Chapter 58 - Dressing Down

Note : Chapter 59 has been written and added to the queue !

Chapter 58

Starborn Mountains, Starfire Valley

Settlement of Astralis

"What the fuck are you doing?!?" Snarled out Kalia, after making sure the Hero was out of earshot. "Are you fucking insane?"

"I...I'm sorry, I just...I just snapped, alright?"

"Snapped? You started yelling at someone whose benevolence we depend on for survival, who is a bona fide hero, honored high elder and incidentally could kill you just by slapping you too hard!" Kalia sat up, slamming her hands onto the tabletop. "You need to get a grip Malry! Not tomorrow, not in the next hour, NOW."

"I know! I know and I'm sorry! But this was just...Ancestors. When we discussed synthetic condensate it was a theory. One that made sense, but still, just a theory. An abstract thought. Now here she is, casually giving us something I know entire noble houses, entire nations, would go to war over!" She gestured at the spice synthesizer on the table. "And she gave it to us like it was nothing! It became...it became real. Just like that." Malry sighed. "I'll go and apologize to her. I shouldn't have blown up like that."

Kalia glared at her for a few seconds, before her shoulders sagged and she sighed.

"I'd be tempted to tell you to stay put and not make it worse, but yeah. Go." She watched as the alchemist scrambled out of the room, and shook her head, sitting down heavily and craddling her face in her hands. "What a fucking mess."

Ramina reached out, hesitated, and finally put her hand on Kalia's shoulder.

"It's understandable though."

"I know it is. Because I'm at the same level. I've bought spices. Saw the caravans with them moving up the tradeway." She took a deep breath. "It's the little things that just...break the dam. Synthetic condensate? It's kind of too big to grasp. I know, intellectually, that it would change everything, but it's so far beyond what I can imagine. Besides, it's not like I handled this stuff on a daily basis. I just saw it at the academy, did a couple projects, and handled some of the stuff that used it. But spice? Spice I know. Spice I understand." She leaned back into the chair, taking her head out of her hands. "It's insane, right? Wow, it made food tastier, big deal. And yet..."

"And yet it made and broke so many fortunes."

The mage-magistrate nodded.

"And the one thing all can relate to and want is tasty food. That and food to begin with. She's given us both." She gazed at Ramina, and the artificer shivered at her haunted look. "What have we awakened, Ramina? What the hell did we find?"

"We didn't awaken her. The Bane did."

"Small comfort." Kalia sighed. "But she's saving us. We simply got a miracle so great we can't handle it."

"I guess we should be more careful what we wish for."

The mage-magistrate laughed.

"Yeah. And then some." She looked at the door. "I wonder how Malry's apology is going..."

*****

Sapphiria didn't really have a place to go, so she meandered in the building, in the vague direction of Ramina's workshop, coming to a halt as her sensors detected Malry.

The alchemist rounded the corner, and came to a halt, seeing the AI waiting for her.

"Oh. You heard me coming."

"Divined you, really."

The mage grimaced.

"I wish I still had mana to spare to use my spells."

Sapphiria tilted her head. Oh, right, Malry was a diviner. The equivalent of a sensor specialist here? They'd have to talk about it sometime.

"Already doing my best to solve that."

"I know, I...I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry. I shouldn't have blown up like that, it's just that...that..." She clasped her hands together, softly rubbing the right with her left, at a loss for words.

"I get it." Softly said Sapphiria, cupping the alchemists' hands into her own, and squeezing them reassuringly. "I truly do. Change, change is frightening. Rapid change even more so. And I am more change than you have ever seen before. I apologize for this blunder. Had I realized, I would have been more...careful. But this is not the only change I am bringing, nor should it be. If we are to survive this, all of us, there will have to be more. I'm sure you understand that."

She meant far more than the alchemist could possibly imagine of course. But for all that, she was sincere.

"Yeah...I understand. And I will never be able to thank you enough for what you've done for all of us."

"I'm sure you'll find a way eventually." By not going batshit crazy when they learned she was an artificial intelligence from outer space for example. Like it or not, that would happen eventually. "But that day isn't today, sadly. Now, I believe the good mage-magistrate had mentioned urgent items on the council's plate that needed attending?"

"Yes." Malry took a deep breath, and disentangled her hands from Sapphiria's. "Let us rejoin the others. We have work to do."

Sapphiria nodded, and gestured for her to lead on.

*****

Kalia sat up as they entered the room, her gaze darting from one to the other.

"Are you..."

"We're good." Reassured Sapphiria, as she took her seat. "I understand the why of her outburst. We need not dwell on it."

The mage-magistrate swallowed, and nodded.

"Thank you."

Sapphiria felt warm flutters in her heart of how utterly sincere the words were.

"There is no need." She cleared her throat. "Now, I believe there were some urgent items on the agenda?"

"Yes, quite." Kalia cleared her throat, buying herself time to regain her mental balance. "The first one was the need for extra security for foraging and logging parties. There have been no new attacks but we need to be ready."

"I can get more golems, but every one I make slows down the snowpiercer." Said Sapphiria, and everyone nodded. "I did have some contingency plans." She continued. "But they're not...great. I can't do much for foraging parties, too mobile. But I could set up my leftover turrets or my machinegun teams to defend a logging site."

"Willl they be able to see the monsters coming?"

"I believe they will come to them. My golems use divination to see. So far it has seemed to be the lure of these abominations." Which explained why they were the ones whom the monsters had targeted during their attack on the trail logging group. Even Gregor had been flat out ignored as he disemboweled one. Though it may not have remained that way had there been more waiting. "Perhaps one of my frontliners, forward and...divining more loudly, to gather their attention."

"That...could work." Sapphiria looked at Malry. "Would it?"

"Monsters tend to target magical casters first, but I've never seen or heard this kind of blind overreaction to divination magic. I'll have to consult Tramistres, but it seems like it's worth a try."

"Okay. Next up, Gregor, I believe you had a report to give about the pass?"

The undead nodded.

"Yeah. They've started patrols again. Not parts of the maniples, but sections of the horde. Simple pattern, but in case that changes I pulled out scouts back a bit."

"Think they saw our people?"

The skeleton shrugged.

"Possibly, but I'm fairly sure they'd be sweeping differently if that was the case. I think they may be expecting monsters."

Kalia grimaced.

"Great. That may be why they're simply digging in. Just waiting for us to get eaten without having to lift a finger."

"I'm not going to let that happen." Simply said Sapphiria, and Kalia smiled.

"I know. Which is why we need to keep an eye on them, to see their reaction when that little plan fails. I doubt they're going to just give up and go home."

"I would also like to point out that their fortifications are growing. It's hard to get a good look, but they're really putting in the effort." Added Gregor. "The real question is, what the hell are they expecting to attack?"

"Can't be worse than them." Said Malry.

Sapphiria shook her head at the alchemist's words.

"Despite the adage, your enemy's enemy is most certainly not your friend. Ally of circumstance, sometimes, but certainly not always and never reliably."

They all stared at her, and she belatedly realized she'd spoken a bit more passionately than she'd intended.

After all she hadn't seen the war against the Theocracy, but she had been alive for the Core Campaign and the Pacification, where the Federation was forced to fight the myriad of rebel groups and Theocracy separatists. The second it vanished into the mists of history, they started tearing into each other or the Federation. Hell, some had been backstabbing their 'allies' long before their overlords had fully collapsed. Even though you would think that betraying the Federation of all nations was terminal stupidity.

"It could be the forces of...well, the Kingdom at this point, since they've vassalized us and the Prefecture." Said Ramina.

"If that's the case, then wonderful. We'll feel like idiots for making preparations." Said Kalia. "But that's not very likely. Why bother holding the valley then? It's not like they'd be able to resupply or get the ore they wanted to mine anywhere."

Sapphiria opened her mouth, and closed it, color draining from her face.

"Oh crap. You're absolutely right. This has no point unless they're expecting the minerals to flow somehow."

There was a short silence.

"They're expecting backup." Said Kalia. "Shit."

"If they are, then it's not soon. And they're expecting one hell of a hit in the meantime. Otherwise they wouldn't be digging in like that." Said Gregor. "That gives us time. Armies don't move quickly, if they're getting reinforcements they may be a while."

"Exacor isn't exactly on the other side of the continent."

"No, but it is a hellish marshland. And disentangling units from a siege is always a mess, let alone when you have so few people capable of any form of intelligence."

"So that buys some time." Kalia turned towards Sapphiria. "Will it be enough?"

"Hard to say. I can tell you my rough estimates for the snowpiercer. I've been making the components, and we'll be more limited by assembly than my production rate." Also she'd already been making batteries for the squishies heating, and just had to divert them for the project. The rest was complex but not 'autonomous mining bot' levels of complex. Her main problem, besides the power source, had always been just the sheer mass of the hull, and that was solved with her second assembler and the smelter. "A week, tops."

"A WEEK? That's...that's it?" Blurted out Kalia, and Sapphiria nodded.

"My golems can help with the assembly." All the others exchanged a look. "What?"

"Nothing." Quickly said Ramina. "So afterwards, it's a question of how fast we can stumble upon some mana crystals."

"Not entirely. Once the production is done, I can divert my resources to something else."

"Uh...but won't you be on the expedition?" Asked Ramina.

"Yes."

There was a long silence. There was no way she was stopping deliveries for the squishies, so if it needed to be said, better it be now.

"Can I ask you a question? One I would like an honest answer to." Said Kalia, and Sapphiria inclined her head. "How the hell do you do that?"

"I have...long ago found that my personal brute labor is not useful. It is far better to design something and then have automata put my plans and schematics into action."

"I see. That would...explain a great deal."

"Yes, it would."

"I assume you will put plans for things to continue while you are gone?"

It was tempting, sorely tempting, to say 'yes'. But there was only so much that could be justified with that. Besides, she had already demonstrated that she had some kind of long range communication when she'd blown the Bane tunnel.

"No." She leaned forward. "I will give the orders as I we go along." They all stared at her, and she cleared her throat. "What if I told you I had the means to communicate back to my home?"