Star People

Chapter 47

The Metal Soldier Army

March 16^th, 15 AE…

Somewhere in orbit, near the space station Wisdom…

“All systems are reading normal.” The Atlans astronaut announced as the main docking bay doors of Wisdom opened up and the gravitational field was turned off. This allowed the prototype space-pod to float off the deck. The environmental field was kept in place so that the engineers and other personnel were able to breathe without any trouble. Like the pod, they were floating freely, but were used to such environments and used the various handholds around the bay to move about.

The Atlans space-pod was boxlike and was about the size of a large van. It had two main thrusters in the rear and several small thrusters mounted on all sides of the vehicle. It had two grappler arms mounted on the front. It was based on old blueprints of the Apollo command module and the Lunar Lander. Even though they had been given the plans for the Saturn V rocket, the Kingdom of Atlans were still trying to figure out Wernher Von Braum’s greatest creation. The V-2 rocket was merely the first step towards their journey to join Free Land in space.

In the observation booth, the Atlans scientists and engineers watched in anticipation as the fruit of their labors began moving out towards the open bay doors. Unlike the ion thrusters and plasma engines used by Free Land, the space-pod had to make use of small rocket engines and a limited supply of fuel. Using the third of Newton’s Laws, the pod only needed a short burst from a thruster, in order to be propelled in the opposite direction. As it passed through the environmental field and into the cold vacuum of space, the astronaut and pilot of the pod, Captain Vartos Remons, became extremely tense. Unlike flying an aircraft, there was no atmosphere for the pod to push against. It felt as if he was floating underwater. Atlans had also been testing new submarine technology and floating in space was like moving through the depths of the ocean.

As the pod moved further away from Wisdom, Vartos could only gaze in wonder at the world below and the starry, black void ahead of him. It was all so overwhelming to him. For the people of Free Land, this was an everyday sight, but for him, it was if he was treading on the realm of gods. And looking out into the vastness of space, made him realize just how his very presence was so tiny in comparison.

As he continued toward the star battleship Missouri, which was also in orbit, Chief Astro-Scientist Walmar Fulse shook his head as he watched from the observation booth.

“At the rate he’s going, it’ll take him more than a half-hour to reach the Missouri.”

“If Captain Remons pushes the thrusters for more speed, he’ll burn through his fuel reserves faster.” His assistant commented. His name was Shokar Criggs and he was the Sub-Chief Astro-Scientist of the division.

“Just look at that!” Walmar pointed toward the Missouri. “Those Star Hawk fighters are able to maneuver so easily in space!”

Shokar could only nod as he looked toward the star battleship. It had deployed two of its defensive fighters to escort the space pod on its slow journey. As the pod could only coast along on its own momentum, the Star Hawks made passes, loops and turns with no effort.

“If only Free Land would give us the technology or the specifications of those starfighter or starship engine designs!” Walmar said wistfully.

“Well, we can’t do much about it.” Shokar remarked. “We’re not part of the Star Alliance so we’re not allowed access to such advanced technology.”

“Yes, I heard that we’ve been turned down for membership again. It’s frustrating that we’re so close to such amazing tech and we’re not allowed to study any of it!”

“Well, at the very least, the people of Free Land are giving us nudges in the right direction. Who knows how many years or decades it would have taken us to get to this point on our own? Before they arrived, we were still using biplanes.”

“I suppose…”

“We’ve gone from biplanes, to monoplanes and now to jets. We have tanks and advanced locomotives, ships and submarines. We even have working helicopters. And we’ve almost on the verge of getting into space under our own power. We’ve even begun to move towards better computing and calculating devices. If you were to ask me three years ago, I wouldn’t have believed that we could make such progress like this. And I could understand why Free Land doesn’t want us to advance too quickly. Too much power and not enough knowledge or responsible thought are a dangerous combination.”

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March 18^th, 15 AE…

Vados continent, the ruins of Watajerc, a former trading city of Euracon…

“So, how are things progressing?” A certain slimeball former Emperor asked as he watched machinery being assembled on a conveyor belt.

“Quite well.” A Dreanat technician named Xinar replied. “The mass production will reach its highest numbers in a few months. We will have well over five thousand units by the beginning of the summer.”

“Excellent! “ Garres Lorcras said as he rubbed his palms in glee. At that moment, his equally slimy son appeared and walked up to them. By the time he came up to them, the newest unit of the Metal Soldier Army was completed and was taken away to be stored for later use.

“I will admit that we have recovered quite nicely from that setback with those dwarves.” Vexor remarked. “I never would have thought we’d have our army of Metal Soldiers.”

“It’s a good thing that the Dreanat owe no loyalty to anyone, except for those who can pay them.”

Ever since that debacle with Jerry Vandelin’s stolen Battle-Mech components, both the father-son duo had been on the run for months. However, they had not fled empty-handed. Despite Clurke destroying the remains of the Star Gladiator and the Metal Soldier prototype, he had not been aware that Garres had made duplicates of the blueprints. Not only that, but he had quite a few hidden reserves of materials as well, in case he needed to restart the project.

And then came the most important discovery of their lives, a few months after they had fled.

With the dissolution of ties between Free Land and the Kingdom of Naran, Emperor Shenshirine had ordered increased study on all artifacts of the First Ones, plus the search for more artifacts. As a result, several dozens of Naran archeological teams had been roaming about the continent of Vados, looking for more ruins of the First Ones. In one such location, they had come across an artifact that seemed to generate massive amounts of magical power. However, before they could report their findings back to Naran, they were killed by a group of Dreanat assassins, hired by Garres.  In order to cover the crime, the scene was made to look like a Behemoth attack. The artifact was immediately taken away to be studied.

The device of the First Ones was boxlike, and seemed to be made of crystal. It was about the size of a soccer ball and had several ports where cables could be connected. It also had several ancient inscriptions engraved on its surface. After a few weeks of experimentation, the Dreanat made an important discovery.

Apparently the artifact was some kind of ancient magical collector and booster. Not only was it able to collect psions from the environment at a faster rate than by chanting or magical preparation rituals, but it could also triple or even quadruple the output of any rune-based system. Translating the inscriptions, they came up with the device’s name; the Eldritch Enhancer.

It didn’t have the same efficiency as the first prototype Neo-Psion reactor, but it was enough power a Metal Soldier for twenty minutes before burning out the runes. Although, that was a better option than using the original, hand-cranked engine system. Garres, Vexor and the Dreanat were unable to re-create the stronger dwarven runes, but the much cheaper elf and imp runes were enough to suit their needs. Furthermore, they were able to produce a simplified and disposable version of the Eldritch Enhancer, so that each Metal Soldier could be equipped with one.

 Seeing that they now had a way to power their Metal Soldier Army, Garres’ and Vexor’s ambitions and dreams of conquest were re-ignited. They began to collect resources and building materials that were still buried in the remains of the Euracon Empire. Emperor Xerxal Shilor and his dynasty had several hidden caches of magical gems, building materials such as steel, stolen technology from Atlans and Naran, and precious metals such as gold, mithril and orihalcum. At the same time, they had also begun to amass the most important resource; knowledge.

Prime Director Nasaak and the Council were only half-correct in suspecting Naran of being behind the acts of espionage. It was true that Emperor Shenshirine had hired the Dreanat to begin spying on Free Land and the Dwarf Nations to learn their secrets. However, what the Prime Directors and Naran ruler didn’t know was that the Dreanat were also working for the former rulers of the Sath. On their own, Garres and Vexor wouldn’t have been able to mass-produce their Metal Soldiers. However, by sending the Dreanat to spy on the mass-production methods being used in Bisra and Merdov, they soon gained the information they needed to start their own Metal Soldier assembly line. For example, the numerous fake orders to the Dwarf Mech-Frame Assembly plants were feints. The Dreanat knew that the orders would immediately be seen as false. However, that was not their true purpose. Their actual goal was to get the document into the factory and begin sending back magical images of the equipment and methods being used in the plant. The spell on each order was short-lived and would only send back a handful of images, but it was enough to suit their needs.

Additionally, the Dreanat were not only spying on Free Land and its allies but also on their customer, the Kingdom of Naran. Garres and his son had plans, big plans. And they knew that going up against Free Land directly would only end in defeat for them, even with their new Metal Soldier Army. However, there were other alternatives and a weapon that could tip the odds in their favor, if they get a hold of it. The weapons and devices of the Kingdom of Naran and their battleship.

Deriaton One.

The ancient battleship of the First Ones was said to possess enough power to devastate continents and reduce any civilization to rubble. It was seen by many to be the equal to the Free Land star battleship Missouri.  And it was later discovered that the Naran scientists hadn’t learned all of the ship’s secrets and abilities. Who knew what other destructive weapons were on board that crystalline warship?

However, it shared the same inherent weakness that most of Naran’s magitech suffered from. Due to its massive magical energy requirements and the long process of charging and recharging its weapons, the Deriaton One had performed quite poorly during the Zedan war. Naran was busy trying to improve on the battleship’s abilities, but Garres and Vexor already had the answer. The ancient artifact of the First Ones; the Eldritch Enhancer would be able to overcome the battleship’s inherent flaws of slow charging and recharging. And he and Vexor also knew that there was more than one ancient battleship of the First Ones. After all, the ship that participated in the Zedan war was called Deriaton One. After a little more espionage, it was determined that Naran had three of the ancient warships in their possession. Only one was deemed as combat-ready while the other two were still being studied.

Furthermore, after the success of Free Land’s Teleportation Portal System or TPS, Shenshirine had also ordered his scientists, mages and research teams to begin work on improving the Divine Gate, in order to make it just as effective as its Star Alliance counterpart. After their accusation of patent infringement and Star Alliance membership application had failed, the Kingdom of Naran now found itself in a new technology competition with Free Land. A working teleportation system would certainly be useful for the kingdom and also for Garres’ plans.

Once we possess Deriaton One and all the weapons and devices of Naran, then the entire continent of Vados will soon bow down to me! Garres thought as he watched the plant churn out Metal Soldiers by the dozens every few hours. And the Dreanat spies have also informed me that the there are those in Vados who possess the secrets of the Zedan Ender Bomb! That power must also be claimed by us!

He had heard about the Ender bomb’s power and that it could be used as a powerful source of energy. The possibilities were quite mind-boggling and having such enormous power at his disposal might also level the playing field when the former Sath emperor finally faced Free Land directly. So he had the Dreanat keep a close watch on the Zedan atomic engineers and scientists who had migrated to Vados.

As much as he wanted to begin his plans of conquest immediately, he and Vexor both knew that the time wasn’t right. They weren’t all that certain of how much military might Free Land possessed. During the war with the Empire of Sath, it was said that Free Land didn’t even use a tenth of its power to flatten its enemies and a single barrage from the Missouri’s pulsar guns vaporized a mountain range. They had also read the reports during the Planet Ravager incident as well as the Zedan war.

Though the Metal Soldier Army they were building was formidable enough to challenge any other nation on the planet of Istaria, both he and Vexor both knew that it wouldn’t be enough to conquer Free Land. What was even more mortifying was the fact that the dwarves were now part of the Star Alliance and had developed their own Battle-Mechs. That meant that when the time came to conquer the Merdov continent and take back his rightful place as Emperor of the Sath, he would have to contend with a country other than Free Land, which could match the Metal Soldier Army.

And there were also the reports of Atlans and the Sath upgrading their militaries. His traitorous daughter Lexina had already modernized the navy and had just started to replace the Wyvern Knights with the Corsair fighter. And the Kingdom of Atlans did a reasonable job of holding its own against the Zedan, thanks to the upgrades in technology given to them by Free Land. And now they were using jets and had begun their first steps towards the stars. At this point, having either the Sath or Atlans as opponents was not favorable, even with the growing Metal Soldier Army. And both nations could call upon Free Land for support.

This meant that conquering Naran and taking their advanced magictech was crucial to Garres’ and Vexor’s plans for world domination and revenge. And Garres had some ideas about how to go about doing it. At this point, the political relationship between Naran and Free Land had soured and in a fit of injured pride, Emperor Shenshirine had cut all ties with the Star Alliance. The animosity between the two nations had been slowly simmering and it only needed a bit of a push to cause the situation to boil over.

A conflict between Naran and Free Land would give Garres more time for preparation. The decreasing economy only aided in Naran’s decline. And that would eventually wear down the nation to the point of being vulnerable to a takeover. And once it was conquered, there would be no stopping Garres and his son.

Yes, they would have to play a bit of a waiting game. And during that time, they would fan the flames between the Kingdom of Naran and Free Land. After all, they did need to test the abilities of their Metal Soldiers.

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March 26^th, 15 AE…

The Council of Prime Directors…

“You know, you had a lot of nerve of accusing us of stealing your precious Divine Gate technology and demanding for Star Alliance membership, but now you’ve gone too far.” Nasaak growled.

“Indeed.” Benjamin agreed as he and the Council conversed with Shenshirine and his advisors via the Council’s holoviewer. “You’re accusing the Star Alliance of sending Battle-Mechs to attack Naran settlements in Vados? Back on Earth, we had a saying. Them’s fighting worlds.”

“I care not for your idioms!” The ruler of Naran shot back. “We have proof that the Star Alliance was behind this unprovoked act of aggression!”

The members of the Council looked among each other in confusion. Ever since the Kingdom of Naran had cut ties with Free Land and the Dwarf Nations, they saw no reason to communicate or do any business with magitech country. So why was Naran accusing the Star Alliance of committing what was essentially an undeclared act of war?

“We can assure you that we have neither sent any Battle-Mechs nor have any of our military approached the Vados continent for nearly a year.” Anida stated.

“And I can assure you that I will not fall for the Council’s lies!” The Naran Emperor shot back as he motioned for his Prime Minister to step forward. “Behold the proof!”

Prime Minister Hayken came up and held up a large, crystalline device. “Behold! The latest advancement in magical visual and sound recording technology, the Memory Crystal! Now, the guilty can no longer deny the truth concerning their crimes! This event happened just yesterday at the border town of Belira, near the former Euracon northeastern territory.”

He then activated the device, which began projecting a hologram-like image of a scene of carnage. Fires raged everywhere and the landscape was strewn with the bodies of the dead, dying and injured. An entire town had been reduced to rubble. And towering over the death and destruction were several gigantic, metallic beings.

They were approximately forty to forty-five feet tall and were generally humanoid in shape. Their main bodies were bulky and their legs were somewhat stumpy. They had long, arms with pincer-claws and wielded gigantic blades, lances and even ballistae-type weapons. On top of their bodies there seemed to be a tiny head that held a large, ruby-colored crystal that made each machine look like a misshapen Cyclops. Every now and then, the crystal would emit a magic circle with runes. From that circle, a beam would shoot out and burn on contact with its target. This included fleeing citizens as they were set ablaze. The screams of the dying as they were burned alive were especially gruesome. They looked to be quite crude with rough welds and stiff movements. What was most noticeable about the metal giants was the large Star Alliance insignia painted on their chests; a sword with six stars arranged around it.

After viewing the grisly and bloody event for another minute, the Prime Minister shut off the device and took a minute to compose himself. The members of the Council of Prime Directors were able to keep their composure, since they had been exposed to far worse during the Cryterian war. Not that they weren’t affected after seeing the wholesale slaughter of innocents, but they also knew that they were being set up.

“What do you have to say for yourselves now?” The Naran Emperor asked in a harsh but smug tone.

Nasaak motioned to his fellow Directors before addressing Shenshirine. “I must admit that was quite a tragedy you just showed to us. To the families and loved ones of those who died in Belira, the Council hereby offers its deepest condolences. However, the Star Alliance was not responsible for this attack against your citizens.”

“What are you saying?!” The Naran ruler exclaimed in outrage. “Did you not see the symbol of the Star Alliance on their chests?!”

“Well, it would be hard not to notice the insignia. And I’ll give the perpetrator credit for using the updated flag with six stars instead of five, since we accepted the Dwarf Nations as a member of the Star Alliance. However, a symbol by itself is not proof that we were behind the attack. Anyone can paint a flag.”

“And what about the machines themselves? Only the Star Alliance possesses weapons such as giant, metal golems, what you refer as Battle-Mechs!”

“I’ll have you know that my people, the Catians, were the creators of the Battle-Mechs, and we would have never have made such shoddy abominations, like the ones you showed us! Furthermore, the machines depicted by your device seem to be powered by magical energies, and our Battle-Mechs do not rely on magic!”

“Then it is the Dwarf Nations who must pay for their crimes! Since they are a member of the Star Alliance, then that makes the Star Alliance guilty by association!”

“WHAT?! THAT IS ABSURD!” Sierg exclaimed in absolute disbelief.

“Do you deny that your Mech-Frames are powered by magic?” Shenshirine asked sternly.

Sierg felt as if he had been slapped in the face as he replied.

“Our Mech-Frames are powered by Neo-Psion reactors, which provide the magical energy needed to operate. However, we have refused to export the Mech-Frames and reactors to other countries. Nor have we ever revealed the secret to our runes and those machines were clearly using elven runes, not dwarven ones! Furthermore, like the Catians, we dwarves pride ourselves on quality craftsmanship! I am in full agreement with Director Nasaak! We would never create such crude and roughshod piles of junk such as those! You are not only insulting me; you are insulting all of the Dwarf Nations! You are going too far with your accusations!”

“How dare you raise your voice to the Emperor?!” The Naran Prime Minister shouted back.

“EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!” Benjamin shouted before the argument could escalate. After a minute of silence, he took a deep breath and addressed the Naran ruler again. “Emperor Shenshirine, as Director Nasaak had stated before, the surviving citizens of Belira have the Council’s deepest condolences. However, it is clear that someone is using a type of magically-based Battle-Mech, and is trying to pin the blame on ...”

“I will not listen to any more lies! The Star Alliance will pay for its crimes against my country!” Shensirine snarled. “The Star Alliance is the only nation that uses Battle-Mechs, magic-powered or otherwise! That is undeniable fact!”

“I would beg to differ, but apparently right now, tempers are riding too high in order to continue with this conversation rationally. You will hear from us again soon once we have investigated this matter. Good day to you, Emperor Shenshirine.”

With that, the communications line between Naran and Free Land was cut off, allowing the Prime Directors to discuss the matter.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that we’ve been framed.” Nerto stated.

“Yes.” Viska agreed. “Someone went through a lot of trouble to make it look like the Star Alliance was behind that attack on Belira.”

“If their goal was to increase tensions between us and Naran, then they succeeded.” Nasaak commented. “Emperor Shenshirine is already convinced that we were behind that attack, and this would be a perfect excuse to declare war on us.”

“I don’t think Shenshirine is that foolhardy, at least not yet.” Sierg retorted. “He knows that Naran doesn’t have the power to challenge the Star Alliance directly, at present anyway. However, he could use this incident as a propaganda tool and turn other countries away from Free Land and the Dwarf Nations.”

“You said that you recognized those runes as elven, did you not?” The reptilian Director asked.

“Oh yes, there was no mistaking them. Elf runes don’t last very long and lack the same punch as dwarf runes, but they’ll do in a pinch.”

“What concerns me more is the fact that there’s a hostile entity out there with viable Mech-Frame weapons.” Benjamin said. “Since we know that these Battle-Mech knockoffs are magically-powered, we can assume that this entity has somehow managed to replicate the effects of the Neo-Psion reactor, to a certain degree.”

“Impossible!” The dwarf Director retorted. “We have made certain that no country outside of the Star Alliance has access to our reactors without careful supervision, and we have not exported any of them outside the Merdov or Alder continents. Most certainly not to Vados!”

“We believe you, Sierg.” Nasaak stated to calm his colleague down. “So the only other feasible theory would be that the person behind this attack must have found an alternative method to power his imitation Battle-Mechs.”

“Perhaps those machines were atomic or nuclear-powered?” Nerto suggested. “The Zedan were in possession of the Ender Bomb, and there might have been a few of those scientists and engineers among the immigrants to Vados.”

“Not likely.” Anida said. “We saw those magic circles and runes. Research has shown that fission reactions can negatively affect psions. Whatever is powering those piles of junk is definitely magical.”

“So what other alternative could it be?”

The Council pondered on the question for a full minute before Viska snapped her fingers in realization.

“Hold on! I just remembered the story about the First Ones that Sierg told us on New Year’s Eve.” She turned toward the dwarf Director. “Sierg, didn’t you say that much of the magical technology of the First Ones was lost after the Great Disaster?”

The dwarf nodded. “Indeed. The magical technology of the Kingdom of Naran is based mostly on reverse-engineering whatever surviving artifacts of the First Ones, they managed to keep or unearth in ruins all over Vados. That’s the reason why their devices are so inefficient and…” Sierg’s eyes widened as he realized what Viska was implying. “Ahhhh, now I get what you’re saying. A lost relic of the First Ones could conceivably speed up and boost magical flows, making them operate faster.”

“If that’s the case, then we’ve got an even bigger problem.” Nasaak commented. “It’s bad enough that a hostile entity may possess such an artifact, but if Naran gets a hold of it…”

“We can expect this Cold War to start heating up.” Benjamin finished.

To be continued…