In the cold vacuum of s.p.a.ce the newly commissioned communications satellite that Dax had so unimaginably nicknamed comsat-1 had just returned to the light and was about to enter the service area, having completed its second way around the world Dax later would call Pandora, as it was now starting operations. It was still a little before it was above the horizon and able to relay information between Dax and his drones, and the rectangle satellite slowly started operations as large pure white pannes extended from it, and turned to absorb as little sunlight as possible.COMSAT-1 EXITING STEALTH MODE OPERATION.
RADIATORS EXTENDED, ALL OPERATIONAL AT APPROXIMATELY 99.9993%
EFFICIENCY, DISPERSING WASTE HEAT.
OPTICAL SENSORS MOVING TO READY STATE, EXITING DEBRI s.h.i.+ELD, ALL ONLINE
STEPPING UP CENTRAL REACTOR FROM LEVEL 0 TO 1, OUTPUT STABLE. REACTOR ONLINE
STARTING CONTROL HANDOVER, BASIC OS SHUTDOWN CONFIRMED.
BOOTING ICI VERSION 5.32. ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE.
ICI V 5.32 ONLINE, SEARCHING FOR LASER COMMUNICATION NETWORK… DOWNLINK CONFIRMED, RECEIVING DIRECTIVES… DIRECTIVES RECEIVED,
RELAYING SCHEMATICS AND CONSTRUCTION ORDERS TO REX-DELTA04 CYCLOPS UNITS 04 AND 05 FOR GUARDIAN-R04 SPECIAL PROTOTYPE WEAPONRY
ORDERS RELAYED. TIME TO COMPLETION: 32 HOURS
RELAYING CONSTRUCTION AND RETROFIT STATUS FROM UNITS 04 AND 05, COMPLETE.
ALL URGENT DIRECTIVES RELAYED. MOVING TO SECONDARY FUNCTIONS.
ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS TO FLEET COMMAND, STANDBY...
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015643
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015644
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015645
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015646
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015647
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015648
- ATTEMPT FAILED
- RUNNING QUANTUM COMMUNICATION ADAPTATION ATTEMPT #0000015649
- ATTEMPT FAILED
...
Attempting to regain a connection with the central fleet command quantum communications without a active enquiption key, about 95% of the central processor occupied itself with what any sane man would consider impossible. The remaining 5% of the central processor worked on a.n.a.lyzing and gathering intelligence data in tandem with the salvaged cyclops sensor pods.
5 ORBS DISCOVERED BY COMSAT-1, 1 ALREADY KNOWN.
2 ORBS DISTURBED, HIGHEST PRIORITY INVESTIGATION.
3 ORBS APPEAR UNDISCOVERED, SECONDARY PRIORITY.
1 ORB CRACKED, ALL INVENTORY PRESUMED LOST. LOWEST PRIORITY.
LOCATING DISTURBED ORB #1, TRAINING ALL SENSORS ON TARGET, ACHIEVING VISUAL CONTACT, STANDBY….
Focusing all the long range scanners on a remote area about 1000 kilometers south of where Dax currently was, the combination of LIDAR, long range infrared and visual sensors slowly trained in on the orbs location. The multiple visual cameras were obscured by heavy cloud cover, but cloud penetrating LIDAR and infrared slowly revealed a semi tropical forest landscape. Multiple small orange and red blips surrounded the orb in neat and evenly s.p.a.ced circles, and after spending about half an hour observing the area the satellite had enough data to produce a high resolution render of the orb and its surroundings.
SENDING VISUAL RENDER TO COMMAND FOR a.n.a.lYSIS, STARTING OBSERVATION OF SECOND DISTURBED ORB, ACHIEVING VISUAL CONTACT..
TRAINING ALL SENSORS, STANDBY..
Once more all the long range scanners focused on a single area, this time some 250 kilometers away from Dax, and this time the skies were clear.
ALL SENSORS TRAINED ON TARGET, CLOUD COVER AT LEVEL 2, VISUAL OBSERVATION POSSIBLE.
Revealed through the multiple sensors was a orb with about the same size as the one Dax arrived in, being about 1 and a half times larger than the normal size. The orb had landed near a large city, and the impact crater extended out far and multiple fields had been scorched by it. Around the orb some kind of temporary installation had been set up near it, and walls lined around the orb and compound, with multiple people moving around it. Most of them looked like they were guarding it while a small amount of people in red robes were trying to get close to the orb, trying being the key word as they were constantly being flinged away by some unknown force, and a single red cloaked figure were simply observing.
EXTREME GRAVITATIONAL DISTURBANCE DETECTED, a.n.a.lYSING DRIVE SIGNATURE FOR ID. STANDBY…
MATCH FOUND.
GALACTIC EMPIRE 125TH h.e.l.lWALKERS 3RD LANDING FORCE, FIRE SUPPORT GROUP.
CAS-A7 STINGER, REGISTRATION 19745.
SENDING TRAFFIC TO COMMAND… COMPLETE.
TRAINING SENSORS ON UNDISTURBED ORB #1
…
On the ground Dax had just said goodby to Viktor when comsat-1 linked to him.
(INCOMING LASER COM, RECEIVING AND SENDING STANDPOINT DATATRAFIK, COMPLETE.)
(Thanks ICI I love you~ Update me as the topographic map renders come in.)
(ERROR "I love you~" CANNOT COMPREHEND.)
(Then disregard and confirm orders)
(ORDERS CONFIRMED, COMMANDER DAX IS TO BE UPDATED THE WHEN RENDERS ARE ABLE FOR DOWNLOAD.)
(Good~ Now units 01 and 02 form up on me, let"s go collect some explosives.)
Arriving at the familiar weapons store, Dax and his drones went around the back, to a courtyard outside the smithy. Knocking on the solid looking door, Dax heard someone rus.h.i.+ng to the door.
"what ya want in closed to!- Ah Dax, come in please!"
"Did you find everything we discussed?"
"Yeah. Most of it anyway, is all this stuff really for weapons?"
Showing Dax inside, Alex revealed countless bags, vials and pouches filled with different colored powders and liquid compounds.
"Ohhh this looks great 01 start cataloging the components, and stabilize what needs stabilization for transport"
[DIRECTIVES CONFIRMED.]
"G-golem!? No way more advanced than that, Dax what are those?"
"They"re atomus light scouting units, well the general term is drone. This is unit one and two, think of them as extensions of myself as they link to me almost constantly to update me on all sorts of information."
"I-I see…"
Examining the drones with great care, Alex took about 5 minutes to carefully look them over before even noticing their armament.
"So these are the "rifles" you"ve been talking about…"
[DESIGNATION REX-344 GAUSS RIFLE.]
"Gauss rifle?"
"Also called a coilgun. It shoots long dart like penetrators using the power of magnetism, the same force that powers compa.s.s can be used to do amazing things through the power of over engineering~"
While carefully packing the chemical compounds with the help of unit 1, Dax answers Alex"s question without even looking
"Interesting…. What"s the range?"
"In this atmospheric pressure? Should be able to punch through a quarter of a meter of solid steel at a range of about 12 kilometers"
"That"s insane.."
"Probably sounds insane yeah, but where I"m from that"s not all that impressive, only relaying in the power of magnetism will only take you so far without increasing the weight, complexity or cost to extreme levels. A modern rifle requires a match between chemical and electric propulsion to deliver a round that guides itself to the final target and delivers a shaped charge explosive warhead."
"T-that sounds fascinating, what would be the maximum range on that kind of weapon?"
As if finding himself back in apprentices.h.i.+p, Alex eagerly asked about a new and unknown world of warfare.
"In theory there"s no maximum range, as different kinds of systems overlap and interface with each other. But in practice it"s more effective to replace anything at a range in excess of a thousand kilometers with railguns, being unparalleled in larger scaled systems, on anything larger than a corvette….. Words being all well and good do you want to take one apart?"
"Can I!?"
"Not really no, but you can look and ask questions while I take this one apart myself"
Spending about an hour taking a rifle apart while Alex bombarded him with questions, Dax was updated on the orb scanning by ICI.
(Ooohh, a working Stinger within range of me? That"s almost too good, but I need to know what the f.u.c.k those people are doing, and why they"re unable to get close to the orb. I want the disturbed orb #2 under constant observation, and get me a regular update on its gravsig, something feels off.)
(DIRECTIVES CONFIRMED. DISTURBED ORB #2 TO BE CONSTANTLY OBSERVED FOR CHANGES IN GRAVITATIONAL SIGNATURE.)
(And then there"s #1… Looks like they"re praying to it, or dying due to some radiation.. I feel like that one is fine to leave alone for a while, but update me on it two times daily.)
(ROGER.)
Having finished putting the gauss rifle back together as the drones had filled the 3 200 liter bags to the brim with the various chemical compounds, Dax asked Alex a final question.
"That"s the gist of it. Want to try it out outside the city walls?"
"I"ll have to decline, I have to write all this down immediately"
"Can I order something from you now then?"
"What would you need from me? I"m still just a blacksmith, so don"t expect anything like the stuff you could make"
"This is something that"ll be right up your ally."
"Okay, I"m listening?..."
"Then how about something like this?"
Explaining his design idea, Alex"s eyes lit up with interest.
"Hoo? That seems interesting… I"ll have them all ready in a few days, and don"t worry about the cost, I"ll consider this as a thanks for the lesson"
"Okay then, I"ll be back in town in a few days, I"ll check back then."
---
Approximately 400 kilometers north of the royal capital, in the mountain range stood a enormous temple complex. Raised by superior magical construction technology the main temple building stood some 800 meters high, made in mostly of pure white marble with statues and murals lining the temple walls. Isolated by the sheer alt.i.tude I was build at with thin air and extremely cold weather, not a single sign of life could be seen in the area, as every resident of the complex was moving around inside the interconnected temple complex. An angel walked through one of the connecting conduits between the main building. She wore a white eleaporade silk dress with room for her two pairs of prue black wings on her back. Every single aspect and detail if the angel could only be described as divine, she carried herself gracefully, her long raven black hair and purely dark pupils formed a certain unknown allure. Every single part of her being could be considered extremely beautiful, except for her current expression.
(What the h.e.l.l is the archangel counsel thinking!?)
stomping ahead in rage, the angel was upset about the archangel counsels recent decision.
(Are they seriously inviting a demonkin here!? Not even to that disgusting popes church, but HERE of all places!? They"ve gone insane!)
The angels central temple was considered a holy place for most the humankin countries, mainly because of the of the religious following, but also because of the fact that it was a natural fortress and angels were fierce fighters. Empires and kingdoms past had tried to take control or conquer the temple complex multiple times, but none ever made it close enough to see it. Over the past 9000 years the number people invited to the temple had been few, glorious kings and heroes, legends. And now some unknown demonkin without accomplishments, that cowardly managed to outmatch a arcangel that was weakened by possessing a weak and unworthy believer.
(Like h.e.l.l I"ll let that happen! It took several months to clance myself last time last time I was in contact with the outside unclean world, and now they"ll invite some filthy creature in here!? I will never allow it! That creature will never make it here!)
Infuriated by the impending invasion of a alien creature, the xenophobic angel tried to figure out what she would need to do in order to keep her pace.
(What to do, what to do?...)
Showing impatience trough her increasingly faster steps and radical thinking, the angel suddenly stopped in place.
(That"s it! Its just a mortal, if I kill it my problem goes away, but I refuse to do I myself so I need something…. Wasn"t there a something near that settlement I could use?)