“In wanderlust, we see the empty world, in sadness, we give birth to new life, in happiness we rediscover the joy of living”
Words of a Spirit of Summer.
Rhae was so bored, if a deity of boredom was confirmed she would be its number one follower, the old elven master was hammering away a new sword for some stuck-up noble or something, she didn't pay attention as the bitter man complained about nothing, in particular, she guessed that the man could only truly express himself via winning, cursing and generally being a horrible person.
He was nearly at the bottom of the list of all the people she could shift into, she didn't want parts of his bitter psyche bleeding into hers, people with strong personalities always had a lasting impact on her own after all.
"Rhae! if you would use your skills we could get these swords done twice as fast! I swear your father would be appalled if he saw you pursuing this new wave of technology! Smithing is where is at my girl! your father knew it best!" The bitter elf screamed from the forge.
"He ain't dead you old fart!" Rhae laughed as she finished putting together a clockwork spider she had imported from the dwarven lads of Steinheim, her hands twitching in delight, a quirk she inherited from her mother, but the old fox preferred woodworking herself.
Speaking of her parents was the only time the old elf looked happy, they were old adventurer buddies, until his wife betrayed the group and him, leaving them to die in an ambush, he loved her too much Rhae's parents said, a true connection and when that connection was broken the way it was, it broke him as well.
The young Kitsune gave her farewells to the elf, a sad smile on her face as she peered into the bottomless well of bitterness that lay in that man, she took to the skies with a jump and felt the surge of magic flow through her entire body and soul.
Her form shifted, one of the earlier and most well-developed changes her father had taught her, that of a rare Eagle-Kin, natives to the south of the Imperium, a favorite of his and something they bonded over across the many years it took for the young kitsune to master her shapeshifting abilities.
Circling the Academy, her place of learning she saw the now massive war camp of one Lady Lucrezia, Mad Duchess of the northern realms and all-around bizarre character, incredibly social, smart as the best mages, keeper of esoteric lore, machine builder with an entirely brand new form of technology (even if Magi-Tech as a whole was more of a bridge between regular sciences and magic/incantations) a bloody necromancer!
The woman had it all, adding to the rumors of her being an incredible cook that created the pizza, coffee, and other amenities that had been sweeping the nation and the surrounding countries Rhae was wondering, was this an actual human? or did some bored god take over her flesh?
Of course, for Lucrezia to become a necromancer she went through the most horrifying method those jumped-up gravediggers had to "test" their flock, it had gone public a few weeks back and Rhae was taken back by the brazenness of her character, something was up there, partly worried part curious about the new inventions she flew by the air checkpoint the Academy had for flying types and went straight to the war camp side fields, where the hum of machinery and glow of crystals glittered against the backdrop of twilight.
Her eyes were glued to the 5 red machines, chief among them one painted in crimson so deep it had to be magic ink, expensive but good tastes she thought to herself.
The machine moved with violent fury, a front-line bruiser meant to take damage and dish out twice as much, its twin blades phased and sometimes turned into pure beams of energy, in the background two support-type units laid down an impressive amount of spellfire, and what Rhae had come to know, Magi-Tech fire as well, cannons and rifles that could pierce thick Ki shields like butter.
Then the crimson unit moved in.
She heard, for the first in her life what only theorized old dragons and very reclusive beast-kin could do, break the sound barrier. The gust of wind was enough to reach her! the crimson unit had a rifle and sword, with a shield strapped to its back.
Holding against this barrage of sheer destruction was the mad woman herself, and for a split second she felt their eyes lock up, Lucrezia dodged and weaved among their attacks like a wraith, but in that second Rhae knew the woman was aware she was watching.
"Spooky"
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Another boring day or that was what Rhae wanted to say as her tail wiped left and right in excitement, the lilac tip a blur as she rushed forward barreling into nobles who refused to make way.
On the little stands that were placed on the outside patio near the cafeteria, Rhae saw up close that fearsome suit of armor, and her mind spun on itself, the ideas she had, the things she could improve!
It felt amazing.
huge crystalline horses on parade, the soldiers riding them armed with strange tube-like weapons, unlike the earlier design Rhae saw in the newspapers, these looked like they could fire multiple shots in quick succession, a fearsome weapon capable of making even the most downtrodden peasant into a killer in less than a week.
The perfect weapon for someone aligned with the goddess that hunted nobles and their ilk
"The ZENOS MARK I is the next evolution of infantry-based warfare, a highly modular Warmachine meant to turn the tides on any field it is deployed to! Unit 1 codename CRIMSON 1 is piloted by our fair Andromeda!" spoke Richard Silverbrand, the so-called "force commander" of this little army Lucrezia had created, of course, the woman herself called the shots but for some reason, she trusted the merchant boy enough to let him lead the grunts.
"but this is no gear meant for grunts" she whispered as she neared the machine, the pilot, noticing her moved to intercept with a smile. Rhae was perplexed about the expression but since no one else stepped up, it might as well be her right?
"Indeed my friend" Andromeda spoke with an air of reverence, like a smith fascinated by their work "This is the pinnacle of Magi-Tech warfare, a machine meant to level the playing field and allow us to retake the Fields for our fellow students of the academy"
"Do you mind if I take a closer look?" Rhae asked.
"Please, do so! maybe our fellows will grow some courage after you eh? this is meant to awe them after all" Andromeda whispered to Rhae with a mischievous smile.
Opening the cockpit of the Zenos was a simple press of a few buttons, she began peppering Andromeda with questions on the many hows and whys, finding that Magi-Tech was more of a marriage of both crafts than some sort of chimeric fusion without thought or order, almost all principles from her tinkering of magical artifacts and regular contraptions were not lost in translation.
"Makes sense, Ra'Tyrius is the son of the God of Science and Goddess of magic after all" Rhae couldn't help but talk to herself "These Liquid Crystal injectors are a stroke of genius! but..."
From her left, she felt a rather small presence tap her in the arm, a dwarven girl with wide eyes came up to her and spoke in rapid bursts "Hadun's forge that's a variant of the Auto-Fuel Meddel pump! we barely started working with it before I left home!"
Meddel Ironworks & Woodworks Rhae recalled was Steinheim's third biggest provider of general tools to both the layperson and workers, unusually popular for staying true to the now ancient motto of dwarven machinery "Made to Last" while the newer trends favored disposable parts.
"Not just that, look at the gear design, this is Principality based 100 percent, elven minds came up with the treads and gears of this machine but it lacks their aesthetic over function mindset, look how ugly the metals are" Rhae pointed to the rather plain metal and felt the dwarf nod deeply.
"Indeed Miss Liliac, a rather ugly but incredibly solid Warmachine meant to last weeks in the field without much repair work" An elven man with an eyepatch "Vyodor of the Marked Cliffs" he extended his hand and Rhae took it, they were hard and full of scars, a blacksmith "Your eyes match your tail tips, how unique"
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He then looked up to Andromeda "Are there any elven Magi-Tech engineers among your peers Lady Andromeda?"
"Yes" she replied "But our aides from the principality will only arrive next week"
He nodded and huddled together with the dwarf and Rhae, others were looking as they poured over the machine but most of the crowd had moved to the other units on display and the Magi-Tech horses;
"This is Grannarius made" he whispered to the women "See that particular set of mana valves and connectors? the Magi-Tech hides it but they based off tried and true Grann craftwork, of the Prime school as well"
Someone high up the chain for Lucrezia's little religion was from that nasty place, huh, Rhae didn't like that, her family had lost good friends to the war and some of that distaste for their wild neighbors rubbed off on her.
"How can you be sure uhh Vyo?" the dwarf asked shyly, she could barely speak as he locked eyes with her.
Silently he pulled a chain from his shirt, in it was the symbol of the sun and moon "Prime craftwork, twice over before they kicked me out for being against their experiments looking to breach the outer cosmos the madmen"
He smirked "I can tell by your body language you aren't a fan Miss Liliac. I don't blame you, but let us focus on this wonderful machine shall we?" Rhae was more than willing to meet him on that, minutes turned into hours as they poured over the unit, everyone coming up with ideas for improvement and upgrades, what surprised her the most was that Andromeda stayed with them and noted down everything, no doubt for the priests that were in the camp proper.
Rhae never caught the dwarf's name, the poor lass was too shy to speak full sentences, with a nod all 3 went their separate ways, and Rhae had a funny feeling she would meet these individuals later.
But today? today she would present old Lucrezia a little gift!
"Du'Ty's beard girl, what in all hells is that you are forging over there?" Old bitter spoke out loud, his voice bellowing across the workshop over Rhae's labor "some sort of hook?"
Rhae nodded, her white arms red from the heat until she tsked and shifted into an old dwarven smith she knew from a city further south, the work kept going until late afternoon and she was thankful the professors at the academy weren't uptight with class presence, as long as you didn't flunk the tests it was a-ok to skip more than a few classes.
Working Magi-Tech without the blessing ended up being quite the hurdle, but her expertise and a helping hand of free tomes by the local Magi-Tech church meant she had all the theory she needed to make a working prototype.
Marvelous was a word she kept using while studying those tomes, Ra'Tyrius didn't come to take over his parent's spheres, no that young god was smart and sharp as a Shogunate blade, working together with his parent's domains he would carve a niche that would give a leg up to all the disenfranchised and those whose status wouldn't afford a proper education be it in sciences or magical craft.
And at the helm of it was Lucrezia, a dwarf named Idun and a mysterious elven woman. Those 3 were the heads of the church of Ra'Tyrius and most of the big inventions came from them, Lucrezia, in particular, was the creator of many weapons she had seen so far.
And those exquisite suits of armor, all shiny and crystal which according to one of the priests she chatted up were also designed by Lucrezia, who had a flair for function over form, boring but sturdy designs unlike the impractical but aesthetically pleasing philosophy many nobles were fans of.
Not that she was one of those hardline smiths, anyone who could make a piece of gear that looked good and worked good was a good artisan in her eyes, there was something pure in pushing the craft to its extremes, living on the bleeding edge of one's ability was something she strived to do after all, and with this new set of skills... the sky was the limit.
Or maybe even outer space.
"We must always strive to go higher" her dwarven form smiled, ahh she missed this feeling, as bits and pieces of the person's psyche melded into her she felt the shakes and ghost visions in the corner of her eyes.
"To shapeshift was to become someone else", the words of her father never left her mind, it was getting better now but the very first shifts were...an experience she wouldn't forget.
"Hammer to iron, crystal to mold..." Rhae continued her toil as the grappling hook took shape, inscribing runes that would let the thing work the way she envisioned was the most difficult part, having to shapeshift into the elven mage who was one of the few living beings who could perform rune engraving of gravitational magic.
The moon was at its peak and Rhae was still hammering away, her entire body was a well-oiled machine of precision, focus, and reaction, the many tools of her workshop working like one of those fancy elven engines from the principality for a single purpose, it took all of her but at long last, it was done!
"A grappling hook for the suits of armor would give increased mobility for the pilots" she wiped her face clean with a towel "Now to deliver this to the Priests"
Of course, said delivery would be more than handing out the piece of tech to the men of Magi-Tech, Rhae smiled as her body changed into an Arachne, highly adapted to stealth infiltrations she wanted to spice things up and leave a little gift for Lucrezia.
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Night had already fallen in the main war camp, sentries along the main and secondary routes patrolled the place as Rhae stalked above, the tall tents and magically built housing providing ample cover together with the trees around the place.
She arrived at the place where they performed maintenance for the ZENOS units and felt a tingle in her left hind leg, her spider eyes darting from corner to corner as a magical wire tripped off a silent alarm.
Lights went dark across the camp, Rhae sucked air as she saw multiple black-clad humanoids armed with sleek rifles and strange goggles come out of the buildings, nary a word coming off from them.
"Magi-Tech communication?" Rhae whispered to herself as she began to work her way to deliver her package, the black-clad soldiers sweeping buildings and rooftops with alarming speed and precision.
A 3-man team nearly got her after she made a jump, using a mana-intensive invisibility spell only her father knew how to cast that masked every signature a body could give she stood as still as possible while the 3 soldiers stopped and waved their weapons around.
"3-1 This is Alpha 1, sector clear I repeat sector clear, drones report high usage of mana all around us over" it was barely a whisper but her ears could finally hear it. "Permission to deploy Undead seeking protocols"
"Rog, we will sweep the rooftops across sectors 2 and 4 again" the leader shook his head, human male from the north Rhae picked up "Fan out, sweep stairs, under beds and tables and inside lockers, ROEs have been lifted, shoot to kill"
"Alpha 1, I am picking up mana signatures all over this rooftop, it has to be a wraith" female, elven also from the north "Look" she flicked her wrist to him where a crystal pulsed blue "Gods 3-1 is a stingy bastard"
"Cut the chatter and stay frosty Alpha 2, 3 I want you as overwatch here, sweep the buildings with long-range scans, 2 you are with me, we are knocking down some doors now let's go" the trio moved with precision as Rhae leaped towards another building,
It was a harrowing experience, 4 times she was nearly caught, whoever these people were they knew how to hunt, the only thing that saved her was being able to shapeshift into sleeping members of the army and sometimes guards.
That is until she left the grappling hook and beelined towards the exit, somehow they got wind of her, and multiple teams were converging on her position, on a desperate bind to escape she shifted into a Molekin and dug her way back home, it was scary and Lucrezia would likely tighten down her security but she couldn't deny she had some fun!
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William smiled as he turned the marvelous feat of engineering left behind by the intruder, his maid was not happy the interloper managed to escape, grilling the new special operation teams all night long, but in his opinion, they did their job perfectly, after all the invader was chased out instead of making a clean break.
Idun watched the mechanics via illusion magicks and Magi-Tech long-range comms installed along the Highway as a bonus from Richard's mom, the old dwarf looked in awe at the item.
"Aye my lady, it is as you said, with this our units will be able to grapple and pull themselves over even the tallest of buildings, increasing mobility in a way that puts them near our new experimental Knightmare units" he rubbed his beard "But there are some modifications needed to be made, send me the item and I should be done with them within a week"
"And the new airships?" William asked.
"Ready for deployment, the entire fleet we have already received the troops from the Imperium and Grannarius, Lady Lucrezia I have something of a favor to ask of you" Idun spoke gravely.
"Ask my friend, and I will do all that I can to help" William replied in earnest.
"We need your express authorization for the deployment of the Razgriz in battle, the one in charge of the project managed to bang out 4 more air fighters unlike anything we have seen before, capable of supersonic flight and maneuvers unheard so far even for the most experienced griffin or great eagle riders, but the tech is bleeding edge and we simply don't have the time to iron out the kinks before the fight, it would take years..."
"Do it so have them posted together with the Knightmares" Wiliam nodded astounded with the bleed-over of Terran stuff on his followers "And the automatic weapons?"
"A deadlock still Lady Lucrezia, we will need to quite literally make Ra'Tyrius a major good in the entire new world to cross that threshold of Magi-Tech, I have already sent out missionaries and talked with our friends to help out the establishment of new churches, it will also take a while" he laughed "But I have good news! that and I am still amazed I can say this my lady, that Ancient you send to help us managed to help the spirits and we have it! the terraforming train will revolutionize warfare with its trench-making capabilities together with carrying supplies and soldiers, the first unit will also be together with the Razgriz and Knightmares."
"And our ace in the hole?"
Idun shook in excitement "The gun worked flawlessly, so good Hraax told us other leviathans thought she was ready to go to war against them, its flight capabilities can also be extended to the new ships we came up making a truly amphibious war armada, be it air, sea or land there won't be a place to hide once it comes up from under the waves"
"She won't hide Idun, she will march her Knights through the front door," William said with a smile "And we will be there to meet her"
Idun nodded "Aye, with a force never seen before, ready to redefine what is warfare in the entire world"
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