Ch.77

[Middas, 30th Hearthfire, 4E: 221]

“Are you sure you don’t want us involved?” I asked Twilight uneasily, since after yesterday Shade and I were getting sick of our domestic setting. Sure, the comfort, the casual displays of affection, the nightly snuggles, that’s all well and good, but aside from lazing about, Shade and I don’t really have anything to occupy us during the day besides sex and Zaeza is still adjusting.

“Yes. Brennie made it clear that she doesn’t want you two involved in what is a problem for everyone, not you specifically. Besides, you still need to be rested and ready whenever we find the last two Great Anchors.” Twilight insisted as she continued doing her paperwork. She’d recently upgraded from simple and sensual robes to outright slutty secretary clothes. Hot dayum was Twilight becoming a busty bombshell of a sexy librarian/secretary.

“Well, tell her to shove that into Molag’s asshole and let us do something! There’s not even anybody here for us to train!” Shade huffed and I patted her shoulder. “If not that, then why aren’t there more work writs? Can’t we build stuff if we can’t punch things?”

“Well, you still need to build Rarity a sewing machine. Oh, wait! Hunter made a writ specifically for you two!” Twilight pulled out a scroll from her bosom and handed it to us. Hey! Why does she get the fancy tit-space magic?! “He says you need to help Rarity to make those black suits before people can mine Blackreach and that you need to find anyone that can build weapons and armor, be they apprentices or forgemasters, anyone willing or interested.” Well, at least it’s a start.

“Cool, then let’s make Rarity a sewing machine to help her out, then we can start looking for volunteers.” I then leered at Twilight, who blinked at my hostile gaze. “How did you do the tit-space thing?! Show us!” I didn’t appreciate my satchel being stuck in the box for a day and a half, Hunter!

“Oh, right, your satchels. Here.” Twilight quickly gave us our satchels which were conveniently in her tit-space! Hey, wait! Those were on our hips just now weren’t they?! “Look inside, there’s something to help you obtain it. Now, go away, shoo! Before I pull out Brennie’s baseball bat and knock your heads off!”

“As if you’ve got the guts.” Shade joked and we left Purple Smart with a friendly nod to Celestia and Luna, who were standing near the door with arms full of stacks of paper and ready to keep Twilight’s bureaucracy going. I peered inside the satchel, wondering what I’d see, if anything, but just saw darkness as usual.

The reach inside was no different than usual, so I groaned. Great. I’ve gotta take inventory.

📜

Neethsi was fairly pissed right now, with good reason. Not about Zaeza, she’d heard all about her new mate and was looking forward to meeting her and her son. No, she was pissed at herself. Centuries ago, she convinced Vivec to toss Baar Dau at Akavir, which she considered acceptable since Akavir was a hellhole she barely survived a brief visit to.

Now it turns out her actions had turned that evil place into an even worse hellhole with the winters too warm to freeze Kamal solid anymore. She could only hope that her blessing of strong winds and swift, steady currents to carry the ships of the refugees to their chosen ports would help begin her reparations.

“Uh, ma’am, what are those?” One of the soldiers pointed up towards the sky to see a fleet of airships, only these weren’t theirs. They were far greater in size and had a more terrifying aesthetic to them. “By the gods they look like floating fortresses!”

“They must be the ships of Brennie’s people. Remember that they are a star-faring folk beyond our comprehension. Now stop gawking, I may be the Goddess of the Sea and Sky, but Lake Rumare is still big and full of all sorts of daedra infesting it.” Oblivion damn it, why were there daedric fish?! In all her years she’d never seen the like. Leave it to Molag to destroy the ecosystem of the city’s closest source of food; the poisoned Arboretum included.

“So you’re just going to let them travel to Akavir?” Neethsi rolled her eyes at the naivety of people. Just because she was a goddess they thought she could just do things? Ugh, damn it, she’s starting to see why her kin tend to fuck-off to Aetherius.

“The Goddess leading that fleet isn’t in the mood to talk right now and trying to stop them from cleaning up my mistake is foolish. Stop asking questions and get a move on!”

📜

“You want to see us train?” General Helvex questioned the two guardsmen that approached him. It wasn’t an annoyance when the local natives of the world came up to them and started asking questions, it was to be expected. The curiosity of a being will always gnaw at them, wanting to learn more.

“Yes. I mean, we’ve never seen any of you train, not even General Berserker herself.” The human woman, Derius, confirmed.

“We also wondered if you were going to train us as well, when we got those eggs-so-suits?” Yari-Du asked the towering alien, who felt a twinge of amusement at the mispronunciation.

“Well, that depends on how the exo suit itself will operate. It could be quite versatile and be tailored to your strengths or help mitigate your weaknesses. However, just because you are wearing such equipment, do not assume you are invincible. If we are charged with training you, it will be to curbstomp and weed out any who would have such mindsets.” Helvex answered.

“Right, uh, back to wanting to see you guys train. Can we see that?” Derius redirected back to her question.

“I’m pretty sure we can set up a mock battle between the factions.” Helvex agreed much to the excitement of the two guardsmen.

“What’s this about a mock battle?” Asked a Defender from the faction; the Praetorian Shield, their green and gold recognizable in stark contrast to the common white and gold.

“These guardsmen wanted to see us in action, since they don’t see us training.” Helvex addressed his comrade. “What say you, Sellox? You and me, head-to-head?”

“Just like old times, dearest Crusader. However, it will be done the Defender’s way.” Sellox snorted in amusement as she accepted the challenge.

“Fair enough.” Helvex agreed as Sellox left them.

“Um, what did she mean by that?” Yari-Du asked in confusion.

📜

“What do you mean by that?” The Admiral sternly questioned after the Night Sentinel told him what one of their leaders and gods were planning on doing to Akavir.

“Exactly what I said before, we’re to lock down all of Akavir to prevent anyone from getting in or out. This way we’ll be able to perform a ritual to siphon all Frost Demon souls in order to get rid of them once and for all.” A Chaser of the Soul Reaver faction, explained to the Admiral.

“That is astounding to hear, but even if you do this, I do not think we could return. The lands have been laid to waste by the marauding horde of Kamal. We would be grateful not to worry about them coming here as well, but we feel that Akavir would be best left to recover for a few generations.” The Admiral said with full authority, since he was the highest one his people had left, what with the Monkey King of the Tang Mo and the Dragon Lord of the Ka’Po’Tun dead.

“Do you really think you or any one of us have the luxury of waiting things out? Have you forgotten that there is a war going on over here? Who’s to say the enemy doesn’t know and are capitalizing on it?” The Soul Reaver questioned the Admiral, much to his annoyance. These aliens really are something.

“You speak as if this is new, as if this isn’t something we’ve dealt with before. The whole of Akavir may never have been lost before, but a whole section for some years, yes. As for the troubles facing Tamriel, it seems to be something they deal with every few decades or centuries. I’m certain our inclusion won’t change much for the worse.

“We’ll live or die and if we die, well, then maybe it was time for this silly play to drop the curtain. I’m sure it won’t be, not with you and other capable people guiding us on the right paths. The path of my people is to currently settle in. We have no warriors, no mages or at least none we can spare. What few of us are capable must be at home to guide and protect us.” The Admiral said as he idly wished his people could grow hair so he could stroke a beard.

“Fair enough. Your duty is to your people first and foremost. Just know that I’m certain my lords would be more than willing to arrange for Akavir to recover much faster.” The Soul Reaver replied, only to get a shake of the head from the middle-aged serpent.

“Do not bother yourselves too much. We already owe you a debt that cannot be repaid. I am not the only one to doubt we have anything of value to give you for these boons you’ve provided.” The Admiral stressed humbly.

“Even though our governments have had disagreements lately, I’m certain your kind would be welcomed into our societies. We’ve not yet met a species like yourself.” The Soul Reaver offered and the copper-scaled snake-man scrunched his brows.

“We’re already immigrants here, yet you’re offering us more alternatives?” The Admiral bemusedly questioned.

“Only the Tsaesci. We’ve encountered species similar to the Tang Mo and Ka’Po’Tun, so they will not receive the same offer.” The Soul Reaver’s clarification got a leer and a shake of the head.

“Then I must decline. Rivals and bitter bedfellows we may have been in the past, but we are all Akaviri now. Bound in blood and suffering. We will not abandon our kin.” The Admiral admirally announced adamantly against abandoning allies.

“Apologies, Admiral, I meant no offense. Though perhaps you are making the right choices. Welcoming you in when shit’s about to hit the fans back home would only drag you into unnecessary conflict.” The Soul Reaver raised her hands in peace, but the coppery male just huffed.

“Unless it was to this ‘Paradise’ that your General mentioned once. The answer is still no either way, but at least your offer isn’t a false one.” He went back to checking his scrolls. “Now then, I appreciate you bringing me this information, but unless you have more to say, I must get back to work. All this damned paperwork. Why does Tamriel bother with so much?”

“Bureaucratic bullshit, sir.” The Soul Reaver answered with a scoff.

“Bah, the respective shogunates of Akavir didn’t have a quarter of this paper wasted on documents confirming other documents which are yet still copies of other documents. It was plain, simple and not hiding behind flowery words like this. It said what it needed to, then it was sealed and filed.” The Admiral grumbled and got to signing.

“Send a complaint, make some noise, shake some bureaucrat feathers and get their attention.” The alien suggested but he shook his head.

“Complaining won’t do anything. No. I think I’ll have a shinobi find their ink, quill and parchment providers and burn it all to force them to adapt and stop wasting time and energy. Maybe then they’ll get to the damned point.” The Admiral hissed and began rolling up the scroll to seal with wax.

“We’ll look the other way and let you have at it. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it, good day Admiral.” The Soul Reaver giggled as she left his office.

📜

Even though I’m making it...I still don’t understand how a sewing machine works. I know what it does, but how does it do it with just one needle pressing down into a surface? Anyway, the Night Sentinels were more than kind enough to supply Rarity with the material needed to make these black suits, laying out the blueprints necessary for all species, shapes and sizes.

That didn’t help us however, we’re not the ones making the outfits and these are just what’s going on before they put on the armor itself. That bit they’ve kept entirely secret. I’ll figure it out though! I will if I have any pride in my ability! However; how does this damn machine work?! I know it’s got two spots for thread, I know how it’s made, but I just don’t get this!

“My head hurts.” Shade huffed and I nodded as I turned the dwarven metal machine around and around, trying to wrap my head around the idea that this thing sews fabrics together without using the same stitches a person would make.

“I’ll just take that dear.” Rarity took the machine in her magic and took it into her workroom. “It isn’t that hard to fathom darling, it’s a lock stitch. It is two threads working as one to securely connect two pieces together with a seamless single outer thread and a strong, dense thread on the inside.”

“That completely passed over our heads, please leave us out of your fabric sorcery.” I demanded and Shade nodded as Rarity looked between upset and amusingly flattered. “Anyway, we’ve gotta get started on hunting down some talented craftsmen who are interested in working with potentially cursed materials!”

“Please don’t word it like that, dear…” Rarity said with a visible sweatdrop on her brow.

📜

“This city is a bullshit fucking nightmare. How did you idiots survive for so long when your capital is more full of holes than a wheel of swiss cheese?!” Brennie demanded furiously as she looked down at the map of the city which was covered like a pepperoni pizza in red ‘breach’ markers coming up from the sewers.

“U-uh, well, we...um.” Heralous found herself shrinking away from the glare of the General before Brennie let out a scoff.

“You know what? Fuck it! Defenders, fortify this entire city, plug up all the holes! Gunners, gun emplacements, a whole lot of it and get the tanks in! Ghosts and Chasers are to patrol the city, survey enemy forces and assassinate enemy COs! My Crusaders will dig up trench lines outside the city walls and keep the daedra at bay!” Brennie barked out her orders and her people went to work.

“General, no offense, but you’re being greedy. We want some action ourselves as well, you can’t throw us aside.” Birnil stated firmly.

“Who said I was? You’ll be joining in the effort of fortifying and learning some of the weapons our mortal populous use.” Brennie retorted which surprised everyone present.

“I...really?” Miun-La blinked in shock, wondering if he was hearing things.

“Yes. However, you will not move the troops beyond the wall. The daedra go crazy at the mere sight of Night Sentinels, so they’ll come charging at my Crusaders for some payback. I need you to watch their backs as they dig trenches for them to take cover in, while setting up wires and barriers to slow the enemy down.” Brennie made it very clear that things were going to become hectic as soon as the enemy realized what they’re up to.

“Well, at least the soldiers will have something to shoot at.” Golnis shrugged until they felt the ground tremble. “What’s that?”

“Not our mechs, they make the ground tremble more. Probably one of our Dreadnoughts coming in to aid us.” Brennie said as she ushered everyone to go out and see what they would’ve assumed was a construct like that of the Dwemer machinery towering them. But they could tell it wasn’t as it carried the colorations and iconography of the Crusaders.

“Hail, Queen Berserker.” The Dreadnought spoke in reverence, its voice deep and mechanical, as it gave a short bow to Brennie.

“Hail, Ferok.” Brennie replied in kind as Ferok straightened up.

“I have returned to serve once again. Forgive me for cutting our reunion short, but I must take to the battlefield and lay waste to our enemies. My brothers and sisters need me.” Ferok apologized to his queen, to which she responded with a shake of her head and smiled.

“No need for an apology, go forth and bring ruin upon our foe.” Brennie told him.

“Ah, but better to ask for forgiveness than to assume. Take heart, for we have all returned to active duty. I will see you on the battlefield.” Ferok stated before he began stomping his way towards the city gates. Many of the local populace of this world were frightened of him, but he did not take offense to their awestruck fear. Hearing the cheers of the Night Sentinels as they welcomed him back made his still beating heart swell with pride as he strode towards the battle raging beyond the wall.

“Uh, to quote you; What the fuck?”

“I’ll explain later. C’mon, we have work to do.”

📜

“So, you want me to give up my shop to go gallivanting in the cold of Skyrim to work with mythical metal?” Garnag Skaakh demanded in bafflement and I nodded calmly. “Sure, let me just give my smock to my apprentice. Work here in Soulrest was getting so dull I might’ve gone adventuring.” The orsimer who provided my first weapon in this world agreed readily.

“Well, that makes you the first person not to laugh in our faces and tell us to get out.” I sighed in relief as he chuckled good-naturedly.

“Those folks don’t have the eye for people like I do. For instance; what did you do with that dagger you bought from me?” I winced and he snorted. “You didn’t sell it, I can tell. What’d you do with it?”

“I gave it to our fiance as a gift.” I told Garnag and he swelled with pride.

“Aw, you gave it as a declaration of love and trust to your future mate? I’m touched. I wish you all well.” Garnag declared before he pulled off his smock and whistled through those teeth impressively, summoning an Imperial man from the back room. “Alright Tyrato, the shop is yours. Don’t screw it up.”

“Wait...seriously? I mean, I’ve been looking forward to it, but I didn’t think you’d be leaving so soon.” The man named Tyrato took the smock and held it in front of him. It was hilariously too big for him. “I’ll...keep using mine and save this in case my apprentice is a big one.”

“Smart lad. Now, I’ll meet you in Lilmoth, I have a friend to stay with there.” Garnag told us and then I shared a high-five with Shade at our first successful recruit for the Aetherium Project.

Next Chapter: Ch.78 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 19 Minutes