Chapter 233

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

Dungeon Factory, Fourth Floor

"-and here, you could have the golems fix bayonets and charge out! It'd be a whole new encounter, and mix things up." Said CQ as she gestured energitically at a trench line and its accompanying gun pits.

"They'd get shot by their own artillery!" Protested Alexandra.

"And? It'll do more damage to the adventurers anyway."

"I guess that's fair. Still, it kind of…rankles."

"Don't worry sweety." Said Emilia as she put her hand on CQ's shoulder. "Your mom is just suffering from her professional pride, that's all. I think it's a wonderful idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Emilia gazed at Alexandra, who nodded.

"It is CQ. And I mean it. Sorry if I was being abrasive."

"It's okay. I'd be upset too if you asked me to botch a paint job."

"Yeah, probably. Speaking of, the uniforms you sent me?"

"You're going to implement them?!?" Yelped CQ as she started bouncing.

Alexandra sighed, and the boss visibly drooped.

"Not most of them. I'm sorry, but it'd be very expensive for very little benefit, and we don't need the extra costs. So only for ceremonial units or those where it's worth it to impress someone."

"Like the baroness' honor guard?"

"Like the baroness' honor guard."

"I wanna watch!"

"Come along then. Oh, I've also been working on Subtlety. Still tweaking the AI routines, but she should be ready to go soon. Then you'll be able to talk to her, okay?" Well, technically them, but CQ had pretty much decided the AI for the 'So Much For Subtlety' was a she, and needed a nickname (hence the 'Subtlety'), and the Earth-born wasn't going to bet against her daughter convincing the Arcadia kernel of adopting both.

"Okay!"

"Great. Now let's get a move on. The baroness is waiting."

*****

"Hey Allya."

"Hello Alex!" Said Allya as she stepped out of the corridor leading to the military entrance, shaking the dungeon avatar's hand. "And CQ. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good. Had a nice design session for the fourth floor. You'll be happy to learn we'll be ready to partially open it up tomorrow, as a test run."

Allya smiled.

"That's good to hear! Great, even. It'll be a nice counterpoint to the ships too."

"Yep. Everything should be ready for the first squadron to depart." What with the many, many issues that had cropped up due to the premature launch in anticipation for the raid on the teleport commandos, not all of the ships were ready to go, as given the distance they were about to travel she'd rather do it right. Which meant, in this case, that only three raiders and a corsair were ready to go, the rest still undergoing repairs.

Thank the stars for having the town move her secondary core to Erakis, she was never going to have enough ships otherwise. Though the fleet would still leave a bit after her ships, the problem of having inefficient resupply and, well, the need for actual shore leaves for the crews, especially since they were going to have to get across the wasteland. Eh, maybe they'd wave to the Republic's army as they passed them.

"That's part of why I'm here. Pyn would have come to, if she hadn't been so busy. She should be able to join us for the meeting however."

"Right. Wanted to catch a look from the shipyard?"

"Hey, why not, and-" Alexandra hid a smile as the baroness caught her first look at the honor guard, and clearly did a double take. "What the fuck?"

"What?" Alexandra smiled sweetly while CQ grinned. "Do you not like the security teams' new uniform? CQ designed them."

"I mean…they look nice, but, uh…" Allya raised an eyebrow. "Metal skulls? A bit too edgy, wouldn't you say?"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"It's a message to intruders."

"I mean, sure, and it's stylish, but not that threatening." Allya blinked. "Wait, are the skulls…different?"

"Yes. Each is patterned after one I absorbed from a defeated enemy."

The silence was deafening, until Allya swallowed heavily.

"And see, baroness, the fact that you're visibly reconsidering your life choices is all that I need to know about the effectiveness of the intimidation factor!" Continued Alexandra.

"Did you truly…"

"Nah. I just made a metal skull and then randomly adjust some variables."

"Oh thank the Gods."

"It will make for great marketing though."

"You plan on selling them?"

"Well, not really, but now that you mention it…Dungeon deathmasks, how would that sound?"

"You need to get a hobby."

"I do have one, but people complain so much when I throw armies around and conquer places."

They both looked at each other, and then started laughing.

"Alright, well let's engage in that hobby of yours, and launch those airships!"

*****

Allya had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

During her discussion with Alexandra, they'd both gotten so engrossed into their planning and logistical discussions they barely even noticed the food and drink around them.

Let alone their respective girlfriends huddling in a corner of the room and talking.

And now Pyn had gone 'shopping'. Alongside one of the maids.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Allya froze like a deer in headlights, before coming to answer it.

Pyn smiled so radiantly it was blinding, making Allya almost miss the rope poking out of the shopping bag she was holding.

Almost.

"Hey love! I bought some stuff for us!"

*****

"Well, maybe getting the fourth floor isn't such a bad idea after all." Said Alexandra as she looked at the reports, grimacing. "We're getting really borderline in terms of resources."

"That bad?" Responded Emilia, as she flopped onto the bed.

"Worse. With the ships and the blackbird, we're actually getting to a point where even the NLR core isn't going to be enough. And we're strained with my resources."

"Well, airships are expensive."

And railguns, missile launchers, or the nuclear reactor in the basement. Not that she was going to tell the vampire about the last one.

"Indeed they are. But that means we need to accumulate mana to get the NLR core to its next plateau. And we need to start now, before the secondary core-" She tapped the gem, currently mounted in her collarbone. Interestingly enough, it looked and felt almost exactly like the primary one. Maybe she could use that someday. "-arrives at Erakis, since that'll be a major resource drain as well."

Alexandra tapped the gem again. She wasn't going to be able to soon, since it would be sent along with the fleet towards Erakis as soon as it was resupplied. Plus, despite her security measures, she was still uncomfortable carrying her 'true' core inside her avatar, though it had clearly been designed with that in mind. While her avatar never left the dungeon, it definitely left the core fortress, and she'd rather not tempt fate, especially not when her core room was thoroughly stealthed.

"So, budget cuts?"

"Pretty much. I'm thinking on cutting back on military production for ground troops. It's not like we can really use them right now. Focus mostly on air and marines."

"What about the stuff you're planning to sell to the Republic?"

"We can use the stockpiles for that. We have a ton of surplus of semi-obsolete stuff, we'll start with that."

"Pretty shitty gifts."

"Hey, it's leagues better than what they have. Besides, they'll expect me to test the water first with some low end sales."

"Uh uh, totally not justification after your decision."

"Oh shush."

Alexandra gave her girlfriend a half hearted bonk on the head, and Emilia giggled.

"Alright your majesty the dungeon core, I shall forevermore stay silent on the issue."

"Thank you."

"On one condition." Said Emilia, with a mischievious grin, as she fetched one of the shopping bags.

Alexandra's eyebrows rose.

"Sarah brought something good?"

"Oh quite. She was being accompanied by Pyn, and was fetching some stuff on direct recommendation from her as well!"

Oh. Oh no.

"I just remembered that-" Alexandra stammered and lost her train of thoughts as Emilia nailed her with a lustful stare that made her knees weak.

"Now now, don't go running away honey. You haven't even seen what it is yet!"

And with that, the vampire pulled out the contents of the bag.

"Are those…bunny ears?"

"Among other things."

"...This is vengeance for what I made you do after the bet, isn't it?"

Emilia's smile was very toothy.

"Among other things." She repeated.

Alexandra swallowed heavily.

Oh boy.

Sweet merciful Gods, give me strength.

*****

"Well you look the worse for wear." Said the apparition as she handed Alexandra a mug of hot chocolate. Well, technically, the illusion of a mug of hot chocolate, but everything in her ever changing house, which now included parenting books on the shelves, was an illusion to begin with anyway.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm surprised you can still walk straight. Oh, wait, you ca-"

"I can, and will, hack this simulation and make you experience it in every little detail."

The apparition shut up, though given how hastily she lifted her own mug, she was probably hiding a smile.

Smartass.

"Alrighty then. Came in to check in on my little side project?"

"It's a major budget line item, I wouldn't call it little. Or a side project for that matter."

"Fair enough. Well, the reactor has achieved criticality, and is currently running at ten percent power, as agreed. The cooling circuit is also working as intended, including your, ah, addition."

Alexandra gave the apparition a warning glance, but her other self simply held her hands up.

"I'm not criticizing, just saying it's working."

"Last thing right now is to give Emilia more ideas."

"Or you could ambush her with it. You know, turn the tables and all that."

Alexandra was suddenly very thoughtful, before shaking her head.

"Well, ambushing my girlfriend with a jaccuzzi aside, is the rest of the infrastructure ready?"

"All the machinery for plutonium extraction from the fuel rods is ready, yes. Though it's not very efficient, it's a start. I'm not going to start putting uranium pellets in the reactor for nuclear transmutation until we've had it running for a bit and have ironed out the kinks however."

"Having a nuclear accident would be suboptimal."

"That, or too much plutonium two four zero in the mix. We don't want our nukes just going boom in a whim either."

"That also."

"On other projects, I'm still working on the fabricators when I can. Whoever did their defenses was thorough, paranoid, and a complete asshole. Emphasis on the latter."

"Well, they're out best bet for more advanced tech."

"I'm not saying it's not the case, just pointing out it's a pain in the ass is all. Speaking of advanced tech, planning to steal one of those missiles?"

"Not just yet. Maybe later, but for now, better let the guild and the church expend their resources chasing ghosts."

"And strike when they're not looking?"

"I mean, you remember training, 'hit them where they ain't' and all that."

"We failed that course."

"We did. Doesn't make the lessons any less valid. Would you like to help with the ship's AIs?"

"Subtlety? Sure, but only a bit. I think you and your daughter will have that well in hand. Though we'll have to be careful, if the AI is taken…"

"Right, we can't have her know too much. At the same time, CQ has been outside a lot and knows about a lot of our secrets. Same for Jared."

"Right, point taken. Just put in a thorough self destruct."

"Oh that's easy, I'll put the computer in the ammunition magazine." Alexandra shrugged as the apparition stared at her. "What? The ship will blow up and the AI will die anyway if it's hit. That way, we can ensure nothing remains. And since the magazine is already armored, we won't need to make a second armored core!"

"I guess those are fair points, but still, it's…weird."

"I know what you mean. Objective back home was to preserve the AI, not make sure she went down with the ship."

"Yeah. They were crew after all."

"Among other things. In our case, they'll be captain and admirals."

"Giving up on smart golems?"

"Not giving up, just…managing my expectations. Besides, I'm curious as to how well they'll perform in the field. And it's not like we'll be able to build more than one ship to house them at first anyway."

"Right. Reminds me, Culture-class, really?"

"They're excellent novels!"

"You just wanted to use the ship names, admit it. What's next, the 'Death and Gravity'?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'Frank Exchange of Views', and who says I can't have a little fun while I'm at it?"

"Riiight, well good luck pronouncing those during combat."

"It's okay, I have CQ to give them nicknames."

"Yeah, you can trust the kid with that kind of things."

"I know, right? Have you seen her art as well?"

"Yeah. The uniforms are really nice too. I'm…" The apparition hesitated.

"Proud of her? You can say it. She's your daughter too."

"Right. Sorry."

"It's alright. Now, for those fabricators, I think we need to brainstorm some ideas to speed this whole process up…"