Lin built up as complete a picture of the Protectorate expedition as she could. There were fifteen self propelled transport vehicles and about thirty large animals that were clearly rigged with the equipment to haul cargo, while just as conspicuously being largely unloaded. Lin speculated that they were planning on transferring gear and supplies from the vehicles to the beasts of burden once the terrain became too rough for the wheeled transports to pass through. Lin doubted that anywhere near the full load the transports could be hauling would fit on the pack train, and while some of the space was likely additional supplies intended to be left with a guard detail for the vehicles, Lin suspected there must be something else taking up a great deal of space. Frustratingly she hadn’t been able to get much of a view of the interiors of the vehicles, therefore slipping into a few for a peek was part of the mission her first set of infiltration drones would undertake preceding Andrea’s arrival near the convoy. Olan Lunere had, unfortunately, been rather light on their knowledge of the typical equipment and doctrine of Protectorate expeditions. Clearly, despite the increased tensions, the idea that a Protectorate force of any kind would actually violate the territorial claims of Malepre had not been taken seriously by Olan Lunere’s superiors.

What little the Olan knew was due to their own personal interest, though even that little bit was helpful. They said that their understanding was that the standard weapons used by the Protectorate were very analogous to those found in Malepre, the League, and the rest of the known world. The day before Andrea had informed Olan Lunere and Unla-Ela about her plan to make contact with the Protectorate expedition. Unla-Ela appeared concerned but accepting. "I understand your reasoning, I wish we had more time to help you prepare, but even the most renowned transference experts have yet to manipulate time, so we will have to make do and hope for the best. Olan Lunere was a bit more pessimistic "If you are going to meet a Protectorate force out in the wild with no witnesses, I suppose I'd better show you the sorts of weapons you might expect them to use on you to the best of my ability. With how short we are on time perhaps a practical demonstration will teach you something that saves your life when you're meeting with them inevitably goes sour."

When Andrea had accepted the Olan's offer of a demonstration she was unsure what to expect. So far both Lin and herself had had the good fortune to see very little of these alien beings' weapons. Both of them had observed objects that superficially resembled certain types of guns. They did not contain any active electronics that Lin and Andrea's sensors had been able to detect nor had their chemical sensors picked up any traces of explosive compounds that might be in a propellant. The lack of an obvious mechanical mechanism for accelerating projectiles had left the duo somewhat stumped but they had concluded that in all likelihood they somehow harnessed some of the strange phenomena that was seemingly commonplace on this world. The only other weapon they'd seen had certainly demonstrated that harnessing those phenomena had been elevated to a reasonably sophisticated level. The impressive damage dealt by Wenou's baton had genuinely surprised them both. Lin in particular was excited to be voluntarily given a demonstration of such devices, and to begin learning the methods the local population had developed to deliberately harness the strange phenomena, all the various forms of which, apparently, fell under the term transference in the trade tongue. Andrea had been pushing for using the term magic, but Lin had been resistant, she argued that the term was too loaded with cultural baggage and that transference was both descriptive and less likely to pre-define the paradigms by which they understood this strange new field of study.

After her quick hike to the usual meeting spot, Andrea signaled her presence and was soon joined by Olan Lunere. “Seeing as they aren’t of a military persuasion, and have been too absorbed with liaising with you to gather more samples for study, Unla-Ela decided that they’re time would be more productively spent returning to the work they came here to accomplish. They left on a sample gathering expedition at first light.” Andrea nodded in understanding. “That makes sense to me. Indeed I rather envy them, as I would far prefer to be conducting similar work. I spent time in the military myself, but left years ago, so I could pursue my academic interests full time.” Olan Lunere lifted an eyebrow slightly but before they could reply they were drawn away by a question emanating from the stream of their subordinates who rushed back and forth under the Olan’s orders. They were undertaking the cumbersome task of moving various different objects that were clearly intended to become targets, as well as shifting some of the heavier weapons from their positions in the camp. It seemed the demonstration would take place out in the open space between the palisade and the forest. Clearly the recently cleared area would soon be absorbing a fusillade from various weapons.

Within a quarter of an hour the demonstration was ready and Olan Lunere waved Andrea over to a quickly set up table with a number of different weapons arranged on it. Once Andrea had come over Olan Lunere told her what amounted to the lesson plan for the day. “I’m going to go through the standard issue equipment I have access to, and feel comfortable showing a foreign representative, once I’ve demonstrated a weapon you’ll be able to try it out yourself if you’d like. This should give you a rough idea of the sort of weapons Protectorate forces might field. In my personal studies about the Protectorate I’ve learned some tidbits and rumors about other possible weapons you might face, while I can’t demonstrate those I’ll at least go over what little I know. I’ll start with a weapon which I think you already saw in action.”

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The first thing the Olan reached for was a collapsible baton that closely resembled the one Wenou had used some days before to such surprising effect. After quickly demonstrating how it was deployed they strode over to a target that consisted of several rough cut thin slices of wood held slightly apart from one another. With a deceptively casual gesture the Olan the face of the first broad slice of wood with a decisive crack of impact. That first slice of wood seemed completely unharmed, however the rapid series of sharp cracks that rang out from deeper into the target as well as fragments of wood flying out through the gaps between the layers told all those watching that something far more devastating was happening just under the surface. Olan Lunere collapsed the baton and returned it to the table before leading Andrea over to the target so she could observe the layers of shattered wood that had once been the middle layers of the target. “This baton is tipped with specially treated and shaped wood from a Mulch Bark tree. The tree is known for tearing apart most things that get within fifteen to thirty centimeters of the wood, this includes itself. When the tree grows too thick it begins to shred its own bark, hence the name. When the wood is carefully harvested and preserved it can retain this shredding ability for years before needing to be replaced. We’re not sure how the tree has the energy to constantly tear apart everything that comes near it, but the harvested wood is actually harmless until it is struck or squeezed with sufficient force. Hence placing it at the tip of a baton, the force of a baton strike generates a mulching force that starts about fifteen centimeters from the actual tip of the baton and tears at everything up to around thirty centimeters away completely ignoring any armor or other barrier in the way. The thick steel of the baton is usually robust enough to endure the shredding aura and, when used properly, keeps the wielder from tearing themselves apart. You can see the holster for it here on the table, notice how the end of the baton rests inside a protective steel container lined with a cushion. There are some real horror stories about soldiers falling down with one of these holstered at their side before this style of holster was introduced. While devastating in close combat, a lot of soldiers choose to avoid them, considering how dangerous they can be to both the user and everyone near them.” After a brief moment of consideration Olan Lunere added “From what I hear, these batons are no more popular among the rank and file in the Protectorate, and while soldiers from Malepre generally use mundane steel weapons in melee, I’ve read some passing mention of a popular alternative in the Protectorate that packs a similar punch, though unfortunately I don’t know any more on the subject.”

Andrea was fascinated and horrified at the same time. Olan Lunere’s mention of ‘accidents’ certainly conjured a vivid picture when paired with their demonstration of the baton’s effect. “Interesting, and dangerous, After we’ve gone over everything I would very much like to come back and try using this for myself.” Andrea knew that Lin would very much want an opportunity to gather detailed scans of the weapon in action from as close as possible, though she intended to be extremely careful with the device, she had already concluded that anyone who chose to wield something so risky was probably not entirely sane. The Olan nodded at Andrea’s comment before gesturing over to one of the large weapons that had been hauled out into the field. “I’m going to skip the rest of the small arms for the moment, we’ll come back to them of course, it occurred to me that if I demonstrate this next weapon now it’ll have more time to recover in the heat of the day than if I wait until later.”

The next weapon the Olan demonstrated was clearly a heavy weapon, meant to be placed statically or on a vehicle, it had taken three people just to haul the entire set up out of the camp and arrange it for the demonstration. This device had no projectiles that Andrea or Lin could recognize, indeed the stubby ‘barrel’ of the weapon had no opening at all, instead it appeared to be entirely solid material sticking out the front in a solid spar with an aiming sight on top of it. Olan Lunere stepped up to the odd device and after shouting a stand clear and checking no one was in the way squeezed firmly on the handles while aiming out at a pair of thick targets, one a rock and the other a log, the targets were placed with the log behind the rock. When the Olan clenched the handles there was a moment’s pause before the weapon seemed to project a blazing column of light that howled, as the very air screamed as heat bloomed along the near blinding line emanating from the weapon. That column of blazing heat and light seemed totally unimpeded by the targets and passed through them instantly, only to vanish abruptly a few meters beyond the targets even as the searing beam continued to howl like some primeval beast incandescent with rage.