I handled over the vial of mostly clear gooey fluid. Duke Rimval took it with an uncertain expression, and the datachip with it.
“I believe our research should match up with the forensic investigations of your Umbrans,” I told him and Duke Parablum calmly. “I have stored the information away in an akashic record, which is the only remaining dataset left. I had the drives the results were stored on melted down, and the teams doing the investigations submitted to voluntary mindwipes of the results.”
They watched my Tails vanish, and the poison spikes thereon, which I had just filled that vial from.
Yeah, I could mix up Madame Shauna’s diabolical venom from either my Tails or the poison glands in my mouth I already had. Only, the Hag Curse made very sure that the results were aligned to me, especially to the Brands I could administer with my primary Tail, and not the Warp.
Furthermore, the potency of the stuff was based to a large part on the natural vitality of the one administering it. To say I was leagues above the Madame in that department was no lie. One dose of this, and I had a willing slave for life. Their life. Which would not be overly long.
“There’s no effective antidote, as I’m sure your own men confirmed, and trying vaccination just starts the process. Maybe removing the pleasure center of your brain ahead of time would do it, and your sex organs... but more likely it’d just drive you insane that much more quickly.” That was one nasty piece of work. “You either resist it initially, are naturally immune, or you are toast.”
“You spoke of... other ramifications?” Duke Parablum asked, interested and cautious.
Both men acted towards me with a level of instinctive respect they couldn’t shake after they Bonded with their Ranthas. It was probablymaybeyeah related to the way I took part of their souls to make the girls, la la la, but it was also because of the Hag Sisterhood effect. To their Ranthas, I was Mom, no ways around it, so in their eyes they subconsciously were treating me like their mother-in-law... and they had a very good idea what I was capable of, being so closely linked with Vala and Bluma.
The fact that both were Twelves and still did not have a prayer in heaven of getting past my Null with their psionics was also a thing.
And yet, that same link with my daughters forced them to realize that I was not a true threat, and I certainly had no malicious intent whatsoever. That I was incredibly ambitious, personally extremely dangerous, and unbelievably talented... didn’t actually mean I was a threat to them!
“The stuff is only rapidly effective if it is psionically energized, or in a Warp Zone where it can be empowered. However... the basic formula could be replicated and synthesized, with some difficulty.” I let that hang out there as their faces darkened. “I think we can praise our lucky stars that they didn’t think of mass-producing her spit and introducing it as a recreational aphrodisiac. I calculate that our losses from this last action would have been at least a hundred times greater, there would have been a Mass Incursion generated as a result, and you would have had to Omega Sanction the planet.”
They both looked at that vial. Saved by being too lazy to think beyond her own personal realm of control...
“Above and beyond that...” I sighed despite myself, “that stuff will work on non-sapients as well as the intelligent ones, and if they are phrenic, it is even more potent. It leads to being able to reproduce with things you should have no ability to whatsoever.”
Their faces were like stone to hide their shock, and I could tell they really, really wished they could burn that vial. Maybe they still would.
“Lastly, if you get enough Energized Elements in the making of it, you can turn it into an aerosol form. Get enough spread to blanket a planet, and you’ve an alternative Omega Sanction. Every higher life form on the planet will go full Amourean, trying to rape, kill, or eat every single other creature on the planet, until they eat themselves while trying to assuage the need for a fix.
“Of course, anyone stupid enough to try that is going to trigger an Omega Incursion and lose the planet anyways as the Warp is drawn there, but the fact remains that they could do it.”
The vial and chip disintegrated in Duke Rimval’s hand. He bowed his head and put his palms to his forehead. “Holy Throne, hear thy servant and bend thine ear to my plea...” he began, and neither I nor Duke Parablum thought that was at all inappropriate, even though we knew that Duke Rimval was about as pious as a bullet in the skull. Still, Emperor’s Mercy and all that...
The Great Enemy had a double-duty Omega Sanction. Kill off every higher life-form on the planet, AND summon an Incursion strong enough to take the whole planet because of how they were going to die? We’d been saved because the one who had the potential had no idea of what her little addictive gift could truly become, and hadn’t thought past the reach of her tongue.
“And you can do this now?” Duke Parablum asked with a sigh.
I nodded. “And I don’t mean to sound mean, but if I ever run into a Warped World already claimed by them, I’d be perfectly willing to wipe them with this, and then burn the planet en vivus with the saturation of Warp Energy that would result. Making them pay four times over, as it were.” The huge influx of Warp Energy layered on to the previous would burn the planet very clean, indeed, and probably restore it to a natural paradise, turning an unsalvageable hellhole into a jewel of the galaxy.
Nah, I wasn’t the vindictive type, was I? Quadruple indemnity was enough for me!
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Duke Parablum took a deep breath. He was extending a lot of trust to me, but one look at the Markdoor and he realized he could probably trust me more than he could himself. “You said you had other plans?” he went on, after Duke Rimval’s quiet prayer finished, and they both could regard me again.
“Business topic.” A welcome change from doomsday addictive bioweapon scenarios. “Take a look at The Map.” Their eyes flickered as I brought it up in a visual overlay between us, shared Marksight. I mentally drew it back, giving them an eyeball view of my massive run around the Warp Zone, and then zoomed in on the areas of my run.
“Shaded areas are mining sites with Energized Elements.” Both men’s eyes narrowed, and they leaned in despite themselves as the miles scrolled by, and zone after zone of E-mines flared briefly, element and its Energized type clearly marked as I traveled.
Vein after vein after vein of them...
I drew back further, and glowing threads all around the Warpzone glittered with signs of wealth.
Janus III was a mining planet, and the Dukes were absolutely aware of the primary importance of mining operations here. The only reason they weren’t massively bigger than right now is because of the sheer cost of shielding the workers against the hostile planet. The size and variety of ores available meant the mining companies never needed to look far to find the next thing to exploit, and given how easily surveying teams got eaten, they had literally never done a survey on the scale I just had.
“More importantly, here’s some of the areas the kids have been going over, footloose explorers that they are.” The view zoomed in to the north and west, the mountains and the wastes, filled in by crisscrossing lines as incorrigible BR teams went around filling in the Map, finding veins, and surveying them out, while amusing themselves with or avoiding the local wildlife as the situation warranted. After all, if they had Talents like Natural Explorer or Friend of Stone, why wouldn’t they cater to them?
The size of those veins was every bit as large as those being worked on to the south of the city. However, the terrain was far more hostile in both layout and native inhabitants... neither of which were all that bad in the eyes of the eager kiddies beneath me, all clamoring to make a fortune on extractive industries.
“I want to start claiming mineral rights on these areas, and accumulating the capital to start mining them. As soon as I do, however, that will trip the limits of every noble family and mining corp on the planet, and they’ll start buying up the rights to vast swathes of territory without even bothering to do the surveys, just so they can overcharge anyone who wants to mine there.
“Briggs will have total control over the Skraeling smelteries and factories within three months. Once he does, he’ll stop making their Vatted and start recruiting more Marked to work there.
“I only need Marked who can work up a Vajra at Three to have a workforce capable of working outside the walls with only a breathing mask. Furthermore, I have psions who can psicraft their own Resistance to the Elements and do the same.
“The majority of tech used in mining this planet doesn’t exceed TL 7. There’s no motile forges, smelteries, or factories, for instance. There are tons of designs for more efficient ways to extract ore, using psionics, technology, or both, but none of them are being employed because of the expense of protecting the work force, and because nobody wants to pay them what they are worth while they pocket the profits.
“Given the number of Ranthas who should be coming online, and how fast we are recruiting Marked, I should have a workforce capable of manning a motile factory within three months, and should be able to add a factory a month afterwards as more Threes come online.” Dots began to pop up all over the map as dig sites began to accumulate. “I will need financial backing of the highest order to get all these factories made and specialty parts ordered, and we’re going to have to design some special freighters for hauling the output. Security will not be a problem, as the workers are going to rather enthusiastically double as defenders, too.
“As for return on investment...” many of the spots faded suddenly, leaving only eight glowing behind, six silver, two blue-black. “Mithral and adamant, respectively. The product of those two mines alone should pay for literally all the others. I estimate that in five years, the motile factories’ financial output will be greater than that of all the cities combined, simply based on the variety of ores they will be putting out. When the Map expands and the kids start finding other veins...the amount of wealth at stake is astronomical.
“But if the families and megacorps find out all this, it will be strangled in the grave.”
There was no way the ultra-wealthy would not exploit findings like this, especially if they knew we could find them. They would simply sit on them in perpetuity, until I mined out the claims that I could reach, and then charge ruinous fees for any rights in the area... if they didn’t decide to bite the bullet and survey them themselves despite the dangers.
The Haze, Freaker Storms, the alkaline winds, and the nasty hostile natives and marauders had all combined to make surveying practically impossible with the preferred mechanical/automated means, and the living naturally didn’t do any better. Add all that to the easy mines found just by expanding current operations in given directions, and there was no incentive to go off into nasty territory, at least without someone else footing the bill.
Pre-empting all of these ruthless bastards was doubtless going to wind up with some extreme violence, raiding, pirating, and other extreme means going to be used to hit my bottom lines. The boys and girls were already looking forward to the excitement.
“There are alternatives to simply uniformly denying entry or issuing a blank check,” Duke Rimval murmured. I inclined my head. I was aware of many such, but those were things for the Orders to endorse, not I.
“For the areas surrounding the Warpzone, they fall clearly within the danger range of the Warp and are our responsibility. Simply disallowing any mining operations without clear surveys to warrant the risk and a thorough plan of accessing them is totally within our remit,” Sir Parablum stated firmly, as the full Map of sites came back up. The important thing was that all my survey points were around the Warp Zone, and no sane corp was going to use the required TL 5 mining methods there, especially if they had to deal with the environment and raiders, too.
“Quietly passing similar regulations regarding new mines to cut down on speculation and infighting, while raising the commiserate fees over time under the guise of free revenue sources in light of recent setbacks off-planet will likewise dissuade them from investing and sitting on the land.” He indicated the nearest deposits to the north, E-Carbon and E-Silicon. The first was used in all sorts of polymers and advanced plastics, the latter in duracrete, optical fibers, and ceramics. The stuff was very common among the Energized elements, but the market was boundless and the profit guaranteed. “So, the key factor will be your surveys of lands outside the Warp Zone perimeter.”
“The surveys will be increasing quickly as I ask the kids to cover the ground in their down time.”
“You have systems designed to exploit the ores in the danger zone?” Duke Rimval asked. I just gave him an eyebrow. “Yes, right, foolish question...”