V9: Chapter 10

…

Cool, they found the Academy’s secret space station.

In-game, the loot table for it was pretty horrible and generally not considered worth the effort of taking. Players have the option to destroy it from range, and generally they do, because the Tier 2, mini-boss units they deploy are basically death machines that mulch melee units and outrange most T1 ranged units. Even with just ‘one unit’ worth of models, the Ancient War Machines can do severe damage to any army that you send against them.

They may even kill the Champion you attach to the force.

However, thanks to this being real life, I wasn’t limited.

Or, rather, Riegert wasn’t limited, and he called in Rita, and she was able to snipe them from afar without risking everyone else’s lives. The report read like some sort of modded, ‘fixed’ event where the players step in to solve a problem. In this case, the problem was viewed as terribly powerful enemies for shitty loot. Instead of making the loot better, they just provided a skip to the enemies if you have the right Champion. Rita was that Champion in this case, and she killed them all, then the facility was searched without any issue.

It was just a flaming sword that gave some decent damage, never broke, and is a big reference to all other legendary swords that are covered in fire. Sure, it was effective in putting dots on targets, and testing showed that the flames it cast could somehow melt enemy armor without melting or harming the user, but it was just a weapon. In fact, I wondered if I could just stick it into a constant stream of water and generate electricity with it, because nothing it did couldn’t be done by a napalm strike conducted by my air force.

However, I did end up lucky, because the corpses of the Ancient War Machines didn’t just disappear into the ether and just turn into XP. Instead, we now had examples of fully automatic rotary assault cannons, as well as a powerful heat ray. Not only that, but the metals of the machines could be analyzed, their joints and stabilizers reverse-engineered, and we were basically looking at Ascendant basic soldiers before they showed up to fuck us over. Finally, the station didn’t just blow up and stop working, either. Parts and pieces of it remained and we were carting it over to a site where it can be studied away from critical areas, but still be predicted.

The legendary flaming sword that can set armies alight and cook people around the wielder alive is very great for Ilych. The fact that she’s dual-wielding great swords, one that gives her lifesteal and the other one sets her enemies on fire and passively kills them, is amazing. She’s melee-spec’d, thus the item is very much an upgrade to her kit.

But the recovered bodies and the deconstructed space station are infinitely more valuable.

Those two keep Ilych alive and dealing damage against her enemies.

The wrecked robots and the space station give us technology that everyone in my nation can use.

It’s no contest.

The wrecks and the ruin are amazing.

Besides having mages and scholars surrounded by books and wooden furniture disassembling mechs is super cool!

…

A turn passed, and springtime came.

Not that I’d know how spring felt, since Scholar’s Rest was a perpetually cold mountain range with few valleys suitable for agriculture. Scholars took the region thanks to needing far less food and being technologically advanced. If I recalled correctly, they increased yields in their farming regions by using geothermal springs in the early game, developing automat that farmed for them in midgame, and finally cracking the code on food fabricators in the late game, so that they just needed sunlight and a bit of magic to make food as they wanted.

I secured as many Scholars as I could and had them working solely on agricultural projects. Hopefully, I’d crack that tech tree, but they were doing enough of a good job figuring out fertilizer and pesticides that I couldn’t complain. If their cracking of the code on how to develop those machines came from having to live in a low-food environment like Scholar’s Rest, I’ll be shit out of luck, so I was making sure to store as much food as possible, anyway.

But back to the turn.

We had the remains of the Scholars by the balls.

“Eight infiltrators all detected without their own knowledge. Well done, Ayah. The trap you suggested was perfect.”

“You flatter me, my king.” Ayah gave a prim bow. She was clad in a thick, pure white fur coat over her normal maid dress and walked beside me on the open-air terrace on the Citadel. Her tan disguise was a bit paler than usual, since she was emulating the fact that she wasn’t as sun-kissed as she usually was. Anyway, I was enjoying a hot cup of cider in the cold. Could I drink inside? Yeah, but hot drinks taste way better in the cold. I don’t make the rules. “The tool and surveillance methods were yours. I merely provided a decent addition.”

The decent addition was to have Iterants house metal detectors in their forearms and change the beeping noise made to noiseless vibration.

Viola!

The Iterants can scan for metal objects with their arms, thus opening up a myriad of methods to check for the brain implant.

It was perfect out of the box thinking, which led to our method of detection never being picked up, and no counters being made.

Now, the Iterants had eight agents trying to climb up the ranks in our city.

Each one compromised and watched at all times.

We caught them early enough in their plan that it was easy enough to disrupt their movements. Four of the eight tried to become merchants to nearby villages so that they can establish communications networks. Three worked to become clerks at the at the gatehouses on the city’s outermost walls, so that they could have a say in who gets in and out. One finally got into an alchemist apprenticeship with the intention of becoming a scholar, which was a common enough job.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was the beginnings of an infiltration operation that would take years to accomplish. After getting communication lines and people at the gates, they’ll let more bodyswappers in, and eventually get enough people in that they could do some serious disrupting. If they got enough people at the gates, they can start clearing the way for more infiltrators. Clerks can report missing or rotting supplies, when they’re in fact perfectly fine, and smuggle them out to their own people. Merchants can never deliver vital goods like medicine, claiming they’ve vanished, and people die in nearby villages. Alchemists have licenses to handle dangerous substances, and getting access to such supplies would be great for any budding ‘resistance’ movement.

Eventually, they can do more with more infiltrators, until they penetrate defenses deep enough that they can try for something big.

Like an assassination.

However, as of now, we had them in the palm of our hands.

Because we let the communications lines get established, and we had the fake merchants followed to their desired villages.

They did everything as they were supposed to, but midway through their journey, they dropped off hidden bags strapped to their bodies beneath their clothes.

Figures rose out of the snow when they did, covered in metal and gears, and they retrieved the satchels before using a combination of technology and magic to make themselves meld lightly into the environment.

After that, it took them long, circuitous routes to return to their true destinations… while the Iterants watched.

Now, our plans were bearing fruit, as we uncovered their safe houses and unraveled operation.

“I’m tempted to counter-infiltrate them. Take one of the Merchants and replace them with an Iterant.”

“We could most certainly try, my lord.”

“No, it’s a passing temptation. It wouldn’t be wise. They may have codes and phrases that we don’t know, established from the very start.” That was Espionage 101. Hell, it was Combat 101. You have a two-step phrase that people can repeat at one another to identify friendlies. Someone says thunder, another one says flash. Anyone says anything besides flash, you shoot them. “Iterants can’t be wasted for mere possibility. Our goal is to find them, kill them swiftly, and discover all that we can.”

Khanrow went off with Morgan to teach her a bit, before taking over the situation with the Wardens. That was slowly bearing fruit with our Anti-Khalai faction picking up steam. We needed to establish security for our puppet. Who better than Khanrow and a few dozen shapeshifting killer robots?

“Your majesty, for your vision, we would risk our lives without hesitation. Please, do not hesitate to use us.” One of the Iterants spoke up from behind Ayah. It earned itself a glare from the Ancient Administrator. They were clad similarly to Ayah. Maid dresses with furred coats over them. Their coats were black, though. The speaker went by Rebecca, I was sure. Spectacles and long, straight red hair. Yep, that’s Rebecca. Martine was the one with straight hair and had a monocle. Jean was blonde with the braids and half-spectacles. “We live to serve the King of Wisdom.”

Really, these guys were just itching to kill people. I mean, massive props for being one flavor or another of maid with eye-wear, but they’re all itching to shapeshift and murder.

Sometimes, I thought about Ayah’s warnings about them and wondered if I should’ve listened about keeping these guys around like slaves.

Yeah, nah.

I’d rather these guys be eager to kill my enemies rather than me.

“And, I have decided that course of action is not the one that shall be taken.” I reminded them as well as I could that I was in charge. Was I very aware of the fact that they could all transform into humanoid masses of flensing blades that I couldn’t do anything against? Yep. That’s why I was reminding them instead of admonishing them. “The Iterants will move cautiously, gather information first, and strike with absolute supremacy. That is my decision.”

“Yes, my king. Your subject hears and obeys.” Thankfully, Rebecca complied instantly, curtsying and bowing her head, whilst getting back into line. I took a sip of my drink. It was thankfully still on the warm side. Hm. How hard would it be to mass-produce thermoses? “This one is grateful that her words were heard.”

I gave a small nod in reply, before moving onto the next matter of the meeting and looking towards Ayah. She’s stepped close enough to my left that glancing over at her to look at her eyes made it necessary for my eyes to crest past her chest. She was wearing a white apron over a modest black dress, but everything was well-fitted and tailored to the body-line. That meant that the frilly top part of the white apron was encompassing a lot of chest area. Chest area that I nearly had to crane my head past to look at Ayah’s face.

Thank you, Scholar’s Rest, for being so cold that I’m already flushed.

“The next matter is regarding the mining outposts in the area. They are reporting unknown tracks in their perimeter. Tracks that are very similar to the similar to those left by the Scholar’s agents that we’ve been following.”

“They must be looking for shipments of materials to intercept after they’ve been dug out.” I did my best to work and ignore what was between my eyes and Ayah’s. It was a desperate struggle, but I won out by turning my gaze towards the horizon of snow-capped mountains in the distance and taking a sip of my drink. Yes. I won by basically running away. A battle avoided is a battle won, after all. “Set up guards. We need those resources and lines intact.”

We could theoretically bait them to be stolen, then track them down, but that risks experienced porters, materials, and more.

Let’s keep things as nice and simple as possible.

Adding more complexity is just asking for trouble.

“Next?”

“There is a request from the Alchemist Guild branch here at Scholar’s Rest for a meeting.”

“What do they need?”

“They are requesting for specific materials accessible at our capital but not here.” I gave a hum at that. I put my cup down, so that it could be refilled. Steam came forth from the pot, while more of my drink was ladled into my cup. We were going to be at this for another hour, so I sat back in my chair and enjoyed the view and the heated drinks. “Incendiary-aligned reagents?”

“Yes, for their efforts to produce a better explosive.” Miners usually used magic to excavate. Groups of them activated staffs built for the purpose of mining and turned tunnel ends into rubble. It was fairly effective and safe, but greatly constrained the miners. After expending their power, all they could do is ferry broken rocks onto containers to be ferried out. As dangerous as mining explosives are, the miners will be able to save their energy for enhancing their bodies if they didn’t have to power the staffs. There was a greater risk with the explosives with natural gas pockets or coal veins, but magic existed and I had people looking into ways to look for substances that could ignite. If those were present, we’ll fall back on the tried-and-true method. If they weren’t, then we can use explosives. “The whole guild has been investigated, my lord. None have been found to be infiltrators, or holding any treasonous motives. They also have families that we can easily secure.”

Ignoring that last part for the sake of my mental health.

“Set the meeting, but inform them to be ready to present their current works according to our academic standards. Fifteen minutes of presentation at most. I shall see their progress first, then make my decision.” My words earned me a bunch of nods. Were they being kind and generous, or pitying me for having such a basic-bitch approach to handling the situation? Whichever was the case, I wasn’t about to worry that much. No need to be a trailblazer for every decision in life. Standard gets the job done without fuss. “Next?”

Ayah continued, while I continued to sip on my drink, while enjoying the sun beginning to set amidst the mountains.

This turn was ending soon, and in a few months, the alliance against us was going to start showing cracks. Some of them were natural, but others were created by us or their own lack of coordination and goals with one another.

Their cracks will show, and anything I missed will show up as well.

This’ll be our last chance to gain ground, until we all have to just buckle up and do our best against the tidal wave of foes that were going to rush us with everything that they had.