Pandora's Box I

The helibot picked up the empress and quickly flew her towards the Kaldanas Mountains, straight towards the dwarven fortress. "What's their status?" she asked over coms.

"Currently holding back a last barricade before the puppets enter the main fortress area, then it's going to be fighting door to door. If that barricade breaks, and we aren't there, it's a done deal that they won't survive, complicating matters outside their gates and taking time to clean up from both above ground and below" Will replied with Grey affirming that.

"Why would it take time from below?"

"Because Dominic just tasked 12th Brigade to hold back."

"Wait, what? Why?" she snapped out.

"Take a look." The soldiers that were supposed to be pushing up behind the faith eaters had stalled further down at the mouth of the tunnel due to other creatures coming in to see if they couldn't get their hands on anything in the Drow city. Most of them didn't know what the automatons were, which usually meant only one thing for a good amount of the races that showed up… combat.

"Shit, how many different… whoa, it's a team battle royale? Bugbears, Illithids, vampires, trolls, Kuo Toa, there were even a few beholders there. "And they're fighting my soldiers?"

"When they get too close at least, it's mostly dragging from one side of the zone to the other, trying to scavenge for whatever they can or show who is superior in capability. Anytime they come near our men, they are promptly reminded of their mistake" Will told her.

"None of them are giving us trouble?"

"Not yet, though it is keeping them from advancing along the egress tunnel the Drow made, constantly watching their six for an attempted push."

"Drop some explosives, get spider mines deployed, set up auto turrets, send fast strikers up the cave. We need to pincer these things!"

"They're doing their best ma'am, they are guarding 19th Support as well. They were never meant to move fast."

Damn it, but I'm not about to tell them to abandon an entire brigade to fend for itself, no matter how powerful my military really is. I've gotten this far without losing a single soldier, I'm not about to break that streak now with foolish orders going against Dominic's judgement. He's probably thinking the same thing.

"There's something in the city they all want, isn't there? It couldn't just be they smell blood on the wind and are looking to cash in, something is drawing them there that they all are hoping to snatch."

"There is, though nothing to truly worry about. The Drow down here had found a way to solidify mana into bars or jars for storage. We've already collected a few samples for the eggheads to look into."

But I already have mana potions that never expire, not that I'm using them right now. Why would I need mana ba… oh, maybe a tradeable resource? Huh, might be useful for blacksmiths or even someone who runecrafts to work into their creations without need of a wizard, kind of like carbon blocks. Giles might jump at getting another shipment with some of this in it.

"So, they want to, what, eat it, use it for spells, grind it up and snort it to get high? Do we know yet?"

"Nothing concrete as their actions are currently focused on survival, not on taking from the limited supply." Selene sighed and shook her head slowly. Things were going so well a few days ago, she was jumping for joy at all the things that were tipping in her favor. Now she had to deal with an aquatic assault on Sweet Water, dragons now living within her borders, finishing up the last few villages of the Be'arkeln Grand Tribe, warrior monks from Tal Salunbal making an incursion to hopefully find a long lost prince in Olva'lore Forest, dwarves about to be destroyed and Silvinholm under siege… which technically wasn't her problem, she just made it one.

"Alright, keep me informed if they can break away." Will acknowledged as her staff cut coms. There was a small list of things that had happened that she hoped would de-stress her short flight. The 3D printer had launched with a gantry, with the inventory hopper finally latching it into place. The odd thing was… the positioning was moved. The original plan was to have the space station built in LEO, however somehow this had changed. "Juliet, why have the station coordinates changed for production?"

"Why keep the stations stuck in LEO? I got the go ahead to alter the positioning to Lagrange points and high geosync, at least L1 and L2, with another between the moon and the planet and a few other locations."

"Wait, who gave the… oh. I see. Yes, I gave them the authority to do things like this… wait, stations? Plural?" the empress asked, confused.

"Surprise! COMOPS was able to finagle two pods at the same time for both trips yesterday in a cluster launch if you will, speeding up the schedule and extending the range on the mass drivers, bless their metal hearts; technically, two of the 'convoys' won't officially start until the first one is nearly completed in its first stage, as the travel time and set up near the asteroid labeled 'big metal 1' will take some effort, so your first official station will be just between us and the moon with the second being a dome station landed on the big cratered thing.

Energy diversion is a little low to keep firing pods like that, it'll warp the coils if it continues, we've been requested to add in another main reactor and a secondary coil skeleton which shouldn't be a problem sometime this week. You'd think having six micro reactors and twelve generators would keep the place going, but it looks like they need some official core power units installed to keep up with the needs of going against the launch policies. Are you happy?" the auto questioned coyly. The dev chuckled and nodded to no one in the transport.

"Yes, I guess I am. I was a little confused and annoyed, but, even though I've named them, I'm just not used to them helping out just yet or thinking ahead. I keep somehow figuring they'll just send recommendations on what next to do, not just actually, you know, doing things to get the empire going. They send reports about what they've commanded others to perform, it's not like they hide anything."

"We'd never do that ma'am, they have no reason to secret away information. The reason why we agreed to move their positions was for expansion in the future and secrecy, along with multiple dock points around the planet without needing to go to one spot or launching at a certain time of day to take the shortest trip. All for convenience, maybe in the future to link all of the stations in a space ring, if the locals are used to seeing advanced tech by then of course. Your staff even mentioned they would talk to you about getting an underground, underwater, floating on water, and airborne city created."

"Not until we deal with the threats down below or the large threats in the oceans. I have no idea how many krakens there are, or if there are other things similar in size. Until we can be assured that nothing is going to rear its freaky head and take a bite out of a section of those aforementioned cities, I'm going to say no. Besides… why even make them? The only people who would go to either might be myself or the Valkyrja."

"Just opening up avenues to expand ma'am, things will start to get pretty hectic for real estate once Artinia is smoked and the rest of the continent is under your control, which I firmly believe. The oceans and underground are just more land mass to use if you open your mind to it, just with a bit more hazard involved. If we plan well, it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, it'd be a good proof of concept and learning experience, let us know what works with the construction and the wildlife" Romeo chimed in.

I never said we wouldn't, just right now it isn't viable due to the unknown threats. We need to seriously catalog everything that lives on this dirt ball. That zoo and aquarium is looking really good right now… probably add a monster bestiary containment center for study as well.

"I understand, but I'm just going to tell them no until things have calmed down. Too many things flying in all directions right now; without a population to make use of those expansions in territory most of it would just be a waste of resources. Besides… couldn't we just get city models made? I mean, those all would fit in one room…" Both Romeo and Juliet laughed.

"You? Worried about resources?" Juliet scoffed out in an amused tone.

"Har har, despite anyone thinking otherwise, I don't have an infinite amount. The fabrication units scrapping drones for spare materials, then getting melted down, along with converters and mining is still finite; I'm just stockpiling for if something really bad happens."

"Like an intergalactic war? The sun going supernova, so we have to pick up and leave? No offense ma'am, really, but the amount of supply you have set aside just for me to use with my combat engineers is staggering, there's still wood in the listing we haven't touched for the past… I mean, we haven't touched anything below graphene or gelcrete since they were developed, hell maybe on very rare occasions we use copper or steel for signage, and with Carbyne… you could outproduce the whole planet right now" Romeo replied.

"Romeo, hon, most of the planet is still in the middle ages, so that's a given. Also, send some of that our way if you aren't using what's available, you're currently talking to the queen of civilian construction here, like, you know, the girl that still uses wood in abundance for the people?" Juliet commented.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant she could theoretically build whatever she feels is needed or wanted, and if it isn't, well our recycling stations are more than capable of getting all of it back."

"True. I'll swap the stacks over to you Juls, hopefully they'll help" Selene replied to both of them, however the fact he stated there was a bunch of relatively unusable materials in her inventory that her empire, at least the part that she directly worked on, didn't need was a little amusing. Wood and even stone was far beyond obsolete, she just didn't take most of the excess out just yet as it could be fed into converters for small amounts of other resources.

"We have plenty as well, but we're going to need an influx of it soon once Artinia is just a bad memory; fixing up decrepit homes and getting them up to code, at least a decent medieval code, takes a chunk per town. Silvinholm would make me pull my hair out if I actually had any that wasn't metal. Who puts their homes so close like that?! Has no one heard of fire hazards?! One spark and a whole neighborhood goes up in no time flat! These aren't apartment complexes!" The empress laughed. She liked listening to her creation's banter, it felt so right hearing them mouth about issues happening around them they were trying to fix, just as invested in everything getting done as she was.

"Five minutes to LZ" the helibot warned her as it cut corners and dove over Eld Horn Town, Liyana looking up through the trees as she saw the royal transport up above. The girl hoped some day she could ride in one of those, if their ruler allowed it.

"Gotta go, thanks for the update on the stations." Both Commanders of construction divisions disconnected with a green wink in the channel on her Hud, and she was alone again. Hrist and Brynhildr were again off to help Skuld finally train her Pegasus, which she hadn't yet even ridden yet. The students were all hoping to get a chance to see them ride through the skies, three Valkyrja heading off to an imaginary war, their regalia stunning with custom weapons and shields for all at the academy to see.

The helibot landed just as she got info that the exotic herbs were grown and picked, ready to be used in the new elixirs.

Now is not a good time to have an upset stomach while standing in front of dwarves.

She tasked a company to split away from 7th Brigade that was near Sweet Water and diverted them to escort her into the fortress. As she looked up at the front gates, the dev realized she was breaking the locks yet again. "Alright… this time we're going to see if I can get something out of this…" she said to herself as she took a deep breath and remembered the recommendations that Gala had given her on proper control of her words.

As she pushed forward with a strong presence, there were no guards waiting for her, no dwarves seen anywhere, and clear damage noticed coming from the entrance to the mines.

Was I too late? No, there's no fog around here, they must have sent everyone to hold the line.

As she walked around the main core along the massive stone path towards what she knew was a beacon from the recon team, the empress spotted in the far distance the mountain king and his lackeys, the nobles of the houses. They were arguing as a massive barricaded door bumped and shook with strikes from the other side. "Tally of targets?" she asked over coms to the recon team.

"The Drow city had as many as 80,000 citizens, however given the-"

"The tally now, not before. I want to know how many puppets are behind that gate."

"Currently 120,000, give or take a few hundred." The prince turned around and pointed at Selene walking towards them and gasped, trying to get everyone's attention.

"You. You seem to come at inopportune times. It's like you can tell when we have bad luck thrust upon us. It's very peculiar" the king stated, seeming to mime what the nobles were thinking as they nodded.

"I did warn you about a tunnel supposedly being made by Drow."

"Then you knew of these things, didn't you?"

"Just recently found out they were down there." The king looked a little dumbfounded at that answer.

"Wait, you knew these things were down there? Meaning you had explored the Underdark knowing this would happen!" one of the nobles exclaimed.

"Please listen carefully to what I've already said before making accusations like that, considering you have no idea who I really am beyond these stone walls you have. We started exploring when Olva'lore Forest was tagged for a raid from Drow. Last time I checked, they have more experience with their ancient cousins. I wanted to make sure another raid couldn't happen, so we counterattacked. There's more down there than just these faith eaters by the way, a lot is riled up."

"By you no less" another noble replied, she seemed to be caked in makeup and a head taller than the others.

"Maybe they are looking for other avenues to fund projects just like us? Oops" another noble, this one a little younger than the and larger with very little facial hair said as he backed up a little bit in worry. He seemed a little sheepish to her.

"We're keeping a distance given they seem hell bent on beating the crap out of each other, so again, no. Why waste ammo on targets that will die anyways?"

"You brought those things up that tunnel! You-"

"The Drow tried to escape up the tunnel. Their city is lost. Those things followed the last few morsels and came upon you guys. Simple. You got caught by someone who wanted to raid your fortress, but instead got sucked dry by these things." The doors shook violently again as guards tried to keep the barricade in position.

"She's-"

"She's here for a reason obviously. Are you here to offer to help with this intrusion? I must ask, you're a little late in trying to help given we were already attacked by dragons for the eggs you happened to find" the king responded, trying to remain calm despite the army of undying creatures behind the gate.

"Funny, I had dragons try and take an abandoned eyrie we found. They also said they found eggs that belong with their rightful parents. Now, given I didn't exactly know full well what they had in store, and they were at least fairly hospitable to me, they've been allowed to become citizens." The nobles were either shocked or grinning that she just blurted all of that out, somehow thinking they had the empress dead to rights, and no one would want to work with her. It was as if they believed her reputation with the dwarven people was now stained permanently, like that meant anything to her.

"You… allowed those monsters to take the eggs and bring them to you? You… you…"

"I didn't really know they'd do it, my thought was that we could have spoken on more amicable terms to get their children back. For all I figured, once they showed up with those harnesses, it was all too easy a ploy from seeing their kids and thinking they needed a home, that I couldn't possibly turn them away. As long as they abide by the laws and rules, they are my citizens, they shouldn't bother you again… unless you have something that still biologically belongs to them."

"So now you get the eggs no matter what." Selene waved a finger at the king.

"Uh uh, those eggs belong to their parents, which just so happen to be in my empire now. I have no ill will towards them as long as they mind their manners and don't be freeloaders; those eggs are not my property in any way. I really don't care how you feel about them because, well, we aren't even doing any business right now together; hell, we don't even communicate unless I initiate contact. Also, I'm going to turn this game of twenty questions on you now. What the fuck do you think you're doing trying to stand up to dragons that want their kids back while you're fighting on a second offensive? Mainly, those."

She pointed straight at the door shifting with dust falling from above. A crack was seen at the top, meaning the puppets were piled so high they could somehow try and break through the top wood and steel. 120,000 bodies squeezed into the tunnel probably didn't give them much room to move anywhere.

"They're going to break through your highness!" a guard yelled as they tried to use ladders to keep things contained.

"We… we…" the king tried to speak, but he looked at the rest of the nobles. Something was happening amongst them that the dev couldn't quite figure out, but it worried her, as if they had dirt on him and each other in some capacity or had a stranglehold on the fortress. Their politics right now weren't to her benefit… something was amiss. "That is our choice to make, we decided to do so."

"And you lost a lot it seems for that blunder. Your people must be really happy with your actions."

"How dare you… how dare you think-" another crunch, louder this time, came from the gate. A hand tried to pop out. "Enough of this! If you're going to help, then help!"

"Hold on, hold on, we haven't discussed a return on any effort I put in, given we aren't allies or even directly cooperating. I want something this time after our previous relations got a little soured. You didn't want me sticking my nose in your business with the giant rat slinking around your mines, that's fine. I didn't get anything out of that other than having to deal with being locked away for an hour. I've learned my lesson from last time, and I apologize for doing that. However, now, after talking to you, we are going to cut a deal before I act on anything. Don't want to step on anyone's toes again after all."

"A deal?! Right now?! They're about to break through! And you are interfering anyways by being here!"

"And my soldiers behind me can handle them, that is if an agreement can be made between us. I came here to see how bad the situation was and potentially offer assistance, given if they did break through they'd pour into my lands right after. It seems you have a barricade up keeping them at bay, at least for a few more minutes."

"This is outrageous! We're about to die and you want payment?! Have you no honor?!"

"I did all the work last time; given we don't do anything together, no trade agreements or research coalitions, I have a right to be suspicious of you just as much as you have being suspicious of me. Little tidbit though, I've been truthful. I can't say the same for your nobles though, feeding you false information. What did they tell you when I first showed up? I was rampaging around the forge and broke in?" Another wooden panel popped out of place, with a new metal one hastily smashed in to ward off the arms.

"By the ancestors! What do you want?!"

"I want the dome the hoard was in and any constituent connections, equipment and items inside those parts… minus the hoard."

"She just wants to steal all the magical equipment there!" One older noble snapped out.

"You seem to be hard of hearing or like to repeat the opposite of what I've explained, as I just said I don't want the hoard. You probably already shoveled it all out now, which is fine, should obviously go to you to pay back for all the lives lost to the iron dragon before I showed up. I want the vault it was housed in and anything it is connected to."

"The mines are connected to it, you want those too?!"

"Ah, that would be wrong, sorry for not stating that as well, my apologies. I want just the vault, as in the entire layout, not the stone you mine through or the ore veins. Before anyone asks the next question, I know someone will mouth at me, my reasons are my own I don't have to tell you why. Take the deal or leave it, we aren't exactly allies here." The top of the gate was breaking as the dwarves got ready to defend the rest of the fortress.

"You'll be killed here as well! You're standing right next to us!"

"I'm fully capable of getting out of here and waiting for the creatures to attempt to escape from both main entrances, then mopping up. I get the vault either way, dealing with you just shows that I'm not a complete monster. I'm trying my best, but obvious suspicion seems high right now. I could always come back later once you've had a chance to think on this."

"You are just like Artinia with your Clockwork Empire. Humans are all the same it seems."

"I'm seriously trying to understand what you mean by that. Artinia kept trying to invade, I'm trying to save your lives, your home, push back an enemy, but I better get something for it or I'm wasting my time and resources for your benefit. I'm not your mother, you are not part of my empire, and it isn't as if you send ambassadors out to meet with us or trade anything. You aren't the only dwarves on this planet, I'm certain of it, and I'm also not the one striking you down." The prince saw the gate crumple a little more and shrieked, making him look far weaker than his title should bely. They had been whittled down by three major events happening to them so quickly, though one was their own doing.

(Recommended Song: Ivan Torrent – The Power of Will)

"Yes! Yes we'll give you the vault!" the king shouted at her as his own honor guard got ready to defend. "On my word! Just stop them!" Selene turned around and carefully walked towards the gates as another part of it buckled. She motioned for the guards and other workers to move away from the door, with most thinking it was suicidal. The barricade kept getting pushed back, with more and more of the wood breaking, hands reaching out but couldn't get squeezed through from the mass of bodies behind the gate.

The dev stretched her hands out and focused, not on the gate itself, but behind it on the stone tunnel. The barricades were knocked away with a final push, the doors crumbling and falling to the ground with a massive mass of arms and screaming trying to fall forward. Her hair started to glow golden in concentrated highlights streaked through the red. As the woman reached out with her hands open, her fingers in a grasping motion, the puppets did their best to try and fall forward like a wave of death coming for her.

With a concentrated thought, a combination of {Molecular Reformation} and psionic [Telekinesis] slammed the side of the stone inwards from both sides of the tunnel while the psionic barrier pushed the ball of biological destruction back, sandwiching the puppets and mashing them together like paste. The first 200 meters or so of the fortress the faith eaters had made their way through was now sealing shut, waiting for the rear to be cleared. A few limbs were chopped off in the process, dropping to the ground and flopping around, scaring the hell out of the men and women still anywhere nearby.