List of conditions to enter combat in Aekan:
* Be level 20
* Be able to create expendable minions
* Be able to contribute to a battle in ways other than simple firepower
These conditions are all required, but meeting them all is suggested
-JALF combat recommendation list
*=====*
Mori made sure to use [Enhanced Mind VI] to analyze the expressions of the others from Earth as she spoke to Eaner. There were a few groups among them, the most numerous being the ones who showed obvious apprehension but obviously tried to keep an open mind. The second group, being much smaller, was made up of either bored or excited people. Mori guessed that they were the ones in favor of traveling with her and her crew. The last group had expressions of ill-concealed fear or hatred towards her, barely blunting their glares as she spoke with Eaner.
‘I have my work cut out for me, huh?’ she thought to herself, ‘They can barely stomach the sight of me.’ A few of the apprehensive ones, she recalled, were also people that seemed disgusted by her appearance. It seemed that her new armor also baffled a few of them.
She eventually stopped idly observing them and, as they rounded a corner of boxes, she gestured to the Kharon, “And this is the skiff,” she said, “So far I have about three dozen zombies working on its daily maintenance, patrolling, and doing the basic stuff. Any questions before we go in?” Though all of them seemed to have questions, none of them were brought up with her, “Alright, let’s go then.”
As they began walking up the scaffolding beside the skiff, ignoring the arguing of Zubov on the mod dock floor, Eaner stepped up beside Mori and Fara, “I see that you have a new set of armor,” he said, “It is quite well made, if a bit basic. Did you make it?” he asked, looking at Fara.
The woman nodded her head, resting a hand on Mori’s helmet, “We were shopping around for parts when the clock cultists interrupted us. In the hours since then, we planned and made the armor with the help of one of her death knights.”
Eaner hummed, appraising the armor, “That is quite fast. Did you already have a plan for the armor? Did you forge it or did you mold it? What about runic work? And is that hissing I hear hydraulics?”
“Calm down, Eaner,” Mori giggled, “We had some vague idea beforehand, but really stamped out the details afterwards.”
“Once done with the sketch, we used melding to manipulate this new metal we found into the proper form. It was rough going for a while until we got used to working with it, but I think it turned out alright,” Fara said, “I personally added a bunch of mechanical aspects like hydraulics and the like.”
Eaner hummed more as they reached the side-gate of the Kharon, the group of people following behind them as they crossed its threshold, “I see. That is very fast, you know. Almost suspiciously so.”
“Well,” Fara laughed, “I did have a great deal of help from Avar. Being untiring, unmoving, and extremely precise makes him a talented assistant. Beyond that, I have a slew of Traits that all help me work non-stop in the most efficient manner possible.”
“A true mechanic, then,” Eaner chuckled, “I have a feeling some of my mechanics would love to talk with you.”
“I’m always available. Anyway, this is the ‘deck.’ Here… well, Norta and Fury were here just a few minutes ago. I wonder where they went,” Fara mused.
Mori shrugged, glancing around, “Well, they must have gone to the dining hall to rest and relax. Anyway, this is the place for training, both magical and physical. Fury is usually here practicing but Pride and Jel both come up once in a while to test some new spell or other. Any questions?” None of them raised any concerns, “Alright, next is the dining hall,” she said as she began walking through the wide halls of the skiff. Soon, though, they came across a zombie going about its chores. Half of them screamed and backed up while the other half moved forward to stop it. Mori sighed, banging her hand on the wall, “Hey! No attacking my minion! He’s doing some maintenance work. This way, please.” As they reluctantly followed, Mori could tell that a fair few of them were much less confident than before.
As they moved to the second lowest level, Mori led them into the dining hall where Fury, in his scrap armor, Crave, in his robes, Norta, in her shirt and pants, and Mokan, in his slightly darker outfit of similar design, all sat around a table talking, “Well, you’re not that bad, but you would do well going with your instincts sometimes.”
Norta sighed as they walked in, not noticing them yet, “Well, if I ducked instead of blocking, I would have lost a good time to punch back,” she almost whined, “I mean, you have six separate limbs you can use to bat my punches away. How am I supposed to get through that?”
Fury shrugged while Crave caught sight of them, waving, “Ah, mistress. You brought the people Aerolat was talking about. Nice armor, by the way; Avar was talking about it just now,” he said.
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Mori smiled, opening her helmet to show it, “Thanks, Crave.” She turned to the following group, “This is Crave. He’s the chef and librarian around here. If you’re worried about cleanliness, Fara and Norta can attest to his possession of it.”
Norta smiled at them, “I was skeptical at first, but whatever magic she uses makes them pretty clean, all things considered. Also, hey Mori. Are they coming with us to Aekan?”
Pausing, Mori glanced at Fara and they shared a look. Mori turned back and walked over to them, sitting down, “Alright, Norta, Mokan, I didn’t want to bring this up now, but I have to ask a question: Are you two really ready for a Hive extermination? I mean, what levels are you at?”
Norta and Mokan’s expressions shifted to grim frowns. “I’m seventeen. He’s sixteen,” she said, “Are you really saying we aren’t strong enough for this? What about your death knights? They’re, at most, level five. Level two for Crave. How can you stop us from going when they’re so underleveled?”
Mori shook her head, “That’s different. They’re undead warriors, being stronger, faster, more resilient, and more tenacious than any human at their level can be. I myself am a nigh unkillable lich who, with a wave of my finger, can raise legions of corpses to swarm an enemy. I hate to say it, but I don’t think either of you can survive this,” she said remorsefully, “Eaner, what are their levels?” she asked, gesturing to the crowd of Earthborn.
Eaner chuckled awkwardly and looked away for a moment, “Ah… well, level does not matter, does it?” he said. Mori narrowed her eye-flames, the flickering fire slowly growing in intensity, “Alright, alright, they’re between level three and four,” he admitted.
“I’m level five,” Natalia cut in from the front of the crowd, “And so is Philip, Bella, and the old man.”
“I have a name, dammit!” Kevin shouted at her.
Hearing the news, Mori held her head in her hands, “Eaner… You’re telling me that you’re sending a group of people that, for all intents and purposes, are civilian in their levels. And I doubt they have as deep of an understanding of magic as I do, unless they’ve made a habit of working through sunset and rise with barely two breaks in a week. What the hell are you playing at here?” she growled, her voice deepening, “I know you were forthcoming earlier, but this is damning. I want you to be honest here. Why did you let them think they were ready?” Eaner turned his head to look at a seemingly interesting wall, pointedly opposite from where Mori sat. Mori’s eye-flames flared, burning bright, “Dammit Eaner! Answer me!” she shouted, voice housing her fury in an almost physical sense.
The Earthborn were almost all stunned by her display while Eaner whipped his head around to Mori, “Look, I do not want this to become uncivil-” he began, only to be cut off by Mori.
“‘Uncivil?’ You’re saying you want this to be civil? Then answer me this: Is it civil to send thirty random people to their deaths? And why do it? Money? Power? Another few thousand pounds of meat and bone to shield your own crew with?” By then, she had stood tall, nearly towering over the now-withered form of the captain.
“I did not want them to die!” Eaner shouted to her face, rage in his eyes, “None of my crew know how dangerous a Hive truly is,” he growled, “I’ve seen it firsthand. Seen fields of the dead buried under sheets of falling ash. Seen men and women and children be slaughtered for no reason other than the whims of the Clockworks. I needed to see it once to know that a life of violence is not for me. I prefered business, and I still do; I only take up my spells and guns when I am attacked.
“I could not stop them,” he growled, “I could not stop my crew from fighting in this war. I only agreed to helping them because I never wanted them to die alone, driven from each other by the realities of this war. I only do this because I want to keep my crew alive.”
Mori met Eaner’s gaze easily, staring down at him, “And you’ll sacrifice the lives of innocent people to do that?”
Eaner shook his head violently, slightly surprising Mori, “No! I would never!” he shouted, “You do not understand what you are capable of, otherworlder. Every account of their lives state that they are capable of great things. If these men and women are able to do something great enough to save my crew, I would bring them to a Hive in a heartbeat.”
“So that’s your plan?” Mori asked, “To throw them into a stressful, dangerous situation and hope and pray that they pull some otherworldly magic out from the depths of their soul just because they were born on another planet? Is that how you think otherworlders work?”
Eaner gestured around them, to the skiff, to her death knights, and to her armor, “Two weeks. Two weeks ago, my crew was burning your body so the Clockworks could not get to you. Then, over the course of two weeks, you created all of this. If that does not prove something, I do not know what will.” Eaner turned, and began walking out of the room.
“You can’t compare what a freethinking, powerful lich can do to what a bunch of random people can do!” Mori shouted to his back, “You know what? Why don’t you ask what they think?” She turned to Natalia, who flinched under her gaze, “Now that you know how awful this battle will be, do you still want to liberate Aekan? Do you still want to fight?”
While wilting under the lich’s gaze, Natalia gave a resolute nod, “I do. I always wanted to find a true purpose in life and liberating a nation from the clutches of a genocidal robot swarm seems like a good fit. That, and I wanted to get some use from my military training.”
Mori, though sighing, nodded at her words, “I see. Are all of your reasons like that?” One by one, they all nodded in resolution, cooling Mori’s wrath into a cold determination, “So, you’re all in this. No matter what?” They nodded, “Fine. Then you’re all coming with my crew. I don’t care if you don’t like that, but I’m not letting you get yourselves killed out there because someone couldn’t train you well enough,” she said, eyeing Eaner with cold flames. The man simply hung his head and nodded, “On that note, I guess Norta and Mokan’ll be joining us too?”
Mori, with Fara at her side, turned to the twins. They nodded with a similar determination as they Earthborn, “Mori, we won’t be left behind. That’s final.”
The lich, staring at the room of people, nodded, “Alright then. Fine. We’re finishing this tour, then you’re all going to start training with me. I may not have much experience, but I have enough to teach you all. This way, then. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”