Notes : Chapter 425 and 426 of The Fallen World have been written and added to the queue !
Construction is ongoing and absolute hell, as they're tearing down and remaking the appartment below mine. I might have to evacuate my appartment. AGAIN. I'll basically have spent more time having had to leave it than inside of it for the past eight fucking months.
Needless to say, I'm absolutely livid.
Oh, also the owner of the place apparently rented it out, with the renters supposed to move in...before construction is set to end. So that's going to be a shitshow.
Also yes I had fun with the title. Gotta find an upside in this shitty week.
///
Chapter 129
Starborn Mountains, Starfire Valley
Settlement of Astralis
"Heading back into the breach so soon?" Said Kalia as Sapphiria walked into the council room. She was already seated, though in truth it was more a case of being collapsed onto the chair.
The mage-magistrate was trying not to show it, but she hadn't slept well. At all. She felt a twinge of envy at the fact that the AI didn't need to sleep, and thus her own perfectly refreshed look, before suppressing it.
Fortunately, Sapphiria could be fairly perceptive when she wanted to, and Kalia suddenly found herself enclosed in a tight hug, a kiss firmly planted on the top of her head.
She melted into the hug, tension bleeding from her shoulders.
After a few seconds -during which none of the other council members commented-, she took a deep breath, and separated from the AI.
"Are you alright love?" Murmured the person Kalia had a hard time believing was artificial.
Kalia almost nodded by reflex, then hesitated, and minutely shook her head.
"No." She whispered back, then grabbed the AI's shoulders, and planted a thoroughly firm kiss on her lips. After a few very pleasant seconds, she leaned away, and smiled. "This helps though."
The AI smiled.
"So I see." She cleared her throat, and raised her voice as she took her seat. "And yes, I am heading back into the breach so soon. First to reinforce the Pass so you can all sleep a bit easier." She gave Kalia a pointed look, and the mage-magistrate blushed slightly. "And also to salvage some equipment."
"I thought you'd already done that?" Said Ramina. She wasn't seated. Given Malry's expression and the way the artificer shifted, Kalia was pretty sure she wasn't capable of it without a very, very soft pillow. "I saw you leave with a pile of scrap."
"I did, but that was my own gear. I plan to salvage the enemy's. Plus the rolling fortress."
That seemed to get Ramina hopeful, but Sapphiria shook her head.
"Rami, I'm sorry, but that vehicle's a write-off. Even if I changed my mind from our last talk, and wanted to tear a hole through the field of spikes to tow it home, I've reviewed a lot of what happened during the battle. It's not just armor damage, the core chassis has been crippled and even if we fixed it, structural weaknesses would remain forever. It'd be better to dismantle it and start again from scratch."
"...We can do that, right? You're not making another snowpiercer after all."
"Not yet, no. And tough your intervention was reckless, you did save me." Sapphiria and Kalia flashed a smile at the artificer, though both of them knew it wasn't quite correct.
Kalia was still very glad Sapphiria hadn't lost her android though. For all of her cavalier attitude about it, she had a suspicion that it was much more important to her wellbeing than the AI was willing to admit, and explaining her continued help to the general populace while her body was splattered across the landscape would have been...complicated. Her people would accept and wave off a lot from Heroes, but there were limits. Plus, on a more personal level, she couldn't exactly cuddle and kiss the escape pod that truly 'was' Sapphiria.
"Thanks. But yeah. We could build something!"
"I'll take a look." Said the AI. "But right now, mobility isn't critical. What's left of my forces can be easily transported by the snowpiercer, and I intend to start building barracks and a proper golem storage facility at the outpost to quickly reinforce the pass."
"Might as well set up shop in the pass at this point." Said Gregor, the old skeleton speaking up for the first time. "The Hand can't even pretend to hold it. If there's a surprise attack, even a small one, you'll be the only one capable of throwing it back."
Sapphiria grimaced.
"While I agree with you, and I do have troop stationed on the wall." Which she was going to have to cycle back to the outpost for recharge soon. "I'm not sure trusting the Hand with that much firepower is a good idea, when I'm not here to supervise. Plus..." She sighed. "They're clearly negotiating with the other side. I'm going to go on a wild guess and say they haven't mentioned the machineguns and artillery aren't theirs. The more firepower I put up, the greater their negotiating position. And I'd rather they both be at each other's throats than find a compromise." She shrugged. "We've already been over this, but though we can't really just butt into the negotiations, we can avoid giving the Hand too much in terms of bargaining chips."
Everyone nodded.
"Anything else anyone wish to bring up before I leave?" Continued the AI, and Malry nodded.
"Yes. I used some of the medicine you brought me." Malry shook her head. "I don't know what the hell is in these 'biodefense' pills Sapphiria, but they work. A bit too well even. Klaus had gotten an infection despite my poultices and magic, and...well I gave him one. He went from sweaty fever with a swollen cut to perfectly fine in two hours."
Sapphiria nodded. That...wasn't surprising. She'd given the alchemist pills meant to fight off tailored Theocracy bioweapons. Against a regular infection it was like deploying a Force Recon marine battalion in power armor with orbital fire support against a wannabe street gang with switchblades and harsh language. Overkill, by about three orders of magnitude.
"I'm glad to hear they worked." Said Sapphiria. "I assume you'd like some more?"
"If you can."
"I can." She flicked a glance towards Kalia. They'd talked about it. The AI had explained that although they weren't very costly, the pills and medicine she could make was very time consuming to produce. And the 'chemical synthesizers' she used to make them were the same that produced her explosives and firearm propellant. Needless to say, that had taken priority. "I'll see about setting aside some means to manufacture more."
"No need to rush." Said Malry. "Saving us from being hacked to pieces and resurrected takes priority. Besides, given how powerful these things are, the boxes you brought will last me a while. Especially with my own remedies and magic for the small stuff." She shook her head. "I can't believe I just said that I'd use healing magic for 'small stuff' because there's something better."
Kalia's eyebrow rose.
"I mean there's some pretty good elixirs out there."
"There are, but they're elixirs and not potions because they have healing enchantments." Malry smiled. "In any case, with everyone well fed, protected by your defenses, and warm thanks to your batteries, we're having a lot less injuries and illness. Though people try to avoid going out because of the cold."
Sapphiria twitched slightly, and her eyes unfocused a bit. Most wouldn't have noticed, but Kalia did. That happened when the AI communed with Cia.
"I might be able to help with that as well." She cleared her throat. "I think I have the means to make some cold weather clothing. If you can send me some measurements, I could start cranking stuff out."
Ramina got that hunger in her eyes again, and Kalia shot her a warning gaze.
Seeing that her girlfriend was about to climb the table and make a fool of herself again, Malry chose more direct measures, and unceremoniously grabbed the artificer's rear and squeezed, hard.
Ramina gave out a strangled squeak, and Kalia winced in sympathy. Given what she suspected Malry had done to the artificer...ow.
Sapphiria and Gregor pretended like they hadn't seen anything, and Malry smiled sweetly, her hand still firmly on the artificer's rear.
"That would be wonderful, Sapphiria." She tightened her grip, and Ramina's face went through a series of expressions that Kalia didn't want to think about too closely. "I can gather the measurements from those who need the clothes most."
"Excellent. Then, if that's all, I better be on my way." Sapphiria flicked a glance at Kalia. "I have some things I'd like to talk about when I'm back, so I might stay the night."
There was no comments, and Kalia tried to avoid looking like a cat who had just caught a canary.
"Of course. Best of luck on your salvage expedition."
"Thanks. Let's hope I won't need it!"
*****
Winter tried not to hover as the lieutenant made his way through the underbrush.
He'd come a long way since this whole mess had started, but he was still a city boy. Moving stealthily through the woods wasn't his forte.
Thankfully, the Bane were both absolutely absorbed with each other, and also greatly diminished.
"Thank you, corporal." Said the officer as she held out her arm, and helped him through the last bit. Winter had always thought that military officers were supposed to bark reprimands if anyone even thought they needed help, but the lieutenant was the exact opposite. He would take any offered help if he needed it, and somehow seem greater thanks to the assistance offered.
How had he put it? 'We're a unit, not a gaggle of individuals. Our squad is greater than the sums of its parts.', or thereabouts.
"No problem sir." She continued guiding him for a few minutes, before coming to a halt, and kneeling down.
He followed her. Staying in cover and out of sight was something he had absorbed fairly quickly, thankfully.
He gazed at the vista she had described. The slope rising to the pass...
And the absolute devastation on it. There had to be at least six maniples' worth of destroyed zombies scattered across it, and that was the ones where there was something left.
Entire sections of the slope, and the defenses that had been upon it, were either craters or featureless slabs of glass.
"Do you believe me now?" She asked, and he smiled slightly.
"I already did. But I needed visual confirmation." He shook his head. "If this isn't the work of an archmage, it's of a company of war mages. Either way, our people back at Exacor need to know." He hesitated. "I also need to know if the people on the other side of the pass made it."
Winter nodded. She had run away the second she'd seen the Dominion vaporize that maniple of cavalry. There were stories, and then there was being faced by something that could destroy an army with a wave of their hands.
She still had the pillar of light, hammering down from the skies, imprinted into her memory. She'd probably never forget the sight. There had only been shadows on the ground left.
"I'm not sure how to confirm that. The Bane don't seem keen on attacking."
"The fact that they're fighting each other is already huge." They'd seen some signs of infighting, but nothing on this scale. This wasn't some low level skirmish that could be explained away by a failure in communication or other problem with the fog of war. This was two Bane armies trying to kill each other. "And it's not strictly necessary I suppose but...it would be helpful to know if those people need help or...if they're beyond assistance."
His voice was bitter when he said that, and Winter hesitated, then extended her hand to grip his shoulder, in what she hoped was a reassuring fashion.
The lieutenant was still haunted by the loss of so many of the refugees he had been tasked with protecting. They all knew it and ignored the times when he woke up in the night, sweating and panting.
They all had nightmares after all. There was an etiquette to these things when everyone was broken.
Then...she looked at the Bane. The force guarding the pass was shattered. Honestly there was basically nothing left. It was a miracle the other one, with all the skeletal horses and the Dominion, currently making camp near the road, hadn't just finished them off.
Instead they just stood there, staring at each other...utterly absorbed in their stand down.
She smiled slowly.
"We might be able to though. If we get closer."
"How...close are we talking about? How close can you get us?"
Winter's smile got wider. Sneaking past distracted guards in tight confines was what she'd spent half of her time doing as a smuggler. The rest was boring hikes through the hills and coastal plains, but the real fun was when it came to get past the city gates or the port barriers.
"That depends. How many risks are you willing to take?"