“That was excellently done…sir.” Owl two’s tone was the same as always, but Ronin swore he detected a trace of disdain in the android’s mechanical voice. “Come on now, sir, they are on the far wall.” with that, Owl two disappeared from view. Grumbling to himself underneath his helmet, Ronin hauled himself onto the wall. Thankful that his armor had been repaired while in his pod and that his under armor reduced blunt impacts. Looking out he saw Owl two was already halfway across the now nearly deserted town.

Leaping out, Ronin covered a good twenty feet before he hit the ground. putting in everything he had, he chased after his disrespectful assistant. As they crossed the town, Ronin slowly gained on Owl two until he was just behind him. readying himself for the leap, Ronin swore he was going to be first up the wall this time.

“Best to use the ladder sir,” Owl two said as he slowed to a stop at the outer wall. Ronin, having already put on another burst of speed, tried to stop. Unfortunately, he was going too fast and stumbled right into the outer wall with a loud thump. “Be careful sir,” Owl two said as he began to climb the bone ladder. “The ground is a little uneven just there.”

“That damned hunk of junk,” Ronin swore. Without his coms on, his voice was almost entirely muffled inside his helmet, so he didn’t mind cursing out the android. He knew that had been on purpose, but again he wasn’t hurt, just embarrassed.

“Owl one, this is Owl two. repeat last.” Came across the com. Startled, Ronin checked his coms, no they were off.

“Nothing Owl two, carry on.” He said with a sigh, beginning the climb up the wall behind Owl two.

“Mayor Emil is in that tent sir,” Owl two said pointing, once they both stood on the outer wall. looking out, Ronin saw twenty armored men sitting around a pair of fires inside a circle of tents. Outside the circle lay an ankylosaur, hitched to a semi sized wagon. Ronin furrowed his brows at the site.

“Who are they?” he asked, unhappy at having a troop of armored men showing up so soon after his life-or-death battle.

“From what I understand, these men are tax collectors for the military. Valley’s Pass is one of a handful of small towns set up with the express purpose of providing the kingdom’s military with either meat, equipment or soldiers. since they took all the young adults last time they were here, there was no one to hunt for this round’s taxes. They are demanding the food, or they will come in and help themselves.”

“Is that so?” Ronin asked in an icy tone. “What is it that the mayor thinks I can do here?”

“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise… sir.” Owl two answered, deadpan.

“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Ronin sighed. Beginning the climb down the ladder. It didn’t really matter; he would find out soon enough. Besides, if Owl two thought he was in any danger here, he wouldn’t have let him go first.

“Halt,” shouted an aggressive voice as Ronin touched down on the ground. “Towns folk have no business out here, so state your business or get lost back over that wall. don’t worry, peasant, we will be over there soon enough, since you want to see us that badly.”

The soldier had marched over while he shouted at them. Ronin frowned, looking him over. He was armored much the same as the town’s folk had been; leather hide with ankylosaur plates protecting his vitals. The only thing that differentiated him from them, was the sword at his hip and the yellow cloak with its burgundy dyed fur lining. Yesterday, well yesterday for him anyway, the arrogant display might have impressed Ronin. after living through the Kaldarr raid though, this jumped-up commoner wasn’t much in his eye.

“Thank you, captain” Owl two said upon reaching the bottom of the ladder. “However, your lord has sent for us, and we wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.” Motioning Ronin forward with a respectful gesture, Owl two moved in behind him. Ronin, still frowning at this man’s obvious hostility, moved forward at Owl two’s direction.

He thought the guard would try to stop them for a moment, but it looked like he held a lot of respect, or fear, for his lord’s word. Stepping aside, he didn’t say anything else, simply glaring holes into the pair as they moved passed him into the ring of tents. All the men here glared at them as they walked past.

Ronin caught the glint of steel off a few swords or helmets, but the majority of these men were armed and armored with dinosaur part equipment. Following Owl two’s direction to the largest tent, Ronin was stopped again by another guard at the tent flap. He waited while the guard announced their presence to whoever was inside, presumably the ‘lord.’

“Enter.” Came the one-word response. That one word spoke volumes to Ronin about the character of the lord inside. He had read about aristocratic drawls before, but the drawn out and nasally word, just reminded him of Alexander’s affectation of influence. The sound made him grind his teeth together in remembered anger.

Owl two moved forward and pulled the tent flap aside and motioned for Ronin to proceed him. Ronin scoffed internally as he walked by the robot, at least he could show respect in front of outsiders. The brief amusement he’d felt at Owl two’s gesture evaporated once he stepped inside the tent.

The first thing he saw upon entering was a large, richly engraved table, piled high with food. A grotesquely fat man sat behind the table, dressed in opulent robes of yellow and burgundy eating heartily. Embroidered rugs covered the floor and there were paintings and statues set up around the tent on small stands. Two young, scantily clad serving girls stood meekly behind his chair, one held a large towel, and the other a pitcher of wine.

What had killed Ronin’s amusement, however, was old mayor Emil standing in front of the table. He was trembling from fatigue, leaning on a walking stick. His left arm held tight to his body in a sling. A quick glance around showed Ronin that there were no other chairs in the tent, only the fat man was allowed to sit, it seemed.

“Ah, you must be this old fool’s replacement.” The fat man said, gnawing on a large bone. “I was one course away from ordering a seizure of your assets to cover the back taxes you owe the crown.” The fat man had never looked up as he spoke, continuing to eat.

“What’s he talking about?” he asked Owl two on internal coms, while looking over at Emil. The old man was looking at him imploringly, doing his best to conceal the shaking in his tired limbs.

“The town’s people voted while you were… doing your calculations… they unanimously decided that you would be their new mayor. Of course, they didn’t hold the vote until after this tax collector showed up. So, really, they just want us to save them again.”

“Should we get involved?” Ronin asked, still ignoring the eating tax collector. His assistant had six days longer than him to collect information, so Ronin wanted his opinion.

“If you have decided to stay in the valley, then yes. At least in the short term, it would be better to keep them out of the valley. There just aren’t enough of us to hold anything.” That was a problem Ronin was still pondering. He needed to create a settlement, for Markus’s sake. So, more people, loyal people, were necessary.

“Did you not hear me ‘Mayor’?” asked the tax collector, looking up at last. “In his majesty’s name. What are you wearing? You look like a set of matching fools playing dress up as soldiers. And what is that on your head, a cook pot? His majesty’s balls, you even match.” Sitting back in his chair he let out a belly laugh that jiggled his bulk in a disgusting wave of flesh.

Ronin looked down at his armor in confusion. In all the books he’d read, this was the most technologically advanced suit of nanite infused armor he’d been able to afford. The plates might break under high powered projectiles, but they had an auto repair function. Nothing this fat pig had brought with him in this caravan would even be likely to pierce it.

“The people of this kingdom have very limited technology sir.” Owl two said before Ronin could snap back. “To them, we probably do look very silly, when everyone knows ankylosaurus armor is the cutting edge in protection.” Nodding, Ronin calmed down.

“How do I address you?” Ronin finally asked when the man had finished laughing. The smile disappeared entirely from the man’s face with the question.

“My lord,” he grated out between clenched teeth. “You will address me as ‘My Lord’ or I will have your tongue removed. Do you understand me peasant?” his chest was now heaving, in what looked like an attempt to restrain himself from leaping over the table. Emil had shrunk back, hunching his big shoulders in fear.

“Very well… my lord.” Ronin said, channeling his inner Owl two. “What can valley’s pass do for you? I’ve only just taken the post of mayor you see and haven’t learned everything required of me yet.” Seemingly mollified, the lords demeaner shifted back to normal. That is to say, he began eating again.

“Taxes, mayor. You owe the crown taxes. ten tons of jerked meat, or twenty military aged men or ten unmarried women. You can always do a mix of each. say five tons of jerked meat and five unmarried women and so on. your bimonthly quota, has this old fossil failed to tell you even that much?”

Ronin honestly couldn’t believe his ears. Turning to Emil, he cocked his head, trying to ask if that was accurate. The former mayor must have caught on because he nodded sadly. It was an insane amount. Ronin could now understand how the town had fallen so far. It would have happened gradually, a few young men wanted to go off to adventure, so the quota would be lessened. They couldn’t quite meet the deadline, so a young lady volunteered to go to make up the deficit. Before too many years went by, there weren’t enough young adults to do the hunting for the quota at all.

“Owl two?” ronin asked over the helmet com. Doing his best to keep his anger in check. “How long would it take us to get that amount of meat prepared?” he had no intention of handing anyone over to this pig of a man, even if he’d had anyone to give.

“Sir, that amount of meat is roughly four full grown ankylosaur or three full grown iguanodons. I’ve thought over this problem and have already started fabrication on an oven, using the wreckage from the drop ships and heating elements using the power cells. If we aren’t concerned about power usage, we could produce that much meat in a week, assuming we have the hands to help slice and package of course.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Thank you,” he said on helmet coms before speaking on his external com to the fat lord. “Very well, give us one week and we will have your meat…Lord.”

“Hhmm” the obese man said sitting back in his chair. The young woman with the towel hurried up to wipe the grease from his hands. Picking up his wine cup he drained it in one go. The other young woman was prepared and refilled the cup from the pitcher she had been holding. “Very well, peasant.” He said at last. “Normally I wouldn’t be so generous, but my brother’s route is bringing him this way and I haven’t seen him in ages. So, I will wait here for one week. If you don’t deliver on your promise by that time… my brother and I will be happy to assist. These are after all, challenging times. The army needs rations, and new recruits at the wall… you may go.”

Walking back outside, Ronin took a deep breath. He’d been robbed, killed two people, been beaten half to death, gotten crystallized, shot a helpless goblin woman, been involved in a shootout, had two team members die, been blackmailed by his enemy’s father, found out his best friend was dying, became a mayor and been extorted for an extreme amount of resources… all in the last two days. what had his life come to?

“Owl two,” he said as they walked through the circle of glowering guards.

“Yes sir?” his assistant asked walking a half step behind him.

“Our armor really isn’t that good is it, Owl two?” Ronin asked in a dejected tone.

“… No sir, it is not.” The robot replied bluntly. “For its intended application; infiltration, and assassination, it is perfect. Light weight, flexible, self-healing and will protect the wearer from nearly anything, once. For Owl five, this armor is ideal. But for prolonged engagements or fights like we experienced recently; it falls short of expectations.” Owl two laid everything out for him in black and white, not pulling his punches at all.

“Thank you,” Ronin said. Turning to Emil, who’d followed them from the tent, he said. “Emil, I will be your mayor, if that’s what you want. But I will need you and the towns folk’s full cooperation.”

“Of course, sir,” Emil said with a shallow bow.

“How many people are left in the town, and how many did we lose in the attack?” Ronin asked, helping Emil up the ladder.

“There are sixty-five adults and fourteen children left, my lord.” Emil said as he climbed, “We lost… ten people… in the attack.” he was struggling badly on the ladder, Ronin once again felt anger at that fat pig of a lord. Why had he made Emil climb that damn wall? of course the alternative was to climb it himself. That thought explained the situation for Ronin.

“All of whom died in the well,” Owl two added helpfully from behind Ronin. anger was replaced with remorse as he learned that it was his attempt to save the people that had doomed them to death.

“Emil…I, I’m sorry… I was trying to help, I…” he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. it seemed like he had been responsible for many deaths lately.

“Don’t blame yourself sir,” Emil wheezed out. “I was there, in that well with you. I watched you do your absolute best to save us, even after those damn slavers started piling the rocks down on us. Owl two told us how they buried us alive before throwing your man down on top of us. We are all grateful to you and your team. We would all be dead or enslaved if it hadn’t been for you.” Ronin shot a glance back at Owl two. he wouldn’t put it past the android to lie if it served his, and Ronin’s, ends. Still, even if it helped him, he couldn’t help feeling terrible for the deception.

They traveled the rest of the way back in silence. Dropping Emil off at his home, Ronin told him to be ready to travel by morning. Then, the pair started their mad dash back towards the cave.

“Owl two,” Ronin said as they ran.

“Yes sir?” he asked.

“How difficult would it be to adapt the Kaldarr armor for someone of a different size?” It became increasingly clear to Ronin that real life and books weren’t the same. He’d botched everything he’d tried so far, the only thing that had worked out had been selecting random on his followers. If he’d hand crafted them, they would likely be as useless as he was proving to be.

“With our current resources, modifying the existing sets would be impossible.” Owl two answered. “However, the Kaldarr equipment isn’t very advanced. Our pod fabrication unit could reproduce armor similar to, or superior to, theirs. Using the old armor for raw materials.”

“Great,” Ronin said. “How long will it take per set?”

“Depending on thickness and durability, approximately a day per set. Though if you are wanting to reequip yourself sir, I think several modifications would be required from the Kaldarrian standard battle suit.” Ronin only grunted in reply. The pair ran in silence back to the base, Ronin using the time to think and plan.

Having arrived back at the cave, Ronin sat around a fire with Owl two and Brie. The half goblin had her helmet off, while she ate the stew the enhanced goblin had made. He couldn’t help but think of her as Brie when she had her helmet off. it was a silly distinction he knew, but when she was all suited up, she just felt like Owl five.

“This is good,” Ronin said sampling his own bowl. “He made this himself?”

“Yes sir,” Brie said continuing to eat. “Guts has taken a liking to cooking and cleaning. He helped me clean out a kill and begin the tanning process of the hide too. His enhancement seems to have improved his abilities a lot. All the goblins really,” she added. “I can’t believe how calm and eager to learn they’ve been.”

“That would be my doing,” Owl two broke in. he wasn’t eating for obvious reasons, but he sat with them while they planned. “I modified some nanites into a sexual inhibitor. The instinct to reproduce dominates the goblin mind. Once it was blocked, it gave them the ability to think about something other than creating young.”

“Is that ok?” Ronin asked. “I mean, will that have any adverse effects on them?” he couldn’t deny he was thrilled that the goblins were all working so hard at the tasks they had been assigned. Yet, he didn’t want to end up doing more harm than good.

“None,” it was Brie that answered the question. “In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t think of it. I was given something similar when I was a child. Goblin instincts to reproduce are very strong. It’s both what has allowed the species to survive as long as it has, and what makes them so hated by so many.” Ronin was happy to see the topic hadn’t bothered her at all. in fact, she seemed to wholeheartedly approve.

“Indeed.” Owl two said, “I used your implant as a model for theirs, Owl five. The only difference being you can turn yours off at will. While the ones I produced for them have to be deactivated by one of us.” Turning back to Ronin after the brief distraction he continued his original line of questioning.

“Are you sure about this sir?” he asked again. “The nanite injectors and drone parasites are irreplaceable in our current situation. I see the value in your proposal but it’s a step that can’t be undone.”

“I’m sure Owl two.” Ronin said again. “The Kaldarr warriors make excellent soldiers. three of them would be enough to go through everything that ‘lord’ brought with him. not only that, but they’re also strong. Seven feet tall is about as short as they get. But the biggest consideration is how short we are on loyal people. tomorrow morning, this place will be overrun with town’s folk. we need people we can trust keeping an eye on things before I leave.”

“That’s another thing, sir.” Owl two said as Ronin finished. “Why the sudden desire to turn this valley into a goblin city? I can understand not wanting to kill the small group we found in the mines, but you’re talking about actively hunting them down in the tunnels and bringing them back here. they require more work than human citizens. They need to be cleaned, fed back to health, provided with clothes, not to mention the nanites we will have to use to block their sex drives.”

Ronin had told the pair about his plans to head into the tunnels after more goblins. Owl two had been skeptical, while Owl five had wanted to go. she’d been quite unhappy when he told her she had to stay.

“Are you sure I can’t go?” she asked, almost as if she was reading his mind. “I am part goblin myself, besides, someone needs to be there to protect you sir.” She’d been quite insistent that someone be there to watch his back.

“I already told you Owl five,” he said still unable to call her by name for some reason. “I will have Guts and the other goblins with me. He has to be loyal to me, and didn’t you tell me he got his name because of how brave he was?” he reminded her. Since apparently, goblins named each other by a physical identifier or character trait that they possessed. Similar to how the Kaldarr named themselves.

“He might have guts for a goblin, but that doesn’t mean much in the greater world. and…” Ronin raised a hand to cut her off.

“Owl five.” He said, voice serious. “I need you to bring back a big dinosaur for the town’s folk to start working on. Then, I need you to hunt down the remaining Kaldarr hiding in the valley. They need to be delt with for our safety. Not to mention how valuable they will be as slave labor.” The idea of keeping living beings as slaves seemed repugnant to Ronin, but it was either collar them or kill them. he was also hoping that he’d be able to rehabilitate them eventually, something he couldn’t do if they were dead.

“Ok, you said you thought you saw seven of them come over the inner wall?” he asked when her expression didn’t change. “Capture me four of them. do that, and you can come after me in the caves. Deal?” he watched as she thought about it.

“Deal,” she said at last. He could already see her, tearing up the valley looking for the Kaldarr. He knew that loyalty was essentially programed into his team members, but he appreciated it all the same.

“Alright then,” he said clapping his hands together. “Let’s get three of the Kaldarr implanted and injected. Then, I want to get Guts and his people equipped with Kaldarr inspired battle suits.” He was starting to look forward to his adventure in the tunnels.

“Since we will have three loyal Kaldarr, enhanced with nanites, and Owl five will be busy…”

“No, Owl two.” ronin said without hesitation. “You are by far the smartest person here. I need you to; fabricate the oven, make the nanites, upgrade the armor, work on the ships power problems… and a bunch of stuff that I haven’t thought of yet but I’m sure you have.”

“Very well, as long as you realize how vital I am to your success.” Owl two said. Shaking his head, Ronin nodded to his team before walking over to guts who was tending the stew pot.

“This is good, Guts.” he said as he arrived, handing his bowl over to the giant goblin. “You seemed to have taken a shine to cooking.”

“Thank you, sir,” Guts answered refilling Ronin’s bowl. “I still have trouble believing how difficult this used to be. it’s like I was asleep my whole life until now.” Ronin still marveled at how well the goblins could speak. The words were more guttural than Brie’s, like they were coughing the words out rather than saying them. yet, they were able to form complete and coherent sentences.

Goblins were another race he’d pulled from his favorite books. Not being able to choose what style of goblin to go with, since every author had their own ideas, he just chose to randomly mash the different types together. What he’d ended up with were these small, forest green people with fire red hair and eyes who weren’t much different than humans. If they could get over their all-consuming desire to reproduce anyway.

In that respect, they really did act like chickens. The males fighting for a place at the top while the females stuck around the strongest males for the protection they offered, as well as the prospect of producing the strongest young.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” he asked, resuming his conversation with Guts. “We are going to have to capture them before they understand what we’re doing, are your people ok with that?” he wanted to be sure his back up wouldn’t balk when the time came to act against their own kind.

“Yes sir, I am ready. and no sir, none of us here have a problem with what we have to do. It’s only been a week, but we already live better than we ever did before. We won’t let you down sir.” After a few more words with Guts, Ronin made a round of the cave.

he hadn’t had a chance to talk to the pilots or the other goblins yet and he thought he should meet the people he was responsible for. He spent the next few hours in that fashion, moving from group to group. Helping Owl two with the oven, learning how to cook with Guts from the pilot Samantha, washing clothes with the goblin ladies under Eric, the other pilot’s, supervision. He even spent a little time with Brie while she showed him how to properly flesh a goat hide.

It was relaxing, and for those few hours he could forget about how hectic his life had become. Eventually, however, he had to put the mantle of responsibility back on. He had more preparations to do before he left, and the clock was against him.