Ripper charged forwards with her new sword at the ready, she was ready to start testing it out on the approaching knights that entered her view, however just then her Aea echoed out a report
[Heliea-003 on station, starting suppression of targets]
Ripper ground her teeth in frustration, even though she knew Matthew would leave some for her, her blade coded brain still hated having the moving, fighting straw dolls stolen from her, especially when she had just found a new sword to test out, as the autocannon barrage started raining down on the city confusion spread, then shortly after that came the panic
it was understandable though, from the people of Tweni’s perspective, one moment you were next to a symbol of peace and stability in the form of a trained and well respected knight, the next you were next to a collection of slagged metal and the sorry remains of what used to be a person splattered over the pavement. Looking at the Heliea that railed down auto cannon fire Ripper had a rather profound thought cross her mind
‘Now the people of this city will learn to fear the sky’
For a civilization that neither knew of the horror held in the terms ‘industrial warfare’ or ‘air superiority’ this was sure to leave quite the impact
Ripper let out a sigh, with her mood spoiled by Matthew her eagerness to test out her new blade disappeared, and she quickly reassigned the rest of the knights for targeting through her 09 as she stopped her spring and returned her new blade to its sheathe, a few moments passed before Matthew caught up with her, he didn’t need long to grasp she was angry at him, so he gracefully tried to change the subject by asking a question of her
“That reminds me, your virtual reality headset, do you use real location data, or are you using fabricated locations?”
Ripper glazed his way before she let out a sigh and responded
“Of course I use real location data, I assigned one of the hyper-computing cores to whip up an algorithm that could run off the processors in my 09 to make environments out of drone footage”
To this Matthew suddenly stopped running and slowly came to a halt as he had a sudden idea, he turned it over in his mind a few times before he relayed it to Aea
[Confirmed, running simulation… Simulated results are favorable for our purposes, however the original suggestion I made still have a higher probability of success]
‘I don’t care, order the hardware to be produced at Basecamp, this goes beyond mere consciousness… Besides, this option doesn’t entirely exclude the one you suggested entirely’
[Yes, however, please keep in mind that your future safety is still compromised according to Lea’s visions, master]
‘I know, as long as you stop short of covering me in fucking bubble wrap, we can still be friends’
[To be considered a friend of master is a great honor, though I must admit that I didn't know you thought so highly of me]
Matthew showed a smile before he leapt up onto the outer walls of Tweni, when he landed on the top he spoke
“Come on now Aea, how many years have we known each other? If I hated you I would have put in a request for another virtual assistant… Connect me to the external speakers of the Heliea, it’s time to make a statement”
[Connection established, ready to broadcast]
A few moments later, Matthew’s voice boomed out over the city
“I am Major Matthew Rockwell, on my return to this puny empire I bring with me 2 things. A promise of death to those who plundered our lands and an official message from the Emperor of over 4000 worlds: The Trerubic Empire never forgives, and it will never forget!”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As Matthew spoke the Heliea heavy transport descended to the edge of the wall in its V-TOL configuration within a minute this symbol of defense to the people of the city were scaled by the combat androids that quickly boarded the plane followed by Ripper and finally Mathew that spared one final chilling gaze at the city below him before he stepped onto the ramp that closed a moment later.
-
The following week a proverbial fire was lit under the Willmir empire's ass as every single of its wall Western cities had flies dropped over them, the text were all the same
“A promise of the complete destruction of our great Empire, I can only see this a jest in the poorest of tastes your majesty”
Erik Willmir the 3rd let out a sigh, he had believed his troubles with the Western fringes of the empire had been resolved by the last change of seasons, however now the problem had reemerged, bringing with a far greater headache than last time it reared its ugly head. The Emperor let out a sigh and slumped down in his opulent chair, this would normally be seen as an act far too undignified for a man of his statue, but neither he nor his current company cared
“This year extracts a heavy toll… First my father and daughter were lost to us, then there was the failed expedition and the destruction of Fort Adam, then came the headache of purging the plain skinned monsters that have wielded their shadowy powers for a few generations… And now when I was finally ready to turn in for the winter, this happens”
Despite his tired tone, Erik Willmir the 3rd were as confident as he could be, as he had just nonchalantly complained he had done more good for the empire than most of his predecessors over the summer and fall, having purged the cancer that grew in the heart of the empire just like the Erick had just complained, the empire too was ready to turn into the winter to stabilize, these flyers had just thrown a major spanner in that much-needed recovery period
“We need to deal with this at once, even if it's just a joke in poor taste”
“Please let me handle this, your majesty”
Erik glanced over at his 2nd son and current heir to the throne, Vincent Willmir and considered it for a few moments, in reality there was nothing to consider, he acted like he was as he waited for his firstborn son, Theodore Willmir to speak up… However, he never did, so he eventually nodded, Vincent stood and bowed his head before speaking confidently
“I shall see to it at once, please excuse me your majesty”
Vincent turned and strode out of the meeting room with his head held high, never once glancing at his older brother that still sat and glanced out the window watching the clouds, at this point the only people left in the room were the emperor, the 1st prince and the prime minister Elias Reinhardt who promptly let out a long sigh before he spoke
“Your majesty the first prince”
A few moments of silence followed in silence as Theodore continued to stare at the clouds, which caused Elias to speak again
“Prince Theodore”
This snapped the prince out of his daze and he returned to this reality as he turned his face away from the window, he still didn’t look at either his father nor his mentor, prime minister Elias that asked him
“What is on your mind today, Theo?”
The prince continued to gather his thoughts for another few moments before he spoke
“I… I was running the taxation numbers from the Eastern region again… It still doesn’t add up…”
Erik let out a sigh before he spoke gently to his son
“Theo, you have to share these things with your brother too”
Theodore turned his face away slightly, which was all the answer both the Prime minister and the Emperor needed, Theodore was a genius, he was undoubtedly intelligent enough to take the seat of emperor, however intelligence wasn’t enough to lead the empire, meanwhile his brother Vincent had made alliances with most powerful nobles in the empire, and pitted the rest he couldn’t win over against each other, his web of connections and backroom deals showed his brilliant charisma, however this had consumed him with arrogance and he knew little of statecraft, Erik hoped his two sons could work together and bring a new golden age to the empire, alas, Vincent had alienated his elder brother Theodore, and Theodore cared too little about anything other than numbers and calculations to care
“I… I will try”
Erik let out another sigh and shared a look of resignation with the prime minister Elias, however just as Erik was going to continue persuading prince Theodore the door were abruptly opened, and a very flustered looking Vincent walked in, clearly out of breath, Erik raised his hand as his son was about to speak and commanded him
“Sit down first, catch your breath, son”
Vincent nodded, he took a seat, clutched in his hand were a piece of paper which he placed on the table, Erik took it and asked
“What is this? Another flier?”
Vincent shock his head and spoke, still clearly flustered
“A, A woman handed it to me just now, she, she cut down all of my guards and disappeared from sight the moment after she handed it to me”
“What!?”
Elias rose to his feet in outrage, Erik quickly nodded to him and spoke quickly
“Go handle it”
Elias nodded and quickly walked out of the room as Theodore slid his glass of water over to his brother, Erik read through the paper quickly, as he did his hands began trembling in rage, when he was done, he let it fall down on the table and nearly began yelling cures before he caught the worried gazes of his two sons and gathered himself as he spoke to Vincent
“Don’t worry, my son, I will have the head of the person who threatened your life”
Theodore placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, and to Erik’s surprise, Vincent didn’t reject this notion, Erik leaned further back in his chair as he glanced at the paper whereupon it was stated that the Western region capital city of Maitner would be removed from the map in 4 days if he, the Emperor of the Willmir empire himself didn’t meet for negotiations at the destroyed Fort Adam
‘First they threaten my son, then they demand I personally come to meet them on the threat of the Western capital’s destruction!?’
The emperor rose from his seat, but just as he was about to speak the door to the room was once again opened as Elias rushed in, he locked eyes with Erik and fell to his knees as he lowered his head and spoke
“2 days ago, the walled city of Winmond were assaulted before it was forcibly evacuated and raised to the ground by Major Matthew Rockwell of The Trerubic Empire”
The emperor’s eyes widen in shock before he glanced down at the paper on the table which he had just dismissed in fear