Collection
Chapter 21
-VB-
Edward Arlaoskas
Orbit of Cursa, Free Worlds League
3002 October
Well.
I now had another dropship.
I also had half a mind to just sell it.
I also also knew that was my impulse talking and I shouldn't sell a dropship. Aside from the fact that I wouldn't get the full value that it was worth, building or purchasing a ship would put me into an unacceptable amount of debt.
Ping.
I paused as the Inspired Inventor sent a notice to me out of nowhere about a spare point.
I didn't think much about it before using it to level up Close Quarter Combat and raising it from 3 to 4.
Already, my brain was flooded with criticism about how stupidly I fought on the dropship and how I got carried by my equipment.
'Yes, I know that. That's the whole point of technology,' I grumbled before focusing back at the problem at hand.
Namely, the dropship currently sitting between Solo Killing and Humpty Dumpty in space in orbit of Cursa.
An Intruder-class dropship was not an uncommon dropship. It wasn't as ubiquitous as a Union or a Leopard but it wasn't uncommon. It was actually used frequently by any mercenary command and most militaries for their ability to ferry around aerospace fighters.
For someone like me who could make drones and my version of Land-Air-Mechs, an Intruder-class dropship was less of an asset and more of a luggage.
But that's what it was perfect for. It was a luggage bag. If I modified its hull, then it could serve as a semi-permanent cargo hold that could occasionally make a trip to a planet while I and Solo Killing remained in orbit and ready to get the hell of dodge if someone decides to bring a lot of heat.
And considering that I already had one encounter, I wasn't paranoid when I planned for the next defense, routes of escape, and potential MAD devices, okay?
Speaking of which…
Did I care about all of the innocent people on Terra? Subjectively, no. Ethically, maybe, considering who they paid their tax to (beyond the somehow still existing nation-states). Morally, yes.
So, yes, I guessed that I did. I wasn't heartless, then. That's a good thing, I think.
Actually, was that a good thing? To ignore the fastest way to securing my own safety because … someone else was in the way? I mean, surely, at the very least, their Hidden Worlds shouldn't be that bad of a deal if I decided to crack those planets open, right? Just a few blasts here and there with antimatter warheads… Not like anyone there would be clean of telephone company propaganda, religious doctrine, and …
I shook my head.
Internal philosophical(?) debate later. Decide what to do with the dropship now.
It was also pretty much beat up. The Siege Cannon shots, the laser burns, and random autocannon hits it suffered made it look less like a ball and more like a half-rotten fruit ready to fall over.
It certainly wasn't getting offworld on its own thrusters, that's for sure.
So did I want to do that? Turn this dropship into a semi-permanent attachment to Solo Killing? It couldn't be anything else, that's for sure. I wasn't going to turn it into a manufacturing ship because I didn't have anyone else I could trust it with. I doubted my pastor dad and homemaker mom would come along on my journey if I asked nicely.
… But I supposed that there was one person I could ask. However, I didn't want to let the telephone company read my mail, so even that was out of the picture.
My littlest sister might have liked running her own ship…
Oh well. I'll ask her when I go back home.
In meantime…
Yeah, it's gonna be a cargo hold.
-VB-
Amy Arlaoskas
Crusa, Free Worlds League
3002 December
It's ugly as hell," Amy bluntly said once the work was completed.
The spherical dropship had been slimmed down and lengthened horizontally. Or rather the top half of it had been taken off and welded to the side. It would have been two half spheres welded together if Edward hadn't gone and made many steel armor plates and sheets to turn it into a trapezoidal ingot-like hull. The wide face of the ship had the connectors and sat on top of Solo Killing. This addition removed the biggest weapon on top of the ship, which also limited that side of the ship's weapon capabilities because Edward didn't add any weapons to the … cargo hold.
It was thickly armored, though, so it would be a very good shield.
She snorted at the thought.
Right now, Solo Killing looked like a turtle with its sides exposed.
Thankfully, the berth for Humpty Dumpty's dock was still open on the bottom of Solo Killing, so there wouldn't be any issues there, not that there would have been an issue. There might not be any bullshit weapon on the underside of the ship, but Humpty Dumpty's capabilities as a carrier alone offset the loss of potential damage the weapon placements could have pumped out.
The new cargo hold did open up options, though.
Because it was a bigger hold, Solo Killing's cargo hold was now redundant. If Edward wanted to, then he could cut down on Solo Killing's cargo hold by more than half to put in more manufacturing capacity or weapons.
Like bigger missile pods, for examples.
She still remembered a few conversations where Edward began to talk about some wild weapon upgrades. Like bigger LRMs except with antimatter warheads.
Each LRM would strike with the same power as an artillery strike or some other big bomb with just a microgram. And if a single LRM could do that, LRM-20 would put down anything and everything, assuming the explosive force didn't toss the target away like a skipping rock bouncing on water, except it would be a mech bouncing on land while the explosive force and tumble sent it breaking apart in all directions.
… She was awfully getting used to thinking about how to destroy her and her family's potential enemies.
It couldn't be that Edward's paranoia was infecting her, right?
… But then again, a mercenary company had come out of nowhere to try to kill them all. It wasn't paranoia if there was someone out there trying to get them.
'So is Edward right?'
And if he was, then why was he playing around like this?
"Edward."
"Hmm?" her brother-in-law turned to look at her.
"Why are you playing around?"
He froze. "Sorry?"
"Someone is out to get you. Get us," she turned to face him fully, turning away from the computer screen in Solo Killing's cafeteria that was showing a drone's visual feed. It was how she was seeing the very dropship she was in. "But you aren't … focusing on protecting yourself. Why is that?"
"But I am," he replied.
"No. You're playing at being a merchant. You yourself showed your paranoia, which wasn't paranoia, since we were on our home world. My love might look over it because he thinks that's just you, but I remember far more clearly."
He stared at her before leaning back into one of the tables.
"You think I'm playing around?" he asked contemplatively.
"Yes. The very books, ideas, and theories you have been teaching me runs counter to your own action. It's as if you know how to be a spy… but when faced with danger you should be working to uncover and counter, you don't act like one. Why is that? Or do you think that our current set-up is enough?"
She hoped it was enough. Something that required something bigger than a pocket warship was not something she was sure they could handle.
He looked back at the screen.
"... If the enemy decides to bumrush us, then it won't be enough," he sighed.
The enemy.
"You know who the enemy is," she narrowed her eyes. "Know them enough to say that what we have, a pocket warship, isn't enough."
He sniffed. "Because it isn't."
"And who is this enemy? My love and I seem to be in the fight, so I think we deserve to know."
But she knew that if Armas or anyone else was here, then Edward wouldn't talk. Or he would be circumspect about it and clam up about it.
"... ComStar."
She blinked.
"ComStar. HPG running ComStar?"
"Yup," he hummed. "One of the most powerful organizations in the Inner Sphere."
"Why would they come after you?" she asked incredulously.
He raised an eyebrow. "Aside from the fact that we're Leaguers and Leaguers don't trust ComStar?"
"Yes, aside from that," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, ComStar assassinates scientists, engineers, and teachers who can maintain or raise the technological level of the Inner Sphere. If you somehow got your hands on data on all four Successor States' records of assassinations of such figures, then you'd see it."
"Other states could have done it. No, wait. Stop. Why didn't you tell anyone this before?"
"... Because no one would believe me," he shrugged.
"But knowing that, you still did everything you did?"
"Yup."
"Why?"
He turned to look at her fully instead of the halfsy he's been doing.
"Because I do as I want. That's all there is to it."
… And that's all there was to it.
She believed that, actually.
Amy groaned as she dropped her head into her hands. She should be focused on getting ready for the baby, not this!
"Fine. Fine!" she snapped as she pulled her head back up. "You're going to tell at least me and Armas everything after we've had our first baby, got it?!"
He just smirked as if this wasn't a big deal. "Sure, sure."
There. At least, she got a promise out of him this time.
---
Edward
Was I being complacent?
I stared at the image of our three ships floating in space. The new dropship (I think I'll name it Cargo Hold 1), Solo Killing, and Humpty Dumpty. Already, these three ships were assets that most House Lords would kill to make theirs.
If they knew what was inside, then they certainly would send people after us to at the very least try to convince us to join them. Or kill us to prevent others from getting it.
A factory was a strategic asset that Successor Lords nuked to deny enemy capturing it, after all. A roaming factory was … from the perspective of a successor lord, it was an asset that needed to be secured.
And I went around flaunting it.
It might just be that I was lucky so far.
And if ComStar was now after me (because who else would send a random mercenary company after me), then I have used up my free period of non-interference.
But I wasn't about to give up my freedom and powers just because some lord on high wanted me.
Yes…
I think it's time I stopped playing around. And, perhaps, I needed to find ways to ensure loyalty among those who I didn't trust.
… But how far was I willing to go to ensure loyalty?
Or should I start programming my own loyal force?Last edited: Mar 5, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:tacodragon, Reborn-freak-of-nature, Stalkerdarkshadow and 574 others
Collection
Chapter 22
-VB-
Edward Arlaoskas
Claybrooke, Free Worlds League
3002 November
With the promise given to Amy about explaining everything after her first baby was born (because I had no doubt that it wouldn't be their only one), I needed to be able to deliver any promise that I make to them.
To that end, I got the fleet to go back to Claybrooke where I had mining rights and set us up to start mining, refining, and manufacturing.
Manufacturing what?
Droneships.
Over the course of a month, I managed to build up on the mining drone and Wasp interceptor drone's basic softwares to something more flexible and reactive as well as capable of multi-tasking and robust. Modeled after the droneships found in Persean Sector (Starsector), I also made the blueprint for the Glimmer-class droneship and installed it into the microforge. It wouldn't have any special systems that most Starsector ships had, and it wouldn't come with Persean Sector weapons. It would, however, be smaller than the Achilles-class Assault Dropship but have more armors and weapons than the Achilles on top of being faster, more maneuverable, and equipped with energy shields. It would be a nasty surprise for anyone who might think that a warship would be good enough to deal with my fleet.
They would be mere stopgap measures. It was one thing for me to command a fleet of ships. It would be another to command full-size warships, which was what I intended to do eventually.
I needed to start investing my Inspired Inventor points into software development, not just the hardwares that I have been so heavily focusing on.
So. The Glimmer. It would have only laser weapons as to remove some strain on its simple targeting software. Less moving parts also meant less maintenance.
"Ed, I think the chassis on this one is done!" Armas called out from a screen above my head.
I looked up from the screen where I have been watching the mining drones (they had a minor hiccup) and toward the screen above my head. That screen showed the vacuum construction site built on top of the new cargo hold on Solo Killing.
The disc-like gray chassis of the droneship that was just a bit bigger than Humpty Dumpty indeed looked ready for the next step of the construction.
"Alright. I'm moving the construction drones in."
I began the construction of that droneship just two weeks ago, but it was nearing completion already since I had all of the internal parts made as its chassis was being made. With the chassis complete, all I had to do with fit all of the parts in. The great thing about drones and droneship was that I didn't need to factor in human compatibility, which removed a lot of parts. Again, less parts, less maintenance.
I mean, for emergency, I intended to put in a barely tight cockpit and living quarters that was no more than one hundred square feet (including the toilet, rations, and a bedroll, not a bed). The cockpit wouldn't work unless proper authentication procedure went through, because the droneship was supposed to take all orders from Solo Killing primarily, and Humpty Dumpty if something awful happened to SK.
Anyways, this was the planned stat of the Glimmers.
Glimmer-Class Droneship
Class: Corvette
Tech Base: Inner Sphere - Persean Sector
Cost: ~1,000,000,000 C-Bills
Mass: 75,000 tons
LWH: 160, 140, 35 meters
Safe Thrust: 10 G
Max Thrust: 20 G
Safe Turn: 1 rad per second
Max Turn: 1.77 rads per second
Armor: 150 tons of Titanium Diborite
Armament: 6x Naval Laser 35, 10x Rapidfire Large Laser, 20x Rapidfire Medium Laser
Crew: 0
Escape Pod: 1
Heat Sinks: 200 singles
Engine: 1x EMFE-1K, 1x EMFE-1KX
FTL: Yes, New Eden Warp Drive
The EMFE's were fusion engines of my design, which I took cues from Inner Sphere tech, Persean tech, and New Eden tech. For the same size and weight as Inner Sphere fusion engines, my engines performed at around 229% of IS fusion engine. The EMFE-1K was capable of running Solo Killing all by itself and do more, but I added it to the Glimmer as an auxiliary engine rather than the primary. The primary was the EMFE-1KX, or Ed.Marris Fusion Engine - 1000 X. It was just 50% larger fusion engine with corresponding energy output in comparison to EMFE-1K.
Most of those components - from fusion engine and thrusters to armaments and armor plates - were ready to be installed.
And once my first Glimmer-class droneship was completed, I intended to get right onto making another one.
I wondered how ComStar would react to my pocket warships?
Right at the moment, Inspired Inventor pinged me with another point to spend. I dumped that right into AI Software Development.
-VB-
Catherine Humphreys
Andurien, Duchy of Andurien, Free Worlds League
3002 December
Catherine placidly stared at the video that was slowly circulating among the military types in the Free Worlds League. It was a brief holovid.
And yet, it was slowly creating a shockwave as people began to realize what they were seeing.
A military power armor.
More than that, it was a streamlined version that wasn't bulky, moved quickly, and had enough protection to ignore a barrage of lasers from a crew defending their dropship. The reason wy this wasn't being raised faster up the chain of command was because most people who realized what they saw passed it off as a fiction being passed off as real.
Except, from what she was hearing alongside the holovid, this was very very much a real deal.
"And you are sure of this?" she asked her.
The MRB agent nodded. "Yes, duchess. This is the video that was submitted, and MRB's own inspection of the dropship prior to its handover to the mercenary commander confirm it."
"Then you are saying that someone out there made a viable power armor…"
"I am, duchess. The regional MRB is suppressing the news in the hopes that it will delay a breakout of high intensity warfare. We may be neutral, but we also do not see any sort of high intensity war going well for us, especially if there is a repeat of the Second Succession War's technology denial tactics come into play."
And the old agent was right about that. Why, the Capellans alone would nuke her worlds if they thought there was even a chance of one of her worlds harboring a factory for power armor. Power armor might not change the entire course of a war but it surely will affect that course.
And it was something she might be able to use for herself.
"And this mercenary command has been missing for the past two months?"
"Yes, duchess. They flew out of your duchy toward Claybrooke and have not been seen since."
Catherine wondered if the mercenary commander was trying to let the heat die down. It would be the smart move… but a mercenary commander with ships like his, supposedly handcrafted by the commander himself, wouldn't feel the need to lay low, not unless he believed that he had invited the attention of people best kept away.
Like the Capellans.
Or ComStar.
Nobody among the Free Worlds League's top military, political, and social circles trusted ComStar, and if that was the reason why the commander was laying low, then good for him.
Not so good for her because she would have to wait like everyone else despite having been the closest to the commander and with enough power at her side to possibly bring him under her banner.
She sighed. She'll have to wait like everyone else until he showed up.
"Very well. Thank you, Daniel."
"No need to thank me… Catherine," he grinned. "What are childhood friends for?"
She rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe you decided to be a paper pusher after retiring. What do your children think about this?"
He shrugged. "As far as they are concerned, I'm living the high life."
She barks out a laugh." Ah, yes. The high life of dealing with mercenaries on … a mostly unimportant world."
"Hey, Cursa is great! As long as you don't visit the Trash Continent."
"Daniel. The people there have trouble growing food."
"We got better at it."
"I'm sure."
-VB-
Ivan Detkov, Precentor Kendall
Kendall, Free Worlds League
3003 January
Dainava.
It was a good drink. A good Lithuanian drink for a world with many Lithuanians, himself included.
And there was a reason why a precentor was drinking a shot of dainava, a drink of slightly sour, slightly bittersweet, and an overall a complex flavor, during his work hours.
See, ComStar knew things and people who knew things tended to tell other people who knew things. For ComStar, this mostly included those who were in the know or in a specific faction.
Because, of course, even ComStar had internal political factions. There was no getting away from factions. In his early years, he had tried to be neutral, but, well, neither side took kindly to such a stance.
And so, despite being good enough to be a precentor on his merit, he found himself kicked to the near periphery in the form of becoming Precentor Kendall, a breadbasket world that sometimes saw pirate raids that came way too close for comfort toward the HPG station on more than one occasion.
Why was this a problem for Ivan?
Because, of course, he was getting shat on from above.
Why didn't he report the scarily competent citizen of Kendall who took out an entire dropship of pirates?
Why didn't he raise the alarm for the obviously non-standard technology that the now mercenary showed?
On and on and on.
Of course, most of the people asking these pointed questions were the religious fanatics. The ones who actually said "Blessed Blake" and meant it.
Because, of course, a good Lithuanian man had gone out to space and earned himself glory. Edward Arlaoskas had, apparently, over the course of three years, traveled the outer edge of the Free Worlds League and the Magistracy of Canopus, fighting off pirates like a good man.
And, well, the good man had gone and gotten ComStar and - most unfortunately - ROM's attention. His obvious and mysterious upgrades to his dropship, autonomous void fighters, and recently unveiled power armor made that attention stick.
He, being Precentor Kendall, the precentor of the mercenary's homeworld, had been notified to keep a lookout for the potential return of the mercenary since his disappearance three months ago.
And, well, of course the mercenary came back.
Unfortunately for him, the mercenary came back home with more ships. A whole wing of them, in fact.
Ivan took another shot of dainava before looking at the computer screen showing what the astronomers could see from Kendall. It was a formation of eight ships with only one of them large enough to be categorized as a jumpship… or a pocket warship. This ship, he knew, was christened Solo Killing. The second largest, probably the ship modified and christened Humpty Dumpty, was not even half the size of the pocket warship but had way too many bays for its size and could tango with the likes of Vengeance or Achilles dropships.
What made him drink, though, were the other six ships. They were all disc-like, though slightly heavier towards the rear than being a circular disc. And from what the astronomers could identify, each of those ships carried way too many weapons, including some that many had thought lost.
Because Naval Lasers weren't supposed to be in the hands of anyone but ComStar.
He let out a sigh of frustration as he poured himself another shot.
His instruction had been clear: to get in contact with the mercenary commander and try to convince him to consider ComStar as an employer. And if that failed, then to report to ROM of his failure and wait for instruction.
It was obvious to him what the First Circuit wanted to do.
'Just another child of Kendall sacrificed on the altar of someone else's ideology,' he thought bitterly.
And took another shot. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:tacodragon, Reborn-freak-of-nature, Stalkerdarkshadow and 614 others
Collection
Chapter 23
-VB-
Edward Arlaoskas
Kendall, Free Worlds League
3003 January
"Port, are you trying to pick a fight with me?" I snapped after what felt like three hours of non-stop arguing.
I came back to Kendall to talk to mom, dad, and anyone else in the family who might want to join me, because, let's face it, life on an agriworld within one or two jump distance from two different pirate kingdoms didn't make for an productive life, and I needed more people I could trust.
But the moment we got in comms range, the Kendall defense force threatened me with all sorts of violence. I told them that I was just a mercenary visiting his family, and they even confirmed that I was a born and raised Kendall son.
But noooooo… Whoever was in charge of the spaceport was up to their neck with indignation about "How dare you bring such a large fleet to Kendall's orbit and threaten a planet within the Free Worlds League with my unscrupulous mercenary ways?!" and whatever other drivel he spouted.
I tried to reason with him. I even got in contact with the local Mercenary Review Board branch. I even tried to contact his superiors, who the still nameless spaceport officer, refused to contact!
What kind of bullshit was this?! I expected this kind of shit from other planets that I wasn't from, not my own planet that just went and confirmed that I was from this planet!
"You dare -?!"
"Alright, stop the recording."
My words brought a sudden halt from the other side of the comm. "What?"
"I'm going to go to the nearest media outlet and drop this radio conversation that I just recorded," I hissed with vengeful glee. "I hope you enjoy court martial because that's the least of the problem you're going to get after this shit hits the fan. Are you happy now, bitch? You wanted to pick a fight with me. You expected me to fight you like a dumb ass mercenary, didn't you? Well, fuck you, you obstinate and brainless motherfucker. I hope you get shafted by your superior, assuming they don't get fired for your stupidity, either!"
And then I did just that. I hung up, turned my radio frequency away from the channel, and started contacting anyone and everyone who would listen before transmitting the recorded conversation for them to hear and judge.
---
It wasn't until later that I learned that the port comms officer in question had a sister. Said sister was one of the people who died after assaulting me in college, which led to my expulsion.
In hindsight, he definitely had some beef with me but went about it in the worst way possible.
No, I didn't feel sorry for him and his sister. Maybe if they weren't rabid, then they wouldn't have trouble. That's not my problem. That's their problem. Fuck them.
---
I glared at the portmaster.
After a full day of having to stay up in orbit, I was finally allowed to land with Humpty-Dumpty. And it was at the spaceport that the portmaster, the Count of Kendall, and garrison commander came out to greet me.
But I didn't even look at the count. I just kept glaring at the portmaster, who looked sufficiently sheepish over what happened yesterday.
I was still pissed.
"Well?" I demanded angrily. "Where's the apology?" I asked as the Inspired Inventory pinged me to another point stored.
"On behalf of Leubikky Spaceport Authority, I offer you my humblest apologies, Mister Arlaoskas," the portmaster, a thin man, said and gave me a deep-enough bow that came off as not being disrespectful but also not deferential. He straightened himself. "Our officer should not have caused you that level of grief, especially to a returning son of Kendall coming home with success from beyond our system."
I glared at him for a minute longer before closing my eyes, sucking a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. I opened my eyes. "Thank you," I replied. "And also thank you for the quick resolution to the problem at hand."
"No worries," the count said.
I turned to look at the count.
The count was an older man, probably in his late fifties if not more. He wore an ornate suit with subtle flowery gold trims that blended in with the deep whites of his suit. Standing next to the salt and peppered haired count was a young woman, and I knew who she was.
Elizabeth Montcalm, the Baroness of Tehedia and heir to the County of Kendall IV. She came up on local holovid shows often.
And she did not look like she liked me.
Too bad for her, I didn't care for her opinion.
"Count Montcalm," I greeted the man and gave a shallow bow. "I didn't expect to see you come out to meet me yourself. I didn't know I warranted a person of your stature to come see me."
"Normally, it wouldn't," the calm man replied. "But then again, you caused big enough of a scandal that the people would be unnerved if someone of high standing didn't meet with you to confirm that you did not mean Kendall and its people harm."
"And why would I? I am a son of Kendall."
"That means nothing to the people, not when the very angry man in orbit has a fleet of jumpships and dropships. Or, depending on who is right, multiple pocket warships in the hands of someone whose job is known for … flexible morality," he riposted. "In fact, I have seen pictures of those ships you left in orbit - with trusted officers, no doubt - and they had … rather big guns." Then he paused. "But what am I doing right now, holding up a man from visiting his family? We can talk later if you are staying for a bit. Welcome back home, Mister Arlaoskas." With that, he turned around and left with his daughter and heir in tow.
I stared after him for a few moments before turning to the portmaster.
"We won't have any more problems, right?"
"No, no, no. I'll make sure of it."
"Good."
-VB-
The ride home was quiet.
Amy, Armas, and I just sat in an armored transport provided by the spaceport, and I felt contemplative.
I came here expecting my family to support me, but then I realized now that … it might not happen.
'Just look at what happened,' I thought to myself. What should have been a routine landing ended up becoming a multi-day affair with grudges, bureaucracies, and calculative power plays. It was … unfortunate.
And these events made me wonder if my family will be amenable to my request. If I asked them to come with me to the stars, would they say yes? Would they even consider it deeply? They all had their lives, goals, and ambitions. I would be asking them to drop everything to come and help me on a quest that they didn't need to.
After all, I was essentially staking my claim in the Inner Sphere just like the Great Houses were. I knew my enemy (or would be enemies) and told them to come and fight me. With what I knew and had, I could leave the Inner Sphere entirely and make my own kingdom out of … anything.
But I stayed. Just like the Great Houses.
And when I talked to my family, I will tell them everything I knew because I made a promise.
Yup. I was going to be an uncle soon.
And, well, my plan might turn my brother and sister-in-law away from my path. So if that was the case, then stopping by Kendall had been a good idea.
'But I hope that they will stay with me.'
Would they be betraying me by staying home, here in Kendall? No. Would it still hurt me to see them go? Yes.
But I loved them so if they wanted to stay… Who was I to stop them?
"We certainly made an impression, huh?" I asked pointlessly. I just wanted to fill the space with some sound because going home like this felt like a silent death knell to me. I hated it, even though, logically, I knew that I didn't know how my family would respond or if Amy and Armas would truly stay put (even though all I did was constantly expose them to danger one after another).
Armas broke out into a genuine laughter. "You had everything shitting their pants, Ed!" he cackled.
Amy gave my brother a swat on the shoulder. "Armas. Behave."
"What? It's just us three. And the driver. And the guard."
"It's still rude," she huffed.
I smiled at their interaction. "And what did you two think about it all?"
"Honestly?" Amy asked me. I nodded. "It was a shitshow. Even though this was not your fault, you more or less broadcasted to the entire Inner Sphere that there was a new mercenary fleet in the League periphery. The ones prone to exaggeration will call your flagship a pocket warship. Even the conservatives will say that you have a fleet that no one in the Inner Sphere can match one for one."
"That was the plan."
"Except this will turn out to be negative no matter how you want to spin it," she sighed.
I paused. "What do you mean?"
"The best way for anyone to see this is that a son of Kendall got rich, came back, and immediately caused trouble. Whether or not you caused the problem is not relevant, only the fact that you caused trouble is. At worst, you are a mercenary commander who has enough firepower to match regimental mercenary commands in space and you weren't afraid to throw that weight around after a verbal argument."
I blinked.
"... Huh."
"So either you are someone who got held up by bureaucracy and thus weak or you got into an argument and tried to throw your military power around and thus making you ill-disciplined."
"... Huh."
"At least those against you will spin it that way," she finished with a shrug.
"Well, damn," I sighed. "Now what?"
"We try to get all sides of the family together," she smiled. "There's no place safer than aboard a warship in this day and age."
I looked at her. "Oh. So. You and Armas are … going to stick with me?"
Armas looked at him as if he was crazy. "Brother, did you think that we were going to stay in Kendall?"
"I mean… there's a baby coming and I thought you two might not want to…" God, I was starting to sound pathetic.
Armas reached over … and smacked my head.
I gawked at my little brother. What the hell?! Since when did he have the nerve to do that?!
He cackled at my expression. "Amy, look. Look. I made him blue screen. This idiot thought we were going to leave him after all of that."
Amy sighed as if she was disappointed in me. "Edward, aside from the fact that we would be targets for our close association, you've done everything in your power to keep us safe. We would have been less safe here on Kendall, which doesn't have enough mechs to keep the Marian slavers and Circinus pirates away on a good day," she replied. "We're a family. More than that, we're a family who support each other. We're not leaving so easily." Then she paused. "But I would like three months maternal vacation after I give birth. I think I read somewhere that infants are not suppose to fly until they are at least three months old."
"Uh. Yeah, sure. And … thanks."
---
Ivan Detkov, Precentor Kendall
"Is this truly the only way?"
"It is. We cannot allow him to upset the balance of power."
"But he has done nothing but good for the Inner Sphere, even as a mercenary."
"And yet, his inventions may cause billions of deaths in the future. No, they will cause billions of deaths."
"And if we fail here?"
"... The order will cross that bridge when it gets there. Your job, Precentor Kendall, is to see the truth of the matter and obey. May Blake bless you, brother."
And then the call cut off.
Ivan sighed before he took another shot.
Was it any wonder why he became an alcoholic? Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:tacodragon, Reborn-freak-of-nature, Stalkerdarkshadow and 541 others
Collection
Chapter 24
-VB-
Michael Arlaoskas, Pastor
Kendall, Free Worlds League
3003 January
His son had grown up in so many ways he didn't expect but also in ways that he found himself wary about.
Edward had come home as a mercenary. Well, he left it as a mercenary after pulling off stupid stunts in space and somehow fixing up a dropship by his lonesome, but he also came back home as a bigger and much more important mercenary.
Because how else would be less important when he had eight ships to his name, including a jumpship, apparently? He certainly wasn't a member of the League Navy.
Those ships alone made Edward the top 1% of Kendall's citizens, and Michael had been worried. Worried that his sons - and apparently also a daughter-in-law, would have become corrupted by power and money to become the very thing Michael preached against on an almost monthly basis.
But his fears had been assuaged, though not completely laid to rest.
The weird baubles, ranging from arm-sized and body-tall boxes to high tech wristwatches and more, he brought didn't help his concerns.
"You want us to come with you?" Michael asked in surprise across the dinner table.
"Yup," Edward said before dipping a potato latke into sour cream and taking a big bite out of it. His appetite was still the same, apparently. "I think it'll be good for everyone."
"I think so, too," Armas said with a smile, though it was a unnerved one.
Michael glanced around and saw some emotions across everyone's faces.
His wife, Maria, was upset, though this upset wasn't with Michael or what he was suggesting or what Armas did with Amy. Whenever she looked at Amy, though, the nearly sneering woman would become a doting mother-in-law, especially since it was Armas - and not any of his older siblings - that would be giving them their first grandchild.
Katrin, their oldest child and eldest daughter, hummed as she didn't look up to meet anyone's eyes, which was a sign that she was thinking. Her husband, Anton Lika, looked surprised by the offer.
"Just to be clear," Edward spoke up again. "I'm not making anyone a captain of any of the ships. Those are all combat ships except for Humpty Dumpty and Solo Killing, so putting you on any of those would be the same thing as saying I want you to die, which I don't."
This didn't make anyone look displeased or put off. In fact, they looked even more interested.
"And how would we be making a living then?" their eldest son, Marco, asked. The scarred man was the only one among them that had been involved with the military or military matters before Edward became a mercenary out of nowhere.
"Well, I'll be making sure to build the entire family a ship, one meant to be lived in and comfortable, too."
Marco leaned back with a sneer. Marco was aggressive and confrontational but that was because he believed that such characteristics were necessities.
"So, what? You want us to live on your dime?"
"If you want, then sure," Edward sniffed and faux-haughtily raised his nose up. The sour cream smear underneath his lower lip didn't do much to help that image, though. Then he looked back down and smiled. "But if you want to make a living, then I can find something for you, too."
"And if I want to continue to be a pastor?" Michael asked.
It wasn't a guarantee that they were going to leave Kendall with his son but …
Kendall wasn't safe. In the time between Edward's departure and return, there were at least two pirate raids that struck Kendall at different areas of the planet. Even if it was for safety, he needed to bring the entire family off of Kendall and to a planet deeper within the League.
"Then you can. I'll make sure there will be big enough of a room so that you won't have to repeat the same sermon five times," Edward smirked.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I took your advice years ago, Edward. The church moved to a bigger location."
"Saved your throat, didn't I?"
Michael huffed. "And what about your crew? Are they okay with you just … bringing a bunch of people onboard?"
"They better," Edward said coldly, his demeanor changing abruptly.
Marco wasn't convinced. "And who are the people in your crew? Some random crew members you picked up?"
"One or two, yes. The rest are all Kendall-born. Like Armas, for example. I've made him the captain of Humpty Dumpty."
"And what kind of name is that? A ship should have powerful names!"
Edward chuckled, obviously not at all alarmed by Marco's snappish replies. That's just how Marco was, no matter what they tried to change him.
"Humpty Dumpty can field sixteen aerospace fighters at once while barely being bigger than your standard Leopard. If anyone thinks my Humpty sounds rough, then how bad would it be for them to have 'Killed by Humpty Dumpty's minions' on their tombstone?"
And … there it was.
Edward had grown callous. More callous than before.
Marco grimaced. "Horrible."
"Exactly!"
Marco seemed to think about it for some time before he sighed.
"Would you make me a ASF pilot or ship captain if I asked you?"
"Marco…!" Maria hissed with worry.
"If you pass my tests, yeah," Edward replied casually. "Within the family, you're the best fit for leading an assault dropship and the like."
Michael sighed. Edward might be more polite than Marco on the surface, but he could be as cold and aggressive as his older brother when the occasion called for it. Was that why Edward felt rougher than before?
How many people did his son have to kill to live? How many came after him?
It hurt him a little to think that he might not have done his best with Edward, but he also knew that Edward chose this path.
"Besides, I think you are all targets right now because of me. Sorry."
Everyone except Edward, Amy, and Armas turned to look at Edward.
"What?" Anton asked with narrowed eyes, speaking for the first time since the meal began. He was a cautious person like that. "What do you mean by targets? Did you cause problems with big name nobles like Mariks?"
Edward scoffed. "If it had been something like that, then I wouldn't even call it being targeted. No, I showed off too much," he sighed. "And people will eventually make the connection that I came from Kendall. That I have family here. And, unlike many things in life, family can be leveraged against me."
Michael froze.
That …
"For example, those ships still in orbit?" he asked and waited for someone to respond. When Marco, Anton, and Maria nodded, he sighed. "Those aren't manned. They're drones."
What were dro-?
Marco shot up to his feet, the chair cluttering behind him, and stared at his brother in horror.
"You built Caspers?" he asked, horrified.
"What did he build, Marco?"
His eldest son turned to look at him. "Ed-. Ed built the things the Hegemony built. The things that Kerensky and his Star League fought," he stuttered out for the first time, his sun-baked bronze face going ashen pale. He turned back to look at Edward. "How…?!"
Edward smiled.
Suddenly, that smile didn't look so comforting.
"Like I said. I have attracted attention, and people will come for us who will not hesitate to use my family against me."
Marco nearly lunged over the table but Anton stopped him. Not that it would have done much. Marco may be the most militaristic member of the family, being a lieutenant of the planetary militia, but he was a head shorter than his younger brothers and Anton was about the same size as Edward.
"So what? You came to take us away from everything we built here?!"
"I'm not going to force you but I wanted you all to know what might be lurking out there. It's no different than being a scientist, engineer, or professor at any of the big name planets."
"What do you mean, honey?" Maria asked.
Edward sighed. "People who can advance technology tends to mysteriously disappear or die in accidents. And it happens across the Inner Sphere and beyond," he said as if that wasn't ridiculous.
… was it?
"So you think the fucking Steiners or Capellans will come after us?"
Michael's blood froze in his veins.
"If it was just those two, then I wouldn't even bother telling you. They would come after anyone who are important enough, and I'm not that special." He took a deep breath in and let it out. No, what I -." Then Edward's fancy wristwatch shrilly screamed.
And then there was an explosion outside.
-VB-
Ivan Detkov, Precentor Kendall
Kendall, Free Worlds League
3003 January
"May God forgive me," he sighed as he waited to activate the HPG system.
As soon as he did that, agents across the system moved.
A jumpship that came into the system via the pirate point immediately began to target paint the assault dropships still in orbit. This predictably caused them to face the jumpship and the dropship attached to them.
And while this was happening, agents on the ground began to move to secure Arlaoskas and his family.
The jumpship then began to shoot at the assault dropships, and they shot back.
Unfortunately for them, the jumpship exploded, taking all crew with them, including the crews of the dropships that it had been carrying, some of whom were Free Worlds League nobles.
And he, the Precentor Kendall, would do his duty and send doctored videos showing Arlaoskas's assault dropships firing upon the jumpship first.
Just as he was about to send the video across the HPG network, the comms lit up.
And they lit up with the screams of men and women of ComStar dying.
The ROM officer in charge of the operation quickly brought up the video feeds from the ComGuard soldiers in action.
Everyone froze as they saw a faceless blue humanoid robot lunging forward and killing the soldier watching it.
They heard the ComGuard gurgling before the video feed suddenly ceased.
"... What the fuck?" Ivan muttered.
-VB-
A/N: should I use A.I. to generate some faces for the family members?Last edited: Apr 8, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:tacodragon, Drgnfrst, Reborn-freak-of-nature and
Collection
Chapter 25
-VB-
"W-What is that?"
I glanced over my shoulder at my mom's question as she clung to dad.
I sighed. "One of the things I've developed because of my … not undeserved paranoia," I replied so that they knew it was not something that had popped out of nowhere.
After all, I brought it into the house in one of those boxes I left in the living room while we ate. The other box was what saved our family and house: a shield generator that had been on ever since I had it set up.
The T-Doll - named after the game - was a prototype I've made from a combination of my knowledge of AI Software Development, Material Engineering, Gundam Engineering, and Special Forces. It wasn't Gundam but it carried within it a very prototypical mini-fusion engine not found anywhere else in the Inner Sphere, Periphery, and the Deep Periphery. My personal experience and knowledge of Special Forces thanks to the Inspired Inventor was what allowed me to properly program its near human-like movements.
I said near-human like because the T-Doll didn't need to move like a person to achieve its … optimal combat performance.
"This is what I mentioned when people will come for you," I sighed as I gestured to the slaughter that the T-Doll had caused in the span of a minute.
It, a tall and slender blue humanoid covered from head to toe in light blue steel plates, pulled its hand and arm out of the last ComGuard soldier. The soldier went down gurgling blood out of his lips and nose, and T-Doll turned to me for orders.
It didn't need to, but I've programmed human-like behavior so that it wouldn't feel too uncanny or stiff.
"On standby," I ordered verbally, though needlessly. There was a pre-programmed hand gesture that I could have used but I said the order out loud for my family's benefit.
Next to all of my family, Amy and Armas sighed.
And they sighed with the air of someone who had to deal with this kind of shit, though this had been the first time it had been up close and personal. I could see that the attack had affected them but they were doing their best to play it off, again, for our family's sake.
Anton, Katrin, Marco, mom, and dad all stared at the scene around them, at me, and then at Amy and Armas.
"This is why I was trying to convince you to come with me. Even if I died right here with no other casualties, these people would have killed you on a less than 1% chance that you might had something to do with -."
"You ruined our lives."
I paused and looked at Katrin, my oldest sister.
I stared at her, at the fury building up inside of her. I could see the telltale signs. The trembling, white-knuckled fists. The gritting teeth. Clenched jaws. All classic signs.
She always was the most honest of us all.
"No," I said to her pointedly but also as softly as I could. "These bastards have been ruining everyone's lives for the past five centuries, doing it in the dark where they weren't seen by the public. If you ask if any of the Great Houses trust ComStar, then you would be told that none of them did. This … this is just them coming after the obvious could-be improvement."
"Could be?" dad frowned.
"Could be because there is no way in hell that ComStar will let this go," I said as I walked up to the nearest ComGuard corpse and kicked it over. "They'll doctor footages. They'll have their noble cronies raising ruckus. They'll deploy their ROM and ComGuard. Hell, they'll even deploy their warship if they have to!"
"No one has warships," Anton spat, angry just like Katrin but not at me, surprisingly. If anyone had the right to be angry, then it was him. Then he paused as he stared at me. "...Right?"
"They have the most number of warships, spread out among their hidden worlds," I shrugged. "But you have to make a decision. Are you going to come with me where we can attempt to run or are you going to stay and try your luck?"
"We'll go with you."
I turned to look at Marco.
His response surprised me. "Really?"
He nodded resolutely. "But you better give me a cushy job, you hear? Make me a captain of one of your ships or something. I'm willing to learn," he grinned. Even though he was trembling just like the rest of the family.
I grinned lazily. "Amy's been learning how to be a spy from me. I'll make sure you'll be the best ship captain there is."
My offhand comment drew mom's surprise. She looked at Amy with wide eyes, and Amy responded … by pulling out knives from places we didn't even know was possible. "Always have to be ready, mother," she giggled, trying to play it off.
"Oh, she's my spymaster, essentially," I added. Amy threw me a glare, telling me to stop, and I did.
I turned to mom and dad. "Mom? Dad?"
Dad hesitated.
I understood why. He was the pastor. He was the shepherd. He tended to the flock. Even if it was for his own life, leaving his flock was … it was not an easy decision. I knew that because he was a true Christian, not the demagogues of mega churches and cults of isolated rural areas. Hell, if no one else in the family was involved, then he really might turn the other cheek!
But family was his weak point. Like any good man, that was his weakness.
"We'll go," dad said with an explosive sigh. He quickl;y turned around and went back into the house to get his and mom's stuff. I looked at mom, and saw her rather upset look. She gave me a glare, demanding an explanation wordlessly. I nodded, and she followed after dad.
"Oh, and leave any replaceable valuables behind! Just the barebones will do!" I shouted after them. "I can literally print gold by the bullion!"
Katrin twitched.
I snorted, and she glared at me.
Wordlessly, like mom, she demanded compensation. I nodded. She grabbed Anton, who looked at her and then me before nodding resignedly.
…
I had to thank ComStar.
If it wasn't for them, then I wasn't sure if all of them would have come with me.
Now, I had to deal with their little shenanigans.
I pulled up my left arm where my gadget-watch was and called up to my ships. "G1, land on my location. G2, G3, secure Solo Killing. G5, G6, keep orbital watch." Then I scrolled through the options available to me. G6 was special among the Glimmer droneships in that it was not just a Glimmer droneship but a slightly special Glimmer command droneship. It had a suite of communication, ECM, EC, and more built into it, and all of those equipments were lightyears ahead of anything ComStar and the Inner Sphere was using. Using it, I punched through the jamming on the planet and started dumping data to … basically everywhere.
Unless ComStar nuked this world to kingdom come, footage of the attack on the ground and in orbit will leak, countering whatever ComStar had to say.Last edited: Apr 11, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:tacodragon, Drgnfrst, Reborn-freak-of-nature
Collection
Chapter 26
-VB-
Armas Arlaoskas
3003 January
"Now what?" he asked his brother while the rest of the family and crew had gathered up in the mess hall of Humpty Dumpty. They had to leave Kendall in a hurry after that brazen two-pronged attack.
But they didn't leave Kendall System entirely. No, the entire fleet was now positioned in the shadow of the outermost gas giant, waiting on his brother's orders.
"Now, we have to discuss what we are going to do," Edward replied. "Honestly, my first response is to get some payback in a very … unorthodox sense."
"How unorthodox?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.
His brother grinned. "I'm going to find a Star League memory core and distribute it everywhere, which is the exact opposite of what ComStar wants."
The room froze before several people stood up. They all began talking at once, but Armas wasn't among their number. None of the core crews were. Why would they? Sure, Star League was the glorious past of the Inner Sphere but he and the crew had been around technologies his brother had built by hand for the past few years.
Alternate FTL, weapons that outdid anything Star League had, energy barriers, microfabricators and even a nanofabricator Edward treated like his baby, artificial intelligence, drones, and so much more…
What was Star League compared to that?
His family - his other brother, sister, parents, and their families - looked at how the crew didn't react.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just dump half of what you knew instead?" Miguel asked. "Hell, your FTL communication tech alone would bankrupt ComStar."
"Probably," Edward shrugged. "But if I go that extra distance to fuck with them and they do collapse, then all of the retards suddenly don't have much to lose, now do they? They're going to start doing stupid shit like bioterrorism to get their way instead of spying and wiretapping."
"So you want to hurt them … but not hurt them enough to push them over the edge," dad spoke up as he slowly sat down.
"Bingo," Edward grinned. Then he paused. "Hold up for a second…" he muttered as he blanked out.
'Ah,' Armas thought as he recognized what was happening. This happened every time Edward suddenly got new ideas and technologies. "Anything new?"
"No, just a way of making better AI."
"Cool."
"Cool?" Marco drawled. "AI is cool?" he asked incredulously.
Of course, everyone in the family had been told about the other dropships and how there was no one inside of them. That every single one of those dropships except Humpty Dumpty and Solo Killing were FTL-capable drone ships that followed Edward's orders.
"You know, if I don't find a wife for myself soon, then I might make myself a robot wife or something," Edward joked. Then he paused. "Or make a robot nanny for Jeremiah."
"Yes, please," Armas grunted out and Amy giggled. He looked at her and shrugged.
What parents wouldn't want free reliable nanny for their babies?
"I would've liked one a few decades ago," mom joked, too. Then she got serious. "And then after you had your fun with ComStar?" she asked.
"We can leave for the periphery," Edward hummed. "Staying in the Inner Sphere with my tech and with how loudly I've been exposed just means everyone and their spy agencies will be looking for me. What we talked about back home on Kendall. Because even when I break out the Star League memory core from where it's hidden, I will still be technologically superior. The Inner Sphere houses will start making warships, but it'll mean jackshit when I have energy barriers that I tank their biggest guns."
Armas nodded, briefly remembering how the ComGuard tried to firebomb their house, only to be thwarted by Edward's preparations.
There had been a good chance that half of the family here wouldn't be alive to think about all of this if Edward hadn't thought multiple steps ahead of his assassins.
And speaking of which…
He wanted to ask Edward how he knew to be paranoid about ComStar from the get-go, but he wouldn't do it here in the open.
See, it was one of those things he learned by osmosis from being next to Amy, who was learning all about the psychology and everything. Questions and criticisms happened in a good workplace, which this crew (fleet?) was because his brother wasn't an idiot sandwich. However, openly asking questions that was best left discrete meant things got hairy quickly.
He did provide a decent explanation back at home, but it had been weak then.
He glanced at Edward, and saw him notice his stare and nod.
---
"So?" Armas asked once they were out of the way in the noisy manufacturing chamber of Solo Killing. "How did you really know to avoid ComStar at all cost from the get-go?"
Edward tittered. He looked like he wanted to answer but … he also looked like the answer might give someone an aneurysm. Because when Edward got crazy, it did give someone an aneurysm before.
"Come on, I'm waiting, bro."
Finally, he sighed and answered.
"Do you want the most believable explanation or what I believe I am?"
Arms frowned.
When Ed started asking questions like this, Arm knew that Ed was serious because he was thinking about how to explain himself.
"What you believe."
"I'm someone who reincarnated from another universe that had insights into this universe in the form of a fictional media spanning across books, board games, video games, and more."
Well.
Um.
… He wasn't delusional, Arm knew that. A delusional man wouldn't be capable of making technological wonders or predicting how an interstellar organization like ComStar would behave.
…
"We're real, right?"
"You're real, don't worry about it," Ed huffed. "If this wasn't real, then I would have gone off and done something far more ridiculous."
Arm pulled his head back. "This isn't ridiculous enough?"
"... Well, I always did dream of a harem in my past life."
Armas nearly choked to death on the spot.
But he finally got an answer out of his brother… and that only led to more.
"Wait, wait, wait," he asked as he got the tears out of his eyes and got his choking under control. "So … what … you saw how the Inner Sphere's future goes?"
"Yup. Mad Max is going to do something stupid, First Prince Hanse marries the future archon's daughter, they form a united nation, and then the descendants of Kerensky's Star League come back as a neo-barbariac confederation who don't understand the basics of war because they spent too much time ritualizing it."
"... Huh?"
Ed grinned. "I'll tell you when it becomes relevant. And speaking of relevant," he said before wrapping his knuckles twice on the microfabricator. "This thing is a technology from another fictional media from my past life."
Armas filed the bit about the future for later. "... You're talking about how you're getting your technology."
"Yup," he popped the word. "I can access any skill or tech, one arbitrary level at a time, from any and all fictional media from my past life. And since this 'fictional media' is real and everyone here are living breathing people, all of those fictional medias are real as well, and thus I am not making shit up as I go but rather drawing them from … other realities, essentially."
"... Damn."
"Yeah."
"How far can you go?"
Ed snorted.
"Nothing is out of my capability. The only limitation is time."
"... and you just want to tickle ComStar? After they tried to kill everyone? Amy, Jeremiah, and our parents?" Arm asked a little hotly.
"The other option is to be responsible for the deaths of billions in the decade to come," Ed replied with a sigh. "I may really only care about my family, but I'm also not one for senseless death. What I intend to do will hurt ComStar on a fundamental level. Trust me."
-VB-
A/N: So Ed finally told Armas and, by extension, Amy. They've been with him through thick and thin, and after a very front and personal attack on their lives, he decided to be more open with them than before. It's a secret, however, that has little to no impact beyond strengthening the brotherly trust. Even if it gets out, so what? It's not how he gets the power but what he does with it that matters here.
-VB-
namechapter introducedCurrent levelStarsector Spaceship Engineering17Special Forces15Mechanic17Material Engineering16Battletech Spaceship Piloting24Stargate Hyperdrive Fundamentals24New Eden Warp Fundamentals24Starship Rigging26Close Quarter Combat14Spaceship Design33Chakra44Gundam Engineering112Medical technology152AI Software Development222 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:SuperboyPrime, Drgnfrst, Reborn-freak-of-nature and 465 others