Guild Wars
David was among the dozen of tech specialists surrounding a 3D hologram. The presenter was a pre Master Grade Construction Specialist, Frank Steids. Although he looked like he was in his thirties, the man was actually in his seventies. There was no indication that his brown hair had lost any of its color, and his face was still full of vigor.
"I tried all the simulators.." He said, smiling as he initiated a recorded event, "The design works perfectly well."
When there was movement in the projected screen, vehicles of all kinds traversing the underground expressway, the younger specialists gasped in amazement and shock.
"All things are accounted for. One thing I like about this advance design was the strategically placed hubs for quick response and maintenance teams. This design is pure bliss." Frank added with enthusiasm, still dubious at the questioning look the youngsters gave him.
"But, sir Frank.. We have a very unusual simulation right now." One finally interrupted, pointing at the holographic simulation.
"Hmm?" Frank glanced at the projected image, and chuckled at his selfishness after realizing the cause of the questioning looks the younger specialists gave him. He was too excited with the project that he forgot it was a briefing room.
"Sorry about that, young ones. Now, everything we perceive as walls and ceilings.. they are actually roads. Vehicles can traverse them unconventionally." He swiped a hand, activating a function which separated the sophisticated tunnel into many parts, "The tunnel has three layers. The middle, mostly, is armed with energy emitters, but they do not function like weapons which propelled destructive blasts. Instead, artificial gravity and magnetic fields. They do not only maintain the tunnels' structural integrity from the pressure of depth in the underground, but they also create an environment in which all angles have a certain pull, all the while creating a neutral vortex at the center. In case of power loss, energy generators dotted the entire complex and would come online if such incident occured."
The younger specialists gaped at this. David expressed the one thing that registered in his mind, "With this type of advance infrastructure, maintenance crews would need a higher grasp of technical skills."
"Indeed." Frank nodded, and continued, "Now this is only the first stage of the tunnels. The second stage would become even more complex, but we will discuss this at another time."
David and his peers profusely sweat after hearing the presenter, struck with the thought that they were useless when facing a superior technology beyond their scope.
"As I said before, Ms. Losac," Frank turned to the only woman in the room who silently watched them, "I will not continue my journey back to the Empire. This project.. I will see it through even if I die here in the Union."
Emma chuckled at the man's dedication. She asked, "So you're saying this whole operation might take a century?"
"30 to 50 years in my calculations." Frank explained, "The design was specific about the process. We will need to permanently make a good foundation for the surface city before we carve out a new space beneath it. That alone would take 20 years if we have the right equipments."
"And that's only the first stage." The yellow hair mused, tapping a finger on the glass table laid out before them, before sinking to her chair, "I'm afraid I don't have that much time to spare. 10 years."
"Ms. Losac..!" Frank was about to protest but was interrupted before he could continue.
"I need to discuss this matter with my partner first." Emma motioned to the door accompanied by a quick smile.
The specialists had so many things in mind, wanting more clarity, but since their employer did not show any interest about the topic for the time being, they all poured out from the room.
When she was the only one left, with empty chairs surrounding the projected screen at the center, Emma activated her comm and Niel's face appeared.
"Damn! Sy designed that? Holysh*t!" He instantly spouted.
"And in only a short amount of time." Emma added, "12 minutes. That's what David said."
After a brief silence, the yellow hair suggested, "So, what about it, Niel? Your family has a tendency to go bankrupt. Every great house in the Union knows that. You will cooperate with me, ensuring that my operations here will be smooth sailing, and I will make sure that the Fanick's business here in Logria will accrue income so long as I seat on its highest political power."
"Look, Emma. It's not about the money," Niel murmured, smiling in an awkward way, "It's more about my hometown people."
"Oh, but it is. Everything revolves around money. You want prosperity for Logria? You need tons of it." Emma let out a chuckle, "Besides, Sy even listed all the materials needed amounting to trillions of credits. You think the people in the central government have an ounce of sincerity toward this desert planet?"
"You're a crazy woman." Niel shook his head, treating this operation as an impossible task.
"You're crazier." Emma retorted. She explained, "Logria is not yet within any mech guilds' grasp. We will build our own mech institution, and bypass the guilds in mech production, completely becoming independent from them. Technology and Trade Center. High Universities. This planet will have it all."
Finally, the last quantity of resistance was removed as Niel uttered, "Fine! When I come back in Logria, me and Sy will have a surprise. Carving out a space underneath the city would be a piece of cake by then."
The call ended.
-----
Niel exited the private quarters, and went straight into a highly secured room. From the entrance, he could see an enormous mech being inspected by specialists under his charge. It appeared to him that Director Fei was not being serious in developing this prototype of a 6th Gen as she had not funded the project for heavier modifications. He was starting to question the motive as to why he was invited back.
A nudge on his back snapped him out from his heavy thoughts. When he turned, he saw a long time colleague. With a smile, he joked, "Thales, my friend! I heard you were creating a cult around this mech from Steel Arena."
"We'll talk about that later," Thales chuckled, and then pulled the other man into a corner, "I'm here for something more serious. We both know the GT had suffered immensely from its wars with Atlas. My contact told me about their crushing defeat in The Kingdom of Xepp. Another guild occupied their headquarters in that faction. I'm telling you, it would only be a matter of time before other guilds would vie for dominance here in the Union. The GT is finished."
Niel's face turned grave. One reason why Mina would not leave his side was because of the tension between The Union of Pyr and The Republic of Leeb. With a Solar War imminent, a natural episode before it would be that one of the opposing factions will initiate an Assassin's Duel, sending out killers to murder figures from the enemy faction who contributed greatly to their society. A barbaric custom of the lesser factions.
A Guild War, however, was a conflict not far away from the level of brutality and destruction of a war between factions. A faction was not obliged to interfere with the carnage the guilds inflicted at each other, unless their subjects were suffering from it. But this would not stop the warring guilds from slaughtering each other on inhabited planets, causing immense property loss and deaths. Most guilds, though, would try to avoid this by choosing a private space where they could settle their differences without worry, as any guilds that participated in the conflict would be taken advantage by the affected factions when it was finally settled, such as unreasonable amount of indemnities, free contract for a next gen mech exclusively for the punishing faction, and so on.
What Thales feared was the mercenaries the guilds employed. These bunches of lunatics do not care if they were just temporarily contracted employees and not habitant agent of the guild as long as they wrecked havoc. The scenario of them being a collateral damage dawned upon him.
"What are you suggesting?" Niel asked.
Thales only responded by pointing a thumb backward over his shoulder.
"My contract ends after another day. I can leave the guild for good by then."
"Then I'll join you on that my friend." Thales nodded, and went away.
-----
In Logria's Starport, a certain light blue hair had finally arrived after an effortless day of travel due to the nonexistence traffick in the desert planet's FTL Lane.
-
Located at the middle of the Starport was the Central Command for the defense force of the planet. In the reconnaissance room, a group of men wearing red uniforms with the letters 'PDF' on their shoulders, known as the Planetary Defense Force, were in a state of panic as the scanners displayed an object thrice the size of a bulky freighter ship, heading toward the planet.
"Sh*t! The object is a standard military transport ship!" One exclaimed.
"It's not one of our own!" Another one shouted, hurriedly activating his comms.
"No incoming transmission!"
"How the f*ck did it manage to slip through our network of planetary sensors?!"
"It did not enter the FTl Lanes! Other Union planets would have warned us by now!"
"The only possibility is that it manually navigated the void, and avoided systems with long range scanners."
Realization came to them that Logria was doomed, their faces turning pale. If it was a transport ship from the Republic, their puny force won't be able to mount an effective resistance. With the Union sending units into the border, incessantly suctioning more manpower from the defense forces, there was only 300 of them left, currently deployed in a desert planet which lacked the proper defenses against a besieging force.
The only other military presence in Logria was the Little Auxillary Division, who only had training mechs in their arsenal, not suitable to contend against augmented machines of war. Furthermore, the young trainees were not experienced in the field.
Glancing at each other, they could not comprehend young women, individuals who had bright futures ahead, defending the planet.
"Call the Little Auxillary Division. Tell them to stand down. As for us, we will die defending our post." One commanded.
"Contacting the police forces! We will gather in the Starport."
--
["Engineering students in Logria are protesting in the streets, chanting that the central government is doing more harm than good in their city. These ungrateful brats seemingly think they know better!"]
Tiff who was watching the news, raised a brow at the bias of the broadcaster. After all, she was one of those who participated in the rally.
"I gotta go. Take care of my friends." Sy passed by, grabbing the books then headed toward the exit.
"Treat me for a lunch next time." The blonde smiled when the man raised a hand in agreement. When she turned her attention back at the tablet, the live news did not load and was in a state of buffer. She muttered, "Strange."
Weaving through the endless stream of people, Sy finally reached the hover bike. The young Pioneer was in a hurry, worrying that Laira and the girls would go exploring. Just as he was about to fire up the dual engines, he was alerted when someone hopped behind him.
"Hello, Sy Verdin!" Genevieve uttered with her gentle voice just a few inches away from his ear, "What a fated encounter we have today!"
'Dual Pounder!' Sy mentally screamed, as he felt the light-blue hair's feminine chest brutally pressed against his back. Thankfully, she wore a thick attire and he couldn't fully simulate the raw form of her breasts, else he would suffer a collapse in moral integrity.
Unlike Emma who did it in an emotional state, Genevieve was more like Mina. Not shy, and probably not aware of the suffering she was inflicting.
Suddenly, Sy became tensed as his senses tingled at the change of atmospheric temperature. Ever since the storm, he had been more aware of the weather in order not to get caught in a surprise again. But this one was different. He instinctively glanced upward, and he's eyes flared open, seeing the immense silhouette hovering above the Starport. His mind began to rapidly calculate the next moves he would take after noticing the blanket of interference in the sky, hinting clearly that this was not a friendly naval ship.
"What is it?" Genevieve questioned before looking up. Her expression was the same as Sy upon witnessing the menacing object above. She uttered with with an increasing urgency, "EM Field. Planetary Disruption! Sy, let's get out of here!"
--
Two weeks in the endless void, the transport ship finally arrived at its destination. Having a hue of gray, and a big 'AO' on one side of its hull, it scared away the other ships docked in the desert planet, sending them fleeing in the FTL Lanes.
In the bridge, the captain subsequently barked orders.
"Planetary Interference deployed!" An electronics tech shouted, while expertly manipulating his designated projected interface.
"Calibrating for a secure channel!"
"Channel online!"
"Commander!" The captain, a man in his fifties, black hair, with a scar just above his left brow - shouted in haste, turning to his back where another man seated leisurely, "Stage is yours!"
The man behind, lazily got up, snapping his fingers, before pointing at a crew dog who responded, "Initiating drop!"
As the hangar bays in the underside of the transport ship opened up, the commander swiped a screen, and stated in the comm, "Citizens of the Union, this is Commander Vasquez of the transport ship AO Conqueror," he paused, knowing the panic he had just caused below. With a smirk, he continued, "We come in peace."