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Mark touched down upon the fliers' balcony outside of the main meeting room at Castle South. It was a large balcony, and lots of people were already there. Mark was among those late to the party. The main meeting room was designed with fliers in mind, and with walls that pulled out of the way so that people could enter or exit from a great many points. People were talking loudly about lost revenue, about those that didn't make it back, and about those that had. There was also talk of open war.

Mark knew what most of them were already saying, since he had heard about it for the last 12 hours flying around the city, killing goblins, but the official word about the attack hadn't come down yet. Was this a prelude, or something else? Since Mark hadn't been sniped, and he was very visibly out there, all the time, people were thinking 'something else'. Lee Windhopper, the other big force out there with Mark today, landed beside him, the wind coiling out from under him.

He was exhausted as fuck, and others had been keeping him awake and empowered, but Mark hit Lee and everyone else nearby with a Good/Bad and a Wakefullness/Sleepiness. Lee perked right up. And then he grunted, "Still ready to sleep for a day, if they let us."" No sleep for us yet," Mark said, walking closer to the meeting. He did not get inside. There were about 300 people, and though this was the main meeting room, it was kinda small for the number of people here.

They spilled outward in every direction, with some in the hallways outside, or still on the balcony back there, waiting for something to happen, or for Aurora to show.

"Quark, where is Aurora?" Everyone had felt Mark pulse a Union through the building and the nearest several hundred meters, which was good enough for a lot of people to reorient. When Mark asked for Aurora, a lot of nearby conversations ended. Quark said, "She's on her way, and will be here when she gets h—" Aurora slammed into the fliers' balcony like a controlled meteor that stopped suddenly, right above the concrete. She was using some speed magics, and that's how Mark knew this was serious.

With perfect poise and in her tight blue/black military garb, Aurora stepped forward and turned to Lee and Mark.

"Thank you both for your contributions today. Many lives were saved." She turned to everyone else— Yoro Windrunner was suddenly beside her, his Speedster Skill running at 11 out of 10 to get here so quickly and securely. He walked in lockstep with Aurora, right behind her and to the right." Attention, everyone." Aurora began, "Today was not exactly an attack—" Some barrel-chested noble called out, "Fuck you mean it wasn't—"" Quiet," Aurora said, and that was all she had to say.

The room went silent, the wind stilled. With poise and confidence, Aurora stated, "The nature of today's attack was as a disruption, and nothing more. It was an attack in the way that one attacks a granary or stock pond and leaves poison behind. There was no real attempt to kill us. No real attempt to kill anyone who had been outside of the walls during the event. In fact, the Lightbody Titan, the goblin elder of Goblinhome, known as Grax, went out of his way to not kill anyone directly.

From every view of those who died, of those we have records for, they did not die to Grax, but to the ensuing goblin horde." This entire event was a slap from a disgruntled goblin elder who had been held back by the other goblins of Goblinhome. And so, he did what he could, which was to bite everyone and everything in a kilometers-wide path around the settlement. It took him 82 seconds to do that." Good news: he can't do it again, because all of the life out there larger than a child is gone."

There is a lot of bad news." Aurora gestured to Kandon Valen, her brother and second in command, who was standing at the podium in the main meeting room. Mark hadn't seen him move there, but there he was.

"Colonel Kandon." Kandon got everyone's attention. The viewing screen behind the Colonel lit up with a map of the settlement and the surrounding lands. Mark had seen a similar image through Quark while flying out there, but from this angle, and just standing here instead of killing goblins, it was easy to see the full breadth of Grax's 'attack'.

The settlement was a circle-ish thing in the middle of the map, the Shine flowed down the left-hand side of the map, angling back and forth and even up and down in a few places. Grax's path was wilder than the river's. He had jumped from every major harvesting zone, from the dragonoid canyons that he ripped up and shredded, killing every single major magical tree and all the life in there, yet again, to the mushroom forest down south, which was a devastation of toppled and burning trees.

He had infected the Shine and turned the fishes into goblins, and those goblins were already swimming up and down the river, far outside of Mark's ability to affect. As for the other side of the river, Grax had basically turned those lands into goblin territory. In less than 2 minutes, Grax, the Goblin Titan, had fundamentally altered the entire nature of the lands around the settlement.

The Ether Turtle had softened and destroyed a great many of the cultivated resources out there, heavily impacting the settlement's viability as an outpost in the wilds that tamed and farmed the land all around. Grax had completely destroyed all of the farming zones out there. Mark's eyes caught on the vivant crystal farm south of the city, where those hollow gourds lived and grew and were harvested for healing potions all the time.

Mark had been out there a few times, but in the last two months he had stopped going out there because the gourd harvesting had gotten so streamlined that other people, who normally only took the easiest jobs and didn't venture far out there, had taken over those harvests. Barba Sacredcut and Isoko had still gone out there a few times since then, but Mark had not, except when a kaiju two months ago had gotten close to there.

The place had needed some landshapers and stone movers to get put back into a proper configuration, and some Union-led hollow gourd breeding and expanding, but that was fine. The place had been rebuilt. And now it was gone. Mark knew, even as he was feeling the emotion, that he was irrationally angry about that particular loss. Kandon began, "In a manner similar to the Ether Turtle, and other kaiju attacks, the Goblin Titan's ecology has destroyed more than the kaiju himself.

That ecology is a pestilence that we will be eradicating, but more than that, now is a good time to expand the city. So we'll be expanding the walls again. All missions for the foreseeable future will be either wartime prep, clearing the land, or building for war." To that end, the larger plan is outlined in these steps." All warriors are expected to take goblin kill missions unless they're participating in the other half of the missions."

Everyone else is clearing several kilometers in every direction, right up to the edge of the Shine. Stoneshapers, landshapers of all kinds, will all be participating in this. This new land is not for sale. It's a buffer." Meanwhile, manufacturing for war is active. Every House is expected to participate in their Wartime Action agreements, as outlined in your contracts that allow you to be here in the first place."

This is your Official Notice: We are moving from Action 0, which is what we had been at, to Action 1 of 3, which means half of your manufacturing needs to be along wartime manners. Individual instructions and clarifications of the contracts you have signed in order to be here are available. Just ask, and we will clarify what we need of you." As for the warriors of the settlement, you will be undertaking soldier training if you have not already. Kaiju Squads are exempt from general soldiery.

Designated Heavy Hitters and below are not exempt. Special exceptions have already gone out." Mage Society will be manufacturing soldier weapony. Other than that, Mage Society's determination in this action has already been spoken about under Secrecy. If you were not involved in that, you probably won't be. There are exceptions." I will begin taking questions now." As people erupted in questions, Mark knew he had seen enough. He stepped away, out of the throng of people.

Several others stepped away as well, including Aurora, who looked right at Mark. She needed to speak to him privately, and she pointed up and away. She flew away, toward the north. Mark followed. Aurora did not go far. She flew north east of the castles and the apartments which had been the vital center of the settlement for a while, but which most people had moved out of.

Two big apartment buildings were still being used as such, but the other three had been demoed and their materials spent on this area, north of the castles. It was the war district, and it had been mostly inactive. Eliot had been here and put the place up, of course, but other than keeping the lights on and helping a few people move in and keep the place up and running, it was mostly unoccupied. Sterile grey buildings, plain roads, hovercar ports with no hovercars. The usual.

In the last 12 hours the whole place had gotten a revamp and one specific addition. Cybersong Industries now had a building here, and it was a big one, though it was currently more of a shell than a building. An impressive shell, though. It was all slightly sloping wall, narrower at the top than the bottom. Brutalist, and with turrets here and there. It was a supervillain's lair, for sure, but also a warehouse and an attached workshop. Overwhelmingly, it was grey stone. There were tens of people inside.

Mark sensed Isoko first, and from her he felt Sally and Eliot. Derek stood by the open road, near the wall of the place, smoking something. He spotted Mark and Aurora and stood straight as he tossed the cigarette away. Mark understood, then, that some of the people inside the building were also Derek. Derek saluted, even before he realized that you didn't salute in an active warzone. He realized his mistake right away, dropping his hand, muttering small curses and apologies.

Of course, everyone knew Aurora on sight, and if not her then her bright white rainbow hair, or how the world flexed around her as she walked. You still didn't salute in an active warzone, and since they had gone from Active 0, AKA non-Active, to Active-1, then this was a warzone. Aurora walked forward and Mark joined her, as Aurora said to Mark, "I'm going to ask for money from you inside, and I want you to give it to me."" Sure," Mark said, "How much?"" A few billion.

If I have to ask again, then I want you to deny me."" Of course."" Then we're solving a longstanding problem today, and Derek," Aurora said, as she neared him, "Fall in line here, left side. Mark, cleanse him." Derek stepped to the side and Mark ran a Union of Purity/Corruption on him and everyone in the area, making sure to be small about it so he didn't destroy anything important; just all the impurities inside the people he felt.

Miasma flicked away in one great thump of his heart, and then Mark switched to Good/Bad to clear up any lingering problems. The miasma from his second Union was nothing worth mentioning. Big factory doors loomed open. Aurora entered the factory through those doors. Eliot was standing with Isoko and Sally, forming one side of a triangle. Julie Sacredcut and her father and patriarch of House Sacredcut, Herb Sacredcut, was the second side to the triangle.

The third side of the triangle was kinda unknown to Mark, but Mark rapidly recognized Will Birch, the Item Foundry guy, and his sister Eliza Birch, who was a Natural Alchemist. A third person, a severe-looking older woman in purple fancy clothes, stood with them. Quark identified her as Madame Bowkadarg, which was a name Mark had never seen before. She looked at Mark like she knew him, though, and she probably did. Her vector was one of a mother hen, making sure all the children acted properly.

Strangely enough, Bowkadarg looked at Mark first, instead of Aurora. A few Dereks hung out in the back, away from the confrontation. Mark wasn't sure what was happening, exactly, but according to the papers on the desk between all of the people here, it was a problem of money and being paid enough. Quark rapidly picked out a few pieces of paper with numbers and prices on them, and he linked those numbers to models of guns. Mark didn't know too much about guns, so Quark provided hovering little models.

Hand gun, 580 goldleaf. Rifle, 1750 GL. Sniper, 19, 500 GL. Even as Mark was rapidly extrapolating some things, based on Aurora's previous comment about needing money, Quark got there just a bit faster. Quark began figuring some basic calculations in Mark's vision. Starting with 1, 500, 000, 000 GL, assuming mostly enough rifles and handguns at the same time… Quark rapidly erased that building calculation, because he needed to account for gear, too, which was on a whole other set of papers. How much Derek could 1.

5 billion goldleaf gear up? And was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Surely Mark wasn't the only one with reservations about Derek's gear being taken by goblins. And what about ammo? And the meeting was here, and speculation got shoved to the side— The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ah! Right, Mark remembered. Will was a jerk. Right. The Item Foundry guy, Will, was solidly in favor of something in line with what was on the paperwork in front of everyone.

Eliza, his sister, was solidly worried about her brother being too greedy. Eliot was ready to walk away. Julie and Herb Sacredcut were fine with Eliot walking away. Aurora said, "Madame Bowkadarg. I see you are ensuring your charge gets the best deal possible, but I'm afraid we're entering an active warzone, and I am issuing an ultimatum right now." She looked at Will, and said, "Half off." Will steeled himself, and said, "25% off."" Okay, sure," Aurora said, turning to Mark, "Can I get 2.

5 billion goldleaf please, Mark?"" Sure! I'll have it wired to the settlement right now," Mark said—" 15% off! Not 25%," Will said, trying to get as much as he could. He could tell Mark wasn't putting up a fight, and he wanted in.

"I'll do 15% off." Bowkadarg instantly stepped forward and said, "Mister Birch." Will steeled himself even more, saying, "I know my worth. I won't be taken advantage of, and I know that there's more than enough money at this table to get my fair share of that money, especially now that Mark is involved." Aurora frowned at Will, and then asked Mark, "3 billion, please."" Nope," Mark said.

"I'm not entertaining whatever this is anymore. We can do this without him." Will looked stunned—" There you have it," Aurora told Will.

"Back to 50% off or no deal at all." Will stared.

"… No. No fucking way. You're all way too rich! You can afford it, and—"" I'm walking away, now," Eliot said, stepping away from the table. Will scoffed. And then he yelled, "You're all in a corrupt conspiracy with each other to rob me of my rightful money!" Mark felt that was true, in a way, but it was not nearly as true as Will thought it was—" It's true," Aurora said, before Mark could get through the first of his own thoughts on the matter. Aurora seemed to have shorted everything Will was thinking, too.

Aurora continued, "We are all in a conspiracy with each other to make this settlement work, and you are the only one not in that conspiracy, Will."" I want my fair share," Will said, glaring." And you're never going to get it," Aurora said.

"Eliot is simply never going to be paid back for everything he has done, for every fire of every laser on every wall out there is already hundreds of goldleaf. Every fired mortar round is in the thousands to ten-thousands. The wall and all the infrastructure within is a good 30 billion. The city is more.

Mark just spent the last 12 hours putting down goblins, which, at the estimated rate for what I'm paying for people to kill the building goblin villages out there, is something like 25 million GL, and every Gate Day Mark does more—" Will said, "He rips adamantium out of the kaiju and makes money fighting them! The settlement should get that money; not him!"

"… Do not interrupt me again, Will," Aurora said.

"I have had quite enough of that today, thank you." Will turned silent, simmering." There isn't a single person in this settlement that is getting paid as much as they should," Aurora continued, "Because we're not in a city. We're in a settlement. A war. And now we're going to war with goblins. We're getting 25% off of open pricing, or I'll dishonorably discharge you out of the settlement for being a malcontent." Bowkadarg stared lightly at Aurora. Eliza, Will's Natural Alchemist sister, looked stricken.

She touched her brother's arm, saying, "Will." But instead of looking remorseful, Will looked vindicated. He was unmoved by Aurora's threat, or his sister's touch, as he stared, saying, "The Empire wants us here so I call your bluff." Aurora simply said, "I am giving you an opportunity to rescind those words, and say something else. Please take the opportunity, Mister Birch."

Will opened his mouth to say something, and then he paused, eyes going wide as he realized that Aurora had called him by a formal name, instead of by his first name. Will said, "I accept the new cost of 25% off." Eliot spoke up, "And I'm still done with him." Will looked stricken, now, as he said, "What! You need me to make enough guns for a goblin war! You even have the prototype for me to copy!" Eliot told Aurora, "I'm done with him." Aurora said, "The settlement will strike a deal, Will. Please walk with me."

She told Mark, "Take a break and be ready for action later, but don't think this latest event negates Walaria's orders for you to be language-capable in 3 months. That thing going on in Mage Society is still happening. Thank you for your power today and all other days, Mark." Aurora bowed a little— Mark rapidly bowed lower than her— Aurora walked on. Will lingered for a moment, looking at the paperwork on the table, like he was watching goldleaf burn, and then he followed Aurora…

And Mark was pissed off at him all over again. He did not feel anything right now but a small loss. He had no idea how close he was to actually being kicked out of the settlement. Aurora had not been joking at all. The severe woman in purple, Madame Bowkadarg, gave Mark a little curtsy and then walked on, while Eliza Birch rushed past her, to join her brother, and to say small, angry things at him that Will didn't register as real complaints at all.

And then they were all past the property of Cybersong Industries, and Mark could feel them walking down the road, talking and arguing, with Aurora like a soft light, trying to shine, and Will like a greedy darkness, trying to take as much as he possibly could, even it it did nip at the light source itself, dimming it in the process. Mark turned back toward his people and said, "Holy shit, that guy's more greedy than a dragon."" OH my gods, Mark," Eliot said, mentally exhausted, but still ready to make deals.

"It makes it so much more complicated and yet simpler for it to happen this way, so I'm not sure if I'm sad or happy. All I know is that we can't do as much as we need to do without him." Herb Sacredcut said, "House Sacredcut might not be able to make endless rifles, handguns, and snipers, but we can make some of the best, and Derek can attune himself just fine to bespoke weaponry, once we get the manufacturing hub complete." Eliot wasn't so sure about that.

Mark assumed this was all about arming Derek with enough weapons to use a flood against a flood, and 'attuned' weaponry was probably something that would prevent the guns from being used by goblins, when they took Derek down. Mark asked, "Anything I can do?" Eliot said, "Maybe. Up to you. Derek?" Isoko and Sally were suddenly jealous, but not really, while Julie was incredibly jealous in a sideways sort of way… Which Mark had no idea how to interpret at all. What was going on there?

Herb had other things on his mind. Mark turned.

"Yeah, Derek?" All three Dereks winced, and then the middle one said, "So a little monster told us that you're, uh, charged with making Swords of Empire? And we've known for the longest time that a Sword of Empire could be replicated with us when we, uh, Clone. Could we get a replicating gun?" Mark wasn't sure what he had expected, but it was not that. Isoko, Sally, and Julie's jealousy made sense, now. Mark didn't know what sort of sense to make out of his own senses, though.

Mark started with, "I don't know where to even start with that, Derek? I mean… Guns need ammo so… you need replicating ammo, too? But then… How do you even make anything regarding any of that, from top to bottom? So my answer is no, for now. Maybe eventually. But no, for now." Mark had half a year of studying and experimenting and all of that before he even attempted to make anything… And then there was all the other shit Mark was doing right now. Mark finished with, "No. Not now." Derek was excited, though.

"But maybe in the future? Even if it's just a knife! I'd like that!"

"… That's more doable? I don't know what is doable at all right now, Derek." Derek was beyond happy, though.

"Okay! Just putting it out there! One of the hardest things out there is getting a crafter for this stuff, and my webweave required a month of—"" Of service!" another Derek said, speaking up, interrupting the first one. The third one lied, "Normal work down in Crytalis." The first one said, "But we got clothes that manifest with us every time we split! It's awesome!"" Really awesome!" the second one said." So the theory holds that you can make a dagger or a big ass gun and some bullets!"

The first one said, "But we're never getting our crafting opportunity out of the person who did the webweave again. They're like… Super busy."" Super busy!"

"So busy." Mark blinked, experiencing a conversation from three people at once who were really 1 person, halfway in themselves and halfway spread throughout each other, and he said, "Neat." It was nice to know that Derek had a really hard time lying about big things; something to keep in mind. Mark nodded, and then he looked at everyone else.

"I need to sleep and go back to work. Do you need anything? Can I do anything?" Eliot said, "Go home and sleep, Mark. You're making me look tired just looking at you." Mark grinned wide, then said, "Time to do that, then." The girls waved, Derek was excited, Julie talked about crystal farming being a major impediment to gun creation now that Will was outside of the plans, and Mark flew out of there. Mark landed at home, went inside, drew his adamantium into a shell all around himself, and slept.