Stories of Lore 43

 

 

Khymin has constructed version 0.2 of the prototype mech for you to try again. He advises maybe testing it on some of the larger wildlife of Enohas while under supervision rather than immediate field tests against a demon lord that can tear tanks in half.

 

As it turns out the incoming extra signal was Nelta and their hunt for Vasia after she murdered a whole planet. Elym somehow cut Vasia off from being able to communicate or control the Heretic for awhile there. Well, if it isn’t the consequences of her actions. It went better than it could have though. The titan carrier was carrying a small crew of volunteers, we’re not sure how they got ahold of this carrier as it was definitely not properly staffed.I am willing to calculate that they stole it or Qhu’stha gave the speech of his life to get Nelta to donate it to a suicide charge while in the middle of a war with the jesai. Their suicidal aggression towards Vasia combined with the still-standing streak of Rikoy being able to do even the most impossible of missions is all that kept them in that fight.

Upon revisiting events, I believe they must have been on a galactic adventure to unite people, convince them of the greater threat, acquire a fleet, learning about friendship and duty. It must have been one of the great quests of a band of heroes trying to save the galaxy from an impossibly vast and terrifying threat. Too bad their ship was destroyed and we can’t harvest the logs to see their….odyssey.

Gunhild captured Admiral Qhu’stha and he is currently detained on Koda’s ship. Aryn suggests just killing him outright. Gunhild’s rebuttal is ‘above my paygrade’ so they forwarded the information to you. He is so far a very uncooperative prisoner and destroyed his own translator. I’m sure this has nothing to do with Vasia being the last time he tried diplomacy with us.

The Jamalia shield generator has been moved to the moon as requested.

The Heroes guild has provided staffing for two of the super battleships, the super assault, and the super carrier. They have also brokered a formal alliance with the Hasao Tei, who still have their independent city to the west of Moncayo.

We have received word that Valadeus has reappeared after rendezvousing with Asmodan. Asmodan then killed him, reportedly. We don’t have a body to examine ourselves and we know they like to be tricky about these kinds of things. However this has Solidied Asmodan as the hero of the merkas and uniting them under himself.

We have two weeks before the pirates and Faelyn’s fleet arrive. We suspect Decaelys will be present as well, all analysis suggests that Decaelys can have some impact on a fleet battle though we’re not entirely sure to what extent.

As a strategy briefing, I should point out that if the battle is prolonged we will need orbital control at some point. Faelyn’s fleet is powerful enough to destroy our orbital shield within five to six months of bombardment. The actual capabilities of the Areti versus the mana infused generator are making this calculation uncertain due to the untested variables. While our emplaced turrets should prevent a three month long bombardment, if the shield coats the entire planet she can position her ships on the far side of the moon from our defenses and just keep bombarding. We can shrink the shield to mitigate this but given that they’re after the planet itself that might not be as viable an option as it normally is to force them to engage our defenses.

 

It’s been a short time since my last visit, though apparently Lancaster is re-assessing the situation after the encounter with Nelta. Though we’re still deployed as requested and recruiting around Zenaka.

Steam tanks might be doable. The steamworks director described it as “sure, that’s just two panzercycles strapped together with a big gun on top and an extra coat of armor”. So…I guess that makes sense. The director sometimes gets carried away with odd ideas.

With the recent events happening with Nelta, Vasia is presumed maybe dead by everyone except the only person whose opinion on the matter really counts. Ankathi is pretty sure she is still alive, because her soul fragment has returned to her. Robert says incorporeal creatures are normally still destroyed by the immense gravity of a black hole, though he has no idea what Sahad magic she knows.

The Fae Wild volunteers are still standing by ready and prepping but currently they are occupied with the defense of Enohas. The Arcurans have been taught about peaceful protest recently and are now protesting aboard The Outsider with signs and everything. They still want to blow up Enohas because it would be “glorious”. Something is wrong with those guys.

Selah’s ship has been prepared though she is also busy with the war so she hasn’t been able to depart just yet.

So one of our city guards who spent the last few months passionately investigating a missing person’s case has a report of a wild suspicion that got forwarded up the chain of command. Specifically because several missing people were not near the river when Selah opened it and with investigative assistance from the druids came to the wild theory that they left to the void plane. Which is one of those insane ideas that gets their boss yelling at them for being ridiculous but I’m not sure they know the greatest and only void pandem specialist passed through recently. Not sure if its relevant, but it was interesting.

Garden City is progressing well, managing to sustain itself despite the lack of housing this whole time. Initially there were mass emigrations but recently the governor’s promises of ‘we’re building houses’ has tided people over since the weather is nice and controlled by eden. The space nerds are still space nerding.

 

Well that could have gone better. We probably could have better prepared for the arrival of Nelta hunting down Vasia. Sarnai and the celestial order says that there is a very high chance that Vasia is still alive but aren’t sure about the details of it. Were it not for Nelta opening a black hole we’d be at least able to go check around for them.

Larazja is alive, it turns out her brain is spread equally through her spine as well, like yours. So beheading doesn’t actually kill her, just gives her brain damage. I’m pretty sure if you bring her back to the pool she’ll be fine. Vasia apparently had the Heretic reshape and throw her at one of VSEC’s ships and they put her in the cargo hold since she was still moving. Very twitchy and not doing well, but moving. Though you will understand why I am giving the report for now.

The ritual to subsume one of your cultists into your overmind has been completed but you should know there is a distance limit. Your secondary bodies cannot be too far away if you want to transfer in or out of them as the primary consciousness. It works on the scale of about a country but space is big. It would actually work anywhere with aethernet relays on the scale of the relay itself though. So while within a star system with one of those relays it would work at the scale of the solar system. If two of the space relays are connected, then you can transfer over that.

Also as your advisor for the day I should point out that you are a cat. Your main contribution to any battlefield situation is your psionic abilities. They’re going up against Decaelys, who is the greatest caster our civilization has ever encountered. So…make smart choices Ilex.

The synapse has been deployed to protect the generator at Enohas. Also the ichor likes the mana moon and goes into production overdrive while on it. For better or worse.

We’ve funded the cybernetic upgrading of the Lucidity cultists. Also the drop colonies are being assembled once again. Also the other colony finished construction and is in a couple of freighters at the Moncayo shipyards.

Setal pretty much controls Zenaka at the moment with the exception of the resistance terrorists. They keep blowing up infrastructure points. As for avoiding the demonic dogpile you mention, nope she has nothing. She’s a succubus and has spent her whole life dealing with and accepting being on the lower end of demon society, her input on how the lords operate is entirely lacking. You would need to talk to an actual demon lord about that.

The city itself could mostly handle drive in theaters, though no one goes to those. As mentioned by Larazja previously, people like convenience. You already re-established the aethernet network for the city, so their APT’s are working again. Though with less cantrips than before. However, this makes all viewing based entertainment sort of an ‘at home’ experience.

The psionic skeletal systems of the synapse can be reviewed for synthesis attempts though we would need samples and a lab to do it. Notably the best lab just got blown up by Nelta.

Also no, the ichor does not recognize the rest of my body as particularly advantageous to spread through. I have gathered you have an interest in this subject so I figured I should explain not all Koura parasites give this ability. Mine is the only one that did. However, it reconfigured all the cells in my body to be a little bit stealthy to the ichors method of recognition.

Also yes we completed the enchanted medical bed for Kaylen’s new apprentice.

 

The Nomads have deployed to Paizurus, the flotilla has been left in open space for now. No need to take the civilians to a warzone and the Nomads just use the same old ship they always do for these operations.

Though not much is happening at Paizurus just yet, we’re reconvening to reassess the situation after VSEC’s encounter with Nelta.