AN: It's been a little while, enjoy.
******************************
After finishing their shopping in the town, they went back to the mountain range, but not that far from the town. They had to make preparations for their trip within the dwarven country.
“Ok, with everything we brough back, things will be less thorny” said Tony. “First, we're illegal aliens here, so, Robin, make us some good identification papers.”
“Will do Tony. But who are we supposed to be?”
“Simple, I'm a youth who inherited some money from my dead grandfather, you're my fiancee and we are on vacation. Uranus and Proteo are our servants. Baddon will be a guide and bodyguard we hired for our trip, and Vilni will be his assistant.”
Among the thins they have done in the town, was goin into government and administrative buildings to get copies of importants documents and papers. They couldn't spend their whole time sneaking around and evading people. They were stuck in this new world after all. They had to adapt, and blending in the surroundings would help with both stealth and integration.
“Make us a good backstory, with the 4 of us coming from the same place. This way, us getting along well and acting so friendly with our 'servants' wouldn't be weird. I will even make us some photos from the past that we keep with us. While you take care of that, I'll be uprading the vehicle we stole, and I'll have Baddon assist me. Uranus and Proteo, you continue to instruct Vilni in turn.”
“Tony, don't forget to make some money, we will need it in town. The bed at the research lab were nice, but I'm sure the ones in a hotel would be good as well. And they will definitly have some nice food as well. And some drinks.”
“Hey, Robin, that's mean! Are you unhappy with the food I make?”
“Hahaha, of course not. But are supplies are limited, so the receipes are limited as well. It's a new world, let's enjoy the new food as well!”
“Not so fast Robin. What makes you think that we can eat everything here? We may have allergies to some of the things here. I've been monitoring our health since we came here, true, there hasn't been any problems so far, but it doesn't mean there won't be. Some products from another area may be bad for us. Don't you agree boss?”
“Tony's cautiousness is rubbing of on you.”
“Not really. I'm your doctor, I have to make sure you stay healthy and don't eat anythin bad... You don't want to poison the toilets, dont you?”
“... Fine, I get it, you don't need to say anything else.”
-------
The vehicle they had stolen was a small van that could accommodate 7 people, with a small space for luggage. Surprisingly, the controls and seats could be adjusted for either dwarves or non-dwarves. Tony had no intention to modify any visible part. However, he intended to upgrade the innards. The mobile base had the necessary tools for that, including a small crane to lift the engine or even the whole van.
A temporary shelter was erected around the van and the mobile base so Tony and Baddon could work without minding the weather. He wanted Baddon to assist him to familiarise him with their level of technology, though what they were going to make wouldn't come that close to what he owned. At least, if necessary he could have the dwarf be usefull with engineering problems that could be delegated.
The van was disassembled. He first strenghtened the frame, then completely remodeled and upgraded the engine. Not only that, he added electric motors as well. He improved the suspension as well. The van was now 4 wheel drive vehicle, but it wasn't the first hybrid vehicle to see the light. Some hybrids gas-etheris were already being developped.
The gearbox and the steering were improved as well. Light sheet of titanium alloy and polymers were inserted into the body of the van. The tires were strenghtened with polymers as well. The van had become twice as fast and half as hungry as before, and it was also a lot more tough. Though Tony didn't expect to run into trouble with it, he wouldn't be helpless if troubles came to him.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
-------
Tony and Baddon were putting the van back together, Uranus was preparing the food, Proteo was instructing Vilni in the infirmary. Robin was reading some books in front of the monitoring screen when its display changed and a bipping sound startled her. She immediately pressed the general communication switch.
“Proximity warning!!”
The scouting birds Tony had were used to patrol the area. He originally had 5 of them, but made an additional 4 on the way to the town. Those 9 drones were used to keep an eye on the surroundings, in a 400m radius around the mobile base. They were equipped with a shape recognition software to differentiate between humanoids and animals, and to recognise weapons.
When a non-humanoid creature was detected, the drone would send the caution signal. But if it was a humanoid creature, it would send a proximity warning. Tony had designed the system like that because dealing with humans was different from dealin with beast, and he didn't want to be distracted by some random animals who would come close.
Besides, the drones had strong sensors, it would detect active electronic systems, and those were considered weapons. In short, a drone with an animal form or an animal with some equipment on it would be recognised as a weapon and trigger the proximity warning as well. Since they had come to this world, there had been a lot of caution warnings, but it was the first they got a proximity warning.
While everybody else were packing up, Robin used the touch screen to get details about the situation. Several windows opened. On one of them, there was a map of the area centred on the mobile base, and some orange blinking points were presents on the edge of the map. The others 2 screens were video feeds from 2 drones.
“It's a patrol of 6 dwarvens soldiers, along with a human soldier. They are around 350m away from us, and slowly closing in. I think they are lookin for us.”
Tony's mood darkened while he was putting on his armor alon with Proteo.
“I can't believe they're here. How could they have tracked us? The snow should have hidden our tracks, we didn't use the radio, nor did we use the stealth plane drone. They don't even have dogs, and even if they did, it's been several days already, many other creatures passed in the area... Just how did they do this?”
“I don't know, but they're cautiously coming straight toward us. Uranus, hurry and come here, I need-”
“I'm already here. You can go.”
“Thanks.”
“They are 300m away now” said Uranus.
“Uranus, try to locate the team leader, I want him alive for interrogation.”
“Yes master!”
“Boss, how do we deal with them? Do we kill or neutralise?”
“... Killing them would worsen the disposition of this country toward us illegal aliens...”
“Tony, it's already too late for that! We attacked their research lab and harmed their scientists. Besides, the ones that appeared near the neighboring countries already killed people. There is no use going easy on them now...”
“... I see.” 'Still, to kill people... I knew it would come someday since we came here... Taking someone's life. Will I be alright after doing something like that?'
“... Tony? What are you so anxious about? It's not the first time something like that happened to us? They even have worse equipment than us. There is nothin to be worried about... Aside from the mean they used to find us...”
“...” '… I see. For me, everything we experienced before coming here was a game. So there was no guilt or pressure when killing others. But for those 3, it wasn't a game. It was reality. They are already used to killing. But I'm not... Am I really ready to kill? For real?'
******************************
AN: See ya!