“Alright, now put it in. Gently!” Jran nearly shouted, holding Fara’s forearm with an iron grip. Fara rolled her eyes at the old dwarf. She had only been excited a single time. And yet, even after she had become able to assemble a beam gun from scrap metal, he constantly hovered around her and told her to be careful. 

“I can do it just fine,” Fara replied, focusing on her task, “That only happened once.”

Jran snorted, “And that was the sole time an apprentice exploded a beam gun. Ever. If you were the first person discovering mana guns, I could forgive that, but you followed my instructions and still blew it to the gods!”

“He has a point,” Avar said from the side, watching her work. Fara turned to look at the traitorous undead and took in his form once more. He was a generally normal human, with a bald head, short beard, and muscular hands, along with his arms and chest. He was not ugly, but he was not beautiful-- something she noticed that he took pride in-- but he was beyond her strike-zone anyway; too much flesh and organic bits for her liking.

“You weren’t even here for that,” Fara said, placing the final plate of steel in its proper place. She smiled and picked up her prototype mana beam gun, opening the crystal compartment and placing a small crystal within it. With a smooth movement, she whipped her gun around and blasted the target they had set up for the purpose of testing. The white beam slammed into the dummy, burning and cracking the stone it was made of. “Yep, it works.”

“You lost out on the utility, though,” Jran said, shaking head, “The whole point of the crystal blasters was to have a ranged, mana-based weapon that could be used effectively in any situation. Yet, you turn it on its head and just make it more powerful.”

Fara turned around and glared at Jran, “Hey, if the lenses weren’t so brittle, it could withstand the power of this baby here. Besides, why not just go with what I said before? Make the different types of mana come from the crystals instead of the lenses?”

Jran sighed, “Because then a soldier would need to keep track of a thousand different crystals instead of just the lens they put in. Why can’t you just use strengthening lenses like the rest of us!?”

“Because then it’s far more susceptible to being broken with a hard enough hit,” Fara replied, “Besides, the guns you’ve been using can only use two lens slots. If they get broken, then the entire thing is in jeopardy of exploding in your grip.”

“Then don’t smack cave crawlers on the head with it!” Jran replied angrily, “How hard is that to understand!?”

Fara put the gun down and stepped forward, “So you’re saying that the best solution here is to carry a sword around? What kind of backwards idiot are you!? Unless you people are able to kill anything you see in an instant, then someone with a gun is going to get in range of a creepy crawly’s cutting claws and you’ll have to fight back. The best solution is the bayonet, but the beam guns are far too brittle to deal with such a strong clash.”

“First of all, we can take care of most things in an instant,” Jran said, “And second of all, who in the hell wants to fight in melee when you can shoot the problem?”

“An undead encased in a set of armor that increases their strength, is dense enough to withstand most bullets, and can regenerate from almost anything?” Fara asked sarcastically.

Jran raised a finger to reply, but then lowered it, “Fine, you’ve got a point there,” he conceded, “But wouldn’t it just be better to make them into massive weapons platforms?”

“Maybe, but the only way to win control of an area is to control the smallest scale of battle. If, say, you were to send weapons platforms that were twenty feet high into a battlefield full of two-foot-tall something or others, then the twenty foot tall platforms could not properly secure every nook and cranny of the area. That’s the problem of macroengineering. If a single human or dwarf or elf or chimeric or whatever can slip through the cracks, then they might be able to wreak havoc on your massive weapon,” Fara explained.

“So you’re saying that the reason you want to take the lens out of a mana beam gun is so you don’t leave your undead mechas vulnerable to a Clockwork planting a bomb on it?” Jran asked in a droll voice.

“In the broad strokes, yes,” Fara huffed, “But on a smaller scale, I want to do it this way so that they can fight alone or in groups without being vulnerable. Is that enough of a reason?”

“It is,” Jran conceded, “It’s just that I remember when the mana beam gun was invented. I was young, but I remember my first time seeing one. It was amazing compared to the mana slug weapons we used before. They-”

“Wait, wait,” Fara cut in, “Mana slug? What are those?”

“I am also interested in them,” Avar said, “They seem to be an interesting concept.”

“They aren’t,” Jran said, “Compress air with mana, let it expand with a projectile blocking its path, the expansion of the gas propels the projectiles at high speeds.”

Fara began to rub her chin, “So you’re saying that they compressed gas to make it work? Hmm… well, what if we compress the crystalized mana? Would that give us more firepower?”

Jran shook his head, “It’s been tried before. It did not work. The two crystals released all of their mana at once and left the machine doing the work a wreck. And no, you can’t powder the crystals to make into a pseudo gunpowder. That was also tried. It did not work either.”

Fara nodded silently, “So… work in progress. If that’s the case then-” At that moment, an odd presence made itself known to the three there, soon solidifying into an orc made of blood. “Aerolat! Where have you been? I thought you died or something!”

“I apologize for that,” he replied, “I was organizing the hold of the Kharon and undergoing an upgrade of my own. I can explain it later, but I was wondering where the mistress went. Neither she nor VII nor most of the other death knights are down here.”

Fara shrugged, “I don’t know. I have been learning from him for the last… how long?”

“Twelve hours,” Jran replied, “Very quick for a student of any species.”

“Damn… Fara muttered, “I don’t… feel tired though. Nor do I feel hungry. I wonder if this is how Mori feels all the time. Whatever. Anyway, I don’t know where she went, Aerolat. Sorry. “

Avar gave a little cough to get their attention, “Well, Jel and Pride must have woken up by now so I would guess that they went after the Cyst by now.”

“I agree, that does sound like them. Would you three like to come with me?” he asked. Fara nodded with a smile while Jran had to be pulled along by Fara. Aerolat nodded and led them to the cavern, “So, how will you get out there?”

Fara thought for a moment before looking into Avar’s eyes. He huffed, “Fine. I’ll carry you up,” he said, transforming into his dragon form. He was quite large, fifty feet long, with strong muscles and sharp eyes, “Alright, get up here.” Far and Jran climbed aboard Avar’s back and sat down on his smooth carapace. With a single, powerful flap of his wings, he launched himself up into the hole in the ceiling and out into the desert air.

For a moment, he hung in the air and let them soak in the atmosphere. As Fara took in the dawn sky, she heard sniffling from behind her. She snapped her head back and saw Jran looking at the view with tears in his eyes. “Jran! Are you alright?” she asked, turning to make sure he was alright.

“I am,” he said, nodding, “It’s just… I’ve never seen the sun. I never saw the sky or the stars or the open air. It’s just… so beautiful…”

Fara suddenly realized something. The Keeper mentioned that they were told by the gods to live underground. Which meant that they most likely never were able to see the open skies after they were banished. That left Fara wondering how people claimed to see dwarves in the Aekan Range, but that was a secondary concern, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Jran. I should have thought about this before bringing you up here.”

Jran shook his head, “No, you don’t need to be sorry,” he said, collecting himself, “But if you ever let it slip that the great dwarven mechanic Jran cried when he saw the sky for the first time, I won’t hesitate to bash you over the head with a wrench.”

Fara giggled, “I won’t. I promise. Right Avar, Aerolat?” They both gave their versions of nods, “See?”

“Gods, please forgive me,” Jran said, getting a laugh from Fara. Fara eventually turned her attention to the fallen Cyst and noticed how, exactly as predicted, it was massive. Just from taking the walls of the upper portion apart, she could likely build a fleet of skiffs to rival any in the Dust. Except for the JALF alliance fleet, of course. Jran also noticed the massive construct dug into the sand, staring for a second, “...That’s a king’s ransom right there,” he said, shaking his head.

“And my friend is about to use it to make an army,” Fara replied, giggling, “Come on, let’s go.” Avar eventually found his way into the hangar and, after following the halls for a long while, found something interesting, “Oh? What’s this?” she asked, a smile growing, “This is… amazing. Look at it, Jran! It’s armor, pistons, gears, mana conduits! It’s amazing!” she cried, bustling about to examine the Clockwork, “If it was an actual person and I hadn’t met Mori, I think I might have fallen in love.”

“So you love the mistress?” Aerolat asked, his liquid eyes widening.

“Well, in a sense. I don’t really know how to describe it, but we watch out for each other. I do love her, very much platonically, but I’m not so sure if I love love her. She’s pretty… inconsistent. Sometimes a mother to you death knights, sometimes an excited school girl, but I know that she’s my best friend,” Fara replied.

Aerolat nodded, “I see… Come on, then. I feel that the mistress is close,” he said as he led them onward. They eventually found themselves in a massive room with an equally massive dynamo as the floor, liquid mana flowing in and around the complex structure.

There, Mori, VII, Eva, and Desire in her dragon form stood around an orb hanging from the ceiling, “Alright, how about ATHENA?” Mori asked.

“I… do not know what the name ATHENA represents. Could you please elaborate?” the orb, somehow, asked, “Also, I believe we have guests.”

The four of them whipped around and looked to find Fara, Jran, Avar in his dragon form, and Aerolat waiting there. Mori grinned and rushed up, pulling Fara into a hug, “There you were! Good, because we have a lot to do! Come on, this way!” she said, pulling Fara into the conversation.