Beyond?

by Andur

I shrug my shoulders. “I doubt that they would lead their force into an area which doesn't allow them to manoeuvre freely. I thought about going there to have a chat with them?”

  Helen shakes her head. “No way! I heard about your stunt with the helmet. What do you think you can do while facing them alone? We know nothing about them. I won't let a member of my family go anywhere near such a force. On top I heard stories about them being very unfriendly towards magicians.”

  But if we don't blow them up and can't place an army in front of them, then there aren't many options left to stop their advance. I want to avoid letting them go anywhere close to Tri. “Then how about using one of our newer drones? Someone suggested to place a full sound system inside them to use them as listening devices. If they stop and listen to it, a two way communication might work.”

  Helen's expression turns confused and the small wrinkles on her skin become a little deeper. After a moments of contemplation she pulls at her very restrained blue dress to straighten it. Helen isn't a fan of pompous and fancy clothing. All of her various garbs lack jewellery or any other kind of adornment.

  Suddenly her expression sharpens. “Why would you install something like that in a three metre long piece of metal? Anyone can see them long before you get into hearing range. Are you wasting my money?”

  Ah... damn! I didn't expect her to be that sharp. “Not... exactly. Hahaha. Isn't it cool to be able to give out messages to normal citizens when you fly close above the ground? We thought it might be a nice help if you need to warn something like a small village of approaching danger.”

  Her eyes turn into thin slits. “We have the mana net and there is at least one access point in every village. Even the weakest hedge mage can access the command line to be informed of the latest news. What are you hiding?” She comes closer than I deem comfortable and my step backwards is followed by a step forward from her side.

  “We might have installed a few improved features... which I forgot to mention in my report.” I avert my eyes from her, that stare is simply too straining on my mind. Having her that close is also unpleasant. I just wanted to keep a few of our abilities as a secret of my own.

  “I see, so you forgot to mention what you are doing with my money.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest and glares at me.

  I have to correct her. “The country's money.”

  “My money! What can the new model do?” She doesn't back off and comes even closer.

  “It might have the ability bend light around itself to turn invisible. It's an advanced feature of the magical light gathering circuit which focuses light. Though the drone can't gather energy while having this feature activated, so it can stay invisible only for short periods of time.” See? I hope she is happy now.

  “Any other features I should know about?” Helen presses on and I realize that I am with my back against the wall.

  “There aren't any systems you don't know about.” I blurt out.

  She starts smiling and gently takes my hand, softly stroking it. “Azir. I am an idiot when it comes to technical stuff, but even I realize that you just dodged the question. I knew about the light gathering system too, though it seems to be able to do a little more than what I was told. So if you tell me that there aren't any systems I don't know about, then that seems to mean essentially nothing.”

  Why is she smiling like that? That looks more threatening than when she is angry! “The report with the advanced features might be somewhere in my office. I am sure that it'll show up when I look for it.”

  She pats my hand. “That might be a good thing. I expect it on my desk tomorrow morning.”

  “Mom? Could you stop getting intimate with the father of my child.” Stella's angry voice frees me of Helen. She stayed at Ivy's side while watching the exchange. The paper bag with the egg shells is almost empty... did she eat a little of the paper too?!

  My mother in law finally decides to back off. “Of course my dear. I am sorry.”

  Did she just call me a father? Why did my life take this turn? Oh, yeah... it was my own decision... fault. I hurry to the light sculpture and access the drone's settings. “I'll drop the invisibility and position the drone in front of their army. Then we can take a look at what they do.”

  “They'll surely attack it. Is the drone able to take an attack?” Stella doesn't sound very convinced.

  “It can bend radiation based attacks around itself by using the circuit for light manipulation. Physical attacks can be warded off by the gravitation engine. If the drone creates a strong gravitational field in a small area it can use that force to divert incoming projectiles from their trajectory. Although it works only with small calibre ammunition,” I add subdued.

  A few more manipulations and the four drones which are circling the strange army are under my full control. I enlarge the viewpoint of the drone I chose for this experiment. The others are also still displayed, but in smaller windows.

  A chop of my hand drops its concealment and I send it downwards from its current position in a height of five kilometres. The drone follows my command and tilts its nose directly to the earth. The rapid descent stops when I reverse the acceleration and activate the hover mode directly in front of the leading units of the rainbow army. The drone reorients itself automatically to observe the target.

  In the meantime the loose formation of the advancing vehicles broke. The smaller cars which were the leading units steered off into random directions, while the bigger units behind them came to a complete stop. The biggest one is looming between them like a huge fortress.

  “That woke them up. Should I get closer?” I take a look at Helen, but she shakes her head.

  Her bobbing silver hair is reflecting the sunlight from the window. “Can you simply land the drone? I doubt that they would go anywhere near it if it's airborne.”

  I let out a deep sigh. “If you want, but that makes the drone a sitting duck. We'll be unable to use the gravitation engine for defence.” A gesture lands it smoothly on the ground. “I would prefer to have it in the air.”

  Helen shrugs her shoulders. “If they destroy it I permit you to test your orbital arsenal in a retaliatory strike.”

  Stella grabs her mother's sleeve with a worried expression. “Is that okay? The drone is just a piece of metal.”

  “An expensive piece of metal.” Helen answers without hesitation.

  The strange army came to a complete halt and now one of the smaller vehicles approaches the drone. It's one of the four wheeled ones and its painted like an explosion of red, orange and yellow colours. The vehicle has a turret on the top with two long metal tubes emerging from it.

  The thing is made out of wood while the driver's capsule seems to be a metal box. Upon closer inspection I recognize two small slits for the driver to look out of his vehicle.

  The armoured car stops ten metres in front of my drone and a door swings open on its side. It was perfectly concealed before the driver decided to leave his machine.

  The driver is clothed in a tight fitting uniform with frilly sleeves and a long cloak. I notice that his blue horns seem a little small, but to compensate for that his hair is also dyed in an explosion of colour. Judging by his horns and his insecure behaviour he seems to be very young. He points something which can only be a gun at the drone and the car's turret rotates to aim its gun too. If he wasn't a soldier and a member of a scouting party I would think that he is frightened.

  I'll crush their fancy car if they hurt my toy. “Their technology seems to be decent, although I haven't seen anything outstanding up till now. I wonder what's their problem regarding colours?”

  Helen answers my question. “I think I've read that in one of my old books. They believe that they amuse their goddess when they dress like this. According to their holy scripture the goddess laughed tears for a month and created the oceans by doing so.”

  Those guys have a few screws loose. “So they want to drown us? What happens if they manage to cause another laughing fit to
their goddess?”

  “We should say something. Now or never.” Stella reminds us of the awkward situation.

  “Oh, you are right.” I activate the speakers on my drone.

  “Bring me your leader and explain your presence here!”

  The soldier's eyes widen upon the sudden proclamation and he discharges his weapon at the drone. I immediately enlarge the viewpoint of a second drone to inspect the damage.

  “That scratched the paint you nervous, little clusterfuck!”

  “I'll sue you if there is a dent!”

  “No, I'll use the drone's engine to smear you over the entire eastern plains.”

  “You won- mmm...MMM-”

  Stella immediately jumped to my side and held her hand over my mouth. I try to free myself, but she holds me tightly with iron force while she is pulling me away from the light sculpture. I have to take revenge! You can't be serious that this child is allowed to scratch my drone!

  Helen steps into my place and throws an inquiring look at Ivy, who nods to assure her that her voice will be transmitted.

  “I am sorry for this little outburst. The person you heard just a moment ago is one of the creators of this device and he is emotionally attached to his work. I am Helen Gejene and I rule the Free City States of Nict. It would be very nice of you if you state the reason for your visit and get me a person with authority.”

  The soldier had paled upon my outburst. Then, after hearing Helen's words, he nods with a frightened expression and hurries back into his car where he seems to have some kind of communication device.

  65. ~Concourse.~

  “There is a person who is wandering the world and helping people. They call him the Wanderer and he, if the stories are true, has been on his journey for several hundred years. He is a just person and slays evil wherever he finds it. Though many who met him think that he is desperately searching for something.”

  -The Southern Legends.

  Free City States of Nict, Capital

  Azir

  I am sitting on the ground and watching the light sculpture angrily. Stella has her legs around me and is holding her hand onto my mouth to stop me from talking. I realized that I can't get her off of me without hurting her, so I simply have to accept the situation for now.

  In the meantime Helen took on the burden of negotiating with Quinn. It turned out that the soldier had something like a mobile radio in his car. He returned after fulfilling Helen's request and informed us that his superior would show up soon. Afterwards he continued stuttering something about a diplomatic mission.

  If an army of that size is Quinn's version of a diplomatic mission, then I don't know what their version of war is supposed to look like.

  After a while a second bigger car closes in on my drone. It came directly from the big moving fortress and looks even fancier than the scout's vehicle. This one has six wheels and seems to be heavily armoured. Contrary to the other vehicles it doesn't seem to have any weapons. The colours on it range over the whole spectrum and it looks like the artist who was in charge of painting this monstrosity was in a hurry and simply splashed the colours onto it.

  A ramp opens in the side of the new arrival and a guy and a woman in frilly clothing exit the car. Like the soldier, both of them wear their hair in various colours. Even their horns are painted and their garments are tight fitting with frills all over them.

  A long time ago I visited a wandering circus with Stella. That was back when she was still hiding her true identity. They had a show there. The actors were calling themselves clowns and tried to entertain the audience by wearing funny clothing, telling jokes or performing strange stunts. If those two would paint their faces white and add fluffy, red noses to their appearance... they would match those actors perfectly.

  The guy has a small pointy beard on his chin. He doesn't look very old, thirty at most and there is a small scar on his right cheek. His whole demeanour demands being respected, despite his strange clothings. The face is a little round, though that seems to be caused by his heritage since his body isn't fat at all.

  The woman at his side wears a dress and if it wasn't for her over-usage of red lipstick I would probably call her beautiful. Her sharp facial features make her look like someone who is used to being in command, but her high, strong cheekbones give her the appearance of an evildoer.

  Both of them stroll casually down the ramp and approach the soldier and my drone. Either they are very confident in their protective measures, or they are very stupid.

  The man eyes my drone with a confused expression. “You said that the leader of Nict wants to talk to us?”

  Helen decides to intercept the soldier's answer. “Indeed. I am Helen Gejene and I am using this device to talk to you. Can I assume that you two are the leaders of this caravan?”

  The man turns his attention to the drone. “My name is Prince Leon Zerces and this is my sister, Princess Giana Zerces. The king of Quinn entrusted us with a diplomatic mission to Nict.”

  Helen answers with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “I am sure that a purely diplomatic mission would look a little different. What do you need that many troops for?”

  Leon smiles knowingly. “The eastern plains are a dangerous place and since we have two members of the royal family travelling to a faraway and possibly hostile country, the king decided to give us a force that can't be easily messed with. And the most important point is that we are able to protect our own interests.”

  “That still doesn't tell me what you want. Nict didn't bother itself with Quinn for a few hundred years. We aren't interested in anything besides our own problems.” Helen answers with a steady voice. There isn't a reason to fear Quinn from our point of view.

  Giana decides to speak for the first time. “Something like that may be best discussed in private. We have our reasons to come in force, as we aren't entirely sure if Nict isn't our enemy.”

  Helen doesn't give in. “You can talk through this device. It's safe and I trust the people with me. I won't allow your army to approach our borders any further.”

  Leon gestures at the drone. “Then what proof do we have that we are really speaking with the leader of Nict? Our enemy is also capable of creating strange magical artefacts.”

  Helen's voice turns interested. “Hooh, so your vehicles aren't using magic? I wondered how a country that despises the most important members of its society could create such vehicles.”

  Leon raises his head proudly. “Those are the fruits of pure science! The new V16-Mechanized-Troops are Quinn's newest forces. They run purely on oil and electricity. There is no heretical magic involved at all!”

  I start laughing while Stella hugs me tighter, but it's no use. The clown's joke was too funny. Why would someone build a purely mechanic engine in a world where mana is available in abundance. It would be reasonable in a world without magic, but why would you make your own life harder if it isn't necessary? Magical circuits are a shortcut to many things you wouldn't otherwise be able to achieve without excessive investments in time and resources. These guys are too funny.

  Stella's grip on me tightens to the point of almost cutting the air circulation to my brain. I feel my head burning and my vision sways a little. Finally I am able to stop laughing.

  The prince's expression turns sour. “Is there someone laughing in the background?”

  Helen glares at me. “I am sorry, it seems like your technological approach was deemed as funny by one of my researchers. Why don't we make a compromise. We'll prepare a proper location half a day south from your current position. There we can talk. The drone will lead you there.” Helen gestures for Ivy to cut the connection, then she turns to Stella and me. My face must have turned blue by now.

  A chopping motion of Helen's hand signals Stella to let me go. “I need him to place a stepper disc to the south of their army. There is a big, grassy, open field there. It's perfect to prepare a show.”

  Stella lets go of me and I can finally breathe freely. “A show? Wh
y should we make a show for them?”

  Helen smiles and kneels down in front of me. “Because they obviously brought their army to impress us. So we'll build a small fortress in a place where they drove past just a few hours ago.”

  A small fortress? “I know that you guys can build houses very fast, but a fortress?”

  She nods. “Who says that we'll use just a small meagre workforce? When they get there they'll be confronted with a huge palace and a strongly fortified position. One of our armies will be there and we will show them that we are able to move our troops as we please. Maybe we could even imply that the fortress was there all along, hidden under a spell.”

  I nod eagerly, understanding her point. “Which should make them think twice before they try to wreak havoc in Nict. Though I think saying that you built it within a few hours is way more impressive.”

  Eastern Plains

  Leon

  “Unbelievable. Are you sure that there is no mistake? How could we drive past such a structure without noticing it?” I gesture at the fortress in the middle of nowhere. “Did they conceal themselves?”

  After our encounter with the strange flying device we returned to the command deck of our moving command post. The huge tracked vehicle was designed to carry supplies and protect a moving force from strategic attacks. It's two hundred metres long and fifty metres wide, a moving ship on land. We are currently on the bridge, which is made out of the finest steel. There are control desks for weapons, engines and defence together with navigation. A huge window grants me a perfect view on the area ahead of us.

  The general at my side, who is commanding the expedition, shakes his head. “Our equipment against magic should have detected something as big as that. Currently the detectors for magic are going nuts. There must be several hundred mages in that fortress over there.” He sighs. “We estimate about fifteen thousand normal soldiers.”

  I snort. “Such a meagre force is nothing we can't deal with. Quinn won't bow to heretics like them.”

  Giana tugs at my sleeve. “Brother, think about what you are saying. We have never seen so many magicians in one spot. Who knows what they can do together? You can't judge them simply by their numbers.”