Air and Sea III

"By all accounts, it would only take an hour or so, though there is a request from Gold Pine, Mayor Stafinson I believe."

"Wait, what? What request?" she asked him confused.

"They wanted to know if you would come for a winter unveiling of a statue in the town's honor."

"Oof, today? That can't be right, I would expect a notice much earlier, like a week at least. Also, why in December? Eh… is it possible to get a reschedule?"

"Do you have anything else planned for this evening?" Selene rolled her eyes upwards, wondering what her to do list was.

"I… I… oh! The… the… the thing! Yes, the thing, I was going to work on that and stuff, yes."

"And this thing, it would be what exactly?"

"That… you know, the special project in the research labs. The… you know, the… the maids."

"Ah, yes, them. How many is it now? Nine?" he asked.

"About there. I mean, having a group of personal maids that can interact with the rest of the world should be fine when I'm out and about. Won't get as many weird looks when they accompany me anywhere, like the unveiling… or parties."

"Hmm, a good choice. I thought the regular maids were considered pleasing to the eye by the citizens?"

"They were, but they were sculpted with little thought put into making them unique. The battle maids will look completely human this time. It'll make talking to anyone with them nearby not turn heads as much. On top of that, they'll help alongside the honor guard or Bronze Team."

"As if you need them to protect you these days, but we all plan for an emergency regardless." He was referring to any chance of an assassination attempt or the unlikely scenario of something currently stronger than her military. She simply patted him on the shoulder and chuckled. Depending on the automaton, their levels were either under her or well beyond at the moment. The dev was going to need to play a little catch up in a bit.

Selene headed out to the lab doors and headed inside, checking in with her science division to see just how impressive her new "team" was going to be. "Ma'am, exactly how long will this take?" Will asked as he accompanied her.

"Um… I don't know?" she replied.

"Could it take an hour?"

"Uh… er… maybe?"

"Two?"

"Erm… yes."

"Then you'll have time for the unveiling. It is scheduled at 4 pm. I'll have the security nearby inform Mayor Stafinson."

"Why are you so set on me going?"

"Because they may see it as you blessing the town to continue growing and improving. They're alive because you intervened not once but twice; showing your support will continue to keep their hopes up. You don't have to go, but it's a good idea."

Fuck.

Meanwhile

Alfred awoke with a crick in his neck and a blanket wrapped around him. He quickly jumped up and looked out the arrow slit to see the clouds were bright with the sun trying to shine through. What time was it? He remembered checking with a lone magician that night, sometimes supposedly after 2 am. He'd been in the tower the entire time.

As the Commander looked around, attempting to find anyone who was supposed to relieve him in the watchtower, he noticed five guards just outside the portcullis on each side. Somehow, he had fallen asleep at some point last night and wasn't disturbed. How he stayed upright in the chair was beyond him. "Private, what time is it?" he asked through the door. One of the guards turned around and saluted him.

"Sir! It is currently noon by the sun dial." He looked over the side of the wall and squinted to shield his eyes from the glare the snow created. In the distance, Galdin's forces were camped still, all holed up for the winter with campfires burning brightly. Alfred already knew the General didn't give up, but to stay there for the next month, two months or even three while in the cold, he'd lose men by desertion guaranteed.

"Who gave me the blanket?"

"Sir, it was Sergeant Marin." His eyebrows raised at that information. She was up and about, somehow not keeping still and recovering. Had the priests somehow found the mana to heal her whole arm?

"Where is she, private?"

"We last saw her going to the southern gate sir." Commander Dalonas nodded at them and headed down the ramparts towards the stairs to reach the ground floor, passing a guard shack and a catapult along the way. The walk took a good twenty minutes as he grumbled about her not relaxing and taking care of herself, though in the back of his mind he was glad she was alright. As he turned the corner he caught view of her standing and talking to the soldiers stationed at the barricades, her left arm still not healed, a stump just below the elbow wrapped in bandages along with her left eye. Some of the smaller bruises and cuts were gone, though the larger ones were only made half the size.

She turned around and noticed him, her blonde braid whipping behind as she smiled. "Sir. I was just-"

"Why aren't you back at the temple? You should be lying down until the priests give you a clean bill of health." Marin's smile dropped as she wondered if he was going to yell at her.

"Commander, I didn't think to… uh… they needed every bed they could get, and I could move so…" she stopped and built up the courage to speak, looking into his eyes with her one. "I made a choice to get back up. I can still fight when needed and you're going to need everyone."

"I need everyone at their best Sergeant, you could stay a little longer and get some rest. Who knows, they may have more mana available to give you back your arm and-"

"They don't sir. It was either give me back my arm or let some of the civilians die, those who were carried in from collapsed buildings. You can tell which one I chose for them. I'll get it back eventually, once this is all over. I can wait, they couldn't." He sighed in frustration, then eased up and smirked.

"You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes."

"You need a little stubbornness to keep all of this going, sir." Alfred nodded at her as they both stared for a moment, unsure what to say next. Almost as if on cue, they both realized they hadn't stopped, with a unified aversion of their gaze and embarrassment on their faces. Something had sparked between them through all the battles from yesterday, kindred spirits.

"I'm… going to check on the stores of supplies…" she finally added.

"That… that would be good, Sergeant… I'll… I'll see you later then, once I check on the mercenaries and their training…" They both turned swiftly and walked away from each other, though both added a glance backwards while they headed to their next task.

"Sir. I've been looking everywhere for you" the lieutenant said as he came around the corner and startled the Commander.

"Wha, what? I… I was here. W-what do you need?"

"Sir? Is everything alright?" Alfred took a moment to calm himself and clear his throat.

"I'm fine Lieutenant. Status?"

"General Galdin isn't looking to attack us today we believe, snowfall is expected which will hamper any attempts to try and breach the walls. The men are in good spirits, at least at the moment. The reinforcements we received with the mercenaries joining has evened the odds now. Quite a few of them have top end equipment and are well seasoned, even a few magical items. A priestess had an interesting idea when I checked on the wounded that I thought should be brought up. The nobles, their families… they may have a wizard contracted to teleport out to bring in supplies. They could easily outlast us with fresh food from Aureos."

"Hmm, that's good news and bad news. Well, the nobles are of little concern right now anyways, assuming they don't somehow bring in more wizards to perform that same ritual in the congressional offices. Erm… are there soldiers stationed at the vault doors to the bunkers?"

"Yes sir, just in case that very thought becomes reality. Involving food, sadly we lost the few magicians who knew how to speed up growth of plants in a collapsed building, however we found some seeds that supposedly are magically enhanced. If we can get a small covered farm going, we can maintain our supply if we're careful."

"Indeed. Grab some men and see about getting an enclosed garden going. I'm going to check on the mercenaries and see how prepared they are."

"Yes sir." Alfred lightly patted the lieutenant on the back as he jogged away, with a slight amount of snow falling for just a few minutes. This was going to turn into who could outlast the other. He was fairly confident now that they were the ones to outperform in this regard. A trebuchet was being built to replace the previously destroyed one, showing that they had at least some resources to continue retaliation if Galdin attacked.

Four Hours Later

Selene walked out of the palace entrance while putting on gloves for the event, dressing elegantly in a cold weather dress with an insulated trench coat; there was no need for the extra layers except psychological for the empress. Morlanion and Elsei were going to accompany her along with his parents after their discussion about trade openings for Eil'Ta Forest. Hrist and Bryn were already in Gold Pine waiting for them to arrive, checking in with Giles and Moira and shopping secretly behind her back for some reason. Giles had asked her at one point why there was an anonymous request for a magical dagger that could regenerate one's health slowly to be sent to the castle. She couldn't answer and cancelled the order, thanking him for informing her.

As the front gates opened to the castle with the convoy heading out, it stopped immediately as a man tried to sneak towards the opening with an invisibility spell. The spell was abruptly warped with a magnetic resonance scan and laser grid tracking of the area, with the intruder being barely within a three-hundred-foot range of the walls and losing the ability to hide in plain sight. He realized very quickly that he had screwed up when a security sniper targeted him with a rifle, multiple dots appearing on his chest.

Instead of being smart and just sitting there for guards to come up and question him, he ran forward, with multiple warning shots fired in front to stop him. Two Light security charged out and made it to the man in a couple of seconds, knocking his legs out from under him and putting cuffs on his hands. "Attempting to trespass on castle grounds with an illegal use of stealth magic is considered an attempt on the empress's life" he was told as they dragged him to standing on his own two feet, frisked him and found two weapons, a small dagger with a paralyzing poison and what looked to be the equivalent of a thunder stone and a sleep potion. "Flashbang and sedative found."

He's a robber, not an assassin. He's also very stupid.

Her window rolled down as she looked out at one guard. "Ma'am, he was carrying a weapon on him while attempting to enter the castle grounds with a stealth spell used." She got a view of the dagger, the length of the blade. While it was a medium size and made of steel, it was of no threat to her, probably break against her skin. The main issue was the intent once he was inside.

"Use [Truth from Lies] on him. Why the hell is coming way out here, there's nothing but my castle" she ordered. The security commanded a response after using the spell, gaining his entire plan for entering, along with an attempt to bribe them to let him go. A hymn was sung quietly from some unknown book, though there was mention of the word goddess in it.

"Your majesty, he had intent at a kidnapping. It was meant to be a forced marriage... with you. He's a follower that believes all of his work will be praised by you, that you are meant to be his wife." The dev's eyes widened in confusion. The man was insane, that much was certain. His arm had a badge sewn into it of the supposed religion he belonged to, simply using her moniker of the Clockwork Empress.

"Yeah, no. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, he goes straight to jail. Make sure they get him some psychiatric help first in the medical ward there, determine if its treatable. For his sake, it better be, or he's sitting in a cell for the rest of his life. If it is, get him the help he needs outside prison bars" she said, annoyed at the prospect someone would try that. The thunder stone was probably there as an escape tool, with the sleep potion to knock her out somehow. Her resistances would have just ignored it entirely, as her Hud told her the ingredient listing was weak. The vial held not much more than a sleep aid akin to Diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl. If he had somehow managed to get by security and used it on her, she'd simply ignore it and turn him into a smear on the ground. Being caught saved his life, for what little that did now that he was heading off to be interrogated and have a medical checkup.

The convoy continued on along the well paved road, with the custom steampunk limousine escorted by HRVs. The entire time, the rest of her entourage talked about the unveiling, supposedly not of a statue of her thankfully, but of an intricate stone carving of a tree, a Gold Pine. It was made by a master stone carver, a homage to how the village had grown into a town and soon to be a large town, hopefully to become a city or as Selene had put it, a metropolis. The entire statue was designed in pieces, with multiple extensions planned as the town got bigger, to show the growth and prosperity of the people.

While they chatted, she checked on random news events from her staff, anything to keep her occupied for the short trip, even though her friends riding along could have easily entered her into the conversation. A small glass of champagne was poured for her with a white gloved hand sitting right next to the empress, the first of the battle maids tending to her. Adesha was her name, the last name was based on a color, White. To simplify the aesthetic design, her hair color was also white in a long wide braid, with a very pale complexion and red eyes, pink lips smiling at her warmly. Her entire body was far more lifelike than the regular automaton maids, with warm biosynthetic skin and a pulse in her wrists. Adesha even had a heartbeat. That didn't mean she couldn't tear through a reinforced wall to protect the empress.

The battle maids were considered a separate chassis type now, designed differently from automatons or androids. As an android could technically be even more organic in design, battle maids were purposefully built to be a go between of the two, emulating human emotions and care for the empress but at the same time capable of wading into a battlefield if need be. Adesha would be the leader of the team, with no name provided or needed for it. Someone had mentioned to call it some amazing name like "the Circle Nine" or "the Divine Nine Winds." The dev didn't really care about any of that, as internally it would compose of two fireteams, the main colors and the combinations, with adaptive mergers of them when required at her behest.

"Thank you, though the alcohol can't even do anything to me anymore" Selene quietly said to her.

"You're welcome your majesty. The placebo effect could still help with calming you. I take it you don't really want to go?" Adesha asked.

"It's not that I don't want to go, I just don't have a speech ready if they want me to speak or anything. Wasn't exactly prepared for this."

"Then don't speak. It's not as if they can force you to do anything. Just enjoy being with your friends, you've earned it."

"True." Adesha beamed at her as they continued on, with basic reports from her staff talking about the start of clearing the plots of land meant for the museum in Gold Pine and Glass Dale, the dolosse being poured into the coast near Sweet Water Harbor to keep erosion contained near the piers, as well as checking on the stock market and where companies were cropping up most. Despite Gold Pine being close to the "goddess" of the empire, Glass Dale was surprisingly quick to get on its feet after the rebirth from the ashes, and now was squarely competition to Silvinholm with far more modern developments in trade. While Gold Pine seemed to be the brains that created new opportunities similar to Silicon Valley, Glass Dale was starting to become a powerhouse in finances and storage, with a request for funding for a new academy to be built nearby.

As the convoy barely passed the main road entrance into Gold Pine, now slightly more redesigned for ease of movement for pedestrians with future city planning for arcing walkways already in the works for the far-flung eras, the empress received an intelligence report from Grey that an attempt was made to conceal objects inside a massive cloud heading towards the clumped together Hawaiian islands to the west of the continent. Thermal scans from satellites showed something that surprised her and made her fairly annoyed and agitated.

Dragons. Fucking dragons, a large group or clan of them it seems. You bastards better not come over here to pick a fight or I swear I'll give the go ahead to wipe you idiots out.

The group seemed to be very diverse in broods, with all of them metal, though one single chromatic was in the mix. Due to them heading away from her empire, and not even inside her controlled airspace, they would be left alone… for the time being. If they started anything though, it was a quick end planned. "Keep an eye on them Grey, let me know if anything else crops up."

"Yes ma'am. By the way, I'd like to also share that the tunnel heading up to the dwarven fortress, at least the outer underground ring, has been breached. Faith eaters are using their puppets to fight back against defenses, with numerous reinforcement lines set up to fend them off. Makeshift plans are somewhat working to their advantage, but it's touch and go. If they slip up once, it could shorten the timeframe."

"That'll take a good day or two before we can consider walking in and offering to talk, given how hardy they are. Shouldn't underestimate those battleaxes and squat legs, plus the dwarves have a knack for sealing stuff up when it gets too rough. It wouldn't surprise me to see them pour molten metal down the tunnel" Dominic said as he chimed in.

"Agreed. Keep an eye on both. Also, lemme know if another power spike is detected in Aureos, I want to know if the king decides to use that faulty artifact and what it does."

"You wouldn't per chance remember any of the World Class Items, would you ma'am?" Dominic asked.

"Me? I implemented the features for Yggdrasil, not the models or the types and capabilities. I mean, I've helped with art design before, but that thing I just don't remember. Different team, different cog in the machine to get the game out on time. For all I know, could have been an expansion design that I wasn't a part of." Now she wished she had tried to peek over their shoulders at what they were creating for the players to use; it might help in understanding what she might be up against if someone did pull out some incredible display of power. Some things made it to the cutting room floor, only to be put back in later.

For all I know, a player might have created the damn thing instead of just going off what we put in. The creation tools were available to try and figure it out, though nothing was allowed that could wipe a server… I think. That would just be silly for someone to put that in, the drop in the subscriptions would be crazy… but interesting publicity. Then of course, they did seem a little… out there in the grand design of things… nooooo, there's no way there'd be some sort of apocalypse artifact. Impossible. Maybe. I know of that one rumor of a WCI that cast six tier 10 spells for demon summoning, but that was a set amount of them each time, not an unlimited army, and also not that high in levels.

"Understood ma'am, just checking." The coms ended just as the convoy stopped and the doors opened. The group slowly exited before her as cheering could be heard outside, with it continuing up until she scooted over and climbed out. That was when it became a roar of applause, impossible to hear any one voice as they saw their ruler, some for the first time since they had moved to Gold Pine. Selene gave a quick wave to everyone as they continued to the seats set up for them, a pathway through the massive crowd made by security autos as the people whistled and waved back.

She got a chance to see firsthand a group of the zealots that prayed to her, looking and acting nothing like the crazy man that tried to sneak into the castle. They had their heads down and hands clasped, full robes and the clockwork emblem on their shoulders, singing some sort of hymn they had come up with. "And be she who walketh these lands amongst us mortals, pray unto her for divine salvation against the darkness of others, for her light shall forever-" they passed far enough for the dev to barely hear them anymore. Hrist and Bryn both stood on the platform waiting for them, their Pegasus standing nearby with feed bags. Asterion nodded his head towards Selene, seeing his original owner and hoping to get some attention.

"Hey there big guy, sorry I haven't come by in a little while, things have been a little hectic" she cooed to him as she gave a rub near his ears and neck. Then she walked up the steps and sat down comfortably, waiting for the unveiling to start as people packed into the makeshift bleachers. "Grey, can you get some surveillance on the religion based around me?" she asked, opening her coms yet again. What she would do without that capability, the dev didn't know.

"What did you want to find out?" he responded.

"Whose making up those hymns? I heard a few lines before being unable to pick out their voices a minute ago. I hope they aren't coming up with something odd about me and skewing words I've said."

"We've been getting some analysis on when and where they sing those already. Most are peaceful, almost like bards telling tales of your exploits to everyone."

"And the others?" she questioned.

"Some of them warn of your 'divine retribution' if anyone breaks your trust and attempts to oppose what you consider righteous and good." The dev scoffed.

"They do not know what I consider the right thing to do, I do. No one around knows of the engagements we've fought though, beyond Sweet Water, how the hell would they somehow figure I'd come down on them? I mean, raining brimstone is within my capabilities, but it's not as if I'm going to do that… pretty sure I won't… maybe… regardless, we've been careful about witnesses to any skirmishes, friendly or otherwise."

"I think they're just trying to build the morals of the faithful, to live their lives by the laws you've emplaced. In death, they hope to sit with you in your heaven beyond heavens, ignoring any that was made by other pantheons and considering what they have crafted a poor substitute for the souls brought into your embrace.

Surprisingly, this is one of the few religions that wants to forego any sort of fighting. There's no call for crusades, no care for self-flagellation and no suppression of women, expecting your 'divine warriors' to do all the work. Whoever has started the religion thought the rules out carefully and were very detailed, suggesting at or near upper high school or college level education. They don't want to anger you." Selene was both relieved and yet concerned they were that afraid of her, thinking she might have a darker, wrathful side if they didn't adhere to the correct teachings. It also made her worry they'd always expect her armies to defend them, afraid to take up arms to protect another innocent.

"I have no idea what heaven they're referring to, at least just yet. I mean, I have a castle… wait, no one has tried to sneak off to inspect the foundation for the space elevator, have they? I mean, we have the cloaking generators set up right?"

"They may be adding in things for the fervent to cling to, as all religions believe in some sort of afterlife their deity has made. Some faiths believe in one over arcing place that the entire pantheon has built in cooperation with each other, along with a smaller dimension sectioned off to their personal deity, such as Elesia's endless light made physical. Involving the elevator, no life signs beyond animals and a few gryphons have been noted within a fifty-mile radius of the restriction zone." The dev exhaled in relief, accepting his response.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages! We have-" Stafinson was at the podium with his speech written in front of him, the megaphone attached to the front for all to hear.

"Gotta go, unveiling is starting. Keep me posted." Grey acknowledged and ended the call as the speech continued, talking about the start of the great town, his forebears building the first homes and eeking out a living here. He continued with the history of the place, of the forest and trees the town was named after, how they grew through tough dirt into a strong and powerful standard and testament to life, equal or taller in size to most others in the surrounding forests of the valley and beyond. Adesha stood by her empress's side, awaiting any request that she could help with while listening to the mayor.