Chapter 169 - Teleport Misshap

Chapter 169

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

Dungeon Factory, R&D Facility Delta

Eismi had done some astoundingly stupid things in her life. Some were because she'd been dragged into her twin's messes, others were because of her own mistakes.

But very, very rarely had she done something so thoroughly stupid as mess up a teleport. A teleport which should have transported her into the dungeon's entrance.

Instead it appeared to have dumped her in the middle of some kind of laboratory. With a lot of very unhappy golems with ample amounts of firepower pointed square at her.

"Put your hands up! Get on the ground! Do not move! You will be fired upon if you do not comply!" Called out one of the golems and Eismi blinked. That…didn't make any sense. Clearly the golems, or whatever was piloting them thought so too, as they lowered their weapons a fraction before speaking again. "Correction. Just stay immobile. The dungeon core is on its way."

"On its w-"

The artificer saw when Crystal arrived. The effect rippled through the golems like a wave. Their posture changed as they lowered their weapons, no longer that of pseudo-warriors but elite soldiers. And one walked towards her with the gravitas of a general.

"Eismi. It has been quite a while. I assume you got my message?"

"Yes. I did. And I had come bearing my answer. Although I must apologize, my teleport was meant to bring me to the entrance, not…here."

"Do not worry. Those things happen." For some reason the golems' head twitched briefly, as if it was looking over her shoulder. Eismi gave a furtive glance and…

There was some kind of pillar. Absolutely covered in runes and positively thrumming with power.

Her quick glance wasn't enough to determine much, even with her cybernetic eye taking a picture. But it looked…alien and familiar, simultaneously.

She shook herself internally. She could wonder about what the dungeon core was up to later. Right now she had a mission, and bigger things to worry about.

"Thank you. Well, I had decided to accept your commission. Of course there is the matter of payment."

"Yes, indeed. Would I assume that you would like more ingredients added to my dungeon?"

"No. What I want you to do, is increase the abundance of the ones me and my sister already gave you."

Eismi could almost feel the stillness as every golem froze, perfectly in place, and she realized with a start that they'd all been doing the sort of small movements humans think as natural, and no one every notices until they are gone.

"That would not make sense, miss Eismi. Unless you lied to me previously." Eismi took a deep breath. She knew that was coming. But orders were orders, and at this point, her cover identity could take a hit with Crystal, as long as she could accomplish her job. There simply wasn’t enough time. "So you need more ingredients. I'm going to venture a wild guess and say that only some specific ones from the list you gave me previously would be useful, correct?"

The fox eared twin nodded.

"So let us skip the bullshit and cut straight to the chase then." Said the dungeon core. "What ingredients do you need? We'll both avoid wasting resources."

"I would…rather avoid that." The twin held up her hand. "As much as you have figured out the anomaly, I would rather that the baroness does not." And more importantly, the forces Sunrise had to have infiltrated inside the town, alongside those that licked the slavers' boots.

"Ah. Well, the baroness can be very astute. So you wish for the ingredient production to increase. Very well. Anything else?"

Eismi nodded.

"I need the full measurement of the person the arm is for, as well as if possible, some time with them, to make it custom fitted and setup the neural control links."

Once again the stillness.

"I assume that is absolutely necessary?"

"Yes. Is…that an issue?"

The dungeon core sighed.

"I suppose it is not. But I will warn you. I will help you. I will keep your secret. As long as you keep mine. Neither of us will ask questions about the other's side of this bargain. We will both uphold our ends and forget this even happened." The golem stepped forward, and Eismi had to fight her instincts yelling at her to retreat as the automata came centimeters from her, somehow looming over her. Which…this was a barebone dungeon monster! She could fold it in half with her organic arm tied behind her back. But the dungeon core exuded such gravitas it felt like a titan. "Because if you don't, I will break you, miss Eismi. You and your twin sister."

The fox eared woman nodded. She knew a promise when she heard one.

And after what had happened to the Republic's army, she wasn't going to doubt the dungeon core.

"I…I understand."

"Good." The golem stepped back. "Then it is simple. The person is Alyssa."

Eismi opened her mouth, then closed it. She had a feeling that even if the dungeon core wouldn't kill her for asking, she really didn't want to know the answer.

"Very well. Does she know?"

"No, she does not. If you could frame it as a charitable donation or helping an ex slave, that would be helpful."

Eismi slowly nodded. She'd have to do a bit more than that, help a few others to avoid arousing suspicion…but it was a good idea. It might even help drawing attention away from Ellyana's frantic gathering and refining.

"I think I will."

"Then I believe our business here is done. I will augment the loot rate immediately. Do you need me to escort you out?"

"No, no. I'll just…take a few more minutes to double check my calculations before teleporting out."

"Of course."

Eismi's ear twitched. The dungeon core sounded amused for some reason, but she firmly quashed her curiosity.

This was a problem for later. Once she was out of the dungeon's reach. Far out of it.

If she lived long enough for that.

First Old World stealth golem, then…this laboratory, and this agreement. What the actual hell had Rook ordered them to make a deal with?

*****

"Well, now that your adventurers are blooded, I assume we can assume better tactics are in order?" Said Allya in a falsely pleasant tone as Starvak sat down in her office.

The guildmaster winced, but didn't argue.

"It wasn't optimal, but it was successful."

"It was a disaster." Simply answered Allya, and she looked him in the eyes.

She smiled slightly as he looked into her eyes, and his expression shifted. There was worry there.

Because Allya wasn't angry. She was satisfied.

She'd known this would happen, every step of the way. And she had done nothing to stop it. In fact, she'd encouraged it.

She'd just used dozens of dead adventurers as an object lesson to the rest. As a lesson to Starvak.

And he had finally received the message. They were the guild, and they were mighty, but this was war. She was the town's supreme commander, period.

They could obey. Or they could die.

The choice was theirs.

She wouldn't have ordinarily done this…but the glimpse of Alexandra's machinations had convinced her that the time for thoughtful diplomacy was over. In the coming days, or hell, years, blood and swords would be the only currency.

Because the dungeon's army wasn't meant to defend Rebirth. Not in a million years. And she, for one, wasn't going to stand against the dungeon core.

And whenever she had doubts about what she was doing…well, there was a field strewn with graves of those who had tried to fight the extradimensional turned dungeon core. It was a powerful reminder of what kind of tiger she was riding.

Starvak could fight on her this of course. But he would lose. Every single adventurer in town had either seen or heard all about that bloodbath by now. And with all that had happened, the respect he'd lost during the arrest of the Void Blades, and the reputation she'd gained among them because of it, they wouldn't follow him in his defiance. And that would not only cost him his position, but it might break the guild's position in Rebirth forever, and that he would never, ever risk.

"Yes. Yes it was a disaster. And this is only the beginning of the attack."

"Correct. We need to coordinate more closely. Bring in your adventurers fully into the town's defense." And effectively under her authority. Starvak looked at her, and slowly nodded. "Not just on the frontlines either. There are many adventurers whose expertise would be better used elsewhere. Healers to help with casualties behind the line, mages to help with repairs, artificers and other experts to sort through the salvage…"

The guildmaster nodded, more firmly this time. He clearly didn't like what he was hearing, but he also realized that Allya wasn't going to negotiate, and was willing to throw him a very heavy bone by putting adventurers in charge of handling the salvage. She was, after all, implicitly hurting her own interests and ally by doing so. Which was not advisable under the best of circumstances, and some could argue borderline suicidal against Crystal.

But Allya was ready to bet the dungeon core's protest would be more token than anything.

After all, she knew Crystal already had Old World weaponry.

"Of course. I will ask my attendants to give your officers a full list of specialties so they may be assigned where they are the most help."

"Good. I also wanted to warn you. As of tonight, the town will be under martial law, with their majesties' blessing." Not that she needed it, but it was a nice addition and would make it a sweeter pill for the merchant combines swallow. "Accompanied by a full curfew, the works."

That made the guildmaster visibly twitched. Even at the height of the Republic's attack she hadn't technically ordered martial law declared. In effect she'd given her military much of the same power, but she hadn't outright told everyone that, as per the Asarian Kingdom's own version of 'martial law', a great deal many of their rights were now suspended and everything was absolutely secondary to military operations. How could she, when her town depended so much on outside economic interest and trade?

But she didn't have a choice now. Sunrise's protests were reaching fever pitch, and some of the combines dissatisfied with her were finally shaking off the shock of the Republic's massacre and finding the courage to speak up again. And she couldn't afford it. She needed to bring her foot down on their neck now, before they bit her at the worst possible time.

This would do it. It was mostly symbolic, but it would buy her time, time she desperately needed right now.

"There will be protests to such drastic measures." Said the guildmaster, before shrugging. "But for what my opinion is worth, I believe that if there ever was a time, this is it."

"Thank you guildmaster." They both knew his opinion, and support, was worth its weight in the adamantium he bore as a medallion. If he didn't speak out against it, or even approved of it publicly, most of the adventurers would stay in line as well. If the adventurers kept quiet, then so would most of her opponents. No one could take the town from her without at least indifference from the adventurers, and if the guildmaster was so obviously siding with her, or at least appeared to be, on an issue clearly meant to suppress internal opposition, they would be scared into hesitation. "Now, I had talked with Crystal a bit before she returned to her dungeon. She had some fascinating proposals to help the adventurers guild bear the burden of the conflict, and all around boost both parties."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Quite simply, she pointed out that while copper steps were in the works, they would not add a great deal more. Most of the adventurers in town are below that rank after all. Instead, she did mention that there wasn't really anything preventing her from opening multiple clay, iron or steel steps, if we were interested."

The guildmaster froze.

"That…would be absolutely fantastic! Provided, of course, that the entrance is expanded to allow for more throughput."

"That was also in the proposal Crystal made. Note that it would require everyone to vacate the dungeon and the steps in particular for a few hours, so that she would be able to modify the entrance and access corridors."

"Given the result she is striving for, I am sure no one will protest. If I can tell them, of course?"

"Of course! This will hardly be a secret."

"Excellent."

"And, as a last aside…Crystal might have also mentioned she was getting ready to open the fourth floor, prematurely, as she did for the second floor. It would also happen to include firearm wielding golems. And artillery cannons."

Starvak's expression was worth every tense second of the discussion.