thankful that his ability to suppress his emotions was still working. Opening his interface, he pulled up his map.


    He was on a mountainside, with what looked like a temple at the mountain¡¯s peak and a large town in the valley in the mountain¡¯s foothills, and the map shape was a perfect hexagon. It looked somewhat familiar, but Ronin couldn¡¯t place where he¡¯d seen it before. He was actually surprised his mini map showed so much detail, normally when he entered a new area it would be covered by the fog of war, only becoming visible as he personally explored. How filled in this map was indicated he¡¯d either seen this place before, or had been here already, though he was sure that wasn¡¯t the case. Shaking his head, he scanned the hex map, looking for the most likely place for the node to be placed.


    He assumed it had to be either in the village, or the temple, because they were the only real standout locations. There was also a mine near the village, but he would save that for last considering it unlikely that the section node would be in a mine. Glancing up and down the trail, Ronin decided to check out the temple first, since the top of the mountain was completely wreathed in wicked looking storm clouds. Shrinking the map back into the corner of his vision, Ronin squared his shoulders and trudged up the path, into the thickening snowfall.


    ¡°Help me.¡± He hadn¡¯t gone more than a hundred yards when he heard someone shouting for help. Looking around, it didn¡¯t take long to spot a young man, dashing for all he was worth down the trail. Ronin focused his eyes, and grinned happily when the telescoping function worked perfectly, as his eyes zoomed in on the kid. ¡°Help me,¡± he shouted again, and Ronin shifted his gaze behind the kid, to find a giant wolf nipping at his heels.


    Focusing on the wolf, Ronin took in the creature¡¯s appearance. It was nearly the same size as the young man, perhaps the size of one of earth¡¯s mastiff dog breeds. With long, shaggy white fur highlighted with various shades of blue, that looked like ice clinging to its body. Some kind of ice wolf then, he wondered as the chase continued towards him. A moment later, that guess was confirmed, when the wolf opened its jaws wide, and a beam of freezing air shot from its mouth and headed right for the young man.